Skip to content

Sivin Kit's Garden

Planting Seeds for a Better World

Menu
  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing
Menu

Ministry with the Helmreich Family & Nicodemuskirche

Posted on 8 November, 2006 by admin

it’s 5.28PM, Nov 7 … the sky is already dark and I’m supposed to be off for a women’s meeting (with supper!) leaving at 6:10PM. But I thought I’d quickly put a post before I go.

The focus would be on the weekend ministry I had at Nuremberg with a Pastor, his family and the congregation he’s part of.

I was picked up on Saturday by Rev. Gerhad Helmreich (Helmreich means Rich Helmet apparently) and a lay leader for Missions work Ursala and we had a evening drive back to his home at the suburbs of Nuremberg.

Elizabeth (Pastor Helmreich’s wife) welcomed us at the door and I was later also introduced to my translator for the Sunday service and meeting – David Helmreich (a good looking 28year old English/Geography major who will be a teacher after he finishes university).

After dinner which was noodles … we went to prepare for the LCD projector (they call it “beamer” here) and I was surprised to see a more “modern looking” church as compared to what I’ve seen in Germany thus far. This church was built in this century (which was a change *smile*). I was interested to get to know Robert who joined us later for the evening. He and Pastor Helmreich are planning to start a group for young adults (which is a missing group in the church). Most of the church attenders are senior citizens, and perhaps those more middle aged with their teenage children (who in this culture would be confirmation candidates). So, it was refreshing to hear about this effort to “reach new people” (esp. unchurched people – who might be nominal Christians).

So, it was nice to give a more “private” viewing of some video clips to Robert and the Helmreich family, and had some good conversations. Pastor Helmreich with his smile was always affirming and encouraging. Based on our conversations and input from Robert. I get the impression that Germany is “hard” ground when it comes to living Christian faith. My mind couldn’t help but think of what Lesslie Newbigin who prophetically highlighted when he returned from India to UK how hard it is to communicate the Gospel in more “post-Christian” Europe. It’s heartening for me to feel it more as I get in touch with people serious about sharing and living the Christian faith in Germany for example.


[Evening Worship at Nuremberg Video]
The evening ended with a beautiful (unexpected) time of worship with Rev. Helmreich leading us to sing “Father, I adore you”. I REALLY valued this because it closed our evening with a sense of the sacred and a moment of peaceful prayer. The weather may have been cold outside, but I was delighted to be in a household of warm faith.

The next morning I slipped into the white robes and put on the green stole (provided by the Missionswerk) and stepped into the service at Nikodemuskirche Nürnberg ready to share a message entitled “Love your neighbor, Love your enemies” based on Matthew 5:38-48. I realized the service wasn’t following strictly the normal Lutheran liturgy (which was another unexpected surprise). And I felt the general atmosphere to be open especially as I shared (with David translating excellently – that’s what his mother said!). I later gave them a short appetizer for the meeting after the service where I shared our BLC story and lessons I’ve learnt living and serving as Christian (and a pastor) in Malaysia.


[Worship at Nikodemuskirche Nürnberg Video]

I was surprised a third time to see many people stay back (for German standards it’s quite good to have 20-30people stay on after service). We had a great time especially during some Q & A sessions where they asked about life in Malaysia, reaching younger people, relations with people of other faiths, etc. So, I felt the weekend went very well … and some of my fears about whether I could relate were dispelled.

For me personally, the time with the Helmreich family and people like Ursala and Robert were precious. It’s like the Spirit is blowing life into the German church through people like them. And I just wanted to encourage them to persevere and not give up in spite of the challenges from all areas whether it’s church institutional structures or the already secular and increasingly post-Christian or irreligious climate of German culture. This hope is not based on anything else but the promise of Jesus to be with us and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.

A special time I had was with David, and interaction with him gave me insights into what young people like him are looking for in the Christian faith and the Church as a whole. While it’s hard for younger people to relate to the church, it doesn’t mean they are not interested in genuine faith and spirituality. David has been to Taize for example. The question remains for the church in Germany how will they face such challenges. And I think it’s important for the worldwide Christians to continue supporting them in whatever way possible. There’s more I’d like to say but it’s 6:08PM and I’m off to another meeting …

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Sivin Kit’s Adventures …
  • Moved to Medium
  • The End | The Beginning
  • I Will be Back …
  • It’s Been a While …

Recent Comments

  • Sivin Kit on Project 365: A photo a day for 2010 – Pilot
  • Malaysia: Government Vows to Review Web Censorship Law After Protest · Global Voices on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • List of Participants in Internet Blackout Day! « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • Join Us and Support Internet Blackout Day « #Stop114A on STOP 114A: INTERNET BLACKOUT DAY
  • JB on Imagining My PhD Journey

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

CALENDAR

November 2006
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
27282930  
« Oct   Dec »
  • Academics
  • Bangsar Lutheran Church
  • Beyond
  • Bible
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • Christian Year – Lent
  • Church
  • Conversations
  • Emergent/Emerging Churches
  • Events
  • Family
  • Five Sentences
  • Friends in Conversation
  • Fun stuff
  • Gracious Christianity
  • Ideas
  • Images
  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Lists
  • Lutheran
  • Lutheran Church in Malaysia & Singapore
  • Malaysia
  • Meditation
  • Micah Mandate
  • Mission
  • Movies
  • Music
  • New Stuff
  • Norway
  • Norwegian Notes
  • Personal
  • Philosophy
  • Podcast
  • Preaching
  • Prezi
  • Project 365
  • Random Links
  • Random Thoughts
  • Random Tweets
  • Random Utterances
  • Religion
  • Resources
  • RoH Malaysia
  • Second Thoughts
  • Seven Series
  • Simple Steps
  • Spirituality
  • Technology
  • Theology
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • World
  • Worship
  • Writing

Archives

  • November 2023
  • November 2020
  • November 2014
  • April 2014
  • February 2014
  • April 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003
  • September 2003
  • August 2003
  • July 2003
  • June 2003
  • May 2003
  • April 2003
  • February 2003
  • August 2002

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Pages

  • About
  • Church
  • Disclaimer
  • Education
  • Writing

Social Media

© 2025 Sivin Kit's Garden | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme