Germany Missions Trip 2017

Below, are the missions updates our team sent back to the US, while we were serving Jesus in Frankfurt, Germany from June 21-29.

Greetings friends and family,

Friday, June 23 was our first day in Germany as a complete team of 6. Before we set off for the day, Pastor Jason led a devotion in the beautiful cool of the morning in the back garden.

This is the Garden we did our morning Devotions from each day.

We talked about abiding in Jesus and how God grows us to be beautiful and useful for his purposes, each in his or her own way. 

Next, we set off to meet the Pastors and leaders of Mosaik Kirche (Mosaic Church) in Frankfurt. Senior Pastor Stephen Beck (below) is the man God used to begin Mosaik Kirche, and Mission Mosaik (which is a network of pastors throughout Germany, who all share the same vision to reach the Muslim people groups, along with people from all nations). 

(Pastors Jason, Stephen Beck, and Safi)

In addition to meeting with Pastor Stephen, we also met Assistant Pastors Sue, Simon, and Pascal, who all talked at length about their mission to share the power of the gospel through intercultural reconciliation modeled on Dietrich Bonhoffer’s “church for others”.

Pastor Sue, is truly a mother to these Muslim Background Believers, who works tirelessly around the clock to minister to and care for them. In the photo below, she just gave one of our team members, Dallas, the invite to move to Germany and work with Mosaik to reach Germany for Jesus. 

(Germany team member Dallas, with Pastor Sue)

(Jason with Pastor Paschal)

(Pastor Simon and Dawn)

One thing that was abundantly clear, is that the Mosaik team has a passion for building a German and refugee church in response to the global refugee crisis which has flooded the region with people who have not heard the gospel message. They have seen Turks and Iranians coming to faith because of the powerful life-changing message of the gospel. They are coming to Jesus through gospel communities, through visions, through miracles, and through the counseling and language classes that churches like Mosaik provide for these hurting people. 

Below are some photos of individuals we were able to personally share with while in Germany:

Above: These two young ladies worked in a coffee shop and were curious about the gospel, and commented that they could tell there was something different inside of us.

Above: This young Muslim mom got to experience Jesus' love from our team. She also blessed the ladies on our team by painting the Muslim art known as Kufi.

Above: We were able to share the gospel with the young muslim woman from Kosovo. 

Above: Our team was able to share the gospel with this muslim man from Pakistan. He wasn't very open to the gospel, and was trying hard to convert us to Islam at the same time. He was very nice, and intelligent, speaking 10 languages!

One of the things Mosaik Kirche emphasized was the fact that they cannot keep up with how fast the Holy Spirit is moving right now. It's an impossible speed to maintain in their own effort, therefore they rely upon the Spirit of God to guide them and empower them for this great work. The Mosaik team carries a heavy burden for the challenge of meeting the needs of newcomers and balancing the difficulties of intercultural interactions. 

Above: This is our team along with several Muslim background believers standing outside of Cafe Hope, the building Mosaik does its weekly ministry and meetings from. 

Many Germans have gardens in a separate space due to the constraints of apartment life. Sue’s garden is a beautiful alcove with tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant, and other vegetables surrounding a small garden shed. 

(The team enjoyed lunch with Sue in her Garden)

God's grace is good and He blessed us with a sweet time to get to know each other while we learned about the work He is doing in Frankfurt. We were also able to meet 3 other GEM missionaries who were visiting Frankfurt from America. (See below)

Germany Update 2

One of our main goals in coming to Frankfurt has been to encourage the missionaries, student workers, and refugee church members. Over the weekend, God graciously provided the time for us to ask questions and listen to the stories of God's work in their lives while we toured Frankfurt, worshipped at the Saturday night prayer meeting, visited an Iranian Bible study group, and attended a Mosaik church service. 

Some of our new friends include:

• Reza and Binafshe, whose son Adam was just two months old when they fled Tehran

• Saeid and Parinaz, who are expecting their first child later this year and are anxiously awaiting the results of their immigration application

• Sajad, a 24 year old young man who came to Germany alone eight months ago and just received word that his application was approved by the German government, which means he will now be able to attend German and technical skills classes

One of the weekend highlights was the prayer meeting Saturday night. Packed into the tiny back room at the Mosaik offices, we were filled with awe and wonder as voices joined together singing “Open the Eyes of My Heart” in Farsi, German, and English. Words can hardly describe the joy of uniting with other believers in worship of the one true God. We shared communion with our brothers and sisters holding hands while we sang “Amazing Grace” at the close of the evening. 

Sunday morning we attended a three-day Iranian Bible study with a group of 12-15 refugees who are hungry to know more about Jesus. Safi translated the discussion that followed a video about Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and the group members were quick to identify personal connections to the story of exile from their homeland. The group talked at length about how God sends trials our way, yet we can trust that everything is part of His plan for our lives. At the end of the study, Mickey and Dallas courageously shared their personal testimonies with the people gathered. Both narratives pointed to the fact that God has redeemed stories of brokenness and turned them into a light for Jesus. 

The afternoon church service was an opportunity to experience the “mono multicultural” vision at Mosaik. People sang worship songs with verses in German, English, Farsi, and Spanish. 

