Erin in Berlin

What's Next?

2010-11-04T21:46:00.002-04:00

Go here...

erinkeyser.weebly.com

... to learn about my next steps in ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ.

Saying Goodbye

2010-07-28T11:56:00.003-04:00

There are no words to really describe this feeling of leaving Berlin. These two years have definitely been hard, but also wonderful. It's very difficult to leave this place that has become home to me in so many ways. And maybe I'm biased, but Berlin is probably my favorite place in the world so far and I can't imagine any other place topping it. ;)

I could really use your prayers as it is really emotionally draining to be saying goodbye to so many great people that I've known here. You can also pray for my transition back to the states.

This will probably be my last post on this blog. Thank you all for keeping up with my ramblings on various happenings during my STINT in Germany and thank you for your prayers and support. If you aren't on my email update list, let me know and I'll put you on. From there I will keep you updated on my transition to joining staff with Crusade in the states. erin.keyser@uscm.org

Liebe Gruße,

Erin

Prayer Breakfast

2010-07-16T12:03:00.002-04:00

One cool thing we did this semester was a prayer breakfast every Tuesday morning at 7 am. As early as it was, it was so fun and such a blessing to come together with a few Berlin students and talk to God together. Above is a picture of the regulars. Our last prayer breakfast was last week and next week is exam time. It's hard to believe the semester is wrapping up! And that means my internship with Campus Crusade is coming to close. It's been a wonderful two years launching movements in Berlin and I'm very excited for next step as I join full-time staff with Campus Crusade in the northeast of America. Please continue to pray for me as I close up life here in Germany. Thank you!

World Cup

2010-06-28T03:54:00.004-04:00

One of the coolest experiences to have in Germany is living here during the World Cup. Now, I actually was in Europe during the 2006 World Cup and got to experience the craze that is football in Macedonia (my first summer project). We even had an outreach where we projected the championship game on a big screen. But even that interesting experience doesn't compare to what it's like here in Berlin. During the normal year, you hardly EVER see a German flag or any kind of patriotic paraphernalia. But once the World Cup starts, it's EVERYWHERE! Every balcony, every car, every bakery. And during the games, everything shuts down (even schools!) and every German packs themselves into every bar, cafe and biergarten around, often overflowing into the streets and sidewalks, to watch the game on big flat screens or projected onto screens and sheets (depending on how fancy your venue is). The cheers, whistles, horns, chants and fireworks that happen after a goal are almost deafening in the midst of these crowds. But it's SO fun. The excitement is just huge and it really bonds people together. I've had a few people just randomly talk to me about the game on the U-bahn. Yesterday, I even saw/heard a guy singing the German national anthem in his apartment above me while I was walking down the street and a girl in her apartment on the other side of the street joined in. (It definitely helps when the weather is perfect and everyone's windows are open!). Go Deutschland!

Culture

2010-06-16T12:49:00.002-04:00

The more I travel and the longer I live in a foreign country, the more I realize I actually know very little about this phenomenon known as "culture". I remember in my several sociology and religion classes that we defined this word many times. The truth is however, that it is very difficult to define something from the inside. We are never outside of culture and the very action of defining it implies much about the "culture" this action is coming from. I just got back from Sardinia on Mon. and I'm always fascinated by Italian culture, their friendliness, hospitality and curiosity about foreigners. Their loudness is such a contrast to the German quietness, honesty and time/trust earned loyalty. And even as I've adapted to German culture, I'm more aware of my American-ness, the way I'm hypersensitive to awkwardness and my tendency to sugarcoat a negative comment. But I'm continually baffled as to the fact that every person, no matter their place of origin is SO different than any other. What a strange human race God has created!

Peacock Island and other mysteries

2010-06-10T05:11:00.002-04:00

Berlin never ceases to surprise me.

In order to bring closure to my two years here in Berlin, I have created a "Berlin Bucket List" of things I want to do/see before I move back to the states. Included on this list was a visit to Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) in the south of Berlin. It was probably one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had. Really. And there's a reason for that. Some royal family in history decided they had nothing better to do with their riches than put a bunch of peacocks on an island and turn it into a menagerie of merriment and en escape from the "common people". The island included it's very own 30 peacocks, peacock castle, museum of elusive animal exhibits (totally fake, but presented like they were real), giant concrete acorns, ladders that go to nowhere, benches slanted into the ground, costumes, spinning tops with a whip, bowling, etc... It was kind of like a mix between the Twilight Zone and Lost. Yikes.

Speaking of mysteries, we just returned from our weekend debrief trip where we talked about how our years went and how to transition well back to the states. I call this transition a mystery, because it's so strange to me how we culturally adapt and re-adapt to our surroundings. There's all sorts of havoc that can happen when people have wrong expectations as to what it's going to be like to return to their home culture after a significant time abroad. But this is why we talk about it and prepare to deal with it before it happens. I'm so thankful we get this kind of training. I can't imagine how difficult this transition would be without it!

Trucking along...

2010-05-17T11:01:00.002-04:00

Time is just flying by faster and faster. I'm amazed it's the middle of May already! Let me quick update you on the cool things God has been doing:

Fire-Abend: Our first attempt at a new style of this city-wide student meeting (every other week) went splendidly last week. The topic was the question of an absolute moral truth - heavy stuff. Amanda gave us a nice intro to the topic with various thoughts and ideas, plus a little blurb about how this topic has affected her life. We then broke into small groups to discuss. We had 11 students come. Not huge, but not small, and we praise God for who He brought and some good conversation and hang out time with some wonderful students. I'm continually amazed by their willing hearts and desire to know Jesus better and better.

Purdue May trip: Last Thurs., 10 students and 3 staff arrived in Berlin for a 3 week 'summer' project, helping us reach German students for Christ. One of them happens to be Emily, one of my teammates from last year, and it's been a joy to have her back in Berlin. For some of these students, it's their first time out of the US. I am so impressed with how they're relying on God for courage and strength to talk to students about spiritual things. Today, we went to talk to students at the FU and I was so pleased to hear about our American students' exciting conversations with German students who wanted to know more about God. The conversations I had as I went sharing with one of the Purdue students were really good. One student we talked to even said, "You've inspired me to think about this more." So great.

It's so true to remember that, after all those hard conversations with students who don't care, think I'm weird or stupid, or have strong beliefs in something else, when you have a conversation with a student who says "Thank you for asking me these questions and making me think about this" or "I've been waiting for someone to talk to me about God", it makes it ALL WORTH IT.

Knut Fail

2010-05-02T09:22:00.002-04:00

We went to the Zoologischer Garten for some "team fun" time on Fri. This Berlin zoo is one of the most famous in the world. One thing that makes it such is it's famous Eisbär (polar bear), Knut. Well, sadly somehow we missed seeing Knut. We saw three polar bears and just assumed one of them had to be Knut. It was very disappointing to hear that Knut had his own cage and we didn't actually see him at all. Woops. But the rest of the zoo is truly great and definitely worth seeing.

Leadership Dinner

2010-04-25T10:32:00.002-04:00

Another reason to love my job: student leaders. Last Fri. night, we had 10 students come to the Keltner's apartment to find out more about Campus and how they can be involved. We cooked dinner for them, Matt gave a presentation on who Campus is and what we're all about, we broke into small groups to discuss various aspects of what we're doing this semester and then came back together for a "STINT-imony" from Michele and a summery of our small group discussions. At the end, we prayed and had the students fill out a response card where they could indicate what they wanted to help with this semester. It was awesome! We had great discussions and the response cards show a high level of student interest to get involved! This is big!!! It felt to me almost like a culmination of my time here in Berlin. This is what we've been working towards for so long (student ownership and involvement). I now feel very confident that as I leave my post here in Germany, I can see (by faith of course) how God is going to continue to feed this movement and do cool things here in Berlin. It's an incredible feeling, to be a part of something like this and to get to see fruit in a very tangible way. I'm very thankful.

This is why I love my job...

2010-04-15T08:55:00.002-04:00

To be honest, it's been a bit hard to begin the semester and get back out there on campus. Initiating spiritual conversations can be exhausting and encountering the same overwhelming sense of spiritual apathy from person to person can be disheartening. This is why I'm convinced that God has given me two moments in the past couple of days that show me without a doubt that He is really working and He is pursuing students here.

