Summer of Service - Berlin 2011

Were sorry for the lack of communication the past month or so! About a week and a half ago we finished up our Summer of Service outreach here in Berlin! We had about 80 participants come through our doors here and together we spent the time blitzing the city of Berlin with the gospel! There were many nationalities represented in our SOS outreach - there was a group from Sweden, a group from the south of Germany as well as individuals from Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, America and many other places! It's always a beautiful thing to see different people from different locations, cultures and backgrounds come together in unity for the same purpose! We had different teachings and times of worship for our participants back at our YWAM campus, but the rest of the time we were out in the city doing open air evangelism and ministry! We had dancing, and shared dramas, there was preaching and testimonies. We went in groups and sang worship songs on the S-Bahn trains and were able to talk with people, share about Jesus and hand out bibles. We were also able to pray and intercede over the city and over the different "spheres of influence" here in Berlin! We also took a day and split up into 4 groups and went to the north, south, east and west of Berlin - singing praises to God and declaring His love for the people of Berlin! It was amazing! We also saw change and transformation in our participants that came - some of them gave their lives to the Lord for the very first time and we also were able to see one participant get water baptized toward the end of the outreach. God is so good!

This outreach for us personally was good yet challenging in some ways. There were many things happening back at home in the states that made it difficult for us to be away from our friends and families. We also started hitting a bit of culture shock during the craziness of the outreach, so as you can imagine we were missing home just a bit! The harsh reality of the hardness of the people here in Berlin also started sinking in much more. It's one thing to read statistics about Berlin being the "Atheist capital of Europe" and another to talk to person after person who say "God is dead" or "There is no God".  Even children and pre-teens looking you dead serious in the face saying "There is no God - it's OK if your a Christian and you need that to feel better about yourself, but really there is no God" was mind bogging. The younger generation is being taught as FACT that God does not exist. We're finding our hearts breaking for the people here all the more, it's becoming more personal and our desire to see Berlin turn back to the Lord is growing in us greatly!

Please continue to pray for us and our amazing YWAM team here working in the city! It is such a blessing to serve!! We love and miss you all!!!
Mark and Kassidy

Below are some pictures from our SOS outreach!!! Enjoy!!

Blessed in Berlin

Well after years of prayer, planning and short term "scouting" trips we have finally made the big move to Berlin, Germany! It has been a crazy ride - one that has required much patience and trust in the Lord, but He is faithful! He placed the dream in us and He was faithful to bring us here in His perfect timing!!

When many people think of Europe or Germany they think "vacation" NOT missions, but Europe is in fact a continent that is very much in need of a powerful move of God! Although the roots of this continent were once Christian roots, the gospel has become very far removed from the people. As with many places throughout history, Christianity became "religion" and when "religion" becomes the focus instead of relationship with Jesus, things start to derail! What once was a love relationship with Jesus has turned into legalism - mix that with the apathy that comes from the pain and hardship of two world wars and you have a culture that has lost hope in everything but themselves.

We have joined a team working here in the city and we are very excited for all that God has in store for us in the coming weeks, months and hopefully years!! Berlin is a city that is very drawn to the arts so our team will be using that as one of many bridges to reach the people here!

The past two weeks we have been settling into the city and getting to know our team. We've been doing team building, getting some good teaching, figuring out some logistics, having some great meals together and praying through vision for the city! It feels like a new season here in Berlin - one full of HOPE and LIFE!! We have many things on the horizon, and we are very excited to see what the Lord does in the upcoming season!

Seeing some Germany Countryside outside of Berlin

Looking at Pictures in Tennessee

Our American 4th of July Feast in Berlin, Germany

Some of our team spending time together on the 4th

Transition Ahead

Well in about 5 days Mark and I will be packing up our lives here at YWAM Nashville and moving to Florence, Kentucky. We will be moving to Marks home town so that we can begin the journey of networking and putting down some roots as a couple outside of our YWAM family. Our hope is to raise up a strong support team so that we can be sent out as missionaries to work with a new pioneering team in Berlin, Germany by the end of next year.

This has been a dream of ours for a few years now and after having the privilege the past two summers to go and place our own feet on the soil and also to pray and seek confirmation from the Lord, we feel that He has finally released us into a season of preparation.

There is great excitement and anticipation when thinking about the things on the horizon but also some timid and almost anxious thoughts in looking toward the task at hand. It sometimes feels as if we are literally walking out of a boat and onto the water. Confident that the one we hear calling us is Jesus - yet having to trust that He will make a way for us to walk on the water, because all of the sudden the footing under us isn't as "sturdy" as we feel comfortable with.

The past 6 years in Nashville have been incredible. Our lives have literally been wrecked for the Lord! There has been so much change, so much life and so much passion from the Lord built into us during the past years that I know we're not walking off of this campus the same people as when we first walked on back in 2004. It truly has been a season of deep building in our foundation! We feel so blessed to have been apart of so many incredible peoples lives and to have been apart of so many different outreaches - both locally and abroad. 


And while its sad to say goodbye to friends here and to in many ways close this chapter in our lives, it is so exciting to think about the new chapter on the horizon. A blank new page is being put in front of us and we have the creator of the universe penning the story! How exciting is that!!! We are truly blessed!