What is God doing in Croatia?

While many people go to Croatia primarily for vacation, God is not like that - He is working on completely different things in the spiritual background. Here and there He gave us little glimpses of His plans so that we could pray, proclaim, and participate in them. This is what we want to tell you about this time.

“Upper Room” Zagreb

We wrote the last GERMAN blog entry shortly after our visit to the Slavonski Brod prayer house at the beginning of the year (Sorry, that one wasn't put out in English. Here it is, in case you like to have it translated automitcally: https://harryundluna.blogspot.com/2023/03/besuch-im-gebetshaus-slavonski-brod.html). We also briefly summarized for you the background and meaning of houses of prayer, how powerfully God works through these initiatives in our time and what opportunities everyone has to take part in them.

In Slavonski Brod the Holy Spirit gave me the impulse that I (Harry) should connect with the “Upper Room” in Zagreb. This small house of prayer initiative was started by Jerry and Zuzanna Low. As a young man, Jerry was an American hippie, then met Jesus in prison and through the “Jesus Movement”, which completely changed him forever. He soon received a burden for the Balkan countries and was later sent to Yugoslavia as a missionary. He served in a community in northern Serbia, where he met his future wife, Zuzanna. When war broke out, they were called back to the United States with their young children and remained there for 25 years, all the while drawn back to their calling in the Balkans. Finally, after raising their children and maturing spiritually themselves, the Lord opened the doors for them to move back to Zagreb in 2014. Here they started the “Upper Room” about two years later, in conjunction with the mother house in Dallas, USA, where they had previously served for many years.

Our friends in Slavonski Brod told us about Jerry and Zuzanna in 2019, so Luna attended one of the prayer times in 2020. At the time, however, the two had just returned to America, because Jerry was now having serious health problems, which were later diagnosed with the “Lou Gehrig's syndrome” (also “ALS”). In November 2021 he went home to be with the Lord, but before that, with Zuzanna's help, he was able to write a book about God's story with him: "Trapped in America." The book was published in Croatian just a month ago. It carries with it a part of God's heart for the Balkans and a powerful anointing of prayer.

Until 2022, mostly just a few people met in the Upper Room Zagreb for prayer and praise, but since then God has continued to send new people, including many young searching souls. Some of them were converted during this time and now need guidance in their life with Jesus, others receive good shepherding in other churches. Some more experienced brothers and sisters in the faith have also joined recently. God seems to be gathering and assembling the people he wants to use in this project.

While we were in Slavonski Brod for a week in February of this year to spend time in silence, prayer and praise before God and to visit our friends, we were given Jerry's book. I immediately started reading it and it didn't take long before I realized God was speaking to me: “Get in touch with the Upper Room in Zagreb. I want to plug you into that team.”

I was excited and completely calm at the same time! Excited - because this was the first time since we had moved to Croatia that God was giving me a job in such a clear way. The previous 3 years (I now realize) were a time of arrival for us and for me a time to learn the language, to humble myself and to wait on God. Not that I no longer need to learn the language, humble myself and wait on God - on the contrary, that will never stop - but now is also thetime to go and serve where he sends me.

At the same time, I had peace, and I still have it, because I realize that this is God's plan. I don't have to overwork myself, there's no contract to fulfill, I don't have to prove myself to anyone. I can step into His plan and marvel at what He does – in me and in others - through others and through me. Exciting and full of peace at the same time!

So it came that a few times in spring I went to the Upper Room Zagreb for one of the prayer and worship times to get to know the brothers and sisters there and to seek God's presence with them. In May, Luna and I met the leader, Zuzanna, and connect with her straight away. Since I was busy again as a rafting and kayaking guide from May to October, I went to Zagreb only about once a month and started to lead worship during the sets. Three times a week there is a two-hour prayer time in the evening, sometimes with live worship, sometimes with streaming in the background, also a Bible reading time on Wednesdays and on Saturday evenings fellowship, praise and sermon. Once a month the whole team goes into the city together to share God's love with people on the street and to pray for them.

