Friday, November 20, 2015

A Greater Understanding

       This week we went to talk with some missionaries who now work in Switzerland but spent many years working in Albania and Greece. We did this because every second week we run a kids program and have many children from immigrant backgrounds especially from the Balkon area. We were explained what their cultural values are, how they parent, religious values and much more. Often we associate religious beliefs from a Muslim point of view to people when really it is just cultural differences.
     
         I took a lot out of the discussion but there were two points that have changed the way I view these children. One is that when I work with them I thought why are these children so attached physically as well as always looking for personal attention. The last time I saw this was in the red light district of Bogata Colombia. I found out that in this culture adults don't play with their children, they do everything they can to provide physical needs and things to impress but don't really spend time with their children. The children reacted this way because they are not used to adults spending time with them. My heart just sank to hear this that parents are not instilling values into their children like they are loved, valued, precious or important.
     
        The second is that through this I recieved a great desire to show and share these values with the children. I am not sure exactly what this will look like in the many months to come but there is a definate need here in the community I work and live in. Please pray that God will make this clear to me and open doors in ways I can't even imagine. It is so good to see how God is continually growing my heart for the community here!

Friday, November 13, 2015

Senior Ministry

Once or twice a month we cook a four corse meal for the seniors in the community. This is held at the local church and about  thirty five people attend. This is an amazing time to connect with the people in the community, share a short devotion with them and to serve in a very practical way. They always really enjoy this and after you do this a few times you start to build a relationship with some of them. The first time that we prepared this meal I sat down with some seniors and basically sat in silence because I could only say about three sentences in German and they didn't speak any English. Now it is a lot more fun as there is a couple ladies that I like to sit with that speak some English. We speak half in English, half in German and have really good conversations each time. It is great to hear their stories, learn from them and laugh together. I think my favourite part of doing this is when you are out in the community often you will run into these seniors. They are always concerned with how you are doing, making sure you get on your tram or wondering when they will see you again. As these people are in their last years of life please pray that they will be confident in what happens after death. Also that those who know Christ will feel a need to share their faith to those who may not know the gospel or have not accepted Jesus as their saviour.

Friday, November 6, 2015

God's Love For His People

Last week I was doing street outreach and walked up to a man having a smoke on the side of the road. We started to ask some trivia about Halloween and very quickly got into a very deep discussion about God. The man explained that he loved his children so much that he would do anything for them. We talked about how this is how God sees him. God loves him so much that he would do anything even to send Jesus to die for him. We talked about how important it was to have a personal relationship with our father and to be in communication with God. After a long discussion we prayed for this man and he went home. It was an absolutely amazing opportunity to share the gospel, to speak truth into his life and to pray for him. We may never see him again but my prayer is that a seed was planted in this time.