Thursday, November 17, 2011

Uva

God's timing is always perfect.  Thilo, Bre and I had spent the last hour discussing the ministry of der Garten - (our sort of cafe room).  Bre was feeling extremely sad because our vision had been that we would meet people on the street and then der Garten would be a "safe" place where they could come to talk and ask questions.  So far, we have not seen this vision come to pass.  We were trying to encourage one another in the Lord and at the same time remain open to what God's plans are for der Garten as opposed to our own ideas.

Thilo went home because he is sick with an ear infection and on a whim, Bre and I decided to put the Jesus movie on (instead of our usual worship music).  We put it on in Deutsch and I was just preparing to settle into an evening of email & Facebook when who should walk into der Garten, but Uva - the man we had just prayed for at our Friday night street - Heilung.

As I prepared him a cup of coffee, he came over to the counter and I asked him if he had read the book of John like I had suggested. 
He said, "Yes, I read the whole thing."
"How did it make you feel upon reading it?"  I asked.
"I felt nothing.  But it is difficult to put into English what I feel."
"Well, as soon as I finish this coffee, how about if we sit on the couch with Bre and she can translate and we can talk in Deutsch &English."

As we settled down with our tea and coffee, the first thing that Uva said was, "I really want to meet someone who has the Holy Spirit."
I said, "Wait no longer, the Holy Spirit is living inside of me and inside of Bre!  So you see this with 2 people who sit before you."   
He smiled at this (which was nice to see because he has a permanent look of pain in his eyes).  Then he went on to say that he had tried in the past to know Jesus and to be "good enough" but nothing had ever happened.

So, we were given the opportunity to explain the whole gospel to him, in as simple a language as we could.  I explained the reason for Jesus coming to the earth:  that He died to take the punishment for our sins and that we can never be good enough for the holiness of God and therefore need Jesus to come into our lives to be our Savior.  

Uva had a hard time understanding this free gift of God.  He kept thinking that he had to do good works to come to God and he tried to tell us what a good person he had tried to be while at the same time confessing all of his known sins to us.  Bre explained a lot to him in German and if I talked slowly, he was able to understand all of my English and he did most of his talking in English.  In the end, he said he needed more time to process all that we had told him, and Bre told him that this was okay.  We tried to stress that the Lord does not invade a life without the person's permission and that he needed to make the first step to open His heart to Jesus.

We then prayed for him again.  He sat between us on the couch and seemed dead inside while we prayed,  (as opposed to when we prayed for him on the street and his whole body seemed to shake and he started crying).  We prayed for his finances as his electricity has been shut off.  It is extremely cold in Berlin right now and he has no lights or heat.  He told us that he is a drug addict, and now on methadone which explains his hollow, pained look that he carries.

Then we fed him some of the apple crumble that I had just made and we all watched the Jesus movie, along with 2 other people who had come into der Garten.  I sensed that he needed a VISUAL of Jesus as well as the reading that he was doing.  As I sat there, I was so amazed at how the Holy Spirit leads and moves us without our even realizing!  I thought it was me who decided to put the Jesus movie on, but it was Him, leading through me. 

At the end of the night, Bre and I greatly rejoiced that at this point in time, the Holy Spirit had sent someone for us to minister to in der Garten.  


der Garten





Saturday, November 12, 2011

HEILUNG  -  HEALING

Every Friday night our ToTheStreets team goes out to Frankfurter Tor, which is a busy intersection in our neighborhood and where people can catch a Tram or the Underground train.  We put up a big banner that says, "Heilung" and we set out chairs for people to sit in who would like prayer for healing.  Sometimes we pass out  fliers to people passing by, which explain what we are doing.

Two weeks ago, I was very discouraged.  Passerby's had been giving me these pitying looks which seem to say, "You poor dear.  You are so miss-guided and brain-washed."  I can handle the out-right anger and the ones who give me a friendly smile but a no shake of the head but the ones who look at me with pity are very hard to take.  On this night, no one was wanting to take my flier and it was cold and I was wondering what I was doing.  I finally said to Jesus, "I am so discouraged.  Don't You ever get discouraged with these hard and stubborn people?"

"I am encouraged in you, my daughter.  You encourage me by your obedience to Me," was the sudden and startling, warm reply that went deep into my heart.

I smiled.  "Well, okay Lord.  I can handle this.  If I am pleasing to You, that's all I need."

Not fifteen minutes later, I was complaining again.  "Lord, please, I just need a bit more encouragement.  If this is what you want us to do, please send someone that wants prayer before we are ready to stop.  Just one person."

At 8:15pm just 15 minutes before we stop a couple were suddenly right there, talking to Thilo.  They came over to the chairs and Thilo said, "She would like prayer for healing in her knees."
Inside, I was rejoicing.  "Thank you Lord!  You sent me my encouragement!  We didn't even have to chase them down, You just brought them right to us!"

It turned out that they were Christians, had been walking by on the other side of the street, saw our sign and came over.  The woman asked, "Who do you pray to?"  and Thilo replied, "We only pray in the name of Jesus," and she said, "Well, okay, I would like prayer then."

When I started praying for her, I just had to let her know that she was MY answer to prayer!  She laughed in glee and then we prayed for the healing of her knees.  After this, her husband decided that he wanted prayer as well for his migraines.  So, the Lord sent us 2 people to pray with and we got to know some new Christians who live right near us.



