Copy
View this email in your browser
The Oasis staff gathered round for some special Christmas treats this Tuesday.

Discipling the two refugees we baptized in August

In our update from the end of summer, I shared the testimonies of the two refugees we baptized, Saeid and Ahmed (not their real names). Thankfully, I have been able to start a discipleship course with them since then, called "Come, Follow Me," based on 1 Peter. The course was written with Muslim background believers in mind, so it is really good for these two guys. We are meeting every Wednesday morning for a couple of hours. Recently I asked them what changes they notice in their hearts since they came to know Jesus. Their responses were quite honest and real: Saeid replied by saying, "before, I used to have so much fear, stress, and worry. Now, I have peace." And Ahmed replied with "earlier, I used to hate everyone. Now, I only hate my uncle." Of course I encouraged him to pray for his uncle and forgive him. Based on all that he told me about his life, however, it is clear that he has already come a long way. Both of these young men are from Iran, but their asylum cases for Austria have been fully approved, so they are now in the big stage of transition to look for work and get themselves truly settled here in Austria. As for me, it is deeply meaningful to have this opportunity to encourage them in the long-term. Now, I am getting to minister to refugees in both ways: weekly at The Oasis to refugees who are hearing about Jesus for maybe the first time, and to Saeid and Ahmed who are relatively new believers and excited about being discipled. Should any of you have former Muslims in your church, you might consider using this book in discipling them: the website is https://come-follow-me.org/

Evelyn (5) happily playing in the snow, and Oliver (4) being cheeky on the train.

A Sikh being pursued by God 

On a recent Wednesday evening at The Oasis, when we have a weekly Bible teaching/Gospel message, I got to meet "Dil" from India. His speaks English proficiently, and is a bright young man. But before things even got underway, we had our usual short staff prayer meeting, and among other things, we prayed for God´s help on the "mini outreach" we do at 7 pm, going for a walk to the entrance of the refugee camp to pass out invitations to The Oasis and talk to people. We prayed that some would accept the invitation straight-away, and join us spontaneously for the Bible teaching... and that is exactly what happened with Dil and his friend! We met them on the sidewalk near the refugee camp, and then they showed up at The Oasis just a short while later. It seemed like they listened intently to the Bible teaching, which was from Isaiah 53. Afterwards, I asked if they would like to keep a copy of the New Testament, but they declined, saying, "no thank you, because this is a holy book, and I respect it. But the refugee building is dirty, and I could not bring this book there." That was a new one to me! I had never heard that reply before. I said okay, because I did not want to push them to do something they felt uncomfortable about, since it seemed like they felt the dirty environment would defile the Bible. So, I asked if they had any questions, and this led to a 45-minute conversation about the truth! And as it turns out, Dil had been an Erasmus student abroad in the country of Latvia a few years ago, and he attended an international Christian Bible study for a whole semester there! The most poignant question he asked was about eternity, "I do not think all of this about heaven and hell is really true. What do you think? What does the Bible say?" He listened intently as I explained that both are a reality and that Jesus is the way to heaven, and he seemed to really take it all in. My impression was that he was deeply pondering what the Bible says (I never could tell how much English his friend understood, but hopefully something!). It was only as we were leaving that someone asked about this unique, but very simple metal bracelet around his wrist. He explained that it is part of his Sikh religion, made of iron and and always meant to be worn (and yet he did remove it for a moment, to show it to us, saying how weird it felt to take it off, as he had not done so in years). And although he did not feel right about taking the New Testament with him to the camp, he did accept the book of John in English and a tract, which his friend also accepted (in his first language, Punjabi). It was so clear that this young man, just 25 years old, is being pursued by the Lord, who is reaching out to him with His truth, love, and grace. Say a prayer for Dil to read John and to keep seeking the Truth.         
There are also some moments at The Oasis that are so very touching, like on a recent evening when I asked one Iranian father how old his daughter is... in his super simple German, he said, "today, birthday, 4!" As the Question-and-Answer time was already underway, I asked a fellow team member, Stephanie, if we had anything we could do for her birthday, and sure enough she was able to find two nice little stuffed animals for her, some bubble mixture, and I just happened to have a chocolate bar I could add in. Our Farsi translator then led the whole 20+ person group in singing Happy Birthday to her in Farsi, and she was so taken aback by all the attention that at first she cried a little, but very soon she was smiling so big and was so happy with the little gifts. Her Mom & Dad, followers of Jesus, were of course also very happy about it (and they have another little one on the way!).  

Pray for Tanja, and a family update  

Pray for Tanya to hear from the Lord. A friend from church here, Mary, is the caregiver for Tanja, who has brain cancer. It has been a long ordeal, and it is now to the point where they have stopped her cancer treatments, and so aside from a miracle healing, it is just a matter of time. She is only 44 years old, and she and her husband have two children. I especially ask for prayer because she is (so far) not a believer. Mary has been discussing Jesus with her, but she remains opposed to Him. Pray that the Lord might graciously speak to her through a dream, vision, or healing. Sadly, her 7-year old recently told Mary, "there is no God." Pray for this family in crisis.
As for our family, all is well, and Michi's mom is now receiving physical therapy to help her fully recover from the stroke she had in the summer (fine motor skills were effected). Our children, Evelyn and Oliver, are very excited about Christmas. But back in NJ, my sister and her husband (Kristin & Peter) just found out that the house they are living in will be sold asap, so please pray that the Lord will guide their apartment search in northern NJ so that they can move by the deadline of May 1st. We wish you all a Merry Christmas, Ken & Michi Meyer
p.s. please keep praying for "Rasheed," a Muslim refugee who faithfully attends our church since one year ago. He does continue to show signs of interest and a desire to learn and understand more, but he just doesn't see the need for repentance. He is still trying to do enough good works to earn his way to heaven.  

Copyright © 2018 Calvary Chapel Vienna, All rights reserved.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp