How did this portal come about? Twenty years of incredible genesis. God uses people who can be used and builds up what later causes wonder. by Kai Mester

 

you did not know each other and founded a magazine and a sponsoring association as bloody laymen - »hope worldwide«. Since then they have been publishing articles and videos for almost twenty years and can't believe it. It's a miracle!

The best conditions for failure were there: They had no professional experience in editing, graphics and video technology, only one of them had gained experience in the publishing industry as a lone fighter, and initially there was a complete lack of financial resources. Nevertheless, a publishing house and a film studio emerged.

They had little experience in church diplomacy and politics, and only knew Bible camps as participants. But this year, hoppe organized the 17th Bible camp worldwide, the second with a live stream, and was repeatedly able to win renowned Adventist speakers to hold seminars there.

What is the recipe for success? Or is that the wrong question?

It's actually the wrong question! God can write straight on crooked lines. He is the conductor who, after the instrument-tuning discords, lures symphonic soundscapes out of the orchestra, if it is willing to stick to the score without taking your eyes off the conductor.

All too often, the players in the orchestra are themselves overwhelmed by what the conductor's mind is making of the piece of music. It's no different for us. We have seen miracles upon miracles. The latest wonder is this portal!

This article takes the reader step-by-step back in time to the beginnings of worldwide hope. If you want to know more, you can click on the blue hyperlinks. Various historical documents can be found there.

www.hopeworldwide.info

“One does not light a candle and put it under the bushel, but on the candlestick; so it shines for everyone in the house.” (Matthew 5,15:XNUMX)

For more than ten years, Hoffnungwelt e. V. the website: www.hope-worldwide.de. On it are the articles of the magazine day of atonement and to find the audio lectures of the Bible camps. But somehow everything was hidden under a bushel, so it could only be found by those who actively looked for it and lifted the bushel.

Now, on the new portal www.hopeworldwide.info the latest is at the top, as always with news portals. In addition, every article and video is automatically published on Facebook. So the light that keeps warming our hearts should shine much brighter in the darkness.

God sent two brothers at the right time for this to happen: the Architekten Jens Giller for the conception and the software developer S. Lachmann for the implementation. At our Bible camp in Hohegrete in August, the new portal was officially inaugurated and consecrated to God. For me it is a miracle.

Bible camps in Hohegrete (2012–2014)

For the third time now the Bible Camp in High Grete in the Westerwald. More and more young people are joining the organization involved, contribute to a smooth process and grow into managerial tasks. Our Jens, who was elected as a consultant to our team at our general meeting in autumn 2011, is also behind this new architecture.

The participants in Hohegrete could not only expect great blessings from speakers who had previously brought their message to our camps, but also from the seminars by Anne-Marie Scott, Emiliano Richards, Enoch Sundaram, the Humes couple, the Meyer family or by such well-known Adventist personalities as Ingrid Bomke, Richard Elofer, Tim Riesenberger and Sylvain Romain.

The Gilmore families, Struksnæs, Reich, Eberle, Esther Bosma with her team, Maria Rosenthal and many other volunteers have been involved in the accompanying children's program since the beginning of the camp meeting in 1997, which has now taken on the character of a separate seminar with several workshops.

Day of Atonement (2011–2014)

Since March 2011 our magazine is published under the new name day of atonement. With this new title we wanted to clarify our mission and emphasize the time we have been living in since 1844. We feel the mandate to carry the spirit of reconciliation into the families, among the various organs in the body of Jesus and to other Abrahamic cultures. Because: Christ is coming soon!

From now on, old and new articles from the Day of Reconciliation will be posted weekly on the hope-worldwide portal. Through these regular and frequent posts, we want to be more closely connected with our readers. The comment function is ideal for an exchange. This is how we can start a conversation.

Up-to-date articles like this one will appear on the portal so that we can not only talk and pray about deep issues, but also about new developments and breaking news.

