Why Are We Moving to Berlin?

How Did This Happen?

If you’ve spent any amount of time around me (Tim), you know that I will eventually come around to the subject that I lived in Germany for six years. I’ll tell you that I’ve wanted to go back ever since I left for the United States with my family after the Army stationed my dad in Ft. Knox, Ky. Over the years, I’ve felt the urge to return to live in Germany grow stronger and stronger, but I’ve always attributed that to childhood nostalgia, tamped down my feelings, and pressed on with what I was doing in life and ministry here in Florida. 

One day, for no particular reason, I went to an online job board for international Baptist churches looking to fill ministry vacancies. There was a Senior Pastor vacancy for the Converge International Fellowship in Darmstadt, Germany. I knew that we had to apply there. Skipping over many steps and details, I was passed over by the church for the position. However, what I gained was an introduction to Converge (formerly the Baptist General Conference—the denomination that John Piper’s church belongs to). As I went through the various steps in the application process for this church, I took a careful look at Converge as a denomination and found that there was much that attracted me to them. 

One of the ministries that Converge offers is called Compass. Compass is ministry to pastors and their spouses designed to equip them to better discern the Lord’s will about the next steps in their ministries. This was perfect for Lori and me because we were now aware that the Lord had disrupted the trajectory of our present course of ministry, and we wanted assistance in finding out what to do next. Long story short (too late!) we ended our time at Compass with a resolve to place our names in for consideration as global workers serving in Germany through Converge International Ministries. This was March of 2021.

In July of 2021 Lori and I participated in Converge’s Missionary Discover and Assessment event in Orlando, FL. It was an intense experience, one where we bared our souls before our assessors and the Lord. Neither of us felt confident that we would be given the “green light” to go; by the week’s end, we had braced ourselves for rejection. So, when our assessors told us that we were approved to serve as global workers with Converge, our faces flooded with tears and our hearts burst with joy! 

When all the tears and snot had been brought under control, the leader of the European and Mediterranean Region of Converge International Ministries asked us if we were dead set on a particular city or area of Germany. Originally our thoughts were to do work around where I grew up, but we were so happy to have received this good news that we were open to anything. That’s when he asked us about Berlin. He had been praying for a Converge work to begin in Berlin for two years. It turns out that the Lord had been working in us in order to answer these prayers!

I should probably end things here, but there’s so much more to tell. Keep your eyes posted for notifications for our newsletter (we’re aiming for monthly updates) and we’ll give more details about how we got to where we are with Converge and Berlin. Share this newsletter far and wide and invite your friends, family, and church members to join us in prayer, and also in support of our mission.

Prayer Points
• Pray that the Lord shows us favor in our Ministry Partner Development phase of the mission (our prayer and financial ministry partners).
• Pray that we will be able to wisely identify which area of Berlin to move to in order to.
• Pray that we will be able to find a school for our children that we can afford and that can accommodate Graeme (autism) and Christian’s (dyslexia) needs.
• Pray that the Lord would provide for us to be able to take a Vision Trip to Berlin and explore the city and learn from those on the ground about the spiritual needs of the city.

If you wish to become a financial partner of our mission to Berlin, please follow this link where you will be able to set up your monthly and/or one-time contributions: https://converge.org/missionary/tim-lori-hawkins