Holm's Blog

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