Sorry that it's been so long my last post! It's been incredibly busy around here, which on the surface sounds crazy, because it's currently the semester break. But, as I will explain, we've had plenty to do.
At the end of Feb. was the UniMat, which is the conference for all Campus staff involved in university ministry in Germany. I really love being with this very international group of people, all desiring to see students coming to know the Lord and grow in their faith. It's fun and encouraging, especially interacting the German interns. They're just like me, only German!
After this was the student conference, Campus Meets Berlin. This may have been one of the most significant times of this STINT year for me. It's so encouraging to see students sharing their faith, many of them for the first time. These students give up a week of their semester break to come all the way to Berlin to learn about evangelism and to try it out for themselves on the Berlin campuses. So cool. It was also my first time going sharing with a German (in fact, a student studying in Berlin!) - an incredible experience. I realized how blessed am I to be a part of this! It was also a very challenging week, trying to keep with the language. I understand much more than I ever thought I would and can even respond in simple sentences, but it takes much of my concentration and is often very exhausting. I so wish I could speak German better, but it seems to be such a slow process for me - definitely something for which I often need to rely on God. It was very sad for me to say goodbye to this group of students and staff I had become so attached to in just these few days.
Shannon and I then had the opportunity to head south to Milan, Italy for a spring break week of people from UConn, desiring to meet Italian students and gather information about preparing a way for there to eventually be a STINT team in this city. I love learning more and exploring more of Milan. It's a really cool and unique city with a charm of its own. Of course it's a major cultural shock as German and Italian cultures are so very different. But Italian students are so wonderfully friendly and it was a joy to meet them and learn more about the spiritual climate of the university campus in Milan. And sadly, like most other European cities, it's very dead. It was fun week, though and I really enjoyed getting to know the group from UConn and return to this great city for a third time. The picture above is of the group on the roof of the Duomo.
The new semester starts in April and I'm super excited to see what God has in store for us and for the movement. One thing we're hoping for right away is to do a short leadership retreat for the students who could be key in growing this movement. Casting vision and learning their ideas to reach their peers will be a major part of this retreat. It will be really exciting to take this critical next step in the ministry here.
Many blessings during this Easter season!
