Voice in the City took part in a City Taking project in Bielefeld, Germany.

This was from the 17th to 26th August 2007.

We as a team were on our “City Taking” outreach in the city of Bielefeld, Germany. Together with the local churches we were reaching out to two different suburbs proclaiming the gospel and especially bringing the love of God in practical ways.

Prayer

The entire project was truly being carried on your prayers. On the first day we were praying two by two through the streets of these suburbs. We could clearly sense the atmosphere where there was still a lot of depression and hopelessness, yet after a few days we could clearly see and feel a difference.

The first Saturday of the project we started with a children’s festival. Such events are not normal here; in this specific suburb of Baumheide it was very well received and brought great joy to the people. That day, approximately 200 heard about the love of God.

To reach the younger generation the local Christians arranged a football match called “Fair Play” where teams were challenged to play “fair and without violence” against each other. To our surprise 14 teams enrolled for the match! Everything went very well and problem free. This in itself was a tremendous testimony.

A trademark of this event are the roses we give to the people as a sign of the love of God. Often we are asked, “Why are we doing this?” which in itself gives us the opportunity to testify to the people and to tell them of the love of God. We worked systematically through the different areas of the city and reached nearly 6,500 homes with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The teams returned with the most amazing testimonies, for example: one Turkish family invited one of our teams in (they go out in pairs). They had the privilege to bring the message of Jesus Christ to that family where 4 generations were present. During these days we had the privilege to bring the gospel to many, either through testimony or Christian material we could distribute. Some prayed the prayer of salvation with us while others simply allowed us to pray for them after we had spoken.

We also had a Music Festival with different cultural music bands, and approximately 250 people attended. Not only did the people hear music in their own language & culture but also testimonies and short messages to proclaim the gospel message. This was of course an excellent opportunity for our teams to present the roses and engage in conversation with the people. Although we do not have all the cards and reports back yet, just that evening alone 20 people prayed the prayer of salvation!

It is a joy and privilege to work with the local Christian to proclaim the gospel of Jesus in their city.

Thank you for your prayers, helping us to reach the lost for Jesus Christ.