Daniel & Anne King
Serving in Cologne, Germany by sharing the Gospel of Christ and teaching others to share the Gospel
Account# 24550
Our Story
We have followed the call from small town Tennessee to Cologne, Germany! What a change! The vision for Cologne is for everyone in Cologne to have the opportunity to hear and respond to the great Gospel of Christ!We have had a long and crazy ride to get here. God has confirmed in our hearts that this is where he wants us. Although we were appointed with Greater Europe Mission in October of 2004, we didn't arrive here in Cologne until the Summer of 2011. When we came in 2011, it was only supposed to be for a year. But God worked miraculously in allowing us to stay longer! Now we are long-term missionaries here to Cologne, seeking to do God's Will by spreading the good news and training others to do the same.
Where We Work
We are working in Cologne, Germany. Cologne has a population of about one million people. About 170,000 immigrants from all over the world live in the city with the largest group, by far, being the Turkish population at about 8%. We have chosen to live in a part of the city (Chorweiler), that has a high percentage of Turkish and international population.
Cologne is a One-Of-A-Kind City. Cologne was founded in 50 AD by the Romans as a central military base as Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. It is known as "The First Roman City in Germany". Because of the unique history of Cologne, you can still today visit parts of the original city wall fortifications that were built in 50 AD, as well as a floor mosaic from around the same time period, dedicated to Dionysus, that is housed in the Roman-German Museum. Many pieces of the city wall, built during the Middle Ages are also scattered around the city to view. At the heart of the city, the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) stands as the epitome of Gothic Architecture, and is the most visited landmark in Germany, having about 20,000 visitors per day!
You can also visit any one of the 12 Romanesque Churches of Cologne, which are also great tourist attractions. Which brings me to a point about Christ and Europe: the Church is shrinking rapidly. All of the churches are great...tourist attractions.
In Germany today, there is a very pervasive attitude of apathy towards God and "religion". Scandals within the church and the inability of the church to remain culturally relevant have positioned the church in a place of misunderstanding, distrust, and even disgust. People will sometimes still identify themselves with the church that they were "born" into, but the desire to identify is steadily decreasing. When you identify yourself officially as a "Christian", you are automatically taxed between 4% - 9% of your income as a tithe. Since most, however, do not attend a church, or have not attended, the number of people who are leaving the church is growing drastically. So the need for the Truth of the Gospel of Christ is great!