hamburg-- live!

 God blessed in so many ways, as River Church and Jennifer came to engage college students in Hamburg with Good News! Do you recognize this gal? Yasmin on the right used to be my roomie in Sevilla-- and worked with Connexxion -- and got to visit there again the week after these events!

 Here is Vera, who leads Connexxion there, doing Soularium surveys with students during a summer festival.

 A student Marei handed out cake and tea...

 spring was in the air...

 I am with our intern Karen (middle top), intern Joanna (far left) and the 6 -member group from River Church in Oklahoma.

 The city is gorgeous and the Rathaus (town hall) quite impressive

 Vera having a fun moment at the park...

 a beach party indoors? why not!

 handing out flyers on campus for our "W.O.W" week (week of welcome)

 more campus time...

 pasta parties in 2 apartments one night...

 Hooman, Beck and Mario hanging out near the port

 Kim and her husband serve on staff with the BSU in Norman. Jennifer was the team leader and is staying to join Vera for a few weeks this summer and to learn about Connexxion.

Christopher with his Germany T-shirt on (it was European Championship in soccer), beside Beck and Chris' roommate Julian! A cool this-- Beck came 5 years ago to help with a group in Braunschweig, my first summer getting the Connexxion group off the ground here!

one exciting day

 Well, it's one of those things you long for and pray for... a baptism service with friends!

 Two of our good friends with Connexxion got baptised in our church in Braunschweig. After the worship, we celebrated with a large barbecue with friends.

 Here is Thanh, who comes originally from Asia and is studying engineering. Beside him is Lydia and her folks-- she was a student in Jena, who moved to Braunschweig to get her Masters (then her doctorate), and helping us get the Connexxion group "off the ground" when we were really new in 2007!

 Karen T. was our 1-month intern from Union Univ. where she serves on staff and is a super talented young woman! (Birthe and Anja with her)

 Sören also got baptised that day (lifted up here by friends from his chemistry and physics studies, who came just to support him that day).

His mom and family members also came to support him!

outdoors

 We get a lot of rain in northern Germany ( a LOT! ) That is why we are so excited when we get to come outdoors. Kris and my friend Warren taught us a new "sport" called Guerilla Gardening! He is from Massachusetts but is like me, calling Germany his "home."

 We had a large barbecue a few weeks ago...

 Joanna is our intern in Hamburg from California. Here she is with Kris and Stan.

 Birthe (middle) is enjoying the company of Astrid, and Carina...

 Here are Judith (who lives in the dorms where I help lead a small group), Wiebke, Thahn and Janina B....

We love meeting new people, like Saskia... beside Carina, Anja, Elli (physical therapy) and Steffi (Birthes roommate, who just finished her degree in food science).

spring retreat

 Look how cool our spring retreat was... students from several cities... here are Maria and Maria from Jena!

 We had great times of worship... seminars... and fellowship!

 It was cool to have 2 couples there... with kids... who used to be single students when we first met them with Connexxion! Here is Lydia with our staff wife, Anja (ready to have her 3rd child!)...

Yummy... bratwurst!

learning the core

 We had an amazing time with 2 staff leaders from Christian Challenge in Nebraska, Brett and Jeremy. Their combined experience was a great encouragement for our leaders and key students as we came together in May from different cities in Germany to learn the 8-hour seminar they wrote, "Immovable Core." It shares really deep theology, tracing God's hand through Genesis to Revelation!

 Then I traveled with them to Sevilla, Spain-- where they also participated in various groups of our Connexxion group there...

 It was a big challenge to get all the materials translated into German and then Spanish...

 here is our good friend Inma, translating for Jeremy!

 That Sunday was an unforgettable experience-- 2 collegiates, Sebastien and Leti, got baptised in the ocean, as part of a younger church plant. (Abraham, on our Connexxion staff, is in the middle).

It is awesome to have godly partners such as these men, who challenge us and give sacrificially of their time and finances to journey here!

Bad Taste

 We had a "bad taste" party to start off the spring semester...

 here is yours truly between 2 really sharp- looking guys...

 On our staff, Vera and Anja, did not disappoint...

 Kris on the left also works with Connexxion 2 years... and Christopher came from Hamburg to check out the fun!

God blessed us with fun, good conversations, and lots of students spilling into the apartment!

California Vision Trip

We were so blessed this March to be able to travel with a group of staff and students from Germany, to California!

 Here are 2 of my heros: Neil Walker and Max Barnett -- I had the privilege of being on staff with Christian Challenge, years ago, under Neil. He leads this fantastic Christian ministry at USC in Los Angeles and also oversees the work of college ministry throughout the state.

Max was one of our speakers at this intensive Hume Lake conference for about 100 college students during their Spring Break, where we had seminars, worship times and Bible teaching.

I participated in a panel discussion for ladies one evening. Anja and I got to teach seminars as well (hers was on time management, and mine on your calling to serve overseas).

 Here is our whole "team" at Hume Lake!

 Back in LA, we toured the city, and also got a view of many different sides of the city, including the spiritual needs in this metropolis.

 Neil and their staff shared their hearts for what God was doing on the USC campus-- we attended some of their small groups, and also got to hear author and philosopher Dallas Willard speak for their Thursday night large- group event!

 Joanna was one of our tour guides during our weekend with Seabreeze Church in Huntington Beach. Here she is with Marei, whose parents opened their home to Joanna, so she could be a summer intern in Hamburg.

We are grateful to the 2 churches and 2 campus ministries that hosted us during our 2 plus weeks in California... we took home a TON of notes and impressions, about what the Lord is doing and can do back home in Europe!

Cafe by Campus

Vera had the great idea this month, that during final exams (which lasts several weeks here), she could organize her church & student friends to offer a Cafe for a few weeks. It's in the fellowship area of the church's lower floor, which had already been used in the past to welcome college students, under the name "Cafe Quo (Vadis)."
Here we are bundled up, when I came up for a short visit!
Her Baptist church is literally right by the TU Harburg- Hamburg campus (the campus grew up around their buildings, and the red brick look is the same). Christopher was studying there, too, but also serving up snacks and tea. He's an active student in the Connexxion group.
So each day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. students come with books or laptop, and maybe bring a study partner so they can help them solve their engineering formulas, and they order coffee and baked goods!

journey to the water

In Germany it's a big deal to get baptized. Now, actually GOD made it a big deal, when He decided that this was going to a be a "drama" that re-played out what Jesus actually did for us on earth to save our sins. And how we enter into that reality, spiritually-- going down to die to our old self, being buried & rising again.

Henning is my friend who got baptized today, and Kris (rt.), was his "baptism accompany-er" (translation from German), which means that he chose a special verse for this day and read it aloud to the church while Henning waited in the water.
The floor of our stage at church opens up to reveal a larger baptismal pool.
This was some of our friends who came to celebrate with him!

"WOW" Week & Union exchange group

The week started with a "bang" so to speak as the exchange group from Union Univ. decorated my apartment in real red, white and blue along with dozens of flags and such-- here is the winning team for the "States Quiz" (Ben, one of the hosts; Mike, a new student from Minnesota we just met; David, engineering students, & Kris, far right, on our staff, who really does have a lot of trivia knowledge!).Just an overview shot of my living room... :-)
Wednesday we had pasta parties in 3 locations with over 40 total! I attended the one in the Schunter dormitory, where our host was Toni.
Bowling night was tons of fun! Afterwards several students tried their hand at mechanical "bull riding." Here I am with Mike, Alessandro (from Italy), Jan, Peter (whom we met 1 year ago with the Union group), Kris and Zach (from Union).
One of our contact table days, here at Mensa 2 (student cafeteria).
Thanks for all those who send words of encouragement during this crazy- packed week! It was all worth it!