Updates...

Hello all! I'm sorry for my lack of posting during this trip. My days are busy and I hardly ever have a chance to get in wifi so I can post! I love Berlin but I miss everyone! I wish you could all be here alongside me. The reality of the darkness in Berlin is hitting me day by day. Its a tough place for ministry, but so worth it! The most effective way to evangelize here is relationally...and this takes TIME. Especially with Germans. Relationships in itself are hard to make with Germans, they are very reserved. But, to bring faith into the equation is a whole other battlefeild. By time, I mean months and years. Unfortunately, since I am only here for a month, its been really hard to find my place in the ministry here. I recognize the need for Jesus here, but I'm not sure how I fit into that equation when really the only way to make a lasting impact on someone is to build trust. I just dont have that time. Not only that, but the language barrier is taking a HUGE toll on me. Its really hard to feel the need to talk to people and not be able to.

For the past week or so, I've been just really asking God...WHY am I here? For what purpose have you brought me all the way to Berlin if I am not able to do what I THINK ministry should look like. He's teaching me...day by day. Its taking a while to understand, but I guess I'll just have to trust. In the mean time, I've been doing tasks & cleaning around the church I'm working with, and various outreaches.

-RESET Church put on something called "Reset Live" last Saturday. It was simply a concert, featuring three songwriters. Not worship, just music and people. Very casual. We brought people into a church without actually having church! It was a great way to get people in and comfortable with Reset. I played along with 2 other artists. Such a weird experience! I'm not used to "preforming" my music. But it was a great experience and I got to meet so many nice people.

-Coffee To Go: Tuesday some Students for Christ students went out to a university here in berlin to pass out free coffee, make conversation, and invite people to "The Living Room" (SfC's tuesday night gathering). It was an interesting experience because I couldnt really interact with people since I dont speak german...I mostly just observed, smiled, and poured some coffee, ha!

-A few days ago Aaron had an idea to bake for some of our elderly neighbors. Jeanette made brownies and we went and passed them out. Such a special way to make friendships.

-Monday night I went to a lifegroup with some girls from Students for Christ. They were So welcoming. We talked about the holy spirit. But, like I said before, I dont speak German, so I literally understood none of it :) hhaha. Its great to be around these girls though and see the way Jesus moves in different countries. They have the same questions, same concerns, same hardships that I face. Its so cool.

-Yesterday the other intern (Bart from New York) and I went to a place called Der Garden (The Garden). Its a local ministry here in Berlin. We met up with other people from a group called European Initiative. There were about 20 of us total. ALOT of us from Texas, which was so refreshing to hear our accent :). We did worship and prayer together for a while which was AWESOME. Then we went out and did worship in the city.

Tonight Aaron is having about 9 people over for dinner from his language class. This is a vital way that him and Jeanette do ministry: inviting people IN and building relationships. None of these people know Jesus. I'm really excited to meet all of them!

What I have noticed so far with this trip...is that it is nothing like what I had expected. It is a very humbling experience to be in a place that you dont speak the language. You really just have to observe, and thats exactly what I've been doing. Observing the way this ministry thing works as a lifestyle, observing the way Aaron & Jeanette treat those around them, observing the gospel and what it truly means to be "a disciple" and not just a "believer", observing myself in the fact that my way of ministry is not always gods way....I'm learning so much. SO much. Its hard but so good. And I've never felt so called to my home, to my city, to my university. I cant wait to apply all the things I'm observing and learning in a place where I can actually COMMUNICATE! Jesus is working in a way I've never seen him work. Pray with me that I can understand and be obedient to the things hes teaching me! Pray that the seeds I plant, though small and seemingly insignificant sometimes, would reap a harvest and would add to Aaron & Jeanettes ministry here.