Thursday, June 23: Moving Forward

 Moving Forward

As we near the end of our trip exhaustion starts to catch up with us. Luckily, a majority of this day was free for us to choose what we did. We took a train ride to Potsdam just outside of Berlin and walked to the Sanssouci Palace. This was a beautiful place to recharge after soaking in everything we had seen and heard in the past week. With glorious weather and extravagant gardens, the palace grounds seemed to be out of a fairy tale. 

Closing Dinner

Here we are. It seems like only a couple days had passed since we had our welcoming dinner with Nicole and the other ReachGlobal missionaries. Yet now we sit at a table across from Nicole and the leader of the Berlin team named Aaron. We were able to share some of our thoughts and unpack what we experienced while also processing what we saw through the lenses of a missionary. Since Kiera and I are the first students to try out Apex Lite Berlin we were able to give back helpful feedback that will improve the experience for the next crew of young students. At the end of the day, what stood out most was not the immediate physical needs of Berliners but rather the deeply hidden yearning these people have for a savior to rescue them from their heartache.  

Prayers for the Berlin Team 

Pray for all the unsaved Berliners

Prayers for the next generation of missionaries

Wednesday, June 22: Ways to Evangelize

 Discovering Ways to Evangelize

Today we had the privilege of shadowing another long-term missionary with ReachGlobal. Emily Sears walked us around her part of Berlin, Altreptow. Here she mainly focuses on neighborhood evangelism and growing the local church. Also being a single woman in ministry, hearing her testimony was very moving for both Kiera and me. 

Café/Bar Evangelism? 

Later in the evening, we met up with Nicole’s husband Denny to visit another long-term missionary’s method of evangelism. A café during the day and a live music bar at night. After hearing about the amazing relationships and opportunities missionaries at the bar have been given, we were able to stay later into the night to watch open mic night. These events such as open mic night, are a pathway to invite all kinds of new people. Unlike the usual places people go for a fun night, this bar in particular is a place where anyone can come for a drink and a good conversation with Christian bartenders. (I can not reveal the name of the bar in an effort to protect the bar and the bar owner's privacy)  

Prayers for Emily Sears and her church

Tuesday, June 21: Anti-Trafficking

 Anti-Trafficking

Today the team met up with one of the long-term missionaries focusing on Anti-Trafficking. We were able to take a walking tour around the streets and neighborhoods where traffic rings are based. Our missionary guide Diedre showed us which buildings and which businesses received the most attention. We paused by the buildings and prayed for the victims of trafficking along with their captors. Diedre went on to explain that their team has three relief programs based in that neighborhood. Each of which uses a different method to rescue the victims. This area was full of art painted on the buildings. Covering the murals was images of men and women in bondage and chains. Each of which depicted the feelings and emotions of the people. Please pray for the people of Berlin. 

Late in the afternoon, we took a stroll through the luscious Tiergarten. Dave's exchange student Lina, from earlier, took us around the garden and the Victory Column. 

Late in the evening, Kiera and I joined the 6-week Apex students and the short-term missionaries for an evening of fun playing mini golf. 

Many prayers for Anti-Trafficking in Berlin

Monday, June 20th: West to East

 West to East

On this cold and rainy day, Nicole took us along with the 6-week apex students on a tour of Berlin starting in the west. We began in Halensee, next Friedrichstraße and finally Marzhan. Since Halensee was in the west, it is full of growth and flourishing with life. Marzhan, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. The streets were quiet and rarely would you see another person on the street. Not only was Marzhan once a holding place for the Roma (Gypsys) during WWII, Marzhan is a place where no one wants to live. The place felt heavy and full of sorrow. There is spiritual warfare going on in Marzhan. Please pray for the people of Marzhan and the missionary family stationed there, they need it. 

Viktoriapark Berlin

While we may have ended our tour of Berlin on a somber note, we ended the day with a small hike through Viktoriapark. Here we captured the most beautiful sunset overlooking the city. We took several minutes to pray for the city and pray for the people of Marzhan. 

Prayers for Marzhan

Prayers for the missionary Families

Sunday, June 19: Worship in the Park

 Worship in the Park

A beautiful Sunday to worship in the park. Today the team met up again with Emily Schomers from Thursday's refugee meeting. We were able to join her church for a Sunday service up in Pankow. Once in a while, Emily's church and another small church combine to meet up in Burger Park for an outdoor service. With around 50 people of all ages attending, this was truly a beautiful experience. To be able to join fellow Christians from across the world and join in the worship of our Lord was amazing. 

The top image is the gate to the entrance of the park. The bottom image is the worship band playing in the pavilion of the gardens where we had the service. 

The Philharmonie

We ended the evening by attending a choral concert at the Philharmonie. Dave arranged that we would see another one of his exchange students sing at this concert. She will be mentioned later in the week again.  

Prayers for the Church in Berlin

Saturday, June 18: The Missionary Lifestyle

 Shadowing a Missionary Family

Today the team got the chance to shadow one of the long-term missionary families based in Berlin. They showed us around their neighborhood of Shönewiede while sharing their testimony of how God brought them to Shönewiede and what he has done through them in this neighborhood. It was truly beautiful to hear their stories of how God has used themselves and others to advance his kingdom.

We continued shadowing the deBruyn family by going to their oldest son's American Football game. Here Kiera and I were able to connect with their daughter, who is near our age, on how God has been working in her life. After the game, we girls including Lindsey all went to a shopping mall where we were able to ask questions and encourage each other in our walk with God. Dave was also able to meet up with a couple exchange students from years ago and catch up with them over a meal.

Prayers for Shönewiede

Prayers of encouragement for the deBruyn family.

Friday, June 17: Learning the City

 Learning the City

So sorry for the late daily blog posts. I know some of you supporters, were looking forward to a day-to-day recap of the trip. While on the trip, it was difficult to attain a strong Wi-Fi connection. The only place with good enough Wi-Fi was the hotel room. However, in the evenings, we would get back to our hotel too late in the night. While I am now posting the day-to-day recaps, many apologies if I was not able to keep you updated. 

Tourists for a day

Today the four of us took the day to get to learn about the city and its rich history. We began by pausing to reflect on the Berlin Wall Memorial. This time in history severely damaged the culture of Berlin by creating distrust between all peoples and strangers.

Next, we saw the Kaiser Wilhelm Church which is one of the few remaining buildings that survived the WWII bombings. After climbing many steps we took in the beautiful Berlin skyline at the top of the Berliner Dom.

We took a walking tour with a few of the Berlin team's six-week Apexers. Here we were able to stop by and capture a few photos of the Brandenburg Gate. 

We finished the evening off with a tour of the Reichstag. This building serves as the German capital building which holds the German parliament. 

Prayers for this City