Dear Friends,
We are stoked! A few weeks ago I met with Stephen Beck (GEM seminary professor) and five of his students in Giessen. Christian, Esther, Bobby, Jochen and David are all graduating this fall. They had to take Stephen’s class on church planting this last semester and God met them there. They are sensing His call on their lives to plant churches. A couple of them had never even considered church planting as an option for their lives. When Stephen first told me where they were thinking of coming he instructed me in his email to pick myself back up off the floor. They think God is leading them to
Cologne! As we sat there in Stephen’s living room the discussion got more intense and exciting as we went. David was struggling. He had already been offered a job as youth pastor at his home church. But the others kept telling him that he knew that that is not where his heart is and he wouldn’t be happy there. After 2 hours of speaking into one another’s lives, we began to pray. David began to weep. He was clearly torn between an attractive youth ministry with a nice salary and stepping out in complete faith to plant churches and build a youth ministry from the ground up. Please pray for David and the others. I invited them to come to Cologne on Sept. 1 to talk more concretely about the opportunities here and how we can help them. I have also invited them to enter into a mentoring relationship with me as I start a new CMP group in October in Cologne.In case you were wondering, CMP stands for City Mentoring Program – a 2-3 year, 3-phase training and mentoring program for church planters. The first phase takes place in a group setting in which we discuss the philosophy and theology of church planting; drawing on the Word, our experience, and a manual for church planting from Redeemer Church in New York. The second phase involves a mentored internship in a church plant. The third phase is an actual mentored church plant. Stephen Beck has created this program and we are trusting God to use it in a powerful way. This fall, in addition to the group I am starting, there will be phase one groups starting in Berlin, Landau and Giessen. Please pray for the solid startup of these groups.
Parallel to this we are planning a Consultation for Church Planting on November 17 in Frankfurt and have invited key leaders of church planting ministries from across the evangelical spectrum. The initial response to the invitation has been very positive. Please pray for this one-day round table discussion. Our desire is that the evangelicals in Germany will intensify their cooperation and communication to such an extent that the way is cleared for God to grant us a true church planting movement.
Sascha & Anke Rützenhoff had their second child on June 30th - Tiago Emmanuel. Needless to say, the church planting efforts in Mönchengladbach have slowed down a bit. Sascha will be meeting with the elders of the Ev. Free Church of Krefeld soon in an effort to get that church to partner with him. Please pray for openness and generous support! I will be helping him get started on a street survey this fall. The purpose is to learn what the people in Mönchengladbach think about God and the church and to make contacts so that he can continue building his network there.
The church plant in north Cologne will begin having services this fall in a school. I will be preaching there in October. Please pray for Pastor Michael Höring as he leads this daughter church plant. His schedule is about to get very busy as he divides his time between the mother and daughter church. It will not be easy and he will begin to feel pressure from both groups for more of his time and attention.
Please continue to pray for Wolfgang & Petra Stolz and the church plant in Hennef. Anna und Paul Klassen will move there the end of the month and we will soon begin planning meetings together. Pray that they would be able to settle in quickly and that God would allow the restart of this church plant to flourish and succeed. Pray for the 40,000 inhabitants of Hennef, most of who have never heard the Gospel.
I am enjoying the new challenges of leadership in Germany. My interaction with our missionaries here always proves to be an inspiration and encouragement to me. There are also problems and concerns that weigh on us. Please pray for much strength and wisdom.
Personally, we are busy and extremely grateful for all that God is doing and for how He is providing for us through you. Sue will be flying to Oklahoma for 2 weeks starting July 24 to help her parents move into a retirement village there. I will be attending the GEM annual conference in Hungary Aug. 1-10. Roy had a good summer working in Hillsdale, MI and living with his cousin, Abe. He will take a short trip to see some of his GEM friends in Minnesota before he heads back to Juniata College in PA. He is going to be an RA this year, which will be a new challenge for him. Sam is living and working in Gillette, Wyoming, and is hoping to start taking classes at Sheridan College this fall.
Your missionaries to strategic Germany,
Jason and Sue
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