A day in Hamburg

Friday was another full day.  Started out with a run in the morning again with C.  Hamburg is not what I expected it would be.  I thought it was a big city (which it is) – what surprised me is all of the green space available with running trails.  I just love seeing the cities and towns this way! 

This is an awful selfie...but I'm including it anyway

Same with this one...another blurry selfie...

 

 

We ran through a cute little neighborhood of "summer or weekend" homes

 

 

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we met with B who took us all over the city today—by car, then train, then lots of walking.  B and his wife are here serving among refugees.  We saw three different areas of refugee camps.  This warehouse-like building is where the refugees had first arrived in the major crisis in 2015 when hundreds were showing up every day.  They were housed here, all given cots and it was just a warehouse full of people.  This was considered short-term, emergency housing.  B knows of some who ended up staying here for 6 months.  Nobody is in the building now.

Then, the refugees were moved to one of these two camps.  These homes are multiple “shipping containers” stacked together to make the house.  There are many refugees living here now.  Some of these refugees are now working.

 

 This last camp we visited is really in the middle of nowhere.  It’s considered “temporary permanent” (whatever that means).  Many refugees have been here longer and many have work.  This is more or less their permanent home.  As we were walking through the neighborhood, we saw some sort of distribution happening.  B thought it could be another non-profit organization or something.  I discreetly took a photo as I was talking to B.

On the train..

 

Photo shows the "weekend homes" and how close they are to the refugee camp

Whatever distribution taking place...

It is estimated that there are at least 90,000 Afghans and 70,000 Iranians living in Hamburg.  As we walked to lunch, B pointed out some "plaques" in the sidewalk that are in memory of Jews who died in the war.  These plaques were placed in front of the buildings where the people would have worked.  

Some other sights on our walk to lunch.

We enjoyed lunch together as B continued to share with us about his ministry.  He and his family are here building relationships among refugees with the ultimate goal of bringing them to Christ.  They are helping refugees with their German homework, having small groups, and spending time listening and encouraging many of the refugees, which, of course, have all had many traumatic experiences.

 

After lunch, we walked through one of the “Central Parks” of Hamburg.  B said that many refugee families come to the park for picnics and gatherings in nice weather.  He and his family will often go to the park with a frisbee and picnic and visit and play with many of the refugee families.  It’s all about building relationships so you can have deeper conversations later.

 

More sights on our way to a cafe to meet with T.

 

Mid-afternoon, we met up with T, another worker in the area.  We learned off his work among the diaspora community in Europe.  T’s work is to build relationships with international ministries and pastors in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. 

As we met with T, B met with Ruallah, a new believer from Afghanistan.  At one point, B invited me to sit with he and Ruallah and I was able to hear his story.  What an encouragement to my heart to hear his journey.  He is 27, and has been a believer now for about five years.  He was born in Iran.  At 19, he left Iran for Turkey.  While there, he lived with an Afghan family.  A man from Turkey visited that family one day and gave the family a New Testament.  The husband permitted the family to keep it and the family eventually chose to follow Jesus.  After 6 months or so, this family lead Ruallah to the Lord! 

B meeting with Ruallah (took the photo this way to protect Ruallah)

Ruallah’s family is in Afghanistan.  His brother is in Turkey.  His family is saved now, except for his brother.  His brother’s wife, is a believer.  Ruallah is very involved in a German church here.  He is hungry for the gospel.  He is also living in a “halfway house,” ministering to those coming out of prison.  When B met with Ruallah today, it was because Ruallah asked B for a Farsi/German Bible so he could give it to one of his friends.   Ruallah’s name means “spirit of God.”  Please pray for Ruallah’s brother to come to know Jesus.  Please pray for strength and courage for Ruallah.  Please pray that God’s spirit will shine brightly from Ruallah.

After leaving the coffee shop, we strolled through the city.  We ended up walking down the “immigrant” street – it’s really the street that has a lot of ethnicity represented and where many refugees eat and shop.  Sights on this stroll:

 

The largest mosque in Hamburg

We headed back to the train station. B wanted us to try Franzbrotchen.  It was a tasty cinnamon sugar type of pastry.

After a short rest at the hotel, we joined B and his family for dinner.  We spent some time listening to them and learning of ways to encourage them and pray for them.

 

Dinner

It’s hard to believe that this trip is soon coming to an end.  On Saturday morning, we will spend a bit of time shopping with B’s wife before heading to the train station to head to the airport.  Seriously, my brain is so full right now.  It’s challenging to process all of this.