Pastor Chuck surprised us on this Sunday Morning by calling us up to talk about our work in Germany, this was before we knew that we were going to be taking the reins of the Castle.

​The castle has been put on PAUSE, as Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa—along with many church members across America and Europe, are radically overhauling it.  Although many upgrades have been made over the years, it has been over 30 years now since it was last done from top to bottom, and that even means a new driveway, new bathroom upgrades, carpet, paint, you name it, its being done.
 
Please check this running blog as we’ll be showing the before and after transformations, along with other projects at hand that maybe you or your church will want to partner in. Practically or financially.
 
This castle has been used by thousands and there’s a lot to be done. CCCM has done everything they can to keep the prices for churches and missionaries down. In order to continue to do that, we will need your help;

PHASE I: (1984–1988) Was to evangelize Europe through the doors God opened for us, while building contacts with experienced groups that had the means and willingness to “pay to play” to minister in Europe.
 
PHASE II: (1988–2013) To heed the call to build a church that
would model what God wanted to do in Europe while getting the
word out and encouraging other church plants and providing help,
resources, and conferences to assist the process.
 
PHASE III: (2017–RAPTURE) To get back to what God had called them to do in the ’80s. Only this time, the added feature will be having a base of operations solely devoted to the cause, in conjunction with Bible-teaching churches around Europe that will work with them and become solid platforms for outreach and quality follow-up.
 
Phase III is actually a dream that started as a vision in 1986, some thirty three years ago on their 2nd outreach tour of Europe. Believing this castle nestled in the Alps of Austria to be a key instrument in fulfilling this vision, the Longs heed the call once again, and begin to move into a place of obedience.
 
In 1994, Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa asked the Longs if their church in Siegen Germany wanted to take over the stewardship of the castle in Austria. But at that time, the church in Siegen was moving forward at such a great pace that it just didn’t seem feasible. At the time Schloss Heroldeck seemed so far out of the way for reaching the goal God had for them—It just didn’t make much sense. Now as the Lord broadens their horizons and Europe has united, this place is PHENOMENAL for getting back to what God wants to do in the further evangelization of Europe. Europe is constantly shrinking and becoming one in so many ways, why not with this?
 
Since their first tour of Europe in 1984, the infrastructure that God established all across the continent is staggering. The churches that have been planted (East and West), the contacts made, and the
body of Christ that has been learning, growing, and maturing are more than just a substance or a good idea. God is doing something, and that wide open door seems to be even wider.
 
 
What’s encouraging is the others who are also hearing the call and being stirred to move. It’s time to finish what God has for the castle, and His heart for Europe. People say Europe is “post-Christian,” but in Gods equation it’s “pre-revival.” For years now, it has been “a time to plant,” but that is changing. If we’re really being called to come full circle, it’s now more than ever “a time to pluck what is planted” (Ecclesiastes 3:2).
 
After a time of stepping back and watching things from a distance, the Longs can’t help but see the bigger picture for the castle and for Europe. The movement is not only gaining ground, but also everything that has happened up until now is becoming the foundation for something that wasn’t
possible thirty years ago. The one certainty is this: God is not finished in Europe, and the vision is ready to run with those who heed it and are ready to go.
 
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For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Habakkuk 2:3
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Schloss Heroldeck is so strategically located for what needs to happen next, and in light of this, to ignore what we’re seeing would mean a very serious blow to what God has been gearing up for since it was purchased.
 
NICK & SUE: “If what we’re seeing is the Lord—and we’re very familiar with the signs—we believe this place will become an even greater hub for strengthening churches, evangelizing the lost, and helping plant new works. We can’t help but look out like Elijah on the horizon, and see “a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea” (1 Kings 18:44). We are sensing again the good hand of the Lord upon us, while hearing Him say … NOW!
 
Please pray with us, as we are in obedience and by faith moving toward the goal that is before us, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.

Nick and Sue Long, Schloss Heroldeck’s newest coordinators have been active in European ministry as far back as 1984. In those early years, God opened a wide and effective door to beachhead the work of Calvary Chapel in Europe. By 1988 the Lord led them to establish the first Calvary Chapel on the continent. Now after a six year and much needed sabbatical, they’ve been asked to oversee the castle and seek the Lord as to how He might want to fine-tune its role in reaching out to this new generation.
 
Ministering in Europe for over three decades now, the Longs find themselves engaged in the development of what they see as PHASE III—finishing the European call.
 
 
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And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision;
make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.
Habakkuk 2:2