God Moves a Church

“Why are we even looking at this?” "Are we crazy?” “Why would we ever go here?” “This is so far away from where we’ve been working.” These were some of the thoughts and questions that were running through the heads of the members of the Berlin MB Church as they looked at the building that would become their church home.

The decision to purchase a building for their church had been made after Andrew & Olga Pritzkau, church planters in Germany, learned that they would be losing the church building that they were renting in Berlin. Their whole church was amazed when God provided the funds for a new building through generous donations from people and churches in Canada and Germany.

When God opened up the doors for them to purchase a building for their church in a new neighborhood, it didn’t seem to make sense because it was so far from where they were located at the time. The church body was uncertain about this building, but decided to take time to pray and fast because they wanted to be sure of God’s leading.

After a few weeks, God began to speak to the members of this church and to reveal that this was the neighborhood where He wanted them to make a home for their church. God spoke to Andrew through a dream that he had one night. Andrew described, “I saw water flowing out of the building into the neighborhood, and I saw a big light shining out of the roof of the building into the sky.”

The church members saw God at work again when Andrew & Olga received a phone call from the government about the price of the building. They had expected that the building would cost €700,000, but were told that it would only be €160,000!

Although they had been confused at first about why God would want them to move to this neighborhood, the church was now certain that God was leading them in this direction. The church body decided to purchase the building, and the work of fixing it up began.

As this church building has been transformed through the rebuilding and renovating process, people’s lives are also being transformed. The lives of people in the community are being impacted as they see the progress that has been made on restoring this church building. Some neighbors are even involved in the renovations that are taking place.

The members of the church also have a new excitement and passion as they see God’s provision in this situation. They are looking forward to ministry opportunities that have opened up because of the church building’s location. God showed one church member that his skills in training people to use computers could be used as a ministry in the community.

This church body desires to enter this neighborhood where there are almost no churches as ambassadors of Christ, and to bring their neighbors the love of Jesus.

“They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” - Isaiah 61:4

Watch a video about this church, the Evangelische Freikirche Berlin, to learn more about what God is doing in Germany!