“Concert in the Chapel”

This past July, a world-class cellist from Berlin, Rudolf Weinsheimer, met Matthias and Sieglinde Ploner. He was so excited about the vision of “Haus Nazareth” to wed an outreach to the universities and young people with a community involving the business and professional world in Berlin that he said that he wanted to organize a benefit concert with 12 top-class young cellists and soloists to raise funds for the project.

On Sunday, September 23, the wish became reality. Before a reception in “Haus Nazareth” itself, 200 guests were treated to a virtuoso performance of Paganini and the operatic soprano voice of young Laila Salome, accompanied by the cellists. The concert took place in the chapel of a nearby Baptist church. The 170 seats on the main floor were filled as well as the balcony. Folk came from across Berlin; the former mayor of the borough of Steglitz was there, as was the wife of a previous director of the Berlin Philharmonic, the director of the Julius Stern Institute (part of the University of the Arts in Berlin), as well as neighbors and also friends involved with the project… the list could go on and on! Thanks for your prayers!

Some very important meetings are taking place in Germany and the U.S. this week. Would you please pray for them with us?

In Germany, the discussion with the bank about increasing the mortgage funds in order to proceed with remodeling is entering a critical phase.

In the U.S., the Philosophia International board is meeting on Monday evening with Pastor Bob Caldwell from Calvary Chapel, Boise, to discuss how we’ll minister and work together. Also, high on the agenda is a request from the German side of the fellowship that we take responsibility for the mortgage payments and short-term loan repayments due by December 31st while they raise funds for the first phase of remodeling to be completed by the end of the year.

Please pray for wisdom and unity in all these discussions! Thanks!

I just returned from Berlin a couple of days ago - 21 hours from door to door! (There is a good connecting flight with Northwest through Amsterdam, though. It avoids London and Paris - which is a great mercy.)
The time in Germany was EXCELLENT - The German friends of Philosophia and Haus Nazareth are really stepping up to the plate. They have committed themselves to raising the funds for the first phase of remodeling to be completed by the end of December!
A key prayer request in regard to this: the bank has indicated a willingness to approve an increase to the mortgage based upon the rise of property values in Berlin, but there has to be approval by an inspector. Please pray that this will go through without any hitches!

Exciting news: there is an amazing openness to the idea and vision of Haus Nazareth among both believers and “not-yet” believers in Berlin. One of the latest manifestations of this is “Concert in the Garden”. This is the story: a world-class cellist who became aquainted with the Ploners and Haus Nazareth decided to organize a benefit concert for the project. One thing led to another and now 12 of the leading cellists in the Berlin Philharmonic and other world-class orchestras are holding a benefit performance in the garden on September 23rd! Please pray for good weather!

Ann and I are very anxious to get relocated permanently back to Berlin as soon as possible - we are planning on moving in early January.

One key to this will be the finances for the loans and mortgage payments due by December 31st. More on that later!

The thought recently occurred to me: “What would the Apostle Paul do to bring the message of Jesus to a large, cosmopolitan city like Berlin?”
I immediately thought of the time he spent in Athens, recorded in Acts 17. Paul engaged with the people there by starting at a point they could understand. He began with their own religious thinking, from there went on to explain how there is an intelligent purpose behind the universe, and finally connected it all to Jesus. The response was less than overwhelming, but his message penetrated the hearts of a few key people.
That, in my mind, is what mission in a modern, secular metropolis like Berlin (or Paris, or Rome, or New York, or…) has to do.
A benefit concert for House Nazareth is being planned for September. Several members of the “Berlin Philharmonic”, one of the leading orchestras of the world, have offered to play. The purpose is not just to raise funds but, like Paul, for the fellowship at House Nazareth to engage more deeply with the city. Please pray. More soon on finances and how things are looking for the future.

Clark with Bob and Cathy Caldwell at the Brandenburg Gate

The past couple of weeks have brought some real joy to our lives - in particular, Ann and I have been encouraged by the love and friendship showed us by Pastor Bob Caldwell and his wife Cathy and the Calvary Chapel church in Boise. It has been a very special blessing the way they’ve loved and cared for us.
Now, the church is also increasingly committed to partnering with the calling and ministry vision of Philosophia International and “House Nazareth”.
Ann and I were talking about this a few days ago: in spite of the pain we’ve experienced at times from people who claimed to care for others but turned out to be power-hungry and abusive, God has consistently blessed us on our journey with people who are true companions on our pilgrimage to the “heavenly City”. My thoughts turn to John Bunyan’s famous picture in Pilgrim’s Progress of friends that Christian meets on the road, Faithful and Hopeful.
Wherever you are on your journey, I pray the Lord will surprise you with unexpected friendships.

