Guten Abend,
Well, this was our last full day in Berlin. Katie went with some others and I went to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp just a little bit outside Berlin.
I won't go into detail about everything I saw in the concentration camp or heard. If you want to see that, you will have to look at the pictures on facebook when I post them.
My tour group was fairly small, with only 14 of us plus our guide. The youngest person in the group was an 11 year old boy on his school holiday from England. They are close enough that he and his father actually flew down just for this and fly back tonight. He had been learning about the Holocaust in school and asked to come. By the end of our 3 1/2 hour tour, he was pretty tired. Most of the rest of us were between about 16 and 25. The were a few older adults also, with their teens. My guide just finished his Masters Degree in History. He has been a tour guide to pay for his schooling. He is just a few years older than me (probably no more than 5 if that), and he did an excellent job.
This is the first concentration camp that I have been too, but I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Few original buildings are left, but many that were re-built were re-built with the original materials. The first thing to strike me as we were walking along, was that we walked from the train station and through the village, just as the prisoners did. It was a little eery to do, knowing what happened on those streets not so long ago. The thing that struck me that hardest in the tour, and made me a little nauseous, was seeing the iron gate that said "Arbeit Mach Frei." I knew that there was a good chance that it would be there, but didn't think about it until it was in front of me. After walking through that gate, we entered the area where roll was called before they were marched out to work and after they returned.
The other thing was the death chambers in Z Block. The people taken there from the camp were taken out of the camp and on a march so they didn't know where they were going, even though it was directly beside some of the barracks. The original foundations for the second set of death chambers, built in 1942, are still there. I was struck by a few things. 1) How many rooms they used to process people through their death and cremation, and 2) how small the rooms were. I think of death chambers as large rooms, but these were small, and the people who were killed were shot or gassed in rooms that are about the size of a room where a doctor might see you, a single dorm room, or the largest might be like a normal bedroom.
It was mostly a pretty, sunny day, and you have to assume that many of the summer days were like that when people were in the camps, but at the same time, we were walking through empty areas where buildings used to be, and they were walking between long, close, over-crowded buildings never knowing if they would see the next day. It is scary to think about.
In the places where there used to be buildings are some stone blocks about 7 feet long, 2.5 feet wide, and 2 feet tall. Each of these are numbered. On top of these, and in many other places throughout the camp, you will see piles of rocks and some flowers. It is interesting, because I had never seen anybody put rocks on graves or memorials before I went to Israel. Because I had that experience in Israel, when I came to Sachsenhausen, I recognized why the rocks were there. In Jewish tradition you put rocks on graves, much like Christians put flowers. Knowing that meaning and seeing huge piles of these rocks everywhere, it was a powerful reminder of how many people died. This is real.
One of the things that we were told to do was pack a lunch. I did so, but couldn't bring myself to eat it until almost 2, because it seemed disrespectful in a place where so many people starved to death, before and after the war. I did end up eating, simply because I was getting dizzy, but it did upset me a little.
After the War, the Soviet Union used Sachsenhausen for a prison camp, and many people starved, though death was not the goal. After the Soviet Union stopped using the camp, East Germany made it in to a memorial. The statues, artwork, and entrances were set up to highlight that Communism had defeated Facism, so everybody should be happy. It was pro-communism propaganda. They are not the only country to use historical sites for propaganda, by the way. My guide told us that he has a friend who was initiated into the Boy Scouts in Sachsenhausen, in front of a memorial to the communist prisoners and a statue highlighting the Soviet liberation of the camp.
It was quite an experience, though in some ways less sickening than a Holocaust museum, because you aren't looking at pictures. In some ways it is more sickening, because you walked the way that so many people actually walked to their deaths, less than 80 years ago. You walked where they were shot, hung, beaten, starved, and gassed (well, we didn't walk in the gas chamber, but all the rest of these things happened out in the camp as well as in the death chamber). I am not yet sure how to respond. I almost feel numb, and I do feel exhausted.
After the tour, I went down to the East Side Gallery and looked at the wall. Most likely, no one reading this blog has seen it as it looks now. Last year, they let artists paint new paintings on it in honor of 20 years of the wall being down. I had seen it from the bus a few days ago, but today I walked slowly along its length and saw the many paintings: some that I understood and some that I did not. Many had to do with peace, and many were powerful, and many, were confusing. I am glad that I went back before I left Berlin.
Well, I am going to head out to get dinner, so, this is the end of my last post from Berlin.
Auf Weidershen one last time.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Walking, Shopping, and Ice Cream
You heard from me earlier when we got to the hostel, but we have done a few things since then. We took a train down to the Brandenburg Gate. As you walk out of the subway station, the Brandenburg Gate rises out of the pavement in front of you. You walk up the stairs and gradually see the statue on op of the gate and then the pillars. It is a cool effect, and I assume they set up the subway exit for that reason.
