History: 

Germany is Europe's second largest population and most influential economy.  Like other European nations it has a long history, but most of us are familiar with the painful struggles of the 20th Century.  Hitler's "Third Reich" left scars upon the country that are still felt today.  Munich itself was reduced to ruins during the second world war when half of its buildings were destroyed.  As a result many new buildings make up its skyline today.  But the war years are not forgotten.  We have watched young Germans break down in tears over the sense of guilt and shame they carry for their nation.  The legacy of the world wars left Germany shattered and divided among the world's superpowers.  It was only in 1989 that the Berlin wall, which divided East and West Germany was broken down.  Germany became a political unity once again on October 3, 1990.  Just this year Germany dedicated its  own memorial to the Holocaust.  Former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder recently declared that Germany has a moral responsibility to remind the world of the ever present danger that genocide presents to humankind.
 

Spiritual Profile:
The spiritual impact of these struggles is incalculable.  Skepticism about God predominates German culture.  The basis of this skepticism was forged through    medieval     political struggles and the failure of the church to provide any unified resistance to Hitler's advance.  Germany, like many other nations today, now lives by the values of secular humanism.  However, secular humanism can not provide people with a meaningful existence. Today millions of people struggle with extreme job demands, harsh family relationships, a sense of meaninglessness, loneliness and profound personal pain.  Young people are particularly susceptible to these pressures and often feel little hope for the future.  In the face of all this, the churches are declining. Only 8% of Germany's 82 million people attend a church of any kind with any regularity. One journalist recently commented on a series of political scandals saying "Germany today needs to learn to heal itself."  Yet we know that the healing it needs can only come through the love, grace, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.