danielauermann

??what does daniel do in the bush??

2006-11-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

…was a question recently asked in a café the other day.

first of all daniel does not go into the “bush”. Freetown is a 2 million people city and capital of sierra leone.

I am part of a team of mission direct.

mission direct (md) is a christian charity from england that is quite remarkable in many ways. Md supports local organizations and ngo’s in developing nations. We construct facilities that enable our partners to run hospitals, schools, orphanages, nursing homes,…

inspired by the fact that you receive so much more than what you give if you invest into GOD’S kingdom, md creates a win-win situation. rather than sending just financial aid we send teams on short-term mission trips (2 weeks). the volunteers work along our local contractors on the construction sites, visit orphanages, churches, share the gospel and spend time ministering to the people.

that way the lives of those who give and the lives of those who take are transformed.

i am part of the team (two girls and me) who stay in country for long term to manage the teams and everything else that needs to be managed.

i will be in charge of the construction sites. That means i lead the volunteers teams while they are working, manage the progress the local companies etc.

this is the answer to my prayer.

this year i asked GODto give me what my heart desires as he promises in HIS word (psalm 37:4). I was not sure what my heart desired. all the potential in a future as a lawyer, or rather get called to go out into the world just as i am and walk on his hand through a great adventure. often my heart desired things that i was not sure if they were “godly” things to desire. So I asked LORD, YOU created my heart, YOU know my heart, give me what my heart desires!

my position at mission direct, with all the responsibilities, huge challenges and andventures is the answer to my prayer. now i know what my heart desires. the fact that GOD opened up this opportunity lets me know that my heart desire is a “godly” desire.

A overwhelming sense of HIS peace settled down in my heart!

praise the LORD who knows me!

open doors

2006-11-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

last friday i needed to go to the high commisiner of sierra leoe in london. i had to pick up passports and visas of the mission direct team members.
people warned me…”it will be just like stepping into africa”…”good initiative-test for your trip to sierra leone”…”it’ll take you hours”…

getting there, i saw a big sign that basically said that there is nothing going on in this place on friday’s…especially nothing that is in any way related to visas.

great

went for a coffee. sitting in the café I felt like i should pray for doors to open; so i did. i prayed about all sorts of metaphorical doors to open. when i was done i had the feeling, that you have when you realize after a day of hard work that you worked on the wrong construction site…the spirit challenged me to pray for physical doors to open. honestly, that was one of the strangest prayers in a while.

i walked back to the embassy:

i was told that the fastest way into the embassy is via the backdoor. i walked to the entrance of the backyard and found the gate open. great! i went to the backdoor and rang, and rang and…no answer.
the door had two locks but no handle. i pushed the door a bit. and: the top lock was not locked so that the top half moved a bit. that was not of much use since there was still the bottom lock. i pushed harder, and a little harder. i was about to walk of. but before i “pushed” the door with my foot

…the door opened silently…

i waked right into the embassy, to the reception desk and told the people that I needed my passport and a couple more; people looked at me and wondered how this strange german ended up in front of their desk and, still being surprised, send me to another office; I found it and walked right in …and stood in front of the high commissioner of sierra leone herself; I was asked to wait outside; two minutes later o man came out; took me to the basement; handed me the passports; complained that i came on a friday to pick up visas.

8 minutes later after walking through the back door i stood on the pavement again, thinking that GOD really opens doors…any doors!

2006-11-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

a thursday nights call

one thursday night my phone tang. it was a friend of mine telling me that the person standing next to him wanted to chat with me about something very interesting...

...
seven weeks ago i had decided to close my law-books; leave the law faculty's librabary after studying for a lonely night for the last time in my life. i sucessfully finished my foundatinal studies at the University of Marburg after three years.

then i searched for another studying subject, something of more significance than solving law suits of people fighting over money…

seven weeks of searching went by. the only result: I was facing a gap year before commencing any study subject. i applied to many christian charities as a volunteer in a project in overseas, something I’ve been doing every once in a while over the past three years.

...then my phone rang, as I said…

tim martindale from mission direct (www.missiondirect.org) was looking for someone to go on a team to sierra leone to manage mission direct’s local construction projects. that sounded very interesting. the follwing week I went on a job interview…

right now I am preparing to jump on a plane to sierra leone next Monday.