After that we just walked around and shopped for souvenirs. It was nice to have no pressure, no rush, and no thinking required. While we were walking, we accidentally stumbled across the Holocaust Memorial (Actually, I think it was called something along the lines of "Memorial for the Murdered Jews"). I am not sure what it all meant and why they made it the way that they did, but it was still powerful. It is rows and rows of stone blocks. They are all the same width and length, but the heights are all different. It spreads out so far that it was impossible to take a picture of it all. The blocks reminded me of coffins in shape, but they were such different heights that they were not exactly the size of coffins. It was powerful. I wondered if the heights showed the different ages of people killed. Perhaps I should look that up, but the speculation and mystery made it powerful.
After some Haggen Daas, a long search for a bank machine, and a stop at a grocery for some sandwich fixings, we are back at the hostel and ready to eat then sleep. Tomorrow, I will head to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, so I would anticipate a good long blog tomorrow.
Gute Nacht!
After that we just walked around and shopped for souvenirs. It was nice to have no pressure, no rush, and no thinking required. While we were walking, we accidentally stumbled across the Holocaust Memorial (Actually, I think it was called something along the lines of "Memorial for the Murdered Jews"). I am not sure what it all meant and why they made it the way that they did, but it was still powerful. It is rows and rows of stone blocks. They are all the same width and length, but the heights are all different. It spreads out so far that it was impossible to take a picture of it all. The blocks reminded me of coffins in shape, but they were such different heights that they were not exactly the size of coffins. It was powerful. I wondered if the heights showed the different ages of people killed. Perhaps I should look that up, but the speculation and mystery made it powerful.
After some Haggen Daas, a long search for a bank machine, and a stop at a grocery for some sandwich fixings, we are back at the hostel and ready to eat then sleep. Tomorrow, I will head to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, so I would anticipate a good long blog tomorrow.
Gute Nacht!
Legislation, legislation, and more legislation
Guten Tag!
Well, I found out this morning the results of last night´s vote. Of the legislation allowing pastors to marry same-sex couples in states/countries where it is legal and the legislation changing the necessary paragraphs in the Book of Discipline to apply the previous legislation, neither passed. Both were at a vote of about 50/50, and we require a 2/3 majority to pass a piece of legislation. A final legislation calling for removing same-sex marriage as a chargeable offense for clergy was declared out of order.
This morning in the worship service, my roommate from the Philippines was the preacher. She was wonderful and I can´t wait to have the chance to tell her so. Her speaking of unity was perfect after the terrible discussion that went on last night. I was not there last night, but I have heard all day how heated and even inappropriately heated it got last night. Maybe it is a good thing that I could not go, because I might have left upset. Many things this weekend have been based around the idea of unity, and today was no exception. We all have unity under God, we are one body, and it is wonderful to have this connection. Our moniter for this morning´s legislation session will be speaking in German, so I look forward to the experience.
Today is a full day of legislation, and I will do my best to keep a record of the results and report them to you. I assume that you can read the actual legislation on the GYPC websit. If you don´t care about the legislation, just skip down.
This morning we barely passed legislation written by Pastor Chris to add a resolution to the Book of Resolutions that churches should support feasible alternatives to abortion (with one amendment). I did actually speak to this one, explaining some of what it meant and speaking in favor of the legislation. A second legislation by Renee is to add a line to the Social Principles saying that we mourn high abortion rates and commit to lower them. It did not pass, barely.
This afternoon, we continued. Thi next legislation affirming efforts to lower abortion and increase services, also by Renee, passed with some ammendments. Legislation calling to affirm the statement by a majority report on Human Sexuality from General Conference 2008 passed. A petition against homosexuality and alcoholism, which has very abrasive language but was rewritten from the original language, which was hateful, was declared out of order.
Affirmation of the Resolution against Extrajudicial killing in the Philippines: passed
A Call for Education and Understanding about the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, by Chris: did not pass
Mandating Civility at General Conference: sent to General Conference rules committee
Getting all the facts before making decisions: did not pass
Supporting a fully global church leadership during general conference: passed
consideration of the schedules of young peoplein planning dates of boards and agencies: passed
DMYP Leadershi development funding: referred to GBOD
DMYP Youth membership, adjusting adult membership: passed
DMYP youth membership, adjusting young person membership: referred to Division on Ministries with Young People
percentage on general agencies and boards: referred to DMYP
central conference youth and young adult membership to general boards and agencies of the UMC: referred to DMYP
resolution in support of major changes in the approach to the young adult missionary programs of the General Board of Global Ministries of the UMC: referred to DMYP
Anything that passed here will go directly to General Conference. Interestingly, about halfway through our total slate of legislation, people started calling the question immediately. We made it through about 5 legislation that way, then somebody complained, our pace significantly slowed, and the last three pieces of legislation were referred to DMYP so they wouldn´t become dead legislation.
--Monday Morning--
Well, last night, we had a cultural celebration, where people brought presentations from their cultures. It was awesome. THen we had a worship service that didn´t end until 12:30. As much as I like to sing and worship and even listen to sermons, once the midnight mark passed, I was ready to collapse. It was a lot of fun though, and the Bishop of Wisconsin was anything but boring.
