November 9 - a significant day

November 9, 2009

Dear friends,
Today is the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall. There is much talk about this in Germany with lots of television coverage and events celebrating this amazing event and the peaceful revolution that led to it. Unfortunately, most accounts fail to give enough credit to the role churches played in toppling the East German regime. The prayer and candlelight vigils for peace at the historic Lutheran church in Leipzig were the main catalyst that led to the toppling of the Wall. For years people on both sides of the iron curtain didn't dare to hope for it. As the groundswell grew, so did the tension and fear of violence. In my opinion, the only explaination for the lack of a bloody crackdown is God. In His sovereignty, he responded to the prayer of thousands and moved to break through what many thought was a hopeless situation.

Prayer is a force that we haven't even begun to understand. When the almighty God responds to our prayer, mountains move and walls come tumbling down! On this historic day, as your missionaries to Germany, we want to ask you to PRAY as you never have before for God to BREAK THROUGH the spiritual darkness that prevails in this important country at the center of the new Europe. PLEASE PRAY for His will to be done in Germany as it is in heaven! PRAY that thousands of people will turn their hearts to Him and that a second reformation will sweep through Germany and all of Europe and on to the rest of the world.

Yours for His Kingdom,
Jason and Sue

PS: In Germany, when talking about dates, we put the day before the month; just the oppisite as in North America. In Germany, today is 9-11-2009. Interesting, isn't it? On this significant day, please pray with us for a BREAKTHROUGH!

PPS: As the year draws to a close and you consider your budget for 2010 - would you prayerfully consider supporting us financially, either with a special gift or with a pledge of regular support? Perhaps you have been giving to our ministry and would like to increase the amount or send a special gift to help us out. Click here to download a faith promise pledge or click here to fill out GEM's secure online form.

Update from Ontario!

October 28, 2009

Dear Friends,
As we mentioned in our last update, it has been 3 years since our last Home Ministry Assignment so we have decided to take 3 shorter trips over the next year to the different areas in which we have a concentration of churches and friends who support us. We are currently mid-way through our first trip to Ontario and the Detroit area October 15 - November 18. Thank you for praying for us. We started out the trip with both of us being quite sick - to the point of having to cancel some of our meetings in Oshawa. I recovered quickly, but Sue has been struggling for some time, but I am pleased to say that she is now feeling better. Please pray for a full recovery.

Due to the continued weak dollar and the recession, we have a monthly shortfall of $1500. That is the main reason for this trip.

As the year draws to a close and you consider your budget for 2010 - would you prayerfully consider supporting us financially, either with a special gift or (more importantly for us) with a pledge of regular support? Perhaps you have been giving to our ministry and would like to increase the amount or send a special gift to help us out. Click here to download a faith promise pledge form or click on and print out the form at the bottom of this email to send in your pledge. Or click here to fill out GEM's secure online form.

After almost 18 years of ministry in Europe, we are humbled and grateful for all that God has done and for how He has provided so faithfully through people like you. Thank you.

Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue

September 22, 2009

Dear Friends,
A hopeless case... Those were the first words of my sermon about the 10 lepers Jesus healed (Luke 17:11-19) In those days, there was no cure for leprosy. People who contracted this awful disease were banned to the outskirts of town to a lonely existence of suffering. These 10 pitiful men cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them. In their hopelessness and great need they believed in the one who could fulfill their need like no other.

I finished the message with an illustration about the sweet spot on a golf club. When you find the sweet spot on your driver with the golfball you know it immediately. It feels so good. There are no extra vibrations; just a lovely PING and the ball sails perfectly down the fairway. For a moment, all is right with the world! There is no spot like the sweet spot.

The same is true in life. The sweet spot in life is the exact point where we recognize our hopelessness, our need, and allow God to fill it. It is the place in our existence where we recognize that we cannot, but He can! It is the spot where the creature reconnects with the creator. And like the one leper who came back to thank Jesus, the PING in our lives is the sound of our thanks and worship. The sweet spot. That's where we want to live our lives.

There were 40+ people at our CologneProject service on Sep. 13. Many of them were there to see Ralf and Julia's little Theo be dedicated - like Ralf's two bosses. How was I to know that they play golf, and know all about the sweet spot. One of them said he found the whole service so good that he plans on returning and bringing friends!

Praise God with us for the lives that were touched that day. Pray that God would continue to work in the hearts of those who came. Pray that we would be wise and bold as we engage with those from our individual networks at other social gatherings. One of our dearest friends who we have shared much with is opening a new store downtown and we have been invited to an opening night party. Pray for good encounters and open hearts.

Our field is growing. Emilee Head arrives in Cologne on Sep 23. Emilee will be helping us with the church plant and be looking for ways to reach out to the homosexual community in Cologne with the healing love of Jesus. Please pray especially for a good apartment she can share with a roommate.

