A Party for God’s Glory

More than 3,000 pieces of cake – 2,500 steaks – 2,500 liter of beverages – 200 hours of program. What was the culmination of months of planning turned out to be the biggest party that this neighborhood in Stuttgart has ever seen in its 40-year history.
Each of the 31 days from June 9th to July 9th provided opportunities for adults and children to have fun, sit back and to get to know each other in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. On a normal day we had between 100-250 guests from the neighborhood, for the Germany games more than 400 visitors. They also enjoyed the different activities that were offered. These acitivities ranged from story-telling for young children to ‘dance and rap’ workshops for teens. Dramatists and musical artists performed regularly on the open-air stage. These artists included local performers as well as artists from as far away as the US, India, Bolivia, Columbia, Ukraine and Australia. In total over 300 volunteers from 25 countries were involved in the festival.

We were overwhelmed by the positive response of the people of this neighborhood. During these 31 days we were able to meet many people and I was always amazed about how easy it was to initiate spiritual conversations. Most of the artists were able to share their testimony, and I especially enjoyed getting to know the people there during the coffee time in the afternoon. Many of my new friends were Muslim women from different countries and we were able to share a lot about our lives. Some of them came to the festival every day, waiting for me to show up. On the last day, one family from Iran invited me for coffee to their house. Like many others they were able to feel Jesus’ love at the festival and they wanted to know more.

Another highlight for me was the night when we showed the Jesus film in turkish. More than 30 kids came to watch it and several of them were so touched by the message that they accepted Jesus as their Savior.

Since we lived in the heart of this neighborhood for a month, we were able share life with our new friends. We listened to tragic stories, experienced with them life-changing moments and were able to celebrate the World Cup together. It was a huge blessing to serve this community and to see how God’s love can make a difference there.
Lots of seeds were planted during this time and we feel encouraged to continue our ministry in Stuttgart.

In the next weeks we are going to meet and pray about the next steps towards the church plant there. Possibilities range from hosting barbeques to offering an Alpha Course. Some of the IBC church members are considering moving into the community to be a Christian presence and facilitator for the unchurched people there.

We are very thankful for all the help from the different kickoff-teams who came to serve with us and for the great support of the other churches in the Stuttgart area. Like many other kickoff events we experienced a very special unity among the Christians in Germany.

Vielen Dank – thank you very much for being part of this big adventure! It was a pleasure to share with you what God has been doing in Germany during this past month!
Please continue to pray for this community, for all those who came to faith during all the evangelistic outreaches during the World Cup and especially for Germany as a nation.

Gott gebührt alle Ehre! (To God be the glory!)
Tschüss aus Deutschland!
~ Daniela

cultural training for the US Team – crowd in the big tent watching soccer – Germany fans  

Kings Kids from Bolivia dancing – one of many concerts – new international friendships

Home again yet still a stranger.

I am home safe and sound yet different from when I left. The World Cup is over. While traveling home on the plane from Germany and thinking of all the different memories and experiences this past month, one prominent thought came through from Psalm 119:19. “I am a stranger on earth…”

In some instances, while talking with people from around the world about Jesus and his teachings, people looked at me like I was crazy. I felt like Peter when he wrote in 1 Peter 4:4,

“They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation…”

After touching down on the first leg of my plane trip back to Virginia Beach, I saw a lady in the airport wearing a T-shirt that read; “Is this what I got out of bed for?” For a moment, I wondered, what message or hope will restore this world again?

I was reminded on the next plane. In God’s divine seating chart, I was placed alongside a German family traveling to my same city hometown where they have been assigned to live for a 3-year mission. I was able to build a relationship with them and share what I had been doing in their country this past month. My spirits soared as I was able to give them a copy of the JESUS film for kids and a soccer testimony DVD to their 10 year old son who was more then happy to receive it.

While on this trip I gained a desire to pray more often for the residents that do call earth their home. As a willing stranger I want to continue to love others and like Peter again in 1 Peter 4:6,

“For this reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.” I know there is no spirit like the spirit of God. All good things come from Him. I cannot wait till I get home. For if I am servant of the Lord, my home cannot be anywhere else then with Him.

Thank you to the many different people that stayed up to date on our bus team and who prayed for the Athletes in Action World Cup. Those prayers were so valuable to our trip. I pray you were encouraged by this blog of what God did. I’m glad we could all share in it together.

Zach

Wheaton College

The following was taken from the Wheaton College Men’s Soccer website. It summarizes their experience here in Germany.

“Team finished its competitions portion of the German trip undefeated! But most important to Coach Bean and his players are the many friendships developed with players from the other teams we played. Also the great relationships with the players’ host families, the kids from the Cafe’, PE Classes, and clinics and with the GEM missionaries that will continue to grow even though the team is returning to the States.