This morning we checked into our hostel. The internet for some reason isn´t working on my computer, so I am on a German computer. Apparently the y and z on their keyboard is switched from ours, so if there were any typos, that explains it. See you all soon!
Well, I found out this morning the results of last night´s vote. Of the legislation allowing pastors to marry same-sex couples in states/countries where it is legal and the legislation changing the necessary paragraphs in the Book of Discipline to apply the previous legislation, neither passed. Both were at a vote of about 50/50, and we require a 2/3 majority to pass a piece of legislation. A final legislation calling for removing same-sex marriage as a chargeable offense for clergy was declared out of order.
This morning in the worship service, my roommate from the Philippines was the preacher. She was wonderful and I can´t wait to have the chance to tell her so. Her speaking of unity was perfect after the terrible discussion that went on last night. I was not there last night, but I have heard all day how heated and even inappropriately heated it got last night. Maybe it is a good thing that I could not go, because I might have left upset. Many things this weekend have been based around the idea of unity, and today was no exception. We all have unity under God, we are one body, and it is wonderful to have this connection. Our moniter for this morning´s legislation session will be speaking in German, so I look forward to the experience.
Today is a full day of legislation, and I will do my best to keep a record of the results and report them to you. I assume that you can read the actual legislation on the GYPC websit. If you don´t care about the legislation, just skip down.
This morning we barely passed legislation written by Pastor Chris to add a resolution to the Book of Resolutions that churches should support feasible alternatives to abortion (with one amendment). I did actually speak to this one, explaining some of what it meant and speaking in favor of the legislation. A second legislation by Renee is to add a line to the Social Principles saying that we mourn high abortion rates and commit to lower them. It did not pass, barely.
This afternoon, we continued. Thi next legislation affirming efforts to lower abortion and increase services, also by Renee, passed with some ammendments. Legislation calling to affirm the statement by a majority report on Human Sexuality from General Conference 2008 passed. A petition against homosexuality and alcoholism, which has very abrasive language but was rewritten from the original language, which was hateful, was declared out of order.
Affirmation of the Resolution against Extrajudicial killing in the Philippines: passed
A Call for Education and Understanding about the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, by Chris: did not pass
Mandating Civility at General Conference: sent to General Conference rules committee
Getting all the facts before making decisions: did not pass
Supporting a fully global church leadership during general conference: passed
consideration of the schedules of young peoplein planning dates of boards and agencies: passed
DMYP Leadershi development funding: referred to GBOD
DMYP Youth membership, adjusting adult membership: passed
DMYP youth membership, adjusting young person membership: referred to Division on Ministries with Young People
percentage on general agencies and boards: referred to DMYP
central conference youth and young adult membership to general boards and agencies of the UMC: referred to DMYP
resolution in support of major changes in the approach to the young adult missionary programs of the General Board of Global Ministries of the UMC: referred to DMYP
Anything that passed here will go directly to General Conference. Interestingly, about halfway through our total slate of legislation, people started calling the question immediately. We made it through about 5 legislation that way, then somebody complained, our pace significantly slowed, and the last three pieces of legislation were referred to DMYP so they wouldn´t become dead legislation.
--Monday Morning--
Well, last night, we had a cultural celebration, where people brought presentations from their cultures. It was awesome. THen we had a worship service that didn´t end until 12:30. As much as I like to sing and worship and even listen to sermons, once the midnight mark passed, I was ready to collapse. It was a lot of fun though, and the Bishop of Wisconsin was anything but boring.
This morning we checked into our hostel. The internet for some reason isn´t working on my computer, so I am on a German computer. Apparently the y and z on their keyboard is switched from ours, so if there were any typos, that explains it. See you all soon!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
A Long Day
Guten Tag!
This morning’s worship was once again beautiful, though we did have some difficulty with the sermon being in German and the translators having difficulty keeping up. Our speaker was very fast and didn’t seem to realize that our reactions were going to be delayed until the translation comes through.
I have noticed that they can’t be bothered to keep everything to the schedule. This morning, our legislation session was supposed to be and hour and 45 minutes long. We started 45 minutes late. We only made it through half the legislation that was the goal. The body passed legislation calling for action on climate change, passed a piece of legislation about genocide in the Congo, and tabled a legislation about killings in the Philippines for translation purposes. They called a session for tonight at 9 where we are to deal with legislation about homosexuality and homosexual marriage. These three pieces of legislation were ones that I strongly wanted to be present for. This afternoon was set for excursions, and mine got back extremely late at 9:20. I ran upstairs, got my stuff, and went to the session, just to be told by Kara (who thinks she controls us all) that she filled our spots, so we can’t go in. I am so mad. So upset. I just told Ben, who was also on the excursion with me and is an elected voting delegate. He has gone to try his hand at getting in.
Well, we didn’t get in. We went for a walk instead. Now that I am calm again, I am going to tell you about the rest of the day.
