HOPE GERMANY FESTIVAL 2014
The HOPE Germany Festival 2014 (10th -13th June) can only be compared to crossing the finishing line of a marathon-race. After more than 14 years of reaching out to people, making disciples and starting churches, it was officially our last joint festival. God had spoken more than one year earlier, that there should be many festivals in 2015.
The A-Team was continuously praying and seeking God how to guide this process. We asked for pictures and impressions, for wisdom and insight, because after having received the Book of Revelation as the part of the Bible we should base the teachings upon, we didn't know exactly what to do with it. Another area that God had led us into strongly recently, was to listen and respond to God's voice in and during meetings, not just in preparation time. Then there was the question on how to communicate all the changes ahead of us without scaring anybody and without knowing exactly what would happen and how. But anyhow, we crossed the finishing line and it became the best festival we ever had.
Already on Friday night, the stage was filled with next generation leaders (some older than the A-Team guys, some French and some single) sharing their journeys and their expectation on what God is obviously trying to do through them.
On Saturday, there was strong teaching by Steffen Cornehl on how the new networks and movements can keep their quality, workshops and forums to connect people, and a lot of personal meetings to befriend each other beyond every day ministry. In the evening, Ulrike Teoh taught on worship and had a practical in the session afterwards.
Salvation and healing
Sunday morning saw two PhD holders in Mathematics on stage together with Marcus Rose, laying a foundation in explaining the numerical not-so mysteries of Revelations and how to use the book in everyday life. After lots of activities, an open-air festival with live music and our own original songs, Kajin Teoh preached about the heavenly Jerusalem and that we could experience some of it. A couple of people gave their life to Christ and some people were healed. One newcomer, the mother of a team-leader, was healed in her arm and was completely amazed by it.
Water Baptism: Life transforming stories
One of the highlights was the baptism because they reflected the diversity of the movement and God's grace in saving people from all backgrounds. In the afternoon, the first one was Max, a punk with crazy hair and a long story of hurt and still being the ring-leader of his batch of friends. Then there was Erik, whom had met his first Christian at age 21, when some of our people shared Christ with him. It took him 5 years to accept Christ, but he is a living example of a truly reborn Engineer.
Ulrike is a medical doctor who had heard the story of Jesus from early age. Only when she saw how refreshing it is to serve God the Jesus way, she got excited and started her own house church and got baptised. Franziska is only 17, has an atheist East-German background and had to ask her parents for permission to be baptised. It was a miracle when her parents allowed it, because they had burned her Bible, when she first started to read it.
There was also Roberto, a 31 year old man, who had been taking drugs for more than 15 years. After meeting one guy from one of our teams in school, he started his journey with Christ and has become free of drug addiction. To see these baptisms and knowing that there are baptisms happening every week gives so much joy and a foretaste of what is to come in the next couple of years.
Going forward together
Monday morning finally saw the whole A-Team on stage, sharing from their hearts about the challenges and mistakes of the past. It felt like "final wise words". But then, instead of going into communion, God led us into another direction. The A-Team commissioned all the people and blessed them for their next steps. Afterwards, people were praying for each other, receiving divine guidance and planning next steps together for about 60 minutes. The presence of God was very strong and it became a strong symbol of their next steps together. "Communion to go" was the consequence and a new experience too.
Apostolic team in Germany, Europe and beyond
We all are looking forward. We dream of hundreds of apostolic teams in Germany, Europe and beyond. We dream of one million new believers. But more than anything else, we dream of God's presence being revealed through the life of every single one of us and that His will be done in heaven as on earth.
