Guest Post by Sarah Brubaker

I hate writing.  If you ask me to put my thoughts about my time in Germany into a painting or a piece of pottery I can easily do that, but to try to put everything onto a piece of paper feels near to impossible. There are many stories, challenges and joys that I could write about and I almost always choose to focus on the story of an individual but I think this time the thing that sticks out more than anything else is the power of prayer and God’s ability to give clear and precise answers.

Getting ready for this trip I watched a sermon, where John Piper said that for some reason God has ordained for prayer to cause things to happen that would not otherwise happen.  One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is of Elijah and the prophets of Baal.  Elijah comes up against over 800 prophets of Baal. He calls together all of Israel and says you know what, you choose.  I’ll go up against this group of 850 prophets and which ever God shows up and rains down fire on the altar that is the real God and we will follow Him.  So the hundreds of prophets cry out and even cut themselves and nothing happens.  And then Elijah making sure that everyone knows it is God, pours buckets and buckets of water onto his altar, says one quick prayer and God rains down fire that consumes all of the altar, the sacrifice and dries up all the water.  God doesn’t need us. Our God cannot be compared to any other god. God doesn’t need us to prove He is whom He says He is, we just proclaim His name and let Him show up in mighty ways.

The God of this Old Testament story is the same God we serve. We started out the week with prayer and with a time to listen to God and ask Him to guide us in whatever way He desires.  Over and over God showed up.  Each day just the right person with just the right language ability would be at just the right place.  Our group was filled with stories of God giving us the name of a person and then finding that person, of individuals being exactly where God told us to find them, praying to meet women and then minutes later refugee women showing up.

There was one day I felt God encouraging me to speak to a woman sitting near our group and as I begin talking to her she told me right before I came up to her she was praying that good things would come to her; another day we couldn’t find refugees to talk to and so we sat a bit a way from the area we were supposed to be in and began to pray, for the rest of our afternoon every time we finished speaking to a group of refugees another one would show up. This kind of thing happened so many times I can’t possibly list them all.

If I had to sum up my whole trip into one theme or one challenge it would be that I need to pray more and I need to listen more.  Let’s set the stage for God to show up in undeniable ways and point thousands to Himself.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.” Psalm 20:7-8

Note: for nearly 20 years, one woman named Carla has cut my hair. Needless to say, this next story is an adventure.

Last month, I need a haircut so I asked some friends here where to go. They suggested a place and all went well. They did tell me that most of the barbers are Turkish and they can be stylish and somewhat excessive in their hair care. I did not experience this issue last month.

Today is a new day.

As I walk out the door to go back to the same place to get a haircut, Angela simply says, “I hope you enjoy your haircut.” I respond, “That is odd to say. Why would I enjoy a haircut? I just hope all goes well.” This, my friends, is called foreshadowing. My wife might be a prophetess.

I walk into the empty place to be greeted by a woman. She tells me that her colleague will be with me shortly and to have a seat. She proceeds to speak in Turkish to her colleague who is in another room.  There is no one in this place so I wait. I wait about 5 minutes before I see the man who is coming to cut my hair appear. He dusts his hands off from apparently eating and then wipes his mouth with his hand. I think, “I hope that he washes his hands before cutting my hair.” This would be the least of my worries but definitely the first warning.

He motions for me to sit down. I ask his name which he reluctantly gives me in his broken English. I tell him that I want him to use the 12 guard on the clippers. He says maybe the 9 guard is better. Second warning that things might not go well.

All is going well with the first set of clippers. He then proceeds to grab a different, smaller pair of clippers for more detail work. No worries. Just trimming up around the ears and back of the neck.

At this point, he grabs a third pair of clippers. Not sure why. Before he can actually use them, his phone rings. He just pauses. Takes the phone out of his pocket and talks to whomever. Says his sorry and back to work with the third pair of clippers on the back of my neck. Seems excessive but no harm so far.

Oh, boys and girls, now the fun begins just when you thought it was over.