They also were successful in creating numerous opportunities for the Greater Europe Missions missionaries to meet and build relationships with people they would not normally have the opportunity to meet. Lord willing and guiding, we pray that many of these individuals will find their way to the new Köln church plant and come to know Jesus as their Savior. We may need to wait until eternity to see some of the spiritual fruit from this experience. The Team has been faithful in seeking to serve for Christ and His Kingdom!”

Please continue to pray for the Wheaton College team- pray they have a wonderful season and remember what God did through them in Germany!

~Adrienne

Team Global

Team Global, formally known as AIA North America, ministered in Berlin and Chemnitz. The team decided to rename themselves when they found out they truly were an international team. The team consisted of soccer players from New Zealand, Romania, Germany, England, and the United States. They came together and were unbeatable.

Berlin- The team was in Berlin from June 14-19th. They worked with Rock Berlin; a young church seeking to reach their community.

The following is an email from Dave Lennander, pastor of Rock Berlin:

I wanted to send you our thanks for coming to Berlin and serving with us. I was so encouraged by the quality of your lives and the attitudes of your hearts. You came to proclaim Jesus but you did it with a servant’s mindset. You helped us use the World Cup to have a special outreach in our neighborhood. I believe that the ultimate fruit will only be revealed in eternity.

When I got back to Berlin last Tuesday, I went right to the public showing we had at Rock Berlin. I got in on the last 2 minutes of the Germany game. As I scanned the room, I noticed Candy and about 8 of the teens from the pick up games you had a the parks watching this afternoon game. Candy and his girlfriend came back on Saturday for the game and stayed for some of the worship. My wife Sandy got to introduce him to a professional player from I think the Level 2 that was visiting our church. The teens came back on Saturday night as well and brought friends. Over the last few games, florence figured we had 20 different kids flow through our facility from your outreach in the parks. Please pray that we would be wise in how to keep contact once the World Cup is over and that we would know how to effectively connect with their lives to show and communicate Jesus to them.

I know you invested a lot of time and money to come to Germany. But I know our God and the benefit to your lives will far outweigh the costs. As you spread out to your schools and jobs I trust that you have a deeper commitment to the Lord and His Great Commission. May you have a fruitful summer and fall season. It was our privilege to host you. You enriched our lives. Thank you!

Pastor Dave

Rock Berlin

 

Team Global also went to Chemnitz to work with Campus Crusade for Christ.

~Adrienne

Chicago Eagles

The Chicago Eagles, a part of Missionary Athletes International, came to Germany to serve in 2 churches in the Stuttgart area. The team indicated that the churches were a perfect match for them. Despite the hardships the team went through- such as their coach suffering from an injury- the team continued to have a postive attitude. They were focused on serving the churches and community in an effort to have Christ glorified. The Chicago Eagles left an impact that will be felt in Stuttgart for years to come.

Please continue to pray for the Chicago Eagles as their summer program continues!

~Adrienne

Can I be proud to be German?

Yesterday was the first rainy day since the beginning of the World Cup and it gave me a chance to slow down, walk through the streets of Stuttgart and reflect on the World Cup and Germany.
I’ve never thought how much fun it could be to be German! I bought the first German flag of my life and for the Germany games I painted my face with the German colors. Like everybody else here I enjoyed the freedom that the World Cup gave us to be German, finally.

During the last four weeks I was able to talk with many other Germans about the World Cup and their thoughts on our identity as a nation. There’s a deep longing for a national consciousness and a renewed German identity in people’s hearts here. Even though most of us were born after World War II, we still find it very hard to express positive feelings about our country. It is sad that we can only celebrate our country after soccer games.
In the past four weeks, this has also been a personal journey for me. I learned to accept to be German and even to see some good things in that. God also reminded me that His grace for Germany is bigger than all the bad things of the past – and that He is a forgiving God. He can make all things new!

The people of Germany are celebrating the 3rd place of the World Cup at the moment, they are calling the German soccer team already “Weltmeister der Herzen” – “World Cup winners of the hearts”.
But my prayer is that we develop a healthy national identity that goes beyond soccer and the World Cup. This is only possible because God loves us so much and he chose to die for all of our sins! Please pray that the people in Germany would accept God’s amazing grace and that we start to live in our true identity, that God has given us as a nation.

~ Daniela

German fans watching their team playing

Thoughts on the World Cup

France versus Italy for the championship this coming Sunday that comes around only every four years. Did you pick them to be in it? How did your team do? (Since, my team is the US team, I have had more time than others to work through the grieving process, especially the Germans who saw their team depart heroically two nights ago in the final minute of overtime.) What fun to support and cheer on your team on this grand international stage!