The next week, it was just BreAnna and I that went out because Thilo was home sick.  This was hard for us but even harder was the extreme cold.  It was our first time to have the weather below 30 degrees.  Even with our long-Johns, scarves and hats, it felt cold.  We decided to just sit in the chairs, not pass out fliers and pray in tongues.  Within 5 minutes, a tall, dour-looking man came right up to us.  He acted like it was the most normal thing in the world that we were there, in the cold, offering prayer for people.  He said he would like prayer because he grew up in a very abusive home and he could not find his base.  He looked to be about 40 years old.  He said he was going to go turn in some bottles and then he would be back for prayer.  He was back in about five minutes and as Bre poured him a cup of coffee and conversed with him in German, I asked the Lord if He had a word to give me for Uva.  Immediately Jesus spoke into my heart and said, "Tell him that I am his base," and with those words, I saw a picture and knew exactly what I was going to tell him.  Bre did the translating and I told him that Jesus had spoken a word into my heart for him.  I said, "Jesus wants you to know that He is your base.  He is the home that you have always been looking for.  He is the only one who loves you completely and who will never disappoint you.  He wants to come into you and you go into Him and He will be with you and love you."  When I was finished, Uva said, "This is just what I was talking about."   (Thank you Jesus!)  I prayed over him that he would come to know how much he is loved by Jesus and I asked the Holy Spirit to come upon him right then.  Bre prayed for him in German and as she was praying, I watched a big tear well up in his eye and then spill over and roll down his face.  After this, I gave him a German New Testament and opened it to the book of John.  "If you read just this book, you will learn everything you need to know about Jesus who loves you."  Bre gave him a der Garten flyer and we encouraged him to come in and talk to us.

After he left and Bre and I had prayed for him we both felt that the Lord has sent us one of His chosen ones, a man that he had been calling for some time.

Next we had two teenage boys come up to us and ask what we  were doing.  Bre said, "We are offering prayer and coffee,"  (in German, of course).  They both said they wanted coffee and one of them, Emre said he would take both!  We sat them down in our chairs and Emre told us he would like prayer to stop smoking so much marijuana.  The first thing Emre said to Bre was, "I'm an atheist but I do believe in God...".  Bre said, "Well, you're not an atheist then!"  I asked him what he believed about Jesus and he said, "I believe that he was a good man, a prophet."  Then I told him that we believe Jesus is God and we would be praying for him in the name of Jesus because we believe all power comes from Jesus.  I also told him that I would like to pray that he would stop smoking pot all together and he assented that this would be okay.  We prayed for him, me in English and Bre in Deutsch.  He was smiling and seemed to be warmed by our prayers.  When we were done, I asked his friend if he would like prayer.  The friend said, "No" and Emre said, "You should.  It feels really good!"

We invited them to our cafe and as they walked away, I was so thankful that we had made the choice to go out on the street that night. 

Jesus is so faithful to encourage us and show us that He is with us and that He is doing all of the work through us.











Wednesday, November 2, 2011

LONELINESS
Jesus said, "Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.  Matthew 28:20
"And I will ask the Father and He will give you another COUNSELOR to BE WITH YOU FOREVER - the Spirit of Truth.  John 14:16b-17

    I have experienced a lot of loneliness in my life.  Right now, living in Berlin, Germany I am often profoundly lonely.  I walk down the street and the sounds echo in a language I can't understand.  I feel as if I am alone on a planet with aliens....and when they do understand my language, my brain can't grasp this and I feel embarrassed and it is hard to to talk.  Do they wish I would speak slower?  Are they getting all my words and are they wondering why I haven't learned their language yet?

I was also lonely when I was in high school.  I went to a high school where I knew no one and I had no idea that it would be so hard for me to find friends.  I thought it would just happen.  I thought that people would just start talking to me, or I naturally to them, but that didn't happen.  When I realized, after the first week of school that everyone was completely ignoring me like I was invisible, I panicked.  I was in shock and didn't know how to handle the situation.  I called an old friend from my last school and she too was in a new school and she had already found some friends.  I asked her for advice and she said, "Just pick someone that looks friendly and try to talk to them."  So, the next day I did just that.  There was a girl who always had a smile on her face.....and rather than try and make small talk with her, I asked her if I could eat lunch with her.  She mumbled something unintelligible and then ran from me into the girl's bathroom and a friend joined her and I heard them laughing.  I was crushed and vowed to never try again.  I was humiliated.  Then I became very self-conscious thinking that everyone knew I was alone and that they must think I am some sort of oddity because I had no friends.  I couldn't bare the thought of their stares nor the embarrassment of simply being alone all the time and so I began sneaking away to the library during my lunch and hiding in one of those cubby desks so no one could see me.  But it was then that I started reading the bible.  Every day at lunch, to the library with my apple and then I would read the bible and I discovered that Jesus was my friend.  It got so I didn't mind the lonely lunch times because I loved reading my bible and spending time with Jesus.  

Psalm 68:6 says, "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families...."   I'm so glad to know this about my God.  He sets the LONELY in families.  

When Bre came to Berlin as a young missionary of 20 years old - the Lord gave her a man who was to become like a father-figure to her and his wife was a friend.  This man would take her out to eat on occasion and give her presents, just like a father.  We discussed many times how good God is that he provided for her in that way.

Yet....there are many lonely people and they have no family.  Is the Father's love enough?  Is the comfort of the Holy Spirit enough?  Jesus said that we should be GLAD that He had to go away, so that He could send the Holy Spirit to us.  The Holy Spirit is our counselor; our helper; the one who lead us into truth.  In fact.....He is the one who told me to write this on loneliness and He is the one who is directing me right now on what to write.  I really don't know what I would do without the Holy Spirit.  He guides and leads me in every part of my day.

