Dear praying friends,

Last week we started receiving the art for our Art Sale fundraiser. We now have 25 artists, and yesterday we hung over 80 works in our gallery. Here is a sneak peak into the process!

As we were collecting works, we were astonished to hear over and over and over the gratitude of the artists for things that are just our normal way of interacting. Comments like: Thank you for making this so accessible. Thank you that we did not have to pay to be in the show. Thank you that we did not have to pay to submit our works, and my favorite: "Wow, you guys are really nice!" as we spent time visiting and interacting with artists we were meeting for the first time.

If I were to be totally honest with you, I am super nervous about this show on Thursday. I was not nervous when I thought that maybe 4 or 5 artists would respond, but I am REALLY nervous about having 25 artists and their friends in our space - and here is why: I have been praying for a decade that God would help us build a community for the artists in Berlin, and we have had slow response, especially after we closed our gallery in Mitte. But now, we have a lot of interest - and it seems like several things are all coming together.

First - some galleries have changed the way they interact with artists, so it is a surprise when people work with nice people who are on the side of the artists.

Second, God has continued to build our team in Berlin, and we seem to have the ability to engage in broader ways, and

Third - the spiritual climate in Berlin is starting to shift (as it is in other places in Europe). We have been noticing and making comments about this - and now German secular sources are confirming it (see this link), at least anecdotally. This means that artists who may previously have been put off by an organization with our website seem to be more open to a place that seeks to connect faith, art, and culture. I am SO CONVINCED that this is a result of decades of prayer for the city of Berlin, including many of yours!

So I am excited, but also nervous - because we are being given a huge gift with so many artists coming toward us, but for many of them - their interaction with a community that values faith could be very fragile and tenuous, and we want to build long-lasting relationships. So - PLEASE PRAY!

Also, it has been fun to have the artists be so generous with their works. We are asking them to share the costs of the sale 50/50 with us - and it has been amazing to have them rally to our cause and be excited about helping us as a space for artists also succeed.

I would love to be able to share with them about people in the US coming alongside the fund-raiser. So if you know people, or if you yourself are a person, who would like to support our new gallery being renovated - can you pass on a few links for us (or click them!).

First, here is a link to our project on the Alliance's website.

Some of you might have friends who would give to the project, but maybe not through a denominational website. Here is another option - both as a QR code and as a link.

This is using a European service called "Mollie" that helps a lot of nonprofits. They take a very small part of the giving for their processing, and help us keep EU compliant with gifts from around the world!

This has gotten long - so no bulleted list today!

Thank you for praying!!

mike