Sharing Heartfelt Messages at Church Gatherings - Berlin, Germany

Saturday - Berlin, Germany After our dim sum brunch, we took the public transit once again heading to a church cell group gathering at one of the congregant's house. This was our first church meeting in Berlin, Germany; we were invited into a German home instead of meeting at a church building.

Since this was a cell group meeting, it was with a smaller group of people in an informal setting. Rev. J. and Ken were asked to speak first and then the local minister asked me to speak. Since there were quite a few women, I shared with them the challenging situation we had to deal with a few years back and how we were able to get through it with strength from God. I couldn't imagine how well the other women responded. This sharing resonated with the mothers and a few of them came over to me when we broke into smaller groups for further discussions. I encouraged one of the mothers to bring her son to come to my Sunday workshop knowing that he would be encouraged. Sunday - Berlin, Germany We had a brunch at our apartment trying to finish all our leftover food from the previous days. It was fun staying together with four other people from our home church. I was scheduled to do a workshop for the congregation this Sunday. I had the presentation ready but still went over my power pointt and added more pictures to it. Since the Sunday Service would be in late afternoon, we had a more relaxing schedule.

We arrived at the church well before the starting time. The service was at 3:p.m. Rev. Jonathan shared a message followed by two workshops. I did one with S. acting as my interpretor. I only had about an hour therefore I had to pack the most important infomration within the alloted time. I was delighted to see the young man whose mother I met yesterday. There were quite a few of young people at my workshop and from their reactions, I knew I had chosen the right topic for them.

Whenever I am invited to do a presentation, I always try hard to come up with the most relevant topic for my audience. After the workshop, there was a church meal and almost everyone stayed behind and broke bread together. I purposedly spoke with this young person going though some tough time. I hope that my sharing helped him.

It was a good opportunity to interact and have a Christian fellwoship with many members of the congregation. They were so warm and welcoming. I chatted with a few women and we felt as if we had known each other for our whole lives. I really enjoyed this community time together. I wish it could happen more often in other churches! Whever we travel, it is not the spectacular scenery nor the exotic local food that excit us, it is this kind of genuine interaction and exchanges with the local residents that we enjoy and treasure the most. It was truly a fantstic day for us on this trip. RT, Berlin, Germany 062024