Serving University students in Berlin…

Visiting SfC groups in Weimar and Dresden

How in the world did it get to be the middle of November already?!? Since the new semester has started in October, the time has been flying by. The other week, (or maybe that was 2 weeks ago!) John was invited to come speak at two SfC groups a couple of hours away from Berlin. I joined him, toting along a tub of homemade chocolate chip cookies to share with the German students. (Did I mention they don’t have chocolate chip cookies over here?!) It was fun connecting with students who I had met at previous retreats, and then meeting others for the first time.

John and I first went to the little University town of Weimar, where a small group of 5 students hosted us. Late that night, we braved the fog, and drove to Erfurt, to stay with the inlaws of John’s sister. It was fun seeing them again, and hearing their adventures from their summer trip to the USA. The next day, our meeting was in Dresden. There were about 15-20 students at this SfC meeting, which was held in a university house, specific for clubs. We had a great evening and then headed for Berlin, again in the fog, but arriving safely home around 1:00 in the morning. Needless to say, we were exhausted, but it was fun being able to visit other SfC groups around Germany. Plus, I love hearing John speak. He did a great job, his topic being our identity in Christ.

A great article in the news source “Bloomberg.com” on Berlin and the economic situation in Europe.

When I tried translating the German for “Semesteranfangs,” it just wound up sounding like a silly title. So instead I will explain it here. This party was nothing more than celebrating the beginning of the new Semester! “Any excuse to party” could be the motto for the University students here. But what is even more important, parties are where friendships can start. Where “walls” usually stand, if you were to invite someone to church or talk to them about Jesus, parties are a neutral ground, where all are welcomed and loved just the same. Parties are the place where these “walls” can be dismantled.

Our Semesteranfangs party was last night, starting at 8pm and going until about 1:30am. Our student on the leadership team were a huge help, and helped make this night possible. Unfortunately, Johnny and I could only help set up and stay until about 9:30, because Johnny was sicker than a dog. Poor guy! We came back this morning to help clean up, and were so blessed to find that our students had taken responsibility to clean up the bulk of it last night, so we wouldn’t have to do much in the morning.

All in all, it sounded like the party went well. We had the them of colorfulness. Everyone were supposed to wear bright colors, and bring “colorful” food! There was even a winner for the best dressed! We are so proud of our leaders, to take so much responsibility into their hands, since we weren’t able. God is good, and we are so thankful for the students he has gifted us with.

John was out hanging posters, advertising Students for Christ, at one of the Universities this week. As he was walking around the main building, searching for bulletin boards, he came across an info fair. There were a few tables set up, and he recognized one of the students there. She is a part of the Lutheran group on campus. He went over to say hello and to ask how they got a table. She was very helpful, and told him which room to go to.

After hanging some more posters, John decided to visit this office. He went in, and the lady there told him, if we want a table for next year, to contact her in August or September. She was very friendly and gave him her business card. As John was leaving, he noticed something on her desk… one of the posters he had just hung up. Apparently, she saw it and took it down.

It may be a little harder to get a table at that info fair than we think.

This is often the implied message we receive in Europe through the University students we interact with, the media, and the political systems seeking to eliminate the historical cultural and social impact Christianity has had on Europe. On the campuses University profs would like you to believe that faith is unscientific (which it is —its the actual basis for science, so does that make it subscientific?), an emotional crutch –an opiate–, and certainly out-of-date and out-of-touch.

Enter this fascinating article published by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and reprint from The Economist magazine. In this article, the author reports on the underground, or house church movement, for which even official Chinese estimates give a figure of 130 million members. For an interesting contrast, the Chinese Communist Party has only 70+ million members. Fascinating, eh?

Of interest to me in this article is the essential nature of the University student in starting this movement in the mid 80’s. Note this:

After the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 many disenchanted democrats turned to Christianity: six of the 30 or so student leaders of the protests became Christians.

Read on… its a tremendously interesting article, which especially the church growth folks ought to read. Apparently, for church growth you need persecution. Anyone want to sign up?

… and admitting to the world, that yes, we are pregnant (or rather, Kristen is, though I might have had a small part to play in it). We first got an inkling of what might be going on when Kristen felt suddenly ill in the middle of August. No food looked good, tasted good, and smells drove her nuts. We were with my parents at the time for our College of Student Ministries conference, and my mother kept throwing suspicious glances Kristen’s way, making predictions that these sort of symptoms lead to life long changes, i.e. children.
With this in mind we headed back to Berlin, Kristen eating nothing but crackers, and after certain tests, we found out that, indeed, my mothers suspicions were true.
We were thrilled. All of our parents were thrilled.
The normal run of events is to then go to the doctors to get it all confirmed. We told our parents the news. This time my mom cried, and Kristen’s mom had to suddenly sit down. Why? Because it wasn’t one baby we were expecting, but TWO!

Kristen and I find ourselves on a little one week break before the semester starts in mid October in Berlin. A long time friend of Kristen’s, Amanda, and her family are our hosts, and it is wonderful to be welcomed and hosted by them. Though rain has been our constant companion in the last couple days, and is fore casted to be our close friend in the coming days as well, it has been wonderful wandering the streets of York, dipping into little shoppes, eating cool British food, and generally just holding Kristen’s hand and experiencing this time in life together.
A large part of the fun is seeing places and meeting people that have been important in Kristen’s life in the P.J. (pre-Johnny) days of her life. We were briefly at the bible school she attended for a year at Capernwray, and tomorrow, I think, we will be heading back for more walks in the country around and visiting the village of Capernwray where the school is located.
Not very many pretty pictures lately, which I’m a little bummed about. Its troublesome trying to keep the rain off the lens, and the skies are so white when it rains, too! Oh well, maybe I can figure a way to take some crazy late night, long-exposure shots. Anyway.

Love you all.

p.s. Here are some pictures we took…

John and I were able to take a little vacation at the end of August before our 10 day student training conference (CSM). For me, it was all new, but for Johnny, it was a blast from his past. We traveled by train to Munich, Germany. John’s home for 11 years, when he was a little boy. We found his old houses, kindergarten, grade school, and high school. We had coffee with a John’s neighbor, who still lived in the same house. Her husband had passed away in the last several years, but her son still lived in the area and came to say “hello” to us, too. At Johnny’s kindergarten, we found his teacher, who still worked there, and remembered him right away when he said who he was. She said, “I was just thinking about you the other day, wondering what had become of you.” You could tell she was so pleased to see him again. We also had lunch with John’s best friend, when he lived in Munich. Lots of memories were shared over that table. It was quite the experience for me, to walk down this memory lane with my John. I just soaked it all in, watching the joy on his face, as he recollected stories, parks, homes, and neighbors.

We also got to stay with some friends of ours, that used to live in Berlin, but have since moved outside of Munich. They live in a BEAUTIFUL village, like out of a picture book. The Alps in the distance, rolling green pastures, beautiful homes, cascading with flowers from the balconies, and sun shine! What a treat! We hiked in the mountains one day, went swimming another, enjoyed eating outside, and even had a bonfire where we roasted sausages. It really felt like we were on vacation. The rest was wonderful, the time with friends was refreshing, and the walk down memory lane was delightful.

Though several weeks have passed already the unreality of the passing of Joe Zickafoose still lingers. Much has already been said. He will be missed by us, by SfC, and especially by his wife and kids. My heart aches for them.

He was a vital part of the team, full of wisdom and sharp insight. He modeled a man who followed God with his mind, heart, skills, and in his relationships. He was, as Paul put it in Philippians 3, someone worthy of following as he pursued Jesus.

We’ll meet again, Joe, I’m sure where, just not sure when.

See you… John and Kristen