Refugees at Church

[thomas t]

Refugees from a muslim country have arrived at our church.

They're a blessing, I think. I want to give thanks to the Lord that they are growing into parts of our church.

They make it clear to me that christianity is international and not focused on our country we live in. And it becomes clear to me that (most of) the church is persecuted nowadays, I think.

However, they are only men. I pray to God that he may send women from other countries to church, as well.

Best wishes,

Thomas

[Neighbor]

Blessings to you thomas t, and the local body of Christ Jesus there,

May the Holy Spirit guide you all as you welcome refugees. May God keep you all safe and strengthen you all in the faith of Jesus, our Lord and savior. 

Please share as you can and are led, telling us  more of this increase in your local body of Christ.

Do these men have wives that are not perhaps yet allowed  the freedom of going to church,  or are they alone? Perhaps you may help some of us as time progresses, so that we may join and then continue in prayer for you, along with your local body of Christ and it's new attendees.

Thanks for sharing,

Neighbor

[thomas t]

1 hour ago, Neighbor said:

Blessings to you thomas t, and the local body of Christ Jesus there,

May the Holy Spirit guide you all as you welcome refugees. May God keep you all safe and strengthen you all in the faith of Jesus, our Lord and savior. 

Please share as you can and are led, telling us  more of this increase in your local body of Christ.

Do these men have wives that are not perhaps yet allowed  the freedom of going to church,  or are they alone? Perhaps you may help some of us as time progresses, so that we may join and then continue in prayer for you, along with your local body of Christ and it's new attendees.

Thanks for sharing,

Neighbor

Hi Neighbor,

thank you so much for your nice welcoming words! And thank you for your wishes!

Yes, in my opinion, it was Jesus himself who made it possible that the body of Christ has increased that easily in my town, which is chosen by the government to be home of refugees in their thousands, many of them Christians heading to the local assemblies. I think, that's great! However, they are at the very beginning when it comes to their personal walk in faith, at least for those coming to my church. All they want is to be fully accepted by everyone in our church.

Most of them don't have wives. Just one of them belonging to my church has a wife and a daughter and is trying to do his very best to make them come to Germany, as well.

Thank you so much for your prayers,

Thomas

 

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, thomas t said:

Hi Neighbor,

thank you so much for your nice welcoming words! And thank you for your wishes!

Yes, in my opinion, it was Jesus himself who made it possible that the body of Christ has increased that easily in my town, which is chosen by the government to be home of refugees in their thousands, many of them Christians heading to the local assemblies. I think, that's great! However, they are at the very beginning when it comes to their personal walk in faith, at least for those coming to my church. All they want is to be fully accepted by everyone in our church.

Most of them don't have wives. Just one of them belonging to my church has a wife and a daughter and is trying to do his very best to make them come to Germany, as well.

Thank you so much for your prayers,

Thomas

 

 

"All they want is to be fully accepted by everyone in our church." And wouldn't that be nice! I know it is a very serious subject for you especially at this time with the influx of humanity coming upon you and your community very personally.  I am struck by the words, "all they want is to be  accepted". For that is the core concern, I think,  of all  that  come to churches here too. It is the subject of  torment for many that never feel welcome at the very church that  is the loal body of Christ in so many denominations and of so many varying organizational structures here too!

 I think though, there is  a great danger in making everyone feel welcome, especially if the individuals  do not share fellowship as bond-servants of our Lord and savior Jesus. For  then they cannot be allowed to dilute the will of the Holy Spirit in running of the church. They may indeed be welcomed into hearing the word of God and the gospel of our Lord, but never can they have any vote in the running of the local body, unless they have  repented and been turned about as every  born again Christian has been. To give away  the direction of the church to those that  do not yet qualify for membership by faith in Christ and some knowledge of the precepts of the early church body will lead to the demise and even overthrow of the local body.

So, quite the opportuity for your local church and quite the challenging risk as well!

 I pray  that, even as we here ( USA) face similar, though not yet so  potentially fatal a risk, our Lord will by the Holy Spirit lead us all  to better spreading of the word  the gospel of Jesus so that many may be presented as mature in the lord and saved  into eternal life with Jesus. We will have to be more welcoming if we are to share the word and we will have to have faith that in taking that risk we honor the Glory that is God.

Please do share as this challenge unfolds. I think it will be not only enlightening here to some, but also  encouraging.  May we find ways to help the churches as they face this challenge. Much in the way the early churches were helped one to another. May God keep safe the members of the local bodies of Christ that are now more fully on the front lines of conflict between that which is evil and that which is of the saving grace of Jesus our Lord.

What grand opportunity awaits us all,  along with the serious challenges that we will soon be facing if we are not already there face to face with it.

