Dear Friends of Akebulan,
how are you? It is our hope and prayer that all of you are well! Most of you do already know our yearly reports where we tell you about the ongoing of our Akebulan Church growth. This year, our church completed the third year after its founding. This is not much for a church, but since we started at „zero“, we’re grateful to have made it up to this point. A special blessing which we received in 2009 was the financial support from the European Integration Fond EIF and the German Office for Migration and Refugees bamf. This meant that we could increase our focus on the integration of children and their families who have a foreign background. Our church is blessed with manifold kinds of growth. One is in number of visitors and members, one is the financial area, another one is the growth of relationships with one another, and last but not least we grow in our relationship with God and are being changed through His Spirit and love which can be seen in life changes and can be heard in our testimonies.
This year, we were able to establish three new regular meeting offerings: Every first Friday in the month, we meet at 10.00 p.m. instead of 7.00 p.m. to have a prayer night. There, we show each time a movie about missionaries, Bible translators, social reformers or other heroes of faith. Every third Wednesday in a month, we offer at 5.30 p.m. an ALPHA Bible Course for teenagers (the start was at the end of 2008, newcomers are always welcome!). Three times during this year, we met with our women on Saturday afternoons at 3.00 p.m. to have a women’s fellowship where we first enjoy coffee, tea, cookies and cakes, listen to messages about how to be a woman after God’s heart and then worship and pray together. Thanks to all of you who helped to make these meetings possible, to our guest speakers Elizabeth Zhakata from Zimbabwe und Maame Leticia Aidoo, and special thanks to our men who each time took the children to nice places where they could play! In November, we wanted to add a marriage seminar not only for couples but for each person who wants to prepare him- or herself for marriage. Unfortunately, the organisation didn’t work for this time so that we had to shift the seminar to the next year. Instead, our men went bowling where they had a lot of fun and a good fellowship.
Bowling actually turned to be the Akebulan free time highlight of this year! In October, we went there with our „camp meeting- kids“, in November, as I said, our men went, and in December, we went as a church and were a huge group all together. Why do we do this? We do it because we believe that it increases our fellowship with one another, it helps us to get to know one another, and it is an interruption of everyday life and helps us to relax and then concentrate, again, on the spiritual things…
Most of the kids who came for the bowling from outside our church were the same ones who came with us to our children’s and youth camp meeting in August at CVJM Lake- Werlsee- hut in Gruenheide/ Brandenbourg for three days. It was just wonderful! We had very nice weather, could play Basketball, Feather ball, and Table tennis, jump with the skipping roll, go swimming or ride a boat on the lake. We could even eat outside and at the second evening, we sat around a fire in the garden, sang some songs and baked some bread on wooden sticks. When we gathered together, we worshipped and prayed (thanks to Emmanuel for playing the keyboard and for Brother Juan at the guitar!). We do this in our services, too, but here the kids showed more freedom to join us because they were among their peers. In our Bible studies, we learned about Daniel and his friends who lived and defended their faith at a foreign king’s palace. At our last evening, the children proved to be very creative and talented, when they prepared songs, dances and theatre in small groups. They even revealed in the theatre what they had learned at the Bible studies and that they were able to “translate” this into our modern day time… Sister Augusta blessed us with taking care of the kitchen and preparing the food- thank you! Brother Juan went shopping with the kids- thank you, too! You kids were always ready to help going shopping, to help in the kitchen, to help when we did the dishes or to help clean up the rooms before we left. Thanks to you all and special thanks to Sarah and Ebenesa! Also, the elder kids were very friendly to the younger ones and everyone behaved just very good so that we’re looking forward to travel with you, again, in the new year! (Time: 12.- 16. July 2010; you’re heartedly welcome!) Also, we’re looking forward to do more Gospel workshops with you after the first one of this November, to go bowling with you, again, and whatever more!
The homework help was not so good this year. I hope I will get the chance to help more children with their homework in the new year to come! For the elder pupils I also offer special help with German grammar, writing, maybe reading and literature.
On Sundays, we’re blessed with many visitors and members. In our Sunday School for children we’re mostly short of space, but it works. I, Sister Steffi, am very grateful for Sister Lydia’s help who joined me, this year, and helps me very much especially with the smaller children. Thank you so much, my dear sister!! At the beginning of the year, we read in the Old Testament (Children’s Bible) with the smaller children. We started from Abraham and Sarah up to Joseph in Egypt and his reconciliation with his family. We didn’t read the stories or parts of the stories that are hard or difficult for the children of this age (2-5 years). The Easter story they heard from the view sight of a little lamb. The story included pictures that could be decorated at the window which the children liked very well (from time to time they redecorated the pictures). After this, we read a few stories about Jesus’ life and preaching in a children’s book. Then, we talked about 5 of the Ten Commandments. I chose those that are easy for them to understand. After these lessons from the Bible, we relaxed a bit and read a children’s book called “I am I”. This book reveals that everybody is different from each other but it doesn’t mean we cannot love one another. I added that God created us with love and creativity and He enjoys the variety. We also talked about the seasons which God made and how the autumn is like in Germany. At Christmas time, we read a book about two ice bear twins (a sister and a brother) who always slept at Christmas but now want to know and experience what Christmas is like. I added emphasis on the Christian Christmas message to these stories. Also, we always sing and pray together with the smaller children and also with the elder ones and sometimes we do crafts together.
