Many of you prayed for our trip to Germany in November. God blessed our trip on so many levels: For one thing, pregnant Ellen was very comfortable and had no problem traveling all week. But first and foremost, God answered our prayers for guidance.
We visited 10 churches in Dresden, Chemnitz, and Leipzig. While every city had at least one church open to our ministry at their church, we found the most openness and potential for initial growth in Leipzig.
We spoke with several churches in Leipzig and are excited to continue those conversations as well. We will determine our starting church in the upcoming months with the help of Josiah Venture president, Dave Patty.
Thank you for praying for us as we made this important decision.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Building A Team
Before we can leave for Germany, we have to put a team of missionaries in place. That means that at the time of our departure, we are either bringing others with us or expecting their arrival in the upcoming months.
Why? Because this team will be the first group of Josiah Venture missionaries in East Germany - a journey we can’t go alone.
Josiah Venture recommends for us to find at least one other couple and one single. We pray that God would even let us gather more missionaries. We are looking for individuals passionate about Christ and youth ministry. As we start out our team, we are especially looking for model makers and trainers but also for those passionate about outreach and interested in teaching English.
It is also our responsibility to place these fellow missionaries in churches on the field. The objective of another future trip will be to get to know several church leaders in order to introduce our ministry and place missionaries in church homes.
We appreciate your prayers as we invite friends and other youth pastors to join our team. One couple has already decided to join us. As they continue in the process of getting accepted with Josiah Venture, we hope to introduce them to you soon.
Why? Because this team will be the first group of Josiah Venture missionaries in East Germany - a journey we can’t go alone.
Josiah Venture recommends for us to find at least one other couple and one single. We pray that God would even let us gather more missionaries. We are looking for individuals passionate about Christ and youth ministry. As we start out our team, we are especially looking for model makers and trainers but also for those passionate about outreach and interested in teaching English.
It is also our responsibility to place these fellow missionaries in churches on the field. The objective of another future trip will be to get to know several church leaders in order to introduce our ministry and place missionaries in church homes.
We appreciate your prayers as we invite friends and other youth pastors to join our team. One couple has already decided to join us. As they continue in the process of getting accepted with Josiah Venture, we hope to introduce them to you soon.
East Germany’s History and Present Spiritual State
East Germany was under communist reign until 1989, the year of the fall of the Berlin wall. Under communism, people lived in religious oppression and atheism spread rapidly. In contrast to atheism in the West, where people decide to become atheists, people in East Germany as in the rest of Eastern Europe are simply born atheists. They have never heard about God. Some statistics estimate the percentage of atheism on East Germany to be over 88% - making it the most atheistic region in the world.
Communist oppression as well as the currently high unemployment rate has left many hopeless and addicted to alcohol. Christian values have declined. Racism is widespread as well as immorality. The value of marriage has been diminished; many couples simply live together and have children without getting married. With parents skipping the covenant promise of marriage, a high number of children and youth are left with unmarried parents, single parents, and/or revolving father figures.
After East and West Germany reunited, believers seized the opportunity to preach the gospel. Some evangelical churches have already been established in all of East Germany’s major cities. However, there are wide areas of the land without any evangelical presence.
Germany’s state church is also represented in both East and West Germany. State churches are either Roman Catholic or a form of Lutheran - the vast majority of these churches are nominal in their beliefs, not adhering to the basic truths of the gospel message.
Evangelical churches have found a great openness to the gospel among the youth especially. This coincides with Josiah Venture’s experience in other Central and Eastern European countries. During our time in Germany, we also found out that there is no formal youth ministry education in Germany - neither in universities, nor among churches. Hearing about Josiah Venture, the pastors and leaders we spoke to where highly interested in youth ministry training.
Communist oppression as well as the currently high unemployment rate has left many hopeless and addicted to alcohol. Christian values have declined. Racism is widespread as well as immorality. The value of marriage has been diminished; many couples simply live together and have children without getting married. With parents skipping the covenant promise of marriage, a high number of children and youth are left with unmarried parents, single parents, and/or revolving father figures.
After East and West Germany reunited, believers seized the opportunity to preach the gospel. Some evangelical churches have already been established in all of East Germany’s major cities. However, there are wide areas of the land without any evangelical presence.
Germany’s state church is also represented in both East and West Germany. State churches are either Roman Catholic or a form of Lutheran - the vast majority of these churches are nominal in their beliefs, not adhering to the basic truths of the gospel message.
