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The Staff Conference was held in Wildberg, Germany, in a hostel nestled among the trees of the Black Forest. It was held on February 11-13. This conference was prayerfully and gracefully organized by the coworkers of Karlsruhe UBF, Msn. James Kim and Esther Kim. The title of the conference was “Let Us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus” based on Hebrews chapter 12. 

The first message was delivered by Msn. James Kim from Karlsruhe. His message was based on Romans 4:16-25 titled, “The Footsteps of Faith.” We studied closely about our ancestor of faith, Abraham. We learned how Abraham believed in the God who raises the dead. Despite Sarah’s barrenness, he still believed in the promise that God has made and his faith did not waver. In fact, his life was lead and guided by the hope God had placed in his heart. Through this text, we learned  that even though we may not see God’s fruit right away, we learned that as Abraham we need to trust simply in God’s promise. 

The main lecture was delivered by Shepherd Walter Nett from Cologne 1 UBF. His message was titled “Let Us Fix Our Eyes on Jesus” based on Hebrews 12:1-3. He compared our life of faith to a marathon. Shepherd Walter is an experienced marathon runner. Therefore, he was able to give authentic and relevant explanations on what is required to completing a race. Our life of faith consists of training, prepping, and overcoming obstacles while the finish line is not visible although clearly knowing it exists. The race itself is arduous and long, therefore, we must fix our eyes on Jesus who ran this race before us until the point of death. He encouraged us, “Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

The last message was delivered by Shepherd Reiner Schauwienold from Heidelberg UBF. His message was titled “The Amazing Love of Our Father” based on Luke 15:11-32. We thought about what motivates us to do the work of God. The older son served his father his whole life, but what motivated him? We learned through this message that only by truly understanding the love of our Father, we can serve God with the right heart. As I serve the students in Germany, I want to look at the students with the loving eyes God, our father, has for them and for me. I pray that I may come to a point in my life where the love of God rules my heart and I can pour the same love he has for those whom he has entrusted to me. 

Throughout the rest of the conference, the directors of the German chapters shared their New Year's Key Verse testimonies. They shared their thanksgiving topics and prayer topics. We were all refreshed once again through God’s words to return to our mission field and serve our respective campuses holding on to God’s promise, looking on onto Jesus, and re-experience  God’s love for us.