Western Europe
by Peter Schild and Nathanael Armisen
Peter Schild and Nathanael Armisen are working to plant biblical churches in Germany. Throughout the week, they are teaching, preaching, and evangelizing in the streets of Wetzlar and Frankfurt.
We would like to begin this report with a very powerful and challenging quote by Charles Spurgeon of the Metropolitan Tabernacle. He said:
“Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that... If a man has come to have a love for perishing sinners and his blessed Master, then the saving of souls will be an all-absorbing passion to him. It will so carry him away that he will almost forget himself in the saving of others. He will be like the brave fireman, who cares not for the scorch or the heat, so that he may rescue the poor creature on whom true humanity has set its heart. If sinners will be damned, at least let them leap to hell over our bodies. And if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees, imploring them to stay. If hell must be filled, at least let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go there unwarned and unprayed for.”
Next to our weekly preaching and teaching ministry in the church, we consider it a tremendous privilege and pleasure to share the Gospel with hundreds of people on the streets of Germany and from door to door. We preach Christ to all kinds of people in all kinds of situations. Every week we hand out a great number of Gospel tracts, Bibles, and booklets. We face a lot of rejection, but the more we proclaim the Gospel, the more joy we receive. Every week we encounter people who are open to learn more about the Gospel and show interest in visiting our services. For example, we recently had the opportunity to visit the home of two Syrian asylum-seeking men three times in a row to speak to them about the Gospel and to study the Bible together for several hours.
Our church in Wetzlar (Reformed Baptist Church) has now officially sent us out as missionaries to begin a church-planting work in the city of Frankfurt. As soon as we have a place to meet in a flat, we will begin to evangelize in Frankfurt and to offer a weekly Bible study and fellowship time.
Please pray for the moving process – that we will be able to find the right place to live and make all the proper arrangements. Also pray for Nathanael and his wife Dominique, as they are expecting their first child in August. Finally, please pray for all of us as we strive to make Christ known in Wetzlar and Frankfurt. We need the Lord to grant us a greater and greater burden for the lost. We desire that sinners be saved for God’s glory, that they turn from their sin to worship the one true God.
At the end of March, our church will host a conference with the title “Evangelism with Heart.” Pastor and author Jeremy Walker from the U.K. will be the speaker. We expect visitors from across the country and beyond. As a church, we long to see more biblical evangelism and church planting in our country, and we hope and pray that this conference will be a wake-up call for many Christians to join the Great Commission more earnestly. Please pray for the preparation, the speaker, and everyone who will be attending.
Finally, thank you so much for every single prayer that you offer to the Lord on our behalf! We are truly blessed through your intercession.