I had a vision two years ago that has really helped me in my current struggle with loneliness.  I was at a worship house and as we were worshipping, Jesus gave me this vision.  I saw myself walking down a dirty Berlin street in a simple wedding dress.  It was pure white and the length of it touched the side-walk that was littered with broken glass, trash and dog-poop.  On my head was a wreath of white roses, fresh and sweet-smelling and walking right next to me was JESUS!  He gave me a picture of my reality which included the dirty street but what I don't see is that He is the groom and I am his bride and He truly NEVER leaves me.  





Sunday, August 7, 2011

Fascination by Americans of Judgement to the United States

"But let us who live in the light THINK CLEARLY, protected by the body armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.  For God decided to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us."  I Thessalonians 5:8-9

But now God has shown us a different way of being right in His sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago.  We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us.  Romans 3: 21,22a;24a;25a

I was reading an article in a popular Christian magazine written from a popular Christian organization.  The author was talking about how awful America is and how God's people need to repent, fast and pray to avert His judgement to America.  As I was reading I began to think of Germany, the country where I now reside as a missionary.  The sin in Germany is beyond imagination.  I have seen men having sex in an open vehicle on the street; children run the streets while their parents wile their days away in the bar; and the prevalent thinking is that there is no God, that we ourselves are the god's of the earth and nature is to be worshiped.  I do not see God pouring His wrath down upon this nation.  I see that everyone has a home; that there are very few homeless people; and that the average man is quite content.

Germany was once a "Christian" nation.  There are massive houses built in His honor everywhere.  The nation, as a whole, has slipped away from the days of Luther, yet I have not seen His wrath poured out.  I believe this is because He has ALREADY POURED OUT HIS WRATH ON HIS SON, JESUS. When Jesus died on the cross, this satisfied His anger. 

I have a sense that some Christian leaders in the U.S.  use sin and the "wrath of God" to promote their books and conferences.  I saw one conference where a prophet had predicted a great earthquake to hit on a certain date.  The date prophesided was BEFORE their scheduled conference.  So, the leader's decided to cancel the dates and re-schedule the conference BEFORE the proposed earthquake, so they could fast and pray to avert God's wrath and stop the earth-quake.  How smart is that?  This create's hype; this makes the people feel as if THEY have the power to stop earth-quakes; and I'm pretty sure it also brings in a lot of money to the "prophet's".

As the scripture says in I Thessalonians, let us THINK CLEARLY!  This is not an essay to comment on the reason's for natural disaster's.  I am merely stating that I believe God's wrath was satisfied in Jesus Christ.  Now, He opens His arms in love to a stubborn, sinful people and says, "Come to me.  I am knocking at your door." 

The presence of evil, and destruction gives us a  contrast to the love of God.  Without evil, we can't see the holiness of God.  In disaster, we discover our NEED of Him.  He uses everything to draw us and to help us to see who HE is as compared to darkness. 

I would like to suggest that Americans get about the business of magnifying the name of Jesus, of becoming FASCINATED with Jesus as opposed to fighting fights and supposed conspiracy's against His church.  We all want a cause and we all want to feel significant.  Our cause should be CHRIST ALONE.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Evangelism in Dresden

Just Thilo and I went to Dresden with a young firey evangelist from Berlin named Benny.  There we joined up with a YWAM team from Herrnhut and German Christians from Berlin & Dresden all eager to spread the love of Jesus. 

Benny & Thilo were dynamite together.  Thilo warming the crowd up with music and Benny preaching his heart out.  They performed skits together and pulled in crowds of up to 100 people.  Many in the crowd raised their hand and then prayed to ask Jesus into their heart.  I was standing in the crowd praying to Jesus, "Who do you want me to talk to?"  He was always highlighting someone for me and here are some examples of some of the conversations:

Phillip  He and his friend were hecklers and they were shouting things at Ben & Thilo.  I have learned that went I go up to a heckler, they always back down because I am a "mom".  I went up to Phillip and I said, "Why are you so angry?"  He said, "You have no right to do this and you are just trying to brainwash people."  His English wasn't very good and I apologized to him for my small amount of German and he assured me that he was thankful for a chance to practice his english.  Yet, he was really struggling to get some thoughts across to me and this girl came up and interpreted to me what he said.  I thought she was a friend of his.  She stayed with us and interpreted for about 15 minutes.  It turns out, she did not know Phillip and she was a Christian!  She had a button on her bag that said, "I love Jesus".  She told me that she didn't want to get out of bed that morning but something told her to get out of bed and come to the square where we were.  We both rejoiced that God had sent her right to us!  I told Phillip, "See, this is a miracle!  God sent her just so we could talk together."

Phillip was full of hate and especially against Americans.  (He thought I was from Holland).  When he found out I was an American he was a bit embarrassed.  I told him that Christians are all about love and that far from brain-washing our God gives absolute freedom.  After much talk back and forth the last thing he said to me was, "I really see Jesus in you!"  We hugged.  It was good.

Sharing Jesus in Dresden
Frederike I saw a young girl sitting and enjoying the songs and drama and so I sat down next to her on the pavement.  I asked her what she thought about all that was being said.  She told me that she came some distance to Dresden to attend "Kirchentag"  (Church day).  She said, "I don't know anything about Christianity but I am learning today and I really like what I am hearing!"  Somehow I KNEW that she was absolutely ready to accept Jesus.  I explained the way of salvation to her and then asked her, "Would you like to pray to receive Jesus now?"  She replied, "Yes I would!"   We prayed a prayer together and she said she felt a change go through her body when she prayed.  A few minutes later she had tears of joy running down her face.  We hugged.  We exchanged email address's and I said to her, "Today you are newly born!  It is a new day for you and you are now my sister in Christ.  I would like to be your spiritual mom."  More hugs.  So much joy.