Jesus heals and Jesus comes! Jesus sets free, and Jesus conquers! That has been our motto for many years. The family needs this message, the church needs it, the world needs it. That is the message of the new portal.

Bible Stream Studio (2010–2014)

But the portal does not only contain texts and beautiful pictures. It also links to every new movie that Biblestream Ministry offers on its website appeals to the eyes, ears and heart. Existing video clips are made known and integrated thematically. "Tast and see how kind the LORD is, blessed is he who puts his trust in him." (Psalm 34,9:84 Luther XNUMX) That is the message of every video - you can literally understand this in the vegan cooking demonstrations. You can actually taste the gospel.

Since 2010 the heavens have opened up wondrous Introduce the opportunity for Bible Stream own film studio to acquire. Since then, we have not only received the beautiful films that were shot outdoors or in living rooms and community rooms, but also those from the studio. The first studio was in the premises of the health food store that the NewStartCenter opened in Herbolzheim, and that zweite in the Elisa school im neighboring Tutschfelden. For example, an interview with the well-known publisher was created in the studio David Gates and songs with the popular singer Derrol Sawyer or the fascinating series about God Ten Commandments.

Waldemar Laufersweiler, the initiator and operator of Bibelstream, moved with his family to the nearby, idyllic Black Forest community of Freiamt. being move was the trigger for other families to settle there as well - including the Fickenscher family with their NewStartCenter, a mail order company for natural food, natural cosmetics, kitchen utensils and spiritual literature. Yes, we experience God's message holistically with all our senses and stick together as families.

Waldemar was also ahead of us on another point. Back in 2010, he raised a bushel so that the Bible Stream light could shine brighter. He published the films not only on the Bible Stream website, but also on the portals of Vimeo, YouTube and Facebook. But a new film cannot be released every week, the effort is far too great for that. Therefore the mixture of articles and Bible Stream films in the new portal is optimal. There is weekly news like back then Adventist Review, the newspaper, the James white founded. Finally God has made it possible for us to follow the inspired counsel and publish much more frequently than monthly.

In 2010, Bibelstream, which had been a co-production between the Laufersweiler family and hoppe-worldwide from the start, merged even more closely with hoppe-worldwide. At that time our magazine was still called Foundation for a free life. To mark the occasion, we released one Article about the history of worldwide hope. Since then there have been repeated reports about the Bible Stream and also references to new films.

All these innovations were often the result of difficult times such as financial dry spells, but also other challenges. Therefore they were always miracles. But “all things work together for good to those who love God” (Romans 8,28:XNUMX).

Mission Notebooks (2008–2013)

Let's go one step further back: For a total of five years, we published very special Gems of Truth several times a year. They were special editions intended to be distributed and passed on on a larger scale. The new portal will also make these more accessible and perhaps only really put them to their intended use: People's reading behavior has shifted to the digital, virtual world - we will select individual articles from the special editions on the portal and then link them at the end with the respective topic booklet in pdf format. This leads to an example Link.

A total of seventeen attractive information booklets have been produced so far, seven teaching booklets on the immortal soul, on the Sabbath (2), on prophecy (2), on the sanctuary and on trust; two lifestyle booklets on diet and country life; five Reformation booklets about Luther (2), the Waldensians, Hussites and Huguenots; as well as a Christmas and two Easter editions. You all are online and thanks to our graphic designer Waldemar Laufersweiler it became beautiful.

But the seeds for these themed issues were sown much earlier: together with Amazing Discoveries, we published Ellen White's bestseller in 2007 Steps to Christ under the new German title Steps to Jesus out of here. The sensitive translation by Patricia Rosenthal and the outstanding photos by Henry Stober give this brochure a unique atmosphere to this day.

The two issues were 2002 and 2004 longing for Jesus preceded by excerpts from Ellen White's Steps to Christ and one of her other bestsellers, Desire of Ages. For a long time the LORD inspired us with the desire to bring the Good News to our fellow human beings in the most appealing language and presentation possible.