This afternoon was our second excursion. I went on a steamboat trip through Berlin. On the two hour boat ride, we saw many different types of architecture, the back of the Berlin Wall, the Berliner Dom, and several other cool things. As we were waiting in a lock to go down a level, we pulled out granola bars and fed tiny birds from our hands. At one time, I had four birds standing on my hand and several more flying at it. It was a lot of fun. After the boat ride, we went to Charlotteburg Castle. We went inside and saw the reconstructed castle (reconstructed from the bombing in WWII). After the castle, we had dinner and evening prayer at the International United Methodist Church, called the Church of the Resurrection, in German.
This evening, Ben, another girl, and I went walking to calm down some. We walked a lot and eventually sat down at a little restaurant. I went in to buy some apple juice. All that I had left was a 20, so I handed it to the man. He took it, looked at it, and said “Was ist das?” (What is this?). I was very confused and said “zwanzig” (20). He looked at it closely and said, “Israel?” I had handed him 20 shekels. I borrowed some money from Ben and had a good laugh because of it. Apparently, you should always look closely at your foreign currency ☺
Well, I am off to post this and go to bed.
Gute Nacht!
This morning’s worship was once again beautiful, though we did have some difficulty with the sermon being in German and the translators having difficulty keeping up. Our speaker was very fast and didn’t seem to realize that our reactions were going to be delayed until the translation comes through.
I have noticed that they can’t be bothered to keep everything to the schedule. This morning, our legislation session was supposed to be and hour and 45 minutes long. We started 45 minutes late. We only made it through half the legislation that was the goal. The body passed legislation calling for action on climate change, passed a piece of legislation about genocide in the Congo, and tabled a legislation about killings in the Philippines for translation purposes. They called a session for tonight at 9 where we are to deal with legislation about homosexuality and homosexual marriage. These three pieces of legislation were ones that I strongly wanted to be present for. This afternoon was set for excursions, and mine got back extremely late at 9:20. I ran upstairs, got my stuff, and went to the session, just to be told by Kara (who thinks she controls us all) that she filled our spots, so we can’t go in. I am so mad. So upset. I just told Ben, who was also on the excursion with me and is an elected voting delegate. He has gone to try his hand at getting in.
Well, we didn’t get in. We went for a walk instead. Now that I am calm again, I am going to tell you about the rest of the day.
This afternoon was our second excursion. I went on a steamboat trip through Berlin. On the two hour boat ride, we saw many different types of architecture, the back of the Berlin Wall, the Berliner Dom, and several other cool things. As we were waiting in a lock to go down a level, we pulled out granola bars and fed tiny birds from our hands. At one time, I had four birds standing on my hand and several more flying at it. It was a lot of fun. After the boat ride, we went to Charlotteburg Castle. We went inside and saw the reconstructed castle (reconstructed from the bombing in WWII). After the castle, we had dinner and evening prayer at the International United Methodist Church, called the Church of the Resurrection, in German.
This evening, Ben, another girl, and I went walking to calm down some. We walked a lot and eventually sat down at a little restaurant. I went in to buy some apple juice. All that I had left was a 20, so I handed it to the man. He took it, looked at it, and said “Was ist das?” (What is this?). I was very confused and said “zwanzig” (20). He looked at it closely and said, “Israel?” I had handed him 20 shekels. I borrowed some money from Ben and had a good laugh because of it. Apparently, you should always look closely at your foreign currency ☺
Well, I am off to post this and go to bed.
Gute Nacht!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Fright and Fun
Guten Tag!
This has been quite an eventful day for me. This morning we went to a worship service at the Berliner Dome, which was absolutely beautiful. However, I have never been more scared in my life than I was this morning. I assumed that before we went anywhere off site, they would do some kind of roll call or name check. By the time I realized that they were not going to do this, I was on the bus, moving. Upon arrival at the church, I went in, took some pictures, and started looking for Katie as the buses finished arriving. Katie is the 14 year old girl who came to Germany with me and will be staying in the hostel with me and traveling with me after the Global Convo is over. I walked around looking at the people and started to get worried, as I was not finding her. I started asking some people who she generally spends time with if they had seen here, then I started asking everybody else who knew her. Nobody had seen her all day. By this time, I was in full blown panic. This was at the time of greeting when I kept looking around and another lady went back to call the hotel. The hotel said that they would call back. We then sat through hymns, prayers, and the sermon before we finally heard from a staff member that the hotel called and Katie had slept through the wake-up call and would come in a cab with one of the other Convo staff. It was such a relief to finally here this! I never knew that you could be so scared. I was terrified of what might have happened to her. After I found out, we were in our prayer time. We were told that we could go to various types of prayer stations. I went to the candles that we could light for blessings and lit one. Then I went up o the bishops to be prayed for. The bishop that I went to asked if I had any prayers, and I told him that I had a praise, and told him how she was lost then found. By the end of his prayer I was in tears. Through it all, I almost couldn’t believe that she was coming and didn’t completely calm down until I saw her walk in the door at the end of the worship service. How can somebody be as scared as I was today? I don’t know, but it was so scary.
