"Leaving Your Comfort Zone"

I'd recommend reading this article from the Skybridge blog: "Leaving Your Comfort Zone".

"10 Reasons You Should Stay in the US" - Skybridge

The Skybridge online community (a part of the Upstream Collective) is composed of untraditional missionaries who take the Gospel into dark areas of the world via their careers. Many in the Skybridge community live and work in Europe. Below is an article posted recently on the Skybridge blog. Through humor, it points out that taking the Good News to Europe, Asia, or the Middle East is not restricted to our traditional foreign evangelism.

Read the article here: http://www.skybridgeblog.com/10-reasons-you-should-stay-in-the-us/.

Germans & Christianity

“The more obstacles you have, the more opportunities there are for God to do something.”

- Clarence Jones

Yesterday evening, I came across a two interesting articles on the Germans' general  consensus about religion and Christianity in particular. From my experiences, I can say that these articles accurately describe religion in Germany. I'd suggesting taking a moment to read them.

"Europe's Lost Generations" - World Missions Communications
"Germany's 'Cold Religion'" - Christianity Today

Looking Forward

“God is not looking for men of great faith, He is looking for common men to trust His great faithfulness.”

- Hudson Taylor

“Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you are alive, it isn't.”

- Richard Bach

“Unless I am sure I am doing more at home to send the gospel abroad than I can do abroad, I am bound to go.”

- A.B. Simpson

Despite Bremen's religious history, 97-99% of the residents
have never experienced the wonderful salvation of God.

In terms of missions, I will spend the next year or two preparing for work in Bremen. I am planning to stay in the US next summer to take some summer courses and ideally work a job. However, I'm open to the possibility of going to Bremen, though I'm not specifically seeking it out. I've already made some good contacts in the city, namely Wilfried and the Vengas. I came to know David and Robin Vengas in a way that could haven been arranged only by God.

When I was visiting my cousins in Ocala, I was on FaceBook and accidentally clicked the wrong button. This button took me to a page I'd never seen before (or since) containing a list of seemingly random messages. As I was trying to decypher this strange page, I noticed a message listed from two weeks prior. The message was marked as having been read, but I was sure I had never seen it before. It was from a woman named Robin Vengas. Curious, I opened the message.

In the message, Robin introduced herself and her husband. She had stumbled across a link to my blog on FaceBook. Strangely, I have my FaceBook profile configured so that it is impossible for those I don't know (e.g., Robin) to see what I have posted. However, there is no such thing as a coincidence. (That was confirmed when God sent the mailman to pray with me in 2010!) Robin shared hers and David's testimony with me and gave me permission to publish it here. The testimony is amazing, and their work in Bremen so far through their house church Revive Germany is very spirit-filled. Below is the testimony shared with me.

On February 6th, 2013 David, the kids and I arrived in Phoenix. We went back to my home because of a much needed break from the hardships, oppression and overwhelming stress that we had been facing in Germany that were extremely intense for about one year. There had been so much that had happened in our personal lives, church lives, the lives of our children and the extended family that just had been too much to bear any longer. It took a heavy toll on all of us. Every aspect of all of our lives had been attacked and we needed to escape. I needed to go home, to my family, to the sunshine and to the life that I had left 11 years ago when we moved to Germany. I fell into a deep depression during the last months before our trip to the states which threw me into hopelessness and despair. The enemy tried to rob us of all of our joy and of our calling.

During the time where we didn't think things could get any worse, David was informed of a special leave that his company was offering through a co-worker that he "accidentally" bumped into one day. This leave gave him the opportunity to combine the leave with the vacation that we had already scheduled and gave him a time span of 2 months that we could leave Germany to try to recharge our empty batteries. Due to the desperation that we had faced, we had already decided to remove the kids from the German- Social school system and try out homeschooling in the states. David had also "coincidentally" encountered another co-worker that had just applied for a part-time position with the company. During their conversation, David learned of the great part-time plan the company offered which would allow him to combine his vacation days to give him anywhere between 20 to 30 days off every 2 months for a slight reduction in pay. Due to the overwhelming situation we were dealing with,  David made the decision to apply for part-time allowing us to leave Germany whenever we feel the need and would also allow us to set up residency in America.  At that time we didn't realize that God was already feeding us ideas and putting His plan into motion!