3 Teenagers from Ukraine  They were sitting across from Thilo listening to him sing and so I went over to them.  The 2 girls said they were Christian and the boy said his dad is a pastor but that he had rejected Christianity.  I proceeded to tell them Thilo's story.  His year of sex, drugs and rocknroll; his deliverance from demons; and his new life in Jesus.  As I was talking and near the end, one of the girls started sobbing.  I put my arms around her and she said, "Thank you so much for telling me this story.  It was exactly what I needed to hear."  I hugged her and we prayed together.  Later they came back up to me and said, "Can we take a picture with you?"  "Sure!" I said.  The boy took the picture and we all hugged again and they once again told me that it meant so much to them what I had shared.  Thank you Jesus.

The East German Woman  Our  crew continued our evangelism in Berlin and I preached at Alexander Platz.  An older lady listened to my whole sermon and so Bre and I went to talk to her afterwards.  She was an atheist and although she found my talk interesting she didn't want to read any booklets or take a bible.  She didn't want to give me her name or discuss much.  Finally I said, "Can I pray for you?" and she replied, "That you CAN do!"  I said, "All right" and proceeded to pray for her.  While I was praying the Holy Spirit told me that she had many hurts in her life and had been greatly disappointed and that because of this she was desperately afraid to let herself believe that there might be a God she could put her trust in.  I asked the Lord to soften her hard heart and to break through this sadness.  She interrupted my prayer to say, "This is starting to trickle down in to me."  (Hallelujah)!  The Holy Spirit gave me such a knowledge of her condition that I could barely hold back the tears.  I felt her fear and sadness.  When I finished praying (through Bre interpreting) we hugged and I gave her a card for der Garten and asked her to come in and visit me. 

There were so many more quality conversations!  I wish I could write about all of them.  The last thing that happened was that Thilo and I met a man on the street in Berlin and we were able to lead him to the Lord!!  Afterwards we were dancing and leaping in the air.  So seldom does this happen in Berlin.  What joy.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Kimmy

We first met Kimmy almost two years ago.  She was 2 years old and we would see her pressing her chubby little face up against the glass door of der Garten with a big toothless grin.  Whenever we went to the door to say hi to her, she ran away.  Over time, she got braver and would say, "Hi" to us and eventually she came into der Garten.  We were appalled that she was walking the streets alone and we soon learned that her parents were hanging out at the bar just 3 doors down from us.  Day & night.  Night & day.  Three years later, they are still there, from the middle of the day till night.  Her daddy is a big man with a perpetual frown on his face.  He is kind of mean looking.  The mom is thin and would be very beautiful if it wasn't for her dyed bright red hair.

So we fell in love with Kimmy.  She is so cute and has always been chubby.  We let her come into der Garten whenever she came around and she would chatter away to Bre in her grown up Deutsch voice and Bre always said she talked like a 5 year old instead of a 2 year old.  For my part, I gave her hugs and kisses and smiles and she loved to sit on my lap.  She found it hilarious that I didn't know how to speak Deutsch and would laugh at me in a very confused way.  When she saw me coming up the street she would run to me with arms outstreched and give me the biggest hug.  Then I would pass by her dad sitting at the outdoor table of the bar and he would not look at me  and I would wonder what he was thinking.

This went on for almost 2 years. Her coming into der Garten and coloring, eating or just chatting away.  She always talks to me as if I can understand her and most of the time I pretend that I can.  Kimmy has a 16 year old sister and one day the sister came into der Garten to see if Thilo could coach her in English.  He chatted with her for almost an hour and I observed her looking around der Garten at our walls that say (in Deutsch) - "Whenever 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name, there I am in their midst - Jesus" and "Maranatha!  Come Lord Jesus".  I don't know if it was these messages on the wall or something Thilo may have said but she never returned and from that day on Kimmy was no longer allowed to come into der Garten.  We were heart-broken.

She started school and we would see her with her new backpack walking home from school and a big grin on her face.  Whenever I saw her I would say, "Ich vermissen dich!"   (I miss you!)  She continued to hug me but would tell me in her serious voice that she couldn't come into der Garten.

Perhaps six months went by and one day she came in!  BreAnna, Thilo and I were bubbling over with joy.  At the beginning she just come in for 10 minutes maybe and then leave.  One day when she was in some teenagers began banging on our windows and causing trouble.  I ignored them until some of our other neighbor kids came running to tell me that one of them had hit her and so I went out with Kimmy to confront them.  As I was walking across the street to the park where they were standing defiantly, I decided to just love them.  Startle them with love because I knew they expected my anger.  Our friend Peggy was just then walking up the street with a beautiful red rose and I asked her if I could give it to them.  I tried to hand it to them and said, "Jesus liebt dich", (Jesus loves you).  But they wouldn't take the rose and just continued to stare defiantly at me.  I took Kimmy & Cora's hands and walked back to der Garten and then noticed that Kimmy's dad and another man were watching this whole interaction. 

