A Trip to Germany

Original inner wall section of the Berlin Wall

We are in our 16^th year of marriage and our recent trip to Germany was the FIRST time since our honeymoon (!) in which we have spent more than two nights away on our own. I know that sounds totally pathetic, but our reality is that we have always lived far away from our families so whenever we received vacation time even prior to moving overseas it was always spent visiting family. Then came children one right after the other, moving overseas, and consequently in our situation, zero babysitters.

Therefore, you can imagine how amazing it was for Jonathan and I to travel to Germany on our own for 6 days in April! Granted it was work related. “Whatever, but still!” as Emma would say.

I am so thankful that I was able to attend this particular Leader’s Meeting because it was combined with 3 different regions, not just Western Europe. I think there were around 45 people in attendance. What a wonderful opportunity to see familiar faces from across the regions, make new friends and broaden our perspective of what God is doing around the globe. There were a decent number of wives in attendance so that was great too. The trip was especially meaningful because we had to cancel our participation in the regional conference held in November due to Jonathan’s poor health, where we would have seen a lot of these people. It was a timely encouragement for us to get away together after a particularly strenuous year.

We departed Monday and arrived mid-day in Berlin. We had the rest of the day to explore the city on our own before things officially kicked off Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, it was Easter Monday and most everything was closed. Be that as it may we made the most of it as we weathered rain, wind, sun and snow. Our colleague, Brad, joined us for a self-guided tour of the city before we got back to the hotel to crash.

Top: Berlin Wall border house. Radio Tower. Stakes showing where the Wall once stood.
Middle: Love me a Mini Coop. Inner wall remnant. Starbucks, a daily visit for us.
Bottom: View from East side of wall. Memorial. Inner wall.

Original section of the Berlin Wall

Brandenburg Gate

Reichstag

Memorial the murdered Jews of Europe, located on the former location of the Berlin Wall, where "the death strip" once divided the city.

The memorial expands over 4.7 acres

A few hundred yards away from the memorial is the former chancellery building of Adolf Hitler, where his bunker lies beneath a parking lot.

 Potsdamer Platz is the old heart of Berlin serving as a junction between the old city centre in East Berlin and what was formally the new West Berlin.

 In Berlin there is a living memory aspect of remembrance to the victims of the Holocaust. These Stolpersteine (tripping stones) are plaques on street pavements, usually outside the house's main entrance, commemorating deported Jewish residents. 

We had three days of meetings and one final day of sightseeing in Wittenberg before returning on Saturday.  Dr. Wittmer, the keynote speaker that was brought in from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, did an excellent job teaching on The Reformation and Martin Luther. The sessions were fantastic, challenging and especially helpful (for me) prior to visiting Wittenberg. Jonathan is already very well versed in his church history and the theology of Martin Luther. It took a steady hand on his leg to keep him from jumping up with comments during the sessions. :) Of course there were administrative and other leadership sessions along with country updates throughout the week. The days were long and not necessarily restful, but certainly refreshing. Jonathan was beyond thrilled to have me with him and for once at these annual meetings. Who wants to come babysit for me next year? ;)

Date night wanderings

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Damaged in WWII and left unrestored to stands as a reminder of the destruction of war.

Just on the other side of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church is the location and memorial to the victims killed in the terrorist attack at the Christmas street fair in 2016.