What's Next?

Go here...

erinkeyser.weebly.com

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

Saying Goodbye

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

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

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

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

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...

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.