Being in Germany this past month, I have been in restaurants, city centers, Fifa fan fests, youth parks, peoples’ homes and churches, experiencing the magnitude of the World Cup and how it has captured this particular society at this moment in time. I have seen faces painted, banners raised, songs created, parties started on every game day and location. I have laughed and experienced joy in places I never thought possible over a game. As the Cup runneth down and not over in these final days these experiences are evaporating literally from the front pages, magazines, TV stations and notably, peoples hearts and passions.

I cannot help but ask my Savior, “What does it look like for every tribe, tongue and nation to raise the banner for you, to sing the songs of praise for you, to throw all day parties in your honor, in those very same bars, parks and homes? What does it look like to delight ourselves and give all that we have for something better? What does it even look like for people to know there is something better? Better yet am I convinced?”

My feeble mind at times looks to the seen rather then the unseen. I have seen the power that idols can have, this month more so then others, and in myself more so then others. I have come to understand though, that power has borders, and anything with borders can be defined. Our Lord’s power is border-less and limitless. It is true, his power is not always seen but always the one that wins in the end. The World Cup or much of anything else is usually not the problem to this perspective but in how we abuse these things in our own hearts, the place that we try and will them too.

I am suprised in how I have transferred or changed my perspective in each time I have found my heart inching closer to these worldly things back to God and saw something new or more wonderful about His character. I want to fall for Him and nothing else for eternity, ever four years just does not cut it. My prayer is the same for all of us, especially me.

Zach

Pray for the final closing ceremonies this Friday for the Kickoff organization that we would be able to see what worked well and hear amazing stories and learn from our mistakes. Several big name soccer stars will be sharing.

End of the Road (Bus Tour)

Hello everyone (to all who have prayed and supported us),

Our team is done and had an amazing final three days in Berlin and Chemnitz, Germany. We finished strong and our team was unified through the end. In our 21 days on tour and 12 locations we had over 4,100 people come through our bus or play in our street soccer unit. That does not count an estimated 10,000 people who walked by or received a a soccer-ministry DVD or Bible. We have had numerous follow-ups from the churches we worked with, one reporting up to 150 new FAMILY CONTACTS in their area due to our bus being in their communities. THIS is a HUGE PRAISE and help to the churches in Germany. Without your prayers and giving this would not be possible!

In the beginning of this tour we looked back to Paul and his four misionary journeys. We asked what made them successful? We discovered it was the quality of the company he took with him (God brought together and amazing team), the power he relied on (God and His Spirit versus our own strength), and the message he brought, (the gospel). We made these principles a point to remember and apply in all circumstances. At our debriefing dinner we all agreed that God had worked in our own lives as well as accomplishing the mission with the vision of the tour bus.

Please pray for the churches in Germany that the country that bore the reformation would again awaken and arise to something more then a World Championship but to their loving King, Jesus and that our small yet significant trip with our Bus would have eternal impact!

I am now traveling the country with two other AIA staff doing our own personal ministry which I will still update here till the end of the World Cup. As the German national team is still in the competition this gives the churches to continue their outreaches in continuing to show games in their churches and having special events, pray for these encounters to soften the hard reputation of Christians and the Church in the country!

~Zach

Pictures!

AIA Ireland played a great game against LOK Leipzig on June 12. Campus Crusade for Christ students came out to support AIA Ireland. They brought Northern Ireland flags, painted their faces, and prepared cheers. It was a great game!

AIA France went to visit several classes at local German schools:

Markus is the pastor at FEG Friedberg, where AIA France was located. Markus came to the orientation conference to share his vision for the project.

~Adrienne

The Final Stretch…Bus tour

We had another good day here in Paderborn. A highlight for our team was the kids who came today, some of the most enthusiastic of our whole trip! They were clamoring to get into the bus and onto the street soccer court all day. Now three weeks into the trip the 2-hour setup can sap the energy out of you, so the reaction of these kids was rewarding.

Back at the church tonight we took time to pray for the kids. Most of them had come from communities not open to church or had parents who were highly skeptical. In our devotion a couple of days ago, our bus team looked at the power of God. Some questions we pondered included, “Do we really believe that God can change people’s hearts?” and “Does the gospel really have the power to change this world?”

It’s been tiring going from community to community. Currently, we all wish to finish well in these last three days in Berlin, a city that is evolving more so than any other city in Germany.

Please pray for our team that we would not only bring smiles and a fun easy going energy to these next sites, but believe in our hearts God has the power to do immeasurably more then we could ever hope for!

~Zach