If you have been following our Facebook feeds you will know that the Lord has opened up some major doors to us recently at several refugee Heims here in Berlin. However, it is very difficult to know the back story simply by seeing the Facebook posts. In just a few weeks, so much has happened that this blog post is going to have to read more like bullet points. To catch you up quickly, the Lord has provided us with access to CrossFit Level 1 Certified trainers and allowed us to begin constantly varied, super-intense, functional fitness classes inside several of the Heims and camps.
How beautiful are the feet of those that bring the good news of Jesus Christ!
This is actually not a new idea to us. This was something the Lord spoke to us YEARS ago; however, at the time we were unable to see the connection between discipleship and Functional Fitness/Discipleship. Because of this we viewed it as more of a distraction and not something that we would use in our work in Berlin. Yet recently, the Lord has been gently bringing it back up. Even so we were unable to see the connection between Functional Fitness and discipleship. Sure it would be fun, sure it would be healthy for refugees, but how did it connect with discipleship?
On the first day and the first class we announced on the microphone that this workout would be very intense. We announced, "if you have any pain or sickness in your body right now please come forward and we will pray for you so that you can do this class." What happened next blew us away! So many people were healed, at least 15 people that we could count! The managers, security guards, and refugees all encountered the risen Christ! As the class began several of the ladies from our team were pulled inside the camp to continue to pray for others who were in their rooms (our classes are usually done outside). By the end of a class, a man from Syria told Keri, "for five months I just eat and sleep and eat and sleep and eat and sleep. Thank you, thank you for coming today!" At this camp the Lord has continued to further His Kingdom with a very influential member of a security company. Several people have not only begun their journey to better health, but have begun a significant journey to the One who can heal their soul, Jesus Christ!
A few days later. we stumbled across a Heim not too far from our home. We met the management asking permission and quickly we were granted access. After the first class a man from Libya approached us telling us of intense torture he had experienced at the hands of ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood. He told us he has "many evil spirits" and was wondering if we could help. We said, "we cannot help but Jesus can, we will pray for you." He took us to his room and he received SIGNIFICANT deliverance. After this prayer, he saw a vision of Jesus walking into his room carrying a cross with the words saying "Son of God" written in Hebrew. He told us that Jesus told him that he would be a follower of Jesus. There was no invitation to accept Jesus into his heart, no sinners prayer, simply Jesus told him he would be a follower of Jesus. This man tells us, "I have no choice I must obey Jesus." Keep in mind we are just sort of watching this all unfold! We had only prayed for him!
After one of the next classes, this man we prayed for led his friend to the Lord. We prayed a lot of deliverance for him as well. These men heard from the Lord that they should change their names, so they did! Their new names? Solomon and Mark. Solomon (the first guy we prayed for) has become such a powerful witness in his Heim. He is explaining to other refugees how Jesus is the Son of God! This man has never been taught this!! The Lord Himself is teaching him. Solomon is learning and growing in tremendous ways and we are just dumbfounded as to what is happening. He is telling us that Jesus is manifesting Himself to him each night!
Yesterday we started in a new Heim. The first class went really well so after the class we went to the manager to say, "Thank you." As we walked in to her office we asked if we could pray for her and her job. As we began to pray, you could tangibly feel the presence of the Lord fill that room! She began to weep uncontrollably joining us in crying out to God for herself and blessing for this facility! She was German and not a refugee!
What the Lord is currently doing is so amazing and wonderful that it blows our mind! Even writing about it seems so strange because it feels like we are simply being swept along. There is nothing to take credit for. There is nothing even that we can "teach" to others. The best we can say is, "listen to Jesus and do what He tells you." The Lord is showing us that He will be expanding this. There are so many needs. There are so many opportunities. We are so far out of our comfort zone, and yet we would not want to be anywhere else but here.
Our current prayer needs:
- We are asking the Lord to provide for us a facility so that we can expand our reach. Currently we are working in three heims and this is tapping out our whole time! We run two classes per week at each Heim, so we are busy 6 days per week. If we had a facility, then we could do outreach in the Heims and have them come to the facility for training and discipleship. We are asking for a location and funds for this.
- We are needing to become CrossFit Level 1 certified. We are enrolled in the June class that will be held in Berlin in June. We ask for prayer for these funds.
- Pray that Jesus will continue to manifest awakening and revival in these Heims.
- We will be launching a new website soon. Our current will stay active in terms of keeping people up to date with our family, but the new one will be more public facing and a way to communicate with the people we work with on a day to day basis.
- As most of our classes are done outdoors, weather is a MAJOR factor. Please pray for great weather! (another reason a facility is a prayer request)
- Community: one of the reason the Lord spoke this method of Functional Fitness to us is because of the way that it fosters so much community. Pray for deeper community to grow in these people! It has already begin and even our children are asking to ride their bikes to the Heim directly after school!
- For legal purposes we can say that we utilize CrossFit certified trainers, but until we are officially affiliated we will have to refer to what we do as "Functional Fitness" instead of "CrossFit." Please pray that we can proceed quickly with affiliation.
- There is also a lot of prayer needed and wisdom needed to know how best to structure what we do. The name will be "FIT3" but this could change our status in Germany. This is not a bad thing, we just want to set it up correctly. We are in talks with a lot of people who are a LOT wiser than we are. So please pray for wisdom!
