April

Its been a while since I have posted, and now I have a busy April to try and remember.  I can really just remember back to around Easter time, although Im not sure exactly which day that was now.  We had a very rough start to the Easter weekend.  As we were taking all of the Checkpoint kids out to have some kind of Easter Egg hunt (they dont do Easter Egg hunts like we do), a boy that had just started coming a few weeks before was running to meet up with our group and was hit by a car.  Luckily he was not with us so that Checkpoint was not at fault, but one of the girls saw it happen and another was there with the boy as paramedics and the parents all came to pick up their kids.  Even for those of us that didn't really see anything, it was still very tough trying to talk with the other kids and not knowing for a while if the boy was ok or not.  One bright moment in the day was when I had all the kids in a circle and was trying to think of something to say.  As we sat there one of the boys that doesnt always listen suggested that we pray for the boy and then prayed out loud for all of us.  It was awesome to see every kid there bow their heads and pray and to know that they had that option.  We were also very worried that parents would think it was in some way our fault and not let their kids come back to Checkpoint.  I think that all of us had thoughts about if there was anything we could have done better to keep that situation from happening.  I dont know if it was helpful or harmful, but that day was one of the girl's birthdays and as we were closing Checkpoint for the day, friends and youth started to show up to have a birthday dinner.  It was a kind of distraction that may have been good for us, but it also kept us from being able to really talk about what had happened and figure out the whole story and how we were all feeling. 

The next day was Black Friday so we didnt have to work.  We had a church service in the morning and then that night Barry had invited all of us to his house for pizza and a movie.  The movie was interesting, called Adam's Apples.  We had some good conversations but it was more of a relaxed evening so no one wanted to talk about what had happened the day before.  On Saturday Barry and his wife, Jillian, took us to Leipzig.  It was a really fun day trip.  Our first stop was the Stasi museum.  I had never realized how controlling and crazy the DDR government was.  They listened to phone calls, read everyones mail, and kept files on every person with information they gathered from paying friends for your info.  To this day people from the DDR can go to this place and search for their files and find out who spied on them.  Some people Ive talked to since told me they didnt want to know and so have never been to look.  Leipzig was also very instrumental in the peaceful revolution of 1989 that helped to bring down the DDR.  The leader of the Stasi police said about one particular night that they had Russian tanks waiting outside the city with soldiers and were ready for everything except prayers and candles.  The protesters met in the churches because it was the only place still allowed to speak up and then marched to the Stasi HQ and placed candles all over the front steps. After that we wondered around a little while, checking out whatever we wanted.  I found the Faust restaurant which I had heard about from my college professor. The rest of the day consisted of looking around a shopping mall, an outdoor market, and seeing a couple of nice churches.  One of the churches had the largest organ in Saxon and the other was where Bach was the organ player.  That must have been pretty cool.  I guess its like if today your worship leader every sunday is Michael W. Smith or someone like that.  To cap the day off we went to a Chinese acrobat circus.  We enjoyed ourselves, but were all a little bit disappointed.  Most of the acts were really not overly impressive, and several of them were obviously nothing but some kind of trick prop.  One example was a whole bunch of girls came out spinning plates on sticks.  Their believability took several hits.  First they stayed out way too long with no one having any mistakes.  Secondly, several of the girls got bored or had to scratch or something and more or less turned their sticks to the side and nothing happened.  Thirdly, when they ran through the back of the tent you could see them place their sticks and plates in a basket.  It was really not impressive, but it was fun to laugh at. 

Easter sunday we had a nice church service and then were invited out to lunch by Ingo.  We ate at a really good Greek restaurant.  Later, Ingo came over and we had dinner and a "beauty night" with the girls.  I owed Sni a beauty night for her birthday so this was supposed to be it.  It turned out the girls painted their nails and Ingo and I played Rummikub and then we all watched Avatar. 

The next week we were away for a basic course for children and youth work that the conference put on.  I found it really a great idea.  It was very informative and gave us tons of new ideas and tips to use in our work with kids and youth.  I know that in Alabama most of the youth pastors or childrens ministers are full time or have been in/are in seminary or some kind of schooling for that line of work(or at least the ones at the churches Ive been to, I dont know about the smaller churches in the conference), and that here most of the youth group leaders are basically youth themselves and just volunteers, but I think this is something that our conference could really think about and would be a great way for the conference to serve the local churches.  It was a very busy week.  We were up by 8 every morning and sat and listened to different methods and principles for most of the day until after dinner.  We did have a few breaks in there, but it was still pretty long days, especially when everything is in German.  But, it was also fun and very informative.

We got back to Chemnitz on that Sunday and had Monday off.  Tuesday was the first day Checkpoint was going to be open again since the boy had been hit.  Because we were at the conference the entire week before, none of us really had any news or knew how the boy was doing.  We had been told he would be ok, but we didnt know for sure.  We also still didnt know what the perception would be from the parents in the neighborhood.  Tuesday before we opened we all prayed together as a team and talked a little about how we were doing.  I think its safe to say we were all pretty shaken up by what had happened and a bit scared about what had happened and worried about what it might mean for Checkpoint.  All of that was in vain though.  Five minutes after Checkpoint opened, the boys mom showed up.  We all kind of held our breath I think, not sure what she was gonna say.  She just wanted to know what had happened exactly so she could get the story right with the police.  The other kids came back as well, and the boys mom ended up staying the entire afternoon talking with Claudi.  They were able to have a really deep conversation about the boys family and she said the mom seemed to really like what we are doing there.  She also went home for a bit and brought the boy to Checkpoint for the rest of the afternoon.  It was pretty amazing.  Keren had been with him and seen everything and so she tried to prepare the kids for how he may look, all beat up.  When the boy walked in you really would not have known he had been in any kind of accident if you didnt already know.  I think it was good for all of us to see him healthy so soon again. 

That weekend we were away again.  We went to a conference for Fresh Expressions of the Church.  We were the youngest people there, but it was still really cool.  freshexpressions.org.uk is the website if youre interested.  The conference was led by people from England that work with this organization.  They had begun this movement as a way to combat the dwindling numbers in their churches.  In England 92% of people are not related with a church at all.  Their idea is instead of waiting for people to come to the church as we know it, to go to where the people are and build a new church around their likes, dislikes, and needs.  The website is full of examples of really creative ideas and new ways of having church.  As they were telling the stories and showing us how to start something like this, I really felt excited and that this is the kind of thing Id like to do.  We'll see.

Since then I cant really remember too much thats happened.  Raele made some soup for us the other day out of some kind of grass she found.  It was really pretty tasty for being grass and potatoes.  Later I did go to watch the Manchester Derby with Barry and ate fries and steak with him which was a pretty good dessert.  Yesterday Mareta, Raele, Barry, and I went on a five hour bike tour.  We probably only biked for about 3 and a half or 4 of those hours, but it was still pretty tough for me.  The girls killed me.  Apparently I have zero upper leg muscles.  After the first hour and one or two good hills my legs were already gone.  Im really not sure how I made it the rest of the way back.  It was fun though. We stopped by an old castle and then later by a little river and had some lunch.  We tried to teach Raele how to skip a rock, but she still needs some practice.  By the end of the ride I really could only ride downhill.  Today my legs are surprisingly not that sore, they just feel very tight.  However, my butt is bruised Im pretty sure.  I thought I had a good bike seat, but maybe not.  And oh yea.. its finally warm here!!