Please also be praying for the upcoming City Mentoring Program (CMP) conference on Oct. 2 in Berlin with 70+ participants. CMP is program to train and mentor men and women, who have a strong passion, the potential, and mix of personality, ability, education, and spiritual gifts, to lead major city church plants - or more correctly, major city church planting movements - in city centers of German-speaking Europe. This is the first time we are bringing together participants from around the country for a day of training and vision casting. I will be taking part in a panel discussion with several other veteran church planters. Please pray especially for Stephen Beck as he leads this conference and ministry.

It has been 3 years since our last Home Ministry Assignment. Instead of coming home for 3-6 months, we have decided to take 3 shorter trips over the next year to the different areas in which we have a concentration of churches and friends who support us. Please pray for our upcoming trip to Ontario and the Detroit area October 15 - November 18. Pray for safe travels and that God would go before us. We need quite a bit of new financial support as we have lost support due to the recession and continue to suffer under a very weak dollar. Let us know if you want to get together while we are in your area!

Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue

more pictures from our July 5 service

Prayermail 20 July 09

July 20, 2009

Dear Friends,
We had 20+ people at our CologneProject service on July 5 - a warm summer day. This being our third monthly service, we were more relaxed about our liturgy but intense about lovingly preparing everything carefully to honor God and inspire our guests to worship with us. This time we had 2 musicians: Abel, the Spanish guitarist who participated in June, accompanied our singing and Dorothee, a relative of one of our team members, travelled up from Frankfurt to perform on her Cello doing several pieces throughout the service and playing quietly during communion. The acoustics were ideal and her music filled the room, even drawing tears from some it was so beautiful!

I preached on Luke 6 about logs and splinters. Why did Jesus always have such hard words for us - calling us hypocrites and like the blind leading the blind. The answer: His great love for us. He wants us to recognize the truth about ourselves so that we can grow. He relentlessly pursues us, never giving up on us because he wants so much more for us! He paints a picture of a people who don't judge or condemn each other and who forgive each other and are so generous with each other that the blessing will overflow - pressed down, shaken together and running over! After the service we had a delicious meal in the courtyard and enjoyed getting to know the guests that came.


One of our values is to do everything simply but well. During the next weeks we will be working on getting our web site up and running and starting to plan a retreat for October - inviting about 30 believers and not-yet-believers to join us. Included will be morning devotions, evening vespers, cooking together and having significant times of fellowship at the table and a special interactive session to discuss the claims of Christ. Please pray for us as we plan. Pray that God would already be moving in the hearts of those He wants to attend.

After a two month wait, we have finally received notice from the German authorities, that the CologneProject received official non-profit status! This is another milestone in the development of the church plant for which we are grateful.

Because of lacking financial support, we are planning a 4 week fund raising trip to Ontario starting mid October. The recession has hit us hard. Last month we had to take a 30% salary cut. Ouch! Please pray for us in this regard - and give if you can. Thanks.

Your missionaries to Germany

Jason and Sue

invitation to the next KölnProjekt service this Sunday

Prayermail June 25

June 25, 2009

Dear Friends, Thank you for praying for our second CologneProject worship service on June 7. The service went really well. The atmosphere was great and the meal afterward was delicious. 24 people attended service.

Check out this story on the GEM website about a couple we met the week before at an Italian restaurant who came to the service!

Please pray for our next service on July 5. Abel, the young Spanish guitarist who was referred to us, had such a good time on June 7 that he was more than willing to come back and accompany our singing next time. We have also invited a cellist to perform several solos. We are praying for at least 30 people to come. Pray for me as I prepare my sermon on Logs and Splinters (Luke 6:36-42). Pray that the neighbors and friends we are inviting will come and sense God's love and presence and respond to His word.

Our City Mentoring Program group has it's last meeting this Friday in the form of a celebration meal in our home. Please pray for the 10 participants and the potential of at least 4 new church plants they represent. Pray for us as we seek to follow up with them, encourage them and mentor them. Pray also for the contacts we have had for our next group which will start in the fall.

We try hard to avoid talking about money in our updates but feel compelled to do so this time. This is the second month in the last 3 that we have had a significant reduction in our GEM salary and have not been able to be reimbursed for our incurred ministry expenses. God is working in our ministry as never before. There are so many open doors and exciting opportunities! We are 100% dependent on God providing through His people and churches in North America. If you are able to send in a special gift, pledge to begin support or increase the amount you already give - now would be a good time! Please let us know if you can help.

God bless you.

Loving Greetings,

Jason and Sue

June 6 Prayermail

June 6, 2009

Dear Friends,

Please pray for our second CologneProject worship service tomorrow (June 7) at 11:00 am German time. Our first service on May 3, with 22 in attendance, went well considering how stiff and nervous we all were. There was also some tension afterward in regard to my gospel sermon. Some thought that I came on too strong. We are working through that but in the mean time we are excited about the service tomorrow. The theme is: God's extravagant love (1. John 4:7-12) We have a Spanish guitarist doing music and a German actress doing the scripture and dramatic readings. Combine that with an American preacher (yours truly!) and we have a very international flair.

Pray that those we have invited will actually come. Pray for unity and a spirit of love and grace. Pray that God will speak to all of us and that many will stay for the dinner we are providing afterward. Fellowship around the table is key to building relationships and engaging with people on a heart level.

