Biography:
In brief:  Dan and Rachel have helped Austrian Baptists to start and develop a church in the west central section of Vienna. Among other things Dan is currently pastor of the church and Rachel leads training for children's ministries. Dan is also Team Austria leader. You can check out the church's website at www.bega.at and at the same time work on your German!

Name: Dan and Rachel Zuch

Children: 3
Charissa (’81) married to Joseph Ketcherside
Rich (’86)
Michael (’93)

What year did you arrive in Austria? 1989

Why did you come to Austria and how did you know of God’s leading you here?

Since Dan's conversion, he knew about missions and saw the importance of it,
but it wasn't until Dan was in seminary that God used an Old Testament history class to call him into overseas service.

The Lord began working in Dan's life first. "When he came home one day and
said that he was thinking of becoming a missionary, Rachel basically said, 'That's good,
honey!' thinking it was just a phase," As time passed and she realized that Dan had made a serious commitment, she began to pour out her heart to God and ask Him to
show her His will. Through this time, God showed her also that missions was in His plan for them.

Past Ministries:
Church launch in 1992 that has become the Beheimgasse

Current Ministry:
Dan: pasturing, mentoring, counseling (including marital and pre-marital), leadership training, ministry area leader
Rachel: children’s/teen’s ministry director, counseling with Dan, mentoring, English ministries,

Tell about an interesting experience you have had in the last year or so:
The latest baptism of the Beheimgasse Baptist Church was especially exciting for me (Rachel). One of the four people who were baptised was a lady, who although already a believer, had come to us very broken. We began meeting together very intensely last January. She and her husband began to attend church regularly in March as a result of the Pro-Christ evangelism outreach. It was such a joy in those six months to see God begin to heal her heart and replace hopelessness with light and joy.

Tell about a funny experience that you have had while living here:
At the wedding of a couple for which we did the marriage preparation, the bride and maid of honor got lost on the way to the wedding. They, thankfully arrived safely about 1 ½ hour after the original starting time, but not before people starting digging into the refreshments that were to be served after the wedding.

Status:
On-field

Links:
Baptistengemeinde Beheimgasse