June / July 2021 — The Gfeller Family

Growing up in America, I don’t think I ever thought about my safety or well-being as something that was ever in danger. I grew up hearing about wars in far off lands, but my life was a far cry from the devastation and trauma that others have experienced in war torn places. Moving to Berlin the scars of past conflicts are still visible in a city that was at the front lines of the greatest conflict our world has ever seen and I see it even now in the weary faces of those who have recently fled their war-torn lands.

But even as this nation and its many peoples have found shelter and begun to heal, I recognize a greater conflict battling for minds, hearts, and souls. It is an enemy that cannot be seen, that is deceiving the nations to turn away from a loving God. It has made me aware of the fact that even though I have lived a blessed life in a land of peace and prosperity, I have also lived the majority of my life with a false sense of security.

Our world is at war and the most dangerous battles are those we cannot see. Many times, the fiercest battles are in the most peaceful of places. As followers of Christ, we are at animosity with our world and one of the enemy’s most effective weapons is to make us feel we are far from the battle. It is easy to think that we are safe and secure, but our relative peace can become an illusion that there is no threat.

But the threat is real, and the war is raging. The enemy is doing his best to suppress the gospel and one of his key devices is to make people comfortable. We are called to step to the front lines and hold our ground in the places God has called us, to set our minds on things above, instead of things below. We do this by proclaiming the gospel that has brought us peace with God. He has promised to give us His strength to hold steady in the conflict as we bear witness to the One who has already won the war. Ephesians 6 reminds us that we have been given everything we need for this task.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:10-12

We stand confident, because we have found the truth in Christ and by His grace have put on His righteousness. So, we shod our feet prepared to stand with the gospel of peace. We can be assured that the conflict will come, but we can be confident that God is with us. Our world needs us to love the gospel more than our own relative comfort and security. What our world needs is for us to tell them how they can have peace with God that can only be found in Jesus.

May we be ready, always prepared to be people of grace and peace, who are quick to run to the front lines to proclaim the gospel, so that others may have hope to stand in His strength on the last day because they are in Christ.

Ministry Update

We are finally beginning to see things open in Berlin from the 8-month lockdown that we have been under. We finished the school year with our soccer ministry in Reinickendorf with a small fun day of soccer and an end-of -the-year party with the kids. I had the opportunity to speak to the teens at our youth retreat in June. They were so excited to get out of the city and finally breathe a little! Our new youth director Jack did an incredible job of leading his first retreat and it was so exciting to see the support from our young adults as they led the weekend.

We have been able to begin having people back in our home and we hosted our quarterly discipleship roundtable at our home this past month. These quarterly meetings are designed to equip and encourage a culture of discipleship among our church and we look forward to hosting more families in our home as we move into the fall.

Our church has recently had a number of new attendees’ desire to become members and we are encouraged to see growth even through the lockdown. We were thankful to continue to meet during this period and look forward to restarting community groups this fall as restrictions continue to be lifted.

We also look forward to restarting outreach initiatives into refugee communities and other areas of the city that are instrumental in helping us build new relationships and opportunities to share the gospel.

Family Update

We have recently had the opportunity to visit friends, families and ministry partners in the United States. Having been in Berlin without leaving the city for a year due to the lockdown, it was so encouraging to make this trip and be encouraged by so many. We are thankful that the times we live in make it possible to take these shorter trips more regularly, so we can stay connected with all those who are in ministry with us. This also allows us to use a down time in our ministry cycle when many families are away for the summer in Berlin to take shorter furlough trips instead of a longer furlough every five years that would take us out of life and ministry in Berlin for an extended period and disrupt our work in the city.

This trip has also allowed me to go through the process of being ordained in our sending church. While our mission continues to unreached people groups and the nations in Berlin, the opportunity to take on a more pastoral role in the church has served the purpose of allowing me to oversee our community and outreach. We see the gospel going forth from the local church and this role allows me to encourage and equip other believers to live missionally to make disciples.

Our trip has been very full, and we were so thankful to connect with good friends and a new supporting church in Illinois during this trip. We felt such a warmness from these brothers and sisters and are so thankful for their ministry to us. We also had the opportunity to visit the Ark Encounter on this trip and then spend some time with family in Florida, which was life-giving for all of us!

Once again, we prepare to return with hearts of gratitude for all those who encouraged us, and we look forward to seeing those of you we missed on our next trip. We praise God for each of you who have joined us in this work, and we are honored to represent you for the gospel in Berlin.

Prayer Update

Please pray for Quinn’s allergy therapy she will begin this fall. We are hoping this will solve the breathing problems she is having.

Please pray for the girls as they start school in two weeks, both having lost friends to their families moving away.

Please pray that we will have wisdom as we seek to encourage our church and encourage a culture of discipling within our body.

Please pray for us as we begin outreach after a year of restrictions on events and that we would have wisdom to pursue opportunities that give us the greatest influence for the gospel.