Mary Buteyn and David Kromminga

Vision and Mission

We work as Resonate missionaries in cooperation with the Berliner Stadtmission (Berlin City Mission). In addition to doing traditional city mission work for more than 140 years, it has reached out to the refugee community, providing housing and helping many get established in Germany. Of the more than 1.5 million refugees who arrived in Germany in recent years more than 85,000 have come to Berlin. Thousands are still coming to this city. 

Because of this huge movement of people, there is unprecedented opportunity for sharing the good news with those from many nations, including those from countries without religious freedom. It’s our privilege to respond to this challenging situation. We have three primary tasks: mentoring emerging ethnic congregations, planting a German-speaking multicultural congregation, and developing young leaders for the multiplication of such congregations.  

As refugees are being challenged with the claims of the gospel, there is the need for new congregations that welcome them and address their unique needs. Ethnic churches are springing up to reach the new arrivals. We mentor the leadership of some of these congregations and assist them in finding resources and making Christian connections in the city. We organize and promote training opportunities that benefit the leaders and members of these congregations. 

Jesus Christ is breaking down walls and drawing people together from all nations into communities in which they experience fellowship with God and with each other. With a core group of committed Christians from several different cultures we are planting a German-speaking, multicultural congregation for and with immigrants from all over the world. We host weekly language cafes, Bible studies, and Sunday worship in easy German, accessible to most newcomers. 

We envision such congregations sprouting up in Berlin and beyond. To see this become a reality, we mentor a group of Christian young people to teach them the principles and practices of cross-cultural church planting. 

God can bend even the tragic displacement of millions of people toward His Kingdom purposes of bringing peace and new life in Christ for refugees. God can use this unprecedented stream of people into Germany to revitalize Christ’s church through tangible expressions of Christian hospitality and new opportunities to witness. Thank you for your partnership in this part of God’s global mission!