2006 Germany Mission (中文版在右方Archives 2007/01)

By Kaichao Chang

With blessings and prayers from brothers and sisters, crystal angel made by other teammates on our backpack, six of us (Doris, Fui Chin, Grace, Ting, Michael, and Kaichao) left Atlanta on 12/23/06 (Sat) afternoon. Our hearts filled with anticipation also with a little bit sadness, this was Christmas after all, hoped that we could be with our families. But God has already entrusted us with this mission, as well as He prepared all sorts of blessing in us during our training, we prayed ﹕Lord! Please use us and may thy will be done!

Entered Germany in Munich, we must go through another security check to catch our final flight to Dresden. The line Michael and I stood before was stuck due to a family with a lot of “Jell” stuff in their carry-on. So 4 other team members took the flight in time, Michael and I will need to wait for another 4 hours. When we finally arrived at Dresden airport baggage claim area, surprisingly to see Doris, Grace, and Ting were there still. Only Fui Chin’s luggage with scheduled flight, so brother Huang who was waiting for us accompanied her to Mr. & Mrs. Fine’s house first. After we all got our luggage, brother Huang came back for us again.

This was Christmas Eve, brothers and sisters from Dresden Fellowship divided into 3 groups to do caroling. They went to those dormitories that tenanted a lot of Chinese students. At night they had a potluck dinner at Mr. & Mrs. Fine’s house. Even some seekers friends they just met came to this gathering. In a 650 S.F. house we had nearly 40 people! Ting lead us with guitar to sing some Christmas carols and other hymns, everyone had a joyful time! Our team members made a brief introduction of ourselves as well, sharing our purpose, and our personal testimonies. Michael shared about the miss-the-flight incident: miss a flight, we can wait for next one; miss our lives; we have no next-flight.

At sleep time, Michael and I occupied the living room. I assumed he will snore at some point, so I put my ear plug in. The result was I was the latest who got up since I could not hear my alarm watch! This day was Christmas Day. It’s a rainy day, not very cold. We went eastbound to Cottbus. Our meeting is at 2PM. Mr. Fine and 2 brothers accompanied us to train station and reminded us Cottbus was the last stop. This town has about 300 Chinese students. Our Team Guide sister Li who will be with us next few days was the leader of Cottbus Fellowship. Sister Angela and Jade from Jacksonville were there as well to help this evangelistic event. Our meeting places were 2 big classrooms in university, one for formal event, one for refreshments. When we started to set up our sound system, a bad power strip not only burned our keyboard but also short-circuited all the power outlets of these two classrooms. We could not reach school electrician since this was Christmas. Thank God, sister Li had a keyboard which was belonged to an African brother. Originally he wanted to bring the keyboard back to his hometown before Christmas. For some reason he did not come to pick up the keyboard. So here it was, we had our keyboard – the Lord provided everything we need according to His will. Finally we used the outlet in corridor, with several extension cords, had the power for our equipments. To accommodate the location of this outlet, we needed to switch furniture in these two classrooms. Seeing brothers and sisters moving the furniture swiftly without any complaint, I was very touched. There were 30 plus people in this meeting, one converted. We took another two and a half hours at after-the-meeting small group sharing. There were two questions offered for discussion: “Is there really a God?” and “What is love?” My group was all men, 5 of them were seekers. They were very interested in whether there is a God. That night we stayed at sister Li’s house. Sister Jade prepared a great meal for us. To let us have more space, sister Li arranged Angela, Jade, and herself, originally all stayed at her house, to live with other students that night. Her love for us warmed our heats and touched me deeply. Sister Li to this Fellowship actually was her little pastor, doing caring, teaching, and shepherding. God gave her multi-facet spiritual gifts and unusual spiritual experience.

