NEWS

Köln Church Plant

February 20, 2008

Seven hundred and fifty million people live in Europe, but less than 10% are regular church-goers. And almost half the nations of Europe have less than 1% evangelical Christians.

Daniel and Lori Goering are passionate about seeing those statistics change. They have been living in Europe and ministering as GCM missionaries since 1990. They spent more than 16 years in Dortmund, Germany, where they worked to plant a church and raise up national leaders to oversee it. During that time, a second church was planted in the city of Düsseldorf. Now, Daniel and Lori have moved to the city of Köln to help the young Great Commission church, led by Martin Bonnet.

Martin is a German national who met the Goerings while he was a student in Dortmund. “I got to know Daniel and the church in Dortmund, and I saw for the first time what it really meant to live out the Christian faith. So I joined the fellowship and was part of leading the campus work," he says. "When I finished my studies, I was faced with the decision of where to go. We saw that there were 100,000 students at various universities in Köln who needed to be reached, so I accepted a job there. Now we hope to really begin the church planting work we came here to do. That is why we see it as critical that a second leader, Daniel, is able to move here and join the work.” 

The suburb where the Goerings live, just outside of Köln, is one of the most spiritually needy cities in Germany. It is one of eight cities with a population of over 50,000 that has no free evangelical church. “We are on the cutting edge of planting a church in one of the most un-churched areas of Germany,” says Daniel.

The Köln church plant team has been engaging in student ministry, including regular outreach on campus, hosting English conversation groups, leading dorm Bible studies, and taking spiritual surveys. The English conversation group has been doing well. “There is a steady group of people coming, most of whom are unbelievers,” says Daniel. “Pray that many of them would come to know the Lord.”

The dorm Bible study is also growing.  It takes place in the largest dorm complex on campus where over 2,000 students live.  Martin Bonnet and Brandi Purcell have been leading the study in Brandi’s apartment.  Pray that they would soon multiply to the neighboring dorms. 

The Goerings have hosted gatherings like a Thanksgiving dinner, a Christmas gift exchange, and game/movie nights to get to know students better. They are also beginning to work with a student named Marina who wants to show films on campus as an evangelistic outreach. Marina was led to the Lord a few years ago when Daniel was taking spiritual interest surveys and had the opportunity to present the gospel to her.

God is moving actively through the Köln church plant. Please keep the team in your prayers, and pray for further spiritual fruit among unbelievers!