On Tuesday, Amanda and I talked to a girl on the TU courtyard who, when asked about what she thinks happens after death, told us that she's honestly never thought about it before. Growing up in East Germany, she doesn't have any sort of spiritual background, just atheistic assumptions about the world. But she was so open and friendly and even though she's never thought about God before, after talking to us, she said now she probably will. I was able to share a bit of my testimony and the gospel with her and she honestly spoke of her fears of having something else control her life. But she really wants to meet up again to continue to discuss these things. I praise God for her openness and desire to seek the truth.

Then, just today, Jennie and I had a conversation with a student in a HU mensa who had a very similar background - no religion, no reason to believe there's anything other than what we can see. But she told us that through going to church with a friend and thinking about it, she decided she believes in God and wants to learn how she can know Him. She so honestly and sincerely told us how she thinks the way to get to Him is out there, but she has so many questions about all the different world religions and wonders how she can know which one is correct. We had a great conversation as Jennie shared about who Jesus is and what makes Christianity different than any other "way" out there. She's anxious to attend some of our events this year, especially Fire-Abend and the HU Bible study once she returns from a month trip in Turkey in India. I'm amazed at how God has put that desire in her to know Him personally and to seek the truth on how to do that. And then put Jennie and I in her path on this journey so we could relate to her and honestly converse with her over her doubts and questions. And of course to encourage her in her search, as we know that being a student can cause you to put so many things first before spiritual questions. I'm excited to see her again and am praying that she'll really think about these things during her trip. (Also, I was able to give her a German "More Than a Carpenter" book that discusses the person of Jesus.)

Awesome. :)

Alle Schöpfung beugt sich vor Dir, dem König

2010-04-08T05:46:00.004-04:00

Spring in Berlin is so great. The sun's out, the temperature is warm and even the people are friendlier. I bought myself a new orchid (I had been denying for the months that the one I bought in the fall was going to come back to life). It's picture to the right. I'm so determined to keep this one alive. :)

Last Thurs., I went to a German Maundy Thursday service, which was really cool, because I got to see a lot of German tradition mixed with remembering the Last Supper and Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. There's this one ritual where you take nails on a table and place them on the ground. It seems so simple, but it has quite a complex and deep meaning for the German Christians. I had a German try to explain it to me and he started to, but then realized it was too complicated to tell me in English. So I don't quite understand it, but I think it's cool anyway. I had a birthday/Easter combo this year and it was a nice, relaxing day.

The new semester finally starts this Mon. After a month of being more out of country than in country (seriously, I counted the days: 17 in Germany, 14 somewhere else in Europe), I'm very glad to be starting up some sort of routine again. I'm especially excited to see my students that I meet up with regularly. I've been praying hard for them over this semester break and I'm looking forward to see how God has been working in their lives. Please join me in praying that God would do big things this (my final!) semester in Berlin.

busy busy

2010-03-24T12:59:00.005-04:00

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!

"You haven't converted me yet..."

2010-02-12T08:35:00.002-05:00

... Tim said cheerfully as Stu and I chatted with him over lunch in the mensa (campus cafeteria). After striking up a conversation with him, we proceeded to talk about life, religion, Christianity and truth. Tim told us he grew up atheist, but is curious about Christianity and often thinks about the bigger questions of life's purpose and the existence of God. After sharing with him the gospel and what we're doing here in Berlin, he told us about his experience with friends who are Christians and his times at church and that he's listened to what they have to say, but in his own words: "you haven't converted me yet...". These kinds of conversations are actually very encouraging to me, because they show that God is really working and placing a hunger for truth and understanding in the hearts of students. :)

Mid-year

2010-02-06T06:26:00.003-05:00

The last week in January, we had our STINT mid-year conference in Nerja, Spain. It's such a great time to relax, be encouraged and refocus our hearts on minds on the real purpose of why we do what we do. Last year on our day "off", I went to Gibraltar, so this year I went to the Alhambra in Grenada. The picture above is of Jennie and me by one of the many intricate parts to this amazing palace. Unfortunately our tour guide, though very knowledgeable, wasn't very good. He was very quiet, seemed flustered and confused and his cell phone kept going off. And he kept apologizing for it being winter right now and telling us that we should come back in the summer. Anyway, the actual grounds of this city/palace were awesome (even in the winter!). The thing that was most striking to me was the smell, which seems strange, but it was so fresh, sweet and piney. I don't know how to best describe it, but it was very distinct. No wonder the richest and most powerful lived there! It was also interesting how, as the palace went from being controlled by Muslims to Christians, the architecture was changed or added on to in a very different way. I also learned that the word "grenadine" actually comes from Grenada's pomegranates of the gardens of the Alhambra. Who knew?

It's exam time right now for Berlin students. As you walk on campus, you can just feel the stress in the air. The semester ends next week and we'll soon be evaluating and planning for the next semester. Please pray that we'll be able to evaluate and plan well and really seek after what God wants for this city.

Praises

2010-01-16T10:40:00.002-05:00

Michele's arrived! We are so thankful that our teammate from Brazil is finally here in Berlin with us. Please continue to pray, though, as we still need to figure out how to get her a visa while she is here in country (probably a student visa). And pray for her adjustment to Germany and to us (as a crazy group of Americans, haha).

Also, praise God for a good week of going sharing on campus. I feel like I had several really good conversations this week, being able to share the full gospel several times with students who really wanted to listen. I am so thankful for the ways I see God working here!

Christmas and Silvester Freizeit

2010-01-02T09:19:00.005-05:00

Christmas is so lovely in Germany. I can't imagine a better place to be for it. After a candlelight service at my church on Christmas Eve, we gathered at the Kent's place in south Berlin for some Christmas dinner and gift exchange. On Christmas day, we as STINTers spent the day at my apartment with dinner and games. We also took a quick trip to the hospital to visit a German friend of ours who broke his arm falling on ice a couple days before. He needed surgery and they kept him in the hospital over Christmas (so sad) so we totally needed to bring him so leftover Christmas dinner and cookies. :)

We just returned from our student conference out in the Erzgebirge of Saxony towards the Czech Republic border in a tiny town called Pockau. This was one of my favorite things we did last year and this year could very well be the same. It's such a great experience to see German students break away from their lives as students and really focus on their relationship with God. The theme this year was "Original" and they had talks and seminars on our identity in Christ. The students are so great and so fun. It was especially great to do worship songs right into the midnight on New Year's Eve. Max, one of the German Campus staff in Leipzig, challenged the students to really follow after God, take a step of faith and do whatever it is He is calling them to do. So special. We then had a hike with torches through the forest right up into a little dilapidated castle! These are the moments when I'm like "this is my life?!". So cool.

The picture on top is of me making salad during the Silvester conference and on the bottom is the STINT team in Dresden.

December in Germany (mostly)

2009-12-22T13:32:00.006-05:00

It's been one crazy (but really great) month. Here's a quick update:

At one of our city-wide Campus meetings (Fire-Abend), we had a talk on the importance of evangelism and the simple steps students could take to start making it a lifestyle. Our speaker (a German Campus staff member who works with business leaders) told the students that if they have questions about sharing their faith, they should ask us as the STINT team. He said how we've come to do this in a different country, in a different language and do it all the time. He even said we are heroes! I was so surprised and touched to hear him say that (got a bit emotional, haha).

My homegroup at church had a big Christmas party this month. I love going to an international church for many reasons, but one of them, honestly, does have to be how many different and awesome foods I get to eat. Of course, I also love how I can feel comfortable and at home with a group of people that represent 10 different nations. But most importantly, they represent Jesus. :) We sang "Silent Night" in all the native languages we had there, which was so cool and special. It's such a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to be a part of something like this.

I also got to go to Dresden this month. Dresden was the most destroyed city in Germany from WWII so it's almost entirely rebuilt. But they rebuilt the "old city" part of it almost completely replicated. So it's absolutely beautiful, especially during Christmas time. In fact, they have the oldest Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas market) in Germany!

Believe it or not, I was also in America this month! Three of us 2nd-years went to New York for the wedding of our teammate from last year, Jon. It was just for the weekend, so it was kind of overwhelming and exhausting, but really fun and really cool to see a bunch of my teammates from last year. :)

In more random news, my heater in my room broke for the second time this year. After calling the heating people, they said they were overwhelmed with complaints with heaters breaking, because of the abnormally cold temperatures Berlin is experiencing right now. He told us just to give it a whack with a hammer - not kidding. So Katie and I picked up a hammer from the boys' apartment and did exactly that. And guess what. It worked! So I'm super thankful that I have heat in my room again. It's been below freezing for about a week now. This is definitely the coldest and snowiest I've ever seen Berlin. After four years in Syracuse, I should really be used to this...