Since November I have been able to go there regularly once a week and lead worship twice a month. These are always very special times when we immerse ourselves in God's presence together, allowing ourselves to be penetrated by his grace and peace and then praying into the spiritual world the things that he places on our hearts. In addition to the prayer sets, I now also meet regularly with a young, newly converted man to help him get to know Jesus better. He was baptized this summer, but things from the past and especially attacks and temptations in his thoughts still bother him almost constantly. He recently came to Karlovac on a Saturday and through encouragement and prayer he experienced a good deal of freedom. Yet he continues to struggle in everyday life. If it is on your heart, you are welcome to pray for him and that Jesus will set him completely free.

“Whoever the Son sets free, he is free indeed.” (John 8:36)

“Balkan Call” Conference

All summer long we were looking forward to the “Balkan Call” conference, which has been held in a different Balkan country every year for some time now. 12 countries from Romania to Turkey are involved, all of which have a geographical part of our Balkan peninsula,  and all of which were and still are involved in a wide variety of wars and conflicts. I must say that I wasn't aware of much of this, for example that there was war in (North) Macedonia until 2001, and that there is ongoing trouble not just between Turkey and Greece, Serbia and Kosovo, Serbia and Croatia of course, Albania and Montenegro, Greece and Macedonia, and between the Roma peoples and everyone else, but also between Macedonia and Bulgaria, due to crimes and retaliation from recent and older history. For some of you in North America all of these names may be unfamiliar – take a look at Google Maps and you'll see lots of small and very small countries that have a very long and mixed history with each other. (https://maps.app.goo.gl/GwuGCwL4ygUGzdqv9)

At the Balkan Call, Christians from all of these countries meet, worship and pray together to God, the Lord of all nations, and take steps towards each other on behalf of their peoples: Each “country” comes on stage once a weekend to bless the host country. These representatives repent for past events, ask for forgiveness and speak blessings on the host nation. Representatives of that country then respond to these requests and blessings in the same spirit of brotherly love and unity. This is not about empty, external actions, but about real encounters, real dialogue and reconciliation between otherwise hostile people groups - and these acts of peace are used by God's Spirit to transform the spiritual world in the Balkans.

We were able to see this for ourselves, because this year the Balkan Call was held in a place exactly between Zagreb and Karlovac in the small town of Jastrebarsko, only 20 minutes away from us. So we didn't even have to book a hotel room, nor did most of the over 450 participants. Friday afternoon to Sunday lunchtime we experienced God's strong presence in worship, renewal of our thinking through His Word, exciting new acquaintances - but what was most impressive were the words of repentance and blessing from the various countries for Croatia and back again. A Serbian pastor who knelt in front of everyone, asked for forgiveness for the war crimes of the early 90s and later hugged his Croatian brother - this moment alone brought tears and inner healing to many Croatians present who, for example, lost relatives in the war, or had been exposed to hate speech against “the other side” for years. Prophetic words of encouragement were given, also from Croats to other countries. A young Argentine pastor, who is part of a network of several hundred South Americans who pray for the Balkans every week, prayed a strong, fresh anointing on us!

And then suddenly a German came onto the stage and spoke about how God had told him to come to this conference and to ask for forgiveness on behalf of the Germans for the crimes and misery caused by the Nazi invasion into what was then Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. Johannes Blum is a history teacher at a high school near Stuttgart, as well as a pastor and prayer leader, and it was very exciting to get to know him. On Sunday afternoon, after the conference, we set off with him, with a pastor couple from Macedonia and another Croatian sister to a nearby Catholic monastery to pray. Here, under the Nazi NDH (or "Ustashe"), there was one of a few children's concentration camps in which the orphans of killed partisan parents were "cared for" and "re-educated", and in which many of them died.

Many of these side places are not at all known in Croatia; Unfortunately, there is also a strong internal resistance to publicly acknowledging and clearing up one's own guilt. The Croatian churches still have some catching up to do. But we believe that through these prayer initiatives a change of repentance, forgiveness and healing will be started. Perhaps some people are wondering what this process has to do with the spiritual world and God's working. Actually it's quite simple: Through sin, violence and bloodshed, the land is polluted and the spiritual powers of darkness are empowered. This is why there are “spiritually dark places,” which most of us have probably experienced at some point. These powers can be broken through out-spoken repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. This is important so that people in the visible world can be set free from the power of Satan, heal and become open for the gospel of Jesus.

