The past

When three of us met in 1991 in a living room in Hamburg there was one thing that connected us:
We loved Jesus and we believed that He had not only died for us 2000 years ago but had also risen from the dead. He therefore still lives today and has an immediate interest in men.
We went for this Jesus and really wanted to see Him in action. Many of us began to pray in someone's sitting room, without restraint, for the first time. We were there before God just as we were, and wanted everything that He had for us. Most of the people who joined us later on came because they believed in Jesus, but hadn´t been accepted as they were in their lives. The Jesus we find in the bible is extreme. He did not mince His words and he criticised everything He didn´t like.

We asked Him: "Is it possible to be as we are and to live radically for You? How could we design things like services, preaches and worship that works for us?"

The first answer came relatively unexpectedly: we felt God´s presence blow us over. Jesus was so real that we felt we could touch Him by simply stetching out our hands.
At this stage many miracles happened. Almost every prayer was answered. Many suddenly stopped taking drugs because they were completely filled with Jesus. He did everything to make it clear to us: "I like the idea, it is from me, I want to bless you, I love you, just as you are!"
We tried out several things to find out how we could have services without organs, lithurgy and traditional rites. In the Hamburg scene it got around that these freaks who were crazy about Jesus were holding meetings, and so people from different youth cultures came to us. Most of them realised that there was something going on which they could not grasp and came again.

One meeting we held was called "Jesus- Abhäng- Abend" (Hang out with Jesus), and this grew enormously. Shortly after neighbours threatened to throw us out of the flat if we (25 of us) went on praying the Lord´s Prayer at 1 in the morning, we moved to a Café in the Schanzenviertel district. Until 1994 the group grew to more than 200 people joining each "Abhäng- Abend". In the meantime the whole thing had become a kind of church, and we baptized and even married some people. Many Freaks began a new life with Jesus in this place.

In the next years the whole thing grew to an extent that was beyond the borders of Hamburg. All of a sudden we got mail from freaks all around Germany who had the same idea but had never dared to make it happen. In a very short period of time Jesus Freak groups sprang up like mushrooms. We decided that although we came from and worked in different cities, we had to be close to one another. We realised that we could only pull through our vision, a Jesus movement in Europe, when we worked together. So, Jesus Freaks International was founded as the official union of all churches and groups. Once a year Freakstock takes place where we all meet and party together with Jesus.

Since the Jesus Freaks have existed many people have come to know the resurrected Jesus. We ourselves went through ups and downs. To walk with Jesus as a church, a group and a movement is not always easy and it involves changing ones mind and continual development. But as long as we are willing to be guided by the Holy Spirit, it will always continue and we will come to the destiny that God has for us.

...and Jesus has only just started!