christmas update

 Christmas in the midst of loss

Dear Friends,
This Christmas has been one of farewells and loss for us. After a long struggle, a colleague of Sue's died of a brain tumor. As far as we know, he had not made peace with God and was carrying a lot of regrets to the grave with him. Sue was able to share the gospel with him over the last few months, and our prayer is that he surrendered his life to the Lord in his last days.

This week we said goodbye to dear friends and missionary colleagues who the Lord has led to another part of Germany. We send them on with God's blessing, but we will dearly miss them in life and ministry.

The next day, we laid to rest our friend Kalle. There was a very large crowd of mourners who gathered for the funeral. Jason fought for control as he began to speak, but the Lord helped him get a grip as he started into the story of the resurrection of Lazarus. Kalle wanted the gospel preached and that is just what Jason did.  It was a very meaningful time of celebrating Kalle's life and offering comfort and hope to the mourning even as we mourn with them. We will miss Kalle greatly.

The comfort of knowing that Kalle entered into glory when he died, reminds us of what Christ left behind when He came to earth that very first Christmas -"emptying himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." (Phil. 2) It was a painful sacrifice for Him to leave the riches of glory behind to be born in humble surroundings. His sacrifice for us began then and continued through his death on the cross. Jesus knows our pain like no other - and that is a great comfort for us.

 

We need your help! We are truly grateful for the Lord’s provision for us over this past year. Many of you are a part of that blessing. We try not to talk about our financial needs in these updates, but as the year draws to a close we would like to encourage you to give generously toward our ministry. In order to fund the Pastorenatelier for another year we need $14,400. It costs $1200 per month for rent, utilities, supplies, etc. So much of our ministry happens there. It is the place where our relationship with Kalle began.In order to fund the Pastorenatelier beyond this next year, we need 12 people who will commit to giving $100 per month. In addition to that, we are lacking $800/month in personal support. Here is a GIVING LINK.

 

We wish you all a blessed Christmas celebration and a happy new year!

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue

December '23 update

 Dear friends,

We had a great worship service on the first Sunday of advent. 3 days before, our pianist had to cancel because of sickness, but was able to find an awesome substitute for us - an amazing young jazz pianist in his early 20's who grew up in east Germany. Paul had never been to church before in his life. He definitely heard the gospel as we went through our liturgy and I preached from 1 Corinthians 1. After the service he told us that what impressed him most was the loving fellowship that we all were having before, during and after the service. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

Jason is part of a whatsapp group of 18 people who are looking after Kalle. Most of them are not believers but have gathered around him in a wonderful way. Last weekend he decided to read some scripture and pray with Kalle and the whole group via an audio message. Beside Kalle himself, there were all kinds of thank-yous and emojis with hearts and praying hands in the group chat. One woman said: "Thank you from me too. Even as a non-believer, your words do something to me. PEACE." Please continue to pray as Kalle's days among us draw to a close.

The window of the Pastorenatelier is decorated. Check out this short video for a close up look at the bottom ledge - eye level for all the toddlers who walk by with their parents. Here is the link.

We need your help! We are truly grateful for the Lord’s provision for us over this past year. Many of you are a part of that blessing. We try not to talk about our financial needs in these updates, but as the year draws to a close we would like to encourage you to give generously toward our ministry. In order to fund the Pastorenatelier for another year we need $14,400. It costs $1200 per month for rent, utilities, supplies, etc. So much of our ministry happens there. In order to fund the Pastorenatelier beyond this next year, we need 12 people who will commit to giving $100 per month. In addition to that, we are lacking $800/month in personal support. Here is a GIVING LINK.

We wish you all a blessed advent.

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue

november 2023 update

 Dear friends,

Jason has come to understand himself as the pastor of 2 churches. We have our small Evangelical Free Church - Cologne Project - which we love. But during the week we engage with the neighborhood where the PastorenAtelier is. We engage with and care for people who are far from God but also for many who are seeking the Lord and involved in helping us help people. On Thursdays is our small group and he cooks up a pot of soup and we read the Bible together and discuss what God is trying to say to each one of us.  We end by praying with and for each other. Because it is just off of the farmers market, there is a steady flow of folks passing by and we have seen God use the daily encounters with both new and existing contacts to draw people to Himself. Please continue praying for this strategic ministry.