We were already aware that we had a call on our lives to proclaim the word of God. There had been many godly men and women that had prophesied or spoken a word over our lives over the previous 4 years. We had the desire within us to evangelize and also felt led to do mission work. And although we faced much persecution from friends and churches in Germany about our radicalism for Jesus and the gospel,  we attempted to march forward and pleaded with God to use us in whatever way He wanted to, surrendering ourselves. But it was as if God was not giving us a suitable assignment or confirmation thereof.  The trials that we faced along the way seem to aid as a distraction keeping us from our true purpose. Although it was a distraction, we know now it was also our training! Just 2 weeks before we left Germany, I was watching a teaching on TV from T.D. Jakes, on how God uses desperation to push you out of the place you are in and into your calling by using the bible story of Ruth and Naomi. I just KNEW that God was speaking to me through that message! But I had NO idea what we were in for!!!

We arrived in Phoenix where we were greeted by my family. We spent a couple of weeks in Phoenix. Then we traveled to Idaho where we spent another 2 weeks with more precious family. The time was wonderful. We laughed and cried! We got to know their new church and pastor and wife whom we connected with right away and were told again that we have a gift and a special  call on our lives. We were sad when the time ended but knew that we needed to go back to Arizona. We needed to get the kids started with school. And we also planned to visit a Patricia King service for a much needed, filling-up. And we also had planned ahead to visit a church by the name of Skyway that we had seen on God TV several times. And that I had visited once as a child in their old building. Their name was familiar and we knew we needed a home church that we could connect to when we are in Arizona. So, the first Sunday that we were back in Goodyear, we went to the second morning service. We walked in, not knowing a soul and sat down on the 4th row from the front. It happened to be the 30th wedding anniversary of the Pastor and his wife. There was a special guest that presented her testimony and gave information on a play that she would be producing at the church. But before all of that took place, the Pastor gave his opening statement as he looked into the camera, he asked God to bless the nation of Germany?!! Then during his opening devotional, he stated that Cindy Jacobs gave a prophecy back in 2006 of how Skyway would be used directly in the re-evangelization of Germany. And that there would be a connection to Germany...!!!! We were in shock! David and I looked at each other surprised and thought "what is going on here?? Is he talking about us??"!!! And then I instantly thought of a friend,  Zach (from Florida) that we had met in Germany the year before that had also visited Skyway to share his ministry during the time we were in Idaho! There was definitely connections! After the service, we waited in the front to introduce ourselves to the Pastor as we usually do when we visit a new church. He eventually made it over to us and asked us who we were. We introduced ourselves and told him that we were from Germany.  His jaw almost hit the floor! He told us that we were the only connection that the church has had to Germany since the prophecy was given! He said he had a gift to see into the lives of people. And he said that he believes we are the special connection and carefully mentioned the possibility of a home church....

We were then invited to meet privately so that we could share our testimony and lives with Pastor Greg Brown. As we shared, he prophesied that we have a high level call of leadership on our lives. He said that he sees us in  a spiritual leadership role. He believes in his spirit that we are the link  to the prophecy that Cindy Jacobs gave back in 2006.  He offered full support in leadership training and providing us with a spiritual covering needed to begin our call to start a house church in Germany.

There were many prayer meetings and leadership meetings that we attended in the time we were in Goodyear where the church leaders prophesied many words over us. One being that we would bring the fire of the Holy Spirit back to Germany and that fire would spread to affect the nation and Europe!

The Prayer Director, Jeanie of the church gave us the actual CD recording from Cindy Jacobs on Easter morning.  Later as we drove to our friend's house for dinner, we popped the CD into the player. We were blown away by what she had said. It was though if God was speaking directly to us! She spoke to the church and said that God is going to use Skyway in the re-evangelisation of Germany. That there would be a direct connection to Germany. Then she said the name Lufthansa.... And said she is hearing the word "here"! Then a man in the audience shouted out that there is a Lufthansa flight school there in Goodyear, the same city of the church that she was speaking in! She said there would be a connection with a pilot from that school and that the name of the church "Sky-way" has significance! With David being a pilot and having trained at the Lufthansa flight school in Goodyear AND us being from Germany we align perfectly with the prophetic word that was given! The fact that we have already set up our children with home schooling , have established residency in Arizona and plan on commuting back and forth to Germany in the near future fits exactly into what we believe God is calling us to do.  In close connection with Skyway, having Pastor Greg and his leadership team as our covering and support, we have decided to branch off and begin a home church in Germany. We firmly believe that this is God's call on our lives. And although, we don't know with our human minds and strength how everything with unfold but we are believing in faith that God has a perfect plan and will use us to carry out His will in the nation of Germany.

