Annual Conference

“God, if you want me to share the Gospel with someone today, you are literally going to have to have them ask me,” a woman prayed, exasperated.  Several hours later an Irish woman said to her, “Will you tell me about God?”

“God, we have a rap group coming from Philly next week and we have no venues for them to perform.  Do something,” a French teammate pleaded.  Ten minutes later he walked into a café and saw a woman working on her computer in the corner.  “Excuse me,” the man asked, “I’m looking for a place for a hip-hop performance; do you know of any places?”  The woman looked up in awe.  She is highly connected in the Paris hip-hop scene and was eager to help.  Through the rappers’ performances, the woman decided to follow Jesus.

For the last 5 days we’ve been with 300+ GEMers in Willingen, Germany for our organization’s Annual Conference hearing story after story like the ones above.  It is amazing to hear how God is working in the lives of our colleagues and in their countries across the continent of Europe.  It was a great time of worship, fellowship, teaching, connecting, and sharing with one another.  God is truly moving, and we are eager to see what He will do in the coming year!

One evening we celebrated and honored those who have served with GEM for 5, 10, 15+ years.  As we rejoiced in what God has done through these couples, families, and individuals over the last 40 years I was impressed with how many of them have had a direct impact on us.  Several of the men were my co-workers in Colorado and influenced our decision to move to France; others, including the couple who has served for 40 years with GEM, are in France.  We are seeing God move across our country and the continent of Europe as a result of years and years of prayer, perseverance, and planted seeds.  Praise God!

Now we are waiting at Frankfurt International Airport for our flight to Pittsburgh.  My sister is getting married on Saturday!