We also want to update you on our brother Kalle who is dying from lung cancer. He is not doing well. He has lost a lot of weight, and his strength is waning. He is on morphine for the pain which is tricky for a recovered drug addict so he asked the neighbor lady to keep the meds with her and just give him his daily dose. Jason visits him regularly and always brings him leftover soup from our Bible study group - sharing scripture and praying with him. Please continue to pray for Kalle as he continues down this difficult road. He recently told Jason that he is so looking forward to seeing Jesus. Jason replied: He is looking forward to seeing you too, Kalle!

The english conversation group continues to go well and we are so glad we decided to do this. We have new people every week. Without prompting, they are asking great questions that give us the opportunity to share the Gospel in small doses. One guy even came to church several weeks ago!

We are truly grateful for the Lord’s provision for us over this past year. Many of you are a part of that blessing. We try not to talk about our financial needs in these updates, but as the year draws to a close we would like to encourage you to give generously toward our ministry. In order to fund the Pastorenatelier for another year we need $14,400. It costs $1200 per month for rent, utilities, supplies, etc. So much of our ministry happens there. In order to fund the Pastorenatelier beyond this next year, we need 12 people who will commit to giving $100 per month. In addition to that, we are lacking $800/month in personal support. Here is a GIVING LINK.

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue

september update

 Dear friends,

In June the first church plant that we helped start in Cologne-Porz celebrated their 30-year anniversary! Our two successors along with their spouses were also present. We are so grateful for these couples who have continued to invest much in this church. It was such a joy to share in this celebration.  As we watched a presentation of all that God has done in the last 30 years we were overwhelmed by the impact of the DNA (evangelism, discipleship, and church-planting) that we implanted back then, which has been and still is at the heart of this church.  There are multiple people who have gone out from this church to become pastors of other churches or planted new churches – in Germany and other countries.  Many have come to faith and been baptized, including a number of Iranian immigrants.   To God be the glory!

Many of you have been praying for our friend Kalle, who has lung cancer. He reluctantly started chemotherapy. It was really rough on him, and he decided to stop after a third of the treatments. He is slowly recovering from the nasty side effects. He knows that he is in the Lord’s hands and is trusting Him with his life. We are still praying for healing but ultimately that the Lord would show His power in and through Kalle and be glorified.

Please continue praying for Emrahil, our Turkish brother who we baptized 6 years ago. He has had chronic back pain for months. He is reluctant to have the surgery doctors are recommending but he does receive shots to manage the pain. In addition, he has been extremely sad lately as the major earthquake in the spring destroyed so much in his hometown of Antalya - including the family home.  Although most of his family was spared, and uncle and cousin were killed. A big bright spot in his life is that the German justice system has recently expunged his records of all his previous crimes, freeing the way for him to pursue various jobs that were out of the question with his earlier record. Praise the Lord with us for this and pray that God would now open up new possibilities for Emrahil.

I spent an hour or so recently getting to know Tom, an actor who stumbled upon my shop. We had a very interesting chat. He opened up to me about some things and I was able to share the Lord with him in small doses. We also talked about him doing an evening of readings here on the subject of grief. His mother, a devout catholic, committed suicide when he was 12. That traumatic experience left him not just with overwhelming grief, but also jaded in regard to church and God. Pray that the Lord would draw him to Himself. He has expressed interest in visiting our church.

Finally, please pray for the startup of the English conversation group in the Pastorenatelier on Sep. 10. As we serve the community by offering this, we also hope to make some new friends with whom we can gradually begin sharing the gospel.

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue

May update 2023

 Dear friends,

We have shared with you from time to time about our friend Kalle, neighbor to the pastorenatelier. For years, he was addicted to drugs and alcohol and was a drug dealer. About 12 years ago he met Jesus in Berlin and was miraculously saved. He has been clean ever since. He moved back to Cologne and right into our lives. Kalle is not shy about his faith. He talks to anyone and everyone about Jesus. Hardly a day goes by without the words “Jesus lives” coming out of his mouth. In his winsome, disarming way he doesn’t seem to have ever met a stranger.

With all that Jesus has done in his life, unfortunately he was never able to stop smoking. Recently, he was having some heart issues which were causing dizziness. While getting that checked out, they found a large tumor in his lung. It wasn’t a surprise as he has smoked his whole life - but the news is still difficult to hear. The tumor is inoperable. They could remove the entire lung, but he is already missing half a lung on the other side - so that is not an option for him. He is hesitant to do chemo but is checking into alternative medicine.

