Weakness is Strength (Sorry George)

By: Josiah

One really cool thing that I was reminded of this week was in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, where Paul says,

"But [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

It's been difficult to be in a place like Berlin where I can see all sorts of people that are hurting, and yet not be able to do anything about it. For one, I can't speak that language that well, therefore I can't really talk to people at all. Secondly, the culture here is very introverted (I'm not sure if that's the right word); they keep to themselves a lot. As much as I want to go out and do things on my own, I can't. This means that I need to rely on God all the more and trust that He has a plan for why I'm here. It's freeing and frustrating at the same time.

Andre, the missionary we're working with here, talked to us about this passage, as well as Romans 5:1-11. One of the other things he said in regards to this is that when we reach our limits, then God can work, because we have no other choice but to rely on Him.

It's also been great to be reminded of this in situations within the TREK program. For instance, Team Brazil was denied their visas for a month, but through that delay they have been blessed probably more than if they had gone straight to Brazil (correct me if I'm wrong Team Brazil, but I've seen God work through your time in Vancouver.)

It's always exciting to trust God, because usually he doesn't reveal his entire plan at once. Talk about exciting!

Reflections on the Holocaust.

By Raf.

Often when confronted with stories of evil I feel powerless, senselessly mad and overcome by fury. But at then end the question always remains, every single time: Why? And how do we prevent it from happening again?

Team Germany had our first day off yesterday, and after sleeping in and buying groceries (which, by the way, judging by their price must be made of pure gold), we went downtown Berlin to see some of the sights, such as the Bundestag (before WWII it was called the Reichstag) and the Brandenburg Gate. Among our visits was the Jewish Monument, erected in rememberance of the Holocaust. It consists of rectangular cement blocks of different hights that stretch over a a whole city block. At night as by day it is kind of creepy and rightly so. After much searching we found a museum/exhibition located underground, beneath said monument. Right at the entrance we were told to shut off our cellphones and to take pictures only without flash. The atmosphere down there was quite and somber and the exhibition tasteful, powerful and very artistic. Once again, I was personally confronted by the extent of the evil thats was perpretated by a nation against a certain group of people. This was no accidental murder, or even another casualty to the Nazi thirst for power, but rather it was premeditated murder against a very specific group of people. And what once more became clear to me was that the Nazis went OUT OF THEIR WAY to find a Jewish solution.


In one of the exhibitions I sat down to read this:

"We would so love to live, but they won't let us and we will die" This is an excerpt from a letter that a 12 year old sent to his father before being pushed into that pit he describes. He was a Jewish boy.

I sat there for a while and then I decided to move. I entered another room that was dark. Against all four walls a name was projected, with the respective years of birth/death. I sat down as the name changed, and a voice first read a short story of that persons life in German, then in English, ending invariably with death by the hand of the Nazis: "Reading out the names and biographies of all the victims in the form presented [there] would take approximately six years, seven months and 27 days."(Information Brochure)

How do you deal with this? How do you deal with the fact that this was done by people like you and me, by people with thousands of years of history backing up their civilization? Done by a nation who has for centuries proclaimed to be a Christian nation (man how I agree with Bonhoeffer). I wish I had an answer, I wish I could give some practical idea, some glimmer of hope that this won't happen again, some remedy for the situation, but I am forced to sit there and here and stare...

Yet, I want to remind myself and all of you, that there is hope. Not, because somehow WE can make a difference. It won't happen through better diplomacy, or through inspiring U2 songs (as much as I like U2), or even through the Bill Gates Foundation and the millions of dollars its spends every year. Do not get me wrong, these are good things at times. But they are not what our hope is built on. Remember that song: "Our hope is built on nothing less, then Jesus blood and righteousness." One of my professors once asked us the question where God was in the Holocaust. And I confess my answer is limited, but I believe that the God of the Bible was with those people who were suffering comforting them, welcoming them, waiting for the; just as he was also waiting on the people of Germany and on the Nazi leadership. The God who in his son suffered on the cross was present there at the Holocaust.