To put it another way: When Billy Graham was once asked what it takes to run a successful evangelistic campaign, he replied, “First, prayer. Second: prayer. Third: Prayer.” My take of the struggles in the spiritual world is of course very fragmented, perhaps one-sided, but that doesn't change the reality of these struggles.

“If my people, upon whom my name has been proclaimed, humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land.” (2 Cor Chronicles 7:14)

Zajednica Karlovac

In our last blog we wrote briefly about three “new people” - two were newly converted about a year ago and the third came to us looking for Christian fellowship. All three have been meeting with some of us regularly throughout the year for discipleship; Luna and another sister lead one of the small groups together. They also come to our meetings every Saturday. At the end of June we baptized the three of them. It is wonderful to see how much Jesus has already changed their lives, although of course everyone still has their challenges. In addition, God continually places on our hearts certain people or communities to serve or to pray for. Our favorite times are when we praise and worship together. We may think we are serving God, but it is as if God is serving us, refreshing us and refilling us with his Spirit.

Family and work

Our children are a great joy to us! Unfortunately, we are not always aware of this. Junia has completed half of grade 4, has been taking clarinet lessons at the music school this school year and would also like to go back to horseback riding school, but there are only good places for this outside of Karlovac. She paints and does crafts and would like to become a designer when she's grown up.

Amos goes to preschool, or “small school” as it is also called here, in a small private group with 9 children, twice a week in the morning. As a result, he now speaks Croatian even better, writes in beautiful letters and numbers and is slowly starting to read. Recently he had his first ever “stage" performance with various rhymes, songs and dances. Otherwise he builds and plays with Lego, Playmobil, Duplo, construction sets, toy cars and the like or the children ride their bikes, skateboards or scooters outside with neighbor children from our house church who live next door.

At the end of October we went to the island of Rab for a few days to take a vacation after Harry's rafting-kayaking season ended. There are even sandy beaches there, which is very rare in Croatia. We experienced everything from sun to rain and storms.

Every day, Luna bravely deals with the various concerns of German companies that have problems with their paycard terminals or online shops. Certain circumstances in her Croatian company, which has been bought up by an American corporation several months ago, are even more troubling to her than difficult customers. But she is part of a team of many great colleagues, everyone sticks together and that makes work fun. Last week they jointly sent an email to the management for a pay increase for everyone. So feel free to pray for favor and a positive outcome. :-)

I (Harry) worked full time from May to October this season after starting last year at 30h/week. Of course, it wasn't always easy during peak times, but God made sure that there wasn't too much work at once. We as a family also went on a kayak trip together a few times, and at the end of June we paddled down the Kupa River for 4 days as a “family vacation,” pitching our tent on the river bank in the evenings.

At the moment I'm working on some administrative tasks again and in December I also had to look after two "team building" groups, so I will remain employed again this winter part time. However, there were also some things that happened at the company that I didn't like and I am asking God about taking a different career path. You are welcome to pray for that too.

„But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.“ (Matthew 6,33)

A new car

Finally, a story about how God led us to our new car. Already on the way back from the island of Rab we noticed that the engine of our good old Renault Scenic 2001 was developing some problem. Over the next month and a half this problem got worse and louder until we were told at the shop that part of the spark plug had broken off and fallen into the engine compartment. Now it became really uncomfortable to drive anywhere outside of just Karlovac. We went car hunting and I discovered that there is more choice of used cars in Croatia than I thought. Unfortunately, they are not at all less expensive than in Germany, rather they cost a bit more, so that even imported cars from Central Europe are offered at good prices.

We were already about to decide on a VW Golf Variant that was around 10 years old, or an even younger Renault Megane, but after a conversation with a friend who worked around cars all his life, we thought again. Newer cars with more electronics are known to have more problems. On the other hand, there are also tried and tested brands and models that operate reliably well into old age. And if I could choose, I knew I would like a Toyota. But there are hardly more than a handful of used Toyotas on offer in Croatia that we would consider.

