Well we are just getting started on the fourth week of the trip. This is the last full week we will be spending in Berlin before heading out to debrief in Switzerland. The theme of the week is World Vision. This gets me excited as world missions is definitely something I am passionate about. In terms of our ministry here in Berlin, we have already gotten to share with students from over 50 nations. Some noteable ones including Colombia, Iran, Iceland, and Ukraine.
Doing ministry here in a foreign context has taught me many things about evangelism as well as myself. I came into this trip with the strong headed desire to share the Gospel by any means necessary. And while we are called to share the Gospel boldly, I started realizing my sinful pride perverting this calling. I started noticing that I was sharing the Gospel as a means to glorify myself. I was too caught up in getting across what I wanted to say and I realized that I was not being motivated by love for Christ and love for the lost. This has challenged me to depend on the Lord all the more to obtain this love for the strangers that I was meeting and sharing with on campus.
And the Lord has been faithful in blessing me with a guy named Toby. Me and my buddy Steve met Toby on campus and got a chance to talk with him for about an hour and a half over lunch. From the beginning, Toby was turned off by us Christians because he had some ugly experiences with Mormon missionaries in the past. However, as we talked about what it means for us to walk with Christ, he started to open up and we got to learn more about his life. At the end of the conversation, we asked Toby if he would like to read the Gospel of John and discuss it over coffee sometime. His response went something like this: "An hour ago I would have said no. But after talking to you guys, I have a positive impression and I think I would like to." What a blessing it was to see his heart change in the course of our conversation! And all the more that makes me convinced of Christ's presence in me because I know that on my own I am as unattractive as a sack of potatoes.
Happy 4th of July from Berlin!
Prayer Requests:
-Sinful prideful flesh being killed off
-Fruitful followup opportunities with Toby and Balduin
-Perseverance as we start our final week in Berlin
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Second Update
Hey everyone, well we are now in our third week here at Berlin. Each week we have a theme week that is the focus of our devotionals. The first week was 'our identity in Christ' the second week was 'the Holy Spirit' and now this week is 'multipying our faith'. We will be looking at what it means to make disciples and a good launching pad from scriptures is 2 Timothy 2:2.
Last week, I got to meet a guy named Balduin who is from Germany while sharing on campus. Our conversation ended up lasting for about 2 hours as he gave us a tour all over Humboldt University. We ended up exchanging emails and on Friday we got to play basketball with him. This has been a huge blessing to me as I have been praying for ongoing relationships with German students to be able to show them the Gospel in word and deed. We will hopefully be playing basketball with him again and invite him to church on Sunday as well to get him connected with the long term team here.
And speaking of church, I got to go to a really neat church this past Sunday. Me and a buddy got invited by a German student we met on campus and so we went way out to the east side of Berlin. We ended up in an elementary school classroom where around 40 people were huddled together with a guitar and electric piano. The church was extremely intimate and everyone knew each other very well. They were so welcoming us to and actually gave us a personal translator. What I thought was the coolest thing though was the worship. We sung some english hymns such as Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art. But for the most part, I was not able to understand anything else. This really opened my eyes to the global church - even though I didn't know what these believers were singing, I knew who they were worshipping.
Prayer Requests:
-Ongoing opportunities with Balduin
-That I may be encouraged and encouraging to this church
-Love for my team and for non-believers
Thanks everyone!
Last week, I got to meet a guy named Balduin who is from Germany while sharing on campus. Our conversation ended up lasting for about 2 hours as he gave us a tour all over Humboldt University. We ended up exchanging emails and on Friday we got to play basketball with him. This has been a huge blessing to me as I have been praying for ongoing relationships with German students to be able to show them the Gospel in word and deed. We will hopefully be playing basketball with him again and invite him to church on Sunday as well to get him connected with the long term team here.
