On Sunday we went to the church that Hans (one of the organisers) attends. We were welcomed by the minister from the front, although Hans got a few frowns as he did his best to quietly translate a complicated sermon for us! It was great to be at that church, fairly traditional, but most of the time I wasn’t really sure what was going on! There seemed to be a lot of liturgy responses which members of the congregation all knew off by heart, and not much instruction from the front but everyone knew when to stand, when to sit and when to sing! A couple of the sings were in English or had English words underneath the German ones so we could join in a bit! The last song was Shine Jesus Shine, much to our ‘enjoyment’!
After coffee and biscuits we headed to an italian restaurant. They boys all had pizzas of some description while I had a salad which was very nice until I got to the bottom which was full of balsamic vinegar….mmm soggy lettuce! We then headed back to The Lighthouse to set up for the evenings ‘Check It Out’ Service. The theme was ‘Pusteblume’ – literal translation is ‘blowflower’, but refers to Dandelions. The service was to do with spreading ‘seeds’ – telling people about Jesus. There was music from their ‘Check It Out’ band, acoustic songs from Taste, a hilarious sketch, a great talk and the blessing of various teams who are off on mission. I had Marco translating brilliantly for me so I knew when to play the videos and powerpoints! A lad who became a Christian last year at The Lighthouse Week we were at came back and was translating for Joy – it was really great to see him again! After the service we packed away and were treated to more sausages and soup before saying our goodbyes and heading back to the hotel.
Monday was the long trip home, we left at 9am and got to the office at 7pm! We were all on track for the earlier ferry but hit traffic just before Calais, very frustrating! We kept smiling and telling awful jokes despite being hot and uncomfortable! It was funny, as soon as we landed in England everyone got their phones out, turned back on the internet and got engrossed into Facebook and emails…!
It was a great weekend, mainly in preparation for events in October and November, which I’m not sure that I will be involved in but it was really nice to see everyone again, and be reminded that God is bigger than England!
Today I have been back in the office getting ready for Solid Youth Festival and Junior Solid this weekend!
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Tags: Germany, Herne