January 20, 2011
Brian and Michelle Davis, serving in Senegal, West Africa
The following article includes adapted excerpts from two of the Davises’ 2010 reports, including their Christmas/New Year greetings.
One of our biggest challenges in these next four months is to make great strides toward building a new vocational training center for boys and young men here in Saint-Louis (san-loo-EE), Senegal.
In 2009 we moved to Pikine, a poverty-stricken neighborhood in Saint-Louis, believing God had called us to live and minister among the poor and marginalized alongside the Yoonu Njub (Way of Righteousness) Community Center. God showed us specifically how to best bring the good news to the people in Pikine. To establish our credibility, allowing us to build relationships and find those with open hearts to the gospel, He has called us to bless this community in the areas of health and education.
Significant Needs
Thousands of boys are on the streets of Saint-Louis—the result of parents giving up their children to local religious leaders for religious education. In many instances, unfortunately, these boys end up on the streets begging for food. By the time they are young adults, they have futures with little hope or promise, since most do not possess life skills or job expertise.
We are responding to Jesus’ compassion for these boys by building the Way of Righteousness Vocational Training Center, giving them the ability to rebuild their shattered lives through receiving health services, life-skills training, and spiritual instruction.
Though the figures are daunting, we are trusting in God’s ability to provide for this center. We are asking Him for $100,000 for construction and several teachers skilled in the trades who follow Jesus.
- • $40,000 for groundbreaking (foundations, septic system, perimeter wall)
- • $20,000 for housing (director’s residence and housing for street boys)
- • $20,000 for shops and storefronts (two workshops, one store to sell the products made in the shops, one hair salon, and a medical consultation room)
- • $20,000 for school rooms (four classrooms, one conference room, one library, and an office)
Ground Breaking
We have raised $10,000, so we plan to break ground this month, trusting God to continue to provide the needed finances as we progress. Additionally, one of our friends recently started a T-shirt company, spit in the dirt, committing through the sale of “wear Love”™ T-shirts to help build the center.
We are moving from a preparation phase, one in which we were learning the Wolof language, and are now eager to dive into trying a few different things, with the ultimate goal of seeing churches planted and the name of Jesus praised. We wait with anticipation for the great things that God will do here, because of who He is.
What You Can Do
• Join the Davises in praying regularly for Pikine and that Jehovah Jirah—our providing God—will supply all of the funds needed to open the vocational training center, allowing His name to be glorified and many lives transformed.
• Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries. In doing so, you partner with Alliance workers, like the Davises, to ensure that the Name of Jesus is lifted up in lost communities around the world.
Learn More
• Read more about the Davis family’s calling to serve their Pikine neighborhood.
• Check out the spit in the dirt Web site. Note: Clicking on this link will take you off of the C&MA Web site.
December 15, 2010
By Stan and Jaynee Walker
Serving in Senegal
A recent report from Oxford University and the United Nations states that sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world. This assessment is based on the numbers of people in that region who:
Live in poverty-or on less than $1.25 per day
Are deprived of adequate schooling, cooking fuel, electricity, drinking water, sanitation, or nutrition
“The average African lifespan is lower than it was in the United States and Europe 100 years ago,” the report said.
Some Good News
What the report didn’t mention are the numbers of people in sub-Saharan Africa who have come to Christ; though earthly poor, they share the same rich heritage we all have in Christ! And a good number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa are those in which the C&MA serves.
“Nations in which The Alliance has ministered for decades generally have fairly large Christian communities,” says Dr. Chris Braun, the Alliance regional director for Africa. “We praise God for the rich ways that He has used Alliance international workers and African church members to build His Church in these countries; however, a number of African nations are places where Jesus is hardly known.”
More Work to Do
Alliance field leaders, national church leaders, and leaders from the C&MA National Office in Colorado are meeting this month to review our ministry efforts in Africa. While rejoicing in what the Lord is doing in the countries where The Alliance has work, they are also looking at how the Lord would have us enter those most spiritually dark, least-reached regions in Africa.
