March / April 2020 — The Gfeller Family

We are living in unprecedented times in our world. The past couple weeks remind me of how quickly life can change. How quickly things can escalate from a faraway problem to a very present reality. These realities tend to peel back the layers of the things that we are holding closely until ultimately the object of our hope is revealed. As I reflect on this, I can’t help but think of Palm Sunday and the week that would follow. I think about how things can change so quickly in a week. How so many people would welcome Christ at the beginning of the week and curse Him five days later.

The hearts of the people were revealed as Christ began to identify idols. In under a week, Christ would reveal that His coming was not to secure their wealth, politics, honor, prestige, comfort, security or even religion. The kingdom He was establishing was not political, but spiritual. He had come not to conquer, but to reconcile. It was less about this life now, and more about the life to come. He gave us a reason to embrace suffering, because His suffering gave us something worth setting our hope on.

This is why seasons of hardship are a time in which we can rejoice. Through our testing our hope is being laid bare. There is a reason that God allows bad things to happen. It is through the lens of suffering that the Risen Christ is magnified to us and that our idols are stripped away. He suffered for us to confine death to this kingdom and now announces a new kingdom that is not bound by death or fear. The choice is now ours will we live for the idols of this world or the hope of Christ in the kingdom to come.

Ministry Update

March started off really well with some good opportunities to gather with believers in our home, gather for fellowship with our church family and reach into our local refugee community. Unfortunately, much of our outreach efforts were derailed as the Corona Virus hit Germany. Our Tuesday group in Reinickendorf and Open Table with men from across the city has been put on hold as we are currently prohibited from meeting in public with more than two people. This has also hindered our work in the local refugee accommodation our church is working in. We are currently pursuing alternatives to stay connected, by meeting one on one as well as planning Easter packages for refugees families in the accommodation.

Support and encouragement of believers has moved to online platforms with our Bible studies and Sunday services. We are encouraged to see higher attendance in many of these weekly studies and hope to continue using these platforms in the future to allow more people to attend. Please pray for me as I will be speaking today on our live broadcast. If you would like to watch the message you can find it by clicking on the video in this post.

We recently started a young families group within our church. We met just before the quarantine with 6 families and set up a structure for meeting together, studying and fellowship. Unfortunately with the quarantine the wheels have been moving slower to get it up and running, but we were excited to start an online study in Romans with this group two weeks ago and it is picking up steam.

Family Update

Cherry and I celebrated our fifteen anniversary at the beginning of the month. We had a free hotel night, so we packed a small bag and jumped on a bus for the city center. Looking back we are so thankful for the opportunity as this was right before things started shutting down in the city. We have been mostly confined to the house the past two weeks other than going to the grocery store and special errands. The girls have been busy with their schoolwork, which has also taken much of Cherry’s and Jeannie’s time to guide them through their required work. While this has changed our schedule considerably, we are thankful for the time together. We have also been able to spend a lot of one on one time with both girls to give them confidence in areas they need help in.

This time has also been an opportunity to work on language. Cherry is working through an online program and I have been able to take 1-2 hours a day to study on my own. The girls are also gaining confidence here through some German friends they have become close with from next door. They are speaking German with them every day and Cherry and I are getting to know the parents as well. Please pray we would know how to be gracious neighbors and have opportunities to share Christ with our new friends.

As I reflect on the last month I want to say thank you to those of you who continue to hold us up financially. I had prepared myself for the possible fallout that a worldwide crisis like this could bring, including the possibility that we could have reductions in support. But this month has reminded me that followers of Christ do not lose heart when the world seems to be falling around them. In fact, they become more resolute at the task at hand. This has been evident in how many of you have sacrificially given more and above for our needs and the sweet fragrance of your gifts reminds me of how privileged we are to minister alongside you. Thank you for holding our rope steady and helping us reach this strategic place for God’s glory.

Prayer Update

Pray for members in our church as they weather this crisis in the coming weeks.
Wisdom in pursuing new ways to connect and share Christ within the communities we are working.
That this would be a time of spiritual growth for our family with the time we have together.