LOCAL REPORT
GROWTH. Yes, I can truly say that we have experienced this over the last year! I am truly greateful and humbled by it. One of my main prayers over these past years for our church has been: Lord, give us more firery, stable volunteers and leaders so that we can bring your Vision for Franconia to life. I got inspired to pray this prayer by Paul in 2.Timonthy 2. But is growth only to be measured by numbers?
stefanie sChĂ–ndorf Local Report A look back towards growth in our church
god entrUsts Us With things so that We Can mUlitply them.
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LOCAL REPORT god is not a god of tradition, bUt of life. and life ContinUes to eVolVe.
A LOOK BACK. G
od had clearly spoken: no youth camp, no conferences, no work intensive events. Diving into the word of God and deep discipleship were the focus of the year 2017. We invested a lot into coaching individuals through their processes as well as developing their ministry skills. An example is our youth group „NextGen“. Volunteers were added. Every teenager was assigned a youth mentor. Those mentors helped their youngster through personal challenges and growing in discipleship. Another volunteer experienced God going through a deep crises which made her a more stable person. After one year she said: “I learned what it means to live to the fullest and to enjoy life. Ups, keine Events stimmt nicht ganz… Simon und Franzi haben geheiratet! Mit über 200 Gästen keine
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simon Und franZisKa briCher get married in in marCh 2018 Oops, no events - not entirely true ... Simon and Franzi got married! It was sooo wonderful to see you light up. Simon is on the senior leadership team, there since the beginning and is leading the youth ministry as well as the design and audio team. Franzi got saved during the first year of starting the church, is leading the youth with Simon and is a pssionate intercessor. After five years of being in a relationship they are a role modell in purity and integrity.
It feels like a completely new life!” Individual growth was definitely the main theme. No events did not mean that we weren’t “colourful”. We brought praise and worship to the streets! The flag team GloryFight from Duesselsorf trained our dancers well. Nearby deep conversations with pedestrians were happening.
breakthrough in prophetic dreaming When the Bethel students were here they prayed for a break through in prophetic dreaming. They released it and I had them pray for me. The following night I dreamed that I got accepted at the school I had applied for weeks earlier. A few days later I actually received a letter with the acceptance!
Joanna, sChÜlerin
And then the big bang happened: 20 new partners (our word for members) during the entire last year. That meant we doubled! Partially due to the newly implemented starter class. It enabled those interested in partnership to go through a short class as opposed to the eleven month long transformer school which used to be required for each partner. In exchange the school received in upgrade in depth and demand. The changes are starting to pay off. Over the course of the last year there we also 11 people who moved to Uffenheim – a town in an underdeveloped region with little cultural flair. We even started a shared flat. WOW! My prayer was heard because almost all new partners have found their place in serving the church and are helping to build our vision “Franconia for Jesus”. Another highlight: Finally I have found a
Together with the flag team GloryFight we are joining the Walpurgiprocession through the streets of Uff enheim (above). Powerful were also the sopen air ervices in Bad Windsheim on the market place (below).
“testimony hunter” (after four years!), Heidi, who records all testimonies right away with smartphone or questionnaire. She trains our partners with fun reminder cards to write down their own testimonies. We could collect over 60 testimonies within the last six months!
neW room mates
Unsere neUe mÄdels-Wg Kerstin, tabea Und KlaUdia
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U3 group during play time (left) and the blessings tent (right)
Our audio team and shop received new volunteers who edit DVDs and sermons with incredible excellence and passion. This allows mothers who can’t attend church to watch online or listen to the recordings. Personally I am very grateful for this. Since the beginning of the year we could also start a service for the under six year olds. The young ones learn what God’s presence feels like and that He heals from the very beginning. Little Hanna wants to play “blessing tent” every day which means blessing every child prophetically through songs. Little David recently laid hands on his father’s head after he hit it. The pain left. When volunteers experience growth it shows in all sort of ways. Last year we made some interesting observations in regards to worship and prayer. Our pastor Rüdiger did some research on the reasons why our church is growing so slowly, why there is quiet some resistance by local authorities in church and government especially when it comes to acquiring a property for our church. In comparison a church in a different but similar region grew to a hundred people within one year. During his research Rüdiger found historic documents proving that Franconia was among the first regions supporting the nazi regime and voting the nazi party into government very early. 8
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Some cities that we are active in were especially open to it. Unfortunately the protestant clergy supported the nazi ideology with their sermons, never really renouncing those activities publicly with very few exceptions. There is a massive debt that remains hidden and unrepented. When we realized that our competency in taking on those strongholds wasn’t enough we invited a spiritual prayer warrior, Samuel Hoffman who is a missionary with YWAM in Herrnhut. This was a strong experience for the entire church. We see a connection between a strong protestant – Lutheran tradition and resistance towards biblical christian innovation and to renewal movements in this region. This might be the reason that God assigned us Franconia. We will celebrate Him and bring His Glory here. Interestingly just a few weeks after the prayer activation with Samuel a building popped up for sale. It fits well with our requirements and it turned out that the protestant pastor as well as the mayor of that community are born again believers. To no surprise this very community was not so active during the time of the nazi regime. On top of that there is a small evangelical church which has been there for over 25 years. We were welcomed by everyone to move forward in the process of buying property there. Incredible how well we were received after all the resistance we experienced in the region. Unfortunately the negotiations for the buildings are being prolonged due to damage in the building substance. The good news is that we have found a Christian bank (SKB) that is willing to work with us and gave us clarity about the exact financial support we can get through them.
What a blessing! We even found a second building option in the same village. Therefore we are positive that we will be able to purchase a building within the next couple of months!
prayer on the Kappel moUntain With samUel hoffmann
In 2016 God changed our
We are releVant When We haVe beCome What the World is longing for
focus from buying a building towards employing staff – now it finally seems possible that we may leave the constrictions of our space.
Knieheilung beim einkaufen
stefanie sChÖndorf Beim Einkaufen zeigte mir Gott einen älteren is leading Unlimited God with her husband Rüdiger
LOCAL REPORT our table pastors (above) and the senior and second leadership team (below)
Welcome to the second leadership team : Katrin und Ralf Gloger
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