Surpassed Expectations, New Shores, and Unity Despite Differences

Norbert Lieth and I travel through Germany and the Netherlands together every November.

I’d like to briefly describe the sequence of our tour. I won’t be covering every day in detail, but giving an overview of how we make this assignment work.

Preparations for our departure began several days in advance. We considered and discussed which books to bring and how many, and settled on which items to pack for the book table and our scheduled visits.

Schopfloch was our first stop after picking up materials. It’s a small town of about 2,800 residents, so you may be wondering how we even choose these places. Well, in many cases it’s dear friends of Midnight Call who invite us to their town and help us with our preparations there. That was the case for Schopfloch: We’d been invited. A hall was rented, and we were able to minister there. What made this place special (as well as Amstetten, our next stop) is that it’s quite remote. You’d naturally ask, who would even go to a little backwater town like this? But we’d once again be put to shame.

Next, we continued to Munich. Here, as on our previous stops, we visited with dear brothers and sisters, loyal friends of the ministry, before our speaking engagement.

The Free Baptist Church of Munich had invited us, and our ministry was met with open arms. It was absolutely wonderful.

We continued northward from southern Germany. In Erfurt we had another stopover, to see dear friends we’ve been in touch with since Germany was divided. These brothers and sisters opened many doors for us in the region when the Berlin Wall fell.

Then, off to a place where Midnight Call had never ministered in person before: Heilbad Heiligenstadt. This stop came about through a cancellation in our itinerary. An elder in the church here saw it mentioned in our magazine, and immediately wrote in to say they’d be happy to have us on our way north. We were glad of the invitation, and it was a great blessing to be among this small congregation. We made new contacts there, and new opportunities were opened to us—it was truly special.

Then, we really went north. We visited churches in Lübeck, Hamburg, Delmenhorst, and Wymeer (right on the border with the Netherlands). It’s always an encouragement to experience how God’s children are united in the Lord, despite all their differences. For example, we visited a Romani church in Hamburg, where things are very different from ethnic Russian churches in Germany.

Unity in the Lord is a reality that refreshes the Church, and can’t be found anywhere else. Our tour concluded in Doorn, in the Netherlands. The Dutch branch of our ministry is located there, and we meet with our friends there each November.

Looking back on it now, Norbert and I can only marvel at the Lord’s blessings and protection, and how He gave us strength. There were nine gatherings, as well as many visits, conversations, and encounters. But it went well for us. We were in good spirits, and the privilege of being able to make this journey also strengthened us.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to all the dear people who support us in these travels through prayer.