Ten minutes later, Kimmy's dad came into der Garten and asked if I was confronting the teenagers.  (I had to get Bre to help speak to him because I had no idea what he was saying).  Bre told him that they were banging on our window and causing trouble.  Then Kimmy's dad told us that one of them was accused of touching little girls inappropriately.   It was then I realized that he was on our side!  That he was glad I had confronted those bullies and from then on Kimmy has had full freedom to come into der Garten!  In fact her mom brought her to us the other night and said, "We'll pick you up at 9:30pm".  (Fine with us!)  And Kimmy's dad came in the other night to get her and SMILED at me and said "Chow" when he left.  (We are breaking through).

So......I'm writing this whole background story to tell this one amazing part.  Kimmy and some other kids were playing Uno with me just  a week ago and I noticed that gunk was coming out of Kimmy's eye and she kept wiping it.  Later in the evening she said, "My eye hurts!"  It looked just like pink eye.  So, I got her a cool cloth to put on it and then asked her if I could pray for it and she nodded her head yes.  In my simple German I asked Jesus to touch her eye and heal it.  She sat on my lap while we were doing our evening worship and then she wanted to lay down where we have a fluffy rug and pillows.  Bre went and sat next to her and she also told Bre that her eye hurt and said, "Kim prayed for it but it STILL hurts!"  Bre said, "Did you pray for it Kimmy?"  She said, "I don't know how to pray!"  Bre said, "You can just ask God."  Kimmy made a face like this was impossible.  Bre got up and left for a minute and when she came back Kimmy said, "Okay, I'll pray."  She lifted her little hands in the hair and said HER FIRST EVER PRAYER!!!!  She said, "God please heal my eye and make it feel better."

She was watching me worship and imitating me lifting my hands and then she asked Bre why do we lift our hands.   Bre said, "So we can tell God how much we love him and tell Him, 'Lord, we give you everything'."
Kimmy kept lifting her hands and singing.  All of this was major breakthrough in her little life!

Kimmy is the first girl on the left
When her mom finally came to get her I told the mom about her eye.  (As usual, Bre helped me to communicate).   I saw Kimmy two days later and said, "Kimmy wie ist dein auge?"  (How is your eye?) and she looked at me with her bright smile and babbled off a lot of German and I looked into a clear, bright eye with NO infection whatsoever.  I said, "Danke Jesus!" and we hugged.

Kimmy said her first prayer and I believe that Jesus did touch her eye and heal it.  Thank you so much Lord!!!!!

We are thrilled to be loving and reaching out to our neighbor kids.  Kimmy calls me her "Garten friend".  All glory to the Lord.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Nothing compared to KNOWING Jesus

I met a woman this month who told me pieces of her life story.  She gave me permission to share some of it here but I withhold her name.

She married young and worked to put her husband through seminary.  They had a great marriage.  He was a Pastor of a church and she as well was considered Pastor.  They raised two boys.  She loved her life and she loved her husband.  Then quite unexpectedly he died.   She was left with no money.  Emotionally she fell apart because her husband was her life.

Yet TODAY she says, "I never truly knew Jesus like I know Him now.  I would not bring my husband back from the dead if it meant going back to where I was.  His death was worth it because of the beauty of knowing Jesus like I do now."

You see, in all the years of her marriage and even of being a Pastor's wife....she didn't know Jesus enough.  She didn't know that He was all-sufficient or that He was the wild lover of her soul.  When she counseled people at her church, she couldn't even give them the right advice because she did not know that there is nothing that the nearness of Jeus can't cure.  Only at the death of her husband and her subsequent grief did she learn to know Jesus in a deep, intimate way.

When this woman told me her story, her face sparkled.  We met each other in Berlin as she had come with European Initiative (www.europeaninitiative.com) to do evangelism.  TotheStreets had joined up witn E.I. and we were doing worship on the train that encircles Berlin.  She sat next to me on the train and started asking me questions.  I could tell that she was genuinely interested in me which is so rare to see in this day and age.  She was kind, compassionate and lively.  It wasn't until the next day that I learned her story. 

Train Worship
What a testimony it is!  This woman would not go back to a life of ease?  She wouldn't go back to security & comfort and the arms of a loving man?  She has no arms to go around her now.  She must work hard to make a living.  Yet.......it is all worth it for the sake of knowing Jesus. This should show you how REAL: He is!  What a great comforter He is!  He brings joy;  He brings delight; and He is all the security we need. 

I have been mediatating on Colossians 1: 27 this week.  It says, "For it pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Chjrist are for you Gentiles, too.  For this is the secret:  CHRIST LIVES IN YOU, and this is your assurance that you will share His glory."  This is mind-boggling.  Jesus, the most beautiful one, full of joy, excitement, the creator of the world and the one who experienced resurrection LIVES in ME!!!!  The one with all the riches, the one with complete compassion & understanding, the one who knows me inside and out and still loves me.....He dwells IN ME!!!!

Yes....knowing HIM is worth everything.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Help me Lord

My friend in Washington State turned me on to a man - Michael Wells.  He has a ministry called Abiding Life Ministries International and his web page streams daily talks by Mike which I've been listening to.   I've also been reading his latest book which is excellent, Untold Stories & Unknown Saints
Michael Wells is an amazing man and I have grown considerably by listening to him.  Today he said, "Don't pray like this...'help me Lord to be more kind; help me Lord to loose weight; help me Lord to .......(you fill in the blank)."  I pray like this ALL THE TIME!  "Help me, help me, help me Lord!"
  Michael asserts that in praying this way we are assuming there is something good in us.  We are still trusting in our flesh and believing that somehow WE can accomplish something.  Instead of praying, "Help me," we should pray, "I can't do it Lord....YOU do it in me." 

