God is working all over the globe—ransoming people “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). The timeless gospel of Jesus Christ is still transforming lives. We are especially seeing this where Breakaway Outreach has a footprint in the margins of society.

Though our nation is much divided politically, global hostilities exist, godlessness permeates society, and many are paralyzed by fear, God is still on the move—transcending all of our wrangling and divisiveness, redeeming lives from despair, and restoring hope in hopeless places.

After his resurrection, Jesus commanded his followers, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). This was risky business for the disciples, but they did it anyway. They sacrificed their lives and gave themselves to one driving ambition—to make Christ known! What gave them this boldness? They witnessed their Messianic Hero rise from the dead. This gave them something to live for beyond the grave—the Great Commission! I’ve never found asterisks in the Bible where it says Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation… *unless it gets too dangerous… *unless evil becomes rampant… *unless it’s just too much of a risk… *unless you’re afraid… *unless it’s not politically correct… *unless they hate you. I’ve never found those asterisks in God’s Word. Our responsibility is to be about Christ’s mission, faithfully—until he returns.

I recently returned from a mission trip to Europe, preaching in Ireland and Germany, and coordinating with the leaders of our missional partnerships for youth sports camps and refugee outreach.

I saw God’s kingdom and this dominion breaking out in Europe when I preached in Gorey, Ireland. The pastor received an email from a woman who stayed up until 4:00 AM after one of our services, wrestling with God, reconciling her faith, and ultimately surrendering her life to Christ—that’s a picture of a God who never sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:4)! I saw it in the German schools we visited for assemblies, and when we prayed with students and teachers. I saw it at the refugee camp, where we played soccer with the children and prayed with some desperate adults. The Holy Spirit was unmistakably present when we prayed for an ailing Serbian woman in the camp who opened her life up to Jesus and then came to the church on Sunday morning where I was preaching.

I saw God’s kingdom break out when I was invited to the apartment of a Yazidi migrant family for a dinner feast. The whole experience left me feeling like I was living in the pages of the New Testament Book of Acts. This family is a great example of the “Person of Peace” principle I often teach about when we do workshops on missional living. They had already been processed through the refugee camp where our outreach coordinator had cultivated a relationship with them, and had now been assigned residence in Emden, Germany. Though our coordinator knew the family, we didn’t know much about the other migrant guests that would be coming to the party. Shortly after we arrived, the apartment began filling up with young refugee men from Syria and Iraq. I was the lone American, alongside our German refugee outreach coordinator and the Egyptian Coptic Christian who came with us to translate in Arabic, English, and Deutsch.

We all introduced ourselves, and then I sat almost invisibly for ten minutes as the group dialogued in Arabic. Then all of a sudden, the Arabic chatter gave way to silence. The room got quiet and all eyes turned to me. I felt awkward and nervous.

Then the translator said to me, “They want you to share something about the gospel.”

It felt like my jaw dropped three feet. Not in a million years of concocting cleverly devised sermon starters would I have ever been prepared to start a gospel conversation with an apartment full of Arab refugees. But I have learned that when we simply follow the Holy Spirit into the unknown rather than cater to our human fears and inhibitions, God’s kingdom breaks out as naturally as the sun rises over the Smoky Mountains on a charming Tennessee morning.

They want you to share something about the gospel, I startled.

I remembered how everywhere the Apostle Paul went, he shared about what happened to him on the Damascus Road. So, I started with my testimony. I talked about my childhood pain of being abandoned by my father at an early age only to have him return as an abusive tyrant in my teenage years. I spoke of running away as a teenager and being homeless at times. I admitted to being suicidal, but testified to ultimately finding hope in a relationship with Jesus Christ while locked up in a Florida juvenile detention center at 16-years old (as told in my book 13-Foot Coffins). I assured this crowd that what I experienced paled in comparison to what many of them had left behind in the Middle East.

The man sitting next to me pulled out his mobile phone and showed me photos he took of his neighborhood just before fleeing his hometown of Aleppo (Syria). My heart broke at the images of destruction—burned out cars, homes reduced to rubble, buildings still in flames, and bodies lying in the debris. Nothing in all of my life can compare to their devastation.

I continued to share about how the Bible says that God is love. I confessed that there are many who talk much about God but don’t walk in love. Whether this discrepancy is rooted in radical ideologies in the East, or religious bigotry in the West, forms of hypocrisy can be found on any continent around the globe. Then I brought it home—“this is also true in the Middle East. Many people are doing hateful things in the name of God.” We agreed that there is no shortage of God-talk in the world today, yet there is a major deficiency in those who truly walk in God’s love.

I brought their attention to 1 John 4, where the Bible speaks of false prophets, to test the spirits, and that “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (vv9), and “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” (vv20-21).

Just then, the food came from the kitchen. Everyone jumped into motion, setting the table and preparing the dishes for an amazing Kurdish-style cuisine. I thought I had lost them. Perhaps I offended them with all this Jesus talk. Then we began to feast! In their culture, it’s important for you to always have something on your plate—that tells them you are full and satisfied. But I am used to cleaning my plate. That’s what my Momma taught me. Something had to give. I didn’t learn this cultural snippet until after we left and I had instantly gained six pounds! Every time I cleaned my plate, the man next to me filled it back up and said, “Keep eating, you are speaking well, and they are listening.”

After the meal, we gave them each a New Testament in their language. One of the refugees said in a surprising fashion, “Back home, we were never given the Quran in our own language, but we come here and you have given us God’s Word in our own language.” He went on to describe the difference he now saw in Christianity—that the gospel is all about God’s love for us. He said that this love has given him a new image of God. He continued, “From now on, we will follow Christianity.” As he spoke, I was thinking about John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

LOVE changed the game for these refugees! And what happened next blew me away…

The man’s 14-year old son, Mohammed, was in the room. The dad said, “I can no longer call him Mohammed. I want to change his name.” They were skimming through their new Bibles and came across the biblical name for John (Johannes in German). He said, “From this day forward, my son will be called Johannes.” The whole room erupted in applause. The father subsequently registered Johannes for our baseball camp coming this summer. Then the Yazidi host of the dinner party exuberantly questioned, “What will be my new name?” He turned the pages to the gospel according to Luke and said, “There it is, Lukas!” Laughter and rejoicing filled the apartment. Our rejoicing turned into festive singing—a moment I recorded on my phone and will carry with me for the rest of my life!

Johannes (formerly Mohammed) and his sister with their new Bibles

If you’d like to join us in Germany this summer for our youth baseball camp and/or outreach to refugee children, feel free to contact us—we’d love to have you join our team in Germany!

This is the news behind the news—Kingdom news! God’s kingdom transcends what we are spoon-fed by cable or network television. Virtually everything we hear in the news today is politicized and typically plays on our fears. Yes, evil may be rampant today—BUT our GOD is GREATER. His kingdom is breaking out all around us and in places we wouldn’t expect. We just need to take the time to look for it. I find great refuge in this passage… Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:7 ESV)

This isn’t just a cozy Bible verse we find on a Christmas card; it’s a truth to live by. Let us continue to seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and we will find peace in turbulent times. Most importantly, as we seek first His kingdom we will find ourselves agents of hope in the brokenness of our generation—we will see His kingdom breaking out all around us, and the gospel changing lives.

We sense the strength that comes from having partners like you praying for us. Next week we will be ministering in juvenile detention centers in Florida, sharing Christ’s hope with many kids in crisis. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to empower, for lives to be changed, and for stories to be redeemed.

We are grateful for your support as we continue to follow God’s lead into the margins.

Finding Refuge in Him,

Jimmy and Cindy Larche
Lead Missionaries