GEM Journal 2011-04-20

Dear brothers and sisters:

Michael preached at the Chinese Church in Leipzig on Sunday (the 17th). Prior to the worship service, Amy had taught a class on inductive Bible study compacting a 12 week class into 75 minutes. After the service, Reba shared with a lady and led her to Christ. Michael and I talked with a man who is going back to China next week. He apparently has gone through a lot of pain and suffering. Please pray for this Mr. Zhao that he’ll be open to the Lord and accept Christ as he goes back to China.

Michael and I took the train to Nuernberg on Sunday night. We visited Mr. and Mrs. Liang who are currently studying in the European Chinese seminary. They shared with us the current situation of the Chinese churches in Germany. They are seeking the Lord’s guidance regarding their future ministry in Germany upon their graduation next year. We talked till 3:00 a.m. and resumed our conversation in the morning.

We visited Dr. Martin Langstaedler and his wife in Erlangen today (Wed.). Martin has been leading the Chinese ministry in Erlangen and the surrounding university towns for more than two decades. He goes to Bamberg, Wuerzburg, and Regensburg besides Nuernberg and Erlangen. Many groups don’t have any minister among them.

After having spent two hours with them, we took the train to Jena, Hegel’s hometown. Mr. and Mrs. Chang are starting a new ministry here. Our meeting tonight was the very first event of this new Bible study group. I gave a speech on “人间四月天—谈交友与婚姻”. My focus was on the ethics of authenticity in dating and marriage. There were 26 people altogether. Some of them came from Weimar fellowship and Leipzig fellowship. There are four Chinese Christians in Jena. They have decided to start a Bible study group in order to reach out to other Chinese students. God has granted them an excellent meeting place—International center, right next to the university. Mr. and Mrs. Chang have to drive more than an hour each time to visit the students here. Please pray for the future development of this new Bible study group.

We took the last train leaving Jena, and yet the train happened to be 25 minutes late. We came back to Leipzig Fellowship Center around 1:00 a.m.. We’re grateful that we are healthy so far. Thank you all for your prayers.

Amy (with Michael)