Klauslis in Korntal

An unwanted 15 minutes of fame

On August 4th one of the three largest television networks in Germany (ZDF) broadcast a program that has since become the center of much outrage in the evangelical community in Germany. The program was an entry in a the television journal program "Frontal 21" (a US equivalent to 20/20) that focused on evangelical mission agencies.  The reason for the broadcast was simple. Last spring, two 18 year old German girls were kidnapped and killed during an internship with families in Yemen. Using this tragedy as its starting point, this piece took as its premise that evangelical mission agencies entice young people to sign up for "adventure" missions--going into areas unfriendly to the Christian message--and do not take responsibility fo the outcomes. Perhaps most  shocking was the comparison they tried to draw between people who are martyred in Christian missions with muslim suicide bombers. While this piece of wreckless journalism alone might have been enough to cause much consternation here at the AWM, to make matters worse, they featured our campus as a part of their report. And instead of coming to us to ask questions and perspectives, a couple reporters arrived at our campus acting as interested applicants and filmed short interviews with staff and faculty using hidden cameras. Two ironies in their even coming to us should not be missed. First, AWM is not a mission agency and thus, was irrelevant to their story. Second, on the same day, we were hosting a full-day interview with a reporter and a camera man from one of the major news magazines in Germany. Unlike the ZDF TV reporters, the magazine had called ahead, set up an appointment, and taken time to gather information for their report. In short, there was no reason for anyone to suspect that we had something to hide. Instead were were only treated as though we did in order to increase the drama (and bias) of their story.

What did we do to respond? Our director wrote a letter to the network and tried to do as much damage control as possible. But this kind of breach of trust (people, in effect tresspassing and using us to promote their own agenda) has been the hardest thing to swallow. Thankfully, we have received support from many sources, perhaps most surprising was the press released from the Lutheran/Reformed church of Germany, the largest protestant denomination that is not always favorable in their assessment of evangelicals. They did not mince words in denouncing the bias in the report and the poor reporting that stood behind it.

An unwanted 15 minutes of fame? Yes and no. On the one side it is bad press that ultimately puts our work in a bad light, however untrue. On the other side, it is an opportunity. It is a chance to be unfairly treated so that we perhaps we might have and unprecedented opportunity to testify to the Lord Jesus whom we serve.

94 years

Two weeks ago my grandma died at the age of 94. She had lived on the same property for about 70 years in Northern Germany and even died in her own home after a brief stay in the hospital. It is hard to think of her house without her. My brother and I used to spend our school vacations with her and my grandpa. She taught me how to cook, how to garden and even taught me to pray the Lord’s Prayer before bed long before I became a believer. I had the opportunity to go up and see her just a couple of weeks before she passed away, could pray with her and asked her about her relationship with the Lord. We were thankful that we were in Germany during this time and could also be there for my mom at the funeral and afterwards. We also are thankful for the several visits in which the kids could get to know her since we moved here. The Lord’s timing is always perfect.

 

An unexpected discovery

A few weeks ago we took a little four day family trip to the black forest during Anna’s Easter vacation from school. Looking for an affordable little vacation place we found a condo in a tiny little village outside St. Blasien a small town in the black forest. What we did not know when we went was that St. Blasien, although a very small town, has the third largest rotunda cathedral in all of Europe (like St. Peters in Rome and St. Paul’s in London). It also has quite a large monastery that now hosts a Catholic highschool taught by Jesuits. How amazing to see such an impressive building in the middle of nowhere. We sure enjoyed this amazing discovery.

 

 

 

 

 

A special day

Last Saturday was a special day for our family. The student who had lived in the dorm room right adjacent to our living room got married to another student from the school. Markus and I got to do the music during the wedding and our family (plus a friend) played a song for three violins and bassoon during the reception as a “thank-you” for Lars’ patience in listening to our kids’ near daily violin playing. Anna had a special role in that she got to be the ring bearer during the wedding and she was soo happy to do it. Being a good German wedding it took from about noon until midnight. It was a blessing to be a part of these two students' special day and we are curious to follow their future path as they prepare to go as missionaries to Northern Brazil

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Just when you thought you knew German . . .

