Road blocks

February has proven to be a long month for us spiritually. Normally, it is the coldest and snowiest, of the year. Add to the weather and we also are surrounded by the headonist festival of Fasching. This is simular to Carnival in the states. Every village in our area is decorated with old lundry strung across the main street. Everything is symbolic and dates back to before pre Christian times. The meaning of the laundry is to show that you can live a life of self indulgence in front of your neighbors and then make good with the coming of lent. Every year we hear stories about the wild living that Germans indulge in. The youth in our area dress up as witches and parade around in scary masks with giant bells on their legs. They always congregated in the town center on Sunday mornings. Where they go and what they do we still don't know. All I know is that the state churches have very little youth in their congregations because of many of their lifestyle choices.
Why do I share all of this, because for us living here in Germany, this month is also a major ministry time for BFA. Next week, we will host our 12th annual Candle light dinner. Purposely held in the middle of all this perverse living as a witness to our German neighbors showing that there is another option from their lifestyle. However, we have encountered a roadblock with many neigbors as we invited them to these evenings.
In the past five years, we only have been able to take one couple to this event. Every year we try to invite a neighbor that we have slowly gotten to know. Some of the excuses have been, "Well I would like to go, but my husband won't have anything to do with Church." OR more recently, our neighbor Andreas told us," We went one year, and just as they were sharing about Jesus the ground began to shake. We left right away and went home." That was several years ago and a small earthquake hit during the middle of one of the evenings. The good news is that both evenings are sold out so we know that the Lord has who he wants to attend. Pray for the neighbors around us, many are searching but pride and bad experiences keep them from a releationship with Christ.