During our most recent trip to Arizona, we received spiritual counsel, prayer assistance and other ministerial sessions to aid in the launch of our church in Germany. Amongst the many other incredible experiences we encountered and blessings we received, Pastor Greg anointed and appointed us as Pastors of the new up and coming [Revive Germany]!

Please stand with us in prayer. We need powerful intersession as the principalities over Germany are strong. We know that we will be faced with resistance and most likely persecution. But we also KNOW that our God is GREATER than any adversary! "They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony..." Rev. 12:11

The Vengas have such an incredible testimony, and I found it very inspiring. It reminds us that God will always give us guidance, even when we feel as though we hit a brick wall. This testimony makes me look forward with excitement about what God will do in Bremen the next few years. However, I must still share the Gospel here at home. It would be hypocritical and un-Christlike to ignore the lost in Alabama while boldly proclaiming the Gospel in Germany.

Besides trying to share more about Jesus in my everyday life, I want to start searching out specific opportunities to share the Good News. I have heard about a possible way to do so through some students at the BCM. A few of them participate in a UAB program that pairs  native English speakers with international students who need help learning English. Once or twice per week, the pairs meet to have a guided conversation so that the international student can practice speaking English. This not only allows the students to build a genuine relationship, but it also opens a door to possibly share the Gospel. I hope to get involved in this program next semester.

I have also considered hosting a no-pressure, casual "What do Christians believe" get-together with some food. It would provide an opportunity for foreign students, many of whom were never exposed to Christianity until coming to the US, to learn intellectually about the Gospel without ever setting foot in a church or starting an awkward conversation with a (nominally) Christian friend. While it is certainly not my goal to disguise the Gospel or sneak it into someone's subconscious, I do believe that the Spirit can work in someone's heart, even if the person's knowledge of the Good News is purely intellectual. I have not decided when I would have this get-together. I need help from others in planning and hosting it. I will post here about my experiences starting next semester.

Please pray for me over the next few months. Pray that God will guide me and use me to reach others with the Gospel. Pray that I will driven by an unexplainable love for the lost and that I abandon any fear I have to be "all in". Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me and prayed for me over the course of my short ministry! Your continuous support means very much to me.

The Return to Trucks, Fried Chicken, and Football

"I am not anyone’s slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible. When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can."

- Paul, 1st Corinthians 9:19-22 CEV

Me wearing lederhosen and
holding a German gospel tract.

For the two months I served in Heidelberg, I took the advice of the apostle Paul and diligently tried to integrate myself into German society (as comically illustrated in the picture). Paul strived to build bridges between himself and those around him by integrating himself into local culture. However, he did not change his beliefs nor the Gospel he preached. A good example of Paul's attitude is was Acts 16:3, when Paul insisted Timothy be circumcised as was expected of a Jew, even a Christian Jew. It was not wrong for Timothy to be circumcised, but his circumcision allowed him to minister to the Jews and be accepted by them as a Jew.

In Germany, I refused to speak English unless talking with native English speakers. I ate a very typical German diet, where breakfast and dinner were always bread, jam, cheese, fruit, and vegetables. I drank four to six cups of coffee every day (although I do not like coffee) as well as schorle, a roughly 1:1 mixture of a fruit juice and carbonated water. I even bought a pair of European man-capris on clearance. I did not compromise my beliefs or the Gospel I represented. My goal was to build bridges to those with whom I spoke and genuinely get to know them. Because my attitude, dress, and mannerisms made it very obvious that I was not truly German and certainly not a tourist, I was often asked in the course of a conversation such as "What are you doing here?" and "Where did you learn to speak German so well?" These questions were an incredible way to open up and share not only about the CVJM but also more importantly about the Gospel. So many Germans have grown up hearing about Jesus' death and resurrection, but very few ever understand why. To some, Jesus was a only historical figure or wise teacher. To others, He was the son of an impersonal deity and had no desire to have anything to do with mankind other than "ruining" their fun. By integrating myself into the local culture, the Lord used me to share the Good News of His love in a way not impossible for a typical American.

