March / April 2023 — The Gfeller Family

Our apple blossom tree sits adjacent to the driveway at the front of our house. It is in full bloom right now and every time I walk by, I am struck by its beauty. After a six-month winter filled with dark, cold winter days, the contrast of light pink blossoms against the blue sky stirs a great hope in me. Winter has finally come to an end!

The four seasons often mirror the seasons of my soul. My soul has felt a bit of winter the past few months. The general struggles of life, ministry, and parenting can be difficult here just as in the United States. This passage from Romans has been a great comfort to me.

“In hope he[Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. This is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:18-22

So how do we fight winters of the soul when spring is blooming everywhere but inside of us?

First, we choose to hope in God despite not understanding our circumstances. Even when things appear to be impossible by human standards, we remind ourselves of our faithful God who sent His son to die for us. We remember Jesus, who is risen and we have hope. (II Timothy 2:8)

Second, we choose to be fully convinced that God will keep His promises to us. Note how it says earlier in verse 20, “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God.” One of my favorite parts of this story is noted in Hebrews 11:19. “He considered that God was able even to raise him[Isaac] from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.” Abraham was so fully convinced that God would keep his promise regarding sacrificing Isaac, that he believed God would raise him from the dead even if he had to take his life! What great faith!

Lastly, we give glory to God. Praising our God and turning our eyes to Him reminds us of His greatness. I have been reminded time and time again that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9)

As we move through this new season of spring, may we intentionally spend time in God’s Word. As we encounter difficult seasons may we choose to hope in God, be fully convinced He is trustworthy, and above all seek to bring God glory.

Ministry Update

We have continued our work over the past two months with refugees and seeking out those hurting in the city. We continue to be consistently in a local refugee camp working with families from Ukraine. We were able to host a special event for International Women’s Day. Holidays give us an opportunity to speak to the hearts of those we are encountering and we are finding unique and creative ways of speaking God’s Word to those we work with.

Chad has also started again in Reinickendorf working with a group of young girls and boys. This group is handpicked for kids coming from tough family situations and gives an opportunity to go after the fatherless in the city, which is central to our mission in Berlin.

Through the first part of the year, we have been encouraging our church to find ways to proclaim Christ in our city. Our church hosed a Evangelism course in March leading up to participating in a city-wide Easter outreach across the city with other believers. We had forty to fifty people from our church scatter into the city over Easter weekend to pass out Bibles and gospel literature, share public testimonies to Christ and have spiritual conversations with all who would listen. The outreach culminated in our Easter service and a community dinner at our church building with fun for the kids and a gospel message.

We are continuing to encourage believers and seeking to build up disciples in Christ through hosting groups in our home. We host a community group regularly in our area of the city and recently held a leadership roundtable for all those leading groups and teams in our church. Our desire as a church is to continue to develop healthy servant leadership and we are seeking to lead in this way in the congregations we work alongside.

We praise the Lord for the growth of Fellowship Potsdam. The church planted out of our Berlin church family (CrossWay Church) just over a year ago. We are busting at the seams in the little church house we have been renting and have been searching for a new facility. We recently had an opportunity for a place in a really great location, but unfortunately the contract fell through this week. Please pray for wisdom as we continue our search!

Match Update!

We can’t thank enough those of you who have contributed to the match for our church plant startup costs. You have made it possible to begin securing a new facility. We currently have matched $5,500 of the $6,500 match. If you would like to contribute toward this match you can do so at the link below. Thank you for partnering with us for the growth of the church in Berlin and the ongoing efforts to reach the nations in our city.

Give

Family Update

Chad and I were able to get away to celebrate our anniversary in March and stayed the weekend at a hotel in the heart of Berlin. We had such a great time together and were thankful for this opportunity.

The girls are working hard to finish up the school year. They have less than two months now and the pressure is on, but we are so thankful for how they are taking so many tough things in stride with their school work and relationships in the school.

Here are some special memories from the past month together as a family.

Prayer Update

We praise the Lord for how He continues to work in Potsdam. Please pray as we continue our search for a new location in the city of Potsdam.
We ask prayer for strength with a busy couple of months in front of us, but also many opportunities to encourage believers and proclaim Christ with different projects and gatherings.
We ask for prayer for the hearts and minds of our girls as they live and go to school in a culture in which they feel ostracized and marginalized in many ways.
We ask for prayer that we would have discernment into how we utilize our time and resources for His glory with the opportunities we have in front of us.