Evangelical churches have found a great openness to the gospel among the youth especially. This coincides with Josiah Venture’s experience in other Central and Eastern European countries. During our time in Germany, we also found out that there is no formal youth ministry education in Germany - neither in universities, nor among churches. Hearing about Josiah Venture, the pastors and leaders we spoke to where highly interested in youth ministry training.
How Did We Get Here?
God has been leading us towards the mission field for a long time but we are finally ready to prepare for a departure. Through many circumstances and promptings, God has made His plans for us clear.
Ellen had always considered returning to her home country. Joel, who had considered missions even before meeting Ellen, felt drawn to Germany when learning about Martin Luther’s reformation many centuries ago. (Did you know Joel and Martin Luther share the same birthday? - Well, it’s 500 years apart.)
During a missions trip to the Ukraine in 2006, Joel felt a strong sense that God was asking him to return to a formerly communist country but Joel felt certain it would not be Ukraine. As we continued researching Germany, we heard about the desperate need for missionaries in formerly communist East Germany.
Meanwhile, we continued to be involved in youth ministry state-side. God impressed on Joel’s heart to continue working with this age group as it is in need of consistent care and devotion. We have seen God bless our work with youth over the years.
Since her early years of youth ministry, Ellen has developed an interest in compiling Bible studies for young women. She noticed early on a lack of in-depth, challenging, yet youth-oriented curriculum on the bookstore shelves. After we were married, we started writing these studies together. Soon, we got excited about the idea of starting our own ministry that would concentrate on youth group material and training for youth leaders. In fact, we considered that the name of this ministry should contain the word Josiah as to remember King Josiah, who serves as an example to all young people in the Church.
Around this time, our current church hosted a workshop held by the missions organization TEAM. After attending, we began talking about the possibility of missions once again. We decided to work towards the missions field to see if God would open doors and confirm our desire and calling. And that He did!
A few months later, Joel spoke with one of his professors about our interest in missions, mentioning Josiah Venture. Interestingly enough, Joel’s professor works very closely with JV and JV president Dave Patty. Soon, he introduced us. As we continued to get to know this ministry, we fell in love with JV’s values, strategies, and focus. We cannot believe how much their ministry aligns with what God had already laid on our hearts.
Two summers ago, we had the chance to visit East Germany as well as Josiah Venture’s training center in the Czech Republic. We also spend time with Dave Patty as well as other JV missionaries and missionary kids. We are pleased to say that we found all of JV’s core values and vision lived out consistently.
We are excited that you are considering being a part of our journey to the mission field and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Ellen had always considered returning to her home country. Joel, who had considered missions even before meeting Ellen, felt drawn to Germany when learning about Martin Luther’s reformation many centuries ago. (Did you know Joel and Martin Luther share the same birthday? - Well, it’s 500 years apart.)
During a missions trip to the Ukraine in 2006, Joel felt a strong sense that God was asking him to return to a formerly communist country but Joel felt certain it would not be Ukraine. As we continued researching Germany, we heard about the desperate need for missionaries in formerly communist East Germany.
Meanwhile, we continued to be involved in youth ministry state-side. God impressed on Joel’s heart to continue working with this age group as it is in need of consistent care and devotion. We have seen God bless our work with youth over the years.
Since her early years of youth ministry, Ellen has developed an interest in compiling Bible studies for young women. She noticed early on a lack of in-depth, challenging, yet youth-oriented curriculum on the bookstore shelves. After we were married, we started writing these studies together. Soon, we got excited about the idea of starting our own ministry that would concentrate on youth group material and training for youth leaders. In fact, we considered that the name of this ministry should contain the word Josiah as to remember King Josiah, who serves as an example to all young people in the Church.
Around this time, our current church hosted a workshop held by the missions organization TEAM. After attending, we began talking about the possibility of missions once again. We decided to work towards the missions field to see if God would open doors and confirm our desire and calling. And that He did!
A few months later, Joel spoke with one of his professors about our interest in missions, mentioning Josiah Venture. Interestingly enough, Joel’s professor works very closely with JV and JV president Dave Patty. Soon, he introduced us. As we continued to get to know this ministry, we fell in love with JV’s values, strategies, and focus. We cannot believe how much their ministry aligns with what God had already laid on our hearts.
Two summers ago, we had the chance to visit East Germany as well as Josiah Venture’s training center in the Czech Republic. We also spend time with Dave Patty as well as other JV missionaries and missionary kids. We are pleased to say that we found all of JV’s core values and vision lived out consistently.
We are excited that you are considering being a part of our journey to the mission field and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
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