Summer 2025
April Showers bring May Flowers
April showers bring May flowers. We're all probably quite familiar with the saying. And while it is not currently April, May, or even any time during the spring, it feels like this fits our life here in Berlin at the moment. As I write, we are currently in our third straight week of rain. Like during the winter time, it feels like the sun is a distant relative, only popping in once in a while to remind us that yes, it does in fact still exist even if we don't get to enjoy their presence every day. What this has meant for us has been oddly a similar experience when it has come to our life rhythms and ministry. We have had a sort of small seasonal winter of pausing and reevaluating as we prepare and wait for the time to get back into the field and put our hands back into the soil of ministry. We have received this time from the Lord as we look forward and plan for this next month when we will anticipate the beautiful flowers and fruit to start popping their heads out after the rain as we restart and reengage with people after a short summer break.
Over the past couple of months we have had the joy of seeing the wheels of ministry turn again. It has been a long time coming, but we finally experienced the joy of welcoming people into our new space, inviting people into community, sitting and loving others both in pouring into their lives as well as praying with and calling into deeper trust and relationship with God. Things have most definitely not been simple, easy, or as to scale as we dream they will be, but we have started to see the small steps and growth that are the baby steps of what we trust the Lord has planned.
We have started with two small official programs at our new Oasis center, focusing on trying to help those wanting to practice their English as well as a board game night. In addition, we were able to do some test runs for a women's "paint and pour" casual art and connection time, as well as a cooking event to draw people in who like to cook (and those of us who enjoy eating what is cooked!). We have seen success and areas that need growth and adjustments, but we remain steadfast in trusting in the Lord to build his ministry here and trusting that our faithfulness will allow us to be present for the people that he brings us. We have enjoyed meeting and connecting with those in our community around us, and are working hard to try and establish ourselves as a known quantity here and to cultivate a true Christ centered community for the people God has called us to. We have seen small sparks that have yet to catch flame and we continue to pray and ask the Lord to make something stick more substantially. We still have not had any of our contacts commit to anything more than passing engagement, but we keep praying.
Seeds of community at Oasis
A good first art gathering, with coffee and good conversations.
Learning how to make an authentic Saudi Kabsah.
Our first Easter service at Oasis!
Somehow we pulled it off in 3 different languages, Arabic, German and English.
In the midst of all of this work, we have also had the blessing of reconnecting with a couple of individuals that we ministered to our previous term. Each of them are individuals that came to faith at some point in our last term, and we have started meeting regularly again to open the word, pray, and encourage one another. This has been a huge point of encouragement for us, as we dream of these kinds of things happening more frequently and with more people! But for now, we celebrate the small things, as we wait for God's work to develop and to see who else he places in our lives. It has been a joy to dive into the word of God and work through it together in community, seeking together God's will for us in our lives. It has been such a refreshment after such a long season of preparation and anticipation.
Of all these friends we've journeyed with is someone who you may have heard us previously share about. "Adam" has had an amazing journey of encountering Jesus and walking with him through many difficult scenarios. Unfortunately, he is faced with yet another seemingly unsurmountable challenge that we would like to ask your prayer for. As you probably know, the immigration situation around the world is becoming increasingly difficult for so many, and right now that is impacting our friend Adam and his family. Thankfully, he himself has received his permanent residence here, but as of right now his adult son has had his last appeal denied and is set to be deported back to Iraq. This is no easy thing, because of the situation of why they left. Adam is wanted by his tribe and has already received texts from the people seeking his life back home, informing him that they are aware of his son's imminent deportation back there, and they will be waiting for him to kill and burn him, since they aren't able to reach him here in Germany. This is obviously extremely difficult for Adam and his family as they seek any last resort to be able to keep his son here. We would like you to join with us as we pray and ask God to do a miracle and open a way for Adam's son to get a stay on his deportation, or for some other way to open up to keep him safe.
The Steinerts
As for our family, the girls are doing great. It is such a joy to wake up and do family together as we watch them grow, mature, discover, and overflow our hearts as they learn and discover this wonderful world we share together. Rhoda has finally moved out of her language learning season as she officially passed her big German test and is cleared to do "fulltime" ministry now as she drops the language classes from her schedule. Her citizenship process is still underway, and continues to take longer than we had expected. She still needs to get her date to fly back to the US to take her citizenship exam. We expect to hear back any day now when that appointment will be, but we are also trying to be prepared in case it takes an additional 4+ months to hear back from them like the last time. Please continue to pray for us about this, that she will receive her date, be able to fly back and pass it. As for Aaron, he has been very busy trying to finish the remaining things that need worked on at the center, as well as attempting to develop relationships with new people as we seek to build our network of contacts and ministry partners.
In addition to the work, we had the joy of being able to be present at Rhoda's sister's wedding in the south of Germany last month, and then spending a couple weeks with Rhoda's parents here in Berlin afterwards. It was a good time of seeing family, celebrating new family dynamics, and cherishing a rare opportunity to all be together and everything that comes with that.
Prayer
As we look forward, we are excited about the year ahead, and would appreciate your joining us in prayer for.
1, New contacts. We understand that the whole purpose of all that we do is to bring the gospel to those who do not yet know. For us that starts with meeting new people, specifically in our local community, that we will be able to be salt and light to. Pray that the Lord will open doors and that we will have meaningful connections with new people around us.
2. Our Programs: We will be continuing to rework or develop new programs we can offer at our center, and we need prayer that God will bring not just people, but people that will be open to deeper relationship and spiritual conversations. We are not just wanting to run activities that are successful; we want to have programs that connect us meaningfully with seeking Arabs. We try to be faithful in this by having programs that are interesting and engaging, but really need the Lord's wisdom as we plan and execute these programs, and for people to show up.
3. Rhoda's naturalization process is still a huge prayer need for us. She has multiple trips remaining to finish the process, including her big interview which will ultimately be the deciding point in which they will approve her or not. Please pray things will go smoothly from here on out!
Thank you for joining with us in prayer!
Ways to Give - If you would like to partner with us further in bringing the gospel to the refugees in Germany, you may give in a tax deductible way using the following::
Give Online:
- go to www.cmalliance.org/give
Under "Gift Type," choose “a worker you love”. Type in “[Aaron and Rhoda Steinert]” and hit enter. Fill out the following page and click "Submit" at the bottom.
*Note: Our names won't appear because of the type of work that we do
Give via Mail:
- If you prefer to send a check, you can make it payable to “The C&MA” with “Aaron and Rhoda Steinert” in the memo line and send it to:
The Christian and Missionary Alliance
Office of Donor Accounting
One Alliance Place
Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
Again, thank you so much for your all your love and support. You have been such a blessing to us, and it has been such encouragement knowing that you are behind us as we pursue this next chapter in God's mission for our lives.
Thank you, and may God bless you with all the love and richness that he is capable of.
Aaron & Rhoda
