Yearly Report 2023 and ´24Akebulan- (Global Mission) e.V.

Dear Friends of Akebulan,

how are you doing during these times full of crisis and challenges that can cause fears to arise and more and more people to find themselves facing existential needs? We are grateful for all that the Almighty is doing in our midst. Last year, we didn’t send you our yearly report. Maybe you realized it, maybe not. Our report was already written, when technical problems occurred so we couldn’t finally finish it. This is why you now receive a “double report” so to say.

night of the yearly Prayer Day One of Together for Berlin e.V., Steffi met a very friendly sister from this former church. When they talked about our Inclusion Gospel project, she was interested and started participating as well as helping. The first workshop took place in the beginning of February. In 2023, we again could meet at ABSV Grunewald (General Association for Blind and Visually Impaired People Berlin e.V.), more often. This was very helpful.
From 2024 on, we could plan for the whole year, again, and meet as often as before the pandemic, mostly at ABSV.
In addition in January, the APPA pastors (African Pentecostal Pastors’ Association in Berlin an Brandenburg e.V.) met to dine with their wives at Pastor Nimo’s church ICC (International Christian Church e.V.) Also, we buried the mother of a woman who had accompanied one of our blind choir members, for a time. Life and death can be close together, sometimes. At the beginning of February, we celebrated the child dedication of Seraphina Leticia, granddaughter of Pastor Dr. Jere Aidoo, at their church GBIM (Gospel Believers International Ministry e.V.)

Again, the young singer and songwriter Sharlien Lazara, whom we had met at Himmelsfels e.V., came to Berlin with some friends to visit us in Akebulan. We invited some youth and adolescent who had been at the camp with us, before, as well as members of Pastor Miguel’s church Kingdom of God Ministry e.V. Together, we sang and worshipped. Sharlien’s song “My Child” speaks about the fatherly love of God. We made this the motto of the service. Since Steffi had moved this topic in her heart throughout several years, she was allowed to shortly preach about it. Later during the month as mentioned before, the report „Praise in a Global Village- the intercultural church Akebulan“ from Mrs Oswalt was aired during the program „Living Environments“ at the local broadcast rbb Culture. In addition, Steffi travelled to take part in another singing seminary with Njeri Weth at Spangenberg. It was, again, very inspiring also for our choir project.
Pastor Daniela Nischik from the Evangelical Blind People’s Service in Berlin who is co-leading with us our Inclusion Gospel Choir project, got invited by a group of Eben-Ezer to present her engagement for Kurdish Christians, in March. Peter and Steffi travelled to Gießen to celebrate the 60th birthday of our Nigerian friend John. Niri from Together for Berlin e.V. invited key leaders of intercultural church work to connect with each other and exchange their ideas. In the Lutheran Sternkirche Potsdam, Rev. Bernhard Fricke organised a very interesting interreligious workshop where we reported about our church work. In June at the same place, a farewell service and party was celebrated for him because he retired. It was heart-moving to witness how this man has done his job as Counsellor for Refugees, very full heartedly.

In Akebulan, we held our yearly membership meeting. In April, we celebrated Easter and held an APPA- meeting together with the pastor wives. One of the group, Pastor Femi, celebrated a big birthday party. After a longer period of time, Akwaba e.V. gave another yearly concert for their friends. It took place at our neighbouring Catholic church “Allerheiligen”. This also was a thanksgiving for their help when Akwaba could practise in their rooms during the repairments at Akebulan in 2022.
In Akebulan, the year 2024 was rather calm. In February, we went bowling with ours and some youth from Pastor Bekou’s church „Shalom Chapel e.V.“, as well as Pastor Miguel’s church. We also held our yearly membership meeting. Pastor Okito’s daughter Lidia got married. At Easter, we celebrated together with the church of Pastor Miguel.

Together with our Akebulan women, we went to a Japanese restaurant. For a time, we held zoom- meetings, and the wives of the APPA- pastors connected in prayer in a small frame. The men went for retreats, two times.

