Retreat, Freizeit, Retiro...

We had a marvelous 3-language Connexxion retreat last weekend in the Harz Mountains with over 40 attending ...

Here are our 2 main speakers, Mike Story and Thomas Koch, our team leader in Jena! My best buddy Abraham Rios came from Sevilla, who is doing a practicum with Connexxion and was able to represent our group there and share his story. That was a bit of a challenge for me (but a good one), to interpret for Abraham quietly during the sessions, sitting beside him. From the front, Conny or Stefan translated for Mike, from English to German. Thus, it was a very multi- lingual event!

We had 9 visitors from Oklahoma including our speaker, Mike, who leads the Baptist Campus ministry at OSU.

(above after winning a game-- Henning, Abraham, & Marc)

The theme was "Plug In" and Mike spoke about how our lives are planned by God & we can only discover His best for us as we "abide" 100% in Christ... and are connected and rooted in Him (John 15, and Colossians 2:7).

tables & learning

I get the chance some weeks to do a fair amount of teaching about God, & also blending that, I hope, with a fairly heavy dose of learning & soaking up ideas from others! (Caro & Birthe clowning around!)

Often it happens close to a TABLE ... Here are some shots of this week...I was privileged to lead an extensive Bible study time this week with students from our 2 discipleship groups, on the topic of dating & sexual purity (ideas on a blog post soon!). It was a holiday so we prepared breakfast together! Thank the Lord that I inherited a great wooden table from my grandmother that you can let out!
Here we are sharing a long table in the "Mensa" (student cafeteria) for Birthe's birthday this week.
Sitting around tables in my weekly Spanish class (usually I'm just a student but this time you see me in red at the front). I had to give a presentation this week, for a grade, about Sevilla!
Our Bible discussion groups always meet at a cafe where it's cozy around a table. This week the weather was so amazing, we sat outside at 2 tables. (from left to rt., Dodo, Janina, Niklas, Kris; and in the back, me & Lars).

From left to rt. around the top, foto below: Sören, Thorsten, Christiane, Elli, Oli, Anja, Meike and Miora. We had great conversations about the Love Chapter (1. Corinthians 13).

God said some interesting things & told stories about people around tables...

"They spoke against God, saying, Can God spread a table in the desert?" (Psalm 78:19)

God can & will provide, even when I doubt his ability to pay my rent, or put bread on my table, or give me the fellowship that I crave. Some more verses using "table"...

"While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table." (Matthew 26:6-7)

"But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table." (Luke 22:21)

"Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him." (John 12:2)Tables are places of relaxation, of being nourished. Of making new friends, and resolving conflicts. Of showing hospitality, and serving. What cool experiences have you had recently around a table? Do you have any special events that happen regularly in your schedule, around a meal time?

fins, surfing & barry

In 2008 and 2009 our Connexxion group had the privilege of a few surfing lessons in Huntington Beach, from a Pro, Barry Marmion on the left.
Do you see that giant candelabra? The white tablecloth & view of the city? These were the "best seats in the house" overlooking the city of Braunschweig yesterday at Tiziano's! The occasion? Our "surf instructor" and friend, Barry, was visiting from Huntington Beach, California while on a business trip. Also he was checking out possible partnerships with our group in the future.
We ate delicious ice cream, as only the Italians can make! (with me are Christoph & Kris)
Barry was shocked (I'm used to it now) that you have cigarette machines at the street level for anyone to buy from.
He & his wife were hosts for our Connexxion group 2 different times, when we took trips to California to visit my former church, Seabreeze.
With friends at my place for brunch on Sunday (from the left, Miri, Henning & Nikola). Barry does marketing & sales for a surfing fin company, Futures., so we learned a bit about the world of surfing!
One night he got to experience European Champion League soccer (football) on the big screen (Barcelona won!) -- with students Nourdien, Marcel, Kris (intern w/ Connexxion) & Christopher.

sabine at lunch

Heute war ein schönes erlebnis, mit sabine zu essen in ihrem Haus... Gott hat mich gesegnet mit coolen Freunden! And now she has her very own blog, too!