The elder children (age 7-12) started this year to read about the beginning of Jesus’ life on earth as well as about some highlights of His life. After this, they created a dance after a modern Christian song. They also thought about the lyrics of the song and read a few psalms that encourage to sing and to dance before God. They first presented the dance at our Legacy Festival and secondly at the Borsigwalde Neighbourhood- Party. During the summer holidays, they read a Christian booklet about Australia which was very interesting. One of the girls later lectured in her school about Australia and got a very good result for it… After the summer holidays, the elder children started to re-write a Christian pantomime theatre that shows our hands as an example for God’s good purpose when He created us and that without Him, we misuse our lives. At the end of it, Jesus comes in to heal and to forgive and to give us a second chance to do better. At the beginning of this theatre, the girls shortly danced after the chorus of the song “This is the world we live in- …these are the hands we’re given, use them and let’s all try to make it a place worth living!” The girls presented this theatre at our Advent celebration and will present it, again, at our year end prayer night (10.00 p.m.). In December, we read about the announcements of John’s and Jesus’ births and the worship of Zacharias, Elizabeth and Mary. In addition, I read some stories of our time and of the last centuries which tell about how people experience Christmas. Together, we also reflected what Christmas means to each one of us, personally.
Again, we don’t want to miss to say “Thank You” to all our beloved co-workers who worked hard to make this church work possible. We give you thanks for the help in the garden, help with shopping, cooking and preparing our Sunday meals and more, every help with the technical things, with our worship music, and last but not least all help with cleaning up! Our special thanks concerning these areas, goes to Brother Charles, Sister Vida, Brother Juan, Brother Kobi, Sister Maureen, Sister Bola, Sister Dorothea, Sister Marsha, Sister Christine, Sister Janet, Sister Jennifer and Sister Raquel as well as Brother Jasper for the Website work! We thank you all for your faithful and engaged help! But this is not all. We thank each single person in our church who took time and strength to help with any small or bigger thing! God bless you all! In addition, we give special thanks to our worship team including Brother Alex, Pastor Rey, Sister Christine, Sister Janet, Sister Lydia and newly also Brother Juan and Sister Vida! We also give thanks to our team- and guest preachers theology student Alexander Bierhals, Pastor Reynaldo Frias, Pastor Simon Muigai, Minister Thomas Meik, Brother Juan Purcalla, Minister Ralph Webster (congratulations to him and his wife Anke for their church foundation in Potsdam this year!), Evangelist Ben Akpalu, Evangelist Holger Theobald, Dr. Hans Theermann and very specially to our surprise guest from the USA whom Pastor Rey invited this spring: Dr. Bishop Baker! He ministered in our church for several weeks with preaching, prayers, prayers for the sick and intensive counselling. This was a strong blessing for us! He encouraged us and especially blessed us as a spiritual father which we find to be very important for a church with mainly young people like us.
During this year, Pastor Peter again concentrated much on the Akebulan church work and tried to avoid too many extra activities. Anyway, he was able to lecture at Volkshochschule Wedding, again, visit a seminar from Forum Help for Prisoners and have an active part at a project presentation of the Evangelical Development Service (EED) about high-tech fishing in the world. The presentation took place at the German Evangelical Church Festival in Bremen. In October, Pastor Peter went to a conference at a Catholic Theological Faculty in Muenster to speak about “Insight to the practical field of immigrant churches, healing and deliverance as well as church mission”. He had been invited there through Dr. Roswith Gerloff. Isn’t this amazing that the Catholics invite a Pentecostal African pastor to tell them about healing and deliverance?! Moreover: They said they think of changing their theology!! Praise God! Apart from this, Pastor Peter again engaged himself at Forum Intercultural Relationships FIKB (it belongs to Together for Berlin e.V.), African Pentecostal Pastors’ Association APPA e.V. und Council of African Christians in Berlin/ Brandenbourg RACIBB e.V. FIKB organised this year another Interconnect Day which took place in April in Berlin- Lichtenberg as well as an intercultural summer party. RACIBB again organised the closing service of the German Intercultural Church Week in Berlin where they invited Pastor Dr. Jere Aidoo who is the president of APPA, to preach. In addition, they had another internal RACIBB service with Dr. Gerloff as preacher who is an expert and pioneer of the intercultural communication in the European churches. The yearly APPA Conference took place again at the end of October.
