{"id":1342,"date":"2016-01-04T15:09:43","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T20:09:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/worldmission\/?p=1342"},"modified":"2016-01-04T15:09:43","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T20:09:43","slug":"imagine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/2016\/01\/04\/imagine\/","title":{"rendered":"Imagine."},"content":{"rendered":"

“…our imagination for sin and disaster is much stronger than our imagination for God\u2019s reconciling love and holiness. We are still taking our cues from the old age, not the new. The moral failure story triumphs over the transformation now available in the death and resurrection of Christ.”
\n-Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life<\/i><\/p>\n

Our imaginations are the most powerful part of our created\u00a0beings. Every animal has a brain and senses to experience the world. But only human beings have the ability to imagine.\u00a0We are created in God’s image and He has given us imaginative and creative power that reflects His.<\/p>\n

Before we arrived in Germany, we didn’t know any refugees personally. We saw the news stories in the U.S. which often prompt fear and mistrust toward entire\u00a0people groups.\u00a0Now that we are living in Pinneberg\u00a0and have\u00a0relationships\u00a0with refugees, we are forming a\u00a0different perspective. We thought you would enjoy reading about our\u00a0perspective.<\/p>\n

This may sound strange, but the first thing that surprised us about refugees is that they are\u00a0people. \u00a0<\/i>Just like you and me.\u00a0The media has such a clever way of stripping humanity from entire people groups.\u00a0<\/i>The refugees we know are smart, funny, stylish, educated and many, even\u00a0wealthy. One thing we’ve learned is that it costs around $10,000 for a family of 4 to make the difficult journey from the mid east to Western Europe. Only the\u00a0wealthy and educated have the ability to not only imagine a better life in another country; but see the\u00a0plan through to fruition.<\/p>\n

We are also surprised by the joy and gratitude demonstrated by refugees. Yes, many\u00a0have seen and experienced horrific things which\u00a0will take a lifetime to heal.\u00a0They miss home dearly and would not have chosen to come to Germany under different circumstances. But each person is\u00a0so grateful to have shelter, safety, food and education\u00a0for their children.<\/p>\n

Another surprise to us has been the state church or Landeskirche<\/i>. The state\u00a0church in Pinneberg\u00a0has been the first to greet our friends and provide for their basic needs.\u00a0We are watching and learning from the movement of the\u00a0church, and want to cooperate with these\u00a0efforts.\u00a0We arrived in Germany at a unique time when millions of people who do not know Christ are moving here. All are fed up with the violence they have seen and\u00a0experienced\u00a0in the\u00a0name of radical Islam.<\/p>\n

Finally, we are touched by the tender heart of Germans toward refugees. On New Year’s Eve, it is legal and customary for every street to be lined with full blown\u00a0fireworks. (As I sat in our apartment last night, I\u00a0was frankly a bit terrified that our home would\u00a0catch fire!) But the German\u00a0government\u00a0banned all fireworks at refugee housing\u00a0facilities. Why? Because they wanted to protect them from being re-traumatized by the sound of explosives.<\/p>\n

Can you imagine what would happen if refugees experienced Christ’s\u00a0gospel of love and peace instead of a message of fear and rejection?\u00a0God has the power to\u00a0shepherd, heal and give abundant life to all who call on His name. Let’s\u00a0imagine together what God can do in and through each of us to advance His kingdom of peace.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Used with permission from Covenant Missionaries Phillip and Stephanie Voland<\/a> serving in Germany.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“…our imagination for sin and disaster is much stronger than our imagination for God\u2019s reconciling love and holiness. We are still taking our cues from the old age, not the new. The moral failure story triumphs over the transformation now available in the death and resurrection of Christ.” -Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life Our imaginations are the most powerful part of our created\u00a0beings. Every animal has a brain and senses to experience the world. But only human beings have the ability to imagine.\u00a0We are created in God’s image and He has given us imaginative and creative power that reflects His. Before we arrived in Germany, we didn’t know any refugees personally. We saw the news stories in the U.S. which often prompt fear and mistrust toward entire\u00a0people groups.\u00a0Now that we are living in Pinneberg\u00a0and have\u00a0relationships\u00a0with refugees, we are forming a\u00a0different perspective. We thought you would enjoy reading about our\u00a0perspective. This may sound strange, but the first thing that surprised us about refugees is that they are\u00a0people. \u00a0Just like you and me.\u00a0The media has such a clever way of stripping humanity from entire people groups.\u00a0The refugees we know are smart, funny, stylish, educated and many, even\u00a0wealthy. One thing we’ve learned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nImagine. - Serve Globally Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/serveglobally\/2016\/01\/04\/imagine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Imagine. - Serve Globally Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“…our imagination for sin and disaster is much stronger than our imagination for God\u2019s reconciling love and holiness. We are still taking our cues from the old age, not the new. The moral failure story triumphs over the transformation now available in the death and resurrection of Christ.” -Barbara Brown Taylor, The Preaching Life Our imaginations are the most powerful part of our created\u00a0beings. Every animal has a brain and senses to experience the world. But only human beings have the ability to imagine.\u00a0We are created in God’s image and He has given us imaginative and creative power that reflects His. Before we arrived in Germany, we didn’t know any refugees personally. We saw the news stories in the U.S. which often prompt fear and mistrust toward entire\u00a0people groups.\u00a0Now that we are living in Pinneberg\u00a0and have\u00a0relationships\u00a0with refugees, we are forming a\u00a0different perspective. We thought you would enjoy reading about our\u00a0perspective. 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