part two.

so i believe i left off with the man that agreed to drive us to berlin. he couldn’t take us until after lunch time because he had some work to finish up. nancy explained that we only had five euro but he said he didn’t want our money. while we were waiting for him to take us we found a place to rest in the grass and just reflect and praise God for his provision. Menna needed to use the bathroom at one point so her and nancy found a bush to use. while menna was going she saw a piece a paper and asked nancy what it was... it was 10 euro. i’m not kidding. it was completely insane. they brought it back and we were all so excited. it was interesting because we all had the same feeling that this money was for something specific. God had a purpose for it and it wasn’t food. so we put it away and continued just resting and praying. nancy made some calls to the ymca to see if we could stay there in berlin. they unfortunately, or fortunately as we later learned, turned us down as well as one other place. stefan realized he had a contact and called him. it was actually a church called the jesus haus. the pastor wasn’t sure if we could sleep there because the church is in an office building but he was very eager to help us and try to arrange something for us. stefan knew the pastor because he ahd done some work on their website earlier in the year. the man called to take us, so we promptly met him at his business and loaded our stuff and soon we were on our way to berlin.

i just remember going through so many emotions while we were in the car. i can’t speak german (obviously) so i had NO idea what was being said and that just really frustrates me. i was hungry -- my stomach was actually hurting at one point. about 5 minutes after it started hurting the man offered us some donuts he had. it was the best donut i’ve ever had in my life! seriously. i went through a period where i felt like we were being trafficked and got a little freaked out. i was happy. it was absolutely crazy. nancy knew this was going to happen, she knew we were going to take a van. these kind of things have never happened in my life up until this point.

the man drove us all the way to the main train station in berlin. while we were in the car, the pastor at jesus haus called and said we could stay at the church and he would get us some food to eat that evening. we got to the station and checked the price of the ticket -- 15 euro. we had exactly enough. wow God, i still just can’t believe all this, even now. it was really hard to give up my euro though, i’ve never actually been completely broke without any way of getting money. this was a first for me. we bought the ticket, took a train and two busses and arrived at the jesus haus. as soon as we got there, jorg -- the pastor, and nancy went to get some food at the market. they came back with so much food. enough for dinner thursday, breakfast, lunch and dinner friday, and breakfast and lunch saturday! it was such a good meal... sandwiches, chips, chocolate, curry wurst (very interesting but good mystery dinner), veggies, and much more. over dinner we shared stories and worshipped and prayed with jorg. after jorg left around 9 we went straight to bed.

we woke up to breakfast, and we were warm and safe, and it was a wonderful feeling. there was even coffee. oooh coffee, it was lovely. after breakfast we all had a quiet time and decided to come together for worship and prayer to see where God was leading us for the day. before we started this stefan announced he had something he needed to tell us. he told us that jorg had talked to him the night before and given him an honorary contract for the work he’d done earlier in the year (to be honest, i have no idea what exactly that mean, but i know it’s important) and 300 euro. THREE HUNDRED EURO! we now had money to bless so many people with and i have to admit, my first thought was train fare!! stefan told us that he felt the money was for us to use and had no intention of using it for himself. i’m beginning to realize how hard it would be for me to give that money up if i was in his position. we prayed and felt a specific calling to the center of the city, blessing the homeless and the hungry, maybe teenagers. we decided it would be best to start at the brandonburg gate (i posted a picture earlier).

i that is where i leave you. stay tuned. get ready for some thoughts on our new lecture by Andy Bird, from Kona, HI!

God is love. God is great. be blessed.