Conference in Germany

This past week, our team had the opportunity to attend a church-planting conference in Germany. We had a such a wonderful time! We rented a 9 person van and drove about 8 hours down through the black forest to the south of Deutschland. John and Eric were champion drivers on the crazy autobahn - the highway in Germany that has no speed limit. Even though we were zooming along, cars would just fly right past us. It was shocking.

We were also surprised to find that what we thought was a conference center (where the conference took place) was actually a huge church! This church - called G5 - was such an inspiration to us. It was not only a church, but a restaurant, a cafe and also a hotel. The restaurant was packed out every night - mostly with people outside the church. We couldn't even eat there because every night, all the tables were reserved! During the day, though, we got to eat at the cafe. The coffee was a work of art...it was simply amazing. One afternoon I met two young German moms who were not from the church, but said that this was the only place they could bring their kids to get a coffee. They had always been curious about the auditorium (in another part of the building, where the church meets on Sundays), so I snuck them into the conference! Before we parted, they shared with me that they were going to visit the church! I was so encouraged to see outreach in action...it was amazing to see that even here in Europe there are churches like VCC that love the cities they are a part of.

The conference itself was a great blessing. It was put on by the Mosaic church in LA pastored by Erwin McManus. Erwin's talks were a confirmation of what God has already been speaking to us, and it was so encouraging to realize that God really is leading us here in Amsterdam. We also got to meet so many church planters from all around Europe. It felt great seeing how many people are out there trying to reach people for Christ. We exchanged ideas, encourgements and prayers. From all the teachings and converations throughout the conference, we felt God really giving us vision for what to do next and also dream about what could be in the future.

Grayson was a champ - we truly felt the grace of God on him. He seemed to enjoy the conference as much as we did; he's our little church-planter! On top of it all, it was so sweet to spend time with our team. We had so much time to talk, reflect, learn and worship together. The conference was near the border of Switzerland, so we went to Basel for a few hours on Saturday morning and just enjoyed the city. We are so grateful to get to do missions with such an incredible group of people that we love and respect. Be praying for us as we share vison with the rest of our team here. Pray that God would catch all of us up in a vision to see His Kingdom come in Amsterdam!