On the 3rd of Advent I was on the way back from the playground with the children when we passed a Toyota Corolla Verso, a car that I was already enthusiastic about when we still lived in Berlin. I stopped briefly and said to Junia: “Look Junia, that car I would buy!” - She just said: “Agreed!” (even though it was dark gray and not colored as she would like it). At home, I continued looking through the online ads and up came a Toyota that I hadn't considered before because of its 16 years of age. I looked at it and noticed that it was a very well maintained and cared for car and that it is located in Karlovac! I sent it to our friend and he immediately wrote back enthusiastically that it was just the right car, God's choice for us! When I took a closer look at the documents shown, I also found the owner's address and after a moment realized that I had seen the same model at exactly this address a few hours before and said: "THAT car I would buy." Indeed, it was exactly this car! To top it off, Luna later noticed on the photographed papers that this model is called “Toyota Corolla Verso LUNA”. :-D

I arranged for a short test drive on the following day, and Luna went to the bank to apply for a loan. We had already saved some money from the season, but it wasn't enough for a decent car. The Toyota meets and exceeds all of our expectations and has plenty of space, even for growing children and long journeys to other countries. We are very grateful to the Lord for his accurate guidance and advice! ;-)

Because without this confirmation I would have doubted even more whether this car was really the best choice for us. After all, there are also other robust used cars, some with fewer kilometers and sometimes a little cheaper. But we are sure that God has chosen this car for us and so, after a lot of searching and thinking, peace has returned to my head.

Now that we paid for and picked up the car, I want to add one thing: Even when God is leading everything, that doesn't mean that everything goes smoothly. In this case, the bank took over 2 weeks to approve the credit, which they didn't alert us to at the beginning. This set me up in an awkward position with the car owners, because I had already arranged for the sale. On the one hand, this was good for me, because it made for another opportunity to humble myself. On the other hand, it serves as a reminder that we will never fully understand God and his dealings, even when we are sure we are walking in his ways. It comes down to faith again: He is good, all the time  - all the time, He is good!

So much of us,

We wish you a blessed new year 2024 with new insights into His love and grace, especially in the problems and difficulties in which you find yourself.

God bless you,

Harry, Luna, Junia & Amos

God's Ways with us in 2022

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Beginning of this year, in our last post, we shared with you how God provided for us during the first year and a half here in Croatia. A lot has happened since then, but we were too busy to write it down. Here are some stories from us we hope will encourage you:

New job for Harry - Back to the outdoor industry

Since last October I'd been riding my bicycle for 20-25 hours a week delivering fast food and other meals in Karlovac. As the temperatures rose more and more in May, this became more and more difficult, at least during the day. I asked my (divine) Papa if I should continue this work through the summer on the hot asphalt and in the stuffy city air. The answer came a few days later through my wife. She forwarded me an ad from the company "Turizam Kupa Sports" looking for outdoor guides for rafting/kayaking and other activities. At first I didn't even want to look into it because I knew that there would be long days of being away from home with a job like this. Finally, I looked at the website and put the matter in God's hands - He would know best.

And so it came that from the end of May I worked as an outdoor guide - mainly on the rivers Kupa and Mrežnica, where rafting or kayaking was on the program, depending on the water level. It was a steep learning curve, guiding groups down white-water rivers the first time after almost 10 years, even if I had been able to paddle here and there since. Yet God gave me grace and after less than 2 months I was already guiding by myself. In spring and autumn we hosted a good number of Croatian companies. They call that "team building" here - but without team-building training program; they compensate that with more alcohol. In addition to the river adventure, such a day also includes culinary hospitality and other activities such as hiking, paintball, "Village Olympics"-games or cooking on a tripod over the campfire. Then, during the high season, we had between 15 and 30 tourists almost every day on our beautiful Mrežnica waterfalls tour.