I seem him pick up a foot long thin metal rod with what appears to be a white Q-tip like ending. The white is somewhat black in areas. My first thought, “he is going to try to clean my ears with this nasty thing.”

But he pours a clear liquid on the end. I think, “Oh, it is alcohol or cologne that he is going to rub on my neck.” Not my preference but maybe I will smell like flowery goodness.

He moves back so that I cannot see him without having to strain my neck. He is doing something behind me but I cannot tell exactly. I then notice that he place a lighter on the table next to me.

What is happening?!?!

He just lit this thin medal rod with a quasi-white Q-tip ending. I have a flame, yes a flame, next to my face!

In my fear and utter shock, I let this man place this flame by my face. Once again, it is a flame next to my right ear. He burns off some hair apparently. He then puts the flame across my face to burn hair off my left ear.

It is not flowery goodness that I smell but burnt hair. My burnt hair.

What just happened?!?! How did this happen?

He blows out the flame. I still cannot believe that I am typing the word: flame.

We are still not finished.

He grabs scissors now. What does he use scissors for? To trim my apparently bushy eyebrows. This dude is trimming my eyebrows.

I am now ready to go. I tell him thanks in that universal tone that says, “Enough is enough.”

Before letting me out of the chair, he reaches for clippers #2 that he used for detail work. He looks at my mustache. So I naturally think that he is going to trim my mustache even though I already asked him not to do it.

Not the mustache. Nope. He shoves clippers #2 in my nose! In. My. Nose.

The same clippers he used to trim around my ears and the back of my neck. Immediately, I think, “Gross!” My thoughts move to, “Wait. If he uses these clippers on my neck AND in my nose, he probably does this for other people. I now have someone’s boogers on my neck and someone is now going to have my boogers on their neck. Gross!”

We have officially moved beyond “stylish and somewhat excessive in hair care.”

Lesson learned from A Turkish Haircut: flexibility.

*For a video example of Traditional Turkish Singeing, click here.*

How does it come about that 14 people from 10 different countries from 3 different German cities get together for 2 ½ days? The short answer: God’s grace. The longer version is as follows.

It starts with a desire to offer trauma (pain, loss, suffering) healing sessions. A desire to equip those living in Germany with tools to better assist others (especially immigrants and refugees) dealing with trauma. (Side note: we all have trauma in our lives. We all have experienced pain, loss, and suffering on one level or another.)

On Thursday, June 23rd we had no location. We had no co-facilitator coming. Angela and I prayed that night. We had to make a decision by Friday the 24th due to our schedule.

Friday comes. God responses.

Friends from 17 years ago were in town just for a week. Over lunch we discuss the need and value of trauma healing. Afterwards, the husband connects me with a woman interested in the training. She has five people interested.
So I merely ask her via email at 7:35AM on Friday the 24th if she has space to host the sessions.

I wait. Not so patiently but I wait.

She responds back in 8 minutes with a yes. The location is confirmed by 8:25 a.m.

Saturday the 25th we confirm the travel for a co-facilitator coming from the States named Robin. An enormous thank-you to her for literally hearing and deciding to travel to Germany within a 48-hour timeframe.

Now all we need are people to actually register within two weeks for 2 ½ day equipping sessions starting July 11th. These equipping sessions will be the first of its kind to be offered in Germany.

First person to sign up is the woman offering the space for the sessions. She is Canadian living in Frankfurt for several years. She invites three friends that live in the city. One is a pastor from Holland who has lived here for one year. Another two are women from the US. One of the women invites a young Afghan man. He is a refugee who has recently come to know the Lord.

We have 5 registered. Combined they speak 5 languages and represent 4 countries.

Another woman from Berlin registers. She is German. I met her last month on my travels. She expressed interested then and followed through once we had details.

A man that I work along side signs up. A Pakistani man who fled to Germany.

We now have 7 registered from 6 countries.

From June 26th to July 3rd, Angela and I were out of the country so it seemed difficult if not merely impossible to advocate and recruit others to attend the sessions.

But God . . .

