Sonntag, Dezember 28, 2008
Montag, Oktober 20, 2008
October Prayer Letter
October 20, 2008
Dear Friends,
The Lord is giving us so many new opportunities to reach the German people we love, through church planting and evangelism. We want to ask you to pray intensly that God would move in a powerful way. We invite you to join us and thousands of others on Thursday, October 23, for a special day of prayer for Europe. Please go to www.GEMission.org/pray/strategic and check out the strategic and current prayer requests with pictures.
Here are some things that we especially want you to pray for:
- Pray for the cell phone film brainstorming meeting on November 2. Pray that God would give us an excellent idea.
- Praise God for the good attendance at the first two monthly worship services in Hennef. I will be preaching there on November 9 on the subject "What if God were silent?"
- Praise God for the 20 German participants at our first City Mentoring Program recruiting/training day on October 10. Pray that many of these experienced church planters would catch the vision to multiply themselves by signing up to be mentors for young church planters.
- Pray for the third Consultation for Church Planting set for November 24 in Frankfurt. Pray that this meeting of key church planting leaders would result in concrete steps toward a church planting movement in Germany.
- Continue praying for our liturgical church plant in Cologne. We have set a target date of March 1 for our first service. There is still much preparation work to be done until then. Pray for unity as we discuss our shared values and for God to lead us to just the right place to hold our services.
In an effort to increase the intensity and level of strategic prayer we would like to challenge you to consider organizing a small prayer team of 5-8 people and come over for a week of intense prayer in Germany. The week would include strategic prayer walks in and around Cologne and informational prayer meetings with our German led church planting teams in the area. If you are interested, please let us know.
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Dear Friends,
The Lord is giving us so many new opportunities to reach the German people we love, through church planting and evangelism. We want to ask you to pray intensly that God would move in a powerful way. We invite you to join us and thousands of others on Thursday, October 23, for a special day of prayer for Europe. Please go to www.GEMission.org/pray/strategic and check out the strategic and current prayer requests with pictures.
Here are some things that we especially want you to pray for:
- Pray for the cell phone film brainstorming meeting on November 2. Pray that God would give us an excellent idea.
- Praise God for the good attendance at the first two monthly worship services in Hennef. I will be preaching there on November 9 on the subject "What if God were silent?"
- Praise God for the 20 German participants at our first City Mentoring Program recruiting/training day on October 10. Pray that many of these experienced church planters would catch the vision to multiply themselves by signing up to be mentors for young church planters.
- Pray for the third Consultation for Church Planting set for November 24 in Frankfurt. Pray that this meeting of key church planting leaders would result in concrete steps toward a church planting movement in Germany.
- Continue praying for our liturgical church plant in Cologne. We have set a target date of March 1 for our first service. There is still much preparation work to be done until then. Pray for unity as we discuss our shared values and for God to lead us to just the right place to hold our services.
In an effort to increase the intensity and level of strategic prayer we would like to challenge you to consider organizing a small prayer team of 5-8 people and come over for a week of intense prayer in Germany. The week would include strategic prayer walks in and around Cologne and informational prayer meetings with our German led church planting teams in the area. If you are interested, please let us know.
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Donnerstag, September 18, 2008
Freitag, August 22, 2008
July Prayermail
July 27, 2008
Dear Friends,
Last Tuesday I met with two German Christian media talents to discuss ideas for a new way to use cell phone and internet technology to spread the Gospel in German speaking Europe and eventually all of Europe. Andreas Kranzler is an independent filmmaker that I know from our former church in Cologne. Chris Cuhls is a multi-talented young media producer who has worked on major secular and Christian productions. It was exciting to see how we shared values related to excellence, cultural relevance, risk taking, etc. A joint vision began to emerge for producing an evangelistic series of short films (2-3 minutes) targeting 18-28 year old Germans in a format that can be played on and easily forwarded to cell phones and video ipods and also platforms like blogs and youtube. We envision the segments to be intelligent and catchy, with touches of
irony and humor but dealing with issues that are on the minds of young people today and with just enough bait to get people excited about catching the following episode.
