Good Times with the Power Surge Crew

The past few weeks of planning for the concerts definitely paid off. The Power Surge crew definitely made an impact here in Germany. They were a solid crew and we had some serious good times with them all. The first concert was in the barn in Pinnow. There were about 100 people or so who came out. We were so surprised, because these are small villages in East Germany. To have a crew of 100 people come out to a cold barn for a Gospel concert and hear about the love of God is incredible. The people who live in these area's have most likely never heard the Gospel in their lives.

"Pinnow Barn"

At the beginning of the day in Pinnow we met up with the Power Surge crew and went to this museum that they unlocked just for us. It's not a typical museum you would think of. Its very small in the middle of nowhere and there are normally not any tourists around to visit Pinnow. This was an area where Hitler had factories to build rockets and weapons during the war. We felt like we were in an episode of Band of Brothers. We were hanging out in a room filled with Rockets, Torpedo's, Grenade's, and so many other weapons that I don't know. We were like people need to know about this place.

"Emily and I chillen with a rocket "

"Serious Torpedo Action"

"A few of us from the Berlin Church"

The concert in Polsen was amazing. Again it was in a barn. There are only about 200 people that live in this village (If that). There were about 50 people that came out for this event. There is no public transportation to this barn so it was crazy to see 10% of the whole town in one place. It got dark quick so we outlined a path of candles to the lovely outhouse restrooms. There were about 7 salvation's during the preaching of the Word. There was even a man who stood up in the middle of the concert, walked up on stage, and gave a testimony that God is real and salvation is the only way to eternal life. We wanted to make a way for people to stay and talk with us. So we set up a table with coffee, tea, and just let God Love you booklets. We had an opportunity to hear testimonies from the people who came. We will be going back in a few weeks to do another concert with a group from Finland. So I will definitely keep you posted with the feedback.

"Lovely Restrooms"

"Pastor Gary Preaching in action"

"Preparing for the dark cold night"

" Pre- Concert in Polsen"

This past weekend the team went to Pinnow to advertise for the concerts we are having on October. Pinnow is a small town in East Germany in the middle of nowhere. The first time Matt',Emily, Stephan, and I went to check it out there wasn't one person in sight. We were the only people that even got off the train. We ended up finding this awesome barn. The only thing was we have to figure out how to fill it with people. So we returned to Pinnow thinking we were going to have to go door to door. We were like how are we going to do this with only 9 people. God was faithful. As soon as we get off the train this woman asks us what are English speaking people doing in Pinnow? We told her all about the concerts and we were advertising for them. She loved the idea. She lived in the next town over and was visiting her parents. She took some posters and flyer's and said she wanted to help us. Then we start walking a little further and we start to see all these people. I was like , Are you kidding me right now?" Where are these people coming from. So the day we went there happened to be this random festival that everyone from Pinnow and towns near there happened to be. Everyone was in the same place right in front of the barn where the concert will be. We handed out flyer's to every person there.

We were definitely entertained by all of the events that took place. Pinnow has some serious skills when it comes to the Parade department. We felt like we were in a time warp back into 1944. Matt and Emily, Liz, and I rode a mechanical bull. Good times in Pinnow that's all I have to say.

Hey guys! Loving it here in Berlin. I have already been here a little over a month, but it feels like way longer. Where should I start? The week started off with Jet Lag and a 30 mile bike ride into the city of Potsdam. We were only planning on riding our bikes there and taking the train back, but then realized the train was under construction so we rode all the way back home. It was so beautiful and worth it, but I was definitely feeling the soreness the next day. We have had an awesome crew of visitors so far. Miia from Finland was staying with us at the Groenewold's for a week. Emily and I became her biggest fans instantly. She went to Turkey after Berlin, but will be returning to us in October with a huge group of Finn's. They will be doing concerts so we are excited for her return. So far we have gained new friends with a Miia,Eva & Zsozsa from Hungary, and Gyunel from Russia ( Good Times).

We had EIS (Ice Cream) night at the church the second week. We made ice cream sundaes for people and handed then out to people walking by the church. Miia, Emily, and I made posters during the day, put on our aprons, and made some serious ice cream goodness. We set up some chairs and tables outside like a cute little cafe. Matt played the guitar and we sang as the people walked by. We also had a table set up with bracelet's and tract's to pass out if people were interested. Outreach here is pretty regular. We usually go to Nolendorf Platz on Tuesday afternoon's. It is near the Language School so it is very international. Tuesday night we go to Alexander Platz and Saturday' we usually switch it up. The salvation bracelets' ( I don't know the proper name, but you know what I mean), are a hit here. People just come right up to us wanting to know what they mean. Most people are pretty set in their way's and say they don't need God, but there are also many people searching as well. You have times when an older lady might yell at you and push you away like what happened to me or someone who is very open and searching for Christ. Either way God always bring people to us.

The team life is great in Germany. We have Pastor Gary, Kathie, Nick, Liz, Matt and Emily May,Adrian & Olessya Edler, Stephan & soon to be Mindy Stein, and of course Me. There is alot that goes on here so we have plenty for the team to be apart of. We had our first teen camp in Berlin (Camp Leben Deutchsland). We all had a blast.We had balloon wars, steel the banana, Steal the inflatable monky( In the water), Bible scavenger Hunt, Gold Rush, Capture the Flag,Over Land Over Seas, Bible Preaching, and of course NASTY Camp food. Most of the kids were not involved in church and now they all want to be apart of what we do. We have teen meeting's on Friday evening's. The first one we had we went to the Olympic Stadium and got free tickets to the World Championship Fireworks Competition. We were only going to watch from the outside, but Kathie Groenewold asked all the people leaving if we could have their tickets and we got it for free. Pray for our teens as they started the new school year. We are going to start fund raising o bring a group to go to Camp Life next year. They have never been to America so this is exciting for them. They respond beautifully to the Word of God.


We are having some big concerts here soon in October. Power Surge from Florida and a group from Finland. This is alot of planning and details that fell in our lap last minute. God is in so we are excited to see the fruit that comes from it. Emily and I are in the process of printing and assembling 400 Just Let God Love You Doctrine booklets to pass out during the concerts. These next few Saturday's we will be Blitzing to cities in East Germany where the concerts will be. The people in these cities are hard to reach the Gospel is unheard so it is a challenge. We are going to do some hard core advertising/evangelizing . I am new at this whole blog thing so I will try not to wait another month to inform you on the latest in Berlin. Thank you for all the prayers and I will keep ya posted.