While out of the country, we attended a leadership and professional development conference. At this conference we are able to connect with old friends and meet lots of new friends. One day Angela was dropping off our son at childcare and the elevators were taking too long for me. In my impatience and frustration, I told her that I am taking the stairs and walking the four flights.

As I am walking the stairwell, I overhear a man talking to a woman about Germany and refugees. I stop. Look at the man and say, “I do not know you but I heard you say that you live in Germany and work with refugees. So do I. We need to talk.”

Long story short, he and his wife are from the US and moved to Germany within the past year. They register for the training even though they live 3 ½ hours from Frankfurt and have family visiting during the same time. Not only do they attend, they bring along a summer intern who is only around for 6 weeks.

Thanks Jesus for using my impatience and frustration to connect me to others.

We have 10 and counting.

Also at this conference, I run into a man that we met last year while discussing the refugee highway. He tells me that one of our mutual friends now lives in Frankfurt. This friend is someone that I have worked with and known for 14 years. We worked along side each other in Central Asia. He is the one that told us last year that now is the time and Europe is the place. I had no idea that he was in Frankfurt currently.

After returning from the conference, on July 5th , I connect with my friend and his wife. They have lived in Frankfurt about 2 months now. I tell him about the training. He rearranges his schedule so that he can attend the sessions that start in 6 days!!

11 with 3 more to go.

Word starts to get out at this conference that some of us are offering trauma healing sessions to different people in various places. A couple working in the Horn of Africa for nearly 20 years asked to have lunch with us. During this time, they say that we must meet a pastor that lives in Frankfurt. Sounds simple enough.

However, the man wants to introduce me to this pastor in person. So he makes plans to fly to Frankfurt to introduce us over lunch then fly back to another European country in the same day. He stresses the need to make face-to-face introductions within this culture.

So on July 6th I meet this man and the pastor at a restaurant. We eat and talk about life, family, and other matters. At the end of the conversation, the pastor tells me to send him the information because he will be attending the sessions.

Now the final two.

On July 3rd God brings to my mind a Syrian woman that I met back in November at a conference in Florida. I email her and simply asked her, “Do you know people in Frankfurt or other parts of Germany? Love to talk with them.” She responses within hours and introduces me to a Syrian pastor living within 2 hours of me.

From July 5th – 8th this pastor and I talk a couple of times. He decides to send two men from Berlin to the sessions that start in 3 days!! One is from Syrian and one from Palestine. Both have been in Germany less than a year.

14 people, 10 countries, 13 languages, 3 cities.

The Frankfurt 14.

May Jesus use them to help others heal from pain, loss, and suffering.

This map shows the estimated net immigration (inflows minus outflows) by origin and destination country between 2010 and 2015.

Here’s an animated immigration map of Everyone Who’s Immigrated to the U.S. Since 1820.

Migration Flow into Europe.

President announces Call to Action for US Private Sector to stand with refugees.

Supporting refugees in the United States and Abroad by the White House.

Upcoming Events

August 1-4
Cross and Crescent Conference – A Gospel Response to the Challenge of Islam, Louisville, KY.

August 5
Concert by Finding Favour at Bartlett United Methodist, love offering for World Relief Memphis will be taken up.

August 26-27
Reaching the Nations in North America Summit, Brentwood, TN.

September 12-16
Initial and Advanced Trauma Equipping Sessions, Charlotte, NC.

September 13-16
Initial and Advanced Trauma Equipping Sessions, Philadelphia, PA.

 

 

Please pray for Faruz, an outgoing and bright 17-year-old girl from Afghanistan. She has lived in Iran the last 12 years. She became a follower of Jesus a couple of weeks ago but we haven’t been able to connect for a follow-up because of her schedule. She shares a phone with her two teenage brothers so sometimes she doesn’t get messages. We finally have an appointment to meet her this Wednesday at 10 a.m. at a mall near her housing facility. Pray that Faruz shows up and that her commitment to Jesus will be solidified. She told us she has 30 friends in Iran that she keeps up with almost daily on WhatsApp and they need to know the truth of Jesus. Pray she’ll be bold and share this good news with them.