Here are some more nuggets from Wells:
"Silver and gold have I none" pretty much puts an end to the concept that a believer is compelled to take aid along on a missionary journey  Sundar Singh pleaded with God to take away the gift of healing, for to the extent that people were coming to him for something other than Jesus, it got in the way of presenting HIM."

The Lord's Prayer does not have us looking to others for our daily bread, but looking to Him.  We have an opportunity to trust God and not man."


"It is impossible to increase your faith in Him without decreasing the faith you have in yourselves.  You must fail.  Power is in weakness.  Weakness is a magnet to God's power."

"We are admonished to remember the poor, yet I also have a sound conviction concerning God's use of suffering in man's life.  It is, to me, His greatest evangelistic tool.  Because of pride, men do not accept Christ, and suffering breaks pride.  I am also against nearly every form of intervention.  The angels ministered to Jesus AFTER His time in the wilderness.  Many need the same type of ministry after the wilderness, not while they are in it.  God is doing something in the experience.  Generally speaking, I believe that the Church today has so little confidence and experience in what fellowship with Jesus and His expression through us can mean that we have opted to work in the realm of the social.  When the Son of man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"

His book is packed to the brim with amazing stories of unknown saints all around the world.  Michael travels to the poorest of the poor and some of his stories will break your heart but they will also expand your faith.  Do we really believe that JESUS is all sufficient?  This book is a great testimony to HIS amazing power, His mysterious ways and has made me excited about embracing JESUS and JESUS alone.

Let's shout HIS name from the roof-tops!  HE IS ALL WE NEED.  Let's dare to believe that.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Rob Bell Exposed

Love Wins, Christianity Loses, and God Lies – A Review of Rob Bell’s Book by Jason Berggren

I just finished reading this blog by Jason Berggren.  I encourage you to click on the link and read it for yourself.  It is loving, wise and truthful.  I find the whole Rob Bell topic very fascinating.  Most likely because his latest book confirmed what I had already supposed about the man.  I have to confess that my opinion is based only on ONE video that I watched by him.  I have never read any of his books nor listened to any of his sermons even though his name has popped up over and over by various Christians in my life.  All of them had positive things to say about the man.

I am a street evangelist in Berlin, Germany.  This is a calling that the Lord led me into.  When I first arrived in Berlin three years ago, I had no idea that I would be doing street evangelism.  I rarely preach on a box anymore (I used to).  I mainly work with teams who do street dramas and then we engage in one on one conversations with people who show an interest.  But I loved preaching on a box and I have nothing whatsoever against this method.

Three years ago when I was shown Rob Bells Bullhorn Guy video I was deeply offended.  I have to admit, I wrote Bell off from that time on.  So, the bullhorn guy did it all wrong.  Isn't his wrong EFFORT still better than no effort at all?  At least the bullhorn guy is out there trying and not sitting home watching TV like millions of other Christians.  My gut told me that Bell's biggest problem with the bullhorn guy was embarrassment.  Bell struck me as a guy with a longing to be "cool".  There is a "cool" Christianity culture in the United States.  There is also a false lie that Christianity should be attractive, warm and fuzzy.  

Christianity is bloody.  Christianity divides families.  The way is narrow and few are those who find it.  Before Jesus was put to death he was almost stoned many times.  He told us, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."  Matthew 10:22

Bell is so worried about Christians showing "love" to the world but what about his love for other Christians such as the bullhorn guy?  Why isn't Rob Bell criticizing Christians who never say ANYTHING about their faith?  Isn't that far worse?

In Berlin, it is the same.  Other Christians here criticize us and tell us that street evangelism doesn't work and only friendship evangelism is the way.  I am personally not  a fan of friendship evangelism but I have learned that God is not limited to ANY way of evangelism.  I have learned to be glad for any method of  sharing the truth of Jesus Christ.  

Why are Christians criticizing one another?  "They will know we are Christians by our love.." is a song we used to sing during the Jesus movement of the 70's.  What ever happened to this sentiment?

Examining someones views who claim to be speaking for Christ is not wrong.  Love gets all mixed up in peoples minds.  They think that if we love, we will never examine nor expose false teaching.  I will probably be told that I am not loving Rob Bell.  To truly love anyone is to have a desire that they walk in truth.  To tell people that they will go to hell unless their sins are removed by Jesus Christ is the most loving thing I can do for them. 

I read that Bell is in pain and that this has been one of the most uncomfortable things he has gone through - the controversy from his latest book.  Is this the little boy in him who wants to be liked by everyone?  Lets pray for Bell that he repents of his arrogance and learns that by dying we live.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A Day In The Life

Last night during worship the Holy Spirit told me to take a walk to Boxi (Boxhagener Park) and then down to this sandwich shop that we discovered when YWAM Brisbane was here.  The owner of the shop was really friendly to us and Bre shared Jesus with him for a long time.