Thank you for standing with us as we seek a breakthrough in Cologne.

Loving Greetings,

Jason and Sue

Prayermail 27. April 2009

April 27, 2009

Dear Friends,

Please pray for our first CologneProject worship service set for May 3 at 11:00 am. After almost a full year of planning, praying, laughing and dreaming it is hard to believe the time has come. We are very thankful for the 3 other creative couples who have joined us on this journey. As we began planning this first service we had the opportunity to teach our German friends the expression "where the rubber meets the road". The differences in our backgrounds and expectations were uncovered as we went from discussing our liturgy to actually deciding on what elements we want included in our first service. We are very excited about this and are getting encouraging confirmation from the very people we hope to reach. We have commissioned a communication designer to design a logo and corporate design for our printed material and web site. As he interviewed us to get a feeling for what we are all about he became quite animated and ended up giving us a price well below half of the market value for his work. The owner of our rental location is granting the rooms free-of-charge for this first service. At a recent party celebrating the new offices of our architect couple, we spoke with several different influential business people who were very interested in what we are doing and plan on coming to check it out. Please pray for the many remaining details that need to be covered before Sunday. Pray that God would be glorified this weekend and that people would be inspired to put their faith in Him and join us in giving Him glory.

To begin with we are planning 4 monthly services to be held in a restored factory building. The space is normally used for various kinds of receptions, business or artistic events. We have decided that we want to do a soft start without advertising, simply inviting a few friends and neighbors. We need to practice our liturgical style and don't want to put ourselves under too much pressure. During this time, we will be working with our designer to get our web site functional and contacting musicians and artists to make guest appearances in our services. This Sunday we have the joy of having our friend Floria Nica, a concert guitarist, playing for us. If we feel that we are ready, we are thinking of planning a grand opening for September to which we will invite many more people including business leaders and dignitaries.

Please also be praying for our next house concert on May 16 with our colleague Durand Robinson who has a wonderful, folksy voice and musical style of story telling. We already have several neighbors and friends who said they want to come. Pray for good connections as we mix our church friends with our other friends.

Thank you for standing with us as we seek a breakthrough in Cologne.

Loving Greetings,

Jason and Sue

February update

February 18, 2009

Praying for a breakthrough

Last month Sue and I celebrated the 17th anniversary of our arrival in Germany. We are grateful for all that the Lord has done; for the people who have come to faith and the churches that have been planted. We are thankful but not satisfied. Germany remains a very needy mission field.

Recently our mission leadership approached us with an idea that we immediately embraced. Cologne has been named a "breakthrough" city by our mission, along with Sophia, Bulgaria. The 9 GEMers who live here have been praying intensely about what a breakthrough in Cologne might look like. The vision God has begun to reveal to us is to see His Kingdom breaking through the spiritual darkness in Cologne through a movement of rapidly reproducing churches. We are urgently asking God for thousands of new and growing Jesus followers across Cologne. To start with, we are on a manhunt for at least 100 Persons of Peace (Luke 10) who would then be a part of the planting of scores of new churches.

Prayer is not just the basis of breakthrough but our primary strategy. In order to see breakthrough, we ask you to join us and pray persistently and unashamedly until God acts. To that end, we have begun a new wave of prayer walking in Cologne. Going out two by two, at least twice a week and simply praying; praying for the people we see, for the schools, hospitals and businesses we pass. And as God leads us, we are engaging with people along the way, offering to pray for them and trying to discover if they are open to spiritual things and hoping to ascertain whether they are a person of peace or not.

Breakthrough cannot be achieved on our own. We desperately need to mobilize and partner with existing churches, local believers, and students passionate about church planting, and other Mission focused groups - both European and North American.

Our aim is to recruit and train national as well as international young people to plant churches, offering them a 1-2 year internship. The initial focus will be prayer walking, and connecting with people of peace - with expansion to disciple making and church planting.

Recruiting multiple short-term teams from North American churches that will come for 1-2 weeks and join with us in prayer walking and finding persons of peace is also a part of the strategy. We also hope to recruit many more long-term church planters to move to Cologne.

Please pray with us as we enter this new and exciting phase of ministry. We expect great things from God.

Also, please continue to pray for our other church planting efforts:

The liturgical church plant in Cologne: We had hoped to hold our first service on March 1 but have decided to postpone. We just need more time to formulate our shared values and to determine what our liturgy will look like.

City Mentoring Program: There are 11 people participating in our present phase 1 group. We meet every 3 weeks for a 3-hour session to discuss the various aspects of church planting. Our most recent session on Monday was all about developing a philosophy of ministry. It is energizing to be speaking into these people's lives. One couple drives 3 hours from northern Germany to participate.

New Missionaries! We have had three new missionaries arrive on the field and another 3 expected still this year. God is answering our prayers for more workers to join in the harvest! Please pray for these people as they go through huge adjustments living in a different culture and learning the language.

