Youth Cafe

As we mentioned before, we are involved in two main outreaches here in Germany--one for immigrant kids and one for teens. Last night, we had our weekly Youth Cafe. More specifically, it´s a time when teenagers come to one of our church buildings to hang out, play pool, hear a message, eat dinner, and talk with staff members. It´s really cool, but definitely not like New York. Instead of frantically running around from program to program, the Youth Cafe is relaxed and inviting. Especially for teens that would never step foot into a church.
The kids that usually come are from the rock/alternative, emo, or gothic scene. They come in the building (called Haus Benjamin) looking pretty tough and uninterested.The hard part about ministering to teens in Europe is that many are atheists or simply don´t care whether or not God exists. Daniel was talking to some boys last night, and they didn´t want to hear about Jesus. They just wanted an excuse to debate the existence of God. One guy told us he´s been coming every week to the Youth Cafe for five years just because he likes to discuss philosophy and religion...but he´s not willing to personally believe.
So, the Youth Cafe continues every week, with staff members talking to students, praying with them, and encouraging them to have faith in God. It´s definitely slow-going, but there´s something I´m convinced about.
When I (Michelle) was at a prayer meeting in New York, I remember God telling me, "Europe is not dead. I have plans for the people there." This came to me during the time Daniel and I were talking about getting married and moving to Germany. My biggest concern was the state of the dwindling Church. Would Europe be a discouraging time for my faith? And God said He hadn´t forgotten about the people in Europe. And neither will we.
Please pray with us for the teens and families who are comfortable in their meaningless, atheistic ways of thinking. In some countries, Satan´s weapons are drugs, witchcraft, violence, or disease. Over here, he has swayed the masses with apathy. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would awaken the lost.

Welcome!

Hi Friends,
It´s so great to have a chance to keep in contact with you. Again and again, Daniel and I have been telling our friends that even though we live overseas and no longer do Sunday school in New York, we still have missionary hearts. The purpose of this blog is to give you a glimpse into our hearts, our ministry, and of course, the ways you can join us in prayer.
Wow, it´s hard to believe that Daniel and I share the same blog! For the past few years, we have been individually updating our friends and family (mine in English, and his in German) on the adventures of New York. Well, it looks like we´re starting this next adventure together--the adventure of newly married life, adjusting to a new culture and language (Michelle), and ministering to the German/immigrant community. We´re both so excited that we can serve God together...and honored to have you with us on our journey.
Before we jump ahead of ourselves, let me just talk about these pictures from March 12th 2010. These mark the first day of our lives together. It really was an amazing day--our families were there with many of our friends, everything ran smoothly,and we still got great pictures despite the rain showers. Looking back, Daniel and I wouldn´t change anything. It was absolutely amazing.
Since the day we became husband and wife, we spent 10 days in Hawaii, 2 days in San Fransisco, and then proceeded to Germany. For the past (almost) two months, we´ve been setting up our apartment, enrolling in language school (Michelle), applying for college (Daniel), researching health insurance, finding an internet provider....you know, all the things you need to do to set up a household.
We´ve also been really involved in church. Our church here is great, and we work with a woman from the church who organizes outreaches to the elderly, drug addicts, teens, immigrant kids, taxi drivers, etc. Daniel and I are both involved in the Tuesday night teen outreach, as well as the program for immigrant kids. We greatly anticipate what God will do with our Metro Ministries training here in Germany. We even have dreams to start a Sidewalk Sunday School here in our local neighborhood.
It´s cool to think that we came to Germany because of it´s low college tuition, but God can still use us here to evangelize. That´s definitely our prayer.