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

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

New Hope with the Help from Down Under

Working in the kickoff network has given me a greater view of the Body of Christ. It still amazes me that so many Christians from all over the world are here at the moment, supporting local churches and communities.

In Stuttgart we had a team from the Australian Christian organization “Fusion” helping us. In their home country they are well-known for their community work. Their strategies and concepts are very simple and we’ve found they also work in Germany!

One of their brilliant ideas was to have an “Open Crowd Festival.” It included lots of fun activities like a jumping castle, balloon sculpting, face painting, karaoke singing and water games. People kept coming got involved in the activities. We had more than 300 guests every day! It was a creative way for us to share Christ’s love (everything was for free) and to connect with the people from the neighborhood.

For most of our volunteers it was their first time to share the gospel. They were overwhelmed by the positive response of the people who live there. We were all challenged to take different roles. I would have never thought that it would be so much fun to be a clown for a day. When do I have the freedom again to paint a heart on the cheek of a 80-year-old woman?

We feel very blessed that we had the Fusion team here with us. With their experience and enthusiasm they were a great support and motivation. I think everybody who was with us in these days (including the people who came from the neighborhood!) had the feeling that he/she was part of something bigger. It was also the beginning of many friendships and a new hope for a community.

See more Festival pictures here…

Tschüss!
~ Daniela

“A Time to Make Friends” in Stuttgart

Guten Tag (Hello), this is Daniela from the kickoff-team in Stuttgart, a partnership of 15 churches of this area. While most of the kickoff activities in Stuttgart are focused on ministering to the soccer fans in downtown, the church I work for is using the World Soccer Cup as a platform to reach out to a small community on the outskirts of Stuttgart.

This a low-income neighborhood with 3,000 people from 32 countries – and no church! Two years ago, God called my church, IBC Stuttgart, to share His love with the people who live there. At the same time, the city of Stuttgart approached IBC and asked if they could plant a church there. We have started with small groups and have found the people there to be very open to the Gospel. We are planning to begin services next year. This all is very unusual for Germany. It is amazing to see God building His Kingdom here in Stuttgart!

During the World Cup we’re having an evangelistic Festival, which is a 4-week event in the heart of the neighborhood. Gathering in and around two large tents, we’re showing most of the soccer games on a big screen, hosting a BBQ and a coffeehouse. Here people can hang out and talk about life and God. Together with kickoff-teams from the USA, Australia, Nigeria, Bolivia, India and other countries we’re having many activities: concerts, games for kids, circus festivals, soccer tournaments and different evangelistic outreaches.

We believe God wants to use this time to create bridges to the hearts of the people in this neighborhood and we are excited to serve this community with Him.

Please keep us in your prayers!

This is a God-size project, with 200 volunteers and 7 hours of program every day. We know that we can only do this because He is the Almighty God!

• Please pray for strength and for wisdom in the daily planning and organization, especially for the pastors and the leadership team
• Pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the community and that God touches the hearts of the people living there
• We thank God for a great first weekend with more than 400 guests and lots of spiritual conversations! Please pray for the people who were exposed to the Gospel and for growing relationships with them

Kickoff Stuttgart leadership team (from the left): Carsten (activities downtown Stuttgart), Daniela (Volunteer coordination), Steffen (Pastor of IBC, leader of the whole Festival)

~ Daniela