It is time

Its been a while since I last updated this blog.  Classes at the universities here just started and that means that I get really busy.  As one of the two guys on the STINT team here, I am trying to connect with all the guys that were involved with the ministry last year and meet new guys this year.  Austin and I are stretched between all three of the Universities, which means I have a lot of meetings with students.  Officially, however, I am assigned to the Freie Universitaet, so I spend a bit more time there than I do at the other universities.  These past two weeks have been exciting though.  God has been so good in leading me to new guys that are wanting to know more about Jesus Christ and the Bible.

One event that I have been a part of planning is the Fall Retreat.  At the Fall Retreat we hope that students will experience community, be impacted by teaching from the Bible and relax by getting away from the big city of Berlin.  The more I plan for the event the more I get excited for what can do through this weekend.  Last year there were 2 students that went to the Fall Retreat.  This year the team and I have been praying for 25 students and so far we have 10 students that want to come.  Already God is at work in the hearts of students.

Last weekend I got to go to the Haarz mountains in Germany and climb the tallest mountain there, namely Brocken.  It was a blast and I had so much fun hiking.  I have some pics to show some of that adventure, unfortunately I just don't feel like they do justice to what I truly saw and experienced.

That isn't much, but it will have to do for now.  Hopefully I can get around to either editing this one or updating with a new post soon because there is just so much I can write about.

My Choice of Words

Its been two weeks since my last post and so much has happened.

At the Schloss

Two weeks ago on Tuesday the team and I left for a conference called the UniMAT. I myself wasn't entirely sure what the conference was about, but I knew that I had to be there and that we would be staying a Schloss (German for Castle/Palace). I was excited to be staying in a castle, but there was more to it than just that. The UniMAT was a conference where I got to learn a lot about what my role in the ministry is going to look like. The big focus of the conference was starting student led movements. This was so good to hear for me because I was once a student leader at Purdue, but now I am a staff member who is trying to find and raise students here in Berlin to lead the ministry. I had to keep reminding myself that I am no longer the student but finding and guiding them. Learning this concept was so good and really set the tone for what my role will look like for this next year. Also the UniMAT was a time where I could meet the other staff members of Campus für Christus that are in other regions in Germany and be encouraged by them. Most of them are Germans that have such an incredible passion to see lost students on the university campuses come to know Christ. I really fed off their passion and now I am just so excited to do ministry on the campuses here in Berlin. Other great things that the Schloss included some of the best home cooked German food I've had and playing ping pong against a German and Irishman.

On the weekend our team went out and took a bike tour around Berlin. One thing I learned from the bike tour is that this city is incredibly big. We biked for a few hours and I would gander that we didn't even see half the city, its just so large.

This past week went by really fast. On Tuesday, the team and I went out to the campuses to go and talk with students in the mensa (cafeteria) with the intent of getting into spiritual conversations. Myself and a few other went to Freie University, which is a great campus and has a really nice mensa. Now this was my first time of actually going out and talking with students that I have never met before, so I paired up with Barbara on my team because she's a pro at doing it and I was hoping she could show me the ropes and how to get into conversation with students in Berlin. So we spot this guy that was casually eating his lunch and sit next to him. We quickly strike up conversation with him, but he tells us his English isn't so great (it was actually pretty good). But anyways we start getting on to spiritual topics and he didn't know all the vocab for that, so he starts speaking in German. This is fine because Barbara is from Germany and speaks it just fine. Meanwhile, I am just sitting there eating my lunch while this conversation is going on in a language that I am just beginning to learn. So I begin just praying that God would work on this guy's heart (at this point I still don't even know this guy's name). About 45 minutes later the conversation wraps up, he apologizes to me for speaking only German, and I finally ask him for his name. He tells me its Tobias, and then we part ways. Shortly thereafter, Barbara informs me all that they discussed. In short, the guy didn't really know much about Christianity but really wanted to know more about it and how it worked. He recognized that the questions that Christianity helps to answer are big and important questions. He wanted to know more about it and so Barbara invited him to a Bible study that we are going to be starting up that is for students seeking to know more. He expressed an interest, but said he knew his friends would make fun of him for going to it. I still think he will come once the study starts up. I share this story with you because it shows that God is working in the hearts of students here in Berlin. They recognize that they need God but don't know where to go or where to begin. They fear the persecution of friends. This city is ripe for the Gospel and I am so excited to be here to share it. So I ask that you will continue to pray for this city, for the students here, and please pray for Tobias. Pray that God will continue to work on his heart and that he will come to desire Christ as his Savior and follow Him.

