Dear Friends,
Jason was invited to attend this year's Evangelical Free Church Inland Mission staff conference at the end of May. He had been asked to simply make himself available to the 30+ German church planters in attendance as an unofficial mentor and coach. There were times of learning, reflection, sharing, worship, prayer and fun together. He had a great time and was able to get to know several of them and share stories and lessons learned. It is so encouraging to see their passion and creativity. The Lord is definitely building his church in Germany!
Starting the english conversation group last fall has proven to be a wonderful way to meet new people and get to know them. The conversations on Sunday afternoons are never planned and end up covering a wide range of topics although we do try and steer clear of politics and religion. That being said, Jason has been able to share the gospel many times - in small doses - in a very relaxed way. Now he has felt led to start a second group on Tuesday mornings for seniors. Please pray for a good start and even more relationships to be started as we continue sharing about the hope that is within us.
Jason has had the Pastorenatelier for almost 12 years and God has blessed that ministry location many times over. But we want to share with you about a difficult challenge he has had from the beginning - the neighbors who live directly above him. They have complained about a variety of things that have happened there - but mostly about the “noise” that sometimes happens when there are ministry events. Early on, Jason had to block their email address because of their nasty words. He has tried to meet with them to talk, but they refuse and even decline to reciprocate a simple, polite “guten tag” at random encounters on the sidewalk or when taking the garbage out. The landlord, who is very supportive of Jason and his work in the Atelier, finally started suggesting that they look for another place to live as they tend to complain about all the other neighbors in the building with whom Jason has a good relationship. Recently he posted the words “is forgiveness possible?” on the side of his mailbox where everyone can see it as they enter the building. Please pray that the Lord would intervene and bring some kind of breakthrough with this couple.
Thank you for standing with us.
Jason and Sue