”A huge responsibility before Africa’s Alliance Leadership is to step into the opportunities that God has for us,” Dr. Braun concludes. “[We] need to make Jesus known so that lost peoples do not continually perish without access to God’s good news.”
What You Can Do
Dr. Braun requests your prayers, specifically for “God’s direction for us to be more instrumental in bearing light to nations inundated by hopeless spiritual darkness.”
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries. In doing so, you partner with Alliance workers to bring the light of the gospel to those in Africa, and around the world, who are spiritually blind and in need of eternal hope.
November 24, 2010
This Thanksgiving, believers are challenged to reflect on God’s blessing in their lives in a message from Alliance international workers Soeuth and Syna Lao, serving in Cambodia. The Laos are church planters in Poipet, where a recent monsoon caused local devastation to homes and rice fields, the only food source for many. In humility, the Laos met with believers who have lost everything and continue to praise God in the midst of their suffering.
After three days of heavy rains, most areas of Poipet, Cambodia were under water. The roads were still muddy and filled with puddles a week later, and, as predicted, all vegetation and thousands of hectares of rice fields (in the northwest regions) were destroyed. Normally, the rice farmers begin preparation of fields for transplanting at the beginning of the rainy season, June to August. Once the fields are prepared and the rice is transplanted, the farmers wait with much anticipation, hoping and praying for good crops at the harvest time, which is in November and December. But this year, flooding brought only devastation and despair.
During a house church service in Ang Salaa, may people gave praise and thanksgiving to God in spite of their losses. One woman gave thanks to God for His provision when her family had nothing to eat. During her time of need, God allowed her son to find a few extra fat frogs, so she could prepare a tasty meal for her hungry family!
Immediately following the service, while preparing a potluck meal for the small congregation, we were invited to lead a couple, Ang and Chin, to give their lives to Jesus. The couple had heard about Jesus through believers in Ang Salaa, like Polly and Mou, owners of the house where the church meets. Ang and Chin had wanted to come to Christ for a long time, but were hesitant due to fear of persecution. Finally, they decided to give their lives completely to Jesus, allowing Him to be their Lord and Savior! With their permission, we cut off two spirit strings from around their waists, helped the couple remove fetishes, shrines, and other worship articles from high places, and burned the worship articles in front of their friends and neighbors! It was a joyous moment for the couple. The wife, said, “I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders!” Please pray for this couple as they will soon face persecution and opposition from unbelieving relatives and neighbors.
Back at the house church, everyone was busy spreading plastic tarps and mats on the ground and putting food on dishes. A number of families had brought many different kinds of desserts and dishes of simple yet very delicious home-cooked food, including curry stuffing grilled frogs! It is a great and humble experience for us to dine with local villagers, a great reminder for us to appreciate and be thankful for the many blessings that God has generously given us, daily.
The truth is, we were deeply saddened by the devastating results of the recent flood. Without warning, the flood came and caused much damage, but our home was spared. Hundreds of families did not share the same blessing as we. This is a very hard and testing time for all of us. We may not have all the answers, but we can only trust in the One who knows the plans He has for us.
As you are celebrating Thanksgiving this month, please take a moment to count the many blessings He has done in your life. What are you thankful for this year?
Learn More
Read more stories about Alliance work in Cambodia.
What You Can Do
Pray that the Cambodian people in Poipet will understand Jesus’ love for them and their need to trust in Him. Also, pray for Alliance workers as they shine the light of Jesus into spiritual darkness through various outreaches in Cambodia.
When you give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries, your partnership enables Alliance workers like Soeuth and Syna Lao to impact your world for Christ.
November 15, 2010
By Kathy Eikost, serving in Bosnia
Bosnians are very relational. Friendship building and many cups of coffee are part of the journey from darkness to light through various outreaches designed to minister to the whole person. After several years of reaching out to her family, we are starting to see a young woman named Dina* move along this path. There have been at least six different points of contact with her through ministry outreaches.
