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Berlin – Day 9

Our second Sunday in Berlin. This week we really upped the ante when it came to our involvement in the local service. We helped with leading worship, performed a drime, and I was preaching in the service. It was a great time to come together from across languages, and join together in community because of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Last week a lot of our youth found the service interesting because of the language barrier, and this week it was interesting because they got to hear it twice! Once in their own language, and once in German. It was a fulfilling experience for everyone involved.

After the service, we were blessed by the German church to join them for a barbeque. There was bratwurst everywhere, as well as pork steaks. Delicious! It also gave us a chance to perform another drime, and spend more time with the kids.

Not sure who got the better end of that deal though!

We spent the afternoon back in Berlin. We visited one of the huge cathedrals, and went up the TV tower for a 360 degree view of Berlin. A great chance to see the city from above. Hard to believe that we only have 5 more days until we're on the way home.

Thank you again for all your prayers! We spent the end of our debrief meeting this evening sharing encouraging words with one another. I am always thankful and amazed with how much they like and love one another, and for the consistently awesome attitude of everyone. No doubt that is your prayers at work!

Back to work tomorrow! We have a path to finish up.

Berlin – Day 8

It's crazy to think that it's been over a week since we left, and under a week until we'll be home. All of the things that have happened, and all of the things yet to happen. It's always amazing to see God at work in a missions trip, both through your own actions, and in your own life. They have a way of laying you bare.

Today, we got down to cleaning up from a week of destroying the front entrance, and many of our other projects around the church. There was much sweeping, mopping and moving of dirt by all. Not to mention that we're having a barbeque with the church and neighbourhood tomorrow, so we wanted the flowerbeds and grass to be in much better shape than they were.

So, armed with shovels, blowers, weed eaters, hoes, and rakes, we marched into the gorgeous Berlin morning, filled with hope and dreams! Then we started working. After a full day, we accomplished everything we set out to do, and have left ourselves in a great place for next week.

Tonight we get some well deserved rest. The Pritzkau's have invited the whole group over to their house for a chocolate fondue dessert and games later this evening. No doubt a time filled with fun and community.

Tomorrow we join the Berlin church for a second time. This week, however, we're adding a distinctly more Canadian flair to the service. A group of our youth are helping lead the worship, we'll be performing a few of our drimes, and I'll be preaching. Unless the gift of tongues spontaneously breaks out, Andre will be translating for me.

Thank you again for all of your prayers! It's been a great week, full of amazing stories and change, and we can't wait to join you back in Abbotsford (or wherever you may be) to share them first-hand!

Berlin – Day 7

Hello everyone, and welcome to Day 7 of our missions trip.

After a hard week of digging, laying stone, jack hammering, compacting, gardening, cleaning and painting... We took a day off.

Don't fear though, we were up for a seven AM breakfast. The bus arrived for us at 8, and we were off for a grand adventure.  The day started at the Russian War Memorial, and continued we traveled through Berlin over one of the canals, and saw one of the guard towers that they used to watch over the land between East and West Berlin.

We then continued in the bus, and saw a variety of Berlin churches, from the small to the massive steeples they've built over the centuries. It continues to amaze me that a city that has such a rich tradition of faith can need God so badly. Our tour guide shared with us that one of the churches hosted an international conference of prostitutes, and they set up an idol right in the sanctuary and worshiped it. Took me right back to the Israelites.

From there, we stopped and visited the East Side Gallery, the longest standing stretch of the Berlin wall. 1.3 KM's and over 450 artists have painted different sections. We also visited the medieval section of Berlin, where we saw many of the old castle's and restored buildings all the way back past Fredric The Great.

We stopped for lunch at the largest train station in Germany, which was built for the World Cup. Much Currywurst was consumed (and some combination of pizza and hot dog bun, which looked delicious!) From here we travelled and stopped at many historic sites... The Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie (and the museum), shopping, and many other traditional buildings.

We talked at the end of the night about the history we learned, and many of the sites we'd seen. Truly remarkable, and one of those once in a lifetime experiences.

I hope you'll take the opportunity to brush up on the history of Germany and see the youth's pictures when we get back. Tomorrow it's back to work. Cleaning the church for Sunday, more stone laying, and finalizing prep work for laying the path early next week.

Thanks for your prayers! As we share our testimonies, God is at work in the hearts of the youth to really be vulnerable and speak truth into each other's lives.

Berlin – Day 6

A new day here in Berlin! We changed gears today as we prepare for the weekend, and also to rest from the past week! There have been some really powerful things happening here in Berlin, and I'm excited to share some of those things with you!

We were finishing up the multitude of projects that we've started over the past week, and getting them to a state where the service can happen on Sunday and not be too much in the
way!

We were leveling out the front entrance, and packing dirt and gravel in to prepare for paving stones on Monday. We finished painting the walls in different rooms around the church, moving lights in the sanctuary, mortaring and fixing some brick walls, and pressure washing! Lots accomplished, even in tying up loose ends.

This afternoon was filled with our second day of children's programs, and with the first day under our belt, we dialed up the program a little, both with the younger and the teens. With the children, we made pencil toppers with them, sang songs, and told them the story of the prodigal son. With the teens, we played football with them (the REAL football) for around two hours.

A lot of these kids are extremely rough around the edges, and any community and love they can get is a great thing! I had a chance to share a small part of my testimony with them, and the story of the woman at the well.

It's cool to see the connections that are being made, and the ways that even through language barriers, God works.

Within our own youth, we're seeing the Spirit move in powerful ways! As a youth pastor, you always pray and hope that they will be willing to be vulnerable and let the Spirit speak to them, and we are seeing that in Berlin. Through the simple act of sharing their testimonies, they are discovering God, real community, and what it means to be open and honest with others!