(After I calmed down I started thinking about sermon applications since that is where my brain likes to go. I began to wonder why we don’t get that scared when one of God’s children are lost and we are supposed to be helping them.)
I am so glad that she was safe and will definitely be keeping a closer eye on her and not expecting the conference staff to do so. I can’t believe that they have no checklist when they are dealing with minors! You can do this with adults, not with young teens.
This afternoon, I went on the first excursion. I had signed up to go to Potsdam. It was a lot of fun. We saw the Castle called Sonnasee, the Potsdam Brandenburg Gate, and the general area of Potsdam. We ended the evening in the Methodist Church in Potsdam. This church is the Ecumenical Center and so is shared by the UMC and Lutherans, but most of the Sunday services are UM. We had dinner with them and evening prayer, which was in both German and English. I made a good friend with a pastor from Congo, named Jose, and will look forward to seeing him in the future at the conference and then on Facebook. On the way back, we had an hour of train rides. On the last train, we passed the time by singing children’s songs and children’s Christian songs (believe it or not, this was not initiated by the Americans but by the Austrian). We had a lot of fun, though I think the Germans thought we were slightly crazy or were enjoying it. I was embarrassed at first, but eventually just loosed up and joined in.
That’s all for tonight, see you tomorrow!
Auf Wiedershein!
This has been quite an eventful day for me. This morning we went to a worship service at the Berliner Dome, which was absolutely beautiful. However, I have never been more scared in my life than I was this morning. I assumed that before we went anywhere off site, they would do some kind of roll call or name check. By the time I realized that they were not going to do this, I was on the bus, moving. Upon arrival at the church, I went in, took some pictures, and started looking for Katie as the buses finished arriving. Katie is the 14 year old girl who came to Germany with me and will be staying in the hostel with me and traveling with me after the Global Convo is over. I walked around looking at the people and started to get worried, as I was not finding her. I started asking some people who she generally spends time with if they had seen here, then I started asking everybody else who knew her. Nobody had seen her all day. By this time, I was in full blown panic. This was at the time of greeting when I kept looking around and another lady went back to call the hotel. The hotel said that they would call back. We then sat through hymns, prayers, and the sermon before we finally heard from a staff member that the hotel called and Katie had slept through the wake-up call and would come in a cab with one of the other Convo staff. It was such a relief to finally here this! I never knew that you could be so scared. I was terrified of what might have happened to her. After I found out, we were in our prayer time. We were told that we could go to various types of prayer stations. I went to the candles that we could light for blessings and lit one. Then I went up o the bishops to be prayed for. The bishop that I went to asked if I had any prayers, and I told him that I had a praise, and told him how she was lost then found. By the end of his prayer I was in tears. Through it all, I almost couldn’t believe that she was coming and didn’t completely calm down until I saw her walk in the door at the end of the worship service. How can somebody be as scared as I was today? I don’t know, but it was so scary.
(After I calmed down I started thinking about sermon applications since that is where my brain likes to go. I began to wonder why we don’t get that scared when one of God’s children are lost and we are supposed to be helping them.)
I am so glad that she was safe and will definitely be keeping a closer eye on her and not expecting the conference staff to do so. I can’t believe that they have no checklist when they are dealing with minors! You can do this with adults, not with young teens.
This afternoon, I went on the first excursion. I had signed up to go to Potsdam. It was a lot of fun. We saw the Castle called Sonnasee, the Potsdam Brandenburg Gate, and the general area of Potsdam. We ended the evening in the Methodist Church in Potsdam. This church is the Ecumenical Center and so is shared by the UMC and Lutherans, but most of the Sunday services are UM. We had dinner with them and evening prayer, which was in both German and English. I made a good friend with a pastor from Congo, named Jose, and will look forward to seeing him in the future at the conference and then on Facebook. On the way back, we had an hour of train rides. On the last train, we passed the time by singing children’s songs and children’s Christian songs (believe it or not, this was not initiated by the Americans but by the Austrian). We had a lot of fun, though I think the Germans thought we were slightly crazy or were enjoying it. I was embarrassed at first, but eventually just loosed up and joined in.
That’s all for tonight, see you tomorrow!
Auf Wiedershein!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Many Cultures
Guten Tag!
Well, the first full day of the conference has taken place. Last night’s worship was a lot of fun and quite an experience for me. Five different languages are being spoken at this conference. Primarily, it is being conducted in English, but enough happens in other languages at we all have to wear head phones with translations. Last night, I was privileged to read the scripture in English, followed by those reading in Russian, German, French, and Portuguese. The band was a lot of fun, and they sang contemporary songs WITHOUT blowing our eardrums (quite a concept!).