You might ask, why did he not prevent it. I do not presume to be God and I will not answer that question. Maybe this is hard for us to hear: we do not know why this happened, we do not know why God did not act in a different way. But rest assured, God was at work through his love, confronting evil with good found in the tiny little riples of this society, in the cracks of this world, seeping in here and there: moments of light in darkness. And ultimately that is the hope we have. The hope and faith in a powerful God who is at work in little things AND in big things, but most importantly in the unexpected.

"Why war still? Why hunger still? Why a world still?" Candi took these pictures and she commented on the fact that we still ask these questions today. I don't have an answer. But I do not have hopelessness because then this whole TREK thing would be worthless would it not?

We proclaim a God who brings hope there where we do not really see it. My Bible reading from today gave me a little glimpse of that hope.

Romans 12:19-21

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord" No, "if your eneimies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We are here at TREK proclaiming a God who overcomes evil with good, a God who in weakness makes powerful and who ultimately reigns, even though he often does not work in ways that we understand, that we consider fair or most sensible. Is that not the beauty of peace: "Our hope is built on nothing less, but Jesus blood and righteousness... On Christ, the solid rock, WE stand; all other ground is sinking sand." I will continue to sit and feel powerless when I read about genocides and other kinds of evil. But I will also always remember the Rock that I am sitting on and that God does not sit in powerlessness, but he is always already at work and he is always already waiting for us ready to tell us what to do and to use us in his work. What a privilege, and with that we start a new week.

thankful

by: candi fender

we are so very thankful to be connecting with andre and olga pritzkau, and their children joshua, mark, and claudia. today we had our first meeting with them to discuss plans for our time in berlin. we navigated public transportation back to their flat, and were only a little late. we had an awesome time of worship, and read and discussed 1 timothy 2:1-7 :

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. this is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. for there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. and for this purpose i was appointed a herald and an apostle--i am telling the truth, i am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

after which, we prayed for the new US president, for leaders of churches, for the pritzkau's, for the other trek teams, etc. we then went over weekly schedules, and we talked about moving-in with church families until the new windows are installed and heat can be turned on...

i'll be the first to admit that i wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea. and i'm glad raf spoke for the group because i would have ended up being very emotional about the whole thing. instead, i choked back tears and silently prayed for God to change my heart and attitude about the whole thing. i was reflecting on my past experiences with host families in different countries, and while they were overall very good, they were also very tiring times. it's hard to balance spending time with the family and doing whatever else one is supposed to be doing. it's hard to communicate when you're leaving, when you're coming back, if you will need to eat a meal, etc, especially when you're used to being an independent person.

but God definitely spoke to me, reminding me that i didn't come here seeking an easy life. and that perhaps this is part of the ministry for which i came to do: to get to know and encourage families in the church here in berlin.

i was also reminded that there are positive things about living with native families, such as learning the language and culture better, learning to cook authentic food, living in an actual home setting where there will be heat, and developing new relationships.

after the meeting, we ate some delicious food for lunch, watched videos/looked at pictures and learned a little of the history of this church plant. one thing that andre said that really stuck out to me was the excitement within the congregation for this new church building, and the distinction they make between the church building and the people. families are literally moving across the city to be closer to the new church. they are giving up their saturday's to come and do construction work. yet, they are more thrilled about what God is doing in their lives and through their lives. i can't wait to meet these people!

then all of us went to a nearby park to play soccer. the kids were so fun to get to know, even though i have no idea what they were saying (though they probably understood some--if not most--of what i was saying in english...). sometimes, there are things that just go beyond language barriers and cultural barriers. this time it was a smile, an excited cheer, and a hi-five.

so yes, we are thankful for the pritzkau's. we are thankful for people wanting to host us. we are thankful for the healthy ministries to join and support. and we are PUMPED to be a part of the changes taking place to this church building (the actual structure, and the building of the congregation).

The time has come!!!

By: Raf Duerksen

As I write, Team Germany is sitting at Gate D64 of the Vancouver International Airport waiting to board our flight to London Heathrow. We are very excited and look forward to the next part of this adventure. We would appreciate prayer for safety on the flight, on a speedy integration into our new life in Berlin. We also ask for continual prayer for the people of Germany and specifically East-Berlin. Please pray that solid relationships might be formed and that God might do mighty things in East-Berlin through the church there and if he so wills, also through the TREK team.