Hildesheim, Germany

Hildesheim, germany

Hildesheim is a city located in northern Germany, about 160 miles west of Berlin. There are 100,000 residents in the city. Including all the villages and towns in the county of Hildesheim, about 20 miles in any direction, the number shoots up to over 250,000. Don and Cindy Roehrkasse moved to Hildesheim in 1990 to establish a church in a country that is predominantly Lutheran and Catholic, though it is becoming increasingly secular, with the two main churches steadily losing members.

In May 1993, Susan and Kyle Bratcher joined the Roehrkasse family in the work of the young church in Hildesheim. While most Germans are suspicious of religious groups, the church has grown from only a handful of people to an average of 35-40 meeting together on Sundays. They have developed an active children’s ministry and lead a retreat for families in the summers. Don has also taken on the responsibility of organizing continuing education seminars with professors from the States. Cindy is receiving training in spiritual formation, and she is eager to pass on what she is learning.

Our Lord’s command is to go into all the world to make disciples, and the irony of the current events is that the world has been coming to us! While some see this as a threat, we see it as an opportunity. We are currently leading a home Bible study for Iranians, and the church is involved in outreach to Ukrainian refugees.

Please join us in prayer for wisdom and open eyes of faith as we face the challenges and opportunities that the Lord brings into our lives!

The Roehrkasse Family & The Bratcher Family

July 2025

HIldesheim MAIL

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In February we welcomed the 29th refugee from the Ukraine, whom the church here, like all the other refugees that have come through our doors, has helped to find a new home. We were overjoyed to share in the baptism of three of the refugees. We praise our Lord for working in the hearts of these three children of His!

The Lord is not moving solely in the hearts and lives of the Ukrainians. About six months ago, a young man from Iran showed up at our church services. After Don talked to and studied with him a few times, he readily committed his life to our Lord. What a joyful occasion – and not just for us, but also for his brother, who had also become a Christian after coming to Germany.

On the day of this young man’s baptism, Antonio, (as he would now like to be called), his brother and all the Iranians that are a part of the bi-weekly bible study we work with, enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration. We spent some time sharing with each other what the resurrection of Jesus means to each one of us. It was beautiful to listen to their thoughts and to deepen our relationship with each other in this way. We are thankful and humbled as we watch and sometimes even get to be a part of God's working in the lives of others. One of the greatest challenges we are experiencing is a struggle to bring so many languages and cultures together in one body under Christ. The  language, of course, is one of the biggest hurdles. There are naturally also many prejudices among and between the different cultures.

We share all of this with you with the request that you will be in prayer about these beautiful new Christians. We ask your prayers for us, that we will be wise in knowing how to help these people grow in the knowledge of our Lord. At the same time, we ask you to pray that we will have the wisdom to recognize our limits and depend on our Lord now more than ever.

As many of you know, in February I(Cindy) received a diagnosis from the doctors that I had breast cancer. It is an aggressive cancer, but in the very early stages. Since then, life has felt a bit like a roller coaster. News like that is, at least for the moment, heart stopping. Our hearts are working well again, and we are learning to depend on God in a very new way. Of course, Don and I have times of great sadness, anger, and fear, but I can truly say it is not where we “live”. We live in God’s grace and most of the time also in His peace.

We have received so many expressions of love and concern. Thank you!! We are also so grateful now more than ever, for the German health insurance, which covers most of the costs so that we don’t have to worry about the financial side of this illness.

Most of all we are grateful to our God. We ask here, also, for your prayers for Don and I and all our family, that the peace of God will fill our hearts and minds as we deal with the challenges that lay ahead.

In His Grace and Peace, 

The Roehrkasse Family

2023

Don and Cindy have had a very trying year, as many of us did. They were stranded in Wuhan, China, where their daughter works and ministers, at the beginning of the pandemic.  They couldn’t fly back to Germany so, once able, had to come to the U.S. and follow the 14 day minimum quarantine before being able to return to their work in Germany.

Their labor in Hildesheim is primarily supported by the sponsoring congregation The Springs Church of Christ in Edmond, Oklahoma, the Meadowlark church of Christ in Fort Collins and the Littleton church of Christ, along with a few individuals who are regular supporters.

Don writes in a letter earlier in the year: “As far as our financial needs go, the support we are currently receiving has not changed in the past five years. It is sufficient for our personal needs, mainly because the exchange rate is currently at a favorable rate for us. If there is any big change in the exchange rate, then we will need additional support. We also visited our financial advisor this past summer, and he recommended to us that if there is any way we could put more money into our retirement account, we should do it.”

Our Lord’s command is to go into all the world and the irony of the current events is that the world has been coming to us! Please join us in prayer for wisdom and open eyes of faith as we face this challenge!

The Roehrkasse Family

November 2020