Dina’s family, along with many others, receives monthly food boxes through our local church and a partner organization. The boxes are filled with nonperishables, supplementing the family’s own food supply to provide enough to last until the next delivery. This compassionate assistance opens doors to build relationships from appreciative people who may otherwise go without.
Additionally, Dina and her mother participated in the Bosnian Handicraft Project, a microenterprise program that provides income to women who knit and crochet items for resale. Dina’s family also has been visited by a short-term team from a U.S. Alliance church—another relationship-building outreache where Alliance workers were able to encourage and pray for Dina’s family members.
Dina was a guest at a week-long summer camp, where she was able to interact with believers as well as nationals who learned about Jesus’ love for them for the first time. At a women’s outreach, Dina and the other attendees were pampered while they listened to a guest speaker from New Life Fellowship in Saratoga Springs, New York.
When The Source hosted a recent concert, Dina was there. This community center is reaching Sarajevo residents with English language and music classes, as well as community events like the concert, where Dina reconnected with Mark and me, as well as international workers she had met at camp and acquaintances from the church.
Because of these many connections, Dina is increasingly open and more at ease each time we see her. It is amazing to me how God is reaching out to her from so many directions. I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.
*Name has been changed
Learn More
Read more stories about Alliance work in Bosnia.
What You Can Do
Pray that Dina will understand Jesus’ love for her and her need to trust in Him. Also, pray for Alliance workers as they shine the light of Jesus into spiritual darkness through various outreaches in Bosnia.
Your gift to Alliance Great Commission Ministries enables Alliance workers like Mark and Kathy Eikost to impact our world for Christ.
September 30, 2010
By Pastor Dave Prosser, Onamia Alliance Church, Minnesota
When leaders at the Northwestern District Office contacted me about the pastoral opening at Onamia Alliance Church, there was one piece of information they did not know—I had been praying for 17 years to be the pastor of this church in the town of Onamia with a population of only 905. God has a plan, and He knows the times.
When I came to Onamia, an average of 23 people attended each Sunday. The District Office had considered closing the church. Now, two years later, 50 people call Onamia their home church. My wife, Leslie, leads children’s ministry with 17 members. On Wednesday evenings, Awana youth ministry hosted 25 children in 2009, and we are gearing up for a larger number this coming year.
There have been numerous decisions for Christ during the past two years. Recently, 14 people were baptized, ranging from ages 4 to 90. Dick, the oldest, was born and raised in Minnesota and, like many, was baptized as an infant. But when the 90-year-old man heard the biblical teaching about the believer’s baptism, he said, “I knew it was time for me to publicly follow Jesus.” Dick is loved by everyone at our church, and he knows he is truly loved by Jesus.
The first to enter the cold waters of the Rock Lake, Dick led the other 13 in their commitment to follow Jesus in baptism. The result of his decision to go public was a huge statement to our church and to people in our community; it was as though many who came wanted to witness his baptism.
Since joining The Alliance in 1987, I have continued to hear then District Superintendent and now President Gary Benedict say, “Keep the main thing the main thing.” Here at Onamia Alliance Church, we are ordinary people empowered by an extraordinary God who wants us to reach, serve, and grow our community and our world for Jesus Christ. If anyone ever wonders about God’s timing, I would give a word of encouragement-hold on and keep praying.
Learn More
Read how U.S. Alliance churches are impacting their communities.
Find an Alliance church near you.
What You Can Do
When you give to the Great Commission Fund, you partner with Alliance workers at home and abroad in sharing Christ’s message of hope with those who need good news.
August 3, 2010
By John and Colleen Schleh, serving in Dominican Republic
Recently, we had the privilege of participating in a joint service of nine Alliance churches from the northern district. Our trip took us through the beautiful Cibao Valley and out to a tiny community truly in the boonies. The majority of the people are very poor, and they made great sacrifices to find transportation to the service.