12/26/06 (Tue), this was a foggy day. For today was still part of Christmas holiday, there was no bus in the morning. So we carried our luggage and equipments and walked about 20 minutes to train station. When finally arrived, we could barely catch our breath. We were spoiled in American life style; today’s walk was the pre-taste of next few days’ journey. Today we were southward to Zittau. One year ago there was only one believer here (Sister Zhan); today, there were 11, all sisters. This town had less than 100 Chinese Student, they all lived close to each other and they had a close bounding as well. Sister Angela and Jade’s pastor Rev & Mrs. Wang had already been here for few days to do discipleship training. The meeting place was at a German church whose pastor is very supportive of Chinese student mission. He mentioned their church had been blessed after they involved in this mission. There were about 40 people in this meeting, 3 gave their lives to Christ. Zittau Fellowship also presented two hymns in the meeting; their sincere and loving voices moved me to tears. They gathered every Sunday afternoon for Bible study. Please pray that they could have men Christian; if there were no brothers in the Fellowship, it’s harder to invite any male seekers to the group. At sharing time I talked to a girl seeker who had favorable impression about Christian faith. But she said her mother warned her become a Christian was against the whole family. I encouraged her that if God is real, He certainly deserves you to bring every hardship before Him and He will guide you through. After the meeting sister Li lead us to catch a late train back to Dresden. Men team members lived in brother Wang’s house; ladies team members lived in sister Wang’s. Only for few days, I could sense the close fellowship between brothers and sisters in various fellowship groups in eastern Germany.

12/27/06 (Wed), since we left Cottbus in a hurry yesterday, Ting forgot to bring his song book. Sister Li went back to retrieve it for him. I thanked her sincerely since one way train will take 2 hours. This day was the “easiest” one in our trip; we had 3 hours to stroll around historic sites of Dresden. Sister Wang will be our tour guide. Since being here, we noticed if we didn’t have a local guide, we even could not buy train or street car tickets. For Germany has a very complicated ticket system for public transportation. For instance, our street car today had one ticket for 4 person-4 stop, and another for one-hour unlimited ride. So you can understand why tourists will easily overpay for tickets – they cannot figure it out. But German precision about schedule also impressed me in our trip. During 8 days of train ride, we only had one train that was late for 3 minutes. Dresden was the only German city that was bombed after Germany surrendered. All significant historic building had been destroyed. But German with their perseverance and determination rebuilt the buildings by original design. If they could find a usable stone in the ruin, they would analysis its original location and put it back accordingly. At lunch we were in old market’s new shopping center and had some authentic German pork chop, ham, and hotdog.

Dresden had about 1,000 Chinese students, they scattered around town. The meeting at night was at a German church where Dresden Fellowship routinely meets. There were about 40 people and 3 professed their faith in Christ. This night by their request we compressed our program a little bit to reserve more time for after-the-meeting sharing. This adjustment brought additional pressure to our team and we had different opinions on which portion to cut. God helped us through and we learned the lessons of supporting each other and entrusting His guidance. Tonight Doris’ message was the best in the trip, full of His intimate presence. After the meeting I talked a brother who professed faith tonight. He will be back to China very soon; he hoped one day our team can go to university campuses in China to share the good news. I also talked to another seeker Mr. Liu who was eager to learn more about Christian faith. He will be back to China as well. I encouraged him to find a spiritual home in his hometown.

12/28/06 (Thu), in the morning 8 brothers and sisters from Dresden Fellowship met us at train station. Today we will go to Koethen which is three and a half hours train ride north of Dresden. This town had about 600 Chinese students. Brother Lu had been here for a month to visit students, invite them for dinners, and care for their needs – all by himself. Leader of Freiberg Fellowship sister Jin – the coordinator of our whole trip - was also here these few days to prepare for this event. Seeing brother Lu doing all these, I was very touched. There was no reason other than God’s love can move a 70-year-old brother who had a comfortable life in U.S. to here to care for these students who had no relationship to him. After lunch on the way to our meeting place, heavy snow was falling. This was the first time we saw snow since we’ve been in Germany. But none of us had interest to enjoy the scene, for this town was the first one we visited without any Christian fellowship, the sense of spiritual warfare occupied our hearts. There were 30 plus people attending the meeting, 3 became God’s children that afternoon. Refreshment time was very heart-warming; I shared my testimonies with 6 seekers. There were a male and a female student asked me questions about Christian marriage. I was very surprised. Later on I found out brother Lu already shared with them Christian perspective about marriage and warned them living together without marriage commitment was against God’s will. I shared with them what I learned in marriage about commitment and sacrifice.