After making such strides to change cultures, it was hard at first for me to reintegrate back into Alabama's strange way of life. As an introvert who had lived as an extrovert for the past two months, I spent much of the first few weeks back avoiding unnecessary social contact. I dreaded going to gatherings with large groups of people, and at times, I did not leave my dorm bedroom if I knew one of my roommates was in our common space. Once, I accepted a friend's invitation to go to a Campus Crusade worship time to force myself to get out. I found the whole thing quite disturbing, and it was not the even large amount of people that bothered me. What shocked me the most were the students at the door cheerfully greeting us as we walked in. They were literally jumping up and down while yelling how glad they were that we had come. I had not seen behavior like in a very long time. I would not have even expected it from a group of hyper-charismatics! It also took me a while to readjust to cold drinks, overly-sweetened food, overly-friendly people, English spoken in public, and the necessity of driving everywhere.

Click image to enlarge graphs.

What surprised and upset me most when I returned was the very stark difference in attitudes towards the evangelism between my church family and believers outside of my church. I did not expect or desire any recognition when I returned. From my point of few, my Lakeside family financed so much of the trip that I was very much indebted to them, not the other way around. Still, they were very eager to hear about all the work God had done in Germany, even though many kept up with this blog. However, when a believer outside of the church asked me what I did over the summer, I told them I spent the summer doing missions work in Germany. The believer would usually give me a very confused look. A campus minister who asked me that question responded with "Oh. Well... did you learn any German?" I found it really upsetting that a minister of all people would not ask me how God worked or what He did. These reactions from those outside my Lakeside family seem to change when someone talks about going on a mission trip to Africa, East Asia, or South America. I do not care about any recognition from my service, but the great difference in attitude towards "traditional" missions work and sharing the Gospel in Germany upset me very much. It seems as though these brothers and sister find to strange to bring the Gospel to white people. The sad fact is that every American is familiar with the last hundred years of German history, and most are still surprised to hear that only 1-2% of the population has ever decided to become disciples of Jesus. While decisions for Christ have exploded exponentially around the rest of the world, the amount of just nominal believers in Europe shrunk over 30% in the last century, and this percent change does not account for the increase in European population, meaning that even the overall number of nominal believers in Europe decreased dramatically while the overall population has increased. I hope I can begin to bring more attention to the dearth of the evangelism in not only Germany but also in all of Europe. The Lord has tasked us with sharing the Good News with everyone.

In the end, I have readjusted well to Alabama culture, although I am still holding on to some German tendencies. (I rarely drink something cold besides milk.) However, integrating into the culture here is just as important as integrating into German culture, because while I am home, I am still obligated to share the Gospel.

Back to Birmingham

“I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God; first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”

- Hudson Taylor

My dad and I at the Holy Land Experience.

On Monday, 5. August, we began our journey back to Pioneers' headquarters in Orlando. The trip was rather uneventful, although I felt progressively worse and worse until we arrived in the early hours of the next day. I wasn't quite sure what I had caught, but looking back on it, I would wager that it was some sort of bacteria I picked up in Munich with its intensity increased due to caffeine withdrawal. (As soon as I was in Munich, I went from drinking four to six cups of coffee per day to none at all. The stupidity of this decision did not hit me until several weeks after I returned.) My temperature was the worst point was 101, four degrees higher than my usual temperature of 97.

Debriefing at Pioneer's headquarters consisted mainly of sharing with each other about our summer work, re-adapting to American culture, and dealing with an American's possible reactions towards the work we did. I missed the first half of debriefing since I could not really tolerate being out of bed, but the Pioneers staff and my team were very understanding and caring.

Herod's temple featured in the scale model of Jerusalem.

I was  ready to be home after debriefing, but my family stopped again in Ocala to visit our cousins. The visit was wonderful and allowed us some more time to visit with each other and catch up. We visited a local spring-fed lake that offered a glass-bottom boat ride. The lake was beautiful, even though we shared it with several crocodiles. We also visited the Holy Land Experience, a local theme park that offered Bible-based attractions. We watched a reenactment of a priest offering the sacrifice in the Holy of Holies, examined a room-sized scale model of Jerusalem from the early first century, and watched a play depicting the life of a very lively, Pentecostal Jesus who ran up and down the aisles of the theater yelling and healing people in the audience. When the time came for my family to head home on Sunday, we said our goodbyes to my cousins and left for Birmingham. Although we had a good time visiting in Ocala, I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed.