Generous Hospitality
Despite intense heat and humidity under the tin roof of the packed church, the believers spent the next five hours singing, praying, and testifying about God’s faithfulness in their lives. John preached, and the national president served communion, followed by a delicious meal in the humble home of an older couple. The youth had arrived early in the morning to help peel vegetables for 200 people, and the hosts had cooked everything over an open fire outside their house. We are always amazed at the generous hospitality of those who have so little.
The most humbling moment came during the service when an announcement was made concerning the need to repair two district churches, both very poor congregations. One needed a floor poured, and the other church had no windows or doors. Immediately, someone jumped up and gave an offering for a bag of cement for the floor.
For the next hour, we watched in amazement as this group of impoverished people-most of them living in tiny homes with outdoor bathrooms and no running water-gave offerings and/or committed to give more than $1,000 toward the repair of the churches. Families committed to buying one window each at $96 apiece.
Rich in Faith
We asked ourselves, “Where are these people going to get the money? They have nothing.” After everyone had given or pledged to give, there was a time of praise for God’s blessing through faith and fervent prayer. These believers are depending on God to provide work so that they can earn the money they have committed to give.
This northern district of churches is exploding with growth and the development of leadership, and today we saw just a sliver of their strong faith and commitment to ministry. What a challenge to the rest of us, who have so much in comparison, to increase our faith in God’s provision and to stretch our resources to support Alliance work and ministries around the world!
Learn More
Check out our work in Dominican Republic.
What You Can Do
Praise God for the sacrificial giving of His people. Pray that He will meet their needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Impact your world for Christ! Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and help support international workers like John and Colleen Schleh.
At a time when believers in the United States are often discouraged from speaking openly about their faith in public settings, Alliance workers in Asia and Latin America have been welcomed into public schools to teach God’s truth.
In Paraguay last fall, C&MA international worker John Sappia and his colleagues at the Mi Esperanza Alliance Church were invited to a local public high school to teach a school-wide assembly on sexual purity to 250 students. Later, John and his coworkers were asked to address a seventh grade class on knowing God and finding their identity in Him. “We spoke about how Jesus has provided for our ‘real’ identity,” says John.
John’s colleague, Rodrigo, took time to pray with the students, and the gospel was clearly presented during the closing activity.
Valuable to Jesus
Last month, “the school asked us to come back!” John says. Using fun-filled activities, John, his church coworkers, and a short-term team from Crown College taught the students about respect for others. “We emphasized that each of them is valuable in God’s sight, and therefore they should treat others with respect,” says John. “Things went great! The students were attentive and seemed very engaged in the topic of how valuable they are to Jesus.
“The principal of the school has asked us to come back and teach the same ‘respect’ class in July and then return in September to do another school-wide assembly. Pretty neat, huh?”
From Prisoner to Public Speaker
On the other side of the world, EQ-a former prisoner who came to Christ during his incarceration through the C&MA’s TEAM Isaan in northeast Thailand-was invited to share his testimony at a local middle and high school, as well as another school.
Previously, officials at the prison where EQ had been incarcerated asked him to speak to inmates scheduled for release about how his life had changed after becoming a follower of Jesus. Later, the prison administrators invited EQ-along with another TEAM Isaan member who meets with a Christian women’s group in the prison-to speak during a three-hour program that the prison presents at middle and high schools.
“They have a couple of prisoners come to share what their life was like before they got imprisoned, how they got there, what prison life is like for them, and how the experience has impacted their families,” says Alliance worker Jon Chase, who serves with TEAM Isaan. “Our hope is that EQ’s testimony will be used by God to draw these young people, teachers, school administrators, and prison officials to Himself by His grace and power.”
Learn More
Check out Alliance work in Paraguay and Thailand.
What You Can Do
Praise God for these opportunities to reach young people with God’s truth. Pray that He will continue to open doors for Alliance workers to bring the light of Jesus into public settings. Also, pray that those who heard the message will trust in Christ.
Impact your world for Christ! Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and help support our international workers around the world.
