It has been too long since our last update. We have experienced an incredibly busy time in the last six months. Here are some of the highlights for you to be praying for:
Dresden:
Since the church plant received official recognition as a stand-alone church and was made a part of the national convention back in May, things have gone really well. The church elected a body of elders, who have done a great job of re-sowing vision. The church is currently working on three new outreach projects, trying to start up groups in new parts of the city that would have the potential to be new churches. As best as we can tell, these attempts constitute one of just two ongoing efforts of Baptist churches in Germany trying to plant new churches. (The other is also a newly planted church in the west.) Pray that the church will embrace these efforts and do what is necessary to give these new attempts the best possible success. And, pray that the inevitable false starts and failed attempts will not discourage further attempts.
The church is also taking many steps to influence other churches in Dresden and the area. They are spear-heading a couple city-wide evangelistic efforts. They are also looking to help and support another new church plant attempt in Dresden being initiated by another group. And, the hope is that we will be able to inspire other churches to minister to their communities, reach out to the lost in creative ways, and plant new churches.
All of this has us heading into our Stateside Assignment this summer with greater confidence that things will continue and grow in our absence!
Leipzig:
Our family in Leipzig has done a great job in their short time there establishing a great network of like-minded churches and believers. The Brotherhood church is well underway launching a new church planting project. The Baptist church has been approached by the city to look at providing religious and church support to a new planned neighborhood near them that will have thousands of new people moving to the area.
A new family is in training as I write this and will be headed to Leipzig in a matter of weeks. Pray for the housing search, their smooth transition and quick language learning. They will start out becoming a part of the Brotherhood church and hopefully get to work with the new church plant once they finish up language learning.
Berlin:
We lost one of our two new families in Berlin right as we were launching our major efforts there. Their resignation and return to the States set back our efforts and time-table there by a year or two. The other family has been working hard on language learning and discovering the Berlin is a unique city in Germany. For one thing, the famously efficient German bureaucracy is hopelessly backed up. To start off, the city registration, which is supposed to be done within four weeks of moving in Germany, is a standard 4-6 week process in Berlin! Visas, driver’s licenses, and kindergarten spots have all been an exercise in patience in Berlin. They are expecting a new addition to the family within the month too! Pray that the family there will continue to learn German quickly, and that the process of entering the city logistics will speed up.
Bavaria:
The church plant in Munich is fairly well established and requires less and less of our personnel there. Our two families are looking for new opportunities as they look towards our next starts. A family that we discipled there in years past has now become a part of a new church plant about an hour outside of Munich. Our personnel there have been a great encouragement to this plant. Pray that it would continue despite poor support from the mother church. That they would even be willing to strike out on their own if needed, with our personnel helping of course.
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