And speaking of church, I got to go to a really neat church this past Sunday. Me and a buddy got invited by a German student we met on campus and so we went way out to the east side of Berlin. We ended up in an elementary school classroom where around 40 people were huddled together with a guitar and electric piano. The church was extremely intimate and everyone knew each other very well. They were so welcoming us to and actually gave us a personal translator. What I thought was the coolest thing though was the worship. We sung some english hymns such as Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art. But for the most part, I was not able to understand anything else. This really opened my eyes to the global church - even though I didn't know what these believers were singing, I knew who they were worshipping.
Prayer Requests:
-Ongoing opportunities with Balduin
-That I may be encouraged and encouraging to this church
-Love for my team and for non-believers
Thanks everyone!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
First Update
Hey Everyone!
I'm here in Berlin and I've been here for about 6 days now. It has been great getting to know the team. We've all been able to grow close really quick. The unity here has really been a blessing. Berlin as a city is really neat - there seems to be so much history on all the streets with old buildings being surrounded by new and modern architecture.
There are many cultural differences here that make for some adjustment. For example, the Y and Z keys on the keyboard are switched and is very confusing. Bikers are ruthless on the streets. People are in general much more blunt and straightforward than in America.
Thus far, we as a team have gotten much time to explore Berlin and learn its history. I've eaten schnitzel, bratwursts, döners, and other mysterious foods. Overall, the food is good! Lots of meat and potatoes so I can't complain.
As far as our misitry, we have been able to spend three days on campus at three different universities. We have been going to the mensas (cafeterias) and eating with students there to learn more about German life and spirituality while engaging in initiative evangelism. Thus far, I have been able to talk to people from Germany, Brazil, the United States, Ukraine, and Nepal about the Gospel. These times on campus have definitely been a highlight for me. Most of the people we have talked to are very knowledgeable and have very thouoght out worldviews. However, none of them has ever heard of what it means to follow Jesus. Religion is viewed solely as an institution.
Starting next week, our team will be divided into campus teams and each team will be assigned to a campus that will be our primary ministry.
Lastly, I will be discipling three guys from our team as well. This makes me nervous because two of the guys are older than me. They are all great guys though and I look forward to getting to know them better and be partners with them in the Gospel.
Prayer requests:
-humility in leadership
-pure motives for evangelism
-a heart for the Germans
-sustaining physical energy despite little rest
That is all for now, hope all is well back home!
I'm here in Berlin and I've been here for about 6 days now. It has been great getting to know the team. We've all been able to grow close really quick. The unity here has really been a blessing. Berlin as a city is really neat - there seems to be so much history on all the streets with old buildings being surrounded by new and modern architecture.
There are many cultural differences here that make for some adjustment. For example, the Y and Z keys on the keyboard are switched and is very confusing. Bikers are ruthless on the streets. People are in general much more blunt and straightforward than in America.
Thus far, we as a team have gotten much time to explore Berlin and learn its history. I've eaten schnitzel, bratwursts, döners, and other mysterious foods. Overall, the food is good! Lots of meat and potatoes so I can't complain.
As far as our misitry, we have been able to spend three days on campus at three different universities. We have been going to the mensas (cafeterias) and eating with students there to learn more about German life and spirituality while engaging in initiative evangelism. Thus far, I have been able to talk to people from Germany, Brazil, the United States, Ukraine, and Nepal about the Gospel. These times on campus have definitely been a highlight for me. Most of the people we have talked to are very knowledgeable and have very thouoght out worldviews. However, none of them has ever heard of what it means to follow Jesus. Religion is viewed solely as an institution.
Starting next week, our team will be divided into campus teams and each team will be assigned to a campus that will be our primary ministry.
Lastly, I will be discipling three guys from our team as well. This makes me nervous because two of the guys are older than me. They are all great guys though and I look forward to getting to know them better and be partners with them in the Gospel.
Prayer requests:
-humility in leadership
-pure motives for evangelism
-a heart for the Germans
-sustaining physical energy despite little rest
That is all for now, hope all is well back home!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Introduction
Hey Everyone!