The next stage of remodeling is due to begin soon with the property management office on the ground floor.
(It is important that the professional offices be finished, so that a regular rent stream will begin that can carry the major weight of mortgage and upkeep payments.)
Also, funds have come in to begin the work on the staff apartment on the 3rd floor.
One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 84, where the song-writer reflects on the glory of God’s temple. Walking through the courtyards, he notices the sparrows and swallows flitting back and forth near the altar, and reflects on the privilege these little birds enjoy: they “dwell in Your house; they are ever praising you”. (Anyone who has sparrows and swallows nearby can understand what the singer had in mind!
Our hope and prayer is that “House Nazareth” will become a place where people sense God’s presence so clearly! Thanks for being with us on this adventure!

Many of you have been asking God to provide funds for the major remodeling of “House Nazareth” to begin. There is still a big gap between what is needed to complete work on the ground floor so that the rent-paying offices can move in and begin to help us meet the regular mortgage payments. Yet, God has provided a way to move forward: the owner of a large construction company in Berlin, a committed believer, has caught the vision for “House Nazareth” and has offered to begin work on the property management office. Please pray with us that God will provide the funds for this next step of faith!

In this post-Easter week, I’ve been reflecting on what the Apostle Paul wrote to his friends in Corinth about the relationship of Jesus rising from the grave and our own day-to-day lives as His people:

“He was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.” 2 Corinthians 13:4

The House Nazareth project has, of course, occupied our thoughts, prayers and almost every waking moment for the past year. Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all.
Yet, as Paul reminded the early believers, our weakness is not the end of the story. God’s power is what brings life out of death and service out of weakness.
Please continue to pray for us as we seek to discover new partners for the outreach in Berlin. Remodeling must begin on the ground floor right away for the property management office to move in this summer. This is crucial for the entire business plan to succeed: the rent from the ground floor offices will carry the main weight of the mortgage and upkeep payments for the entire project.
Email us if you would like a copy of the DVD explaining the project for friends or an updated overview of the financials and business plan. You can write us at info[at]philosophia[dot]org.

[This is the fourth and last of Paul Cowan's reflections on the film Amazing Grace. Thanks, Paul, for letting us share in your thinking and reflection!]

Faithfulness, without ‘theories’ and predictions of success, seems the only way forward in society, doesn’t it? Hope is only anchored in the belief that there will be an ultimate end to “this world” - maybe 2 yrs down the road, or 2,000 yrs, or maybe even 200,000 yrs! - and an ultimate, “new earth and new heaven”. Right?

So, I think we work for the cup of cold water for this person and that family; and we just continue until we die. It is enough. If God gives a broader success, PTL. If it doesn’t come, while we continue to work for it, we just continue to work for it. And sometimes martyrdom comes. Which is not sought for (like Islam), but is accepted.

Scripture do seem to indicate a reward comes “later” - The Real reward.

I say all the above, living a contradiction: the single most important theological phrase for what I do, in my vocation, is: “Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven”.

What expectations does the Bible really hold out for us for successes here on earth?
If conceivably some Wilberforces, and some Clapham Societies, did emerge today, what hopes should there really be? Besides slavery, it was the reform of “manners” (societal values) Wilberforce aimed at. Again, where is Britain on that today? Or for that matter, the USA? Especially in light of the fact that less than 50% of the boys today grow up with a living and intimate experience of a father! Where will we be in 20 years?

This is Paul’s third reflection on the film Amazing Grace:

I fight “the truth about myself” [and the world] all the time. It is not nice or fun, usually, to give in to the truth - our utter need of God’s love, grace, and mercy. Catholic and Orthodox theology even fight ideas like “total depravity” - usually misunderstanding them. That doctrine, properly understood, does not say, I think, that we are as bad as we can be, but that badness is everywhere. Like the tares among the wheat, it is in amongst every goodness and that goodness is never “pure”, but always tempted. Good is really good when it acknowledges that proximity of evil and fights it. I do believe Catholics and Orthodox are at times better at noting “goodness” here and there than Protestants (Evangelicals), - but this also carries with it the weakness of unwillingness to face “self-deceptions”, and unwillingness to really face the depth of the evil virus inside of us all - including collective societal diseases, like the one’s challenging now our Wilberforce idealisms.