Berlin Debrief

Bob & Patty Stoner June 30, 2014 Wrap up letter from Berlin Ministry Trip Dear Friends and Family: Bob and I want to thank each of you for your financial and prayer support; for our preparations and time of service in Berlin. Our nine days of working along-side Berlin International Community Church was high energy, non-stop, exhilarating, exhausting, and rewarding as each member of our team experienced great spiritual gains. Here are some highlights:  Sports Camp was hosted by Berlin Teen Challenge, and basketball sessions were held at a beautiful school facility next door. Working in coordination with an existing Christian ministry tripled the number of youth attending, we had 50-60 each day. Teen Challenge provided snacks, organization, interpreters, and the gospel presentation in German in a very relatable way.  North Greenville Soccer Coach, Chad Gfeller and basketball player Blake Payne, added new skills to the training portion of the camp, and the kids were drawn to their out-going personalities. Coach Gfeller caught the BICC vision of how sports camp is an effective tool of evangelism in Berlin.  Nine young boys responded to the gospel presentation on the final day of sports camp, and asked Jesus to be Savior of their life. Teen Challenge will be mentoring these young men, and we rejoiced in their personal salvation decisions  Church sponsored material distribution and conversational evangelism on the streets of Berlin were affective. We had 3 teams in various high traffic areas of Berlin. There is a documentation- permit process for a church identified table to be on public sidewalks. The lengthy process is worth the visibility of introducing the masses to the local church. We distributed over 1,000 invitations for Berlin International Community Church. Engaging many in conversations explaining,’ God’s Story’, and praying with some who had personal needs.  BICC (Berlin International Community Church) has already had many visitors to their Sunday services that have come because of the invitation cards given out. BICC had church volunteers who worked along-side each American volunteer as interpreters and encouraged people to meet them at their church. A Praise Team from BICC sang at various locations, which created interest, and opened up conversations.  Spiritual Warfare was very visible on the street, several days next to our church display table, members of the Church of Scientology and Muslims distributing the Koran set up tables to get people’s attention with a false message. Berlin is a difficult area to penetrate with the gospel, the history of Communism , death and oppression are a spiritual wall that still has a hold on Berliner’s . In contrast; attending Sunday services at BICC and going to various parts of the city to attend their Community Home Group meetings is a tremendous blessing, and we see how God is slowly drawing people to Him one at a time. Thank you for being a part of that change, we know that God is going to richly bless you for your generous gift in supporting our work and being a part of what He is doing in Berlin, Germany. God Bless Patty and Bob Stoner

We handed out 1,000 invitations at 3 city locations. In May, it is still cold in Berlin.

BICC Praise Team sang on the streets and drew a crowd that we enjoyed talking to.

Setting up tables after we did, Scientology Members and Muslims passed out material to lure people away from the gospel.

50 – 60 kids attended Sports Camp each day, triple the number from last year.

This is Leon, the little boy that Bob led to the Lord, pray that the 9 who said ‘Yes’ to Jesus; grow in their faith.

Bob, Blake Payne, church volunteer, and Chad Gfeller worked long hours to lead the Sports Camp. They have a vision for sports as an effective tool for evangelism.