We already had the distribution newspapers at the end of the 90s freedom in jeopardy and behold he is coming! created in collaboration with Cornerstone Publishing. This had awakened our longing for more effective brochures. And the American magazine last generation from Hartland Publications was always an inspiration to us with his attitude of devotion to lost people.

With the portal, we are now formally approaching contemporary means of communication. Surely we still have much to learn to help the message reach those who yearn for it.

Our magazine was published in 2008 Foundation for a free life, which had previously been produced in DIN A4, now in the handy DIN A5 format, every month from then on. That was a crucial one step forward in the direction of our now weekly updated Internet portal.

Bible camps in Rehe (2007–2011)

Our annual Bible camps in deer in the Westerwald were the first camps that we no longer held in a youth hostel, but in a Christian conference center. Unfortunately, the organizer of our camps, our long-time treasurer Thomas Schmidt, died at the age of only 35 shortly before the start of the last deer camp from a rapidly escalating illness. That was a big hit! Just the year before, he had programmed the registration software that we still use today and that Benjamin Kiene adapts to new needs.

Thomas' wife Sonja was our secretary for many years and she is still a consultant on the board today. Thomas' death was truly a great loss to us. He has remained a role model for us to this day in his dedication to this work. We had to spread the areas he covered (finance, computers, tax law, organization of leisure time) over many shoulders. Pain has drawn us all closer together in hope of resurrection. It felt like we had reached the end. But God did the miracle and multiplied the co-workers.

Daniela Weichhold, our employee, who works as a secretary at the European Commission in Brussels, took over the office of secretary and is now in charge of organizing the registrations for the free time in Hohegrete. She had supported Thomas several times with administrative tasks during the free time, first with her friend Tanja Bondar, who is still one of the most important proofreaders in our editorial office.

At the Bible camp in Rehe we heard the family message from the Nebblett family for the first time. Pat Arrabito, Frank Fournier, Derrol Sawyer and Ron Woolsey also left a lasting impression in Germany. Her interviews and messages can still be viewed on Bible Stream today. Freedom from fear and despair, freedom from addiction and sin. Those were very important messages that gave everyone courage. Because the speakers have experienced this first hand.

Juan Campos, Marcelo Villca, Hugo Gambetta and Alberto Treiyer served as experienced evangelists and Bible teachers. Younger preachers like Male Bone Laing, Chris and Nayelith Pfeiffer, Daniel Pel, Norberto Restrepo jun. as well as Giovana and David Restrepo motivated especially the young people for a life with Jesus, and Marco Barrios held his basic seminar on the two prophecy cards.

2005 – the year of setting the course

Our journey takes us a few years further into the past: In 2005, Waldemar Laufersweiler founded the Bibelstream website, after he hopefully joined the world as a layout graphic designer in 1998 and became the second paid employee.

In 2005, Kai Mester, author of this article and editor of Hope Worldwide since 1996, wrote his first column on Islam entitled Adventist Surrender.

Both services are now increasingly committed to reconciliation. "We therefore ask in Christ's place: Be reconciled to God!" (2 Corinthians 5,20:XNUMX)

Also started in 2005n Margit Hast her ministry in the field of communication for hope worldwide. She was the new friendly voice on the phone, taking care of subscribers and donors. She coordinated the printing and mailing of the mission booklets. On free time she did the moderation on the podium. Our treasurer Steffi Fickenscher and our moderator Norbert Lauter have followed in their footsteps.

Also in 2005, a closer editorial collaboration with Patricia Seifert began. In 2008 she married our second chairman and editor Alberto Rosenthal. thes was the third marriage born of our work: Waldemar Laufersweiler had married Maria, a reader of the magazine he designed, Thomas Schmidt had married Sonja, a participant in the leisure time organized by him, and now Alberto Rosenthal Patricia, one of the long-standing translators for the editorial office. God was continuing to weave the beautiful and solid family tapestry without which hope worldwide would never see its soon 20th anniversary.

