We had a mini- exchange trip to Hamburg this month, where we encouraged the newest member of the Connexxion "Family"-- a new student group in a suburb called Harburg, at the Technical University (TU - click here for a virtual tour in English) . Above are Anja G. & Vera W. presenting a report on our weekend at Vera's church, which is also where we did some of our volunteer work & stayed in their building. (More info. on the new group here.)
Above we are standing in front of the Rathaus, the town hall of this bustling metropolis, Germanys second largest city. Hamburg is a city- state founded by Charlemagne, and as a medieval city it was part of the Hanseatic League.
In this port city, someone rented this concrete post and put up a golden calf, in protest of a multi- million Euro project that ended up costing much more than expected.
There is a lovely lake created from the Alster River, inside the city center.
Anja, myself and Birthe-- a rare chance to don sunglasses & enjoy Starbucks. We're experiencing more & more of these kinds of sunny days! I have been privileged not only to work with them on staff, but also to call them really GREAT friends over the years! One could not ask for a more creative, visionary, like- hearted and talented team!
The pastor, Andreas, and church leaders have high hopes for growth-- the church auditorium is situated literally right beside the Technical University! Baptist/ Brethren Churches in Germany (there are 92,200 of them) are on average 97 members per congregation, and baptised an average of just over 2 persons per church last year. This church in Harburg is more established (the membership is older) & larger because Hamburg is the city where the Baptist church first took hold in Germany. This happened in the early 1800's, founded here by a man named Johann Oncken.
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