House Warming

Last night I went to a lively home/apartment warming party & barbecue for 2 friends, one of whom is working now with Connexxion, Kris. A mega- barbecue... everyone pitching in & bringing bratwursts... connecting friends... (above are friends Oli, Stan, Jacky, Inga & Peter!)
Above... an after shot...

Now-- the BEFORE shot of the living room! I and our Connexxion team were part of the "story" building up to this special evening-- e.g., talking with the landlord before the contract was signed, driving over to Hannover to help them seek a used kitchen (which Marc & friends tore out & then installed themselves), picking up 2 chairs that were put on the street for giving away ("sperrmuell"), shopping at the local Home Depot type store, washing windows, etc.Must have been 40 + students, friends & new neighbors there. Here are some of our buddies, Peter, Richard, Alex and Henning.
My fun buddy Johnny and I had just met earlier in the day to work on his resume in English. He's looking for an internship in an English speaking country & studies industrial engineering.
The traditional house warming gift: necessities of life-- bread & salt! Oli (left) brought it to Kris and Marc, as did Peter. I love it how Germans have a strong sense of values & passed- down tradition!

More Views of Hamburg

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.

weekend exchange in hamburg

Twelve of us had the privilege of being with our special friend & Connexxion staff-er, Vera, in a suburb of Hamburg last weekend. I love it that you can pop into a city and students are so open-- we got to meet Rene on campus (by me), & he invited 2 friends, Silvan & Thomas, to our barbecue in the park that day.Here are some of us ready to go do surveys and pass on flyers to advertise our Barbeque that afternoon (Vera in brown on the far right) ...

Along with grilling in the park, we played ultimate frisbee & soccer/ football. Our goals were to visit & undergird our newest Connexxion group... & to do an exchange with them, from our Braunschweig Connexxion team.

We had various parts of a "long weekend" experience... We helped do "spring cleaning" at the church where we spent the nights. It is right alongside the TU campus.

We met lots of new friends while handing out flyers/ invites at the TU Hamburg- Harburg (Technical University where they have loads of difficult majors such as physics and industrial engineering and aeronautical engineering, etc.!). Here are Ryan (from Florida; working in Hamburg), Tim, Philipp (students) and Kris, working now with Connexxion in Braunschweig.

After our park afternoon-- full of fun & new friendships!... and before we headed to watch a DVD on the big screen at the church cafe area!

What's your major?

So do we look like your typical English teacher? (Yes, we are or are studying it! - Jacky, Dodo, me, and Miriam)

One of the favorite things students like to ask each other is: "What do you study?

What's your major?" Sometimes a typical nerdy engineering student might have a couple of pens in his shirt pocket, as a clue.

Well, you didn't have to search too far for the answer at our recent semester kick-off party where everyone dressed the part of what they study! Here are Sabrina and Anja above...

And Stephi and Christiane study food sciences/ chemistry! (with a rather brown banana to prove it!) A "game" we had was a "Science Slam" where 5 of us presented a theme and explained it, using a flip chart, to the group.

Sunny days around Easter

It was great seeing old friends last week, Alrik and Antje, who visited from Weimar and used to be active in our Jena Connexxion group! And I got to (finally) meet their sweet baby boy! We enjoyed sharing updates on our lives & it was especially interesting to hear about their work world --of product & graphic design with an amazing company, Pappenfuss.
It seems like spring has finally sprung... so Johnny and Inga and I did some "wandern" recently (hiking, walking) in a lovely natural forest.
On Good Friday I once again got to enjoy the sunny days, with friends including Kris & Birthe above (to their left, Stan & Peter).
You can see we weren't the only ones with the great idea of having a picnic!
I think the guys gave the afternoon a thumbs up! (Kris with our friend Thanh)

gettin' on the same page

How do you bring various people together, so that we work as ONE? As a team, much like a rowing crew with arms and legs strained, striving toward the finish line as smoothly as possible on that river. I have a TON to learn about this. And those close to me could write a book about the times I fail weekly. But this aspect in ministry and life is one that I do value highly. Team.

