Mount Vernon NOW

Dieter Schade ('97 BBA) - GERMANY

I attended MVNU-Polaris. It was a difficult two years as I was working 60 hours a week in wholesaling and delivering newspapers early in the morning. But God enabled me to complete the program.

In 1998, God began letting my wife, Lucy, and I know that He was preparing us for something special. I left wholesaling in 2003 and began working part time at Linworth Road Church in Columbus, Ohio, in the music and worship ministry and as a substitute teacher. In the fall of 2005, Linworth hired me full time.

In January- 2006, God’s plan provided us an opportunity to serve in a Great Commission Church called The Rock Berlin in Germany. I was born in Hamburg, Germany (came to the States at the age of 4 in 1955), have relatives in Germany and speak German. We prayed and God answered. We raised enough financial support to begin serving in Berlin on October 30, 2007.

My job is to serve as pastor, even though I have not been ordained. My wife is starting language classes soon and God has begun using her to minister to the younger women at the Rock. Depending on where one is in Germany, 5-12 percent attend church regularly. East Berlin, where we are, has heard for years from the Communists that God does not exist. This has been a huge obstacle for us.

It’s a blessing to be back in my birth country, to be doing the work God so clearly led us to. We all want to know God’s will for our lives and He made it perfectly clear that He wanted us in Berlin. We continue to pray that He will direct our steps daily. Our blog has additional information and photos: www.germanators.blogspot.com; the church’s website is www.rockberlin.de.