Photos and info from Friday.

The kirche (church) to the left is St. Thomas where Bach is buried.

At near right are the youth, Eric too, with Anita our wonderful guide and new friend.

The church just to the left is St. Nikolai Church where the reign of the GDR began it's fall.













Today, Freitag, has been a day of work. There has been so much to do to get ready for Sunday and the arrival of the German youth. Yong spent some of today doing lesson plans for one of the English classes. Lisa spent 4 hours (that's right, 4) at the supermarket with the woman from CA who will be preparing the meals. Lisa spent most of that time helping to translate signs, foods, etc. The youth have been moving supplies, decorating, setting up rooms, and making bracelets. I think everyone here has had a very busy day. We will soon have our worship time. We will probably have an early bedtime tonight because tomorrow we will be going to Lutherstadt/Wittenberg to tour and see the famous door (well, the sight of it anyways because the original caught fire and burned).

Finally a picture

Just in case you have forgotten what we look like, here we are before we left PIT. There is Yong, Kelli, Lisa, and Allison in the back and Jillian and Ian in front. We met Eric in Berlin. He is really with us. Today he has made American sweet tea for everyone and they LOVE it! I think this might be his job all week!

We have limited ability to add photos since we don't have access to our own computers so I will add a couple others now of our visit in Leipzig.

Day 2

Today we finished with our time in Leipzig with some shopping (everyone liked it, even the boys). We then boarded a train and headed south to Zeitz where we were met by Pastor Albrecht Weisbach's son. We were taken to Droßig, to the site of the camp where we will be until August 14. We had an afternoon snack with the rest of the staff (both German and Californian) and American youth.

We are staying at Christopher Schüle which was build to educate the privileged so they could teach the poor. It was then a convent. Beside the schüle is a schloß (castle) where the man who designed the schüle once lived. It was in the 1850s and he was then a Duke.

Everyone has gotten settled in their rooms, some like dorm rooms others more like classrooms. We had our abendessen and then joined in worship with the whole group. There are 33 of us wating and preparing for the German youth who will come on Sunday to learn English but more importantly, hear and live the word of God. The worship service was powerful as we sang, "Light of the World" together in English and then sang a hymn together using both the German and English lyrics. God doesn't care what it sounds like because to Him it is always a melody to His ears. We closed our evening with a reading from Psalms 46:9-10: "He stops wars all over the world; He breaks bows, destroys spears, and sets shields on fire. 'Stop fighting, ' He says, 'and know that I am God, supreme among nations, supreme over the world.'"

So with that we bid you a gute nacht.

End of Day 1

We arrived safely in Berlin and took a taxi to the Hauptbbahnhof. Three youth;Ian, Eric, and Jillian chose good old McDonalds for lunch while the rest of us decided to go with something a little more native. Kelli did eat, but shoe shopping was her first priority.

We arrived in Leipzig and found a man, Pastor Thomas, holding a sign that said "Lisa Doutt." Hooray, someone wanted to pick us up. Thomas is a pastor of the Methodist Church in Leipzig. He brought, Anita, one of his parishioners along and she was a WONDERUL guide. We toured the city center going to St. Nikolai Church and Thomas Church. St. Nikolai is where the end of the GDR (German Democratic Republic) began. It started with a group of women who got together on Monday just to pray. The secret service officers found out and tried to stop them from praying but God prevailed. More people came and more until they were inside and outside of the church praying while walking around it. And soon change came as in October 1989 the wall of separation and repression cam tumbling down. Anita has lived in Leipzig her entire life and her stories of before and after were riveting.

At Thomas Church we learned that Johann Sebastian Bach had been a member for 38 years of his life and we saw where he is buried, right inside the church.

Thomas cooked a suppe of gemüse und fleisch for our abendessen and then we walked for a few blocks and found ice cream for dessert.

What a joy to come so far and yet feel so much at home. God is good everywhere.

Day One

It's Wednesday, Aug 3 and we're sitting in the Charles DeGaulle airport waiting for flight to Berlin. Flight from PIT was uneventful. Some slept, others did not. We are anticipating meeting our last member, Eric, who is joining us at Tegel airport.

Please continue to pray for our group as our work/ministry will soon begin.

Tschus

Lassen Sie die Reise beginnen

One more day until 5 youth and 2 adults from Western PA Conference of the United Methodist Church board a plane for Berlin. Once we land we'll hop a train to Leipzig and be met by a couple from the Zeitz ministry team. Then it will be full speed ahead, well maybe not since we'll be sleep deprived, to the German English Camp in Droyssig.

We will be participating in a ministry developed by Rev. Albrecht Weisbach and the Methodist Church of the Eastern German Conference. We will be in ministry not only with our German brothers and sisters but a team from CA as well. The opportunity to share Christ's love with a group of German teenagers is exciting.

Please pray for us as we begin this journey.

Stayed tuned for the stories we'll have to tell.