God bless your local body of Christ Jesus.

 

 

Edited August 16, 2017 by Neighbor

[thomas t]

19 hours ago, Neighbor said:

 

"All they want is to be fully accepted by everyone in our church." And wouldn't that be nice! I know it is a very serious subject for you especially at this time with the influx of humanity coming upon you and your community very personally.  I am struck by the words, "all they want is to be  accepted". For that is the core concern, I think,  of all  that  come to churches here too. It is the subject of  torment for many that never feel welcome at the very church that  is the loal body of Christ in so many denominations and of so many varying organizational structures here too!

 I think though, there is  a great danger in making everyone feel welcome, especially if the individuals  do not share fellowship as bond-servants of our Lord and savior Jesus. For  then they cannot be allowed to dilute the will of the Holy Spirit in running of the church. They may indeed be welcomed into hearing the word of God and the gospel of our Lord, but never can they have any vote in the running of the local body, unless they have  repented and been turned about as every  born again Christian has been. To give away  the direction of the church to those that  do not yet qualify for membership by faith in Christ and some knowledge of the precepts of the early church body will lead to the demise and even overthrow of the local body.

So, quite the opportuity for your local church and quite the challenging risk as well!

 I pray  that, even as we here ( USA) face similar, though not yet so  potentially fatal a risk, our Lord will by the Holy Spirit lead us all  to better spreading of the word  the gospel of Jesus so that many may be presented as mature in the lord and saved  into eternal life with Jesus. We will have to be more welcoming if we are to share the word and we will have to have faith that in taking that risk we honor the Glory that is God.

Please do share as this challenge unfolds. I think it will be not only enlightening here to some, but also  encouraging.  May we find ways to help the churches as they face this challenge. Much in the way the early churches were helped one to another. May God keep safe the members of the local bodies of Christ that are now more fully on the front lines of conflict between that which is evil and that which is of the saving grace of Jesus our Lord.

What grand opportunity awaits us all,  along with the serious challenges that we will soon be facing if we are not already there face to face with it.

God bless your local body of Christ Jesus.

 

 

Thank you so much for all your wishes for the church, Neighbor. 

You tell me that there is " a great danger in making feel everyone welcome" and then running the risk of ending up with a couple of people running the church without being true children of God.

The refugees we have at church didn't flee their country for economic reasons or so, but for the simple reason of being endangered, in peril of death if they would have been baptized in their country, as they say. So, they are not.

And I think, right from the start of their personal development in faith with Jesus, they have been persecuted. The moment they came to Germany, they have given up their entire lives. Home, status, money, families, friends. In Germany they are a nobody, they are aware of that fact, they don't speak any Western language fluently, they don't like the food (well, some of them don't), they dislike the weather; the raining, to be more secific. They like Germany as a whole, however.

To me, just coming here for reasons of their faith is telling. So I must believe them in a sense that they are Christians. The church doesn't alter Biblical teaching so that they can feel at home. To me, it seems to be rather the other way round: the refugees are so very much trying to avoid any sort of potential conflict that, at the moment, they simply say yes to everything they are being told. Trying to hear what they really think in order to be able to enter into a deep and good conversation is challenging, too. As far as I know, their culture forbids them to say "no", and they keep telling me this.

At the moment, however, I only can have a good and deep conversation with three of them because the rest doesn't know any English or German.

God bless you, too.

Thomas

 

[thomas t]

18 hours ago, Yowm said:

Thomas, I do hope they hear the Gospel as well as 'see it' in your Church.

Hi Yown,

thanks for your answer.

Let's come to talk about the language barrier. Some of them speak a little English, they understand some words of German but they don't speak the language, yet.

As soon as the refugees can speak and understand a little German, I find it perfect for them to start to communicate more about the Gospel. I think all of them read their Bible on a daily basis. For now, they receive a language coaching that is focused on the words Jesus uses in His Bible. The aim of the coaching is to enable them to understand at least something of the service in German language.

18 hours ago, Yowm said:

I visited an evangelical Church in Holland back in 1982 and all I heard from the pulpit was the then Soviet/Poland crisis.

They teach Bible at church, here.

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, thomas t said:

Thank you so much for all your wishes for the church, Neighbor. 

You tell me that there is " a great danger in making feel everyone welcome" and then running the risk of ending up with a couple of people running the church without being true children of God.

The refugees we have at church didn't flee their country for economic reasons or so, but for the simple reason of being endangered, in peril of death if they would have been baptized in their country, as they say. So, they are not.

