Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

On Thursday morning, got in a run in Zwickau.  It was a nice running path along the water, even had a covered bridge.  Germany feels so similar to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Although I’m tired and my feet hurt, I’m always gonna get up for a run, especially if it’s in another country!  I’ll rest when I get home…yeah, probably not.

 

We met the Lighthouse team at a local café for breakfast.  I enjoyed the sites along the way. 

 

 

 

 

On our way there, M mentioned that when we checked in to the hotel yesterday, he had asked the owner for some breakfast recommendations (the man was a bit grumpy).  He said, “they’re Americans, just go to McDonalds!”  Haha!  That is the last place I want to go when I’m traveling or in another country!  I love to experience the culture wherever I go. 

The breakfast was delicious.  Lots of breads, croissants, marmalades, Nutella, eggs, yogurt, and I had a white hot chocolate that was pretty tasty.  We spent some time visiting with Pastor Henry.  He is the pastor of the City Light church, where F attends.  He shared some of his dreams and goals for the future of the church and he also shared his passion to raise up young leaders. 

 

The Lighthouse ministry is small, but the opportunities are many.  German speakers are a plus, but not necessary.  It was a blessing to be an encouragement to this team.  I left feeling encouraged and excited for ways we can get involved. 

After breakfast, we walked around town for a bit and visited St. Mary’s Cathedral of Zwickau.  

 

Then, the team took us to see the City Light church. The church is actually in an old Audi manufacturing building.   Jewish people actually worked in the plant during WWII.  There is so much history in the city. 

 

 

After leaving the church, as we walked back toward our car, F asked if we had ever eaten horse.  J, W or me had not so he wanted us to experience it.  So, we did….something like jerky.  Except, it wasn’t dried very much so was like eating raw meat.  I didn’t like it at all.  So, I don’t have to do that again.

 

We left early afternoon to drive back to Leipzig.  After returning our rental car, we switched to the train station and prepared to board our train to Hamburg.

I really enjoy train travel.  We had our own little compartment and we were able to all catch up on a bit of work, except for W since she’s retired.  She was enjoying reading her book.  J  I was having problems with the Wi-Fi connection, so I broke out my coloring.

We have arrived in Hamburg!

This trip has been such a great experience….lots of learning.  Honestly, I am getting tired.  My brain feels like it is fried—taking lots of notes.  Thank you for your prayers.  The cold never came to be…I’m believing I caught that in time.  I’m drinking lots of water and juice and I am resting well. 

Pray that I’ll continue to have the strength as we wind down this last portion of our trip.  We will be in Hamburg through Saturday.  I’m looking forward to seeing another portion of Germany, as well as meeting more people doing some great work.

Arriving in Germany...

We left Athens on Wednesday morning to fly to Germany.  Flying into Leipzig and driving through Leipzig felt like we were driving through Lancaster county.

 

(no, this isn't Three Mile Island)

We arrived in Zwickau around 2:30.  M met us to take us to “Lighthouse” or “House of Light,” the local ministry here serving refugees.  

Some sights along the drive to the center:

 

When we arrived at the center, we met F.  M, F, and R make up the leadership team for this ministry.  We sat together over tea and cookies to learn about the work they are doing here.

 

The Lighthouse offers kids clubs, homework/tutoring, womens café time, mother/child groups, and Bible studies.  They are also involved at the local refugee camp, teaching German three times a week.  Many of the families represented are from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Russia.  When refugees arrive in Germany, they get assigned to a town to live.  This process could take up to 3 months.  There are 1,000 refugees in Zwickau.  This center is close to two of the camps.

F and M lead a church plant of about 350 people.  It is connected to the center, most who attend are new believers.  The name of the church is “City Light.”  Once a month, the church partners with other churches in the area and 350-400 refugees come together for one service. 

F had always wanted to be a missionary to the Middle East.  He had served at an orphanage for 4 months in Romania.  As a teen, he had Muslim friends and always enjoyed talking to them.  When he returned to Germany after Romania, his pastor wanted him to plant a church.  He was planning to leave the country but instead, the refugees arrived and he stayed.  He loves to share about the freedom and peace of God.  It is so easy to reach out to Muslims here—there is no fear.

We took a short walk around the community and F pointed out various locations where many of the refugees live, as well as the other center they have available for their monthly activities.  Then we took a trek up the 11 flights of stairs to see a view of the city.

The team’s desire is to live here, develop relationships and grow the church with refugees.  Ultimately, wanting to bring refugees and Germans together.  There is a need for short-term interns.  They need English tutors and other volunteers to help at the center.

It was encouraging to meet with this team today.  F is a 24 year old young man who is passionate about what he is doing and he is following God’s call on his life.  The work isn’t easy at all.  But you could see the passion that he has for the people there and his desire to bring them to Christ, through building relationships.

We enjoyed a German meal tonight with the group at a local restaurant.  Lots of meat and potatoes…not too different from Lancaster county, haha!

 

 We have a comfortable hotel to stay in overnight.

 

On Thursday, we will join the group again in the morning before going back to Leipzig to catch a train to Hamburg.  Lots of planes, trains and automobiles on this trip…

Overwhelming...

On Tuesday morning, I was able to get in my “rave run” in Athens to view the Acropolis.  What a treat!  W and I have now joined up with J and C for the remainder of our travels.  Turns out…C is also a runner!  And, he is familiar with Athens!  So, we went on a 3 mile run together on trails around the Acropolis, up the mountain for an amazing view of the city.  So thankful for the gift of running and the opportunity it brings for me to see parts of cities when I travel.

