So how did Every Nation Kirche Berlin start? It is essentially a story that begins and ends with God, therefore it reads a bit like an adventure story – so please read on! Gareth Lowe was the pastor of a church (His People) in a small town in South Africa called Grahamstown for many years, together with his wife, Taryn. It was there, in 1997, that Gareth and Taryn first felt that God was calling them to plant a church in Germany. From then on, that call developed and grew, as did the Lowes’ love for the German people, and the call was also confirmed by many prophetic words.
God’s call to plant a church in Germany has been confirmed many times over. The call was strengthened when Gareth read a prophecy in March 1998 that Jim Laffoon declared over His People Ministries in Cape Town. The prophecy stated: “There is a call on His People to reform the reformation countries.” And then went on to say:
There is a calling on His People Ministries to go into areas of the world where there has been no harvest for centuries. The Spirit of the Lord would say unto thee, “My son, in this hour I am calling you and this ministry, even to areas of the world where many have said, ‘we have worked all night and caught nothing; we have worked year after year after year and there has been no harvest’, and as long as you allow Me aboard to lead this ministry, I will open up the hardest areas of the world to you. For I WILL BURN LIKE A FLAME IN GERMANY. I will burn like a flame in Austria. I will burn like a flame in nations where I was once known. And I would say unto thee, ‘My son, have I not given you a mandate to go to the hard places? Have I not given you a mandate to go to the fished over places? Have I not given you a mandate to go where others have given up? I am going to use this ministry to go to historic Christian nations, where there has been no harvest for years, and reopen the harvest for My Name’s sake’ says the Lord.
The burden for Germany continued growing in their hearts until May 2002 when prophetess Val McLelland visited His People Grahamstown for the first time. Gareth and Taryn were seeking the Lord about where they should plant a church at the time and Val knew absolutely nothing about them or the church. This is an excerpt from her prophecy over Gareth:
The Lord says, “Son at the right time and in the right season I’m going to open up Europe, to you. Where I’m going to thrust you forward into Europe and I’m going to cause you to travel into Europe, at the right time and the right season to train up leadership” says God. The Lord says son, “WITHIN SIX YEARS, I AM GOING TO RELEASE YOU, TO PLANT, ANOTHER CHURCH AT THE RIGHT TIME. But as you establish that church you are going to travel into Europe. I’m going to open up Europe for you” says God “and I am going to raise you up with a blueprint for the church.” The Lord says, “Son I am going to use you very powerfully with the GERMAN CULTURE. With the GERMAN CULTURE...”
The prophecy was given on the 14th of May 2002 and said that within six years Gareth would be released to plant. Six years from that date was May 2008 and Gareth and Taryn arrived in Berlin on December 12, 2007, fulfilling the first part of the prophecy.
The day after Gareth received the prophecy about church planting in Germany, he was praying for Germany in his office. As he was praying for Germany his eye fell on a TIME magazine that he had just received but not read (May 6, 2002). The subtitle said, ‘Germany’s School Massacre’ and he felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to read it. He turned to it and read the account of how a German student aged 19 had shot 12 teachers, 2 students, 1 school administrator and 1 policeman, in Erfurt, Germany, before turning the gun on himself. Some students had fled to the top floor of the school block and written on a large banner ‘Hilfe’ (‘Help’), and stuck it in the window. As he saw it he felt the youth of Germany were sending out a call for help for him to come and help them. He later learnt that Erfurt is in the province of Thuringia which is known as ‘the heart of the republic.’ It was as though the heart of Germany was crying out for help.
Gareth had already visited Berlin by himself in 2004, and in 2006 he travelled there again on a scouting trip together with Taryn and their two children, Joseph and Jenna. What Gareth did not know is that the timing of this trip coincided with a huge worship and prayer event, namely “Calling All Nations”. This event had been planned for years, and was held at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium. So Gareth and his family arrived at the same time as thousands of people from different nations to worship God – in Berlin, Germany!
Not only was the stadium event an extremely powerful moment for Gareth but an interesting God-incidence happened. Noel Richards, who organised the event, told the story of how Adolf Hitler had a massive bronze bell made for the 1936 Olympic Games hosted in Berlin. On it he had engraved, ‘I summon the youth of the world’ next to a Nazi swastika. During WWII the place where the bell was kept was bombed, and it fell and cracked through the swastika. The bell is now kept on the outside of the Olympic Stadium and rests on the ground. Right after the stadium event Gareth took a chance and tried to find a friend he had made on his 2004 trip – not likely, given that there were 20 000 people in attendance. And where should Gareth find his friend – a physics lecturer at the Technical University in Berlin – but right next to the bell summoning the youth of the world!
After agonising in prayer and deliberation for several months over whether the call was to Berlin or Munich, Gareth and Taryn finally settled on Berlin as the city God was calling them to plant in. Firstly, Berlin is more open spiritually, has greater national and international influence (it is the capital city), is more open to non-Germans, and is cheaper to live in. Secondly, God seemed to orchestrate events providentially in Berlin such as the ‘Calling All Nations’ event and a great deal of contacts and relationships have formed. Thirdly, apostolic and pastoral advisors counselled in favour of Berlin. Fourthly, Taryn and a few others had prophetic leanings towards Berlin. Two girls, both with German ancestry, came to Gareth while he was seeking the Lord about which city to plant in and said that while in prayer they felt impressed that Berlin was the city he should plant in. One of them said, “I keep getting Berlin.” And so it was that they settled on Berlin.
So there was the call, the confirmations, and then there was action! Having accepted the call of God to plant a church in Berlin, preparations were made to relocate to Germany. Gareth handed over the leadership of His People Grahamstown. And a team of young people, mostly from His People Grahamstown, who had also individually felt that God was calling them to be a part of the church plant, also started making preparations for the adventurous move.
On December 12, 2007, the Lowe family arrived in Berlin on a cold winter morning - with Taryn five months pregnant! On their very first night they were welcomed by a German cell group at Dr. Hanri Vogelzang’s apartment, where they initially stayed. The rest of the team (consisting of about fifteen people) arrived as jobs and visas became available.
On September 5th 2009 we launched our first Gottesdienst (church service), and as increasingly more people started to come we added a second Gottesdienst on November 20th 2010. Our Gottesdienste are now taking place at Heinrich-Roller-Str. 13 in Prenzlauerberg on Saturdays at 17h00 and 19h30. We invite you to join us as we live out the next chapter in this exciting adventure with God!