May 28, 2010
Alliance international workers Mark and Pattie Brinkman have served in Hong Kong and in the Balkans. Today, they are the pastoral couple at Trinity International Church of Strasbourg, France. The following is Pattie’s reflection of Trinity’s “way-station” ministry to a continually changing congregation of multinationals.
The coffee and tea are ready on the back tables, chairs have been lined up in our rented Catholic youth center, and cords run over the cement floors. Amps are plugged in, and greeters are stationed at the door. Another Sunday worship service begins.
Our worship leader adjusts his microphone, pushes back his dark bangs, and strums a chord on his guitar. He looks around and smiles at the faces gathered before him, and we swing into, “Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness . . .”
As the worship leader closes his eyes to sing, it is my turn to look around the room and smile as well. Six months ago as I looked out at the congregation, I wondered if I would ever know everyone’s name. Today, I can name probably 60 percent of the worshippers, who have come together in France from Benin, Brazil, Germany, Peru, China, France, the United States, Ireland, Gabon, Hong Kong, Ecuador, Bulgaria, Korea, and more.
If I were in an American church, I would feel guilty for not recognizing the other 40 percent, but in this church, it is not an unusual day. Each service is a first-time experience for 20 percent of the attendees; they are visitors from out of town, have lived here for only a month or so and finally found us, or they have always lived here but have come today mostly out of curiosity about the church.
Another 20 percent have been here once or twice. I might have met them at some point in the past six months. The 60 percent I do know arrived between one month and four years ago, and only a few can say with relative certainty that they will still be here in another month, year, or two years.
In one of the most secular regions of the world, our international church plays a key role in pushing back the darkness. Trinity International Church is a community of believers from many backgrounds, worshipping Jesus as they draw into Kingdom life their neighbors and friends who are searching for meaning.
Metro Stop
International churches have been compared to a metro, an urban train that stops often to let people on and off; the doors slide open people come and people go. A river, with streams flowing in and out, also has been used to describe what this church constantly experiences.
You get the idea-international students, business people, and diplomats from other countries; transient military families; couples in bicultural marriages; locals with out-of-country experience; those restlessly seeking new adventures or hobbit-like creatures of comfort who are unhappily relocating-we all are a bit surprised to be here and unsure exactly how long we’ll stay.
What is it we are looking for? Why did we step in from our platform this morning? And by the time we step back off this particular metro, how will God have matured us, pruned us, and used us in this place?
Faces in the Crowd
A family in the front row catches my eye. As happens each week, the father juggles an energetic, blond three-year-old toddler. While the mother carries the baby in a front sling, another blond, giggly son sits beside her with several little friends. Elle and Francois, a local French couple, just became Christ followers early last summer.
God moved them into a new house next door to one of Trinity’s typical families-an American who grew up in South America who is married to a French woman with international experience. The two families struck up a friendship, and the Christian couple ministered to their new neighbors, who had recently lost a child. Their conversations were deep and God-centered, and Elle and Francois found the God of comfort and hope.
Although Elle and Francois could not speak much English, they came to church to grow. God took the seeds planted in the soil of “good and honest hearts” and helped them through biblical preaching and a loving community. After nine months as church members, Elle and Francois find themselves moving precipitously to Africa for an employment opportunity. We all are praying for a church that will nurture these young believers. They leave here with a firm foundation in truth and a real picture of love as the Body has reached out to nurture them in spirituality and practicality. They have begun their journey toward being conformed to Christ, living like Him in faith and fruit.
A Step Closer
Just behind them sits Sabine, a young northern European woman who is dressed and coiffed with precision. She was invited to the church by friends with whom she works locally. Sabine is still grieving the loss of family members several years ago, trying to control her life so that tragedy will not mar it again.
Sabine knows that there is a Father who cares for her, but she is not yet at the point of accepting that there is also a Lord who is asking her to give up control. We all pray for her to find that joy and release someday soon. She is here, searching; if she leaves, she will do so a step closer to the God of the Bible, having seen what life in His Body looks like. Sabine is on her way to becoming more like Jesus in faith and service to others.