Bashir of Pakistan: He is a dutiful, German-born son of Pakistani immigrants who came here 30 years ago. He has a good job with a large American company here in Frankfurt. He questioned many things about Islam, taking his questions to his father who, unable to answer the hard questions, told him to stop asking questions and just follow it. His UK education and lifestyle doesn’t allow him to just accept things without questioning, but he no longer asks his father. He asked many questions about Jesus and what we believe, and is now torn between his parents’ faith, which he inwardly questions and his own which does not satisfy his need. Pray for him to come boldly, yet humbly to Jesus with whatever burdens and fears his heart has (there are many), and trust in Jesus for all his life’s hopes.

Rhadiq of Afghanistan: Came to Germany several months ago with a large family group (parents, siblings, cousins, in-laws and small children.) He has and continues to share his newfound faith in Jesus regularly and broadly. His father, sister, one cousin and brother-in-law, as well as a young Iranian friend have since come to Jesus and been baptized. His insistence on living for Jesus has unexpectedly now has him ministering to the earthly needs of many around him. He is able to speak English and help with all kinds of official matters with government and hospitals. Pray for his wisdom to regularly cling to the Lord and have his cup filled so he can continue to give to others.

What is initiative? My friends at FOCUS advocate for it a lot. They also practice it. Initiative can be defined as “an act or strategy intended to resolve a difficulty or improve a situation.”

So for years, I have been thinking about how best to train others to become better at foresight. Some people seem to embrace it. Others seem to flounder. I do think it can be taught or at least modeled. How do we move from “man, I did it again!” moments to “yes, I finally realize what needs to happen” moments? Less regret. Less wandering aimlessly. More proactive thinking. More effective and efficient work. Seems like a reasonable if not acceptable desire.

I do not have all the answers but I do have one possible method.

The German Washing Machine!

Here is the scenario:
Have someone live on the 4th or 5th floor of an apartment building. No elevator. Washing machine in the basement. Not just a washing machine but a German washing machine. Now ask your teammate (or wife with a toddler by her side) how to work said German washing machine. Walk down to the basement.

Oops forgot the coins. Go back upstairs.

Walk down to the basement again. Yep actually forgot the laundry detergent. Go back upstairs.

Walk down to the basement again. Put in coins. Put in laundry detergent. Load German washing machine. Push the buttons and turn the knob. So easy even a baby could do it.

Nothing happens. Literally nothing.

So try to call teammate (or wife) on cell phone to ask how to get it to work. Wait. I am in the basement and the phone does not work down here. Go back upstairs.

Ask for clarity. Simply just restate what was said earlier. A local has already modeled this process for your teammate (or wife).

Walk down to the basement again. Put in coins. Put in laundry detergent. Load German washing machine. Push the buttons and turn the knob.

Nothing happens again. Literally nothing again. Go back upstairs.

Ask teammate (or wife) again how to work German washing machine. Are you sure that is correct? Only ONE button pushed to get it started. You are assured.

Walk down to the basement again. German washing machine still not working.

Pull out Google translate on iphone. Nothing helps.

Start pushing other buttons. Nothing.

Notice that the other German washing machine has TWO buttons pushed. Try that method.

BAM! WOW! POW! It starts.

After about 4 or 5 trips up and down 4 or 5 flights of stairs and about 30-45 minutes of my life, the German washing machine has started.

Now only 1 hour until back down to the basement for the German dryer.

As my good friend A.I. says, “We talking about practice!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI

What exactly is a Person of Peace or as some call them POP? You read in Matthew 10 and Luke 9 & 10 about looking for such a person or household.

According to my friend Carol: A person of peace is someone that has been supernaturally prepared by God before you get there to hear and respond to you, the messenger, the message and the mission of God.

Jo Saxton says a person of peace will be one who
1.    welcomes you
2.    receives you
3.    is open to you
4.    will be open to what you have to say about Jesus
5.    is open to the life you live because of Jesus
6.    serves you

Others include a POP as one who operates as a gatekeeper, opening relational doorways into their network of relationships.