Thank you so much to all of you who were able to support me. My goal was to raise $5250 and I made it to $4880 - just short. However, I was able to cover the difference from working at my job at Jimmy John's and I am incredibly thankful for what God has already been doing in my support raising.
I am now preparing to leave for Berlin on Sunday June 12th from Chicago. There is a briefing on Saturday also in Chicago where I will be able to meet the rest of my team members!
About the trip. It is 5 weeks long from June 12-July 17. Our team is made up of 31 students involved with Campus Crusade for Christ all over the United States. There are eight of us going from Northwestern (including myself) and the project director has been my discipler at school this past year. Primarily, we will be working on four German universities in Berlin helping out the one-year team that is currently there. From Monday-Friday, we will be engaging in initiative evangelism - sharing the Gospel with students in the university cafeterias. With that, we hope to develop friendships with German students while we are there to grow in our love for them as well as be a continual witness to them.
More specifically, I have been given the opportunity to participate on project as a "student-staff". Which means I will be discipling guys from our team and leading a Bible study as well. I'm extremely nervous for this leadership role but also pretty excited because I know I have no chance at doing anything right anyway unless Jesus is going out before me in the power of the HS.
A little background about the spiritual condition of Germany. Although a historically Christian nation, Germany has seen a large rise in nominal Christians and Atheism. Especially among the youth where out of those under 25, only 2% consider themselves Christian. Intellect is a barrier for many students as it provides a facade against acknowledging the implications of the Gospel. There is also a large number of international students that study in these German universities. The team from last summer got to have conversations with students from 46 different countries! Many people from these countries (such as Turkey) would normally have been closed off from the Gospel.
So that's that. I am PUMPED to go! Here are some prayer requests:
-humility in leadership
-unity among team members
-opportunities to share Jesus with students from closed countries
-softened hearts prepared to hear the Gospel
Thanks again to all of you! I will try to keep this blog updated as often as I can although I won't have my computer so it won't be as often as I would like. God bless.
Thank you so much to all of you who were able to support me. My goal was to raise $5250 and I made it to $4880 - just short. However, I was able to cover the difference from working at my job at Jimmy John's and I am incredibly thankful for what God has already been doing in my support raising.
I am now preparing to leave for Berlin on Sunday June 12th from Chicago. There is a briefing on Saturday also in Chicago where I will be able to meet the rest of my team members!
About the trip. It is 5 weeks long from June 12-July 17. Our team is made up of 31 students involved with Campus Crusade for Christ all over the United States. There are eight of us going from Northwestern (including myself) and the project director has been my discipler at school this past year. Primarily, we will be working on four German universities in Berlin helping out the one-year team that is currently there. From Monday-Friday, we will be engaging in initiative evangelism - sharing the Gospel with students in the university cafeterias. With that, we hope to develop friendships with German students while we are there to grow in our love for them as well as be a continual witness to them.
More specifically, I have been given the opportunity to participate on project as a "student-staff". Which means I will be discipling guys from our team and leading a Bible study as well. I'm extremely nervous for this leadership role but also pretty excited because I know I have no chance at doing anything right anyway unless Jesus is going out before me in the power of the HS.
A little background about the spiritual condition of Germany. Although a historically Christian nation, Germany has seen a large rise in nominal Christians and Atheism. Especially among the youth where out of those under 25, only 2% consider themselves Christian. Intellect is a barrier for many students as it provides a facade against acknowledging the implications of the Gospel. There is also a large number of international students that study in these German universities. The team from last summer got to have conversations with students from 46 different countries! Many people from these countries (such as Turkey) would normally have been closed off from the Gospel.
So that's that. I am PUMPED to go! Here are some prayer requests:
-humility in leadership
-unity among team members
-opportunities to share Jesus with students from closed countries
-softened hearts prepared to hear the Gospel
Thanks again to all of you! I will try to keep this blog updated as often as I can although I won't have my computer so it won't be as often as I would like. God bless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)