We are planning on meeting again at the end of August and inviting several more creative people including a couple of screenplay authors to brainstorm potential story concepts. We think it is important to include people who themselves are in the target age group - including several non-christians on the project would also be helpful in challenging the message and keeping us relevant.
I am excited about the potential this project can have for reaching 20 somethings in Germany and Europe for Christ - using cutting edge technology that can propagate and spread like wildfire. My role is one of catalyst and networker with maybe some creative input. Please pray that God will give us excellent ideas and people of excellence who will want to work on this with us.
QuarterChurch
Our startteam is becoming increasingly excited as the vision for the church comes into focus. We are discovering shared values and, to top it off, we like each other! Please pray for Monika & Reinhard, Ralf & Julia, Magnus & Christine and us. Pray that God would give us a spiritual unity out of which would flow much energy and power for our work. At a recent conference we learned about a theory for speeding up the conversion process. For most Germans the decision to trust Christ is a process that often takes years. The theory is that the more Christians one gets to know, the faster the process becomes. He/she sees and experiences more of Jesus in each life and the Christians, in turn, begin to love and pray for this person. To this end, we have developed a VIP list on which each of us has included several friends. We have begun praying for each others friends and are planning at least one party or event each month so that we can get to know them. In June it was Reinhard's birthday. On July 31 it will be Monika's birthday party. On Augus
t 30 Ralf and Julia will be having an open house in their new apartment. We would especially like you to pray about the Hauskonzert we are hosting in our apartment on August 22 to which we have invited all our neighbors and a few other friends. Floria is a Romanian Christian who is studying classical guitar in Cologne and coming to our new small group. She will be performing along with a friend of hers from the music school. We already have some neighbors who have said they will be coming.
Please continue praying:
Pray for Sascha and Anke Rützenhof who will be moving to their target city of Mönchengladbach Septemer 1. Pray that their core group would continue to grow in size and unity.
Pray for Adam Gascho and his team "Cologne in Motion" as they contemplate making a big change toward a house church model. Pray for courage and faith but also for lot's of love and grace as they discuss this change.
Pray for the church planting team in Hennef. They are due to begin holding monthly public worship services in September. Pray that God will bless them with a good place to meet and that many new people in Hennef will be touched with the Gospel. Pray for continued unity and joy in the leadership team of Wolfgang and Petra, Paul and Anna.
Pray for Uli and Nanja Thomas as they move to Rheinbach this summer to start up as associate pastor at the Ev. Free Church with a view to work toward a daughter church plant in nearby Euskirchen. Uli is a participant in the City Mentoring Program. We recommended him to Pastor Andreas Hildebrandt a few months ago. Praise God for how he worked in the church body to call Uli and Nanja to come even though the church initially was not looking for an associate pastor!
Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and support as we minister with and reach out to the great German people.
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Dear Friends,
Last Tuesday I met with two German Christian media talents to discuss ideas for a new way to use cell phone and internet technology to spread the Gospel in German speaking Europe and eventually all of Europe. Andreas Kranzler is an independent filmmaker that I know from our former church in Cologne. Chris Cuhls is a multi-talented young media producer who has worked on major secular and Christian productions. It was exciting to see how we shared values related to excellence, cultural relevance, risk taking, etc. A joint vision began to emerge for producing an evangelistic series of short films (2-3 minutes) targeting 18-28 year old Germans in a format that can be played on and easily forwarded to cell phones and video ipods and also platforms like blogs and youtube. We envision the segments to be intelligent and catchy, with touches of
irony and humor but dealing with issues that are on the minds of young people today and with just enough bait to get people excited about catching the following episode. We are planning on meeting again at the end of August and inviting several more creative people including a couple of screenplay authors to brainstorm potential story concepts. We think it is important to include people who themselves are in the target age group - including several non-christians on the project would also be helpful in challenging the message and keeping us relevant.
