December update

Dear Friends,

We will never forget the radiant smile and sparkle in her eyes as M. enveloped Sue in a huge hug with kisses as she said, “Ich liebe dich” (I love you).  She was proud of the sentence she could express in German but what amazed us more was her joy.  M. is an Afghani refugee, a single woman without a male family member who has accompanied her – which is culturally both unusual and problematic.  Since her participation in the German class last August it was clear to us that she was very depressed.  We now know that she is not just depressed but grieving.  Somewhere in Turkey, along the horrific path of her flight, her husband died of a heart attack and lies buried in a strange place.  We have watched with wonder as she begins to read in German – a very important skill if she is going to not just survive but thrive as a single woman in Germany.  But what about her grieving soul?  Would you please pray that M. would open up her heart to Christ’s comforting, forgiving, healing, and enabling power – that the Savior would become her Emanuel.

Maybe you have noticed (or not!) that we have rarely made an appeal for finances in quite a long time.  God has graciously and faithfully provided for us – through many of you!  We are excited about new and greater opportunities in our ministry in light of the new and greater challenges that our sovereign God has placed on the country of Germany in the last 18 months with the refugee crisis.  And it should not come as a surprise that we are suddenly faced with a financial deficit in our support finances.  Through our many years of ministry service it is our experience that new challenges are often accompanied by a financial crisis attack.  Would you please pray for God to enable us and to bring workers alongside of us to meet these new challenges?  Would you please be willing to help us dispel this financial deficit by giving towards our ministry? Just click the appropriate link below if you can help

We wish you a Merry Christmas and joyful celebration of our Emanuel!

Your faithful partners in Germany, 

Jason and Sue

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At the end of August we invited the Afghani’s from our German classes to come to the Pastorenatelier to watch the Jesus Film in their language - Dari. We were delighted to have about 14 adults and children come. We asked them to bring finger food, which just sat on the table until I realized that they were waiting for me, as the host, to take the first plate, after which they partook as well - but only briefly, because they were totally enthralled with the film for the entire 2 hours. At the end, as Jesus ascended to heaven, they all applauded. Communication with these dear families is still very limited for us so it is hard to know what kind of an impact the film had on them. Please pray that the seeds of the Gospel will take root in their lives.

After the good experience of showing the Jesus film in Dari, I was anxious to invite our Syrian friends to watch the film in Arabic. When I asked them if they could come at the beginning of September they said they couldn’t because they were going to a “party” in another part of the city. They were celebrating Eid al-Adha, also called the "Sacrifice Feast”, which is the second of two Muslim holidays celebrated worldwide each year, and considered the holier of the two. They invited Sue and me to be their guests. It turned out to be a lovely afternoon eating interesting and delicious (Syrian-Kurdish) food and visiting in the warm afternoon sunshine. It was good to be on the receiving end of their hospitality and to be able to show our respect for a holiday that is important to them. M, with whom I have already had some interesting spiritual conversations, was the Grillmeister - and with about 100 people in attendance, he had his hands full tending two large grills. Later at home, the first thing we had to do was air out our clothes from all the grill smoke.  Continue to pray for a date to show the film in Arabic.

Dan and Elly MacLean, who are raising their support to come and work with us in our church plant with a focus on refugees, came for a short visit in September.  Aside from experiencing first-hand the work with refugees here in Cologne, they also attended a conference near Stuttgart on reaching out to diaspora peoples.  It was a great encouragement to all four of us as we experienced what our partnership could look like, hopefully in the immediate future.  They attended our worship service on Sunday, connecting with our church family.  But the highlight of the weekend was the party that we spontaneously organized in the Pastorenatelier on Saturday night. We invited the refugees, the German class helpers and our church family. The connections that were made that night were amazing. The children sat on the floor playing and coloring. Folks from our church and from the German classes were able to connect on a deeper level with the refugees. Refugees were connecting with other refugees. Dan and Elly were able to speak with the Afghanis and listen to some of the horrendous stories of how these families fled (including separation and imprisonment in Turkey) and their frustrations with everyday life as a refugee in a foreign country where they understand so little and are not understood by the locals. Please pray that the love of Christ that we continue to share with them, would begin to capture their minds and hearts.

Please pray for God’s blessing on the baptismal service we will hold on November 6, 2016.  E., our dear Turkish-German brother who put his trust in Christ early this summer, will be baptized as an expression of his new found faith in Christ.  Please pray that God would encourage and strengthen him as he faces much opposition in his life.

Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and with your financial support.
 
