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The following is an excerpt from an article published in the July/October 1984 issue of IMPULS, the official magazine of the CZB during the 1980's
Translated by Bill Price
The Berlin Christian Center, formerly at Nollendorfplatz and now at Berlin's Südstern, has an unusual history for a church. For one thing it was unusual that Harold Herman, formerly a prominent Hollywood photographer, attracted large crowds of Berliners during the 1950's as a missionary after his conversion. They came in droves to his large tent which was set up at the border between West and East Berlin. It was a turbulent time. When the East Berlin uprising took place on the 17th of June, 1953, Soviet tanks forced the relocation of the tent. In spite of this, tens of thousands of Berliners came to a faith in the living God.
The press had some sensations to report, since a series of inexplicable and miraculous healings had taken place. Mr. K., for instance, experienced a spontaneous restoration of his freedom of movement. Ever since a debilitating accident during the War he had been forced to wear a steel brace and use a cane due to an injury to his spine and abdomen. X-rays taken after his supernatural healing showed no trace of any bone fractures, and the doctor who had at first prophesied for him a life of an invalid was now openly using the word "miracle" to describe what had happened. In 1968 Mr. K. earned the golden sport badge.
Those who saw all of this or read about it in the press (written by reporters who themselves were fascinated by what they were witnessing) no longer doubted the existence of God, but instead sought to learn how they could get their lives right with God as soon as possible.
The Metropol Theater - a new home for the tent church
The church that had grown from the tent, by now somewhat organized, moved into a new home at the old Metropol Theater at Nollendorfplatz (affectionately called "Nolli"). Thousands of others had in the meantime found their way into other churches.
This move was at first somewhat difficult, and soon the movement that had started out so full of life was threatening to become stagnant. As is so often the case, the church services were well on their way to becoming too formalized and ritualized.
Young people were moving away to West Germany, and gradually the makeup of the church started taking on the face of the predominantly aging West Berlin society. (West Berlin has more senior citizens than any other city in Germany). But then in 1964 came Volkhard Spitzer.
A fresh wind comes as an answer to prayers of the elderly
Most of the roughly 100 Sunday morning worshipers who came to hear young Pastor Spitzer preach were senior citizens. They all wholeheartedly dedicated themselves to prayer in support of his burden to reach the young people of the city.
At first, however, it seemed to be a lost cause.
In 1970 Pastor Spitzer finally decided that it couldn't go on like this. He started asking a lot of questions. He himself put it in these words:
"I wanted to be honest with myself and take a hard look at my work as pastor up to this point. I could not be satisfied with the result. I simply couldn't bear the thought of just being there for people who had already lived out the majority of their lives.
The entire young generation of the city was like a heavy burden weighing down upon my heart. Somehow I had to reach them!
The Christmas season had just gone by, and everyone seemed satisfied with himself. But I wasn't! I felt that I had to be alone and go to God with my inner need.
I found the solitude I needed in a garden house at the outskirts of the city. Here I wanted to fast and pray until I got an answer.
It finally came after three days. I had the assurance: if these young people are so important to me, how much more important they must be to God! In a flash it was clear to me: God wants to do something! He wants to help our whole nation, and especially the many young drop-outs who had fallen victim to drugs!
I quickly reached for my pocket Bible and wrote down my thoughts on the first page: 'If we Christians humble ourselves, God will work a miracle among the young generation. A 'Jesus Disciple Generation' will rise up from among the young drug addicts.' While writing down these words I was overwhelmed by the presence of the Lord."
The first Sunday of the new year 1971 had come, and the whole morning service was filled with hopeful anticipation. It was as if all of heaven had come down to meet at "Nolli" that morning. Pastor Spitzer delivered a stirring message concerning his experiences of the past few days and of how God had spoken to him.
A great readiness to repentance broke out among those in attendance. After the sermon about 80 worshipers met in the prayer room, fell on their knees, and confessed to God their lack of love towards Him and towards others.
The breakthrough: Love is something that you do
It didn't take long to see results of this inner repentance. Drug addicts came to the church services, drawn as if by an invisible hand. As soon as one of them stepped into the meeting hall, an elderly lady would get up and offer him her seat. There was tremendous joy. Everyone could see and wanted to see God working. An elderly lady fumbled through her purse and took out a candy bar and handed it to a visitor with the words, "Here you are, young man. This is for you! Jesus loves you!" This was too much for this visitor. The news of this extraordinary friendliness spread rapidly among his fellow addicts, and soon a whole group of them sat "over left" in the meeting hall. But it was not to end here!
These people desperately needed help. Himself helpless in this situation, Pastor Spitzer prayed, "Lord, what shall I say? Give me the right words now!" God answered his prayer - the sermon was: "All you need is love! Love is the greatest power in the universe. Love can completely change your life. God is love, He loves you!"
They began getting up out of their seats and coming forward, just a few at first, and then whole groups of them got up and flocked to the altar asking for prayer.
The news spread like wildfire: "Jesus sets you free!" There had been a breakthrough!
Soon the church services were being filmed by TV cameramen. The news media had a sensational story on their hands: the Jesus People!
Ex-drug addicts told of how Jesus had freed them from drugs and had given them a new and meaningful life. The news spread not only throughout Germany, but also into Switzerland and Austria.
Within a year more than forty contact points - the tea-houses - had been established and became a meeting place for thousands of young people.
The services at the Jesus Center at Nollendorfplatz were soon filled to overflowing. Counseling sessions often lasted well past midnight. Many of the young people had no place to stay after they had been saved. But even here God kept on providing. Large sums of money were donated in order to obtain a community house for these young people. It was called the "One Way House." Here they could stay until rehabilitated, and for the most part without having to pay anything.
Today many of them have families and attend the church services with their children. Others went to international Bible schools and are working as missionaries here and abroad.
Pastor Spitzer said, "I was not mistaken back then when I believed that God had spoken to me. God worked great miracles among hundreds of young people, and he is still working today".
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