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a good slide into the New Year! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T05:06:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, it's really hilarious what we hear from the mouths of students on campus. This past Tues., Stu and I were doing surveys on the TU. One girl we talked to, Anne, was very closed to anything really having to do with spirituality, saying that she doesn't believe Jesus ever lived and that she can't even imagine what it would be like for God to exist. She said it's just not possible for her. The very next student we talked to in the very same building, Christoph, was from the Czech Republic and new to Berlin. When asked about his desire to know God personally, he said "of course, everyone wants to know God!". How ironic we would talk to these two very different students back to back. If only they could have heard each other's thoughts and see how contradictory they were!

Yesterday, of course, was Thanksgiving. We celebrated as a team and enjoyed each other's food and company. I made an apple pie (see pic), which was really fun to make, but actually a bit disappointing for me, because what I really wanted to do was make a pecan pie. But I searched far and wide, and this country does not have corn syrup. It just doesn't. It's also funny to have off on a day when the rest of the world is going on and going to work/class just like normal. I really feel my "American-ness" on such a day!

Parties and Summits

2009-11-16T04:35:00.002-05:00

This past week was our encouragement week, when our bosses from the states come to us in Berlin and check in on us, see how we're doing and encourage us. It's good to get an outsider's perspective on how we're doing as a team and as a ministry.

I went to my language partner's birthday party on Friday and discovered quite a few things about her and about German parties in general. First of all, I didn't feel nearly cool enough to be there. It was her 21st, which of course isn't as big a deal in Europe as it is in the states, yet there were tons of people crammed into her apartment and all of them were, well, just cool. German parties also tend to start real late and therefore go into the early hours of the morning and for a while I was concerned about looking like the lame American Christian if I was the first to leave, but thankfully I had enough endurance to not be the first to leave, meaning I was out the door at 1:30 am - still was one of the first to go. But it was really fun and very enlightening to the world these students live in. So often all we see is their life on campus, but this kind of thing sheds light on things that they enjoy and look forward to. It's a much more real picture than the one you see in the mensa.

On Sat. I had a really opportunity to sit in on a Berlin Summit meeting, which is when a lot of the most important Campus staff in Germany and Europe hang out and talk about the vision and needs of Berlin. Sweet. These people are so smart, experienced and encouraging that it just makes me really excited to be here in Berlin being a part of something so much bigger than myself. Not to mention they are just really great people.

20 years

2009-10-31T07:27:00.004-04:00

Being in ministry, I think it's really easy to get caught up so much in tasks, that we miss out on what's going on around us. Lately, I've felt like there's just so much to do and I want to spend all my time getting things done. I know that's not healthy, however, I do want to spend more time relaxing and enjoying this amazing city and its surroundings. A week ago we went to the Eastside Gallery in Berlin which is a long stretch of the wall that was left standing. In the 90's they had a bunch of artists from all over the world come and paint on their own little section of the wall. Over time the paint has chipped and it was covered in graffiti. So last spring, they had the artists come back and repaint their section. So now it's a really cool display of different expressions about what the wall represents. It's especially cool that this year is the 20th anniversary of the wall coming down and the city is having all sorts of events to celebrate and remember. I'm really glad I get to experience this special anniversary. Above is a picture of me beside one painted section of the wall.

campus!

2009-10-21T04:25:00.004-04:00

As I realize that we're already in the middle of the second week of classes, I'm amazed at how quickly time is going by. We've spent much of our time campus meeting new students and passing out flyers that have our website and the date of our first city-wide student meeting called "Fire-Abend", which we had last year as well. Normally, it will have worship and a speaker and some hang-out time afterwards. This first meeting however, will be more of an information night, introducing students to Campus für Christus, what we believe, our vision, who we are and what we do. Unbelievably, it is tomorrow already! Please pray many students will come!

I've discovered many things through passing our flyers. First of all, it's not just a task; it's an art. You need to be really dynamic, constantly walking in small circles and confidently offering people your flyer. Making eye contact and giving them a smile is also key. Every time I walk by somebody else passing out flyers and they're holding their place, meekly stretching out only a part of the arm to offer the flyer as they stare at the ground, I'm really put off. If they aren't excited by what they're "selling" or have any desire to be friendly to me, why should I care and take their flyer? Thankfully, what we're "selling" (rather, offering) should be so exciting, that it shouldn't take too much to conjure up in me. However, not every moment is perfect like when you're standing in the cold and rain or when a student tells you that there are no Christians here and that you're wasting your time. Someone even came right up to Amanda and told her God was dead. She was just handing out flyers! But these are the moments that remind us of why we're here.

Also, it's really cool to be at the same university for a second year in row. I often randomly run into students I know on campus and it's so nice to see smiling faces who are actually happy to see me! It's kind of like being a new sophomore who just realizes how awesome it is to not be a freshman.

And the more I learn German, the more I realize how ridiculous English is. Sure, there are a lot of tricky things about German and it certainly has its own quirks, but English is so bizarre and it baffles me how it has made it's way to be such an international language. I'm still struggling with German, but I believe I'm improving. I even did a survey all in German on Mon. It was a bit sad, but I did it!

Overall, I'm wonderfully encouraged by what's been happening here the past week and a half. It's certainly hard, sometimes frustrating and often awkward, but wow, it is SO worth it.

Semester Anfang

2009-10-11T12:50:00.000-04:00

After four weeks of planning, praying and language tutoring, classes are finally starting this week. It's both exciting and scary to get back out there on campus. I'll be working at the TU again this year, which is great because I'll really be able to continue the relationships I already have with students. I'll be there with Amanda and Stu and we'll really be focusing on meeting many students, sharing the gospel, discipleship/Bible studies and sending students to conferences and summer projects. Please pray for strength, energy and boldness as we really get into ministry mode this week and that God will guide us to the right people to talk to. Thanks!

Visa Adventures

2009-09-29T14:12:00.002-04:00

Here's a little story for you all:

At approximately 8:20 this morning I walk onto the grounds of the visa office a little nervous, but quiet pleased to have know that I had an appointment to get my visa (memories of being there at 6:00 am in the dark and freezing cold waiting in a long line of foreigners for multiple days still haunt me) and that my appointment was not until 9:00 am. How German am I being so early? Anyway, I quickly realized I didn't exactly know where to go. I knew my waiting room number and my call number, but was unsure of the entrance. Seeing a small flock of people at a farther entrance, I attempt the first and ask the official looking lady where waiting room 20 was (every conversation mentioned is in my poor German, btw). She told me to ask another lady behind a desk inside. I ask her and (to my dismay) she tells me to go to that farther entrance. There I find this small flock of people crowding the door in no organized fashion while a German official is literally standing in the doorway holding people back. Mustering all the gusto I had, I managed to push people aside enough to make my way to the man, tell him I have an appointment and show him my letter of proof (although it wasn't perfect proof, because the date and time of my appointment had been changed through email). He muttered something, then let me in. I was quite relieved. I then found what I thought was the right waiting room. However, I soon realized the numbers that were being called in this room weren't anything like mine and I started to panic, wondering what I should do. I go to the info desks and pull a number just to talk with one of them. Finally I'm able to tell a women behind a counter that I had an appointment, but my number wasn't called. She asks me when my appointment was and I told her 9. She looks at the time and chastises me saying it is after 9. Frustrated, I said I know, I've been waiting, but my number hasn't been called. She looks me up in the system, writes down the correct room number for me, says something I didn't understand, but that should do it quickly! So I race upstairs and don't bother to go to the waiting room, but I just went straight to the correct room. Thankfully, there were two super nice ladies there who helped me anyway. However, they became a bit suspicious about my occupation. But they sent me out to wait while they worked on it. 20 minutes later, when they called me back in, everything was all set and they were just about to stick the visa in my passport! I was quite happy at that point. They gave me a little card to go pay for it downstairs in these paying machines. So of course I end up with a broken machine. Not only that, but I pushed the card in too far before I realized it was broken, and I wasn't able to get it back out. Terribly frustrated and feeling so embarrassed to have to tell my nice ladies I lost my card in the machine. So I head back upstairs and tell them what happened. One lady told me it wasn't broken (what am I supposed to say to that, umm... yes it is!). The other said no problem and quickly printed me out a new one. Again, SO thankful. So then, after actually paying for the visa, going back upstairs, getting the visa and all my papers back and was sent off with a friendly "tschussi!", I was home free with my visa.

The end.