One challenge for me (and even for Julia) in living in this part of Germany (Baden-Württemberg) is understanding the dialect of German that is spoken here called Schwäbisch (Swabian). The Swabians are very self-conscious (and proud) of their dialect so much so that the state of Baden-Württemberg even pokes fun at itself. One tourism advertisement states: "We can do everything, except speak proper German." 

Just how different is Swabian from regular German? You can get a taste of it by following this link to a little video on YouTube that puts a Swabian accent on President Obama. The video takes part of the address that Obama gave during his European campaign (before becoming president) and spoofs it up a bit making it sound like a speech given by the leader of a neighborhood association at an apartment complex encouraging the other residents not to put their dirty bicycles in the entry way. That's the bit I understand. The other stuff . . .? 

Have fun! -MTK

MTK

What happened with ProChrist?

A few weeks ago a I wrote about ProChrist 2009, a large evangelistic crusdae in Germany every two years. This time it took place between March 29 and April 5 in the city of Chemnitz. Thanks to the comment from one  reader of this blog asking how it turned out, I realized that I needed to do a follow up post, especially for those who had been praying. 

According to the official website (click here to read it in German) around 1.1 million people watched the series of meetings that were beamed live via satellite to some 1300 reception points in 18 European countries.  How was the response? The website notes that in German-speaking Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Austria) around 56,000 people "went forward" to talk to a counselor after the message from the speaker Ulrich Parzany.

Is Europe "post Christian"--unfortunately it is. But God is not through with it yet and He is actively calling people to put their faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray for the continued follow up being done by various churches and for lasting fruit from this time of "harvest."

Being honest with God

I found today's sermon at our church here in Korntal especially helpful and thought that I would pass on a couple of the thoughts. The text was Psalm 73 and the topic was on dealing with emotions. His point was straightforward enough: our emotions need an outlet and the worst thing that we can to is bottle them up. Using the Psalm (and really the Psalms, in general) he noted that God gives us the opportunity through prayer (and through fellowship with other Christians) to express what we really feel before Him. Being honest with God about emotions is not "unspiritual" or lacking faith. Rather, telling God our struggles (what he knows anyway) allows us to get to the other side of the emotion, to deal with it in a way that helps us to move on with Him--particularly in difficult situations.

Sound too psychological? His example from Psalm 139:19-23 convinced me otherwise. Why else would this section be in this beloved Psalm? (though it often left off the greeting cards!). It seems that David wants to be honest with God about his struggle and is not shy telling Him (and us as readers) what it is. More evidence? Lamentations, Job and James 5:13 I think bolster the point sufficiently.

For me it was a confirmation to make time for prayer. Not just a formal reciting of things I ought to say, but allowing God to help me sort through the hard things. I'm grateful for this kind of faith.

MTK

Pray for "Pro Christ" 2009

Tonight in Germany for the 7th time starts Pro Christ. Meaning "for Christ", Pro Christ started back in 1993 as a Billy Graham evangelistic campaign in the city of Essen. Since that first event, Pro Christ has retained the same large evangelistic crusade-like atmosphere by meeting in large arenas (though not stadiums), but has increased the viewing audience by offering video streaming all over Europe. Some of the streaming takes place in large churches, others in homes. This time around their will be about 1000 places where people can watch. The point is to have a week of gospel messages where people can hear the gospel and respond to it.

With nearly one third of all Germans (especially those who live in East Germany) claiming not believe in God at all, please pray that God will use ProChrist (from March 29th through April 5) to speak into many lives and encourage bold witness from His Church.

For more info (though it is in German) see www.prochrist.org.

