“It’s A Church!”

After months of anticipation and prayerful preparation, we are thrilled to announce that on Sunday, October 7, the miracle of birth took place in Darmstadt – and, “It’s a church!”  The birth of Converge International Fellowship was celebrated at a special “Birthday Service” by family and friends from churches in Ramstein, Frankfurt and Oberursel, along with members of our extended family worldwide who prayed and rejoiced with the CIF congregation.

The week leading up to the birth was filled with exciting developments. Three weeks prior to the service, we began placing flyers, signs and posters around the city, particularly in strategic areas with large international populations – the Universities, the European Space Agency, EUMETSAT, (European Meteorological Satelite Operations Center), DAGGER (the final US Military outpost in our area), and of course Burger King!

At the final “Preview Service” on 30 September, nine new friends attended the service, having seen one of those signs ads.  One of those wrote during the week, “We feel this is the church we have been searching for for years.”  A newly-arrived couple in Germany contacted us by email on Tuesday to enquire about the church, and was excited to come on Sunday.  On Thursday, a graduate student at the Technische Universitat came to our door.  He had arrived in Darmstadt just two days earlier and had seen one of our flyers in the Student Services Center.  He found a small map of the city, and walked around until he found our apartment.  Those new friends represented the United States, Malaysia, Germany and India – just a glimpse of how exciting and amazing International Church planting and ministry is!

Members of the CIF congregation met on Saturday night for a “Pre-Launch” evening of prayer – surrendering ourselves, our efforts, and the results to the Lord.  It was a great time of fellowship and intercession.  Just before that meeting ended, one of the women of the group said, “Let’s understand that something unexpected will happen – and be prepared to adapt and work it out.”  We all nodded, agreed that our God is bigger than any hurdle.

Sunday the 7^th happened to be Thanksgiving Day in Germany (kind of appropriate, isn’t it?!).  The German congregation had the worship center beautifully decorated with a wonderful display of fall color, displays of bountiful harvest and God’s blessings.  It was great…but then we realized that the black backdrop and the display were going to prevent us from using the projection system that we have used at each Preview Service, and that is an important part of our service!  It was time to “adapt and work it out”!

After experimenting with a small screen and projector, it was decided that a couple of white table cloths, draped in front of the Harvest Display, would allow us to use the normal projection system.  Our Tech Crew leader made the hasty necessary adjustments, and we were able to continue as planned. 

In the meantime, people were busy preparing the foyer for the celebration of new birth.  Balloons and banners decorated the hall, while birthday cakes, cookies and authentic Lebanese foods were displayed for the festivities (another great blessing of International church ministry!).

Friends began to arrive – everyone excited about the miracle of birth that we were privileged to witness.  Soon the hall was filled with the sound of music, as the Praise Team led us in songs of worship and testimony of God’s faithfulness.  Dr. Jimmy Martin, General Secretary of the International Baptist Convention, offered a prayer of dedication and commissioning.  At his side was Mrs. Siggy Levey, who, along with her late husband Martin, have been praying and trusting God for a new International church in Darmstadt for many years.

Another highlight of the service was the dedication of 8-day-old Eleonora, the newest “member” of the Converge Darmstadt congregation.  She was presented to the Lord along with her 2-year-old “big brother” Luca by their parents Jasper and Becca.  We were privileged to have Becca’s mother with us as well, visiting from Canada!

The message focused on God’s pattern of choosing the least likely, the most improbable, the undeserving and the unexpected for His grace and His work.  John chapter 4 tells us that Jesus “needed” to go to the Samaritan village of Sychar - it is obvious God had a divine appointment awaiting Him in that city.  He chose a broken, sinful, racially oppressed woman for His unique focus, and used her to reach her community.    

In the same way, God has compelled His people, through unworthy and unlikely servants, to reach out to the city of Darmstadt.  The love of God reaches across racial boundaries and sees beyond moral failure.  His grace brings new life to those who feel they will never be worthy of His love.

The celebration of a new little girl born into our community, and the celebration of a new church born in the city were eclipsed by the celebration of nearly a dozen people who expressed a desire to be born into the family of God that night!  We praise God for His incredible faithfulness and amazing grace! 

Pray for us as we follow up with these new believers, helping them to grow and mature in their new life in Christ.  Pray for unity and love in our church family which is made up of people from 17 nations (and counting!) around the globe.  Pray as we continue to reach out to the Darmstadt region – the international students, businesspeople, scientific community and the local German population, too!  Thank you for your prayerful support of our mission in Darmstadt.  May the Lord bless you “from His glorious riches and strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.” (Eph. 3:16) 

~ Bob & Carol