Examples in the Bible include Cornelius, Lydia, Philippian Jailer, and Woman at the Well.
So when I say that God brought 3 POP to us in back-to-back-to-back days, you start to understand how amazing this was for our team.

Think about this for one second. On Monday, through a volunteer and one of our teammates, they meet a man from Iran. Tuesday with a different volunteer and same teammate, they meet a man from Eritrea. Wednesday with another volunteer yet still the same teammate, they meet a man from Ethiopia.

All of them speak English.  All of them opened up doors to their friends and family. All of them know Christ or are interested in Him. You cannot make this stuff up. God is way too cool.

Keep praying for more POP and laborers!

Last Tuesday I attended the Christian Community Development Conference near Stuttgart. Matthew Soerens was speaking on the topic of the Church and Refugees.

I got on a train at 6:30AM to head to the conference. The train was full and people rushing every which way. As I sat down, I opened my journal and kept my head down for most of the trip. I did notice the guy sitting across from me. Businessman, talking on two phones, nice leather briefcase, suit, looked Middle Eastern. He was busy and it was too early for anyone to talk.

As I got to my stop, I called Angela because my directions on my iphone did not download properly. I was scrambling and rushed. I finally found the right ticket booth but I did not have the right bills to pay. The train is leaving in 15 minutes. I hurry to buy a water to get change for the ticket.

I get the ticket but it does not say where to go to board the train. I have to choose between 16 different platforms. In utter despair, I looked at the guy next to me and say, “Do you speak English?” He does. Thank you Jesus. I make the train with 2 minutes to spare.

I get to the next stop to find a bus. Yes, I do not speak or read German. I call Angela again. Help me with the next step. She gives me the name of the bus stop. I walk around until I find a stop that looks like it could be mine. I look at two guys and say, “Do you speak English?” They do and they are going to the same conference.

Conference is great. More on that another time.

I can only stay for the day. So I reluctantly take this oh-so-crazy path back to my family. I go to the first bus stop and wait. And wait. And wait. Then a car pulls up and says get in. It is a woman that I met at the conference along with a new German friend. The new friend is taking the same route back as me. When we get to the train station, he tells me that our train is cancelled. Not postponed, cancelled. I would have never noticed or known since it was all in German. Thanks Roy!

As I get to my final train, after 2 hours of delay, I call Angela to tell her my delay but I will see her soon. In the middle of the conversation, I notice a guy walk up to sit down next to me. We are the only two people in the part of the train. I look at him and he looks at me. I realize that this is the same exact man as from 6:30AM. It is now 10:00PM. I say, “We were on the same train together this morning.” I tell Angela this info then the phone cuts off. I am out of minutes and cannot talk to her now.

I overhear the busy businessman on the phone. He is talking Arabic and apologizing to someone. After his call, he realized that my phone call was cut short and offered his phone to connect with Angela. I mentioned that he was speaking Arabic and asked where he was from. Iraq he says but lived in Germany for 20 years.

We proceed to talk about his delay and my delay. How he was only in Germany that day due to business. Morocco the day before and Turkey the next day. How I was just traveling that day. We both agreed it was weird, strange, and quite possibly God-oriented.

I asked him if he thinks that God brought us together for a purpose. He said maybe. I said I definitely think He did and here is why. After a long day and desiring much sleep, I asked God to give me wisdom and strength to share my story and more importantly THE story with Adam.

We talked for nearly 2 hours. It was Adam’s birthday. 56 years old. I shared many stories from the Word including the need to be re-born as Nicodemus. I was timely. I even asked Adam what is keeping him from accepting forgiveness and making Jesus King of his life.

Adam let me pray with him. We hope to see each other later this month to meet his wife and kids. Adam is still far from God but at least, I believe, a little closer than the day before.

Will you pray for Adam? He wants to see Jesus. I told him to expect to see Jesus in a dream oh so soon. May it be tonight King Jesus.

You have more in common with the world than you think. And this video tells a powerful story.