Hi Everyone!
As a child, I always wanted to make peace, provide joy and entertainment. I have been hard of hearing since birth and therefore could not speak properly. Nevertheless, even when I was a child, the first signs of my passion to "speak" in front of people and entertain them began to appear, which was very unusual for a deaf person.
I grew up in two local churches at the same time. My family and I went to the evangelical reformed church on one sunday and to the pentecostal church on the next sunday. This was depending on who was preaching. I quickly became aware of the difference between these churches (preaching, worship, community). Even though they all believe in the same God Jesus Christ, I became confused. Especially from my twentieth year, God showed me more and more the problems within the churches. In my blog I will write about a possible future pub community in which the gospel can be spread.
“Start building bridges that connect people to the purpose of the church.”
My greatest desire is creating a neutral space, bringing all kinds of people together to get to know Christ at their own pace in an non-threatening enviroment, where they feel comfortable and welcomed. All these traditional churches, denominations and organizations have an important contribution to make, and christians are called to support each other to proclaim the gospel to the world. However, it is a double-eged sword. Unbelievers don`t find themselves in a christian institution because of the foreign enviroment. On the other side, christians tend to be too comfortable to leave their christian enviroment. That`s why it`s impotant to build neutral spaces for people to meet and share their beliefs and opposing aspects of life.
Why a Pub?
A pub always provides a very open, welcoming, cozy, public enviroment with good blues and rock music and freshly brewed beer from the tap. People, including me, love this kind of enviroment because it offers a place for indviduals and groups to open up barriers by interacting with people they normally wouldn`t otherwise. A pub can also provide a place where people can talk-teach-learn-discuss what it means to be a christian in a non-christian enviroment. These are usually the people who feel condemned by traditional institutions and therefore never step foot in one. The pub should be another bridge between people and Christ, which can be seen as a stepping stone for church outreach. Through the pub many could get a chance to experience a different impression of Christ and have fellowship with other open, loving christians. Finally, I would like the pub to be a place where all different people can come together so that we learn to become humble in order to experience another avenue of a healthy living community, beside familyhood or a church institution.