Back in the B

2009-09-16T04:51:00.002-04:00

It's SO great to be back! I love coming back to a place/language that's at least somewhat familiar. Last year was pretty overwhelming with everything being so brand new. As I've been ordering food and going shopping all the German in my head has been flooding back to me, which is quite a relief. Moving into my new apartment (I'm sharing an apartment with Katie in Kreuzberg) has been a little chaotic, but we're slowly settling in and getting everything we need. Of course the first night we didn't have lights (German's take EVERYTHING when they move, including lights, toilet seats and the kitchen), but now we have some floor lights and are no longer living in the dark. Next steps involve installing the kitchen, setting up the living room and getting internet. Overall, things are going very smoothly so thank you for your prayers!

STINT Briefing

2009-09-01T13:29:00.005-04:00

August has been a crazy month for me with a friend's wedding in Syracuse, STINT briefing in Colorado and a team reunion in Michigan all the while trying to finish up my support raising! Praise God though, I am at 92% of what I need. However, I still need to be at 100% before I get on that plane for Germany on Sept. 13th. Please pray it will all come in on time!

I think I say this a lot, but of all the Crusade conferences I've been to, STINT briefing is my favorite. There's something just so exciting and encouraging about being with 250+ people who are going all over the world to reach college students for Christ. We get prepared and trained for what we're about to face this year as well as hear funny and encouraging stories from STINT teams in the past. The above picture is of all the STINTer's heading out to somewhere in western Europe. If you're interested in hearing about more prayer requests for Europe, you can go to PrayEurope.com and there's great info there. Another special thing I got to experience at this briefing was having dinner with Steve Douglas, the president of Campus Crusade for Christ. Very cool!

Sept. 13th is coming quickly and I'm super excited to be heading back to Berlin. My next post will most likely be after I get there. Bis dann!

Heat and Hope

2009-08-10T11:53:00.004-04:00

It amazes me that today, so far the hottest day of the summer, I've seen more walkers and runners outside than any other day since I've been home. Bizarre. Why do people torture themselves like that?

Also, the heat seems to track the oddest crowd of people into the cool, artsy coffeeshop I'm typing this from. A teen plugged his electric guitar into the wall and just started jamming for the past hour, making every I-tune's song I was listening to with my ear buds sound like a re-mix.

Well, I leave for Syracuse tomorrow and I'm still not at 100% with support. But I feel at peace and I'm just really trusting God will provide in His timing. But please continue to pray that He'll provide a few miracles so I'll be about finished when I return home after briefing. Thanks!

Getting there!

2009-08-03T14:35:00.002-04:00

Slowly but surely support is coming along. I feel like I can even see the light at the end of the tunnel! My goal is to be 100% finished in pledges by the time I head up to Syracuse for a friend's wedding. I'll probably be leaving August 11th. To be done so fast will really take a few miracles, but I want to have faith that God can do this! Please pray that this will happen. After my time in Syracuse, I fly out to Colorado where we have our STINT briefing. This was such a great conference last year and I'm so looking forward to being a part of it again. I'm especially excited to meet the new team! There are four of us returners: Katie, Amanda, Bryce and me and four new STINTers: Stu, Shannon, Jennie and Michele. Katie and Stu will be our new leaders. Thinking about the new year makes me wish I could just be in Berlin now and skip the rest of this support raising process, but obviously that's not the way it works! Again, please pray that my support will come in in big ways! Thank you!

home of the brave?

2009-07-18T13:18:00.002-04:00

So, I'm back in America and actually have been for almost three weeks now. I haven't had too much trouble adjusting back to the states (albeit a few cultural moments), but that may be just because I've had a task list long enough to keep me super busy and distracted. Number one on the list is, of course, support raising. For some reason, I think I had this false idea that if I did everything right and worked really hard as soon as I got home, the money would come in easily and quickly and I wouldn't have to worry about it come August. Well, support (like evangelism) doesn't work that way and I still have quite a bit of monthly support to raise. I can do everything "right" and still not control how much support I get. It's not up to me and what I do, but has everything to do with God and His provision. I realize I still need to be diligent, be bold and do what He's called me to do (no matter how uncomfortable), but I need to completely trust that He will work and He will provide what I need and not rely on myself. It's hard. It's humbling. It's good.

Wie bitte?

2009-06-28T07:33:00.002-04:00

Un-be-liev-able that I'm going home... TOMORROW! It's really sad to be closing down this year and saying goodbye to those who aren't coming back next year. But I'm definitely excited for what God has for us when I return in the fall. We sang a song in church this morning about going to the nations and it just reminded me of how alive I feel to be a part of this ministry and how this is really something I was made for.

I would LOVE to catch up with you while I'm home for the summer. Free feel to contact me by email: Erin.Keyser@uscm.org or facebook, since my old cell number is gone.

Student Strike

2009-06-17T08:36:00.003-04:00

I definitely had a cultural moment today as I went out into the middle of the city. I knew that today was a pretty important day for students. I've had several students and friends tell me they were going on strike today (all the universities in the city) to protest the introduction of new fees for students who are "taking too long" to complete their degree. The majority of students I have talked to about this say that it's restricting students in their course options and exploring other subjects as well as just taking away their right to free education. Well, I as I stood at Hackescher Markt, thousands upon thousands of students marched down the street, chanting and holding their protest signs. I've never seen students so passionate about something. Sign after sign said something about free education. The parade often turned political as I saw other signs that said "Capitalism is the war", "revolution" and even signs demanding anarchy. It was quite loud in both sound and color as there were people with drums, whistles, some dressed in all black or pink (what on earth?)... I was more entertained by this than the cultural festival a few weeks ago. Anyway, I feel like this experience gave me a little more insight to the state of this city. These students are the future of this city and I felt like today I got to see a glimpse of the direction things are headed. If only they could be this passionate about Jesus...

Summer Project

2009-06-16T08:54:00.002-04:00

They're here! An amazing group of 22 students and staff from the states are now here in Berlin for 5 weeks sharing their faith and developing relationships with German students. It gets me so excited when I see a bunch of students giving up their summer by deciding to support raise, go to a foreign country and share their faith in a totally different culture. What a step of faith for so many of them - I love it! This morning I did part of the morning session by sharing with them why I went on STINT, why Berlin, something I learned this year, the state of the ministry past, present and our hopes for the future. I then led a group of them to the TU and showed them around, helping them get oriented to the campus and mensa. They're still a bit tired from the trip (they just arrived yesterday), but their attitudes are fabulous. I'm so thankful to have them here for the summer sharing the gospel at twice the rate the regular team can. And I know for me, summer projects were a huge way in which God gave me a heart for Europe and taught me much about what international ministry was like. This is definitely my hope and prayer for them - that God will meet them in a big way in the next few weeks, that they'll never be the same. :)

How is it June 13th already? Seriously...

2009-06-13T05:44:00.003-04:00

This year has felt like it's gone by so fast, but I feel like these past few weeks have been the fastest of all. It's been a major time of transition as Dan, Krista and Avery have already left, the Sfura's and Jon leave tomorrow and Bryce, Amanda, Katie and I leave in just a couple short weeks. There are so many details to cover and things to wrap up while at the same time dealing with saying goodbye. Imagine spending almost all of your time with the same people for 9 months and then all of sudden, they're gone. So weird.

Anyway, I got the most precious phone call from a Christian student yesterday while I was on campus. I had texted her telling her that I was leaving to go home for the summer soon and that I would love to see her and her non-Christian friend (I had met with them a few times previously) before I left. So she calls me and hurridly asks me (and she doesn't speak English, mind you) when I was leaving and asks if we can met up next week. I love this girl. She so desires that her friend will come to know God personally and it is such an indescribable feeling when she asks me to help her. And this is my job? Seriously...

Of course, there's never a time I don't need prayer, but I feel like it's especially important right now. There's so much to do and I'm starting to feel stressed and a bit overwhelmed. Also, I need much prayer as I'm re-raising my financial support. There's a lot I need to trust God for right now and it isn't always easy, especially when you can't see how it's all going to come together. I'm clinging to this verse right now:

"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." - Luke 12:27

Why do I worry? Won't my God whose taken care of me this far continue to keep his promises to me?