Your prayers are paying huge dividends, please keep it up! God is faithful, and I'm excited to bring these youth home so you can see for yourselves what God is doing.

Looking forward to sharing the stories, pictures and videos from our travel day tomorrow!

Berlin – Day 5

Day 5 of our Berlin trip is nearly under our belts. It's been a good day of building relationships, and like yesterday, was filled with not just construction, but relationships.

The day started off like any other, with projects outside... Finishing the edging stones, pressure washing the paving stones, and building walls. We finished painting downstairs and cleaning up, and we started pruning and cleaning up the flower beds around the church.

This afternoon was filled with preparing for the children's afternoon, including organizing, craft preparation, and games. We had nearly 50 children and youth around from 4-6, and it was a good time of community building. We ran around playing soccer, danced to music, made seals, played ping pong, and much more!

There has been some real growth here as well. It's always a scary prayer to go and ask for God to work, for Him to move mountains, but we're starting to see those rocks shift, and the sky clear.

We'd appreciate prayer for rest. It's been a busy few days, and we have more work tomorrow, as well as another children's programs. All enjoyable, but we're looking forward to a break on Friday when we tour the town.

Keep praying!

Berlin – Day 4

Day 4 is officially underway in Berlin! Today has been a day of carrying on from our previous work. From putting in edging stones, to building walls, to power-washing, each day is another stone towards our building.

From this:

To this:

This:

To this:

Small steps make big changes in the long run, and especially up front there are projects that take longer to complete (and cure) that will pay dividends in the days ahead!

To the side of the church, we were also building the walls and powerwashing.

And inside of the church, we were painting a bathroom, and preparing another for paint. It will eventually be tiled, and used for laundry.

and

to

in the bathroom we went from

to

and that was just physically!

This afternoon Caleb, Megan and Jess had a chance to share their share their testimonies with a seniors group that meets for lunch. A few other youth joined in the time to hear and participate with them. It was a powerful time in seeing God's Spirit move through them. As they shared their lives, questions were asked, truth was spoken, and God's Spirit started to break down walls.

The three who shared had time afterwards where some of the Seniors spoke to them directly, and powerfully. One of the conversations involved an older gentleman saying he was coming to church on Sunday - for the very first time.

Thank you for your prayers, they are being heard, and God is at work because of them.

I look forward to sharing more stories with you!

Berlin – Day 3 – Hard Work Ahead

Today was the first day of 'real' work. We got right to work carrying on from Saturday's jack hammering. We had a few goals in mind for today. The first was that we could get out the entire front entrance, so it can be repoured, and put in more even than the previous one.

The second goal was to prepare for a new path to the entryway of the church. This involved digging up the lawn, and providing a curve to get ready for the base, and the paving stones that we'll lay down.

On top of that, Davis has been welding in the back, we're in the process of taking out old stones off the flowerbeds so we can build some new walls and level out others that have slowly fallen into disarray over the years. Lots of great progress was made today, and the youth worked super hard.

Now some time for rest and fun with friends! Each of you are missed, and we look forward to coming home to share these stories with you in person.

Berlin – Day 2

Day 2 is under our belts, and boy, was it different than our first day.

We started the morning joining the German church for their service. It was an experience foe all, involving a lot of loooong German words, and only a little comprehending. Nonetheless, the church is thrilled to have us, and the youth were able to perform 'In the Light' for the church. Andrè prepared us some English sermon notes, so we were able to follow along.

Afterwards, the church meets for a coffee and snack time, so we joined them for that. The youth did a great job interacting with he kods, who were far less aware of the language barrier. There are some good videos, and I seem to recall Kyle being chased down a hall by a miniature gang of Germans!

After the morning we had a great lunch. Have I mentioned what a wizard Ruth is? We should start a Facebook campaign to make sure she knows! Then it was time for some public transport.

We loaded up a bus, and left for downtown Berlin to see some of the sights from a more touristy perspective. There are some HUGE train stations here!

After we arrived, the quest was to see the Reichstag and the Brandenburg gate, and then dinner. Two of these things went well! Plus, we only created a small international incident... of laughter.

After the Reichstag, it was off to the Brandenburg gate for some pictures and soveniours. Let's not forget Starbucks as well!

Our last quest for the night was to find donairs. It took a little over an hour, some wrong buses, a few missed trains and wrong directions, not to mention line construction! Eventually we prevailed, and donairs were wolfed down.

All in all, a fantastic day... Monday holds plenty of construction, as we get down to work and make a mess of the front entrance... so we can rebuild it! Don't forget tou can leave comments on the posts, and I'll pass them along, as well as the kids reading them.

Day One

The first day of arriving at a mission is always one of the most important days, because it sets the tone for the rest of the trip. I'm happy to saythat the youthworked hard today on the first leg of the journey as we started to rip out the concrete we'll repouring, as well as cleaning the church for Sunday.

The church is a beautiful building! Situated right in an apartment suburb, it's a gorgeous setting. All of the reno's have really made a difference, and I'll be sure to post a walkthrough another day. Everyone is settled in, and excited for the church service tomorrow, as well as the trip into downtown Berlin. Look out Germany!

We Have Arrived Berlin

We landed safely in Berlin! Woo hoo! There were some tense momemts with travel fatigue, and a lack of proper nutrition (I'm looking at you Boys), but no one lost their lunch.

We spent the afternoon driving through Berlin on our way to the church, eating a fantastic meal prepared for us by Olga, and settling in. Everyone is pretty severely jet lagged, so I have them on a sleep schedule!

Tomorrow the youth get a orientation to the work and cleaning we'll be doing here, and we have the schedule for the next two weeks roughed out. There is plenty of work to be done, and we're excited to get to work.