Adventures in South Germany

Alright, I know I'm behind on writing since I didn't exactly write about the entirety of my travels to South Germany besides the fact that I fell in love with the people at Pforzheim and now I'm already halfway through my trip to Fritzlar. So let me back-trek a bit. (Left: Beautiful, beautiful Pforzheim. Does this remind anyone of the Sound of Music?)

Pastor Manuel

So the Saturday morning that Rhonda and Christian left to go back to the US, I went on my first travel adventure by myself to Pforzheim, a more rural town in South Germany. Manuel Killisch is an old acquaintance whom I had known of during my undergraduate years when he was at the School of Theology. We didn't know each other all that well besides that we were both involved in music, some kind of ministry and that we had a lot of common close friends.

Anyhow, after he graduated from SOT, he served in Argentina for 2.5 years. As I recall what he told me of the story, he went first mostly just to live and learn the language and culture, teach seminars, and see what was going on with the work there. After about a year, he picked up the Spanish language. He was also invited by the church in Argentina to help revive the Bible school that his grandfather had started years ago. A year ago, the church in Pforzheim invited him to return to Germany to be their pastor. Seeing as the Bible school was doing well, he left and took up the pastorate in Pforzheim.

The Russian-Germans and a brief history of the Eastern European Church of God
One of the last things I got to do before returning to Berlin was to sit and have tea with the Baumgartners, an older couple who had lived in Uzbekistan for 33 years before moving back to Germany in 1989. During that 90 minutes, they gave me a crash course on the history of the Russian-Germans and the history of the Germany and the Eastern European Church of God. So here's as much of that history as I can remember from that crash course.

Way back in the 1700s, the Czar in Russia had opened up the country to anyone who wanted to come, promising free taxes and free land. Because of this, there was a mass movement of Germans flocking to Russia. The Baumgartners (this was way back when, not the couple I had tea with), who had been amongst the first to come into contact with the Gospel Trumpet Company and had been involved with starting the movement in Germany, were amongst some of those who moved to Russia. When they got to Russia, they took the work with them.

However, what the Czar promised, she did not keep. Life was hard for the Germans but still they stayed on. Before long, the Marxist regime took over and life got even harder. Then when the World War happened, the Russians were afraid that the German migrants would be in cahoots with the German military. So they were treated even more harshly and some of them were forced to leave their homes with as much as they could carry in their hands - including their children and all. They were then sent to work in the communes of mass production in areas like Uzbekistan and Krygyzstan.

The Baumgartners that Manuel and I had tea with, he is from Uzbekistan and she from Kazakhstan. (Or maybe it's the other way around, I don't remember...) In 1989 after the fall of the Berlin wall, they returned to Germany for the first time. All their lives they had been looking forward to the day of returning, full of dreams of what the motherland would hold, and always wondering why in the world did their forefathers leave? And upon the return to Deutschland, they realise that there's nowhere that is perfect - there will always be problems anywhere.

This. This is the way to learn history - with homemade cakes and pastries, and a good cup of tea from Uzbekistan.

The funny thing is (and all you feminists out there would enjoy this) - at one point during the conversation, he knocked the cup of tea over and she just shook her head and said, "He's not a woman, that's why he makes a mess." But also, Manuel said she's just a feisty lady to begin with. Some weeks ago, she called to tell him she had some homemade cakes for him and asked him to stop by to pick it up. He was busy that day so he didn't make it over. He got another phonecall the next day... It was her again, asking him to not be lazy and come pick up the cakes. At the door, he was greeted with a slap on his face saying, "You need to not be so lazy."

I guess you just have to be there.

Lovely Folks...

And of course, I have to tell you about the people.

Manuel had asked me earlier in the week if I would be willing to share my story at Youth on Saturday evening. Well, Saturday afternoon when I got there, he told me that Youth that night had been cancelled because there were two bachelor parties going on and others traveling out of town. (Just a quick FYI: In Germany, "Youth Group" refers to the young people 17 and above. The 13-16 year-olds are the Teenies). So instead of the regular youth meeting, we went over to the Church of God nearby in Calw, about 20 minutes away, to hang out at their special youth service. The students from the Bibel Schule in Fritzlar were there that weekend for the special youth service on Saturday night and baptism on Sunday.