Standing in the Breach

2009-05-28T03:18:00.003-04:00

So he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them.
-Psalm 106: 23

I want to care for the German students like this, standing in the breach between them and God. Praying on behalf of them and loving them enough to not let our relationship be superficial, but to continually be bold and clear about the truth of the gospel. Amanda and I cooked dinner for some of our TU students a couple of nights ago and it went so well. It was great to see them get to know each other and laugh and talk and bond over being TU girls. I am very thankful for the evening, but I recognize this was just the next step of going even further with them. Please pray our relationships with the students will continue to build and that I'll be bold and clear about why I'm here.

Debrief

2009-05-18T05:15:00.002-04:00

This past weekend we had our debrief time on the island of Rügen which is on the German Baltic coast between Denmark and Poland. We talked about thankfulness for this past year, faith for the future and the challenges of re-entry into America. It was a good time of refection, team bonding and planning out our schedules for the rest of our time here in Germany and (for us returners especially) what this summer home will look like. It's hard to believe this STINT year is almost up. The weather wasn't the best, but the town we were in (called Sellin) was very beautiful and I loved being at the beach. :)

"Your accent is so American. It's just like in the movies..."

2009-05-08T02:33:00.001-04:00

This is what a German student told me last night at Fire-Abend. Never will I cease to be amazed at what Germans have to say about my "accent". Anyway, our 2nd Fire-Abend of the semester was last night and although there were not as many students as last time, many of them stayed to hang out afterwords in an Italian restaurant across the street. It reminded me a lot of going out to eat after Cru at Syracuse and had the feeling of fun and community - cool.

But what I actually wanted to update you on was our TU outreach last Wednesday (the picture above). We had about 27 people come and some of them were people we didn't even know. The speaker had a wonderfully creative way of talking about his life, priorities and success while weaving in the importance of his relationship with God. Many people had questions during the Q&A time at the end and we were able to chat with a few of the students afterwords. I think we (as the TU team) were just excited that people came and it all went so smoothly. It was definitely an experiment since we've never done an outreach on our own before. But we have definitely learned a lot about what it takes and hopefully we have established ourselves as a student group that is active and doing things here at the TU.

Outreach Adventures

2009-05-01T08:32:00.005-04:00

The outreach we're having at the TU next week is fast approaching. So, this past Monday Amanda, Dave and I had an appointment with our speaker to meet him and discuss a little bit about what he will be talking about. He gave Dave the address of what our speaker called the "Christian Ship". Well, we joked the whole way there, wondering about and laughing about what this place could possibly be. And low and behold, the "Christian Ship" is indeed a ship. It sits right on a river by a beautiful Schloss in Orienburg (north Berlin). Our speaker (who happens to be a business man who runs a chain of bakeries in Berlin) treated us to kuchen on board. The boat is actually a museum, cafe and an auditorium-type facility to hold services/conferences etc. Um, cool!

The picture above is Dave, Amanda, me and our speaker (Karl-Dietmar) on the Christian ship!

On Wednesday, we advertised all over campus with our lovely flyers (designed by our fabulous graphic designer, Amanda). As Amanda and I were hanging flyers outside on a temporary construction wall, there was a huge gust of wind and the "wall" proceeds to push us back on a pivot. The wind was blowing so hard, one of the large concrete blockes that was supposed to be holding down the wall was definitely being moved across the walkway. There were some pallets standing up against this wall that kind of fell on me and scratched my leg. Thankfully the wall stopped moving and Amanda and I (and some students who also got caught in the fray) got out of the way. I wish I could explain this incident better, but it's just one of those things that's unexplainable. Although it was scary in the moment, we definitely had a good laugh about it.

Anyway, our outreach talk is titled "Was ist Erfolg?" (What is Success?). It will be about what it means to have a successful life in your career, relationships and (most importantly) in your spiritual life. Please pray many students will come. Thanks!

One More Year!

2009-04-26T10:34:00.002-04:00

I've already mentioned this to some of you, but I wanted to make it official and let you all know that I have decided to STINT here in Germany for one more year. I love being a part of what God is doing here in Europe and especially this fledgling movement in Berlin. I will be coming home on June 29th and will return to Germany in mid-September. If you're on my mailing list, you will be receiving a support letter from me very soon. If not, you can go to give.ccci.org/give/610377 to set up giving and then please let me know your address so I can send you my newslettter. Obviously your financial giving is a crucial part in what is happening here in Berlin. I couldn't be here without you. I can't thank you all enough for your prayers and support. My desire is definitely to be able to see many of you when I'm home this summer, so I'll be hosting an "open house" to share stories and show pictures etc. More details to come later! I hope you share in my excitement to be returning to this city in the fall to continue God's work!

Anfangs Party and Fire-Abend

2009-04-24T04:09:00.002-04:00

Last week we had our Semester Anfangs Party, kicking off the semester with a casual party at our apartments. It was a good atmosphere for conversations and relationship building. The students seemed to have a great time and the ones I knew kept thanking me for inviting them.

Last night was our first Fire-Abend of the semester. We'll be having this meeting every other week this semester instead of just once a month in order to build some momentum. Also, instead of having the meeting at our apartments, we now have a room in a different building nearby (kind of looks like a classroom). Overall, it was just a more polished and prepared atmosphere, but still fun, welcoming and casual. It is so awesome to see how the group is slowly starting to solidfy into a real movement. Two students even came last night, just because they found our website online! Please pray for the momentum of this meeting, that more students will come and invite their friends and that we will be able to plan it in a way that meets the needs of the students.

Not Always Rainbows and Butterflys

2009-04-18T16:28:00.002-04:00

We just finished up with the first week of classes of this new semester. And honestly, it's been a good, but tough week. At the TU, we are planning a outreach in the beginning of May so we're in the midst of figuring out details for that (which has been bit stressful) and this past Thursday we passed out flyers that had our website and schedule of events for the semester. This has never been one of my favorite things to do, but what made it worse that day was a student who took the flyer, looked at it, came back to me and told me it was an insult to have a group like ours at the university. As I slowly processed the German he turned around and walked away. I guess I'll never know exactly what he meant or if he even understood what our group or Christianity is all about, but I know it didn't give me a good feeling.

Thankfully happenings like this are the exception and don't define what is happening here in Berlin. In fact, last night we had a big party in our apartments to kick off the semster. Many students came and I was able to have good conversations with some of my friends I had met last semester. Very cool. Also, the amazingly beautiful weather makes all the difference in the world when we go sharing on campus. Students lay about everywhere in the TU courtyard and they're more open, friendly and willing to talk. We've already had some good conversations this week.

Please pray that God will really open up students' hearts this semester. I'm realizing more and more how in our own efforts, we can do absolutely nothing, but with God, anything is possible. :)

Springtime in Berlin

2009-04-09T02:55:00.003-04:00

I've been absolutely amazed by the change in the city in the past week. It seems the newly found sun and warm temps bring the people out of the holes they've been hiding in all winter. There are people everywhere! And everyone seems to be in a good mood (that's saying a lot for Berlin!). This is definitely the best way to start the new semester. This week is our planning days, spending all day figuring out strategy, outreaches and making goals for the next semester that starts next week. Please pray for our first week of classes, that the team will be motivated and energized to get back out there on campus and that God will be already working in the hearts of students we meet and that we already know.

Also, thank you all so much for all the birthday wishes - all the cards, emails and messages were very sweet of you.

Have a very happy Easter!

Spring Break in Milan

2009-03-26T07:31:00.004-04:00

Some of you may remember my trip to Milan, Italy in the summer of 2007. I was there as part of the first summer project there, pioneering a way to start up a campus movement for the students of Milan. For the past few days I returned to Milan to help out with a spring break trip of 7 Dartmouth students to continue the exploration of Milan and bring the gospel to the very friendly Italian students. It was a great experience for me to be back in the city and be reminded of the huge need there. I was also really stretched from my comfort zone as Italian culture is very different from both American and German culture. It was a joy to meet and minister to these students, even if only for a short time.

I've met many American students in the past 3 weeks and I've been extremely encouraged by how they have all taken steps of faith to go and bring Jesus to people who have never really heard or don't really understand. I'm reminded of Romans 10: 14-15,

"How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" "

Whew...

2009-03-15T10:19:00.004-04:00

Wow! So far, this month has been quite the ride. First of all, Campus Meets Berlin went really well. One day last week Amanda and I went to TU to go sharing and we saw them there and I was just so encouraged to see German students sharing their faith on my campus - awesome!!! At the last evening session of CMB, the students shared a little of what God taught them that week. I was amazed as I heard students say how their hearts have grown for evangelism and how they wanted to take what they learned this week back to their universities and also share their faith with their friends. It doesn't get much cooler than that. Praise God!