Alberto and Patricia celebrated their 2009th birthday in 160 anniversary of Adventist Reviews (It was called back then Present truth, later Review and Herald) the commemorative publication dawn his coming out of here. That was the starting signal for some special editions penned by Alberto, which have also been published as editions of the Day of Atonement since this year and make us very clearly aware of our task and the time in which we live.

In terms of content and structure, fundamental things happened here in 2005, without which the new portal would never have gotten its present form. For the tenth anniversary of hope worldwide in 2006, I gratefully wrote the article »How God has led us«.

Bible camps at the Edersee and on the Rhön (2000-2006)

Now we arrive in our journey through time at the turn of the millennium. Messages that were rarely heard in Germany at the time, that was what made the Bible camps of hope worldwide so special. It was also a blessed peculiarity that Adventists from various groups came together in a forgiving mood at the camps. Was the first Leisure 2000 officially still a Hartland camp meeting, so we dared to take the step into organizing a completely independent Bible camp the very next year.

Since then, the messages from Maurice Berry, Margaret Davis, John Davis, Daniel Garcia, Dwight Hall, David Kang, Zita Kovács (now Witte), Jesús Morales, Gerardo Nogales, Paul Osei, Jeff Pippenger, Norberto Restrepo Sr., Enrique Rosenthal and Emily Waters (now Schiebehart ) all left their mark on hearts. Righteousness by faith and prophecy were the two dominant themes. Here are more reports of these camps: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006.

A special treat is this video clip about the Edersee leisure time 2001 and 2002. Politically, the 2002 vacation almost cost us our heads and necks, because we had an ordained elder from the United States perform a baptism on our vacation without prior approval. We learned from that for the future. Nevertheless, it was a great blessing for the baptized and all participants.

The Bible camps also inspired some families in neighboring countries to hold similar annual camps there, some of which continue to this day.

In keeping with all of these messages, our magazine foundation Eight times a year in DIN A4 format, it motivates the readers and invites them to the next free time, also to other events in local churches, especially with the Waters family on the subject of "Jesus heals heart and home". Some of the stations where the Waters family held their seminars over the years were: Het Kervel, Hamburg, Donaueschingen, Offenburg, Heilbronn, Karlsruhe, Zurich, Aschaffenburg, Cologne, Freudenstadt, Freiburg, Bad Krozingen.

With this in mind, the portal should also bring good news to hearts and homes in the future.

lay services

From the beginning, hope has been a major concern worldwide for lay ministry strengthen and promote. These private initiatives really revitalize the communities and are vital gas stations for many people. There is the Angermuehle in Altenburger Land, a farm founded by Patricia Rosenthal's family. Or the Missionshaus Mittelsinn in Spessart, which was our address for a while with Karin Vockenhuber as secretary. That NewStartCenter in the Black Forest is led by our founding and team member Marius Fickenscher and is one of the closest partner services of hope worldwide with Bibelstream.

Het Kervel in Holland has been a great inspiration for our Bible camps. That's where I first got to know camp meetings when I was young. MHA in Rudersberg printed our magazine for many years and still offers our special mission issues today. On the board of Immanuel school in Munich our Margit Hast worked for several years. amazing discoveries in Nuremberg will probably always remain an inspiration for courage and professionalism. The Bolivian Children's Village L'ESPERANCE Children's Aid was co-founded by our chairmen. The other Bolivian Children's Village Fundacion El Sauce founded by Bertram Hipp, a close friend of the Rosenthal family.

Annemarie Mayer experienced a personal revival through Margaret Davis at our Bible camps and this is how her booklet and her readings on Bible Stream came about under the title promises to you. The Bläsing family made future is now with their ministry  the prophecy interpretation of the Advent pioneers became more well-known again.