That night, I met Maureen (whom I only found out yesterday that her father was the pastor in Barcelona, Spain, whose name I've heard a lot because of my job at Global Missions) and Veronica. As it turns out, Maureen wasn't about to be the last of these cross-cultural people I was going to meet. (Left: Maureen)

Before we left Calw on Saturday night, Manuel introduced me to Sanna who was going to be my host and translator while Manuel was being Pastor the next morning. Sanna's parents were amongst the group of Russian-Germans as well. As were Luzi, who hosted me the few days I was there, and her husband. And Luzi and I got along great. Her father was one of the pastors in Pforzheim but had "retired" fairly recently and now focuses on ministry with the older generation, especially those like the Baumgartners. Oh for the record, you heard me right. Paul (Luzi's dad) is retired, but if you know anything about ministry, you probably already realise you never really retire until the day you're lying 6 feet under (unless of course, you live in Singapore, to which I mean "until the day you're stuck in an urn in the wall somewhere"). [And while we're at it, before you ask me anymore questions about Arthur Kelly, yes, I know he's "retired" to Oregon, but no I have no idea what he's doing besides hanging out with John and Gwen. And yes, "hanging out" can be ministry too, thank you very much.]

Sorry, I got distracted.

Because Luzi grew up as a Pastor's Kid, she understood what I meant when I started talking about wanting to work with missionaries and their families. [If you want to know more about this, you're going to have to buy me coffee or dinner and be willing to sit down for a while.]

And then there was Jonathan and Kristine. Sunday after church, and after the Family Day, we stayed around for lunch and fellowship, and then the big football match against England that afternoon. The thing that impressed me was that church was over at around noon, but the match didn't start till 4pm. Any other church I've been to, people would have stayed around for a bit of fellowship and of course, have lunch. If they were interested in watching the game at church, they would probably go home and have a quick nap or change before coming back to the church. But no, at this church, people ate, hung out and had cake and coffee until it was game time. (Above left: Watching football)

Well, during this time, I got to hang out with Jonathan, Kristine and their kids, Jamie and Kian. Jonathan's originally from Oregon but had moved to Germany after high-school. I don't remember where everything fits, but somewhere on the timeline, he and Kristine got married, he went to Fritzlar for a couple years in answering the call to ministry, then went back to Warner Pacific for some time so Kristine could get the study-abroad experience as well since she was going to be an English teacher back in Germany, and then served as the pastor of families in Pforzheim for a few years. It wasn't too long before he got burnt out with ministry and left the church in Pforzheim. I don't know if it was merely coincidence or if again, Manuel had told them I was going to be there, but the Sunday I met them was the first time they had been back at the church for two years. Beautiful, beautiful family. (Above right: Jamie and his Opa playing volleyball with the youth group and Pastor Manuel)

And then there was Natascha. Apparently Manuel had told her to get connected with me while I'm here, and that I would be sharing my story at youth that Saturday evening. But since we ended up going to Calw instead, Manuel found her at half-time during the Germany-England game and told her if she didn't talk to me now, she may not have another chance. I was bewildered because I didn't know what Manuel thought I had to offer her, especially because I don't know half of what I'm doing most of the time either. But we chatted for a few minutes and she said she was bummed I wasn't going to stick around till the next Saturday so she could hear my story at the next youth meeting. So instead, we went out for coffee and ice-cream on Monday.

If there's something I've learnt from the Germans, there's NEVER a bad time for coffee or ice-cream. May I always remember that... Not so much for the coffee or the ice-cream, but for the stories I get to join with even for just a few brief moments during this time. Come to find out, we have so much in common with our stories, being at similar crossroads and trying to figure out what's next in our journey.

Alright, I'm tired of writing, so here are a few more silly pictures...

We went out for ice-cream after the game on Sunday and this was the madness that ensued after that. You can't see her in the picture, but one of the girls is playing My Heart Will Go On on the piano accompanied by Luzi (far left on the chair) with her son and Pastor Manuel on the viola.

And this is Julia's victory dance after Deutschland defeated England.

And just in case you wondered if I've disappeared into the words on my blog... No, I'm still very much alive.

Love you all.