I am excited about the potential this project can have for reaching 20 somethings in Germany and Europe for Christ - using cutting edge technology that can propagate and spread like wildfire. My role is one of catalyst and networker with maybe some creative input. Please pray that God will give us excellent ideas and people of excellence who will want to work on this with us.
QuarterChurch
Our startteam is becoming increasingly excited as the vision for the church comes into focus. We are discovering shared values and, to top it off, we like each other! Please pray for Monika & Reinhard, Ralf & Julia, Magnus & Christine and us. Pray that God would give us a spiritual unity out of which would flow much energy and power for our work. At a recent conference we learned about a theory for speeding up the conversion process. For most Germans the decision to trust Christ is a process that often takes years. The theory is that the more Christians one gets to know, the faster the process becomes. He/she sees and experiences more of Jesus in each life and the Christians, in turn, begin to love and pray for this person. To this end, we have developed a VIP list on which each of us has included several friends. We have begun praying for each others friends and are planning at least one party or event each month so that we can get to know them. In June it was Reinhard's birthday. On July 31 it will be Monika's birthday party. On Augus
t 30 Ralf and Julia will be having an open house in their new apartment. We would especially like you to pray about the Hauskonzert we are hosting in our apartment on August 22 to which we have invited all our neighbors and a few other friends. Floria is a Romanian Christian who is studying classical guitar in Cologne and coming to our new small group. She will be performing along with a friend of hers from the music school. We already have some neighbors who have said they will be coming.Please continue praying:
Pray for Sascha and Anke Rützenhof who will be moving to their target city of Mönchengladbach Septemer 1. Pray that their core group would continue to grow in size and unity.
Pray for Adam Gascho and his team "Cologne in Motion" as they contemplate making a big change toward a house church model. Pray for courage and faith but also for lot's of love and grace as they discuss this change.
Pray for the church planting team in Hennef. They are due to begin holding monthly public worship services in September. Pray that God will bless them with a good place to meet and that many new people in Hennef will be touched with the Gospel. Pray for continued unity and joy in the leadership team of Wolfgang and Petra, Paul and Anna.
Pray for Uli and Nanja Thomas as they move to Rheinbach this summer to start up as associate pastor at the Ev. Free Church with a view to work toward a daughter church plant in nearby Euskirchen. Uli is a participant in the City Mentoring Program. We recommended him to Pastor Andreas Hildebrandt a few months ago. Praise God for how he worked in the church body to call Uli and Nanja to come even though the church initially was not looking for an associate pastor!
Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and support as we minister with and reach out to the great German people.
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Freitag, Mai 30, 2008
May Prayermail
May 27, 2008
Dear Friends,
Lately we have felt like kids – full of visions and dreams and cool ideas; high-fiving each other in the kitchen for the latest enhancement of the plan. The last few weeks have been exhilarating and exhausting! Here is the latest:
www.viertelkirche.de
Don’t bother clicking on that link yet because there isn’t anything there yet. We just recently reserved this Webaddress. ViertelKirche means QuarterChurch. God has been deepening and expanding our vision for a high church – free church from one church to 86 – one for every neighborhood, or quarter, of Cologne. We believe that there should be a witnessing fellowship within reach of every person in town.
Thank you for praying about this. Since we wrote last, we have had 2 small group meetings with 4 of us at the first and 6 at the second one. We are using the ancient practice of “lectio divina” in which we read the same passage of scripture 4 times with reflection and sharing in between. It has been encouraging to experience how God speaks through His word – without a lot of commentary.
God has also led 3 other couples to join with us to form a start team. From the outset, it has been important to us to set the right tone so we have each shared 3 names of people we know and would like to pray for – people we want to invite to come into a relationship with God and into the new church. Then, as we envisioned these people actually coming to faith and attending church – we read Luke 15 where Jesus tells three parables illustrating how important the lost are to him. After that we spent some time praying for these people.