Part way through CMB, five students and two staff arrived from Illinois catalytic Crusade back in the states. The picture is of Andy, me and their team. This great group of people chose to invest their Spring Break in eternity and come to Berlin to reach German students as well as gain a vision for international university ministry. Andy and I lead them this past week in navigating the city, culture/evangelism training and taking them sharing on the campuses. I had a blast getting to know them and was so encouraged by their fresh perspective, willing hearts and boldness. I saw God do a lot in their lives this week and it was definitely sad to say goodbye. This week we have about 35 people from IU, Bradely and Purdue doing the same thing over their Spring Break. How exciting to have so many people reaching out to the students of Berlin this week - please pray for God to do big things.

Kreuzbaby!

2009-02-27T11:19:00.002-05:00

At 11:59 pm last night, Krista had her baby! Her name is Avery Elizabeth and she weighed 7 lb. 13 oz. I just got back from visiting them in the hospital and she is so precious! They're all doing well and everyone is excited to have this new addition to our team!

Freiburg

2009-02-15T10:35:00.005-05:00

A bunch of us just returned from a short visions trip in Freiburg (southwest Germany). It's a really nice little city in the mountains and it happened to be covered in snow while we were there making it extra pretty. It also happens to be the home of one of the biggest student movements in Europe. The International Campus Staff in Freiburg were kind enough to let us stay with them. We got to experience the University of Freiburg's weekly meeting (also called "Fire-Abend") - it was their last one of the semester. It was really encouraging to see so many students not only attending the meeting, but leading it as well. They were so friendly and we had a good time chatting with them and seeing their passion for their movement and for their university - so cool. Talking to the ICS girls was also really helpful, just to learn about what has worked for them and what hasn't. The biggest encouragment was imagining that some day Berlin will have a movement of students as great as Freiburg's. Just keep praying! :) It was also really awesome just to explore and enjoy the city. I think it was a great ending to the semester.

Speaking of the end of the semester, I have some special prayer requests for this "break" between semesters:

- I will be doing a lot of traveling in the next two months for various reasons and I would love prayer for smooth and safe traveling.

- Krista's due date is Feb. 25th so this baby is ready to come any day now! Please pray for her and Dan as they wait for the big day and for a good delivery.

- Campus Meets Berlin begins in early March. Pray many students all over Germany will register to come.

- Also, Andy and I are leading the ISU spring break trip in the beginning of March. They'll be sharing their faith on the Berlin campuses and seeing what international college ministry looks like. Please pray it would be an awesome trip for the students and that they may even obtain a heart for coming on Summer Project or STINT in the future.

- Pray for wisdom and direction as we plan for the next semester (starts in April).

A Few Observations

2009-02-04T17:00:00.002-05:00

I just returned from seeing my first movie in the theaters since living in Berlin and there a couple things I have noted:

1) I have never been one to watch a whole lot of TV, movies and be really into pop culture, but since living here, I realized tonight that I have been rather isolated from mainstream media. It was actually weird for me to watch the previews for coming movies and see amazing special effects as well as the trailer storylines that just seemed really bizarre to me. What have I missed since being in America? I guess a lot. Apparently the movie world evolves at a fast rate.

2) The movie we saw tonight was Valkyrie (which is about the closest assignation attempt of Hitler) and it was rather striking. First of all, it's a good movie that (even though you already know the ending) makes you desperately want the plan to work and your heart drops during the last third of it. Second of all, it had a special meaning for me to watch it here in Berlin where most of the movie takes place. Of course it was cool to recognize buildings, but it was just realizing the incredible history of this place and these people that was really moving for me. These things happened here, right here, where I live and work everyday! I've definitely been inspired to relearn the history of Berlin. There have been many brave and honorable people who sacrificed everything to do the right thing in this city and we need to remember them.

I don't know if it's out of theaters in America yet, but if you haven't seen Valkyrie, see it!

By the way, I love your accent...

2009-01-31T07:45:00.003-05:00

University students (I think) are seriously some of the coolest and most interesting people you can meet, no matter where in the world you are. They all have their own stories from their past, most are in super-smart thinking mode, and they live more in the moment more than anyone other people group I know. Dave and I met a student yesterday from Spain and he was quite the character. Spaniards of course are quite different than the average German, but this one was to the extreme. I seriously don't know if I've met a happier person in all my life. As we approached him in the TU cafeteria, he had the biggest brightest eyes and a huge smile. He invited us to sit down and we chatted for quite a while. As he talked about his thoughts on the differences between Spanish, German and Americans cultures as well as his thoughts on spiritual things, out of nowhere, he pipes up and says to me, "By the way, I love your accent". I could hardly control my laughter.

The TU outreach we had on Thursday night went really well. About 80 people attended and we obtained a few contacts of students who are interested in learning more about the TU Christian groups or starting a discussion group about faith and science - really cool. Please pray for the students who heard the talk and that we'll have wisdom on figuring out what to do with this potential discussion group. Thanks!

Back from Spain

2009-01-26T09:15:00.004-05:00

Mid-year in Nerja, Spain was sooo great! It was wonderful atmosphere to relax and get recharged for coming back to campus ministry. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my team and other STINTers from different locations and hearing their encouraging stories about how God is working in their cities. On our free day, I got to take a day trip to Gibralter. It was probably one of the most bizarre places I've ever been, but it was a really cool trip. We explored the Rock of Gilbrater's caves and tunnels and I even had a monkey (well, actually an ape) jump on my head. Crazy!

But anyway, we're back in Berlin now and ready to hit our universites strong until the end of the semester in February. Please pray for an outreach we're doing at the TU this Thursday, that many students will come and that they'll have interest in learning more about God and spiritual things.

about halfway through - really?

2009-01-13T13:34:00.003-05:00

It's been nice to be back on campus since Christmas break and get back into the lives of students. I've been amazed as I met several students last week who are either interested in Campus or in meeting up again to talk about spiritual things. I guess I shouldn't be, but it's easy to start expecting little when that's what we often experience. But God's working and guiding and it encourages me to trust for even bigger things! Matt spoke at Fire-Abend last week and for the first time, we had two students involved in the meeting. One spoke about how the Silvester Conference went and the other translated for Matt - so that was very exciting. This week, my campus team and I are doing some planning for an outreach we're having at the TU at the end of Januray. A Christian professor from a different university will be speaking on why you can believe when it seems like science explains everything - perfect for our Technical University! Please pray that students will notice the flyers and come. Please also pray for Kurz Film & Keks this Thurs., that many students will come.

Time is flying by and I'll already be leaving for Spain this Saturday for our mid-year conference. All the STINTers in Europe, North Africa, Middle-east and Russia come here for a time of encouragement and refreshment. For the past five months I've heard nothing but good things about it from our second year STINTers on the team, so needless to say, I'm very excited. :)

alles Deutsch!

2009-01-05T10:18:00.003-05:00

Classes resumed today so we're back on campus. For the first time, I had a conversation that was purely in German - for a whole hour! I was in the mensa and asked to sit down with a girl sitting alone. At first I asked her if she spoke English and when she said no, I was ready to throw in the towel for this conversation, but she was curious and very patient with me and we fought through what ended up being a really great conversation. For my poor German skills, this is a big deal and I felt it was worthy of recording here. :)

Silvester

2009-01-02T08:11:00.002-05:00

We just got back to Berlin from Limbach for our Silvester Conference. And it was such a blast! There were about 42 students from the north/east of Germany including our one student from Berlin. It was so great to meet the students - they are so friendly, so much fun and so in love with God! I was so encouraged to see so many German students worshiping, growing in their faith and deepening their relationships with one another. Each university that was represented at the conference was given a chance to talk a little about the ministry on their campus and present a mascot symbolizing their movement. Our student held a tiny spider plant and explained how the Berlin ministry is like this plant, because it's very small, but it's alive and growing. And like spider plants, it will eventually reproduce itself so that new little buds can be planted on its own. I couldn't think of a better way to explain it. :)

We celebrated Silvester (New Year's) with games, a hilarious talent show, worship, reflection, walking through forest and fields with torches, and a dance party - awesome. I feel like our vision for Berlin was refreshed with real examples of thriving movements that are happening in other places in Germany.

In other news, today is probably the snowest day in Berlin this season, but sadly that only means about half an inch of snow on the ground. But as I went to Bauhaus this morning (equilivant to a Home Depot) I saw person after person buying sledes. And out on the streets, people were dragging their sledes along. And I don't mean those plastic disks that just barely might work on this amount of snow, but I mean those big wodden sledes that you didn't know actually existed, but only see in Christmas cards and decorations. Yes, people were buying them. There aren't even any hills in Berlin. What on earth?