The next consultation for church planting is scheduled for March 23-24, our first 2-day meeting. We have the privilege of having Michael Frost speak to us. He is the co-author of a fascinating book on post-modern missions: "The shaping of things to come." This book is really challenging my thinking and I highly recommend it.

Thank you for standing with us.

Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue

Christmas 2008

October Prayer Letter

October 20, 2008

Dear Friends,
The Lord is giving us so many new opportunities to reach the German people we love, through church planting and evangelism. We want to ask you to pray intensly that God would move in a powerful way. We invite you to join us and thousands of others on Thursday, October 23, for a special day of prayer for Europe. Please go to www.GEMission.org/pray/strategic and check out the strategic and current prayer requests with pictures.

Here are some things that we especially want you to pray for:

- Pray for the cell phone film brainstorming meeting on November 2. Pray that God would give us an excellent idea.

- Praise God for the good attendance at the first two monthly worship services in Hennef. I will be preaching there on November 9 on the subject "What if God were silent?"

- Praise God for the 20 German participants at our first City Mentoring Program recruiting/training day on October 10. Pray that many of these experienced church planters would catch the vision to multiply themselves by signing up to be mentors for young church planters.

- Pray for the third Consultation for Church Planting set for November 24 in Frankfurt. Pray that this meeting of key church planting leaders would result in concrete steps toward a church planting movement in Germany.

- Continue praying for our liturgical church plant in Cologne. We have set a target date of March 1 for our first service. There is still much preparation work to be done until then. Pray for unity as we discuss our shared values and for God to lead us to just the right place to hold our services.

In an effort to increase the intensity and level of strategic prayer we would like to challenge you to consider organizing a small prayer team of 5-8 people and come over for a week of intense prayer in Germany. The week would include strategic prayer walks in and around Cologne and informational prayer meetings with our German led church planting teams in the area. If you are interested, please let us know.

Your missionaries to Germany,

Jason and Sue

september update 2008

Here is your update in video form. Enjoy

July Prayermail

July 27, 2008

Dear Friends,
Last Tuesday I met with two German Christian media talents to discuss ideas for a new way to use cell phone and internet technology to spread the Gospel in German speaking Europe and eventually all of Europe. Andreas Kranzler is an independent filmmaker that I know from our former church in Cologne. Chris Cuhls is a multi-talented young media producer who has worked on major secular and Christian productions. It was exciting to see how we shared values related to excellence, cultural relevance, risk taking, etc. A joint vision began to emerge for producing an evangelistic series of short films (2-3 minutes) targeting 18-28 year old Germans in a format that can be played on and easily forwarded to cell phones and video ipods and also platforms like blogs and youtube. We envision the segments to be intelligent and catchy, with touches of irony and humor but dealing with issues that are on the minds of young people today and with just enough bait to get people excited about catching the following episode.

We are planning on meeting again at the end of August and inviting several more creative people including a couple of screenplay authors to brainstorm potential story concepts. We think it is important to include people who themselves are in the target age group - including several non-christians on the project would also be helpful in challenging the message and keeping us relevant.

I am excited about the potential this project can have for reaching 20 somethings in Germany and Europe for Christ - using cutting edge technology that can propagate and spread like wildfire. My role is one of catalyst and networker with maybe some creative input. Please pray that God will give us excellent ideas and people of excellence who will want to work on this with us.

QuarterChurch
Our startteam is becoming increasingly excited as the vision for the church comes into focus. We are discovering shared values and, to top it off, we like each other! Please pray for Monika & Reinhard, Ralf & Julia, Magnus & Christine and us. Pray that God would give us a spiritual unity out of which would flow much energy and power for our work. At a recent conference we learned about a theory for speeding up the conversion process. For most Germans the decision to trust Christ is a process that often takes years. The theory is that the more Christians one gets to know, the faster the process becomes. He/she sees and experiences more of Jesus in each life and the Christians, in turn, begin to love and pray for this person. To this end, we have developed a VIP list on which each of us has included several friends. We have begun praying for each others friends and are planning at least one party or event each month so that we can get to know them. In June it was Reinhard's birthday. On July 31 it will be Monika's birthday party. On August 30 Ralf and Julia will be having an open house in their new apartment. We would especially like you to pray about the Hauskonzert we are hosting in our apartment on August 22 to which we have invited all our neighbors and a few other friends. Floria is a Romanian Christian who is studying classical guitar in Cologne and coming to our new small group. She will be performing along with a friend of hers from the music school. We already have some neighbors who have said they will be coming.

Please continue praying:
Pray for Sascha and Anke Rützenhof who will be moving to their target city of Mönchengladbach Septemer 1. Pray that their core group would continue to grow in size and unity.

Pray for Adam Gascho and his team "Cologne in Motion" as they contemplate making a big change toward a house church model. Pray for courage and faith but also for lot's of love and grace as they discuss this change.

Pray for the church planting team in Hennef. They are due to begin holding monthly public worship services in September. Pray that God will bless them with a good place to meet and that many new people in Hennef will be touched with the Gospel. Pray for continued unity and joy in the leadership team of Wolfgang and Petra, Paul and Anna.

