Sunday, June 18, 2006

Berlin

Today Honza blog comes to you from sunny Berlin. This morning a good number of the team flew back to Aust. Well, they are now either at Frankfurt Airport, or already on their way to Ho Chi Minh City. The rest of us went to a nice German church in NollendorfPlatz, complete with wireless translation headphones for those whose grasp of the German Language is less than superior.
Later tonight I will go to die Heilsarmee in Friedenau to see my oldest german friends, Uta and Daniela, and watch Australia take on the might of Brazil...
Yesterday we were in Lutherstadt Wittenberg learning all about Martin Luther, and seeing the places he walked, spoke, and nailed things to doors. On thursday night we watched the Luther movie in Wittenberg, so we had lots of context. Luther had an amzing effect on German, European, and world history, just through standing up and saying the church had it all wrong, that they should get back to the teachings of Jesus.
On Thursday we had come from Herrnhut, where for the third time I saw Poland in the distance without actually going there. Herrnhut is, topically, the birthplace of German football. English students studying under the Moravians brought the game with them, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Perhaps in a previous blog you read how the Moravians influenced John Wesley. In Herrnhut, Count Zinzendorf provided a safe haven for the Moaravian Christians fleeing persecution in their own land. From there they started a missionary movement which touched, and influenced most of the world.
It's amazing how much of an influence Germany has on world history, both good and bad. If a revival is to come to Europe it would have to start here. And if ever a place needed to rediscover its incredible christian roots, it's this one. I feel i have a part to play, The harvest is ready, but the workers are so few...

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