OCTOBER UPDATE FROM ALLERHEILIGEN : BAND OF FOLLOWERS

It has been a month since the new worship ministry officially commenced its one-year project on 17th September and I want to take this modest milestone as a platform to share with you our journey so far. And yes, we have finally decided upon our name, which is Band of Followers, an ICPE Worship Ministry. \o/\o/\o/\o/\o/\o/\o/

The Lord is calling us to go beyond what we know for He has much more to reveal to us, just as He revealed Himself to Moses in the burning bush and gave him his mission after Moses had taken his flock to the far side of the desert. His word spoken through a member of our community has greatly encouraged us as we began our life together as a fledgling ministry. On various levels, we have been and are being challenged to go beyond our comfort zones, and the promise that God will reveal Himself to us and lead us every step of the way continues to encourage us to go forward, seeking His glory. Jesus is calling us to come to Him, to cross the suspension bridges ( a very real image for some of us in the team!) of our fears and lack of trust, to enjoy the feast prepared for us and to seek Him in the midst of questions and not knowing - we see the golden thread of God's word to us and continue to glorify Him and give Him thanks!

To put it in a nutshell, the aim of the worship ministry is to use the gift of music to glorify God. We seek to promote the celebration of Jesus' presence in our lives, and in our Church and its liturgy especially the Eucharist, and to encourage especially the future generation of Catholics in their expression of love and worship of their Saviour.

So what have we been up to?
We've spent the past month praying together,sharing faith stories, clarifying practical things like protocols for practices, going through and shortlisting songs we want to focus on (both English and German), planning for the next couple of months, brainstorming the name for the ministry as well as fund-raising ideas, working on some new songs and practising for the weekly Sunday worship as well as the upcoming outreaches.

One big blessing I am very grateful for has been to find the members of the team clicking very well with one another. We are quite different in our personalities and backgrounds! :-) Therefore, what's especially significant for us is that in our times of worship as a team, we always experience the presence of God in our midst, uniting us and bringing us back to the heart of why each of us are here, which is to worship Him and love Him with all that we are, and as one body! \0/

Finally, here's sharing with you the schedule of upcoming events which we will be involved in:

October 21, Freiburg
- a 2 hour programme during the Open Church Day of the parish.

October 24-26, Allerheiligen
- live-in seminar with 5 youth from Leipzig. Contact person is Klemens Saket.

October 27-November 5, Berlin
- supporting the outreach planned by the youth work of the charismatic renewal of Germany which includes intercession, outreach to local groups of Berlin and possibly schools.

November 6-10, FSJ
- Derek and Ben serving at FSJ

November 10-12, Wurtsburg
- running a programme with Wurtsburg youth group based on the theme of the Cross.

November 17-18, Ravensburg
- attending a worship conference which gathers worship leaders all over Germany. We are going there to learn and witness what God is doing nationwide.

November 19, Ausburg
- serving through leading worship at mass. This parish sponsors missionary work and has chosen ICPE Germany to be their beneficiary this month.

November 20-December 2, FSJ
- Derek, Bea and Ben serving at FSJ

December 3-28, Asia
- serving in Life in the Spirit Seminar in Johor Bahru, Malaysia
- attending Planetshakers Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- visiting and ministering to ICPE Manila community

Ju, our sound technician will join us in Asia and plans to arrive in Allerheiligen either on 28 or 29 December. Super! And God willing, we are hoping and praying for a drummer and a bass guitarist to join the team. Hence the ample space in the band photo for more members to come!

Please continue to pray for us.



You know that it is not the noise we make in our lives or the things we see that count, but the love with which we do the will of God.

September : Chris in Allerheiligen

Greetings from Allerheiligen!

After having been in the New Zealand mission centre for 3 years, I am now 2 weeks plus in my new mission centre.Well, I came in a very busy period what with the leadership meetings,Kisi Kids workshop, Igor and Marica's wedding plus several guestsvisiting.....thankfully and finally, after all the above, I am goingto move into my proper room at the staff house this week. Yey! I canfinally unpack my suitcase :-)

Two Sundays ago (17 Sept), our new worship team officially commenced itsone-year project with the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist. The word we received as the community prayed for us was to go beyond whatwe know because God has more to reveal to us, like Moses whoencountered the Lord in the burning bush after he took his flockbeyond the familiar grazing ground. That word resonated very much with me because it was similar to whatstruck me in the Gospel reading of the day I left Singapore to come to Allerheiligen: of Jesus telling Peter to go into the deep waters andto let down his nets for a catch.And indeed, it has been (and I know it will be) the case of my going into deep waters on various levels.Most importantly, I grasped that the Lord's priority for me is to go deeper in my relationship with Him. So my resolve is to protect mypersonal time with Him and to learn to listen more to Him speaking tomy heart in the quiet. Indeed, the Lord has designed the serene spaceand landscape of Allerheiligen as a big chapel. So I feel very blessedto be here.

There are 6 of us in the worship team at the moment: Derek,Bea, Angie, Patricia, Ben (from Bavaria) and myself.



Our first week has been a very good start to our year together as we prayed together, listened to Derek share about the project, to oneanother's faith stories, clarified practical things like protocols for planned for the next couple of months, brainstormed on the name forour ministry and fund-raising ideas, etc.

btw, I really enjoy the sound of German songs and look forward to singing them with greater understanding of the lyrics. ;-)

Although we are very different in many ways and ages (see attached photo), and do not know one another well, we find ourselves clicking very well with one another (Phew, praise God!). What's especially significant for us is that in our times of worship as a team, we always experience the very strong presence of God in our midst, and a freedom to praise and proclaim God's word. Through these times, I can see Father God is truly desiring to affirm us of the one call He has placed on our hearts.


Honestly sometimes I do feel rather inadequate in terms of music skill and knowledge and experience in ministry and what I can contribute. I know this is something I need to surrender to God; my fears and reservations, my own definition of my strengths as well as my weaknesses. To trust in His call (Go deeper!), to rely on His word (Let down your nets for a catch) and believe He has more in store for me than I can ever ask for or imagine (The nets were filled to breaking point).

The question is how open I am to receive what God desires to give me.This is the deep He is calling me to.Pray for me, in the words of Steve Curtis Chapman's song, that I will DIVE right in! And savour the goodness of the Lord!

God has been very kind to me even as I settle into life here. One hugeblessing was being able to see Rainer, Jitka and Esther again. Theseare the familiar faces I have been given to journey together in mymissionary life so far. And having them around brought me so much joy- just see my photo taken with Rainer. Big smiles there! :-D




Rainer: I appreciate your making time for me while you were here and blessing me with your friendship and words of encouragement. Bless you, too ah

After bidding farewell to Esther, the last of the familiar faces to leave here, I felt sad. As Esther said, now is the time to practise communion. I suppose it means that connectedness in the Spirit of Christ that transcends distance. I'm thankful this grace is availableto me. And which comforts me even as I face another call to go deeperand that is to grow me in fraternal relationships here in this newcommunity. DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

OK, that's all for now. I hope you are all keeping well in the Lord. Weather's turned cooler and wetter. Am waiting for the autumn-glory ofthe Lord :-)

Praying God's abundant blessings on you,chris