Pray for Uli and Nanja Thomas as they move to Rheinbach this summer to start up as associate pastor at the Ev. Free Church with a view to work toward a daughter church plant in nearby Euskirchen. Uli is a participant in the City Mentoring Program. We recommended him to Pastor Andreas Hildebrandt a few months ago. Praise God for how he worked in the church body to call Uli and Nanja to come even though the church initially was not looking for an associate pastor!

Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and support as we minister with and reach out to the great German people.

Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue

May Prayermail

May 27, 2008

Dear Friends,
Lately we have felt like kids – full of visions and dreams and cool ideas; high-fiving each other in the kitchen for the latest enhancement of the plan. The last few weeks have been exhilarating and exhausting! Here is the latest:

www.viertelkirche.de

Don’t bother clicking on that link yet because there isn’t anything there yet. We just recently reserved this Webaddress. ViertelKirche means QuarterChurch. God has been deepening and expanding our vision for a high church – free church from one church to 86 – one for every neighborhood, or quarter, of Cologne. We believe that there should be a witnessing fellowship within reach of every person in town.

Thank you for praying about this. Since we wrote last, we have had 2 small group meetings with 4 of us at the first and 6 at the second one. We are using the ancient practice of “lectio divina” in which we read the same passage of scripture 4 times with reflection and sharing in between. It has been encouraging to experience how God speaks through His word – without a lot of commentary.

God has also led 3 other couples to join with us to form a start team. From the outset, it has been important to us to set the right tone so we have each shared 3 names of people we know and would like to pray for – people we want to invite to come into a relationship with God and into the new church. Then, as we envisioned these people actually coming to faith and attending church – we read Luke 15 where Jesus tells three parables illustrating how important the lost are to him. After that we spent some time praying for these people.

Please pray that God would give us courage and unity as we begin to work with the start team to sharpen our vision and determine our shared values and formulate a mission statement.


Consultation for Church Planting

On April 14 the second German Consultation for Church Planting took place in Frankfurt. Thank you for praying. There were 24 people in attendance representing many of the national church planting ministries and denominations in Germany. It was a great day of seeing such a diverse group of people come together in a spirit of unity. After some good discussion, we unanimously approved a mission statement, vision statement and strategy. This is what we came up with:
Mission Statement: The consultation fosters church planting in Germany through cooperation at a leadership level of State Churches, Free Churches, Ministries and Movements on the basis of the Lausanne Movement.
Vision: Saturate Germany together with living churches.
Strategy: Networking, Learning, Research and Goal Setting.

We agreed together that we don't want to just talk and discuss strategies. We realize how much we need to do it in the power of Jesus. We don't want to say that lightly but want to also be much in prayer together as we meet.

We scheduled future meetings for Monday 24, November in Frankfurt and then again from 23-24 March, 2009, in Kirchheim for a two day consultation including a guest speaker. We are trying to book Michael Frost - Founding Director of Centre for Evangelism & Global Mission at Morling Theological College in Sydney and well known expert on reaching Post-Christian cultures.

It is exciting for me to be involved in the steering committee for this. It is hard to say at this point where this is all headed but we sense that God is moving as these various groups are willing to work together and focus on what we have in common (which is much) rather than on our differences (which are few).

Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue

March Prayer Letter

March 31, 2008

Dear Partners,
We have some interesting and exciting developments to tell you about.

For several years we have had the vision of starting a different kind of church in Cologne. For lack of a better term we call it a "high church-free church"; a church with liturgical elements providing a flexible structure to worship and allow for creative forms of expression but at the same time be centered on and filled with the Gospel. We dream of being able to better reach many of our friends (and a sizeable segment of Cologne!) who are well educated, traditional Catholics and Lutherans, have a high regard for asthetics and the arts but have distanced themselves from the church.

God has led us to begin taking concrete steps to make this dream a reality. Please pray for us as we begin meeting with potential launch team members and start a new small group in our home. We are energized but also well aware of the amount of work it is going to take in addition to the other church plants we are mentoring and the responsibilities of being field director. Please also pray that God would provide us with German leadership early in the process.

The church plant in Hennef is growing! On Feb. 24 Paul & Anna Klassen had their first child - Thea. Please pray for them as well as Wolfgang, Petra and their four kids. Pray that God would protect their kids and bless their marriages.

Also pray for the city wide "Worship Night" they are planning in Hennef this spring. Pray that the launch team would grow and that they might begin planning "test services" soon. We are thankful to see how unified they are as a team.

Continue to remember Sascha & Anke Ruetzenhof and the church plant in Moenchengladbach. Pray that the launch team would grow and reach a critical mass so that they can move into planning concrete outreach events.

Pray for the Cologne in Motion team in Cologne as they wrestle with the issue of renting facilities. It is difficult to find the type of space they need for a price they can afford. Pray that God would lead them to just the right building. Thank the Lord for the unity that they have on their team. Pray for them as they strive toward multiplication. It would be great if they could have a few leaders selected yet this year to lead a first daughter church plant.