So....today around 11:45 I took myself off to Boxi.  The sun was shinning and it would have been really warm today except for a cool breeze that was blowing.  I entered Boxi and didn't see York sitting where he usually sits on the first bench.  There was a really "normal" looking lady sitting there.  As I walked down I saw Ed.  He was just strumming his guitar and I said, "Ed!"  I hadn't seen him since last summer when he joined our church worship in Boxi.  He came right to me with a big smile and shook my hand.  Next to him was tall Alex and since Ed shook my hand so politely, I think Alex felt propelled to do the same.  As we chatted and I asked Alex how life was....Curly came up off the bench and over to me.  He began speaking rapidly in a mixture of French and German.  He was obviously very drunk.  I asked him to speak English as I had no idea what he was saying and then Ed came over and said, "Be polite now" to Curly.  Then Curly got a menacing look on his face and kept stepping towards me.  I said, "Curly, only Jesus loves you like you want to be loved.  Only Jesus."  He kept on with his language and threatening when suddenly Alex came up to him and grabbed him away from me.  That was my cue to take myself off.  I was pleased inside that Alex and Ed totally came to my defense and not one bit scared of Curly.  I thanked them and told them that I loved them and left the park.  It was a strange experience but I told the Lord, "Okay...I went to Boxi like you told me to."

Then I went to the sandwich shop and ordered my sandwich from a guy I didn't know.  Then the guy we had witnessed to walked out from the back and when he saw me he said, "Hey!  Hello!  How are you?"  I was pleased that he remembered me and told him that I came back because I wanted another one of his delicious sandwiches.  The other guy began making it and put 2 pieces of salami on and he said, "Put another one on.  Make it with love!  More lettuce.  More jalapeno."  I was giggling....what favor!  I didn't feel led to say any more to him about Jesus.....just smiling and buying his sandwich was enough, I think. 

At 2pm I traveled out to Marzahn to have coffee with a sweet girl who just returned to Berlin from 2 years with Operation Mobilization in Russia.  We had a wonderful time getting to know one another and then she walked me out to the tram station and put me on a tram that she said would take me all the way home.  (This was a different way home from the way I came).  I settled myself in for the 30 minute ride, book in hand,  when after about 5 stations I heard, "This train is ending here.  All get off."  Huh???  I was so confused.  When it stopped people started getting ON and so I thought I heard wrong.  Then the train driver came out of the front and walked to the back to drive back in the direction we came from.  So....I called Fran for help and while I was explaining to her my dilemma a lady across the aisle said to me, "I know what's going on.  I can explain it to you and help you."  So I hung up with Fran and the lady explained that they are doing construction on the line.  She happened to be going to almost the same place as me and so she said I could follow her back to another station and transfer there to our stop.  She was very friendly and we chatted all the way home.  When she found out I was a Christian missionary she said, "That is very strange because I just got done reading a paper I found in the station about God.  It was saying that there are many ways to God and that Jesus is the Way."  (Inside I was jumping up and down!!!!)  What a God-thing!  Then she asked me if I was with any sect or group and I explained that I had come to Germany alone and that the bible was my guide.  She said, "I met another Christian like that".  I said, "Oh...maybe I know him/her because the Christian world is very small in Berlin," and she said, "Oh that was two years ago!"  (I got the impression that she had only met ONE other Christian in Berlin!)  While we were walking I pulled out my card and told her about der Garten.  She saw that my email was on the card and said, "I will email you.  My last name is: ________ so make sure it doesn't go in your spam box."  She lives right here in Friedrichshain!!!!!!
I wondered why Naty put me on that tram instead of going home the way I came....and it all became clear.  I was also late for a prayer meeting with Fran....Naty and I had totally spaced out on the time....and that became clear as well. 

At 6:15pm when Fran and I were done praying, there was a knock on the der Garten door and I opened it right away thinking that it was Michael come for worship but instead it was Olaf - another man from Boxi.  We met Olaf 2 years ago when we first stared going into Boxi.  We watched him kick his girlfriend in the face.  It was horrifying. Then months later I started having conversations with him and one day the Lord told me to tell him that HE was his Papa.  I had found out that he was raised in foster homes and didn't know his mom or dad.  After that, every time I saw him I said, "Your Papa loves you!"  One day last year, he came bouncing into der Garten with 2 friends.  He said, "Here they are!  Here are the Chrisitans!"  Turns out a friend of his had just come into Berlin and the friend jokingly said, "Where are the Christians?"  and Olaf immediately said, "I know where they are!" and brought his friend to der Garten.  Before they left he said to Bre, "Will you pray for us?"  When she prayed the power of God came down on them and they were visibly moved.  They took der Garten fliers with them to place in their new Squat-House bar and they invited us to come at anytime and pray for people there.  Olaf informed us that he was done with Boxi and would now be working in the bar.  Well.....almost 7 months have gone by since I have seen Olaf.  When I was in Boxi today I thought, "I wonder what Olaf is up to?"  .  He was a bit drunk and so when Fran left, I was a bit apprehensive but I asked him if he wanted a coffee and to my relief he said he did and so I busied myself with that and soon Michael arrived who was to do worship.  Then Michael's girlfriend Helena arrived.  I told Olaf that we were going to pray before worship and he seemed glad.  He wanted us all to hold hands and he told me to look into his eyes when I prayed.  So I did and I asked Helena to translate what I prayed into Deutsch.  I thanked the Lord for sending Olaf in that day because I had just been thinking of him.  I said that Jesus was his Papa and loved him so much and I asked the Holy Spirit to come down and fill his heart and life with his love.  Then Helena prayed in Deutsch and Mike prayed.  After the prayer time, I got up to light all the candles and wonderful Helena began ministering to Olaf.  She asked him if he had a bible and he didn't and so I got him a bible and another small booklet to read (all in Deutsch).  (BLESS Helena!!)  I was so thankful she was there to talk to him in German.  Then all of a sudden Olaf began coughing in spasm's.  Really bad coughing.  I got him some water and he told me it was asthma.  He stood up still coughing horribly and I laid my hand on his chest and began praying.  His coughing stopped almost immediately.  About a minute later, he took my hand and placed it back on his chest so I would pray some more, so I did and I believe the healing of Jesus came all over him.  I gave him lots of hugs and it was so fun to pour the love of Jesus upon him.  He left not much later and took the bible and booklet with him. 

