Learning from others

I went to this open-air service in the inner city of Frankfurt, excited about the fact, that there are actually other churches living out what we as Salvation Army consider as part of our DNA. And it was so, so good to be there!

Watching these Christians publicly proclaiming their faith, inviting others to simply watch and test, or to join brought up again some dreams I had years ago, by now. Now I wonder what happened to them. At the War College I discovered the idea that having an open-air doens't necessarily mean to mainly focus on the people passing by - but to simply celebrate your God, right there, on the street, as a sign to the world watching. This is what they were doing. Praise God, in Germany!

Back in Canada I wondered how it would work out to simply transfer our Sunday evening service to a public venue, not only to invite others to believe, but simply to worship our God, willingly choosing to be seen by everyone. It never came to pass. To sad. Because it seems to work.

Can you imagine, a whole group of Christians, in the very shopping mile of the city kneeling on the ground to proclaim that Jesus, only Jesus is king? That's what they did. It's powerful.

I loved how they offered seats for people on little benches we know from the Biergärten. I never experienced something like that. And they invited people to give their life to Jesus. Guess, who did? William Booth would say "our people". People from the streets, drunk people. But, hallelujah, not only those. But I already learned, that this confirms that Jesus came not for those who already think that they got everything together, but for those who know their need for him.

I'm waiting for the day when I can enrich our Salvation Army open-air heritage with what I saw down here. It's a blessing for the city.

I wish there would be more of this.