Nathan, Rada, Anya & Aleksa's move to Munich...

Tag: pioneering

Calling All German Students!

We are beginning to gather a Core Team that will be the beginning of the Church Plant here in Munich.  One of the no-brainers to gathering a Church Planting team is that if you have students in the city then they can be invaluable when it comes to providing the energy, creativity and hardwork required to get a Church Plant off the ground.

Do you know anybody studying German as a foreign language who will need to do a year or six months in Germany?  Maybe Munich could be an option for them?

Or do you know any native Germans who are in their last year of school and planning to move to Munich for further studies?

If the answer is yes to either of these questions they might be interested in getting involved in a pioneering ministry in a beautiful and exciting city then PLEASE do put them in touch with us.  Drop them a message NOW before you forget.  You don’t know what difference the contact could make to us, to them, to Munich…..

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We have had a great Christmas in Germany hosting a good number of friends for a Christmas Day Brunch, as in Germany the main Christmas celebrations take place on Christmas Eve night.

We then spent New Year in the UK where we attended a special wedding and spent precious time with family.  Now we are back in Munich and the temperatures are plummeting with -18 degrees forecast for overnight this weekend.  Our location really is beautiful though and it so pleasant getting out and about.  Every day is different but there is a sense of routine building with the most regular activities being language learning and job searching.

 

BREXIT and life’s ups and downs

Life is full of ups and downs.  When you are involved in some sort of pioneering ministry it can feel like the impact of these ups and downs is somewhat magnified.

On the surface this week has had some big ups and some big downs for us as a family….

  • Monday morning my wallet is stolen out of my bag
  • Monday afternoon we receive news of an incredibly generous gift from a stranger
  • Tuesday we are painfully let down by someone
  • Wednesday we make some great progress with a big practical issue related to our move
  • Thursday we make some great progress on potentially renting an apartment in Munich
  • Friday morning we wake up to the referendum result which, regardless of political opinion, throws many aspects of a move to Germany into uncertainty.

The temptation can be to ride the highs with exultation, and a pinch of pride. But of course this means the impact of the lows is also significant. You can find your sense of worth and identity is wrapped up in external circumstances. The news of Britain’s vote to leave the EU this morning has certainly shocked us and emotions of fear and anxiety can lie below the surface.

However, the truth is that our worth and identity has nothing to do with getting your wallet stolen, how others treat you or what your immigration status might be after you move to Germany.  Nor, thankfully, is our sense of worth anything to do with how ‘successful’ a church ministry might be.

Our identity is quite simply that we are created by a loving Father God and that  he loves us unconditionally, despite our choice to sometimes turn away from him and try to negotiate life’s rollercoaster on our own.  God loves us and in that most profound of truths we find value, peace and purpose – no matter that Britain is leaving the EU and whatever affect that might have on our own lives.

Munich comes to the Black Country

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