Hallelujah!!!  Our worship was so sweet.  There was only 5 of us but the atmosphere was filled with the presence of Jesus.  We were all relaxed under the sweetness of Jesus.  

THANK YOU LORD for a day of walking with YOU and working with you.  There is just nothing else quite like it!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Sounds of Thunder

Two times this past week, Luke 21:25 was brought to my attention.  Two separate writers stated that they felt this verse is talking about Tsunami's.  "And there will be strange events in the skies - signs in the sun, moon and stars.  And down here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides.  The courage of many people will falter because of the fearful fate they see coming upon the earth, because the stability of the very heavens will be broken up."

One of the writers was a man named Wolfgang Simson.  He is a German man that has written books on the home church movement in the world, notably, "Houses that change the world".  If you want to read more about him, you can go to his web page, www.simsonwolfgang.de/html/welcome.html,  He has a good article entitled: "Better than the Hippies".  ANYWAY!!!!! I got a newsletter from him where he sites some statistics about how things ARE worse now than ever before.  The main thing I hear when I say, "These are the signs of the times" is, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, people have been saying that for generations."  So, I wanted to share what Wolfgang found. 

As anyone can see, something of an apocalyptic nature is happening on the planet, to the planet and sometimes through the planet; something that at this intensity and speed has not happened before. The tip of the iceberg: In the year 2008, Reinsurance giant “Swiss Re” lists 311 (173 of them “man- made”) catastrophes for that year, killing about 250.000 people and costing 7.4 billion US $. Add to this the credit crisis. Year 2009: Swiss-Re lists 850 catastrophes (damage of 50 $ b); Year 2010: Swiss-Re lists 950 catastrophes with about 295.000 dead (and a damage of 130 billion $); 250.000 alone die after the earthquake in Haiti; worst floods in Pakistan’s history displaces millions; mud buries folks in China, and fires devastate the area around Mt. Carmel in Israel. Year 2011, so far: Australia experiences unimaginable draught, fire and floods. Much of the inner city of Christchurch (New Zealand) is leveled, its Cathedral badly damaged. Speak of a symbolic place… The Arab world is like a sea in uproar…

So I found this all very interesting.  I feel an excitement tingling in me if it is all true and we really are NEAR the END.  

If you knew Christ was returning in a couple of years, would you be living any differently?  I ask myself this question a lot.  

Jesus said, "Watch out!  Don't let me find you living in careless ease and drunkenness, and filled with the worries of this life.  Don't let that day catch you unaware, as in a trap.  For that day will come upon everyone living on the earth.  Keep a constant watch.  And pray that, if possible, you may escape these horrors and stand before the Son of Man."              Luke 21:34-36

 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

der Garten Worship

We had no allusions when we made the decision to do worship every night (except Sat. & Sunday) in der Garten cafe.  I even said to BreAnna and Thilo, "I feel pretty sure it will be just us worshiping in there every night."  They agreed that this was most likely so.  Furthermore we all agreed that this was okay.  Our goal in doing worship is not to make crowds but to glorify Jesus.

Last night in der Garten I felt that my heavenly Father's heart was filled with joy.  I know mine was.  Mostly because of Louis.  We met him two years ago in Boxhagner Park when we first went in there to evangelize.  He came right over to us and started talking to us in his half-German/half-Spanish speak.  He told us he was a Pilgrim following after God.  We told him the whole story of Jesus and he was excited to pray with us and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Louis is from Venezuela and  dresses colorfully just like you'd imagine a Venezuelan to look with lots of jewelry and colorful shirts.  He was in a bicycle accident some years ago and had a brain injury.  He walks with a shuffle and his speech is hard to understand but his smile is huge and every ready.  He calls me "Mutti" even though I am only 4 or 5 years older than him.  When we take tracts about Jesus to the park, he takes handfuls from us and passes them out to every one.  Usually when Louis comes into der Garten he only stays long enough for a cup of tea and a prayer for his brain.  "Mutti, Mutti, beten fur mein kopf!"  (Mom, pray for my head).  But last night Louis stayed for an hour and a half.  He was dancing and praising and really seeking God!  I saw his face turned up to heaven with joy and wonder all over his expression.  He was playing the tambourine and we laughed together.  I was so excited that this Louis whom we met two years ago was now a full-fledged son of the King enjoying life in the kingdom.

Another gal was there who has been set free from horrific child-abuse.  The minute she came in she began singing.  Her joy & freedom are so precious to her that she just bubbles over at times with joy. 
Another young lady was laying on the couch...soaking in the presence of God.  Then there were the sounds of a harmonica being played by a man who is our only regular worshiper.  He comes in night after night with his harmonica's and joins in to the guitar playing and piano.  Another lady was sitting on the carpet pouring over her bible receiving words of revelation.  Then there was our neighbor who is in a wheelchair.  He can't dance or even clap his hands but the joy on his face was evident. My daughter was at the piano learning to play chords with the guitar and I was tapping out tunes on the xylophone.  I looked around me and joy started spilling out of me.  All in all there were ten of us worshiping!  All of us weak and with failures.  None of us successful by worldly standards.  Yet I believe we made the Father smile.  I felt HIS smile and pleasure and that makes me strong and successful.