A Wilder Mission Trip Update – The Last Half

WEDNESDAY IN BERLIN
Today our host Martin picked us up in his car and took us to visit some of the ones that have been attending the seminar.  One of the ladies that has helped with the interpretation is a pastor’s wife and her husband has been home in the evenings with their little girl.  She told us her husband was fascinated with what she was telling him when she would go home and share with him so they wanted us to come for a visit…We may likely see them at a THRIVE training someday.  From there we went over to have lunch with another woman that has been attending and she wanted to talk about how to apply this Immanuel Process into their church with all the church difficulties they are having…there is some interest in us coming back to do more training with their church.
This evening we were back to the church for the final exercises and practices. There is a strong request for us to come back and do more training but meanwhile they will be busy passing on what they have learned not only with the refugees but in their own personal lives and relationships.
 
THURSDAY IN HAGEN
This morning we packed up and checked out of our hotel to head for Hagen, our final stop on this trip. We had to take 3 different trains to finally get to the main train for going to Hagen.
[On] our ride to Hagen… this lady came up to Jim and started speaking German to him…she thought he looked like a German friend of hers…She then mentioned that she was from Venezuela…so she and Jim spoke Spanish.  As we kept chatting with her she works with refugees and was interested in our work…Interesting chat!
 
FRIDAY IN HAGEN
After breakfast we headed to a spot outside of town that has many German buildings that are housing various old fashioned ways of doing things like how they used to make rope; how they make scythes; how they make vinegar; a bakery with a wood stove for making bread; making jewelry, etc.  It was fascinating going through the various buildings and you can see some of them in the pictures I’ve attached…We’ll probably just enjoy a relaxing afternoon chatting and resting here at home.
 
SATURDAY IN MUNSTER

Thomas (our host) headed to the train station to pick up Alex, an attorney friend that wants to visit with Jim…Jim has been preparing for preaching in church tomorrow and Thomas has been taking care of church preparation, so I spent time with Alex and as we visited I taught him the Immanuel Journaling and then we did it together so he could experience the process.  Sometimes just talking about it does not move people to try it so I felt led by God that we should just go ahead and do the journaling.  What a blessing to share with him.  Now this evening at dinner and after Jim will be able to chat and answer Alex’s questions.
 
SUNDAY IN HAGEN

This Sunday has been a full day but so special.  This morning we went to Thomas and Elke’s church and Jim preached there.  During the service there were many children dedicated to God…There was one group that had small children and then there were elders of the church that each took a family and prayed for the children.
About 4 pm the various refugees and workers were invited to a snack time and then Jim talked about having gratitude and finding peace.  Jim taught, then Thomas translated into German and for the Albanians there was a 12-year-old boy that translated for them.  He sure did a wonderful job and it was so sweet.  Afterwards many of the refugees came and told us it was very helpful to work to find peace.
Here is the link of Jim’s sermon this morning with the German translation, if you’d like to listen to it.  http://www.efg-hohenlimburg.de/Predigten/2016.06.12%20-%20Jim%20Wilder%20-%20Bedingungslose%20Liebe.mp3. Jim was told to use illustrations more than teachings so you still get the message through the stories
 
EARLY REPORTS FROM DR. WILDER ABOUT TIME WITH REFUGEES

On Sunday the host church here offered two events for refugees in the area and we were able to reach refugees from Eritrea, Albania, Iraq and Nigeria. In the morning the church offered to bless the children from all who came and a good number of refugee families and local German families participated together. A number of the parents were Muslims. In the afternoon the church offered a thanks to God event. For this event about 40 refugees were present – almost half could not speak any common language with the hosts and about half were Muslims. We first had something to eat and drink together and then we guided the entire group through the 3 step Immanuel process for trauma resolution using the non-verbal pictures, the three phrases in as many languages as possible and whatever limited translation was available…One man from Eritrea only learned a few hours earlier that his best friend just drowned on the boat trying to escape across the Mediterranean.
The early reports are limited due to language limitations but all the people present were able to follow the limited instructions. One woman who recently escaped from captivity inside sex trafficking was able to express directly how much the Immanuel exercise helped her find peace. The Albanian Muslims were all smiles as they left and they all came by to give me a hug. Through the limited translation they said that Passing the Peace had helped them.
They could have responded to the food and other elements of the day but they deliberately made the largest response to the Immanuel time…In the early responses we would have to say that everyone who communicate indicated an increase in peace.
I am encouraged by the participation (more refugees were present than expected or invited to the event), the ease with which the group process could be run, the degree to which the participants understood the three steps, the extent to which participants reported an increase in peace,the ease with which the participants talked about their experience and shared it with others and, finally, the lack of known negative
outcomes with such a limited framework.
It is my opinion that we should continue to collect translations and create pictures to guide the process as well as experiment with this process in other locations to see what it can yield short and long-term.  
SPECIAL WEBINAR: Listen as Dr. Jim and Kitty Wilder share their mission trip experience in Germany, Wednesday, July 6 (Register here). Get the inside view with added details and some fabulous stories and see how your support has made a difference bringing peace to Syrian refugees and their children.