The idea of a mission trip to Germany originally came from sister Hauss, who spent two weeks in Wrightstown early this year (97) and studied clowning with the Sauciers. German churches are slow becoming amenable to using creative arts in evangelism and children’s ministries. Sister Hauss, who is a district representative for children’s ministries in the German AOG, believed the Clowns for Jesus could make am impact both on individuals and churches with their unique style of presenting the Gospel.
The final performance, the night before the clowns’ departure, was at the opening service of the German Assembly of God national children’s and youth ministers’ conference in Tann. Some grumbles about the appropriateness of using clowns to preach the Gospel were heard during supper, but any doubts about the clarity of effectiveness of the message were quickly laid aside during the performance. The audience experienced firsthand what it meant to become like children in hearing the Word! Approximately 100 workers and pastors laughed, cried and clapped their way through what was probably the most anointed performance of the entire trip. Many stayed after the service to talk to the clowns.
An Experience Never to Forget
Witten by Luke Brookhart
Jesus told us in Matthew to go unto all the world and preach the
gospel, and that is exactly what I did. Going on a mission trip to Germany is an experience never to forget.
Before I began this excursion, I assumed that the German people would be prejudiced against Americans and would be very rude and inconsiderate to us and our different customs, but I was totally wrong. The people in this country are warm, tender, hospitable, loving, and helpful. Many of them have so little, but want to bless you with it anyway. The love that they showed to us as mere strangers was an extra encouragement to me. Of the people that I met, the one thing greater than their love for others is their love for God. They do everything they are able to do for Him.
In the past I've felt that America has a high level of Christianity compared to other countries in the world. I had no statistics to support my feelings, but it's just something I thought. I was severely wrong. There are so many people that love the Lord Jesus Christ in Germany. I guess that because so many of them have so little, they need to keep their faith in something besides a home, belongings, or bank account, as we often do. They have faith in a being who is greater that American Express (or German Express), and someone who is powerful enough to create all of the world and everything and everyone in it. They trust a God who had the love to send His Son to die for not just the great United States of America, but for the entire world.
This ancient country has many believers in the Lord, but it is still a very big mission field. The Word of God hasn't reached each apartment, street corner, or every child's ear. There is a very big task to be done in Germany. The people need to be reached by others. In one home in Chemnitz, we ministered to 77 children in a room no larger than 12 feet by 12 feet. They were packed on there to see the clowns perform. They wanted to hear what we had to say. We went to a home for refugees to bring God's gift of love. Some of them didn't know German. If all goes as I hope it does, the ones who did understand will share it with their friends in their native tongue. We passed out candy to the children and they took it out of our pockets before we even knew that they had. If we gave one to one child, 50 children would dive for it. They had nothing at all and they lived from what they got from others. We were also able to minister to all the children who have so little. They had nothing to give us in return but their smiles. It was all that we wanted. I had the opportunity to tell them that Jesus loves them. That was pure satisfaction. When we were leaving, I saw a little girl crying. Later I found out that she was sad because she would never see the clowns again. They enjoy so much to hear stories from the Bible. Our country has been fortunate enough to have the Word of God preached to us at every turn. Many people around the globe aren't as fortunate as we are.
We need to be doing something about the necessity around the world for the teaching of the Word. We, as brothers and sisters in Christ, need to become the people in the mission field, support those people, or at least pray for them on a daily basis. The power of our prayers makes a big difference in the lives of the workers in foreign lands. If everyone does his part the job always gets done faster and better. Pray, because the task is large and the time is short.