Full-service "confirmation"

Today was confirmation Sunday in the church that we attend here in Korntal. For non-Lutherans reading this post, "confirmation" is the process in which kids between 12 and 13 years old take classes for one to two years with the pastor about their faith that culminates in them publicly "confirming" their baptism that they had as infants. Since nearly all Protestants in Germany are Lutheran background, confirmation is a really big deal--almost like a rite of passage where a child is recognized as a contributing member of the community. On confirmation Sundays, like this one all of Germany, kids receive somewhere between 1000 and 3000 Euros as gifts from family and friends in recognition of this time. To say that all who go through the process have a living faith in Jesus Christ or actually go on with their faith would probably not be very accurate. Many do not. This does not mean, however, that some do, and thus confirmation Sunday is a very meaningful time in their spiritual life. For example, all confirmants receive a Bible verse as a commemoration of the day. I have often heard people (especially older ones) quote this verse as a life verse--one that has set a spiritual tone for their decisions. 

But I digress. 

Today was confirmation in our church in Korntal--but that was not all. It was also a special day for kids, the same age, who were baptized last Saturday night! These were kids who went through the same course as the confirmants, but who were dedicated as infants and thus had no baptism to "confirm". Instead, after the course, they were give the chance to make a public confession of faith as baptized (and fully immersed, I might add) believers. So today, on the one side were the "Konfis" (confirmants) and on the other the "Taeuflinge" (say: Toy-fling-eh) (baptized) celebrating entry into adulthood as followers of Jesus. 

How is this possible? The Brueder Gemeinde (Bretheren Church) that we attend is on the one hand, a true "free church" in Germany. This means that they have no official obligation to the formal Protestant (Lutheran) church (what is often wrongly called the "state church"). As a result they can do theologically what they desire--such as child dedication and adult baptism. On the other hand, because they were for many years the only church in Korntal, they had an agreement with the formal Protestant church to offer infant baptism and confirmation for members of the town who wanted to attend but did not want to give up their Lutheranism. The result has become what we witnessed today: a festive, meaningful, and beautiful celebration of kids testifying to their faith in Jesus that fully ignored some of the theological fault lines that have driven wedges between Protestant Christians for centuries. Maybe they are on to something . . . . MTK

On being ready . . .

Today's sermon on the "parable of the talents" (Matt 25,14-30) caught my attention. Most sermons that I can remember on this topic stress the need to make use our "talents" that God has given us so that they don't go to waste (I'm over-simplifying, of course). It not that this a "wrong" application, but it does not seem to fit the context. By contrast, today's sermon emphasized that the "talents" (literally, amounts of money) relate to how we serve the church.

In Matthew's gospel, this parable belongs to a set of three that bring Jesus' discourse about His coming (Matt 24--25) to it's climax of the return of Christ to judge the nations (the so-called "sheep and the goats" (25,31-46). Each one contains themes of being ready and having to give an account: (1) the servant who mistreats his fellows slaves while his master is away (24,45-51), (2) the 5 wise and the 5 foolish maidens (25,1-13), and (3) the parable of the talents. The point of these parables is to prepare the disciples for their continued ministry after His departure. 

In this final parable, Jesus is the "Master" going away on a long journey and He entrusts His treasure (the message of the Kingdom of God) to them. After a time He will return and see what they have done with it. From the example of the first two servants, this Day of Reckoning is hardly anything to fear. Because they have invested in the work of the Gospel (not, I think, only evangelism, but the work of the church as a whole) they receive a reward. The servant who does not receive the reward, however, is not one who has lost money, but one who has done nothing with what he was given. Though he claims that he did not invest his master's money out of "fear" of his master's harshness (Matt 25,25), the assessment of his lord is telling (25,26): "Evil and lazy slave!" The problem then was not his fear, but his indifference. This indifference is what in today's sermon was rightly described as unbelief. This slave's lack of action simply proved that he did not really believe the very thing that should have, at the very least, motivated him to action. 

The point would seem to be, then, not how much we end up doing for God--each slave was entrusted with a different amount that he was to invest. Rather, did we invest at all? Did we really believe it mattered. Did we really believe that we would have to give account? Thankfully, our motivation need not be fear, but joy and hope as we get ready for His return. MTK