• On March 25,the church hosted a "Board Game Night" - an outreach event focused to invite friends, colleagues and family who don't go to church to come and spend an evening getting to know other English-speakers from the area, and introducing our church family to them. It was very well received, and a second evening is being planned for November 4!
• On May 13, CIF hosted the first annual Converge International Forum on Science and Faith. Held at a local hotel conference center, the keynote speaker was Prof. Dr. Barbara Drosser, head of the Physics Dept. at TU Darmstadt. She spoke on "Are Science and Faith Incompatible?" She is part of an association of scientists who are also believers, and has agreed to assist us in finding future speakers. We had about 60 people in attendance, and the majority were not from the church. There were a large number of Muslim students who came, and the response was very positive. Our prayer and vision is to host this event annually in Darmstadt, Germany’s “City of Science.”
• A week later, the church hosted its first short term mission team - they came from one of our partner churches in Kansas, and worked for a week at the German national headquarters of Youth for Christ. They did cleaning and prep work for the upcoming summer ministry season, and some joint ministry with our Young Adults and praise team.
• The church hired an interim pastor while we were gone, Dr. Denton Lotz and his wife Janice served the congregation faithfully; ministering to the sick, visiting the LIFE Groups, preaching on Sundays, and meeting with the leadership.
• In addition, we are very excited that one of our young couples feels that God is leading them into full-time ministry – specifically to serve in an International Church somewhere in the world! We are excited to see how God will lead them, and the church as we work with them!
Over the course of the summer, some dear friends from the last 6 years have concluded their work and studies in Darmstadt, and moved to other parts of the world, carrying the gospel of Christ with them as they go. In Acts 8:4 says, "But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went." We are sad to bid farewell to our friends, but excited as God leads them into new fields that are ripe for the harvest! We also enjoy then blessing of meeting new members of the church community who have recently joined us from Kenya, Germany, India, the USA and other lands.
As you can see, the experience of our sabbatical was a glorious display of God's grace, both for us and as a big step in the further development the church. We are more certain than ever that He has equipped, and is equipping the church for many years of ministry to come!
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