Beginnings in Berlin
Berlin, Germany
Nigel Dutton reports on the move he and his family made to plant a church in Berlin. A core team has been established and a strategy for growth is in place.
 Berlin is an amazing city where you feel like you are constantly living at the crossroads of cultural, historical, geographical and economic change. Its contrasting influences of rich and poor, East and West, liberal and conservative, ancient and modern, fast yet relaxed, organised and chaotic are often as polarised as its climate.
In the midst of all this God is bringing the gospel back into the broken heart of the nation that was home to Martin Luther. There are several church plants appearing in different areas of the formerly divided city, and in December 2009 the Dutton Family from Hastings (UK) landed in City West to be part of God’s strategic plan.
 The challenge of adjusting to life in another nation has proved to be a really exciting adventure but also more challenging than we had anticipated. We also arrived in a year with one of the longest, harshest winters and hottest summers in many years. So, our four children have had to adjust to a change of climate, food, language, friends, education and from a house in a seaside town to an apartment in a bustling city.
During this first year Nigel has been working full-time in an international state school in Berlin, which has given the family a great opportunity to meet so many interesting people, to become fluent again in speaking German and to understand better the complex and evolving culture of a capital city that is in many ways the antithesis of the rest of the nation.
At the same time we have been gathering a team together in order to get the church plant established. We have a solid core of eight adults from Germany, Switzerland and the UK, but we have also welcomed guests from the US, New Zealand, Egypt, the Philippines and Tonga.
 We currently meet every week on Wednesdays and alternate Sundays, with a good mix of relaxing and getting to know one another better, praying, worshipping, talking about vision and values, and of course inviting our friends to everything we can! Over Christmas we had over seventy guests in our home, encouraging when you consider that we arrived knowing no-one just twelve months ago!
This year in the week leading up to Easter Sunday we are planning an outreach week with a great team from Mosaic Church, Leeds. We are really looking forward to getting out on to the streets and raising the profile of the church plant in the city. On the Saturday we will be inviting people to a meal and offering an Alpha course as one of several ways of staying in touch with us.
It would be great if you could pray for the success of this week, for the growth of the core team and for us to gather momentum in the months ahead.
If you know of anyone who has a heart for Germany or Berlin, please ask them to get in touch with us via nigeldutton@gmx.com. We’d love to hear from them. |
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