The Jesus Student
Across the aisle toward the back windows sits Luc, a local master’s student. He spent some of his undergraduate years in the Midwest of the United States and found Jesus there, with the help of Asian students and their church. He came back to France, looking for that kind of community again.
Today, Luc is involved in ministry to Asian students here as well as being discipled in a home group. When Luc graduates next spring, he will leave with more biblical truth in his head, more selflessness in his heart for having served, and more love given and gained through the church-more like Christ.
The Faces of Maturity
On the right side toward the back sits a couple my own age with their son, a local family who met Jesus in Paris after several years of searching for meaning in Buddhism, the biker lifestyle, and whatever else they could explore. They are mature Christians now, living lives of faith before coworkers and neighbors. In their year or so at Trinity, they have had opportunity to encourage all of us with their lives of trust in God, and they have seen more of God’s Kingdom in the church and in the world. They are growing more like Jesus in faith and humility.
Everyone Has a Story
Scattered behind me are more individuals with their own stories. I see a young man from Peru with gifts in theology. He will leave here soon for Bible school in another country, having been gently challenged and encouraged in his enthusiastic ponderings. Nearby is another man from Benin, who, having just recently begun his journey within this community, is struggling with God about why He has not provided employment and conflicted about his family background, which includes witchcraft.
I wish I had time to tell you how the French military man is stronger for having been here, how the South American MK received rest and a place to use his gifts, how the Irish lawyer understands her faith in the real world more fully, and how the American space engineer has had a place to bring her Indian and Asian classmates.
Another Stop along the Journey
We come, needing truth, wisdom, and salvation from God; we need guidance from our brothers and sisters, a place to worship, tasks through which we can express God’s love, and a community in which we can explore who God is and what He offers and requires.
When we leave, we move out those “sliding metro doors” a bit more like Christ-trusting our Father, serving Him in His Body, loving, knowing, and telling truth. We leave with more gentleness, joyfulness, and with His peace, ready for His next stop.
The church together sows the seed of God’s Word and the love of His community. Sometimes we see harvest; many times we see only a small step on our friends’ journeys, either before or after they find Jesus. Either way, we rejoice to live our lives of faith and love together.
“So here I am to bow down . . .” I have sung “Here I Am to Worship” in other languages and other countries, and roads from France east to the Balkans and China are in my head as we sing. It is easy to imagine the many, many roads in others’ minds, connecting us to all continents. May God use His church in this town-beautiful and lost-to make Himself known here and around the world as we come and go.
Learn More
Read about other Alliance work in France.
View a video about postmodernism in France at
What You Can Do
Impact your world for Christ! Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries and help support international workers like Mark and Pattie Brinkman.
April 23, 2010
By Suresh Dongerdive
Editor’s Note: Suresh Dongerdive pastors New Life India (Alliance) Church, ministering among a large Hindu population in the Atlanta suburb of Lilburn. Suresh was raised in India in a Christian home; his grandparents were converted to Christianity through the Church of the Nazarene in the1890s. Suresh’s wife and her parents were members of an Alliance church, and his wife was studying in an Alliance Christian boarding school when the couple met.
When we moved to Atlanta in 2000, we were introduced to an Alliance pastor through my wife’s hairdresser. Local Hindus were getting ready to build the largest temple outside of India that year, and we had been asking God to open a door for us to reach these people. God answered our prayers through the Alliance pastor, and we were able to plant a church under the umbrella of The Christian and Missionary Alliance.
At the inaugural service in 2002, Dr. Ravi Zacharias spoke to more than 500 people, six of whom made decisions to follow Christ.
Reaching Hindus
We started the Indian ministry because many Hindus were settling down in Gwinnett County because of the new temple. Currently, there are more than 35,000 Indians living in this county. There is also a large Pakistani population that we are trying to reach as well.
India Life Church meets in the Lilburn Alliance Church and has had nearly 50 people attending at one time. Recently, though, many Hindus have left the Atlanta area because of the economic crisis, in search of jobs in other large cities. This has caused our attendance to dwindle.