Please pray for the next Consultation for Church Planting on April 14 in Frankfurt. Pray for concrete collaborative, cross-denominational efforts that result in exponential growth in church planting in Germany! If we were to look at that which divides us - we probably would have already given up hope and yet when we focus on the important points that unify us - we see great potential for the Kingdom of God in Germany. Please pray for unity and discipline as we meet. Pray that God would help us to focus on the big picture and the immense need in this great country. May His will be done and His kingdom come to Germany!

Roy has decided to take a break next year from his studies to live and work in Alaska. Ah to be young again! Please pray that he would finish his sophomore year well and be able to earn enough money this summer for his travel and settling costs. Pray that God would use this next year in his life. Roy's desire is to have a clearer understanding of where God is leading him in the future.

The last we heard from Sam he was in Colorado Springs looking for work. Please pray for a good job and that God would protect him and reveal Himself to him (and Heidi) in new and unexpected ways.

Your missionaries to Germany,
Jason and Sue

February Prayer Letter

Feb. 6, 2008

Dear Friends,
God is working through the City Mentoring Program (CMP). Please check out our 5 minute video update filling you in on the latest:



Pray for the CMP board meeting this weekend - that God would give us wisdom and faith as we plan for nation-wide impact.

The Consultation for Church Planting on Nov 17 in Frankfurt was a success. We all agreed to meet again in the spring. Please pray for the planning meeting scheduled for March 20. We do not want to be content with just meeting and communicating - as good as that is. We want to see concrete collaborative, cross-denominational efforts that result in exponential growth in church planting in Germany!

Pray for Wolfgang & Petra, Paul & Anna in Hennef as they continue to lay the foundation for the church plant there. They are planning to start "test worship services" every 6-8 weeks this spring and are looking at launching the church this summer. Pray for our next meeting on Feb. 18.

Don't forget to keep praying for Sascha and Anke Ruetzenhof as they work toward the church plant in Moenchengladbach. After a lot of networking in Moenchengladbach, Sascha felt it was time to see if he could pull a start team together. He sent out an invitiation to an informational meeting hoping and praying that at least 10 people would come. The following day he called me with the great news that 20 people came! Pray for him as he is in the process of getting to know these people better with a view to selecting a few to make up his core group.

Please be in prayer for Sue as she speaks on Feb 16 to women attending a new womens ministry designed to encourage younger women in their spiritual and personal growth. Pray that God would use Sue in a powerful way in the lives of these women.

We had a wonderful Christmas with Roy and Sam and Heidi (Sam's girlfriend) in Cologne. Please continue to pray for them as they work and go to school and consider their futures. Here is a picture taken Christmas day (from left to right: Jason, Sue, Roy, Heidi and Sam.)


We would like to say a special thank you to all those who supported us in 2007. We are grateful for the ongoing support as well as the special year end gifts. God has provided for us in a wonderful way through you! Thank you so much for standing with us as we minister and serve in Germany!

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue

correction - reformation tour phone number

Dear Friends,
There was a typo in our November posting. The correct number to call concerning the German Reformation tour is 1-800-436-4488 extension 139.

Sorry about the confusion.

Yours,
Jason

Christmas 2007

Dear Friends,
The small elementary school classroom was full at the new church plant in Esch – a northern suburb of Cologne. We were looking forward to seeing what God had done since the group began holding services in September. As it turns out, there were several new people there for the first time. One of them was a tall handsome young man named Simon. He had returned just months earlier from a year as an exchange student in Ohio where he had been very active in church. When he got back to Esch he was disappointed to learn that even the Catholic church was closed for the summer due to lack of interest! There was nothing for him. He knew of no other place to turn to. Then one Sunday morning he saw the people stopper sign up in front of the elementary school in his neighborhood where the new church in Esch has been meeting. He decided to check it out and even brought his mom. He was so excited and thrilled to learn that on his very first Sunday there an American was guest preaching!

Germany is a needy mission field. There are literally thousands of areas with no Gospel witness. Many young people like Simon are interested and open to the Gospel but do not know where to turn. We are praying and working for a true church planting movement so that every person is within reach of a witnessing fellowship.

As we celebrate the riches we have in Christ this Christmas, including the wealth of churches we have in North America, please pray for Germany. As we worship the Christ Child let us continue to pray that His will be done and that His kingdom will come on earth (in Germany!) as it is in heaven.



Loving Christmas Greetings,
Jason and Sue

November Prayer Letter

November 13, 2007

Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying. Last Wednesday night we had a group of in our living room to start our first City Mentoring Program phase 1 group. It was exciting for us to see thier eagerness to learn and ask questions. There are at least 5 potential church plants represented in this group and many more if they begin to multiply, which is one of the key values we will be teaching them. Please pray for wisdom and creativity as we continue meeting and teaching. Some of them have some preconceptions that need to be challenged in regard to church planting and the ugency of being proactive while still giving the Holy Spirit freedom to lead and work.

Continue to pray for the Consultation for Church Planting this Saturday, Nov 17 in Frankfurt. Pray that the national train strikes won't affect attendance and the God would work in this diverse gathering to build His kingdom in Germany. We are praying for a 2nd Reformation in Germany!