Hanging out with the team

After Tuesday, this week really sped up. Essentially, Wednesday and Thursday were days where I just moved stuff. It turned out to be pretty exhausting but rewarding. One of the staff members here just got an apartment and needed to move stuff from the previous place she was staying to her new apartment. There were a lot of heavy items that had to be moved and I will just summarize by saying that I woke up Friday morning with my hands calloused and burning, sore arms, and sore legs. Friday, however, proved to be a good refreshing day, as the team went out to a nearby lake and rented some rowboats. The weather was just perfect and we just casually rowed our boat around in the calm waters of the peaceful lake.

That's it for now, again if you have any questions, comments, gripes, or complaints, comment below. As you may have noticed, there are a couple of pictures posted above. The first one is everyone in front of the Schloss at the UniMAT and the second is at a cafe with some of my team members here in Berlin. I will try to post a good picture of the Schloss when I can find one.

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Well I am back to posting again now that I am back on the other side of the pond. This time around I plan on being a lot more committed to updating this blog and keeping you posted on my life and ministry here in Berlin, Germany. I will continue my tradition of naming the title of my post after a name of a song, so if you can name the artist and album of the song then I will give you 5 gold stars for each correct answer.

Anyways, I am going to jump right into what you want...the update! First off, I need to let all my supporters know that I am at 100% pledged of my support goal! God brought 85% of it in just 3 weeks, which is absolutely incredible and a testament to God's faithfulness in provided for the needs of His children. I want to thank you for all your prayers and support through that process. You guys supported me through the it all and got me here to Berlin! So please rejoice with me and thank God for all that He did to get me here because it truly is a miracle for me to have raised all that support in such a short amount a time.

There are some really cool things that happened with support raising and I want to share them with you. Like I said earlier it took about 3 weeks for God to bring me all the way to 100%. It started around August 15-16, with a the prayers of my STINT team at the STINT briefing (i missed the briefing to raise support) and they sent me a lot of encouragement via texts. The next day I woke up feeling abnormally encouraged, motivated, and excited to raise support. I felt like people were praying for me, I do not know how else to express it other than that I felt prayer. That morning new names started going through my head for people to call, and so I made phone calls. That became a pattern for the next few weeks. Wake up, think of names and make phone calls, eat dinner, then make more calls. I would wake up and just pray to God not knowing where the $X/month was going to come from, but I knew He would bring it in. He was faithful and everyday more and more support came in. One night, in particular, I remember making some phone calls after dinner around 6pm. Around 9pm I made phone calls to those in Central Time (1 hour behind me so it was 8pm there), then I made calls to Mountain Time (an hour later so it was still 8pm there time), then I made calls to Pacific Time (again still 8pm there time). I was done talking around midnight and was so tired! But again, I point to God for ensuring that the people I called would be there and willing to talk and making that night very productive. So I just wanted to let all of you know just how incredible it is that I am here in Berlin. I am reminded of Phillipians 4:19 when Paul says "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." It is amazing how true Paul's words were in this time.

So some of you may know, some may not, but I left for Berlin, Germany this past Sunday (Sept. 11) and have safely arrived. I told some of you that I would be leaving on Sept. 2 but that was changed because I couldn't get a plane ticket reserved so quickly (thats just how fast God raised the support). I have been living in Berlin for almost a full week now. So far I haven't done too much other than just get acquainted with living here. I don't know the language too well but I can still get around alright without too much trouble. I live in the Stadtmitte district, which literally means City Center. I get around using mostly the subway (U-bahn), tram (S-bahn), or by bus. I live really close to some tourist attractions, so where I live seems pretty safe. I live on what used to be East Berlin, and about a quarter of a mile from where the wall used to be. I have some pictures to show where I live using Google maps. I also provided a panorama from my balcony, which I thought was pretty cool. I am excited to live here in Berlin. Its a really cool place with a lot of history. This first week is really about settling in here and getting used to living here. I think I have definitely accomplished that.

I have been able to go onto one of the campuses this past week. I went to Technische Universität on Tuesday and got to talk with a student involved with Campus für Christus. She was so excited to talk with us and share more about what life is like as a student at Technische Universität. Talking to her really got me excited to do ministry in Berlin. I can see the need for the need to share the Good News here and I want to be a part of that.

Well I think that is it for now...if you have any questions just post them as a comment and I'll try to address them as best I can.