I had agreed with Marijan on a 30-hour week and at least one day off on the weekend, because our biggest concern was that family and marriage would suffer under the job. Overall it was a very blessed season. I have enjoyed taking people into nature and have had many opportunities to share my testimony of how God brought us to Croatia, which, for Croatians, is a very unusual decision, since many Croatians go to Germany for work. Yet in August, after my colleague had a car accident and was out for 2 weeks, and in October there was so much work that I got to my limits. The Lord faithfully helped us through these times.

Currently I'm preparing the programs for next season on the computer, working on the website and advertising and taking over part of the customer contact in English and German. This comes out at around 10 hours per week, which suits me well, because now I have more time for the children again and Luna doesn't have to do so much around the house in addition to her full-time job. More importantly, November/December has been a time for me, where the Lord has rekindled His fire and His Spirit of prayer in me!

Luna's team is growing - and are her responsibilities

In my (Luna's) work in the service team for corporate customers at a large German financial services provider, I'm now taking on more and more responsibility. The team is growing and new employees have to be trained and an employee manual created, while ongoing tasks also take time. Again I realize that coaching suits me very well, that I enjoy it and that it always seems to come back to me. Hopefully we will soon officially receive allowance for the position of a coach, so that I can focus mainly on this area. I'm currently doing a lot: dispatching incoming tickets (assigning inquiries from business customers to one of the 20 or so groups and employees), which is my actual main task, writing the manual, coaching, helping colleagues with questions every day and standing in for the team leader in his absence, as well as some additional duties. God has given me a wonderful team, where the atmosphere is mostly joyful and harmonious. This in itself is a valuable gift and a miracle in the work place. Because we are in a (Microsoft Teams) meeting together throughout the whole working time, we help each other and there are always opportunities for deeper conversations and to tell about Jesus. Colleagues are also grateful and open to prayer. After a long period of relatively high stress and pressure, things are currently calmer, partly because the team has grown and the work load are now shared between more shoulders. In addition to sitting at the laptop a lot, I stay fit with shorter or longer sports sessions. And sometimes, when there really isn't much going on, I can even bake cookies with the kids or do other things on the side. :-)

Late summer and fall

(Harry writing again)
In the summer, Luna wasn't able to take more vacation than was necessary for our trip to Germany. Nevertheless, we went to "Zagorje" with her grandma for a few days, to stay in grandma's cottage, and then another week to Rijeka, where her dad spent his summer vacation. She simply took her laptop and router with her. Grandpa, Luna and the kids went to the beach (in Rijeka) after 4 o'clock, when Luna was off work. In the evening, I came home from work and picked them up there.

At the end of October, God gave the four of us a short vacation of 5 days by the sea. It was a beautiful time and felt very refreshing after a busy summer. We decided to leave the cell phones off while on holiday. Thanks to wetsuits from my work, the children were in the water every day. On the way back we finally visited the famous Plitvice Lakes National Park with its hundreds of waterfalls and 16 lakes of turquoise water. An absolute dream, a piece of the new world, it seemed to us. "Coincidentally", Luna met one of her colleagues there, whom she otherwise only hears through the headset or sees on the screen. In addition to his job in the team, he is also a tourist guide and was out and about with a group in the park on that very day.

Trip to Germany in July

The annual Müller family reunion in Mama's hometown of Breitungen an der Werra was planned for mid-July, so we intended to come to Germany then. Our loving Father confirmed this plan through good-old friends from Canada who told us a few months earlier that God had put it on their hearts to send us a larger sum of money. It arrived a few days before we left and was sufficient for almost all expenses including three overnight stays and the due car inspection including minor repairs (our dear Renault Scenic is still registered in Germany). God is so good and always faithful.

We left early on Saturday morning and arrived in Heidelberg, Western Germany, around 5pm, where we had booked two nights in a guest house. That evening I, and the next day we all, went to "Die Taube" ("The Dove Church") whose YouTube broadcasts of worship, sermons and prayers are a great encouragement to us here in Croatia. On Sunday afternoon there was a church service where people prayed especially for healing - Praise God, since then I haven't had any more problems with nightly leg cramps, which I had been struggling with for over half a year, in spite of magnesium supplements.

There we also met some good friends from the Black Forest, Berlin and Denmark - it was a very happy and encouraging reunion!