Announcing the exciting New Reformation Tour!

New Reformation Tour Summary:

Visit the sites of events that have had a powerful impact on the world: the conversion of the Germanic tribes, the Reformation, the Holocaust and more. Familiarize yourself with exciting ministries that are working to fulfill GEM's vision: "a witnessing fellowship within reach of every European".

Travel with professors from the German Theological Seminary, a GEM partner institution, who have extensive knowledge of Germany's rich religious history. Gain a sense of Germany's present spiritual need and celebrate the beginnings of a new reformation in the heart of Europe.

Date: September 13-20, 2008

Travel Logistics: Approximately $1,995 per person; Fly through Newark to Cologne, Germany. Arrive on a Saturday and depart on a Saturday. (See more trip details below).

Travel Details: GEM will secure hotels, tickets and transportation. Cologne, Germany is the best airport to fly into. Continental Airlines is offering competitive direct-flight connections from Newark. We estimate that trip costs (March round-trip airfare from/to Newark and tour-related costs) will be approximately $1,995 per person.

We'll stay in excellent hotels and travel between sites in a state-of-the-art tour bus. No trip between sites requires more than three hours travel time. Breakfast and dinner are included in the trip cost.

Itinerary: Saturday: Arrive and get settled in Cologne.

Sunday: Cologne: See the city's Roman antiquities, its world famous cathedral, and important Jewish sites. Visit Cologne in Motion, GEM's cutting edge ministry team.

Monday: Muenster, an important center of the Anabaptist movement in Germany, and Fritzlar, site of the conversion of the first Germanic tribes under Bonifatius (the 8th century monk who chopped down Thor's oak tree and lived to tell about it).

Tuesday: The Wartburg, Eisleben, Wittenberg: Three must-see sites for anyone interested in Martin Luther and the Reformation. All in one day!

Wednesday: Berlin will come alive as you tour world renowned Holocaust museum, the Brandenburg gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the onetime headquarters of the East German secret police, and much more. Also visit an innovative church plant in the heart of the city.

Thursday: Weimar, the cultural center of Germany's Golden Age, the city of Goethe and Schiller.

Friday: Buchenwald concentration camp will shock and sadden you, but also give you insight into Germany's present spiritual state. The tour will conclude with a banquet at the German Theological Seminary and a chance to reflect on all you have learned.

Saturday: Departure.

(You are welcome to build additional days of personal travel on either side of the above tour days). Please join us on this truly unique tour!

Please contact us if you are interested or call Lynn Hoffman at GEM in Colorado at 800-436-4488, ext 139 if you have any questions.


The Weak Dollar

We are excited about all that God is doing in Germany and are thankful for how He has provided for us to serve here. We have not written about our financial needs for quite some time but find it difficult to refrain any longer. The U.S. dollar continues to hit record lows in value against the Euro almost on a daily basis. The weaker the dollar gets, the more we need just to stay even. Everything has become extremely expensive for us. Yesterday we filled up our little Honda and paid a whopping US$8.73 per gallon! © 2007 by Prof. Werner Antweiler, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, Canada.

We would like to request that those of you who are supporting us financially prayerfully consider increasing the amount and/or give a special extra gift to help offset the shortfall that we have. If you are not yet supporting us, perhaps you would consider joining us at this crucial time. Drop us an email to let us know if you can help.

Thank you so much for standing with us as we minister and serve in Germany!

Gratefully,
Jason and Sue

October Prayer Letter

October 21, 2007

Dear Friends,
This month, instead of our normal Prayermail, we have put together a 5 minute video update for you. Just turn on your sound and click on the video below. (if that doesn't work click here.)


Enjoy!

Jason and Sue

September Prayer Letter

September 13, 2007

Dear Friends,
We wanted to get this off to you before this weekend. My sister and husband are coming on Friday from Charlotte and we using the opportunity to take an overdue vacation. We've had a terrible summer in Germany and are hoping to find some sun in the south!

Here is an update on what God has been doing as we seek to be part of starting a church planting movement in Germany.


City Mentoring Program

We now have a logo and are working on a web site and flyer for the City Mentoring Program.

I met with the 5 seminary grads on September 2 here in Cologne. It looks like only one of them is coming to Cologne to do an internship and to take part in the City Mentoring Program at this time. Please pray for Esther as she finalizes her plans to come and that some of the others would participate in the future.

I am scheduled to present the program at the Neues Leben Bible school on October 30. Please pray that we would find several interested students. Pray also for the groups that we want to start in Landau, Giessen and Berlin. Pray for our next board meeting on October 9 in Berlin as we have some strategic decisions to make. Pray that God would give us wisdom, courage and unity!

Divine appointments in Moenchengladbach

When Sascha told me the name of the former Baptist pastor he had contact with in Moenchengladbach, I had to ask him to repeat it for me. I knew pastor Tosch from our days in Porz - over 10 years ago. We met occasionally for fellowship and led our churches in some cooperative evangelistic efforts. Now they are in Moenchengladbach and very much interested in the church plant - even though it is not a Baptist project. We quickly scheduled a get together and met at the Tosch's on August 28 for coffee.