Please pray that God would give us courage and unity as we begin to work with the start team to sharpen our vision and determine our shared values and formulate a mission statement.
Consultation for Church Planting
On April 14 the second German Consultation for Church Planting took place in Frankfurt. Thank you for praying. There were 24 people in attendance representing many of the national church planting ministries and denominations in Germany. It was a great day of seeing such a diverse group of people come together in a spirit of unity. After some good discussion, we unanimously approved a mission statement, vision statement and strategy. This is what we came up with:
Mission Statement: The consultation fosters church planting in Germany through cooperation at a leadership level of State Churches, Free Churches, Ministries and Movements on the basis of the Lausanne Movement.
Vision: Saturate Germany together with living churches.
Strategy: Networking, Learning, Research and Goal Setting.
We agreed together that we don't want to just talk and discuss strategies. We realize how much we need to do it in the power of Jesus. We don't want to say that lightly but want to also be much in prayer together as we meet.
We scheduled future meetings for Monday 24, November in Frankfurt and then again from 23-24 March, 2009, in Kirchheim for a two day consultation including a guest speaker. We are trying to book Michael Frost - Founding Director of Centre for Evangelism & Global Mission at Morling Theological College in Sydney and well known expert on reaching Post-Christian cultures.
It is exciting for me to be involved in the steering committee for this. It is hard to say at this point where this is all headed but we sense that God is moving as these various groups are willing to work together and focus on what we have in common (which is much) rather than on our differences (which are few).
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Dear Friends,
Lately we have felt like kids – full of visions and dreams and cool ideas; high-fiving each other in the kitchen for the latest enhancement of the plan. The last few weeks have been exhilarating and exhausting! Here is the latest:
www.viertelkirche.de
Don’t bother clicking on that link yet because there isn’t anything there yet. We just recently reserved this Webaddress. ViertelKirche means QuarterChurch. God has been deepening and expanding our vision for a high church – free church from one church to 86 – one for every neighborhood, or quarter, of Cologne. We believe that there should be a witnessing fellowship within reach of every person in town.
Thank you for praying about this. Since we wrote last, we have had 2 small group meetings with 4 of us at the first and 6 at the second one. We are using the ancient practice of “lectio divina” in which we read the same passage of scripture 4 times with reflection and sharing in between. It has been encouraging to experience how God speaks through His word – without a lot of commentary.
God has also led 3 other couples to join with us to form a start team. From the outset, it has been important to us to set the right tone so we have each shared 3 names of people we know and would like to pray for – people we want to invite to come into a relationship with God and into the new church. Then, as we envisioned these people actually coming to faith and attending church – we read Luke 15 where Jesus tells three parables illustrating how important the lost are to him. After that we spent some time praying for these people.
Please pray that God would give us courage and unity as we begin to work with the start team to sharpen our vision and determine our shared values and formulate a mission statement.
Consultation for Church Planting
On April 14 the second German Consultation for Church Planting took place in Frankfurt. Thank you for praying. There were 24 people in attendance representing many of the national church planting ministries and denominations in Germany. It was a great day of seeing such a diverse group of people come together in a spirit of unity. After some good discussion, we unanimously approved a mission statement, vision statement and strategy. This is what we came up with:
Mission Statement: The consultation fosters church planting in Germany through cooperation at a leadership level of State Churches, Free Churches, Ministries and Movements on the basis of the Lausanne Movement.
Vision: Saturate Germany together with living churches.
Strategy: Networking, Learning, Research and Goal Setting.
We agreed together that we don't want to just talk and discuss strategies. We realize how much we need to do it in the power of Jesus. We don't want to say that lightly but want to also be much in prayer together as we meet.
We scheduled future meetings for Monday 24, November in Frankfurt and then again from 23-24 March, 2009, in Kirchheim for a two day consultation including a guest speaker. We are trying to book Michael Frost - Founding Director of Centre for Evangelism & Global Mission at Morling Theological College in Sydney and well known expert on reaching Post-Christian cultures.
