numero tres

so the brandonburg gate....

read part 1 and part 2 first, before this, if you haven't already.

i apologize for how long this is taking me to finish, there is just so much to tell and so little time to actually sit down and type it all out.

we played at the brandonburg gate with a give and take box. instead of just a box to give us money, we had a sign to tell everyone that you could take money if you want to. you should have see all the looks we got from people. it was crazy. we played to guitar and worshipped amidst all the people there and it was a completely new experience. we talked to several ladies who were asking for money and searching the trash for recyclables. there were both so grateful and couldn't understand why were doing this.

after about a little bit, nancy felt like she wanted to go to the grocery store to get food so we could eat with people in the park. so me, her, and menna all went to go get things while the other two stayed and played and sang. we ended up getting about 20 buns, some sausages, capri sun, and cakes. (side note: the have capri sun here!! it reminds me of elementary!) we went and got the other two and decided to move to alexsanderplatz.

alexsanderplatz was a such a dark place. immediately when we got there we were all overcome with tiredness. we had also packed lunch at Jesus Haus, so we decided to sit and eat. i was praying the whole time seeing if i felt led to talk to any specific person or group. at one point the was a group called Krishna came dancing through, playing really weird music. it gave me such a bad feeling and it was even crazier to see all the young kids and teen go dance with them. after resting for a bit, we started moving towards a nearby park and the base of that big thing that looks kinda like the space needle. i'm not sure what it is called, but i posted a picture of it. while on our way, we passed by same sadists, wearing all black and just all around gross. the whole time i was just praying to be a light, where there is light there can be no dark... that was something we had talked about earlier in the week.

we moved through the crowd and into the park where we met two girls and a guy. this is where the story gets a bit shaky. since i can't speak german, i have know idea what was actually said in the conversations nancy and stefan had with any of the people we talked to. the girl's name was joann. she spoke english, so i tried to talk to her a little bit. apparently, while her real name is joann, at parties, she said people call her luna. she seemed like such a wonderful girl, but you could see in her eyes she was completely empty and sad. i wanted so much to just shake her and make her realize there were good people in the world, and a God that loves her more than she could ever imagine. unfortunately, i never got a chance because one of the guys she was with was having a hard time. throughout the course of our conversation, he broke up with his girlfriend (i think), she slapped him right in front of us, nancy was going to pray for him, but was interrupted by a phone call he got that caused him to throw a temper tantrum and punch a tree. so all three of them left.

all that took place over almost an hour. it was completely dark, and we didn't really know where we should go next. we started walking and after another 30 minutes to an hour we had pretty much decided we should just leave. we were all cold and tired and somewhat discouraged. there was definitely a sense of incompleteness (i know this isn't a word, but you get the drift.). we felt like we weren't done with what we came to do, but we didn't know exactly what we came for either. we started back through alexsanderplatz, giving people some food occasionally. nancy talked to a drug addict and gave him food. i've thought about him several times and wonder if he even remembers us giving him food and a drink. we started into the train station and immediately saw two girls and a guy sitting on the floor. they all looked pretty young, so nancy asked if they wanted any food. of course, like all teenager they did! again, this situation is sketchy for me because i don't speak german. while we were talking to the three of them two more girls walked up. one of the girls that was already sitting there was holding her forearm. they also had pet rats, two of them. i assumed that the rat had scratched her because i could see some blood. when the other girls sat down, i realized what was happening. they were cutters. they intentionally cut themselves, for whatever reason... stress relief, control issues, etc. however, they didn't just cut for those reasons. they didn't think tattoos were permanent enough, so they wanted to render certain things into their skin. one girl was cutting 'i want to be perfect' into her arm, WHILE we were sitting there.

i'm sure, if you know me very well, what my reaction was to all of this. the rats and the blood was almost more than i could stand. at one point she laid down the blade, on the ground, to wipe up the blood with a rag that, judging by the amount of blood, she'd been using for quite a while, and then picked up razor off the ground and continued cutting. i just wanted to scream, "STOP!!" it was so gross! don't even get me started on the rats!

nancy spoke to them, and told them of our story. at one point we had to move because they couldn't smoke in the station. they were all very intrigued by our story and why were in berlin. we ended up praying over them. the youngest, she was 12, was actually already a christian. stefan gave them a bible and we gave each of them some money. all four girls were so blessed and touch by us, they began to cry. when we prayed, all of us prayed for the exact same thing... that they could see how beautiful they really were and for them to know that God thought that they were perfect in his eyes. after this we played a song for them. while we did this, we drew the attention of another group of guys.

they were obviously drunk, possibly high. (side note: its interesting how many people I've seen rolling joints on the streets. I dont know if I'll ever get used to it either.) nancy ended praying for one of them, and he seemed completely changed. he even decided not to go party with his friends. his friends were completely pissed about that too.

in both cases, with the girls and the guys, they were so grateful they shook our hands, which is not customary to do with people who aren't your close acquaintances. i was so blessed by all of them! because of all this happening, we ended up not getting back to the church until 2 in the morning.

we woke up the next morning and rushed off to catch the earliest train home. it took quite a while, but we were delayed so we ended up having a long time in dresden. we walked out of the station to go get some food and who did we see? two other groups who were trying to get money to come home as well. they had some wonderful bread they shared with us and we were able to bless them with money for a train ticket.

and so we came home. and we had a hot shower (my hair was so gross. at one point i leaned on the window of the train and left a grease spot), a wonderful dinner complete with ice cream, and shared stories!

i hope that this story was able to bless you in some small way. i cannot express how much my life has been changed because of this wonderful, crazy, ridiculous journey. i wouldn't change it for the world.

have a wonderful day.
more stories to come.