Munich

The cards and gifts that I left for each of the Hofmanns

On Wednesday night, 31 July, I said good-bye to all of the wonderful people with whom I worked at the CVJM. I am not very good at this sort of thing, and it felt rather awkward to me. That evening, Petra, Jan, and I sat and skyped with my parents one last time. Jan was fascinated seeing himself on the computer but was rather shy in speaking or singing. (This is probably only the second time he has been shy this summer!) He eventually warmed up to my parents, and I wound up translating sentences such as "Dwarves are growing upstairs" and "There are chickens under the coffee table." My mom and Petra made small talk about vacationing. After skyping, Jörg, Petra, and I settled down in the living room and watched Mama Mia dubbed in German. After rushed good-byes to Jörg, Petra, and Jan Thursday morning, I met the rest of the team at the CVJM. We then traveled to Munich for a mini-vacation.

The Glockenspiel at night

Upon arrival in Munich, we checked into a youth hostel that was conveniently located ten minutes from the heart of Old Munich (Altstadt). We ventured down into this part and ate at a restaurant on the main street. (I had actually eaten here when I was in Munich in 2007.) I then explored the Altstadt with a few teammates, and we eventually laid down in the Marienplatz and stared up at the Glockenspiel.

"Becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ
is the only way to Heaven on Earth!"

Even being on vacation is no excuse to not share the Gospel, especially in a country as spiritually dark as Germany. That Thursday night, I started leaving a few coins and a Gospel track with each street performer whom I passed. I tried to keep this up through my time in Munich. On the way back to the hostel, I noticed some Christian graffiti written on the inside of the Karlstor (a famous medieval city gate). I would never have expected to see something like that! I made sure to leave five tracks in the wall near the writing.

Outside the Hofbräuhaus

On Friday, 2 August, I went at noon with the group to see the Glockenspiel play. I really enjoyed it, and I was very curious how it could possibly work. I then broke away from the group and visited the German Museum. It is a main attraction in Munich and contains exhibits about German scientific and technological history. There was an interesting exhibit on electrical history, but it gave me a headache trying to decipher the name plaques and technical descriptions written in German. The last and most interesting exhibit I visited was the multi-story aviation section. Unfortunately, the museum closed before I could see all of the exhibit. After close, I went to the hostel and showered, and then I met the team at the Hofbräuhaus to eat in the courtyard and fellowship. I ate a large pig knuckle, two weisswurst, and potato dumplings. Needless to say, I was happily stuffed with traditional German food and slept well that night.

Me in lederhosen posing
with a Gospel track

On Dachau's front gate:
"Work will make you free"

Saturday morning, we went to C & A and tried on lederhosen. After a nice lunch, Josh, Lynne, and I went to visit Dachau, the infamous Nazi work camp located outside of Munich. I had been before, but I did not remember very much. It was disturbing to look around and contemplate what had happened there. I found almost as upsetting the loud, chatty American tourists who were also visiting. It seemed as though they were missing the significance of where they were. However, I am certainly very glad I returned to Dachau. It's certainly not a cheery place, but I think it is important for every tourist visiting Munich to tour this concentration camp and learn its gruesome history.

A memorial to those who died at Dachau. The memorial depicts bodies
mangled in a barbed-wire fence.

Sunday, 5 August, turned out to be an interesting day. Because our two teammates from Croatia and North Ireland had left on Saturday, only the five of us Americans were left. We watched the Glockenspiel play again at noon and then boarded our train to Heidelberg. At the train's next stop in Augsburg, the conductor informed us that the tracks ahead were blocked, and the train could not continue until the obstruction was removed. My team waited with the train for four hours, but we eventually took the recommendation of Mary and train company officials. Because we would drive from Heidelberg to the Frankfurt Airport the next day, my team traveled back to Munich and took a train bound for Frankfurt. We checked into a hotel there around 1 A.M. Monday morning. Needless to say, the last day in Munich was exhausting and frustrating, but in hindsight, it turned out to be a rather amusing adventure!