One True God
A few years ago, we held an international Christmas celebration, which was attended by many people, including Mr. Ashok Goel, a software engineer, and his wife. The couple gave us their contact information, and we visited them occasionally. Last year, he had some problems and called to ask us to pray for him. Our God answered our prayers, and Mr. Ashok accepted Jesus. He began attending our Wednesday prayer time, where we meet together with Lilburn Alliance church members. Mr. Ashok gave his testimony to the congregation, declaring how he has found everything he needs in Jesus.
At our 2009 Christmas celebration, 20 Hindus joined us to sing and play t Indian musical instruments. One Hindu woman gave her heart to the Lord. We praise God for all that He is doing through this annual outreach.
We have found an avenue for community outreach through local motels. Hindu motel owners have asked for our help to put Bibles in their motel rooms. Our vision is to lift Jesus up in Atlanta and to let Hindus know that there is no other god but Jesus-that He is the true God, the living God (Jeremiah 10:10)-and bring them to the knowledge of His saving grace.
Wait on the Lord
India/Pakistani ministry is a slow process; it takes time to reach these people with Christ’s message of salvation. We are seeking God’s guidance again for the establishment of an Internet café, where Indians and Pakistanis can come to enjoy coffee or tea, see the JESUS film, and read books by Christian writers. God has brought us this far. We trust Him to expand our ministry to reach more Hindus through New Life India.
April 15, 2010
By Shelly Kragt, serving in Germany
“I feel like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff. I want to jump, but I’m scared,” Petra* said to me with tears and uncertainty. We were sitting at her kitchen table drinking tea about three years ago after I had once again had an opportunity to share the gospel with her.
I had known Petra for three years by that point. We had had many good times together, and I had won her trust as a friend. Because we had developed such a close friendship, my heart ached for her to share my faith, but I knew I couldn’t push her off that cliff. Just as I felt the Spirit of God was going to do it, her baby cried from the other room, and the moment was over.
Pedaling home on my bike later, I cried out to God for him to take my life and save hers. How long would I have to wait for her to take the step and fall into the arms of God who is waiting for her on the other side of her imaginary cliff?
God Erased
Petra grew up in East Germany. From Petra, as well as others whom I have gotten to know from the former communist sector of Germany, I learned that God was basically erased from society. Evolution was so engrained in the minds of the students that to believe in creation was unheard of. Because no one talked about God, people from the East have little or no religious background. Another friend of mine said, she feels dumb when people start talking “Bible language” because she has absolutely no background or frame of reference.
Sharing the gospel in a land where a knowledge of God was almost completely eradicated from the culture takes time. This is a place of sowing and sowing some more. Petra had a negative view of Christians, as do many others because of how the communist government portrayed them. Her mind and heart were not going to be changed overnight, but God continued wooing her to Himself.
What Does God’s Love Look Like?
After getting to know East Germans, I realize that it isn’t my role to argue with them about topics such as evolution versus creation. What they need is someone to show them what it looks like to be loved by God and to talk in words they can understand about His saving grace. There is also an openness to read the Bible because they are curious. Unfortunately, they are open to all forms of religion that have flooded in since the Berlin Wall fell. Many of them, including Petra, are deceived by Eastern religious thought and horoscopes.
Other Side of the Mountain
A few days ago, I was sitting again in Petra’s apartment enjoying a cup of tea and her friendship, when the conversation turned once again to spiritual things. This time the cliff wasn’t threatening. The tears still came, but they were tears of joy as Petra took the leap of faith and landed safe and secure in the arms of almighty God-six long years after I first met her. It was worth the wait!
*Name changed
Learn More
Read about other outreaches in Berlin, Germany.
What You Can Do
Please consider your role in helping to support Alliance Great Commission Ministries. It is through this central fund that we are able to minister in Germany and around the world.
Facebook
Twitter
Forums
RSS
Podcasts
Newsletters