After that we spend a very pleasant week with my sister in the mountains of East Germany, with visits to and excursions with my other sister, her children and my parents, who all live in the same town. We then went to the middle of Germany for the family reunion, from Friday to Sunday, with all of them, my other siblings, as well as some relatives from Mama's side. It felt so good to see everyone again, sharing stories and news, seeing the nephews and nieces growing up etc. Also, Dad's birthday was on that Saturday. After a joint church service on Sunday, most of them drove home again, while we made our way to our old home in Doberlug-Kirchhain on Monday..

In our old home town, our former neighbor Sabine hosted us in our "very own" former apartment, since she had moved into it in the meantime. Everything was familiar to us again in an instant, and yet we were guests that week and enjoyed it as such. The second evening our entire former house church got together for a little garden celebration and worship, plus some brethren and sisters who had joined since we left. This was a truly uplifting for us, as was another worship evening later this week. We went for swims with friends and once to another town visiting other friends there, which made the week full, beautiful and meaningful. In fact, the best and most satisfying thing about this trip for us was that we could pray with and for friends and relatives and praise God together so much. All sightseeing, pleasant conversations and delicious meals do not come close to the deep pleasure of spiritual communion. :-)

That Saturday it was time for us to head home. We quickly booked accommodation in the Czech Republic on the border with Austria for one night so that we didn't have such an exhausting return journey after two very full weeks. They had a swimming pool there and a playroom for children, much to the kids' delight. Along the way, we stopped for an hour in Prague and the next day at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna - speed sightseeing, so to speak. That way we arrived back in our Croatian homeland on Sunday evening.

Bikes stolen, car damaged

In the months after our return, unfortunately, already existing problems with our neighbor took on a sharper form. First, the children's bicycles disappeared from the building, which is only accessible to residents. Other neighbors found Amos' bike in the pond next to our apartment building, which thank God was dry at the time. But Junia's bike was never found, so a few weeks later we had to get her another one. Of course we suspected the man who lives below us because he is very aggressive towards others and has been causing problems for years. Often, when the children forget themselves and run around the apartment playing, he yells insults from below. On the other hand, he sometimes leaves his radio on all night or plays very loud music for an hour or two. He could have stolen the bikes out of revenge and thrown them somewhere when we were not intimidated by his threats and hostilities. - Once in a few months he swears at us when we meet him outside or on the stairs, and then we usually don't say much, but bless him in the name of Jesus and tell him that God loves him.

However, that doesn't mean we're pretending that everything's fine. Once before, Luna had called the police when he turned on loud music in the middle of the night. That seemed to help. Then, one morning in September, one tail light on our car was smashed in, and the following morning the other tail light as well, plus both side mirrors and all windshield wipers. What a grievous experience! I filed a complaint against unknown (because we couldn't find any solid evidence against our neighbor) and was able to have our suspicions recorded. We also installed a "dash cam" in the car, about which I told him when we met in the parking lot, and so far that seems to have stopped him from demolishing our car again. Thank God.

All of that certainly isn't pretty, yet it reminds us and the children to pray for him, not to be afraid, and to trust God in everything, even when things are out of our control. That is why we are even grateful for these attacks, because it helps increase our faith. "Bless your enemies" in real life. If you are aware that people never are our enemies, but rather the evil, spiritual powers of darkness behind them (see Eph. 6), then you also have a completely different attitude towards such people - and you know how and for what have to fight in prayer. That doesn't mean that you have to put up with everything and allow others to insult you. For me (Luna) it is clear that the next time the neighbor stops me in the stairwell, stands in my way and throws insults and hateful words at me in front of my children, I will call the police. That is clearly a crossing the line, which is about mutual respect and human dignity, and we don't have to put up with such behavior as Christians (also, this is not persecution for Christ's sake). But here, as always, it is important for us to give our anger, fear and bitterness over to God, to forgive and to continue to pray.