As Akebulan Church, we again had an active part at the Borsigwalde neighbourhood summer party. We had another information table, this time together with Sister Maureen who presented her beautiful African clothes, another music presentation of our worship team together with Brother Juan as well as our girls’ dance performance. The Borsigwalde people liked it! Since the end of this year, we are part of the Borsigwalde neighbourhood meetings where teachers and headmasters of the schools and kindergartens, representatives of the local government and more people come together and work together. This might be a new chance for our homework help, too. At Pentecost, our church was invited and had an active part at the ecumenical church service in Borsigwalde. Thanks for your openness to welcome us in your midst! We’re looking forward to be with you in the next year, too! Another information table we had at the ecumenical Feast of the Nations at the Red City Council. There, RACIBB and the Christian Micha- Initiative had information tables, too. The Micha- Initiative helps poor people in Germany and in the world. They came to our church, this year, to introduce their work to us. Thank you!
In February, our church work was documented by our local TV rbb. Gen. Sec. Sesay brought them to us. The rbb has some church programs, of which one is „Heaven and Earth“. In this program, they wanted to talk about special relationships and one special relationship which they wanted to introduce was the intercultural marriage of Pastor Peter and me, Sister Steffi (“Ebony and Ivory”). So they interviewed us and showed the Akebulan Church work. Also, they filmed Pastor Peter shortly in Hennigsdorf. The documentation was shown in rbb in March. We liked it, and our friends who watched it, liked it, too. Thanks to Mr. Sesay and to director Thomas Klatt and his team for this wonderful opportunity! Even though the TV team didn’t intend to do anything else than a documentation, four young women in Hennigsdorf got the allowance to settle Germany directly after the TV visit. Thanks to the team and thanks to our miraculously working God! You brothers and sisters from Hennigsdorf are a blessing for our church and we’re happy to see you in our midst! You make our church more intercultural! Akebulan is blessed with you and with all our members and visitors from so many different countries in the world! These are apart from Germany: Spain, Argentina, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and the Philippines, the USA, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Iran, Turkmenistan und Rumania. Thanks be to God! Also, we’re blessed to have so many children in our midst. This year, we were able to dedicate five babies and our children made our services more colourful through singing, dancing, theatre and more. Thanks to you all!
Also, thanks to the friendly support of EIF and bamf (see above), we could buy another play equipment for the garden. The children had a lot of fun in our garden, again, as long as the weather permitted. One time this summer, we had some barbeque. Unfortunately, the weather was rainy and we had to do everything inside the church building. We hope to be able to have barbeque outside in 2010! (Thanks to our barbeque expert and fireman Thomas Meik!)
Our Advent celebration this year was not so well visited. Many people were sick and our old people from the Thursday Bible Studies couldn’t come because they are engaged in their new churches, now. This is why we have thought of another concept for the celebration and we want to make it more intercultural, next year. Our old people, we will invite in the summer time in 2010 to make sure we will be able to see them, again, anyway.
When we dedicated Baby Lawrence, Sister Christine invited the newly founded Gospel Choir Akwaaba whom she had joined, before. They sang in Akebulan also at our Legacy Festival, even before their first official concert. We’ll be glad to welcome you in our midst, again! Two other Gospel Choirs, Bonisanani Spirituals and the Borsigwalde Gospel Choir Family & Friends did their second common concert, this year, after we had introduced them to one another. Wow!
More special events in Akebulan were our yearly Legacy Festival and our family services. Our this years’ Legacy speakers were Pastor Reynaldo Frias, Pastor Simon Muigai, Minister Thomas Meik und worship leader and theology student Alexander Bierhals from our midst. Family services we had at Easter Sunday when we played the Easter story together, and at Thanksgiving when we prayed and danced together in a circle and had freshly imported fruits and vegetables from Ghana. At Christmas, we heard the Christmas story through a doll’s theatre and listened to a Christmas rap and a Christmas song from our girls.
Another thanks we give to all our financial supporters, our prayer supporters, and everybody who encourages us and helps us in any way! Our special thanks also goes to our house owner Dr. Per Knappe who allows us to use this nice building and the garden for a very fair rent- God bless you!
We pray you all had a joyful Christmas Season
and will have a blessed and uprising New Year 2010!
Yours Akebulan- Global Mission e.V.
Räuschstr. 37, 13509 Berlin, Tel.: 030/ 772 17 79
e-mail: info@akebulan-gm.org; Website: www.akebulan-gm.org
Tax No: 27/ 656/ 55070; District Court No: VR 25928 B;
Chairman: Pastor Peter Arthur, Bahnhofstr. 4a, 12207 Berlin
Bank Account Akebulan: Ev. Darlehnsgenossenschaft, Bank No: 210 602 37, AccountNo: 743534