This morning began with worship and communion. The preacher preached in Russian, so I listened through the headphones. The funny thing about this is that when he told a joke or when somebody wanted to shout Amen, the laughter or Amen would come about 15 seconds after he finished speaking because our translations were slightly delayed. The communion liturgy was read in German, and we all said the responses in our own languages. Even though the liturgy was not on the screen, everybody could easily say their responses due to their many years growing up with the liturgy. We also sang some songs this morning in Russian and in German last night. German was fine, because they use the Latin alphabet, but Russian does not so we all clapped along and listened. Both days, we had a liturgical dance presentation by one woman. The first was an American, and the second Portuguese. It is fascinating to see the difference in liturgical dancing styles between countries/people. Both were worshipful and beautiful. It is such an experience to see so many different cultures in one place, and to be one of those who does not understand the speaker or songs. It was also wonderful to begin the day with communion and the affirmation that we all are united in this, down to the words of the liturgy and up to what it means to us under Christ.
One thing that I have been making an effort to do is meet people from different countries. One of my methods for doing so is to sit alone at meals or with one other person and see who joins me. Every time, somebody has joined me, and every time I have had interesting conversations. This morning I ate with a guy from Zimbabwe. We talked about what our churches are like in our countries and the difficulties they face. In his country, they face the difficulty that young people leave to attend the Pentecostal church, the UMC is too stuck on tradition and the Pentecostals are considered to be more open to the Holy Spirit. I mentioned that in the large mega-churches, it is easy to hide, and he said that in the UMC the members need to contribute. I found the similarities in difficulties with a church in such a different country to be fascinating. So far I have had fascinating discussions with a guy from Uganda, a guy from Russia who studies English and German, and a woman from the Philippines who is descended from the first United Methodist convert in her village. The latter is my roommate.
This afternoon, we had legislative group meetings. My group was Health and Wellness. We had five resolutions to consider. They spoke about abortion, sexuality, and homosexuality. The final resolution, which included some very hateful language, was declared out of order based on its last point. Since no person who put forth the resolution made an amendment to strike the last paragraph, the entire resolution is gone from the docket. The first resolution was written by our own Chris Roberts. It spoke about the church working strongly (with existing and new programs) to promote alternatives to abortion. I actually spoke 3 times during the discussion of this resolution. First, was because somebody asked a question so I read from the Discipline. As I walked up with it, people were gasping in surprise or laughing because I had the book of Discipline. Another time, I spoke against and amendment, and then I spoke to the actual resolution. This resolution passed, as did one about lowering abortion rates and one affirming a majority report from the last general conference on human sexuality.
This evening we have a ministry fair to see the ministries being done across the world. Well, I am going to go take a walk now, so…
Auf Wiedershein!
Well, the first full day of the conference has taken place. Last night’s worship was a lot of fun and quite an experience for me. Five different languages are being spoken at this conference. Primarily, it is being conducted in English, but enough happens in other languages at we all have to wear head phones with translations. Last night, I was privileged to read the scripture in English, followed by those reading in Russian, German, French, and Portuguese. The band was a lot of fun, and they sang contemporary songs WITHOUT blowing our eardrums (quite a concept!).
This morning began with worship and communion. The preacher preached in Russian, so I listened through the headphones. The funny thing about this is that when he told a joke or when somebody wanted to shout Amen, the laughter or Amen would come about 15 seconds after he finished speaking because our translations were slightly delayed. The communion liturgy was read in German, and we all said the responses in our own languages. Even though the liturgy was not on the screen, everybody could easily say their responses due to their many years growing up with the liturgy. We also sang some songs this morning in Russian and in German last night. German was fine, because they use the Latin alphabet, but Russian does not so we all clapped along and listened. Both days, we had a liturgical dance presentation by one woman. The first was an American, and the second Portuguese. It is fascinating to see the difference in liturgical dancing styles between countries/people. Both were worshipful and beautiful. It is such an experience to see so many different cultures in one place, and to be one of those who does not understand the speaker or songs. It was also wonderful to begin the day with communion and the affirmation that we all are united in this, down to the words of the liturgy and up to what it means to us under Christ.
One thing that I have been making an effort to do is meet people from different countries. One of my methods for doing so is to sit alone at meals or with one other person and see who joins me. Every time, somebody has joined me, and every time I have had interesting conversations. This morning I ate with a guy from Zimbabwe. We talked about what our churches are like in our countries and the difficulties they face. In his country, they face the difficulty that young people leave to attend the Pentecostal church, the UMC is too stuck on tradition and the Pentecostals are considered to be more open to the Holy Spirit. I mentioned that in the large mega-churches, it is easy to hide, and he said that in the UMC the members need to contribute. I found the similarities in difficulties with a church in such a different country to be fascinating. So far I have had fascinating discussions with a guy from Uganda, a guy from Russia who studies English and German, and a woman from the Philippines who is descended from the first United Methodist convert in her village. The latter is my roommate.
This afternoon, we had legislative group meetings. My group was Health and Wellness. We had five resolutions to consider. They spoke about abortion, sexuality, and homosexuality. The final resolution, which included some very hateful language, was declared out of order based on its last point. Since no person who put forth the resolution made an amendment to strike the last paragraph, the entire resolution is gone from the docket. The first resolution was written by our own Chris Roberts. It spoke about the church working strongly (with existing and new programs) to promote alternatives to abortion. I actually spoke 3 times during the discussion of this resolution. First, was because somebody asked a question so I read from the Discipline. As I walked up with it, people were gasping in surprise or laughing because I had the book of Discipline. Another time, I spoke against and amendment, and then I spoke to the actual resolution. This resolution passed, as did one about lowering abortion rates and one affirming a majority report from the last general conference on human sexuality.
