Dear praying friends,

Today, May 1, is a national holiday in Germany. It is the German version of Labor Day, and is usually in interesting mix of people relaxing and enjoying a day free from work and a higher than usual amount of demonstrations.

In 2023 - there were more than 6000 protests or public gatherings in Berlin. That’s more than 450 registered demonstrations per month (and some non registered!) Here is a German article with the statistics. Protest and demonstration is, after years of inability to express discontent, is baked in as part of the German Bill of Rights. Here is a primer as to what is allowed and what is not allowed in those demonstrations.

One of our interns has a family visitor - so as they ventured out for the morning, I let them know where the protests would be today so they could adjust plans, if needed. I did not realize how much protests were a part of Berlin life until a colleague sent me a video of their preschool son holding a protest in their living room, apparently something he had learned at school!

Tomorrow, we will be back at work and will be closing our existing exhibit with an artist talk. Please pray for us and the artist.

On Friday, Elissa and I will fly to England to visit some friends and attend a short retreat with the Northumbria Community. Please pray for us as we travel and disconnect briefly before a really busy team season.

Prayer Requests:

1. Please pray for Stephen as he wraps up his travels in the US and returns to Berlin.
2. Pray for the three short-term teams we will soon have. For the 56 days between May 15 and July 10 (8 weeks), we will have teams on the ground for 30 of them. In addition to that, of course, is the planning and logistical work that takes place in advance. It will be a very exciting (and exhausting) time of ministry. Thank you in advance for your prayers!
3. Pray for our decision regarding the corner space. There continue to be some concerns, and we could use your prayers for wisdom.
4. Pray for members of our team who are traveling.

Thank you so much for praying for us. We also love to pray for you, so please send us any prayer requests you have!

Blessings,

mike