It is exciting for me to be involved in the steering committee for this. It is hard to say at this point where this is all headed but we sense that God is moving as these various groups are willing to work together and focus on what we have in common (which is much) rather than on our differences (which are few).
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Montag, März 31, 2008
March Prayer Letter
March 31, 2008
Dear Partners,
We have some interesting and exciting developments to tell you about.
For several years we have had the vision of starting a different kind of church in Cologne. For lack of a better term we call it a "high church-free church"; a church with liturgical elements providing a flexible structure to worship and allow for creative forms of expression but at the same time be
centered on and filled with the Gospel. We dream of being able to better reach many of our friends (and a sizeable segment of Cologne!) who are well educated, traditional Catholics and Lutherans, have a high regard for asthetics and the arts but have distanced themselves from the church.
God has led us to begin taking concrete steps to make this dream a reality. Please pray for us as we begin meeting with potential launch team members and start a new small group in our home. We are energized but also well aware of the amount of work it is going to take in addition to the other church plants we are mentoring and the responsibilities of being field director. Please also pray that God would provide us with German leadership early in the process.
The church plant in Hennef is growing! On Feb. 24 Paul & Anna Klassen had their first child - Thea. Please pray for them as well as Wolfgang, Petra and their four kids. Pray that God would protect their kids and bless their marriages.
Also pray for the city wide "Worship Night" they are planning in Hennef this spring. Pray that the launch team would grow and that they might begin planning "test services" soon. We are thankful to see how unified they are as a team.
Continue to remember Sascha & Anke Ruetzenhof and the church plant in Moenchengladbach. Pray that the launch team would grow and reach a critical mass so that they can move into planning concrete outreach events.
Pray for the Cologne in Motion team in Cologne as they wrestle with the issue of renting facilities. It is difficult to find the type of space they need for a price they can afford. Pray that God would lead them to just the right building. Thank the Lord for the unity that they have on their team. Pray for them as they strive toward multiplication. It would be great if they could have a few leaders selected yet this year to lead a first daughter church plant.
Please pray for the next Consultation for Church Planting on April 14 in Frankfurt. Pray for concrete collaborative, cross-denominational efforts that result in exponential growth in church planting in Germany! If we were to look at that which divides us - we probably would have already given up hope and yet when we focus on the important points that unify us - we see great potential for the Kingdom of God in Germany. Please pray for unity and discipline as we meet. Pray that God would help us to focus on the big picture and the immense need in this great country. May His will be done and His kingdom come to Germany!
Roy has decided to take a break next year from his studies to live and work in Alaska. Ah to be young again! Please pray that he would finish his sophomore year well and be able to earn enough money this summer for his travel and settling costs. Pray that God would use this next year in his life. Roy's desire is to have a clearer understanding of where God is leading him in the future.
The last we heard from Sam he was in Colorado Springs looking for work. Please pray for a good job and that God would protect him and reveal Himself to him (and Heidi) in new and unexpected ways.
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Dear Partners,
We have some interesting and exciting developments to tell you about.
For several years we have had the vision of starting a different kind of church in Cologne. For lack of a better term we call it a "high church-free church"; a church with liturgical elements providing a flexible structure to worship and allow for creative forms of expression but at the same time be
centered on and filled with the Gospel. We dream of being able to better reach many of our friends (and a sizeable segment of Cologne!) who are well educated, traditional Catholics and Lutherans, have a high regard for asthetics and the arts but have distanced themselves from the church.God has led us to begin taking concrete steps to make this dream a reality. Please pray for us as we begin meeting with potential launch team members and start a new small group in our home. We are energized but also well aware of the amount of work it is going to take in addition to the other church plants we are mentoring and the responsibilities of being field director. Please also pray that God would provide us with German leadership early in the process.
