Saying Goodbye

Hey all. Week 2 update! (I'll be honest, I'm very excited to get to week 4. It's been quite a week!)

Don and Sarah Jones have been missionaries in Berlin for 4.5 years. Don is a former youth pastor in the States, and Sarah is his unbelievably beautiful wife. They have 2 kids, Dane (5) and Jenna (2).

Don and Sarah loved working and ministering in Berlin, but at the end of 4.5 years, the CMA is sending them back to the States for home assignment for a year. This was a really hard thing. I never stopped to think about the idea that when you go on home assignment, it can sometimes feel like you have to take a break from your calling. I went to their house with Karissa to help them pack up and re-pack, trying to stay within the limits of luggage they could bring back. We packed their pretty Polish dishes into random scraps of newspaper and old supermarket ads as Sarah drove their dog to his new year-long home.

Jesus once said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He was explaining to a teacher of the law the cost of following him. There is no guarantee that I'll give you a home on earth, he says. I want you to follow me, but know that all you can expect is that I'll lead you in my ways. You won't always feel at home. You won't always feel comfortable. But I'll be leading you.

And so, as these missionaries follow God's specific call for them, they really have been asked to give up the idea of "home". They live 4 years here, a year there, pioneer new towns to be ministered to and move again to see what the next years will bring. Watching them trust God with their desires for home, and their desires for their kids to have a home, has been so powerful. Especially as they are sent home to America when their hearts are still so fully in Berlin. Ben offered a really good insight about it: "The thing is that the Holy Spirit who was working through them didn't leave with them. He's still working here, even as he's with them in the States." What an idea, that we even have to trust God with our calling (or, in this case, that we must take a short break from it and trust that he's alright without us).

So now the team is down to the Kragts, the Careys, and the Interns. Please pray for Katie Kragt this week, as she's at LIFE Conference in Louisville. God really used those conferences in my life- please pray that he does the same for Katie. Also please be praying for Sarah Carey, who's expecting in February. Morning sickness does not do a lot for the missionary lifestyle!

For me, pray that God uses me while I get to be here living my dream.

I've got a big post about ministering amongst prostitutes in the city coming up. It's really something.

Oh, we're halfway there...

So, I've been in Berlin for 3.5 weeks now, and this is officially my first blog post. Being present is a good thing. Leaving people out of the loop is a bad thing. This is an officially stated intent to change with apology.

Here's a recap of Week 1. Come back later for the Weeks 2 and 3 editions, along with forward progress.

Week 1. Arrival. Meeting the team here made me excited to work with them before I even knew exactly what I was going to do. The Berlin team of which I get to be a part for a short while includes Ben and Sarah Carey, Jerry and Shelly Kragt, and Don and Sarah Jones, with all of their kids. My first night in Berlin they took me out to get ice cream. Since ice cream is the tie that binds, that's when I knew that we were going to work well together.

One of the first things I noticed is that people in Germany speak quickly, and in very, very long sentences. That is, while I'm still trying to piece together the first clause, they're already on to the second paragraph. The missionaries speak primarily English at home, but the church I'm attending, and most of the work that I'm doing, is all German all the time. Needless to say, I was intimidated at the prospect of having 8 short weeks to get to the point where I felt comfortable bringing the Kingdom in German. But God is good, and if I need to get there, I'll get there.

I journaled every day during my first week here. I would write out a prayer every night at the end of my reflections, and by the next day I was already seeing the ways that God works right under my nose, and I miss it if I'm not watching. Simple things would happen. One night, I wrote a prayer that God would allow me to develop closer relationships with the missionaries already, and the next night I got to have a 1.5 hour conversation with one of the couples. When I'm at home, I don't take time to journal because my life at home is not very exciting. At school, I study and get to know my friends better. At my parents' house, I sleep and get to know my family better. But God has not been working in the exciting things that have been happening to me. I haven't been gifted with tongues or the ability to speak fluent German overnight. I haven't prayed the Sinner's Prayer with any formerly hardened atheists (yet). I haven't turned the city of Berlin on its head, but when I asked God to give me a friend, he gave me a fellow intern who I really love. When I asked for good conversation, it overflowed. These are things that aren't a result of this exciting time in life, but just a result of praying for small things in life that matter.

Those are some thoughts. I love it here. God is good.

Tune in tomorrow for a gripping Week 2 recap: Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow!