CHURCH PLANTING IN RUHRPOTT, GERMANY
Kajin and Uli got married in 2007 and soon after moved to Ruhrpott, a cosmopolitan area located in north-western Germany, to pioneer a church in 2007. Kajin was originally from Hope Stuttgart/ Hope Johor Bahru and Uli was from Hope Berlin. Kajin shared his church planting experience in Ruhrpott, Germany.
How did you receive the vision to plant a church in Ruhrpott?
In 2005 around fall, on the way back to Stuttgart from a Hope Germany Pastors meeting, I felt God spoke to my heart that I should start thinking and planning for the next step of my ministry. Logically, and strategically, north-western Germany is still pretty unreached, so after talking to my mentor, we decided to pray about moving to that region. During the prayer process, there was a stronger and stronger conviction that it was the right direction. A couple from Hope Stuttgart vowed to support us in our mission work wherever we would move to, and after mentioning that we wanted to move to the northwest, they got a job there! It was a confirmation so to speak.
The entry vehicle into that area for me was also not complicated. I was sent there via a company transfer. And so the vision grew more and more convincing and stronger as the time passed. God had spoken to Uli about moving westward even before we got married. After putting all these pieces together, there was no denying God's calling to move to northwest Germany.
What nationalities are in your church currently?
Currently we have Germans, Malaysians, Chinese and Albanians attending our fellowship.
What are the challenges of reaching out to a post-Christian society?
One has to be skilled in apologetics to reach out to a post-Christian society in Germany. Church events are no longer attractive to people – the emphasis must be on personal lifestyle. Thus, we are challenging everyone who wants to reach out, to live a transparent life. The process of someone coming to faith is usually a long process; it takes a lot of patience and endurance in follow-up.
We also have to deal with past hostilities about the church history in Germany. Breaking down prejudices and misunderstandings can be very frustrating at times; you need to have a lot of love for the people.
How does the church reach out to the community?
We do a lot of casual parties to create opportunities to meet new people. Among these
parties include housewarmings, birthday parties, Christmas events, New Year's Eve festivities. Sometimes, there are also smaller gatherings like BBQs, playing board games in the evening. We also hold care groups to reach out to people. We often attend parties organised by student organisations or public events just to get to know people. Basically we use events as a platform to follow-up on people until we reach a level of relationship where people are willing to meet one-on-one to talk about spiritual matters or reading the Bible together.