Pray for Sascha and Anke as they continue to network and prepare for the church plant. Pray for more divine appointments. Pray for both of us as we hit the streets on October 11 & 12 to conduct a survey and try to talk to as many un-churched people as we can. God knows the people we will be talking to. Pray that many of them will be open to further contact.


Where there's smoke - there's fire!

Originally we were hoping that SPARK would have more mass appeal in Germany to help spark a church planting movement - but it seems that God is using it more like a fine surgical instrument. On August 30 I attended a meeting of the German Baptist national forum for church planting in Kassel with Fred McRae, one of our GEM church planters who is working with the Baptists in Rheinland-Pfalz. I wanted to show them that we stood behind Fred in his work with them and also that we as a mission want to encourage them and help them as a denomination as much as we can.

Pastor Manfred Beutel, who participated in helping produce SPARK, is the newly appointed leader of this group. At one point he shared with us how God used the making of SPARK in his own heart. He said that the very questions I posed as we interviewed him helped him see clearly how important church planting is to him. A short time after that when he was asked to lead the forum, he did not hesitate to say yes.

Please pray for two upcoming SPARK presentations: On August 13 at Wolfgang and Petra Stolz's. We are having supper with them and Paul & Anna Klassen. Afterward they have issued an open invitation for people to come and pray with them for Hennef. After prayer we will present SPARK. On November 4 I will be presenting SPARK at the Evangelical Free Church in Krefeld. This church wants to partner with Sascha to plant the church in Moenchengladbach.

Please keep praying for us as we are ministering on so many fronts. We are more dependent on God's wisdom and strength than we ever have been. Pray that our vacation will truly be one of rest and rejuvenation.

Thank you for standing with us.

Jason and Sue

Prayermail - report on the weekend at the castle

Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying for last weekend while we were at the castle. It was an awesome and exhausting time. We drove down Friday afternoon, checked into a nearby hotel and then headed over to join the other guests for supper out on the lawn below the castle wall with a beautiful view of the vineyards and farms out in the distance. The sun was just beginning to set and they started lighting the candles and torches. After greeting the hosts and a few others we know, we headed for the buffet and then sat down at a table of people we didn’t know. We all introduced ourselves and agreed that everything was really special – almost like a fairy tale. It didn’t take long and we were just chatting about our day. At one point I mentioned how I start my day by reading the bible in the form of a daily email I receive (www.studylight.org/plan/byemail.cgi). I guess none of them had ever heard of anything like that. They were very inquisitive and asked us a string of questions. For quite a while we were simply able to share about why God’s word is important to us. As the evening progressed we moved on and simply enjoyed visiting with people. We finally headed for the hotel at around midnight.

On Saturday we slept in and eventually joined the crowd, which was now even larger, at the pond, down below the castle vineyards. Water games were on the agenda! The 4 hosts were prepared with rubber rafts, and different colored hats for the 4 teams they divided us into. The sun was shining and fun was had by all. Much laughter and silliness! Late that afternoon we retired to our hotel to rest, shower and get ready for the evening.

8pm: the men, dressed in light summer suits, and the women, looking beautiful in their summer dresses gathered in the courtyard for supper. An entire pig had been roasting all afternoon and the aroma filled the warm evening air. There was assigned seating splitting up the couples. This gave both us plenty of time to interact and share our lives with our tablemates. The sun set. The candles glowed. They had set up some colored spotlights on the courtyard walls. Everybody was having a wonderful time. We were all relaxed and the conversations lasted for hours. We thank the Lord for this awesome opportunity to share our hearts. We finally decided to leave at about 3am.

After such a wonderful party, we wondered how many would show up for the worship service planned for 10:30am on Sunday. The chapel – located within the castle wall – holds about 60 and there ended up being standing room only. It was a simple service with prayer, scripture reading and several traditional hymns. My sermon lasted only about 10 minutes. I simply explained what it means to be a Christian. I began with a quote from C.S. Lewis talking about how standing in a garage doesn’t mean you are a car – just as attending church does not mean you are a Christian. I finished by quoting one of the last songs Johnny Cash recorded: Your own personal Jesus.

Several people came up to us afterward and said that they had never thought about their faith in such a personal way. Please pray that God would continue to work in their hearts.

Jason and Sue

newsflash

Dear Friends,
Please be praying this weekend for us. We are leaving on Friday afternoon to celebrate our friend Philipp von Kunhardt’s 40th Birthday at a castle near Nuernberg. It should be a very interesting weekend. 150 guests are expected (4 of the them are celebrating their 40th). A lot of activities are planned including Saturday afternoon at the lake and a formal dinner that evening. Interestingly, Philipp was able to convince the others to hold a worship service on Sunday morning in the castle chapel and invited me to preach a short gospel devotional. We have no doubt that we will be involved in many conversations and will be free to share our faith. Please pray that people will be receptive and that the Spirit of God will work in people’s hearts.

Thank you for standing with us,
Jason and Sue