Pastor Stephen preached about fellowship with other believers known as “gemainschaft”. He gave an example in which a German congregant offended a fellowship-focused non-German. 

The message was a reminder that we need to overlook the smaller inconveniences and differences of interactions with others and keep our eyes focused on Jesus. During the service, Dawn, Safi, and Lara taught a lesson to the children of Mosaik. Dawn told the story of Paul being released from prison through the prayers of his friends. The kids enjoyed making paper chains and acting out the story. 

Our Germany team is melding together beautifully with each passing day. Our shared experiences have helped us keep going through jet lag and the challenges of overseas travel. We ask for your continued prayers for unity, that God would continue to bind us together. Also, that we would have endurance and energy to get around as we visit our new friends in the next few days. We are so thankful for your support and and encouragement. Words from home mean so much to each of us. 

The last three days have been fast and furious, but we have been in awe of God’s providence day by day. On Monday, we went to Sue’s apartment to work with Ali on editing some Mosaik Missions Conference video footage. Our objective was to distill the core message and purpose into a short promotional video to be shared with pastors who might want to attend a conference to learn more about the mono multicultural church model in Germany. The speakers in the video gave voice to the powerful work of transforming lives that God is doing in Muslim background believers all across Europe.

On Tuesday, Dawn and Safi went to visit a man in the hospital who needed encouragement from Christian brothers and sisters. Sometimes the refugees experience a kind of despair while they are waiting for the processing of their immigration applications. Being present and encouraging them was an important part of our work during the week. 

In the early evening we had been invited to Sue’s garden for an engagement party. It was an honor to be invited to celebrate with these two individuals from two polar opposite cultures, who were about to be married together in Jesus.

The Americans lent a hand putting up crepe paper decorations, grilling sausages, and preparing for the arrival of the guests. Rain was imminent, and therefore, like Elijah, we prayed and God miraculously stopped the rain and removed the threatening clouds. 

The garden was the perfect place for dancing... 

... to traditional Iranian music played on drums and an instrument (nay-an-bon), which is similar to bagpipes, but made from a cow’s stomach. 

While the grooms parents, who had come all the way from Iran, gave lavish gifts of jewelry to the new couple, his father explained that the same celebration held in Iran would have included 200 people in a grand hall instead of the small number gathered that evening. We were reminded at how the refugees have sacrificed their strong community connections by coming to a new country. 

As we left the party well after sundown, Safi commented that "Word of the Americans’ presence and love would blaze a trail all the way back to Iran." We all felt blessed to have been invited to the celebration and joyful at being able to challenge beliefs about Americans and Christians. We pray that our presence showed neighborly love to these families and their relatives back in Iran.

We knew that Wednesday was going to be a particularly long day, but we prayed that God’s grace, endless as the waves in the ocean, would cover over us and make our time fruitful. We began with a meeting of the Mosaik regional church pastors, who gather monthly to pray and encourage each other. 

One by one, each of the seven pastors reported on the status of their church plants and shared requests for prayer support. Each of the Frankfurt area churches had distinct characteristics, successes, and challenges, however each pastor told stories of miracles and revival in their own neighborhoods.

Some examples include:

•  A Romanian woman who heard Sunday worship through an open window and left her meal preparations to find out where she could find a way into the second story worship service
• A young Dutch family of eight stepping faithfully into God’s call to plant a church in an especially dark area of Frankfurt, and
•  A Muslim man with leadership potential who began attending services because of a serious of dreams he had about the church and its pastor.

These are just a few of the stories that we were able to cover in prayer that morning.

Next, Sue had asked Safi to lead a baptism class for a small group of new believers who will profess their newfound faith in a few weeks. 

Wednesday’s last stop was an Iranian Bible study in the home of Ali and Nagar. 

Many of Frankfurt’s refugees are no longer living in emergency shelters, but have been assigned secured apartment buildings. On the third floor of a 1920s art deco building, we opened our time together with sharing what God has been doing in our lives personally in the last week. 

We sang some Farsi worship songs, including our favorite “Band Band dele Man” which talks about longing for God’s presence. The rest of our time the Germany team shared life lessons from our own experiences with the help of Safi’s translation. We hoped that God would use our words and experiences to encourage and help the refugees with their own struggles. As we were leaving, one couple quietly took us aside and asked us to pray for them. We believe that God set before us many divine appointments over the course of the week, and we pray that our presence was a blessing to those with whom we spent time each day.

Thursday we sadly parted ways at the airport, but we have peace knowing that the team became united and bonded together through the work we were doing in Frankfurt on behalf of our Lord. 

By the time you read this report, we have each returned safely to our families thanks to God’s grace. From the bottom of our hearts we would like to thank each of you who supported us, both financially and with prayer. Our trip could not have happened without our circles of faith surrounding us and lifting us up before the Lord our God. We look forward to testifying to the powerful work God is doing among our brothers and sisters in Germany and the refugees who are transplanted there.

God’s peace and blessings on each of you,

The Germany team

Safi, Dawn, Jason, Mickey, Dallas, and Lara 

In photo above:

Dallas, Mickey, (Amin - Safi's nephew who lives in Germany now), Dawn, Safi, Jason, Lara