I had to start thinking about which one to share, they are all blessings and evidence that God is just as active in the lives of His children now as He ever was.
This one is an ongoing blessing;
It was only a few years ago that our group, now church was formed. It started with a couple of African brothers who desired a place to worship in English because they didn't speak German.
The group started with 2-male students, 1-woman and her son, and an occasional student nurse who lived and worked over the meeting room of the "church".
The doctor who provided the room we used for meeting in was head of the health department. His wife is an American, and the two of them with their children would visit occasionally.
I met one of the brothers from that group who invited me to a satellite broadcast that they were downloading.
After the broadcast was completed my wife, my children, and I joined this group.
This worship/Bible study group grew from 3, to 4, to 8, to 10 in just a few months time. This number is of course not including those who visit on and off.
We moved from the room we were using to the basement room of a church. (This church has a German church upstairs, a Polish church next door to us, a Brazilian group behind us, and Jackie (my wife) and I are trying to start a Turkish group in our rooms after normal service times have ended)
In less then two years time a group that was given little hope of succeeding became an official church. We sponsored the first ever, English camp meeting in Berlin, and have just finished the second one. We have been the download site for multiple satellite broadcast and are known as a church that is alive and filled with love.
And yet we are still only a small 30, registered member, church. As always we are filled to overflowing with guest. We currently meet in a room that will hold at around 50 people and it is filled to overflowing. Our church has included at one meeting people from 16 different nationalities.
We are looking for a new building, however things work a little different here in Germany then in other places around the world.
My wife, during a prayer meeting heard/felt God tell her we would have our own building by fall of this year. And now I'll tell you how He is arranging it.
When we finished our last camp meeting we finished with a 2000 Euro debt after all the bills were calculated. The following week at Church service an anonymous offering of 4000 Euro with directions to be used for the camp meeting and book purchase came in.
Then a person walks up and asks if we would like to have a free organ. A couple of days latter we read about a church who is moving and they want to give away a number of chairs, a podium, a piano bench and a book cabinet. We quickly replied and were told that a lot of people had inquired and they must decide by who needed them the most. The following week one of our brothers is invited to preach to the very same church that wants to give away these items. It came up in conversation and he said yea we are one of those churches, so we pick it all up on Monday.
I have repeatedly had the impression that a warehouse like those next to the railroad tracks would make a great place, with plenty of room for expansion and a large grounds for the children to run around on.
Since the Berlin wall came down there are a lot of such places that are empty and no longer used.
Now I have appointments for Tuesday to view two such places at a very reasonable rent rate. Which by the way these adds came to me in the mail.
We will, (we meaning God and our church members) have our own building by fall. We will be able to reach out to the city and share God's love, we will be able to start even more groups who will become churches and desire to move into their own buildings.
And then, God willing, I might be able to visit my family in America who we have not seen in more then 11 years.
God brought us here for a reason and we will follow as He leads where He leads.
This may not be a testimony like the others I have written but God is not limited in how, when and where He blesses us.
I still have more to share, but I like being built up too. Come on you guys tell me about those blessings.
Brother Jerry-The Berlin Bear