And I think, right from the start of their personal development in faith with Jesus, they have been persecuted. The moment they came to Germany, they have given up their entire lives. Home, status, money, families, friends. In Germany they are a nobody, they are aware of that fact, they don't speak any Western language fluently, they don't like the food (well, some of them don't), they dislike the weather; the raining, to be more secific. They like Germany as a whole, however.

To me, just coming here for reasons of their faith is telling. So I must believe them in a sense that they are Christians. The church doesn't alter Biblical teaching so that they can feel at home. To me, it seems to be rather the other way round: the refugees are so very much trying to avoid any sort of potential conflict that, at the moment, they simply say yes to everything they are being told. Trying to hear what they really think in order to be able to enter into a deep and good conversation is challenging, too. As far as I know, their culture forbids them to say "no", and they keep telling me this.

At the moment, however, I only can have a good and deep conversation with three of them because the rest doesn't know any English or German.

God bless you, too.

Thomas

 

Thomas I must correct the message I have projected. It is of course necessary to be welcoming! It is dangerous to give equal vote  on matters concerning the church  body to all. It need be limited to those that have indeed grown in their faith and have some gained good understanding  through study, and prayer, about the local body of Christ Jesus. Perhaps that is a very obvious statement, one not needed to be mentioned, but it is a factor of concern to all groups that have to meet overwhelming numbers of new  individuals into their lives.

 You have a wondrous opportunity as a challenged local body of Christ in an area overwhelmed perhaps, by great influx of refugees. May God strengthen all of you in that local body of Christ Jesus. And may you be a light, not only to the refugees, but even through this medium to us, that some may be led to also engage and to be of help as led by the Holy Spirit of God.

May God bless your local body of Christ Jesus.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Neighbor

[thomas t]

21 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Thomas I must correct the message I have projected. It is of course necessary to be welcoming! It is dangerous to give equal vote  on matters concerning the church  body to all. It need be limited to those that have indeed grown in their faith and have some gained good understanding  through study, and prayer, about the local body of Christ Jesus. Perhaps that is a very obvious statement, one not needed to be mentioned, but it is a factor of concern to all groups that have to meet overwhelming numbers of new  individuals into their lives.

 You have a wondrous opportunity as a challenged local body of Christ in an area overwhelmed perhaps, by great influx of refugees. May God strengthen all of you in that local body of Christ Jesus. And may you be a light, not only to the refugees, but even through this medium to us, that some may be led to also engage and to be of help as led by the Holy Spirit of God.

May God bless your local body of Christ Jesus.

Hi Neighbor!

Yes, I agree with you that they must be strengthened in Christ before they are given a vote at church. Thank you for your encouraging words!

By the way, if the overall percentage of Christians in the world is 6%, there must be hundreds of refugees thronging to the churches of our town here. There are barely one hundred of them going, I estimate. Some of them are non-believers, too, who enter the local assemblies just ouf of interest. So you could ask: where is the rest?

In my opinion, it would be even pessimistic to assume that the percentage of those who believe in Jesus and accepted Him to be their own savior is just equal to the global 6%, because many of the refugees coming to Germany are here for being persecuted Christians.

So I think that refugees are underrepresented at the local churches, and I wish them to grow fast in their personal development in faith.

God bless you, too,

Thomas

 

[Neighbor]

Hi , please share as you can. So that many may have opportunity to join in prayer for the refugees and for your local body of Christ, as well as learn some of what is happening  during this  Time of the signs.

Thanks

May God's guidance and  protection be upon you all.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Neighbor

[thomas t]

Hi,

I want to give thanks to the Lord that one of the refugees has now joined the music team/ worship team playing percussion. He still needs to complete the required number of rehearsal participations, but the worship team leader already gave the green light to his collaboration. I personally appreciate very much a strong use of percussion in music/ worship. The music team leader invites him perform in oriental styles so worship music at church will result in a blend of different cultural influences. I am particularly thankful for this. The music leader knows his way around in world music. By the way, songs at church, here, are very much the same as in the States or in Canada or so.

However, the refugees gernerally are, alas, not treated in a fair and equal manner in this church. That's what I think. They should be treated the same as Germans in church.

Unlike the refugees coming to the US perhaps, the ones of our church never wanted to leave their countries. They have been under death threat, that's what they tell me at least. Once left, in general they didn't even plan to come to Germany, as far as I know. So, German is not the language of their dreams, I would say. Hence, for service, they should be offered a translation into their language, I think. But they are not provided with anything in their language except for Bibles. The church should offer translations, in my opinion, in order to make sure the refugees won't have to have any feelings of being "inferior" or "of second class". Even if the church would have to reach out and hire an (atheist) translator from somewhere for Sundays.

Nevertheless, a lady from the church is offering them Bible lessons weekly. Thanks to the Lord, I'd say.

May God bless you

Thomas