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The World Meets in Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt is a fascinating city.

It’s one of the world’s most globally connected cities. In terms of culture, education, commerce, and transportation, the world intersects with Frankfurt daily.

With its incredible influence and interaction with so many countries, not only within Europe but also beyond, Frankfurt is a natural home to many global, continental, and national headquarters, including our international headquarters. 

A beautiful mirror of this interconnectedness can be seen in the people of Frankfurt. More than 50% of Frankfurt’s population are from a non-ethnic-German background; that percentage that goes up past 75% when referring to children under the age of 6! Perhaps even more surprising, however, is that over 25% of those living in Frankfurt hold foreign citizenship! It isn’t simply a city with an international past, but with strong, persistent international connections in its present and future.

This creates a uniquely strategic setting for not only business and industry, but also ministry. Frankfurt is among a short list of cities that we have identified as a Focus City – an intentional effort to partner with the local church and other organizations that allows us to build community and strategic ministries that will help to reach Europe by multiplying disciples and growing Christ’s church. Frankfurt is a great example of a city through which we can see our vision come to pass – God expanding His kingdom through all peoples of Europe to the world!

What may come as a surprise to some is that the German church is far from what it once was. Roughly 2% of Germans profess a personal faith in Jesus Christ; it’s into this deep-seated secular society that waves of refugees have continued to land in Germany since 2014. 

Canada has much to learn from Germany, lessons that can help equip the Canadian church in a secular society. Our paths to secularization are incomparably different, on an entirely different timeline with different causes and even different effects, and efforts to anticipate the crossroads of a shared secularity are really unnecessary exercises. 

However, what we must value in Canada is the opportunity to come alongside our brothers and sisters in Germany, to learn from their story, and then to adapt it with our God-given creativity to the unique story here in Canada.

Through our commitment to partnerships, we’re excited to see where God is leading the Canadian church in partnering with the church in Germany. We have seen remarkable fruit in our church planting partnerships, and in our work with local outreach for those living under the shadow of prostitution and drug addiction. We’re also establishing training programs, leveraging the strategic location of Frankfurt to help deliver high quality training that can make an impact in local churches throughout Europe.

This vision starts with responding to God’s simple call. A call to listen, a call to obey, and a call to love. From here, possibilities begin to blossom. There are lots of ways that this can look, and who knows what creative forms this can take. We carry with us into innovation the imprint of the eternal God and, as a result, balance cultural traditions with adaptive methodologies, a reality brought to bear in our global response to restricted life under a pandemic. 

Please, join me in praying for the church in Frankfurt, and prayerfully consider how you can be a part of the incredible ministry taking place in this global city!

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Building Hope in Rural Romania

God is at work in rural Romania!

Today I want to share with you a little about the country of Romania and give you a glimpse of just some of the things God is doing there.

Romania is a land of spiritual challenge and opportunity. Even though parts of the country have some of the largest concentrations of evangelical believers in Europe, many parts of the country still have well less than 1% who know what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus. In many areas, spiritual darkness is woven into the culture and fabric of daily life.

For many of us, our image of Europe is a place rich in Christian history, art, and faithful tradition. We know that today much of the continent lacks the light of Jesus, but when our history books tell us Europe and Christianity used to go hand in hand, we may ask ourselves where did it go wrong? As Christianity initially swept through Europe, certain parts lacked the depth and foundation of faith that undergirded the Christianization of society. As Dwight Poggemiller, a GEM worker in Romania, notes, “they simply changed the names of pagan deities to saints; but the local practices never disappeared. Rather than adopting the lifestyle of Jesus, Jesus was adopted to serve our man-made lifestyles.” Down through the centuries, this syncretism of Christianity and cultural beliefs have intertwined in subtle yet powerful ways.

Where is the hope when darkness is so rampant?

God has raised up GEM missionaries to serve in this remote region—to learn the language, to live among the people, and to find ways to break through the walls of mistrust and suspicion that have for so long blocked out hope.

GEM workers Kevin and Michelle Weppler, serving in Dragonesti (pronounced dragon-esht) Romania had a breakthrough when God gave them a vision for a second-hand store in their community. The store they opened quickly became a bridge for the gospel. Their 5 Romanian employees came to Christ and began sharing their testimonies with their families and neighbours. Now, the store is thriving, with nearly 100 customers a day and lines out the door. People come because they need clothes, but what they find is compassion, love, and hope. They are transformed and they themselves are transforming their community.

The gospel has found a small opening in the barriers around this community, and God has given Kevin and Michelle a vision and a desire to expand the second-hand store into a new building that would include a medical and dental clinic for traveling doctors and dentists. The nearby hospital was defunded and then closed by the government—leaving people in the village with nothing and nowhere to turn when the young and the elderly are sick or in pain.

We have recently been running a campaign to help see this expansion become a reality, and God has richly blessed this project already. Construction has been started and partially paid for, but the medical clinic won’t be finished until we reach the funding goal of $150,000. I’m sharing this with you because, as Dwight notes, “The Romanian Church is a praying church” and so we want to lock arms with our Romanian brothers and sisters in prayer.

The Lord is raising up a generation of disciple-makers in Romania, and we can be a part of delivering the practical love of Christ through opportunities like this, using whatever God has given us to share with others. One thing we all have is the capacity to pray, so please join me in praying for God’s work in Romania today! If you want to find out more about the project, please check out the project site at https://gemission.ca/donate/romania/.