Berlin Street Conversations – Part 2
Yesterday, I told you about our experience talking with Stefan while I was in Berlin. As Charles and I continued walking, we decided to get out of the cold and get something warm to drink in a little shop. There we met Saleem (or thats close to his name but I don’t know how to spell it). Saleem is from Turkey and works in his good friends Doner Kebab shop (trust me, Doner Kebabs – a turkish like Gryos - are really good here in Germany. I have one at least once a week or more).
We talked about where in Turkey Saleem was from and he asked us where we were from. We told him we lived in Europe but that I was from North Carolina before and that Charles was from Texas. That’s when things got interesting and it went a little bit like this:
Berlin Street Conversations – Part 1
This last week, I had the opportunity to be in Berlin with the leadership of our mission, Greater Europe Mission. We took a break from our meetings to go into a part of Berlin and do some Prayer Walking or as some call it, Spiritual Mapping. (If you don’t know what this is, I would suggest doing a web search on the topic – great stuff) Essentially, this is where you ask God to reveal to you what it is He is doing in the area and open up your eyes to see what the state of the area is spiritually through praying and speaking with people. I want to share with you a couple of conversations I got to be a part of during this time (this blog is 1 conversation, I’ll blog the another one later).
I went on this adventure with Charles, a missionary based in France, and therefore I became the interpreter since I knew more German (scary). As we were walking, a young man, whom we later found out to be named Stefan, approached us asking if we lived in Berlin. He held a stack of papers like he was doing some sort of survey. As it turns out, he was getting people who lived in Berlin to sign a petition to allow students to have the choice of taking a religion course instead of ethics. Currently, everyone is required to take ethics but if they want to take a religion course, it is only offered after normal school hours.
The conversation went a little something like this: Read more >>
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
This last weekend we did a little two day trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber with another eDOT family. This was an old walled city that has origins dating back to the 900′s. In the war (WWII for non-Europeans), 40% of the city was bombed but due to a lot of people’s generosity they have rebuilt the city. Even our German friends think that this is a just a beautiful place to visit and I have to agree.
If you do visit this town, you have to go on the Night Watchman tour. He was an excellent tour guide with a great way of telling you the town’s history.
Check out my photos in the Photo Album.
Finding things in the middle of no where
Now our time this summer back in the States was a whirlwind, then I came home to Germany only to immediately run off to Hungary, then worked with a team here in Germany and then ran off to Ukraine. Some would say I’ve been a bit on the go. I also haven’t been alone. As in me, by myself, alone. Now this may come as a shock to some people, but I’m a borderline introvert. This means that I need my alone time or I tend to go a little crazy. My wonderful wife recognized this this past week and then proceeded to book me a two-night stay at a little hotel in the Black Forest. It was a wonderful two days of solitude where I got to go do some hiking (catch my photos in the Photo Album), play around with Photoshop and spend some time in God’s Word.
One of the amazing things about hiking in Der Schwarzwald (the Black Forest) is that you never know what you are going to come across. As I was hiking, all of the sudden I see this small chapel near the trail (see the photo above). It’s a very small chapel and as I approached I saw a sign with a man’s picture on it. It was a picture of Willibald Strohmeyer. The title above his picture was “SS-Terror and Priest’s death in Muenstertal” (my translation).
As I continued reading, I came to find out that this man was a priest in the area during World War II. He led an order of nuns (yes, they had a priest leading them) that took care of the homeless and needy. When the Nazis came to power, he was too popular by the people to touch. But near the end of the war, when the French were invading this area of Germany, Willibald Strohmeyer encouraged the locals to not resist and to put out white flags in hopes of not provoking the French to destroy this region. On Sunday, April 22, 1945, a group of SS Troopers arrested him during a church service. He was driven into the hills, robbed and brutally murdered. His body wasn’t found until May 5th. The chapel that I had found was to make sure that he was remembered not only for his death but more for how he chose to live his life.
Ironically, the sermon he gave just three hours before his death was on John 16:16-26:
16″In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”
17Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”
19Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
25″Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.
- John 16:16-26 (NIV – emphasis mine)
It’s amazing what you can find when you are not on a tourist’s path but deep into life’s journeys.
Having Fun with Family
We’ve been having a lot of fun with Krista’s family here. Sorry, we haven’t posted but I did upload a lot of photos from several of our day trips:
Opening Presents on Christmas Eve
More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album
Mom on our trip to Colmar, France for the Weihnachtmarket
More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album
One of our favorite trips is to Haut Koenigsbourg in France
More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album
Krista and her sister in front of the largest waterfall in Germany (Triberg in the Black Forest)
More photos like this can be found here in the Photo Album
Hope ya’ll have a wonderful New Year’s Eve. We’ve got our fireworks and we’re ready to go. Tschuess.
Getting back in the saddle
Sorry I have not blogged for a while. The day that I last blogged was the day that my parents came for a two week visit. It was wonderful having them here. It also gave us an excuse to take some time off and do some of the sightseeing that one can do around here in the Black Forest and Switzerland.
It was really great catching up with them here and listening to them repeatedly say how much Alex has grown and matured. It was ironic that they came about 8 months after we left the US and in about 8 months time we are planning on returning to the States for a visit. So they came right in the middle.
You can see some of the Photo Albums from our trips using these links (these are just some of mine – between all of us, we had over 4 GBs of pictures):
Oh, in some of the pictures you will see John. John is an eDOT member who is currently raising his support to be a part of our team that is located in Kiev, Ukraine. Also, you will see Krista’s Dad, Howard. He was able to have a two day layover with us on his way from Kenya to the USA.
Burgruine Rötteln
Today we had a nice little family hike to our “local” castle, Burgruine Rötteln, which is in Lörrach (about 15 km from our house). It is just a beautiful day and so we parked a little ways away and hiked over to the castle. Then we explored all the areas of the castle (with a very happy and exploring child).
Something we have found interesting is that when you live in America, a lot of people have a fascination with castles and the fairy tales of knights and princesses. However over here in the land of castles (and the origins of fairy tales – remember the Brothers Grimm are from the Black Forest), a lot of people have a fascination with teepees and the Native Americans. Just something to think about.
Check out our exploration of Burgruine Rötteln in the photo album.