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Report on German Staff Conference at Gerolstein, 1-3 October 2015

Name Above All Names – Jesus

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.” (Phil. 2:9)

From October 1-3 we held our German staff conference at Gerolstein.  We prayed it would encourage coworkers in the spiritual challenge of disciple-making on German colleges in the coming winter semester.   About 40 coworkers attended.   Originally the conference had been planned to be held somewhere else, but in the wake of multitudes of refugees coming from the Mideast and Africa, the other youth hostel had been reserved as a shelter all fall and winter.  With only 3 months to go, we were hesitant to hold the conference at all.  But when many coworkers joined in prayer, we found this suitable site in Gerolstein within one week. (The place is famous for its mineral water.)

Reiner Schauwienold (Heidelberg) and Walter Nett (Cologne) prayed for direction.  God encouraged us to put the focus on Jesus.  In Germany, even among churches and nominal believers, there is a tendency to regard Christianity as just religion among many others.  Therefore many Christians have lost their “saltiness.”  At the same time we see more and more Muslims coming to Germany.  Many people in Europe are concerned about their influence, but we shouldn't be afraid of them.  Contrary to German culture Muslims like talking about their faith a lot.  And they respect those who have a clear foundation in their faith.  All this led to the conclusion that we need to renew and deepen our faith in the uniqueness of Jesus and learn how to express it joyfully.

Conference messengers were Sh. Joachim Dietzel (Bonn), Dr. Peter Oh (Kiel), P. Abraham Lee and Sh. Walter Nett (Cologne).  Joachim spoke on Luke 4:16-30 with the title, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.”  In Nazareth, Jesus used God's word of promise through the prophet Isaiah in order to describe his own person and work.  Joachim emphasized that because of Jesus' unique life and work, we are now living in “the year of the Lord's favor.”  Now is the time and today is the day to see and accept God's favor in Jesus and to live accordingly.  This message is for us and for all students.  Therefore we should be witnesses of this favor for their salvation with thankfulness and joy.

Dr. Peter Oh preached on Phil. 2:5-11 with the title, “The Name Above All Names – Jesus.”  He explained Jesus' unique humility and self-denial and his obedience unto death on the cross out of his absolute love for us.  Then Dr. Peter showed how God has exalted this Jesus and what it means for us who believe in him.  Our hearts were filled with thankfulness and pride in Jesus.  We also learned that when we pray in Jesus' name, we call on the name that is above all names. This great blessing also brings a great responsibility with it – beginning within the fellowship of believers.  As Christians, we are living advertisements for Jesus' name.  Therefore, we must have the same attitude as Christ Jesus, in humility, devotion, and love for all people.

We had very small Bible study groups at this conference which allowed for a deeper exchange and understanding.  The time of writing and sharing reflections helped us further in accepting God's word in the name of Jesus.

That evening, P. Abraham Lee delivered a message on 2Cor. 4:1-6, which included our 2015 key verse, with the title, “The Knowledge of the Glory of God.”  First, he emphasized our attitude as servants of the gospel.  We need spiritual discernment so that we will not lose heart, but rather serve God's word right and do not distort it.   At the same time, we must always put Jesus at the center so that all listeners see him and hear him and follow him.  According to the key verse P. Abraham Lee prays fervently for young people, disciple-making, and mission among Muslims.

The closing message was from Walter Nett on Eph. 1:15-23 with the title, “Enlightened Eyes of the Heart.”  St. Paul had four topics for the believers in Ephesus: to know God better, to know the hope of their calling, to know the riches of their glorious inheritance, and to know God's incomparably great power.  In our everyday lives, we get easily engrossed in visible everyday matters.  Yet God wants us to be engrossed in him more and more. And he wants to do incomparably great things through us.  Walter reminded us of the peaceful reunification of Germany 25 years ago that was celebrated that day.  God used many pastors and other spiritually minded people who made seemingly small steps that finally led to a mighty turnover.  As in those days, God wants to do mighty things – and use us in his plan.  In the name of our unique Lord Jesus, we may ask God for anything we lack in order to join Jesus' victorious march.

On the second night of the conference, we also heard (and saw) reports on two special conferences from last summer.  Reiner Schauwienold reported about a conference “for kids and teens” that was held at Mucke on 31 July to 2 August.  The title was, “Follow me!” (Mark 2:7).  Some 30 children were greatly encouraged.  The family of M. Henryk Lee from Poznan (Poland) joined this conference.  There were the messages by Markus Abel (Gen. 1), Reiner Schauwienold (Mk. 2), and Toni Demir (Matt. 13) – all from Heidelberg.  There were also workshops on friendship and praise held by older second gens from different chapters.  All the young people contributed happily to a performance of “Little Christian's Pilgrimage” by H. L. Taylor.  The next conference is already scheduled for 18-21 August in Mucke again.

Esra Hong (Heidelberg) and Esther Nett (Cologne) reported on the “Encounter” conference which was prepared by young people from across Europe. It was meant to serve the second generation in Europe, but who couldn't help but bring classmates and college friends as well?  The conference topic was the gospel and how it shapes our hearts and minds, lives and churches.  It was delivered in 4 lectures by Lachezar Krastev (Sofia/BUL; Jn. 3), Enoch Hong (GER; Luke 10), Paul Youk (Wuppertal/GER; Gal. 2), and Jonathan Hong (Wuppertal; Acts 2).  Among 110 participants, roughly one half was from Germany.  Our young coordinators really wanted to focus on the age group of  18-25 year-olds.  Along with the messages, Bible studies and reflection writing were well used.  A special reason for our thankfulness was that 3 participants were moved by the gospel messages and gave their lives to Christ at the conference.  The online poll taken after the conference showed that many things were good to very good, but that there is also enough room for improvement.  Encounter will be continued in August 2016.

We also thanked God for moving the family of Sh. Harm and M. Maria Meyer from Kiel to Dresden where they want to serve students now.  Since Harm is a traveling salesman in that region, he can now see both his family and his mission field during the week instead of on weekends only.  After several years of absence, , UBF once again  has a foothold in the eastern part of Germany.  The Meyer family has expressed their desire to serve the staff conference in the fall of 2016 in their area in order to ask for our joint prayer support.

We also thanked God for the new Bible house in Bonn that had been dedicated two weeks earlier, and for the sacrificial service of Dr. Mark Yang from Chicago at several messenger workshops for missionaries as well as for German leaders.

We pray to hold on to the uniqueness of Jesus and put it to work among students.  We want to serve them with a clear message on Jesus with burning hearts.  We also pray for our strategy in spiritual growth and for the coworking between Walter Nett and Reiner Schauwienold for UBF Germany.