As mentioned last time in May, Peter and Steffi travelled to Hermannsburg to take part in the symposium “To Do Theology in International Churches and in Global Social Work” at the Faculty Intercultural Theology “FIT”. It was dedicated to remembering the legacy of the late Prof. Drea Fröchtling who had passed away, too early. She had been a lovely character who was very devoted to her work and invested herself in the lives of the people entrusted to her. At the FIT, she taught “Practical Theology in Intercultural Perspective”. She was acknowledged as a wise theologian who reflected much. When encountering people who were suffering violence or certain disadvantages, Drea was very empathic and sensitive. She fought for the rights of the coloured people in South Africa, interviewed survivors of the Holocaust, and researched on counselling dementia patients. At the FIT, she was appreciated much by the students from abroad, because she created a welcoming atmosphere. Peter remembers her as a “Servant Queen”.
At Ascension Day together with our youth and some of Pastor Okito’s „Centre Chrétien Agape e.V.“ and churches of Pastor Bekou, we again went to the One Spirit- and International Youth Bible Camp at Himmelsfels e.V. As always, we enjoyed the lively, inspiring, ecumenical fellowship. In May 2024, too, our youth and their friends from Pastor Bekou’s churches joined Pastor Okito’s church youth group going to Himmelsfels. At summer, they went, again, with a smaller group. Our Inclusion Gospel project received an integration award from the Lutheran Church of Berlin and Brandenburg. On Pentecost Monday, Akebulan, again, played an active role in the ecumenical church service in our neighbourhood. In 2023 at this occasion, Peter had the opportunity to preach about the topic “Regenerative Energies” in a practical as well as spiritual sense: God’s spirit renews our strength, and its effects are compared with three of the four elements, in the Bible.

What happened in June? Peter took part in a so-called “vocation”- conference of his employee ARU which took place in Brandenburg. A group of religious teachers was prepared, there, to receive a special calling. Since Peter is working for the Lutheran Church without being a member, it was decided last minute that he could officially not receive this calling, but only a blessing. After a three-quarter year, Peter’s employee asked him to organise his own vocation. So he invited our Mülheimer regional leader Rüdiger Sumann as well as some friends, and we combined the occasion with our yearly summer party.

Reverend Casimir Nzeh from our Catholic neighbouring church celebrated his ministry anniversary. In June, we were blessed to baptise three of our young people. APPA e.V. conducted their yearly revival conference. In 2023, their motto was “Prevailing Faith”, and the guest speakers were Apostle Ato Edua of the Ghanaian Church of Pentecost in Germany as well as Bishop Andrew Osa Ighle who comes from Nigeria and lives in Italy. Pastor Alain Okito and his wife Isabelle revelled their 25th wedding anniversary, very fabulously.

Peter and Steffi travelled to Ghana where our daughter Phinissia and her fiancé Ebenezer got married at the registry office and in a traditional ceremony with pastoral blessing. It was very beautiful, and we were grateful for this important step. Yet, it took almost another half year, until Eben was finally allowed to come to Germany at the beginning of 2024! We give thanks to God that they were able to endure six years of a long-distance relationship, and that He provided for them to be happily united, now. We are also very grateful for our Akebulan members who helped to keep our Sunday services going during our absence. Especially, our youth started to help open the church which they do up to date, and some also helped to take care of the children. The last also do so sometimes when Steffi cannot be around. Senior Pastor Essi Lupemba overtook the preaching.
At the beginning of September, the Evangelical Blind People’s Service in Berlin celebrated their 70 years jubilee. As 10 years ahead, Daniela organised a great feast. She asked our Inclusion Gospel choir to present some songs from our repertoire. During our workshops, we had been practising for this. Everything went very well which we are grateful for, especially, since Peter and Steffi could not be a part. Peter had to go to the above mentioned “vocation”, and Steffi fell sick. We are very glad that we could win the professional drummer Thomas Tossou to replace Peter playing the Djembe, and that our members were able to sing the songs, very beautifully. In summer 2024, we held one Gospel workshop in our Akebulan church garden. Eva visited us and played her guitar and violin. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit too hot, and an alarm system in the neighbourhood disturbed our singing as well as the recording that Pastor Daniela’s assistant who tried to conduct it for their new website. Our outing to Britzer Garten, we had to cancel it last minute, because we realised too late that their classic music festival was supposed to last during the whole day.

At the end of August, the two of us Peter and Steffi went to Himmelsfels, where they opened an academy for intercultural learning. They try to offer some of the contents from the FIT Hermannsburg, which unfortunately finally closes down, this year. Again, the academy aims to present some ideas of Global Local within their seminaries.

In 2023, four of our “Akebulan children” started school. For a small congregation like ours, this is quite much. In Pastor Miguel´s church, too, were school beginners. This was why we decided to celebrate this, together. It was a bit difficult to find a date, but at least in October, we were able to accomplish, this. It was a joyful festivity, and we also could dedicate a baby to the Lord and celebrate two birthdays on that day. In September ´24, the Berlin Mission performed their 200 years jubilee. In an exhibition, they reflected critically how colonialism and its aftermaths have influenced their work. In October, APPA- Pastor Eugene celebrated his 50th birthday.