This evening we have a ministry fair to see the ministries being done across the world. Well, I am going to go take a walk now, so…
Auf Wiedershein!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Berlin Beginnings
Guten Tag!
Greetings from Germany!
I arrived this morning at 8 AM Germany time, 2 AM Indiana time, after absolutely no sleep since 6:30 yesterday in Indiana. Needless to say, we have several tired and grumpy young people crammed into one hotel.
I haven’t had much time to do anything today. We got back to the hotel, cleaned up, and then after much deliberation, we set out in search of some German food and cheap internet. Our first real exposure to Germany was in the internet café. We entered, asked, in German, if the man behind the counter spoke English, and he did not. Dani and I proceeded to have a half hand gesture and half broken Germ conversation to discover the hours and prices of the internet. We were quite proud of our skills at holding a conversation with somebody who understood less English than we understood German.
We then proceeded to a tiny restaurant where we attempted to order from the man, who once again only spoke German. Eventually the owner came out and helped us order, but he didn’t speak much English either. I had chicken schnitzel on some kind of pita with the hot sauce that I cannot identify.
We wandered a little bit through the small streets of this part of Berlin and were walking through a non-touristy but safe area where people actually live. Even though I did not have time to visit any of the top Berlin sites, I still am happy because we experienced real people in Berlin.
This evening we begin the conference, the Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly. We will have dinner, a worship service, and then a discussion about one of the more controversial pieces of legislation. I volunteered to read at the worship tonight. If anything interesting happens tonight, I will let you know, but otherwise, you will hear more tomorrow!
Chao!
Greetings from Germany!
I arrived this morning at 8 AM Germany time, 2 AM Indiana time, after absolutely no sleep since 6:30 yesterday in Indiana. Needless to say, we have several tired and grumpy young people crammed into one hotel.
I haven’t had much time to do anything today. We got back to the hotel, cleaned up, and then after much deliberation, we set out in search of some German food and cheap internet. Our first real exposure to Germany was in the internet café. We entered, asked, in German, if the man behind the counter spoke English, and he did not. Dani and I proceeded to have a half hand gesture and half broken Germ conversation to discover the hours and prices of the internet. We were quite proud of our skills at holding a conversation with somebody who understood less English than we understood German.
We then proceeded to a tiny restaurant where we attempted to order from the man, who once again only spoke German. Eventually the owner came out and helped us order, but he didn’t speak much English either. I had chicken schnitzel on some kind of pita with the hot sauce that I cannot identify.
We wandered a little bit through the small streets of this part of Berlin and were walking through a non-touristy but safe area where people actually live. Even though I did not have time to visit any of the top Berlin sites, I still am happy because we experienced real people in Berlin.
This evening we begin the conference, the Global Young People’s Convocation and Legislative Assembly. We will have dinner, a worship service, and then a discussion about one of the more controversial pieces of legislation. I volunteered to read at the worship tonight. If anything interesting happens tonight, I will let you know, but otherwise, you will hear more tomorrow!
Chao!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Frustrating and Fascinating at Aldersgate
Hi all, its been a while since I've written. Starting Tuesday I will write most days for a week about Germany, but for today I am writing about something that happened today at Aldersgate Conference. (If you want to know more about it, google Aldersgate Renewal Ministries.)
Today, during an equipping session (which is like a class or workshop on a given topic), I had quite an interesting, yet frustrating conversation. The speaker mentioned early in his talk some points on conversion. He spoke about how you must make a decision that you want to follow Christ and later you are converted (based upon experiences like that of John Wesley. He made the decision to follow Jesus but he was an adult when he "felt his heart was strangely warmed"). I didn't mind that he said this, but I wanted to know how this theory works with the experience of somebody who was born/baptized/bred Christian and was blessed to always have know Jesus. The conversation went something like this (paraphrased and summarized):
me: You spoke earlier about conversion and making a decision. (summarized the point he made) How does this fit with the experience that a person was born, baptized, and raised in the church. This person has never had a conversion experience, has never sat down and made that kind of "decision." Yet, this person has always known Jesus, has always had a relationship with Jesus, and is truly a Christian? THis person's relationship with God grew as they grew.
speaker: are you sure that this person is truly a Christian? (tone of voice suggesting that this person is lying to me or fake or deluding themselves)
me: well this person is me
speaker: (proceeds to give long examples of people who have grown up in the church or been pressured into saying the words before they were ready) I am sure that since you are here you truly are a Christian, you don't need to worry about that. You just don't remember your conversion, remember, it can happen gradually.
me: No, you don't understand. I am not doubting myself, I am wondering how your theory fits into my experience.
speaker: (rambles a bit, I am no sure what he thought I was asking because he never answered me)
me: (silent and not sure what to say)
lady about my parents age: It sounds like what she is describing is exactly what we as parents pray for when we take our babies to be baptized.
me: thank you, that is what I was trying to say, but couldn't say it like that.
speaker: well, I never baptized my children, they made that decision later, so I don't know about that...(continues speaking in this vein)
Once the session ended, people started surrounding me to talk to me. It went something like this:
Very Old Lady (probably can't hear very well)- she told me a story about how she grew up in the church and what finally helped her to ask Jesus into her life, for real
me- explained that this wasn't my problem, I just wanted him to explain his pain in relation to my experience
Middle aged man- Thank you, that was a wonderful testimony. It is so wonderful for you.