The church plant in Hennef is growing! On Feb. 24 Paul & Anna Klassen had their first child - Thea. Please pray for them as well as Wolfgang, Petra and their four kids. Pray that God would protect their kids and bless their marriages.Also pray for the city wide "Worship Night" they are planning in Hennef this spring. Pray that the launch team would grow and that they might begin planning "test services" soon. We are thankful to see how unified they are as a team.
Continue to remember Sascha & Anke Ruetzenhof and the church plant in Moenchengladbach. Pray that the launch team would grow and reach a critical mass so that they can move into planning concrete outreach events.
Pray for the Cologne in Motion team in Cologne as they wrestle with the issue of renting facilities. It is difficult to find the type of space they need for a price they can afford. Pray that God would lead them to just the right building. Thank the Lord for the unity that they have on their team. Pray for them as they strive toward multiplication. It would be great if they could have a few leaders selected yet this year to lead a first daughter church plant.
Please pray for the next Consultation for Church Planting on April 14 in Frankfurt. Pray for concrete collaborative, cross-denominational efforts that result in exponential growth in church planting in Germany! If we were to look at that which divides us - we probably would have already given up hope and yet when we focus on the important points that unify us - we see great potential for the Kingdom of God in Germany. Please pray for unity and discipline as we meet. Pray that God would help us to focus on the big picture and the immense need in this great country. May His will be done and His kingdom come to Germany!
Roy has decided to take a break next year from his studies to live and work in Alaska. Ah to be young again! Please pray that he would finish his sophomore year well and be able to earn enough money this summer for his travel and settling costs. Pray that God would use this next year in his life. Roy's desire is to have a clearer understanding of where God is leading him in the future.
The last we heard from Sam he was in Colorado Springs looking for work. Please pray for a good job and that God would protect him and reveal Himself to him (and Heidi) in new and unexpected ways.
Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue
Donnerstag, Februar 07, 2008
February Prayer Letter
Feb. 6, 2008
Dear Friends,
God is working through the City Mentoring Program (CMP). Please check out our 5 minute video update filling you in on the latest:
Pray for the CMP board meeting this weekend - that God would give us wisdom and faith as we plan for nation-wide impact.
The Consultation for Church Planting on Nov 17 in Frankfurt was a success. We all agreed to meet again in the spring. Please pray for the planning meeting scheduled for March 20. We do not want to be content with just meeting and communicating - as good as that is. We want to see concrete collaborative, cross-denominational efforts that result in exponential growth in church planting in Germany!
Pray for Wolfgang & Petra, Paul & Anna in Hennef as they continue to lay the foundation for the church plant there. They are planning to start "test worship services" every 6-8 weeks this spring and are looking at launching the church this summer. Pray for our next meeting on Feb. 18.
Don't forget to keep praying for Sascha and Anke Ruetzenhof as they work toward the church plant in Moenchengladbach. After a lot of networking in Moenchengladbach, Sascha felt it was time to see if he could pull a start team together. He sent out an invitiation to an informational meeting hoping and praying that at least 10 people would come. The following day he called me with the great news that 20 people came! Pray for him as he is in the process of getting to know these people better with a view to selecting a few to make up his core group.
Please be in prayer for Sue as she speaks on Feb 16 to women attending a new womens ministry designed to encourage younger women in their spiritual and personal growth. Pray that God would use Sue in a powerful way in the lives of these women.
We had a wonderful Christmas with Roy and Sam and Heidi (Sam's girlfriend) in Cologne. Please continue to pray for them as they work and go to school and consider their futures. Here is a picture taken Christmas day (from left to right: Jason, Sue, Roy, Heidi and Sam.)
We would like to say a special thank you to all those who supported us in 2007. We are grateful for the ongoing support as well as the special year end gifts. God has provided for us in a wonderful way through you! Thank you so much for standing with us as we minister and serve in Germany!
Gratefully,
Jason and Sue
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