I also think of the family ministries of Heidi Kohl, Monika Pichler, Manfred and Monika Graser, Irma Kovács, their daughters Hilda Kovács and Zita Witte, whose concerns for education and health we share, or to the still relatively new service advedia by Ilja and Tanja Bondar and many others partly abroad.

That this family network grows and thrives and revitalizes the community and contributes to spiritual growth is our wish, prayer and goal with the new portal. It should also be an invitation to the many searching and desperate people who do not or really do not know the liberating message of grace from God.

Foundation of the association and independence (1996–1999)

We have almost completed our journey through time. But not quite yet. We had already taken the step that we dared to take in 2001 with the Bible camp in 1997 with the magazine. Initially, Hope International in the United States printed our magazine with articles we selected primarily from their ten-year fund of monthly issues of the magazine Our Firm Foundation compiled and designed graphically. Then they actually shipped the booklets to Germany. We were so inexperienced in publishing! But finally we dared to take the printing into our own hands. Once upon a time, a consignment made its way to Portugal for us and we had received the booklets of the Portuguese edition!

Right from the start, we selected and translated the content of the English articles from this magazine ourselves. But soon we opened up to other sources and began to write ourselves. The way to the autonomy came quickly. Because all dependence was self-chosen, we lacked the experience and the competence. We were grateful for any help and it was extremely selfless. One reason why, despite all the political considerations that were brought to our attention, we had a close friendship with Hope International for many years.

It was a time of wonders as God had directed the ways. At the time, I followed the call to start this job full-time immediately after my studies and the birth of our eldest daughter. The magazine Our solid foundation was just about to print their third edition. emblazoned on their front page six foundations: Christ our righteousness, sanctuary, three angels' messages, God's law, Sabbath, mortal soul. To this day we have remained true to this liberating message.

On November 27, 1996, the founding a club in Konigsfeld held in the Black Forest. The chairmen were already there then Friedebert Rosenthal and his son Alberto. Gerhard Bodem became treasurer and Kai Mester secretary. Maria Rosenthal was one of the founders, Ruth Boden and Marius Fickenscher.

My first foreword I wrote for January 1997. Immerse yourself in Jesus as in water and blood, let him into your heart as bread and flesh into your stomach, and put on his righteousness like a garment so that we may be made entirely of him. That was the message of this foreword. That is still the goal that we are pursuing for every reader with the internet portal.

Shortly thereafter we organized the first two Bible camps for Hartland. On the first in Biberach the lectures still took place in a large tent on the property of a youth hostel and also on the second two years later in a youth hostel in Sluggish near Trier there were two smaller seminar tents. Who would have guessed what it would all become? How different, how blessed, would life go on because of this?

The Beginnings (1994–1996)

At the very beginning was the Rosenthal family, awakened by a June 1994 camp meeting of the Hartland Institute in the Czech Republic and its powerful publishers Colin Standish and Russell Standish, and Ron Spear, Director of Hope International. Ron Spear had been praying for two years for a German magazine to be modeled on the American lay magazine Our Firm Foundation would arise; The Rosenthal family caught fire and the American brothers promised all their support.

Wolfgang Faber, Renate Granger and Samuel Minea offered to help with the translation and soon became one of the moral pillars of the project along with Torben Nybo. Gerhard Boden, a pioneer of private publishing and founder of the Juwelen Verlag, accepted the call to work as early as 1995. A first readership was gained from his circle of customers. Just at the right time, the first edition was translated, the miracle happened: Mike Lambert called Rosenthals and offered to help with the design.

With the Rosenthals and Bodems, God gave the work spiritual parents who have determined the family atmosphere of our ministry to this day. In general, their striving for revival and reformation as well as their hospitality and warmth were important ingredients for the long-term existence of hope worldwide.

That was an insight into the history of this portal, the history of a large family that wants to be a blessing because God has become a blessing to them.

KAI MESTER