Fröhliche Weihnachten!

2008-12-21T09:14:00.005-05:00

Here's a picture of the team by the Brandenburg Gate.

We had our Christmas cookie party outreach on Thurs. It was a lot of fun and we made a TON of cookies. Apparently decorating cookies is a very relaxing and therapeutic activity - who knew.

Classes are now over for Christmas break and as a team we're getting ready to enjoy a few days off, have a lovely Christmas together and then head off Limbach for our student conference (similar to a Crusade Christmas/winter conference in the states). It's called Silverster Conference and it's for all students in north and east Germany. We have one student from our ministry here in Berlin coming (which is super exciting!) and she's bringing three friends! I think these next couple of weeks will be a good time to rest, reflect on what God has done and get energized about heading back to campus come January.

Thank you so much for your prayers. Have a very merry Christmas!

Christmas in Berlin

2008-12-12T11:20:00.003-05:00

So if any country knows how to do Christmas right, it's Germany. It's pretty much everything you would picture Germany to be like during Christmas: Christmas trees in every room (REAL ones), lights everywhere, handmade nutcrackers, beautiful ornaments, gorgeous Christmas cards, all kinds of chocolate and candy, Christmas kuchen and other amazing foods at the Christmas markets. It's really just incredible. My roommates and I bought a little Christmas tree for our apartment and it's such a pretty little tree - definitely makes it feel like Christmas. The weird thing is though, that this 3 foot tree comes in a hefty pot - yeah, it's still growing. Katie and Bryce individually carried it all the way from the shop to our apartment (probably a bit less than a mile), which was hilarious to see. Katie described it as carrying a very difficult child that keep pulling at her hair.

We have had many student events in the past few weeks and it's really cool to see all the friends we're making. Our last event before Christmas break is a cookie decorating party. This was the most successful party for the team last year and we're definitely looking forward to it this year.

Fish and Pipes

2008-12-03T16:27:00.003-05:00

I've never personally owned fish before and after some recent crazy events, I'm not sure that I will. Emily got four of them a couple of months ago and diligently and lovingly took care of them better than some people take care of their children. YET about 3 weeks ago, we came home one night to a dead fish on the floor! It obviously had jumped out from the lidless tank.

Fish suicide - unbelievable.

Even funnier is that we named the fish after the guys on our team: Dave, Bryce, Andy and Jon (and now, Dan, the algae eater). It was Fish Jon who jumped. Emily got a replacement and (since he was much smaller) we promptly named him Little Jon. And unfortunatley, that's not the end of it. Today we came home to Fish Bryce dry and dead on the floor. What in the world?! It's an epidemic. Who knew fish could be so depressed? Emily just now covered the tank with aluminum foil. Oi...

In other bizarre news that only happens on STINT, we are still having apartment troubles. Our apartments are great - they really are - but different issues keep rising. Only one of our showers works at the moment, because the other's hot water heater broke and the tub is waiting to be replaced. It has been this way for about a month now. Also, the kitchen sink's pipes got blocked for a bit, which also affects our washing machine. Basically bad smelling water from the washer flooded onto our kitchen floor. And this is after discovering a large area of mold growing on Amanda and Katie's bedroom wall. We think this is probably from a pipe leak in the wall. And because this is Germany, there are several steps it takes to get things done. We've been laughing it off, but oh how we would love to have these things taken care of.

:)

Thanksgiving Party

2008-11-30T10:16:00.002-05:00

So the Thanksgiving Party yesterday was just so fabulous that I had to let you all know right away. Including the STINT team, there was about 50 people there! That's about 35 students! And it was really a blast. I think the German students really enjoyed it - even the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, which they thought was so bizarre. But many of them brought store-bought or homemade German desserts so it was a wonderful blend of German and American food. And it was just really awesome to have the friends I have made so far meet each other and also meet other students from other universities. It was really special and definitely evidence that God is doing a lot this year in Berlin. But I know I'm not just speaking for myself when I say that we're all running on very little sleep and are physically and relationally exhausted from the party (think of 7 solid hours of conversing and being social - enough to make the biggest extrovert tired). Not to mention all the setting up, cooking and cleaning up that it took to accomplish the party. So please pray just for some good rest for us this week. Also, our second Fire-Abend is on Thursday - please pray it will be just as successful (if not more) as last month's. Danke sehr!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T08:13:00.002-05:00

While the rest of Berlin carried on with their lives, us American celebrated a very traditional American Thanksgiving. Luckily we had some visitors bring us very American necessities, like cranberry sauce, canned pumpkin, corn syrup, cream of mushroom soup and other things from an American military base here in Germany. So we cooked up a storm yesterday morning and then carried our wrapped dishes on the U-bahn (quite the sight to see) to go eat at the Sfura's. We ate and ate and ate, played with the kids, watched movies - it was nice.

Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving party for students. We're expecting a lot of people - around 40 to 50 including us, which is super exciting. And once again, there will be much cooking (and eating) happening. :)

First Snowfall

2008-11-21T10:21:00.002-05:00

It's funny how the snow today made me feel more at home here. I guess four years of Syracuse weather will do that to you. But it does really bother me that it is currently 4:25 pm and it's pitch black outside...

Getting Cultural

2008-11-15T05:33:00.004-05:00

So, it's been a pretty busy month so far. Our first Fire-Abend was really awesome - 15 students came! We definitely have high hopes for the next one. We had Cultural Training in the beginning of this week, which was certainly a learning experience for all of us. We talked about the difference in American values vs. German values and the differences in how we converse. It certainly stirred up a lot in us, but I think we can take what we learned and really use it practically as we develop relationships with the German students. We also had our second Kurz Film and Keks this past Thurs. We had 8 students show up and the topic was 'exclusivity'. The cool thing about these discussion times is that students will hang out and talk with us after the event is over and stay pretty late.

I'm starting to develope some good friendships with a few TU girls, which is really exciting. As a TU team, we're trying to decide if we could start a TU Bible study or some sort of 'Christianity Explored' sort of gathering. Please pray that we'll have wisdom to figure out the best thing to do and also that we'll meet more interested students and also continue to grow the friendships that have already started.

S-Club

2008-11-04T11:27:00.003-05:00

Our first life topics discussion (aka Kurz Film & Keks) was last Thursday and was definitely a success. We had 7 students come out and had a really good discussion about "justice". I was able to meet up with a girl from the TU who came to K&K which was really cool. I have really loved being able to meet up with interested students one-on-one. I've had a few opportunities to really share with a few girls, which is just awesome.

On a random note, I met 4 people from PA on Sunday. I met the pastor of the church I'm going to start going to (Berlin International Church) and he's from York, PA. In fact, the mother church that planted BIC is in York. Then a girl sitting in front of me was also from York. And that day, the mother church's pastor and his wife were visiting so I met them also. Pretty cool.

Slightly funny cultural experience moment: Emily, Bryce and I went to a military music festival, which was pretty awesome, because it's about as close to marching bands Europe gets. So we get there and after only a moment's hesitation end up buying scalped tickets. Ha! And then on the way in, they were checking our bags. So the woman checking my bag pulls out my Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer and asks "Was ist das?" in absolute bewilderment. I swallowed down a laugh as I quickly racked my brain for what "sanitizer" could possibly be in German and only ended up saying "Hand?" It was pretty priceless.

This this week is our first "Fire-Abend", which right now is our monthly meeting which has a similar goal of Cru's weekly meetings back in the states. Please pray lots of students will come! Thanks!

Ich bin ein Berliner...

2008-10-25T13:45:00.001-04:00

... officially!

In the words of my teammate, Katie: "Germans are fast and efficient. Expect for when they're not. And Germans never go on strike. Expect for when they do." So basically, in order to get a visa, we have to register with the city. In order to register with the city, we need to have proof that we live here. So it took us a while obtain our proof and then we found out that the people who do registration were on strike. To make a long story short, we got up at 5:15 am yesterday in order to get in line by 6:30, because by the time these places open (8:00 am), there's a line of 100 people waiting to get something done with the city. So being there at 6:30 am, in the dark and freezing cold, paid off. We're official.