House church - Growth on the inside, not the outside

Our house church is also growing – even if it looks different than we all imagined a year or two ago. We are not there (yet?) where we regularly lead others to Jesus and form similar churches in their homes. Instead, we as a small group grew closer together and into Jesus. Yet, there is fruit on the outside as well: All of us have opportunities here and there to encourage other believers, to pray for people and see God answer and to share those testimonies with others. Recently, two sisters who work as physiotherapists in a small hospital were able to pray for an older Baptist sister who had fallen into severe depression and who had been believed Satan's lies that the best thing for her was to go to the nursing home and to die there with her mother (to name just one of the many lies she was deceived by.) After a few weeks of sustained prayer (by us as well as the baptist church) and of our two sisters visiting her, they saw how God had pity on this woman and delivered her completely within days! Now she's running around, happily sharing what God has done for her, enjoying the little things of life and taking care of everyday matters, all of which someone in depression doesn't do. Jesus is able to do what psychologists and psychotropic drugs cannot do, because they do not identify or treat the spiritual causes of mental problems. Jesus himself is life, He has conquered death and gives lives to us, who ask for it! SLAVA BOGU! (Praise God!)

Encouraged by such works of the Lord, we keep praying for our city, our country, for Germany and also for you abroad, expecting the doors to open for the gospel of Jesus, signs and wonders to happen and for God Himself to establish his kingdom in our culture and society. That is possible and there are many testimonies of this, even in the midst of this evil time.

Light into Darkness, Truth against Lies

How important it is that, as children of God, we stand on the truths of God and resist the lies of the enemy. He comes to steal our joy, destroy our relationships, and kill us—and if we believe his lies, he does just that to us. But God's will is that we have life in abundance, that we have joy and a deep inner peace in Him. We want to encourage you to proclaim this as a prayer into any darkness in your life, wherever the kingdom of darkness seems to have power over you. Jesus wants to shine light in those areas. Therefore, it is important to have as a foundation our identity in Christ. We are kings and priests, we are not tail but head, we are Jesus' brothers and sisters, co-heirs with Christ, children of the most high God. And nothing less! This is not dependent on our piety, but solely on whether we put all our trust in Jesus. When we are aware of our identity as adopted sons and daughters of the Father, and meditate on His Word of truth every day, we can discern the enemy's lies, resist them with the truth, and see them lose their power. Light destroys the darkness.

We want to encourage you to understand, accept and live this area of your identity more deeply in the new year. "You are a God who sees me" is a motto verse in Germany for the year 2023. How wonderfully encouraging it is that our dad notices us, is happy about us, admonishes us with love and so enjoys spending time with us! Take time to just sit in the father's lap, let yourself be loved and simply enjoy his presence.

But Jesus' light does not only destroy the darkness in individual hearts - He also wants to change entire cities, countries or social trends. Some time ago we received a report from the German-speaking Pregnancy Counselling Initiative "1000+". Through God's grace they were able to reach more than 100,000 women in German-speaking countries this year, giving them practical help and encouraging them to bring their babies into the world. Over 1,000,000 visitors viewed their website. Viewed against the 95,000 abortions in Germany in 2021 (5% less than in the previous year), 1,000+ is now publicly-known network and one can therefore say that a pregnant woman in a conflict situation finally can choose help from qualified counselors who stand up for life. A few years ago this "market" was occupied almost exclusively by "pro-choice" counselors (for whom abortion might be the best solution). This is a great change in society for which we are thankful to our Lord - even as we pray for the change to continue!

Mountains are moved by faith. Faith is not faith, when it sees the results before it, but when it expects and asks for things, trusting in the ruler of history. Far too often we join in with the general complaints about prices, the energy crisis, the evil politicians here as well as in the East and let Satan scare us. Thereby, we dishonor God because by our complaints we prove that we don't trust Him to carry out His plans, nevermind in which situation!

Not only did Jesus pay for our sins on the cross, but he also achieved victory over all the powers of darkness! There is power in the blood of Jesus, sufficient for every challenge of our time. Do you believe Him?

Let us never get tired of believing, thanking, praying, pleading, and seeing our great God work miracles for ourselves, our family, friends, our city, and our country.

"Over and out - That's the way it should be!"
(Meaning "Amen". Quote from a Christian children's book that we're currently reading.) 😀

Be blessed!