One element is through the process of Planning. Whether gathering just as a staff or with key students, planning builds a sense of "team." We actually are starting this process, prep-ing for the next college semester already IN the previous semester, as we dialogue, 'tweek,' & figure out things we want to include or change. If your program is more organic, you can make changes super quickly. Like from week to week if necessary (I have found this even more necessary in the catalyst mode-- starting up a NEW group. Or in a culture like Spain). As we toss around ideas (and that's the way my preference works, to think out loud!), I feel we brainstorm our way to "we ALL own this" vision. As we leave the planning process, everyone knows where we're headed. And WHY.

Praise. This is evaluation, and can happen anytime. Give thanks and dish out compliments freely for what is "worthwhile" (depending on your view of "success" for that event, or that character trait or task or attitude... or what have you...). And on the other hand, change, correct and cut out stuff that doesn't help you (your team, your organization, your walk with God, etc.) to go in a positive direction. You may want to take note of Andy Stanley's thoughts for leaders on saying "thank you". I also love what he says in a free podcast about "Clarify the Win." What you praise will become part of this "same page" and vision.

Pause. A key time for preparation is during the semester break-- thankfully in Germany, there are 6 weeks between the 2 main semesters. And coming together is a great time to stoke the larger vision! To get away from the daily rush of having to crank out a program, and stop long enough to plan. If you have the funds & time, it's helpful to get away from your normal surroundings for building team or planning. An overnight at a retreat place is great. Maybe even if you just went to Starbucks for a few hours!

Pray. This joins hearts like nothin' you've ever seen. You can also combine worship, music & a Bible study. You find it hard to be irritated at one another, while praying together. Now, I don't mean to use this as a manipulation tool; but let's be frank-- do we ever go to God enough in prayer? I don't. We intercede for each other personally and for our vision.

Play. Games help you get on the same page, without even realizing it! Laughing. Finding out personalities (who is competitive!). Preferences (like which color you prefer for your "place marker"). We organized 2 events recently with our group -- one for overall semester planning. To start things off, Anja had a cool game where she tore out pages from magazines. Then she cut out just one small block from that photo. In teams, just by looking at that small slice, we had to guess what the REST of the photo (the larger picture) might be!

Afterwards we explained the theme: all over the room we had taped up pictures of puzzle pieces. I shared that life may sometimes seem like a bag of marbles where each one is different. We are all just dropped on this earth or in our city. There is no rhyme or reason as to why we're here or our relation to each other.

"Life seems to be a series of unrelated, disjointed events and experiences."1

(in photo above are: Ollie, Stephanie, Dodo, & Kris)

However, the biblical model of life is that life is more like a jigsaw puzzle. We are unique as individuals. But the pieces have a pattern and we all "fit together" in a grand plan of God's! Even though sometimes things seem random, eventually (at the latest, in Heaven), we'll discover how things make sense. Our goal now is to please God and find out what HIS big perspective is for us, and the world! The verse we used is great:

"Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

- 1 Corinthians 13:12, New Living Translation -

Pizza was enjoyed by all ... (photo below: Anja, Sören, Stephanie, and Nikola). Ok-- you don't need pizza to be a good team, but we all know how valuable it is to stop and drink coffee together, or cook a meal. Sharing ideas over food is great!

We had a 2nd event, a seminar time just for planning our Bible discussion groups, that begin next week in 2 restaurants/ pubs, Alex & Eusebia (click here for photos & menu! :-). Our discussion leaders for this semester are Kris, Marc, Hanna, Christiane, Birthe, and yours truly!

(1 Milt Hughes, "Life Perspective" in The Journey Notebook, 1995, which was published before by Lifeway as Spiritual Journey Notebook. The concept of the bag of marbles versus a jigsaw puzzle comes from his book!)