Older man- he told me about his friends who are twins, a man and a woman. The male twin had a big conversion experience (at the same time as this man speaking to me). This older man, when riding in the car with the female twin asked her "So when did you first know Jesus?" He said that she said "Well, I've always known him." He explained to me that this really struck him and helped him realize how awesome this was, and she was the lucky one. He had a big conversion experience, but she had always known, and that is so rare.
As we spoke, I explained that it is hard to have this experience because so few people say it, and you are treated as strange when you can't give a conversion experience.
He said, looking at me and pointing, "But this is your testimony, and it is very powerful."
Our conversation continued, but this preceding part really was powerful for me.
Now, when I told this story, I was trying to give it in the form of a hypothetical situation or a case study, but when the speaker started discounting it, I had to explain that it was me so it had some credibility. This experience was apparently outside his realm of understanding and that of some others in the room. I don't know how to respond to it, but the responses that people gave me truly did help. Maybe it all goes back to infant baptism and prevenient grace, but I don't know. Ask me after I take a theology class :D I just wanted to share this experience and write it down so I will remember it in times to come.
Come back and read again as I write from Germany in a few days!
Today, during an equipping session (which is like a class or workshop on a given topic), I had quite an interesting, yet frustrating conversation. The speaker mentioned early in his talk some points on conversion. He spoke about how you must make a decision that you want to follow Christ and later you are converted (based upon experiences like that of John Wesley. He made the decision to follow Jesus but he was an adult when he "felt his heart was strangely warmed"). I didn't mind that he said this, but I wanted to know how this theory works with the experience of somebody who was born/baptized/bred Christian and was blessed to always have know Jesus. The conversation went something like this (paraphrased and summarized):
me: You spoke earlier about conversion and making a decision. (summarized the point he made) How does this fit with the experience that a person was born, baptized, and raised in the church. This person has never had a conversion experience, has never sat down and made that kind of "decision." Yet, this person has always known Jesus, has always had a relationship with Jesus, and is truly a Christian? THis person's relationship with God grew as they grew.
speaker: are you sure that this person is truly a Christian? (tone of voice suggesting that this person is lying to me or fake or deluding themselves)
me: well this person is me
speaker: (proceeds to give long examples of people who have grown up in the church or been pressured into saying the words before they were ready) I am sure that since you are here you truly are a Christian, you don't need to worry about that. You just don't remember your conversion, remember, it can happen gradually.
me: No, you don't understand. I am not doubting myself, I am wondering how your theory fits into my experience.
speaker: (rambles a bit, I am no sure what he thought I was asking because he never answered me)
me: (silent and not sure what to say)
lady about my parents age: It sounds like what she is describing is exactly what we as parents pray for when we take our babies to be baptized.
me: thank you, that is what I was trying to say, but couldn't say it like that.
speaker: well, I never baptized my children, they made that decision later, so I don't know about that...(continues speaking in this vein)
Once the session ended, people started surrounding me to talk to me. It went something like this:
Very Old Lady (probably can't hear very well)- she told me a story about how she grew up in the church and what finally helped her to ask Jesus into her life, for real
me- explained that this wasn't my problem, I just wanted him to explain his pain in relation to my experience
Middle aged man- Thank you, that was a wonderful testimony. It is so wonderful for you.
Older man- he told me about his friends who are twins, a man and a woman. The male twin had a big conversion experience (at the same time as this man speaking to me). This older man, when riding in the car with the female twin asked her "So when did you first know Jesus?" He said that she said "Well, I've always known him." He explained to me that this really struck him and helped him realize how awesome this was, and she was the lucky one. He had a big conversion experience, but she had always known, and that is so rare.
As we spoke, I explained that it is hard to have this experience because so few people say it, and you are treated as strange when you can't give a conversion experience.
He said, looking at me and pointing, "But this is your testimony, and it is very powerful."
Our conversation continued, but this preceding part really was powerful for me.
Now, when I told this story, I was trying to give it in the form of a hypothetical situation or a case study, but when the speaker started discounting it, I had to explain that it was me so it had some credibility. This experience was apparently outside his realm of understanding and that of some others in the room. I don't know how to respond to it, but the responses that people gave me truly did help. Maybe it all goes back to infant baptism and prevenient grace, but I don't know. Ask me after I take a theology class :D I just wanted to share this experience and write it down so I will remember it in times to come.
Come back and read again as I write from Germany in a few days!
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