We have had a very busy month since arriving back in Berlin. Church has been filled every Sunday, the worship has been amazing, the messages are on fire. Our theme for the month of January was "Hearing the Word of God" and that is exactly what the church here has been doing. We have two new nights of the week set aside for the body to the hear the Word... Monday night we have started 7 Footsteps and Friday night we have "Soup and Study" where a family in the body hosts a soup dinner at their home and we do a Bible study. We are also in the midst of an exploding teen ministry, more teens coming out for Youth Group and services than we have ever had. God is moving!
Sunday Morning Worship
Seven Footsteps:
We have held three Seven Footsteps classes so far. This class was designed for newcomers in Baltimore, but here in Berlin it is used to draw existing members deeper into the body, give them a hunger for the Word, and connect them to THEIR church. It has been a challenge to bridge the gap between the missionaries to Berlin, and the people for whom we were called here to minister to and with. This isn't the missionary's church and agenda, but it is our church together, and it is the work of God. That gap was definitely made much smaller the first Monday as people had a chance to discuss our church together. People were really starting to feel as though they were a part of their church. Praise God! We know that God has been moving here in Berlin, but it is so encouraging to really see it right before your eyes. That is something that does not happen so often in this city.
The past few Bible College semesters have had a very low attendance. We have tried many different ways to administrate creatively and encourage people to be involved in Bible College. We know that God uses Bible College to develop people and to reveal His plan and purpose for their lives. The truth however, was that no one was coming to classes. We want to see PEOPLE grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ, not our little Bible College. The very "nuts and bolts" of what we believe as a ministry, and why we believe it, is often discovered through Bible College classes. So without students, there is no full understanding of our vision and beliefs as a church and worldwide ministry.
I believe that within the first three classes, our attendance is already higher than the attendance of the entire semester last year. We had 11 non-team members come to class the first week, 14 the second week, and 10 this past Tuesday. Some have come every week, which is a miracle, but we have had new students each week as well. I really feel as though this will continue to grow as more and more people see how much the intake of the Word of God really affects their souls, giving them a peace and joy that passes all understanding. Each week we have had such great discussions about the importance of Doctrine, the Pastor/Teacher, Evangelism, Body Life, Our Vertical Relationship to God, The Finished Work, Eternal Security, just to name a few. We are so excited to see what God will do in us and through us this semester. Please keep our classes in prayer when you think of Berlin.
Youth Group:
Our Youth Group has been growing in a huge way. We have routinely had 4 teens coming to our studies, teens that have been in the church their whole lives, but most recently we have had about 8-10. The messages have been awesome to them, very direct, very real to life, and they are understand God deeper and deeper. It has been a huge provision to have Stephan Stein with us this year, he has given up his Friday nights to join us at Youth Group and translates every message which is HUGE. We had our first Youth Group night since being back from the States and had a great group of 10. We sang songs with them, had a message, had snacks and played an intense Pictionary competition, girls vs. boys.
Matt speaking to the teens, Stephan translating
The girls who won Pictionary all got Pop Rocks brought all the way from America
Nick and Hendrick
Honoring a great woman of faith:
We also celebrated the 80th birthday of a dear woman in our church recently. Margrit Korge has been in the Berlin church almost since the beginning 11 years ago. She taught most of the kids that are teenagers now in her Sunday school program. She is no longer able to attend church on a regular basis or teach Sunday school because of health problems, but she was driven to church this past Sunday for a special time of honoring her on her birthday from the church. The teens sang a Shane and Shane song for her, and presented her with a picture frame filled with camp photos and signed by all of them. Her life has impacted so many in the church and her faith is an encouragement to everyone.
Frame signed by our teens
Margrit thanking the body (Verena translating)
Corrina, Margrit's grandaughter and part of our youth group playing the piano
Our Youth Band... the motto is "pretend your Finns!"
What's going on for us:
Our apartment search continues, we have looked at over a dozen places so far since being back. Each one had their own quirks (i.e. no floor, no kitchen, no bathroom sink) and others were just way out of our price range. But we are still looking and claiming the verse 2 Corinthians 4:8 "...perplexed but not in despair..." because we know that our God controls our steps!
Matt's been busy the past couple of days teaching 5th grade English. He has picked up Kathie Groenewold's class while she is out of town visiting her parents for 3 weeks. Praise God for the provision of an extra source of income for a time when we really were praying for it!
We are looking forward with great expectation to EuroCon coming in a few weeks and are so excited to see everyone from America and all our friends from the European ministries that we have made friends with over the past couple of months. God really widens your relationships when you are on the missionfield, there is a whole different network of believers in Europe that we would have never known in such a unique way if we were not here. It is such a blessing to have friends all over the world!
Praying for you all in Baltimore deep in the snow!
In Him,
The Mays
