“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Last week we talked about how important it is for Christians to mature in their understanding of the Christian faith, as Peter encourages us: “But *grow* in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). “Sunday School” or “Bible class,” as is offered every week in many churches across the U.S., is largely unknown here Germany. This is very unfortunate because here even lifelong, faithful Lutherans are sometimes quite unfamiliar with the basics of Christian doctrine. We are trying to teach our Iranian Lutherans from the get-go that catechesis should be a part of the Christian life, second only to attending the weekly Divine Service. On the other hand, we have found it challenging to find a time and location for instruction that will include as many Persians as possible. Many of them work in the service industry—often on Sundays. For this reason, we are attempting something new: a 60-minute Zoom Bible class to be offered every other Friday evening. Our first class will be tonight at 6 PM, about the time many of you in the States might be reading this Facebook post. Our Zoom leadership team consists of the dear friends you can see here. From L to R: my Finnish missionary colleague Rev. Pasi Palmu, and Marta and Michael—a delightful young couple with a huge heart for ministry among their fellow Persians. I took this selfie a few days ago after we had met for a snack at a local hamburger place, run by Iranians. (Note the Golden Gate Bridge in the background). Please join me in praying that this class will be blessing to many—providing a new and accessible form of catechesis that will allow our new Christians to mature in their faith. Even more importantly, our *online* instruction will allow our Persian friends to invite anyone they want—even beyond Hamburg, even to Persians in other countries. The sky is literally the limit—even to the end of the earth.
The Tiews in Germany 