Peace,
Jason and Sue

update August 1

Dear Friends,
 The contacts and work with refugees continues to consume a large part of my daily routine.  In a previous letter we recounted the typical (and horrifying) journey of H and M with their four small daughters from northern Syria to Germany.  Knowing that H is a professional musician, we invited him to sing a song of lament that he had written about his home city of Kobani before the prayers of petition at our June worship service.  He consented to this request.  It was an extremely moving experience and lent a much deeper dynamic to this prayer time.  H and M are still waiting for a proper apartment as they continue to make due with a tiny studio.  As I am trying to aid the expedition of this process, H regularly comes in to ask if there is any news or to make a request.  He came to the Atelier once again with his friend, M, who is also a Syrian refugee and speaks English quite well, with the ability to translate.  H is concerned about where to enroll the girls for kindergarten and school without knowing exactly where they will be living.   After discussing his concerns, both H and M expressed their sadness and, yes, shame over the latest terror attacks in France and Germany.  They spoke of how they have experienced Christians as good and kind compared to the horrors that are being carried out in the name of Islam.  And so it was natural for me to talk about Christ, who is called the Prince of Peace.  Christ, the one who not only must be the source of world peace but peace within their hearts and souls.  It was a very engaging conversation and they gladly accepted the Arabic NT that I gave them, with the suggestion to begin reading in Luke.  Pray for continued opportunities to speak with them and read Scripture together and that God would open their hearts and minds to receive the forgiveness and peace that he is offering them.


 It's amazing what happens - or what God is doing - while you're busy doing other things.   About a year ago E, a German-Turkish man, walked into the Atelier with a great need to talk.  Recently separated from his wife and two sons, he was distraught about his family situation.  He was also dealing with a load of other personal consequences, including a period of time in prison.  At that time I was able to calm him down and he allowed me to pray for him.  Since then he has stopped by on occasion to talk with me about his struggles. A few weeks ago he stopped by again.  Once again I talked of his need for forgiveness through the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to guide him in his daily life.  He agreed to my suggestion that we both kneel right there and pray.  In full view through the large storefront window of the Atelier, he prayed a prayer of repentance as I guided him.  I have to admit that I was uncertain about his understanding or commitment to what he had prayed.  But he has been attending our services and our weekly small group regularly, participating with longing and enthusiasm.  Several times he has recounted how the sign that I had put on the stoop in front of the Atelier door after the doormat had been stolen was the impetus to walk in and talk to me.  It was a simple message for the person who had taken the mat stating that I had forgiven them and they should consider it my gift to them – and please stop by for a cup of coffee sometime.  E had never seen such a gracious offer of forgiveness before!  Please pray for E, that the God of all hope would continue to reveal himself to him, that he would grown in his love and commitment to Christ and that the Spirit would guide and aid him in unraveling and dealing with the many issues in his life.

Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and with your financial support.

Peace,
Jason and Sue

April Update

Dear Friends,
 
God has answered our prayers and we finally have a new location for our church plant. We are sharing the space with three other churches: a German church, a Russian church and a Spanish church - all of us having our worship services at different times of the week. Although we still have a few small organizational issues to work through, we are thankful for this change and finally have extra rooms for our children’s church.

We had a joyful Easter celebration followed by brunch in a nearby restaurant. We were so thankful to have a Kurdish family from Kobani, Syria, accept our invitation to the Easter service and to be our guests for brunch as well. M, reserved and soft-spoken, was pregnant with their fourth daughter when they fled Syria. They have been in Germany for about 6 months and are participating in the German classes we offer at the Pastorenatelier.  Their daughters are well behaved and appear to be happy. They warmed up to us immediately and wanted to hold our hands as we walked to the restaurant. H is a handsome and winsome man. He’s a musician and it turns out that he is kind of a rock star in Syria. Some of his YouTube videos have 50,000 views. They had to bring the baby along to German class recently, and as I don’t actually teach -  I am just the host - I offered to hold her when she was getting a little fussy. She fell asleep in my arms about 15 minutes after this selfie was taken.

Our favourite little Italian restaurant around the corner from us has changed hands. Anita and Franco are retiring and Salvatore, who has been making their pizzas for 22 years has taken over. Last week they hosted a big celebration for all of the regular customers from the neighborhood. There must have been 60-70 people there. We were engaged in an interesting conversation with a couple we had never met before when I had an idea. I went back to the kitchen and told Salvatore and he agreed immediately. We went back out into the restaurant and he asked for everyone's attention. I introduced myself and mentioned the Pastorenatelier. Then I prayed a prayer of blessing on Anita and Franco and their family, thanking the Lord for all the good food through the years. Then I prayed God's blessing on Salvatore and his family as it was no small thing for him to take this step - but something he had always dreamed of. After I said amen, there was a spontaneous applause and several people came up to me to thank me for my words.

Sue is thankful for several opportunities to present seminars on intercultural competence in February and March.  A presentation given to a local secular audience focused on the meaning and process of integration, a current hot topic in Germany.  A second seminar focusing on honor/shame cultures was presented at the Intercultural Church Planting Conference in Rotterdam, Holland.  She has several more seminars planned in May and June, both in secular and ministry contexts.  Misunderstanding, fear and rejection characterizes the reaction of many Germans/Europeans in response to the waves of refugees that have poured into Europe in the last 12 months.  She would be thrilled to have her calendar full of these seminars so please pray for many more opportunities to share, inform and mediate in regard to intercultural exchange.

Thankfully,
Jason and Sue