Worthy to mention was the cleaning job of this meeting was done by all those seeker students. They said:”It’s our turn now!” So you can see what brother Lu had done for them. When we left, the heavy snow turned to heavy rain, so we must go quickly. When we arriving our next town of Chemnitz, it’s already 8PM. Brother Cheng was waiting for us. At this time there was 5 inches snow on ground. The usual 15 minutes walk became more than 40 minutes for we carried heavy luggage with wheels. If you have ever seen our team’s CD cover, that’s exactly fit that picture except in reality we had much heavier luggage. Ting and I would live in Chemnitz Fellowship meeting place which was a large community room in dormitory. We were the lucky ones since other team members needed to walk another 20 to 30 minutes to their living places.

12/29/06 (Fri), this day we would present in two towns – Freiberg and Chemnitz. Freiberg is 40-minute train ride eastward of Chemnitz; it had about 100 Chinese students. Freiberg Fellowship also meets at a German church. Rev & Mrs. Wang came here to help us today as well. This morning we found a very disturbing distraction – all the invitation cards for our trip, except Freiberg and Leipzig, had added introduction about us which was not true and we only found this today. Now was not the time to find out why this happened, but how we should do about this for there were Chemnitz and Ilmenau still had this wrong information. For our team to explain this, this was not our fault. For hosting fellowship to explain this, they might not know where this came from as well. Totally ignore this, we felt dishonest about it. We were really in a tough spot. I seek spiritual guidance from Rev Wang. His suggestion was we should ask Holy Spirit to shelter this; don’t let this mistake hinder every seeking heart before God. It’s not appropriate for us to explain this in the meeting for participants may not care about this. The most important thing is can all the seekers receive God’s message to them without any interference. If after the meeting someone asks about this then we should explain to him or her honestly. I transferred Rev Wang’s suggestion to Doris since she will deliver the message and the wrong information was mostly related to her. Our whole team prayed for Holy Spirit’s guidance. We asked God gave us peace in all this.

Freiberg Fellowship prepared a very delicate lunch for us with beautiful setting, just like in a high class restaurant. Their love and respect to us warmed our hearts. Sister Jin is a gifted God-loving person with spiritual authority. I believe God will use her in a wonderful way. There were 20 plus people for the meeting, 2 became God’s children that day. I had chance to talk to a seeker Mr. Lu. He was very close to salvation, may the Lord give him the final push.

At 7PM the meeting at Chemnitz Fellowship was located in a German Lutheran church. They were very supportive of Chinese student mission. They provided the best meeting place setting and sound system for us, even with sound control staff who can speak English. God protect Doris’ heart, she would not be bothered by the “wronged” information anymore. She delivered a spirited message with His help. Our singing was much better as well, with God’s blessing in our voices. There were close to 60 people there, 1 converted. At refreshment time I shared with a seeker Mr. Tan to true meaning of by faith to be called a righteous. Also talked to another seeker Mr. Jin about absolute truth, I encouraged him to seek faith that can change life inward and outward.

12/30/06 (Sat), today we were going to Ilmenau which is located northwest of Chemnitz. There was no fellowship group there. The town has at least 400 Chinese students mainly are language students. For now there is no one doing any pre-evangelistic work here. A Christian brother Liu who is working there volunteered to send out invitation cards to student dormitories. But he himself did not have many one-on-one contacts with them. Five brothers and sisters from Chemnitz Fellowship came with us for the trip. They would be in charge of meeting leading and refreshments. Mr. Fine and sister Wang from Dresden, Rev Hung and two coworkers from Leipzig, were also here with us. Beyond spiritual warfare of evangelistic meeting, today’s meeting also had spiritual struggle from another front. So at previous night, even the night was late, I decided to call a team meeting to explain this, so we could prepare our hearts and know how to pray for it. The situation was that during past few years, different group’s coworkers had different perspectives on mission work. We prayed in Ilmenau's meeting, God will be our focus and all those happened before will not be a hindrance to seekers. Doris told me during the meeting that she did not feel comfortable sharing the message under this circumstance. In the morning during my prayer, even though I did not know what I should share for the message, but I felt God gave me inner peace, I was not worried about it at all. On the way to train station I told Doris I can share the message not because I want to be a hero, not because a good leader should do this. But all because God gave me peace and He wanted to teach me a lesson of total submission and trust Him fully. Actually before this trip, around October, even though I knew I did not have to share message, I did try to prepare a message for this trip. But every time I started to write, there was no thought provoking point in my mind, so I just quit. Now I knew He wanted to teach me to totally depend on Him. Our whole team prayed for me. I finished my message during the train ride to Ilmenau.

