News from the Mathiesons -> Journal

Reach The City (2003) report

In July, Chris took part in this week of training and outreach. I include the report of the week. Should you be interested in knowing more about the subsequent campaigns in Poland and Romania, don't hesitate to ask me or Stefan Höfler: stefan.hoefler@oaci.org Stefan wrote this report.

“God’s Word – Into the heart of life!”

Vienna, July 7 to 11

"This is the best week of the whole year!' (statement from Wayne Detzler, teacher at Bible colleges and pastor)

Gruess Gott / Great Scott!

Gruess Gott / Great Scott!

It truly was a great week. This year we had the largest group ever at REACH THE CITY. There were 107 participants in the seminars and even more at the outreaches. It was wonderful to see how well everybody worked together for the common cause. During 4 evenings we had 3 teams in the city centre sharing the gospel with puppets, dance, mime, music, illustrations, sketchboard and in individual conversations. During the summer there are lots of street artists 'competing' for the interest of the crowds. Some of them have to wait in line to get a spot for their presentation. But we actually never had to wait. It was incredible how the Lord always went ahead of us and provided the space we needed. The weather was also perfect.

This year we wanted to have a stronger focus on teaching participants how to effectively share the gospel in 1-to-1 conversations. Rafaat (converted Muslim, now leader of a Arab church in Vienna), Dr. Wayne and Margarete Detzler were helping us to get a better understanding of Muslims. It seems like there is a growing influence of Islam in Europe. Already now Muslims are the second largest religious group in Austria and have more members than the Lutheran church.

One of the highlights was having Ben Heppner (one of the top Tenors in the world) singing 'Amazing Grace' and giving his testimony right opposite the cathedral. He attracted huge crowds and helped to give our programme a excellent profile.

It was wonderful to see how the participants were able to put into practice what they had learned during the week. For them it was a big boost in their walk with the Lord and a stretch of their faith. Micha was one of them. He trusted the Lord last year at REACH THE CITY in Poland. This year he participated for 3 weeks (Vienna and Poland) and was a great help. For the first time he preached on the street in Vienna and is raring to continue in using his new skills.

What did {you} think of it?
Vienna proves to be just the right location for this kind of training. Located in the centre of Europe it makes it fairly easy for people from Europe and the rest of the world to come here. More and more Austrians speak very good English which makes it easy to have an international programme. There are loads of good places where you can do open air ministry and actually have lots of people stop and listen to you. And there are now a number of churches who see that open air ministry plays an essential part in reaching a large number of people with the gospel.

A big 'Thank you' goes to the organizing team: Stefan Höfler (OAC Austria), Al Nucciarone (Pastor of Grace Church), Hartmut Freischlad (BAO, church in Baden), Laura Hansen (UFM), Matthias Wilcke (Kontaktmission), Björn Korf (Kontaktmission, Grace Church), Lutz Röhlke (Grace Church), Andreas Wiesinger (church in Floridsdorf) and Christoph Wiesinger (church in Floridsdorf)

List of teachers Korky + Anni Davey (OAC GB), Wayne + Margarete Detzler (UWM), Stefan Höfler and Martin Podobri (OAC Austria), Paul Adams (OAC USA), Hartmut Freischlad (BAO), Björn Korf (Kontaktmission), Andreas Wiesinger, Chris Mathieson (OAC), Al Nucciarone (UFM, Grace Church), Rafaat, Paul + Julie Wakefield (OAC Rumania), Dave Knight, Chip + Lidia Popa, Trajan Opruta (OAC Rumania), Chai-Ying Lin

STATISTICS Local participants: over 35 participants living in Austria Total number of team: 107 participants from 11 countries, and about 40 local believers came only to the street People reached: 3 300 Conversions and contacts: about 20 conversions, many contacts, still lots of work in follow up

Reach The City 2004

If you are interested in joining the team in the 2004 outreach, the information is at this site.
© pray4spain 2003 - 2008