I arrived in Germany March 21. Later I would be met by two different churches from outside of Tampa, Florida. These two churches came to help the church outside of Stuttgart clear some land that the church has recently purchased. However, upon arriving their plans were changed, as the City of Stuttgart (which over sees the area) cleared the land for the church for free (about a 3000 Euro job). There were still some things that needed to be done on the property that we were able to accomplish within 2 days. One of which was leveling a patch of land. This was also done by God's grace. Next to the Community Center where the church currently meets, there is a new apartment complex being built. The building manager came by and asked if he could be of any service. So he brought his big equipment and moved dirt around to level the land for us, again about a 1,000 Euro job. Through all this people in the community stopped to ask what was being done and we were able to share about the church and most importantly share about the Gospel.
There were more things to be done. The church outside of Stuttgart held a gathering for Teens in the community on Thursday and God brought the largest amount of teens the church has had in this type of setting. During this event, some of the Florida group shared about why they would take time out of their life to come to Germany. It is awesome, because any time something like this happens the teens (who are normally talking, running around, and being distracted by whatever it may) sit quietly and listen as the Americans share about how God brought them to Germany and that they came because God loves them and they want to share that love with them. On Wednesday, I was able to go with 3 other members from the Florida group to the Church in Sindelfingen and meet with some other teenagers who are taking English in school. There were about 10 kids from the class show up. One of the Florida team members invited some of the girls from the English class to the Thursday night events and they came. This same team member invited them to Church on Sunday morning and they came.
After talking to some of the Church Leaders, they believe that this is a great step for these students. We pray that the seed of the Gospel will continue to be planted into the lives of these young students and that God will bring them to Him.
My time in Germany this trip is not over. I still have a few days to go and they are going by quickly. Please continue to pray over the next few days that God's will be done through me while I am here to serve Him.
Thank you for your continued prayers!
Tyler A. Bowman