Please pray for Kalle. Pray that in His sovereignty, the Lord will show his power and strength in and through Kalle.

I recently invited the new parish priest for a cup of coffee and had a delightful visit with him. Michele  is from Rome so we share the fact that we are both foreign pastors in Germany. But that’s not all. He told me about how he heard the call to be a priest in Denver while on a catholic youth pilgrimage to the USA when he was 16!  We both chuckled as I told him that I went to Denver Seminary. Although we don’t share the same theology, as we chatted, his love for Jesus and for people became apparent to me. One more thing in common that we discovered: we both loath administrative work!  Pray for Michele in his work and that we would be a mutual encouragement to each other.  

We had a great weekend at our annual GEM Germany field retreat in March with almost 90 adults plus kids! Lots of great fellowship. I had the privilege and joy to work with a team of volunteers to plan the Sunday worship service with one of the GEM core values as our theme: “PASSION - GEM workers are passionate about seeing the lost saved and disciples multiplied.” As part of the service I delivered a monologue which captures the dream that we have for Germany. If you have a few minutes, check it out here.

In May we went on our annual church retreat. We chose the theme of wisdom: God’s vast wisdom and the wisdom that He wants to impart to us. Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue

 Dear friends,

Here are a few things to report on and for you to pray for:

Alpha Course Visit
Our dear friends, Phillip and Jules Kunhardt, have invited Jason to participate in and Alpha course they are currently leading for 20-30 friends of their 4 children. The whole thing is taking place online as their kids are scattered and all their friends even more so. They are approaching the part of Alpha where many people commit their lives to Christ. Along with 2 other “experts” they want us to come to 2 sessions. The first one will just introduce us and let us take part in the session with them as normal participants. The following week, there will be the opportunity for us to meet with participants one-on-one. We are thankful and honored for this ministry opportunity. Please pray.

A Torchbearer Connection
Through a friend, Jason was contacted by a young engaged couple with an unusual request: they met last year at the Torchbearer Bible School in New Zealand. He is American and studying now at Liberty University. She is German and currently finishing up her studies in Germany. Her pastor in Germany did not feel up to the task of doing bi-lingual, cross-cultural, long distance, online premarital counselling and so they were wondering if I would do it. Because of our common Torchbearer background, I have agreed. We will be meeting several times over the coming months.  Pray for me as I invest in these young people’s lives.

Cologne Area Leadership
After serving a number of years as the GEM German Field Leader and then the Cologne Area Leader, Jason felt led to step out of this leadership position and turn over the responsibility to a younger leader. We are pleased that the Lord has provided just the right person who also came to the same conclusion. We are co-leading over a 2-month transition period before Jason steps out. We will still be involved with our younger colleagues as the senior missionaries in the area and look forward to our continued input of experience and guidance in the lives of our team in Cologne.

Giessen School of Theology
The next board meeting will take place later this month. As you may recall, we dedicated a large addition to the campus last fall, expanding the capacity to train up to 250 students. The building turned out to be beautiful and creates an awesome vibe for the students. Jason was honored when the chairwoman of the building committee asked if he would be willing to loan a piece of his artwork. While on campus for the dedication, we looked at some of the walls that could come into question, and he was inspired to create a new piece to donate. It is the biggest canvas that Jason has transformed - 180cm X 180cm (almost 6 feet square!). Now we are facing the challenge of transporting it to Giessen 100 miles away.
 

Training in Bucharest
Next week we are flying to Bucharest for the annual GEM Leader Meetings. Sue has been asked along with a colleague to do a Multi-Cultural Leadership Training as the training portion of the conference. As GEM has become intentionally international, the need for this kind of training has become acute. Please pray that the training would be inspiring, effective, and well received.

Financial Update
As you may recall, last fall we were in need of some additional funding. We are thankful and pleased to say that our need for special gifts has, for the time being, been eliminated. Also, we are grateful to report that our monthly support shortfall has been reduced by $1000. Praise the Lord. However, we still are in need of $1600/month. If this isn’t reduced significantly, we will soon begin to slip back into a deficit situation. Please pray that the Lord would provide through His people.

Health
Our second bout with covid, just before Christmas, has apparently weakened our immune systems - especially Jason, who has had a series of short unrelated illnesses since then. Please pray for our health, especially as we have ministry travels coming up this month.

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue