The glockenspiel sounds in the Marienplatz, Munich's central square. Two knights appear, raise their lances, and storm at each other while people stand, stare, point, and click cameras. But this great show is only one of many attractions in this fascinating city of more than 1.3 million people. Fine buildings of every period and grand boulevards and squares bear witness to a culture centuries old. Within the museum and outside of it, art lures millions of visitors to the city year after year. Musical and theatrical life show a vitality scarcely equaled else where. Magnificent Catholic churches dazzle the senses. Some have called Munich the second Rome.
Munich's combination of an out standing economy, cultural heritage, party-like atmosphere, and ideal climate for both summer and winter sports has given rise to its motto, "Live and Let Live." Secular Munichers desire to experience life to the fullest. Thus Catholicism, although overtly espoused, plays an insignificant part in most Munichers' lives. Church attendance is low, the Bible rarely read, and God's name uttered more in profanity than in prayer.
In this milieu Adventism has grown slowly. The fact is that Munich's seven Adventist churches, which had 960 members in 1965, have sustained a 20 percent loss in membership during the past 20 years. Compounding this membership loss is the fact that evangelism has gone extremely slowly in Munich. In 1985 the seven Munich churches baptized a total of only nine people.
Consequently, when the Euro-Africa Division proposed that Munich be the center of a major evangelistic thrust in 1986 some of both pastors and laymen were extremely hesitant. They raised serious questions regarding the viability of evangelism in such a secular society. Would Munichers respond to the direct proclamation of the gospel? How could the three angels' messages touch hearts in a secular society? Could methods used in America be adapted to the European situation?
Preparing for the Munich meetings
In spite of these significant questions, the leadership of the Euro-Africa Division, South German Union Conference, and local conference moved ahead in faith. Planning for this major evangelistic series began in November 1984 at the winter meetings of the Euro-Africa Division in Gland, Switzerland. There I met with division officers and union presidents from the German-speaking field to discuss the possibility of a major evangelistic field school in Munich. As we outlined plans optimism increased. In June of 1985 I visited Munich and conducted revival meetings in local churches. The messages, on practical personal godliness and on evangelistic outreach, were intended to encourage believers both to know Christ and to share Him with others.
At that time an evangelistic coordi nating committee of approximately 40 members, including representatives from the South Bavarian Conference office, Munich pastors, and church members, was established. This commit tee functioned for almost one year--for six months preceding the meetings and during the five months of the meetings. Its input was an invaluable help.
In the autumn of 1985 Pastor Helmut Mayer conducted two successful Weeks of Prayer in separate sections of Munich. Twenty-seven prayer groups were organized. These groups of four to six people met in homes and prayed earnestly for the campaign. In November, 20 literature evangelists from through out the Euro-Africa Division sold thou sands of marks' worth of books in Munich and contacted a large number of interests. By January 1986, the interest list had grown to 1,200 names, including 10Q former Adventists.
From January to May 1986, we held a field school of evangelism in Munich. Twenty-three pastors from throughout the German-speaking field--Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and West and East Germany--attended.
Manfred Peters, ministerial secretary for the South German Union, coordinated the academic program in the morning, while Helmut Mayer, South Bavarian Conference evangelist, led out in organizing the field work. Besides me, teachers for the evangelistic institute included Helmut Mayer, Manfred Peters, Johannes Mager, and Harald Knott from the Euro-Africa Division, and other local personnel. Freida Schmidt and Winfried Vogel provided me with capable translation in the morning classes and evening evangelistic services. And Otto Peter, South Bavarian Conference president, served as personnel coordinator for the evening evangelistic meetings. One of the reasons the Munich crusade succeeded was the unified evangelistic thrust of administrators, pastors, and laity.
The institute classes, held in the mornings, covered such topics as church growth, health evangelism, Daniel, lay motivation and training, personal evangelism, public evangelism, and contemporary denominations and doctrinal trends. Besides their classwork, pastors attending the institute spent between 12 and 15 hours a week in home visitation and Bible work.
The first week in January saw the opening of the first of a variety of seminars we conducted throughout Munich. More than 300 non-Adventist guests attended these precampaign seminars on such topics as Daniel, stress, nutrition, and stopping smoking.
The stress-management workshop attracted citywide interest. More than 140 people attended the meetings con ducted in the Kunstlerhaus, a downtown auditorium. And one TV station and two radio stations reported on the workshop.
Of the 300 non-Adventist guests who attended the precampaign seminars, 100 transferred to the evangelistic meetings. In addition, 50 people with whom pastors were studying the Bible attended the evangelistic meetings.
The payoff
To prepare for the meetings, which began Friday night, March 7, Adventist church members throughout Munich fasted, prayed, and distributed by hand more than 100,000 handbills. Five hundred people came out on the opening night. Attendance climbed to 780 on the second night and averaged 425 throughout the series. God's blessing was evident as approximately 400 guests attended at least one meeting and 74 made decisions for baptism. Thus far, more than 40 have been baptized, and many others are preparing for baptism.
Miraculous conversions took place throughout the series. A teacher whose mother had just recently died in her arms received the invitation for the meetings shortly before they started. Seeking to find comfort after her mother's death and looking for deeper meaning in life, she attended the meetings. When she dis covered the truth about death and the beauty of the resurrection her mind opened to a fuller understanding of the Adventist message. Today she rejoices in the Advent hope.
An engineer whose wife is an Adventist had attended church for years, yet he had strongly resisted all appeals for baptism. During the meetings he was deeply convicted by the Spirit of God.