Today’s was the coldest day since we had been here. There was no rain, no snow, just shear freezing wind. The scheduled meeting time 2PM was up, no one showed up. Chemnitz Fellowship coworkers made a prompt decision to invite students now. Against bone chilling wind, they brought whole bunch of magazines and other spiritual reading materials to hit the road. For quite a while, few students came. We chatted with them to know them more. At 3:30PM, our must-start delayed meeting time, we started our program. There were less than 10 students. God protected our hearts, did not feel discouraged. Even our voices had been worn out for singing and talking, by God’s grace this did not affect our presentation at all. There were two converted at that meeting. God also blessed us that nothing troubled seekers’ hearts had happened. After the meeting I talked to new believer sister Wang, I encouraged her to start reading the bible and praying the Him.

Chemnitz Fellowship coworkers needed to catch their train so they left early. But their passion for the Lord encouraged our hearts. Our team will follow Rev Hung to Leipzig, Mr. Fine and sister Wang also took the same train to Leipzig for their transition train to Dresden. Our Team Guide sister Li will be with them and to her home Cottbus as well. So this was the last time we could see her. These few days, she wore her hands by dragging our luggage, made sandwiches for us at train, reminded us to eat more fruit, her shouting “this stop off the train” was better than any alarm clock, during the program gave us signals to raise or lower voices, and massaged our shoulders. All these memorable moments came to a halt at this farewell moment. I did not want her leave but did not know what to do. Finally I said: We still don’t have your recording on “this stop off the train”! If there were only she and our team presence, I will cry like a baby.

12/31/06 (Sun), previous night we lived in dormitory of a German church which Leipzig Fellowship shared the space. The dormitory is in the church so it’s very convenient for us. These few days’ walking to me is three months’ portion in Atlanta. The meeting was 3PM. Today Fui Chin’s coughing finally took over her voice, she was tired, emotionally she simply wanted to go home, but she stayed with us till the last program by her will. Before the meeting I told her:”Fui Chin, there is no one we can spare in our team” Indeed, her determination and courage proved this point! There were 50 plus people attending the meeting, 3 converted today. We all experienced God was doing healing work in the meeting; several brothers and sisters bowed their heads and wept. God comforted them with His joy. I talked to Mr. Han after the meeting, sharing how God changed my inconsistency problem and how powerful His word is. I observed during the conversation, his attitude changed dramatically, this was the work of our living God!

It’s already 10PM when we took train back to Dresden. Sister Li’s cards to us were waiting for us at coffee table; also she cooked a creamy grains and beans pot for us. What a thoughtful sister! Joyfully sharing what we had learned with Mr. & Mrs. Fine, I suddenly noticed our trip had come to an end. Physically we were exhausted and wanted to go home. But our hearts were still with these lovely brothers and sisters. I wrote below prayer at the flight back to Atlanta, I shared with you the latter half to conclude my sharing:
(There are some personal notes before below text, sorry I cannot share)

God’s Kingdom needs this kind of people
But how many are prepared?
How many are willing to pay the price?
And how many are willing to go?
Lord! I don’t know what I could do for them
But I’m willing, please lead me
Not temporary zeal
Not want to be a hero
Is your own calling:”You feed my lambs”
Not a 100-meter dash
Not the sincere faces I saw
Is your love, Lord! For you love them so much
So we should go
We are only a small link of your Kingdom plan
But for this link we cannot thank you enough
We already tasted the joy of walking with you
And your endless grace
Let me put my life into your hands
With total submission
Not by my own wisdom
Not by my own experience
Not by my own knowledge
Not by my own passion
But follow the Spirit
Put out my one hundred percent
And see how you accomplish your one hundred percent!


Our service assignment:
Doris: Program Design, Pianist, Message
Fui Chin: Treasurer, Powerpoint Operation, Testimony
Grace: Administration, Testimony
Ting: Guitarist, Program Leader
Michael: Sound Control, Camera, Video
Kaichao: Team Leader, Team Journal