At the end of 2023, we had to face the difficult fact that our church finances had come to a very low level. Why was this so? Since the time of the pandemic, we had lost some of our members whose number had been rather small before, as well. Aktion Mensch e.V. had sponsored our Inclusion Gospel project several times, before. Now it’s no more possible because it is an ongoing work. For our members, one of its values is exactly this continuity. At summertime, we couldn’t buy new heating oil. Again, suddenly after many years of cooperating, our webmaster demanded more money which we couldn’t afford to give. We had to go offline and find a new webmaster who would create a new site for us. Our finances couldn’t meet all these needs, and we even couldn’t continue to take care of our basic costs, anymore. This was why we decided to write to some family and friends who cherish our work, tell them about our problems and ask for their emergency support. We were amazed and are very grateful for the many generous donations coming in after a short time! Now, we were provided for the next months and could continue the ministry. Thanks again to everyone who supported us at this weak point! Thanks to our beloved Brother Juan who helped establishing Akebulan during the first years, and his sweet wife Irina who both had moved to Bolivia as missionaries shortly before, we virtually met their friend Alexander Groll. He also had moved to South America, in his case Paraguay. His help was phenomenal, and so we finally could set up our new website, which you can find under https://akebulan.de …We hope you will enjoy watching it!

In November, we mourned the death of Bro Flavor’s brother who had passed sometime after the family’s journey to Nigeria during the children’s summer holidays. Again, we held our last Gospel workshop of the year in our church. We practised a few songs to present at one of two advent celebrations of the Evangelical Blind People’s Service. Reverend Elisabeth Kruse from Hermannsburg came to Berlin and visited Akebulan. Our children baked some delicious Christmas cookies. Since Steffi went on a short trip, our elder children overtook the responsibility for this, the first time. It went very well which I was grateful for. Together with some old pastor friends whom he asked to bless him, Peter celebrated his birthday. At Christmas, Pastor Miguel’s congregation celebrated with us, again, and invited us later for their yearend festivity.

Since late autumn in 2024, we conduct a theatre project with young people about Anthony William Amo. He was the first African professor in Germany, and the “Mohren”-street in Berlin is currently being renamed after him. We are blessed with professional young co-workers who assist us. Together with the group, we write the theatre ourselves, because we don’t have a template. The young people also write raps and poetry slam that reflect Amo’s thoughts and emotions…

In December, we celebrated a small youth worship service and went to a restaurant with the APPA pastors. Christmas and the changing of the years were blessed in our church.

The project “Global Local” is still on our hearts, so we wish to mention it, again. Despite a lot of interest, due to the pandemic and the original size of the offer, it couldn’t be realized, much. This is why the team decided to no longer offer it as a process. Global Local is now a collection of a great variety of modules which can be chosen and combined in any suitable way. Please be so kind to check on it under the below link and think and pray if there is something that could be a blessing for your church or a group where you are an active member. Thank you! We are sure you will not regret it. In addition, in their seminaries, the Himmelsfels academy will also offer contents from Global Local.

As always, we heartily give thanks for all engagement and any form of support for our Akebulan Church work- be it practical, financial or surely, in prayers. Our dear brother Karlheinz still helps us professionally with the upkeeping of our house and garden. Our landlord Dr. Knappe continuously grants us extremely fair conditions and also supports us, practically. Our umbrella organization Mülheimer Verband FEG e.V. provides us a helpful structure and blessed cooperation. Practically for example, we profited from them because they have engaged a professional data protection officer who checked on our new website. In 2024, it was a blessing for us when Rüdiger helped Peter with the vocation, prayed for his work as religious teacher and gave him the obligatory document. Again, we are grateful for the fruitful partnership with APPA e.V., the Evangelical Blind People’s Service and ABSV, the ecumene in our church neighbourhood, the pan African Gospel choir Akwaba e.V., Together for Berlin e.V., Church on Eye- Level and Global Local as well as last but not least, the Faculty Intercultural Theology in Hermannsburg (FIT).
We are very grateful for all that we could experience during 2023 and ´24! God is obviously at work in our midst. Our small fellowship is able to strengthen people who are facing difficult times. For this, we give Him praise.

We pray God’s blessings over all of you!
Yours in Christ’s love;
Peter and Steffi Arthur
and Akebulan e.V.

Links:

Räuschstr. 37, 13509 Berlin, Tel.: 030/ 773 28 487; Email: info@akebulan.de; Webseite: www.akebulan.de
Steuernr.: 27/ 656/ 55070; Amtsgericht Nr.: VR 25928 B; 1. Vorsitzender: Pastor Peter Arthur
Bankverbindung: Ev. Darlehnsgenossenschaft, IBAN: DE38 5206 0410 0003 9085 18, BIC: GENODEF1EK1