March Prayer Letter

Dear Friends,
What kind of person does it take to plant a church? Is it the visionary who has a mental picture of a thriving church where none exists today? Is it the tactician who carefully and prayerfully plans a strategy and then follows it step by step? Is it the team-builder – somebody who pulls other gifted people together to start a new fellowship? Maybe it’s the pioneer – someone who just loves the challenge of starting a church from scratch. As we coach and consult with Germans involved in starting churches, we see all of these types of people represented. But ultimately, the type of person that God is looking for is one whose heart is breaking for the lost; a person whose heart beats for their neighbors and friends who are so far away from the Lord. It is the person who longs to see them reconnect with their Creator and will therefore do everything in their power to see that they are within reach of a witnessing fellowship.

Here is an update on our current church planting projects:

COLOGNE
Recently I had a lunchtime meeting with Pastor Michael Hoering and two of his elders who have committed to helping with the daughter church plant. One of them is named Dirk. As we met, he informed us that he had just learned that his employing company would most likely be severely downsized due to the buy out of the parent company. It might even be shut down. He had been on the phone all morning trying to see if there was a way he could possibly buy his employing company and save not only his job but also those of the people who work for him. I was not surprised by these events. The enemy will try to do everything he can to thwart this church plant. I was moved by Dirk’s ability to focus on the business of the church plant in the face of such immense personal pressure. Please pray for Dirk and please continue to pray for the actual launch of this church plant.

COLOGNE-IN-MOTION
We are amazed at the number of good contacts that the Gaschos and their team have made in Cologne since arriving last summer. They had over 50 people come to a Christmas party and are now working on the preparations for ministry during the Soccer World Cup which is coming up this summer in Germany. In addition, they are planning an evangelistic English camp for teenagers. Please pray that God would continue to lead and guide them and that people would begin coming to faith who would in turn, as new believers, help them start the church. Please also pray that their team members, Jared and Lori Bridges, would soon receive their visas so that they can stay and focus on the ministry at hand.

HENNEF
The group in Hennef is beginning to experience some of their first birth pains. As they get closer to adopting a paper that lays down their core values, some in the group are balking. One couple in particular is beginning to question Wolfgang’s leadership. It is so important that they go through this process. If this or that person cannot agree with the others on the core values, it would be better if they left the group now rather than stay and be divisive. Pray for true unity or a positive parting of the way. Please continue to pray for Wolfgang and Petra. Pray for steadfast hearts and long-windedness!

MONHEIM
Not long ago, I did a workshop with the group in Monheim on planning worship services. It was interesting to see a few lights go on as they considered their services to date. I especially wanted to challenge them in the area of scripture reading. All too often scripture reading is reduced to a dry and boring part of the service. In the past we have often taken a scripture reading, recorded it and added pictures and music to enhance the emotion and feel of the passage. So I showed them a few examples. This seemed to speak to several of them and we are hoping it will lead to the scripture reading in their services speaking to even more people’s hearts in the future.

SPARK
All of the funding for the multi-media equipment has come in. Thanks again to those who participated. To date, I have done the presentation 4 times to various groups of Christian leaders. I received some helpful constructive criticism but the response has been good. Please pray that God would open doors to be able to present SPARK in churches.


Gratefully,

Jason (and Sue)