WAKE UP CHURCH!

Dear friends,

Last time I wrote you, we had just started the tour of Germany and yesterday we had our last meeting in Germany. Something that I have discovered while ministering in different churches and hanging out with Brothers and Sisters in Christ is that there is a big need for Jesus in Germany and it is time for the church to wake up. There are so many big church buildings empty in this country and I do not wonder why they are empty. There is such a powerful religious spirit rooted in old tradition and old rituals. What not only Germany, but also the rest of the world needs is a living church and again, God does not live in a building. Church is not a building or a place, we are the church and let us then wake up and do what our Lord commanded us to do; be alive and go out with the message of salvation in Christ Jesus.

I have had the privilege to serve in some wonderful and living churches during my time in Germany. We visited Grace Life Church in Neuestadt April 30th and first it looked like a handful of people came but all of a sudden the place was packed and it all ended up being a wonderful night in the presence of Jesus.

The dates in Germany have really been a blessing as we have managed to walk through open doors outside the four walls and minister to people who don't go to church and people who do not yet believe. May 1st I played on a tractor trailer on a Biker Event in Nurnenberg where thousands of Bikers hang out for some hours. The following day we got to visit Gremium MC and their clubhouse in Bamberg. The day after that we ministered at the Kingz MC and their clubhouse in Bayreuth on their season opening party and the day after that we had an outdoor event in a beer garden just outside Nurenberg where I played with some wonderful German musicians. The same night we also had a night meeting at FeG Church in Bamberg. All these meetings went good and Jesus was with us and I had a great time even if we have had a really tight schedule.

During this leg of the trip we stayed in a nice apartment in Kemmern outside Bamberg and as I wrote to you earlier we ran into some problems with our car that probably would have been thousands of euros to cost back home in Finland. Our car is back and paid for and we would like to thank those who helped us out with this matter. We love you and we thank you for all your help and support.

Last Monday we left Kemmern and stopped by Music Haus Thomann again to meet with our friend Robin who is working there. From there we drove to Sachsen also called Saxony. This part of Germany is former East Germany or DDR. The reunion of East and West Germany was not too long ago, it was in 1989 when the reunion took place and east and west became one. Saxonia is the tenth-largest of Germany's sixteen states in area and has a population of 4.3 million, the sixth most populous German state. Saxonia is located in the middle of a former German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium. It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom and twice a republic.

You can really still see this today, that it is not a long time ago this was a very poor nation. There are still political parties within the communism and nazism and the old time religious spirit is strong in this area. Still there are some living churches and I had the privilege to work together with some of them.

For two nights we stayed in Chemnitz and both days we met with our Brother Michael Beyerlein and his wife who runs the Brucke ministries (Bridge Ministries) and they work with refuges who comes there to learn the German language and also hear about Jesus. They do a fantastic work but because of the political issues with being part of formed DDR there are lots of nazism who are attacking them because of the work they do with the refuges.

May 5th we did a meeting and concert in a club in the city of Chemnitz. The youth club where the youth drank beer and played pool was packed and they were really open to the Gospel and people responded and really liked what they heard. The following day we visited an older church that has become alive, Lukaskirche in Zwickau. We had a wonderful meeting there in a 500 year old packed church and God touched people really deep. May 7th we ministered at a cafe, downtown Dresden and to me it reminded of a rough area as the "red light district of Amsterdam", absolutely the right place to have a Christian café.

Yesterday we visited Stoff Wechsel, a youth ministry where kids and youth come and hang out after school. They also serve food for those children who can not afford to pay for lunch at school. The youngsters were excited and showed us around the place. They just bought the property next door and are going to make it to a play ground. Right now they are digging up old houses that were bombed during the end of world war 2 and they find lots of interesting stuff in the old basements, like an old knife and an old rusty shotgun. We had a wonderful meeting and they blessed me with a gift. It was a piece of floor tile from a building that was bombed during world war 2 and they really listened to the message and asked good and serious questions when we were done with the meeting.

When it was time to leave they brought a girl to me who had responded and received Jesus into her heart when we prayed and this one girls souls is worth the entire trip and more. These are wonderful moments, when you see someone becoming a child of God and you can give them a hug.

We left Dresden and drove to Wroclaw, Poland where we have slept tonight. Today we are continuing our journey towards Warsaw where we are going to pick up Brother Michael Roberts who is arriving tomorrow and the MEN OF HOPE TOUR starts.

Thinking back about the time that has been I have to say that I am blessed. The days in former DDR really opened my eyes and showed me a big mission field and a real need for Jesus. I hope to return to this part of the world later this year.

Check out the calendar for the final MEN OF HOPE DATES

and watch our trailer for the tour HERE.

God Bless You All!

Love You All!

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