 

 

After breakfast at the hotel, we walked about 1.5 miles through the city (rather than taking the metro) to get to our first ministry visit—Helping Hands Ministry.  This was a nice walk and we saw many different shops and sights.

 

 

We spent most of our day with Helping Hands, observing, learning and serving with them.  Helping Hands is a ministry to refugees in Athens.  Many of the refugee families are from Afghanistan and Iran.  They have program options each day of the week—meals a few times a week, ladies group, mens group, Bible studies, etc.  On days they serve meals, there are about 150 who come for the meal and maybe 30 that stay for a message after the meal.  They have childcare during that time.

 

Helping Hands also has another building in the city where they offer language classes for both English and Greek, therapy (dealing with trauma), other Bible studies, and just a safe place for people to come and have quiet conversations.  They have found that many of the people are eager to learn and welcome the opportunity to have a Bible.  They embrace the freedom they have to even have a Bible and read it!  The field is ripe for harvest!

The Greek churches are also involved in migrant ministry.

We met with Tasha and Alex, two of the leaders of the ministry.  We learned of many ways we could partner or send workers to them.  There is a need for both short term and long term workers.  We learned more of the process of what happens when refugees arrive in Athens.  Many come from Lesvos, when they receive their papers to move on to Athens.  What happens, though, is that they arrive in Athens, and may be in another refugee camp there.  There are 7 refugee camps in Athens.  While there are camps, sometimes what happens is that they cannot get into the camps until they have correct paperwork.  Different ethnic groups are assigned different days, once a week, to get the paperwork…and, they only take so many at one time.  So, maybe they take 50 for one day, but if you are number 51, you have to wait another entire week before you can try again!  So, many that come from Lesvos, are on the streets until they can get into a camp.  Helping Hands indicated that the group that they serve is probably a third from the streets, a third from camps, and a third that have made it to an apartment in Athens.

After learning much about the ministry, we were put to work.  The 3-4 hour time slot was divided into a few “shifts.”  First shift was really “welcoming” the people as they came in and visiting with them.  Second shift was serving the food.  Third shift was clean up and childcare.  We helped to serve the meal (soup, salad, bread and an orange).  The food was delicious!  (we ate after everyone was served J)  I helped Bev (a worker that has been serving there for 1 ½ years) with the toddlers. 

We debriefed with the group a bit and learned of more stories of some of the people there.  There ARE people that are choosing to become Christians.  So many are new to the faith.  I took only 2 photos and had them approved by the leadership team there to know if I could post them.  They do not allow any photos to be posted on social media unless they review – many of these people could face death for their choice in faith if they ever returned to their home country! 

Once we left Helping Hands, we took the metro to our next ministry visit—Hellenic Ministries.  This ministry has been around more than 20 years.  They have many areas of ministry and ways to get involved:  New Testament distribution, pregnancy crisis center, school to prepare children for Greek school, sports camps, church planting, womens and childrens ministries, skills training, and media ministries.  They also have various mercy ministries to get plugged in to.  The ministries reach out to both Greeks in need (part of the week) and refugees (another part of the week). 

Some sights along the way after we got off the metro:

Today, between the two ministries, we heard many overwhelming and powerful stories of courage:

·       A couple who came from Afghanistan with their children.  At some point, they got separated from their son and he was able to go on without them.  Their 10-year old son is Germany and they are stuck here.  They don’t know when they will see him.

·       A family with 2 children arrived on a boat from Turkey, the father handed their baby to their 8 year old daughter when he went back to get his wife.  When he came to the edge of the boat again, he didn’t see his baby, maybe the sister had dropped him.  They frantically searched for the baby and saw it floating on the water, not breathing.  They worked to resuscitate him and he started breathing!  (miracle #1)  They started to learn of Christianity and the father was against Christians.  Two months later, he was baptized!  (miracle #2)  His wife was not happy….however, 9 months later, she was also baptized!  (miracle #3)  This man had also been traveling with his parents, but had to leave them in Turkey.  He eventually learned that they were in Lesvos.  He went to Lesvos and shared his new faith with them, for 4 days.  His mother was baptized (miracle #4)  Later, his father also was baptized (miracle #5).  After all of this…this family had the option to go on to Germany and get a job and a new life (they were approved) but they have chosen to stay in Greece—he said he could better reach his people here in Greece!

·       Many other families who are separated from each other…not knowing if or when they will see each other again

The need for workers is great!  If you are reading this and have any interest in talking with me more about these options, please get in touch with me!

·       Long term workers (although it is hard for people from US to get a long-term visa)

·       Short term workers (3 months at a time)

·       Teaching English

·       Teaching skills – sewing, computer, music or learning instrument, carpentry

·       People who can speak Farsi

·       Administrative people

·       Experienced media people

·       Humble, flexible, resilient workers

This seems to be a strategic time…as I’ve said before, the world is coming to us.  There are many ways you can connect with refugees in your own hometown OR I can help you connect with ministries overseas.  Greece is a very open place (maybe the most open place) in the world to be able to share gospel. 

Tuesday was a hard day for me emotionally.  In many ways, much harder than my time at the camp.  To hear all that many have gone through and all of the loss.  It just breaks my heart.  My heart is even more burdened for the unreached. 

I was wiped out when we got back to the hotel on Tuesday night.  I feel like I’m coming down with a cold.  Please pray that I can fight it off.  I am staying hydrated and sleeping well.