We had our first party last night - kind of like a 'welcome back' party for students. We had 25 or 30 students there which is quite successful. We met a lot of students, students met students and we had a lot of fun. The thing about German parties however, is that parties generally go well into the night/morning. Even more so than parties in American colleges - seriously. So we finished up around 2:30 am, and the last students to leave weren't even tired. A few even went to another party after ours. But since we had been up since 5:15 that same morning, you can imagine we were a bit tired.

Our time on campus now consists of meeting students and doing short spiritual surveys with them. I've had a few opportunities to make appointments with students one-on-one which has been really great. It's slightly overwhelming to be meeting so many people, but I'm really excited to get to know some of them better.

Tschussiluss!

First Week of Classes

2008-10-19T08:10:00.002-04:00

It's been quite the week. We did surveys at all the campuses to find students who might be interested in God and/or Campus für Christus. Certainly A LOT of rejection in many ways, but I know I've learned a bit about what ministry to Berlin students is going to look like. And we did over 1,000 surveys in total! That's 1,000 students who at least briefly thought about God, spiritual things and what that means in their lives. That's pretty cool. It was also cool to see all my team members step out in faith, especially the ones who don't know much German. God did a lot this week and I'm really thankful. We're all really excited for the students who marked some sort of interest and are replying to our emails to meet up and talk. This coming week will hopefully be a lot of followup, but it will also just be sharing our faith with students. We're having a big "welcome back" kind of party on Friday. It should be a good, casual atmosphere to get to know students better and although I'm unsure of what it's going to be like, I'm pretty excited about it.

One Month/Meet the Entourage

2008-10-11T15:11:00.004-04:00

And we're definitely on our way! We spent this past week planning and preparing for the first week of classes and things are definitely coming together. It's going to be a very busy week of surveying, meeting and talking to students. These first few weeks are the most important so we'll be on the campuses most of the day. Please pray for this coming week.

Meet the Entourage:

I figured you should know some of the people who I may talk about or you may see in pictures who are not on the STINT team so here they are:

Elaine: Elaine is from London and studies at Cambridge. She's studying German and French and is on her year abroad here in Berlin. She's not taking classes, but needs to be involved in something that requires her to speak German. So what better way to spend your year speaking German than to do German ministry! So Elaine is basically part of our team and we definitely love her.

Monte and Anne Keltner: Monte and Anne are on staff with Family Life (a ministry of CCC). Monte was actually in my language class with me. They are great and very hospitable to us.

Kevin and Lisa: Kevin and Lisa are from New Zealand and are on staff with Athletes In Action (another ministry of CCC).

Ben and Jessi: Also with AIA, Ben and Jessi are from Washington state.

Leah: Another AIA staff member. Leah plays basketball with a women's group here, but she can't actually play in their competetive games until she has her visa. Unfortually right now, a few divisions of city registry and the US Embassy are on strike now and it's taking a while to get done. So please say a prayer for Leah that she'll be able to get that soon.

There will probably be some more, but I'll save them for a later post.

TU!

2008-10-07T11:17:00.002-04:00

There are three major universities in Berlin: Humbolt, Frei and Technische. As a STINT team, we have split into three smaller campus teams. That way we will really get to know one campus, the way things work, what the students are like, etc. I was assigned to Technishe along with my teammates, Dave and Amanda. Go TU! This campus has students that study science, engineering, etc. anything technical of course. So you can start praying for this university. :) We also have several contacts of students who were talked to by both summer projects this past summer. Please pray that we'll be able to get a hold of them and that they'll be interested in meeting with us and getting involved in Campus fur Christus.

Pictures!

2008-10-04T13:30:00.012-04:00

I thought I'd post some pictures for those of you without facebook. The group pic is my class from language school. They were really sweet and I'm going to miss them. Below that is the TV Tower and then the Reichstag. Then it's the ladies out for Tai and last is the canal right down our street. They have a massive Turkish market by there every Friday.

Und das ist das.

2008-10-01T15:56:00.003-04:00

This week has been super busy, having language school and then meetings. We're all rather tired and most of us are ready for language school to be over. Our last day is tomorrow and I'm actually kind of sad about it. It has been kind of intense and no graduate enjoys having homework and studying again, but I'm going to miss my class. They were a lot of fun and we really bonded over the past few weeks. Plus, it was also such a great opportunity to really remember and improve my German in an environment designed for that. And now I'm not going to have that. But I really want to commit to purposefully learning German after it's over so as to not be complacent with where I am (which really isn't that good). We've also been helping the Sfura's move in this week. Yesterday, we helped clean the apartment and tomorrow after school, we're moving them in. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm so excited they'll finally have a place of their own. Oh, and the Trepod's just signed a lease for an apartment today, too! So, slowly, but surely, things are coming together. I think we're all ready for all the details to come together and to get some rest so we can really start on the campuses strong.

This is where I live.

2008-09-27T15:48:00.002-04:00

So this week has absolutely flown by. After language schools in the morning, we've visited the universities and had lunch with the students. It was really great to finally be on campus. It's kind of intimidating, like being a freshman all over again, except this time, not fully understanding the language. We also had a staff meeting for all Crusade staff in Berlin for all ministries. It was really cool to how God is working in Berlin. This week we also got a chance to go to the Wansee which is a very pretty lake and we walked around and took pictures. Today some of us girls went to Leipzig for the day. It's such a cute, super German city. We got to climb the tower of the church where J.S. Bach conducted and directed. Really cool. The apartment is slowly coming together. There are still quite a few details to take care of, but it's starting to feel more like home. Tomorrow, I'm going to try a German speaking church that some of the return STINTers go to. This coming week is our last week in language school. And in the afternoons, we will be doing some planning/training for the semester. Please pray that God will really guide us and we contintue to move forward. Please also pray for our STINT couples, Dan and Krista, and Matt and Leslie. Dan and Krista still don't officially have a place to live yet, but they've applied for an apartment nearby. And Matt and Leslie are trying to get their new place set up so they're family (they have 3 kids) can finally move it. It's just a really slow process getting their place painted and a kitchen installed. Thanks so much!

A week in...

2008-09-21T16:29:00.002-04:00

It's only been a bit over a week and yet it feels like I've been here for so long! The apartments are 10 times better now that we have crucial things like lights. We're still in the process of setting things up though. The boys still don't have a working stove or washing machine and our washing machine doesn't want to work either. Oh the joys of living in a foreign country. ;) But we're all adjusting, exploring our neighborhood and practicing our German. Unfortunately there's some sort of bad cold traveling among my team and I think I caught it today. It's pretty nasty so please pray I get rid of it soon. We (as the new STINTers) are now looking for a home church. There are more choices than I thought there would be. The biggest decision to make is if I want an English or German speaking church. I still don't know. Then I spend most of the day painting the Sfura's new apartment. After language school tomorrow, we're going on a campus for the first time! Very exciting.

I'm here!

2008-09-17T14:33:00.002-04:00

Hallo!

So, finally I'm here in Berlin! It's really crazy to be here after a long summer of anticipating this moment, but so great for our whole team to be together for the first time. But it's been so crazy since being here. We've had so much to do and really jumped right into it. Every morning we have language school. It's rather intense and the first day, after our placement test, I was put in a middle level class and I really struggled. It's been such a long time and even though I can know some grammer, I'm really slow at speaking and listening. I dropped to a lower level class and it's going much better. In the afternoons, we either meet with our team or take a trip to Ikea to furnish our apartments. I'm pretty exhasted, but doing well conisdering. As we're getting more setteled, I'm feeling more comfortable at home here. In the coming days, we'll be doing more team building and then start planning for when the semester starts - very exciting. Thank you all for your prayers. I know I would not be doing as well as I am without them.

Ta-Da!

2008-08-28T20:42:00.000-04:00

After many years of fighting it, I have finally started a blog. :) This is to keep family, friends and supporters updated on how things are going while I STINT in Germany. I leave in two weeks (Sept. 12th to be exact) and I'm virtually finished raising my financial support - praise God! Last week I returned from Colorado where we had our briefing which was a really amazing experience and I got to meet most of my team for the first time. Many STINTers left straight from Denver to go to their assignment. I'm really grateful that I could come home for a few weeks before leaving. Not that I've been home much in the past week. I left for Syracuse almost as soon as I got back to PA to see some friends once more. It was definitely strange being back on campus and knowing I'm not a student, but I had a really good time. And then, just a day and a half after I drove back home, I flew to Cleveland (where I type this now). Maybe it's because I can't seem to stop traveling, but time is really flying by and I'll be in Berlin before I know it. So exciting! After a long summer of raising support it's easy to wonder if the time would ever come, but here it is! Only two more weeks!