This week’s country focus shifts to Western Europe. Germany is a country with a rich history, and like much of Europe, is a country whose religious leanings are now only a memory of what once was. According to Operation World, while 70% of the people in Germany would claim to be Christians, only 45% believe in a God who is personal, and only 8% actually worship the Savior they claim. Because of this exodus from orthodox Christianity, to be a sold-out Christian means facing hostility from your countrymen. While there were once many church buildings filled with Germans, these are now only empty edifices. In many ways, Germany is very hard soil to penetrate.
The thing that fascinates me about Germany is its familiarity. It’s easy to look at Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and even Haiti, and see it as so “other.” The culture is so different than mine. The people look different than me. Their gods and religions are so different than what I am used to. But Western Europe isn’t that way. They have empty churches just like we do. They fight many of the same cultural battles that we fight. In reality the god of this age blinds the eyes of the Germans in the same way he does the Saudi’s and the Turks—and the Americans. It just manifests differently. The cultural differences in each country are a reminder to me to know them all, and not lump them all into the “lost and need Jesus” category. They each have desires. They each have sin tendencies. They each have a deep and cavernous void that desperately needs to be filled by King Jesus.
Ways to pray:
- Pray that God would soften the hearts of stone in the lives of many Germans.
- Pray that believers would feel compelled to disciple fellow Germans and proclaim the Gospel.
- Pray that the existing church would be strengthened and that the forces of darkness would be taken out.
- Pray that Christians in other countries would go and plant churches in Germany and evangelize the German people.