August 18th

We are having a little Germany Trip get together on the 18th at the Kirk Ranch. It will be good food and fun fellowship. Oh and there will be pictures. Lots of pictures.

Rome in a Day

Below are the pictures from the ancient city. The first is the group in front of the Coliseum and then the rest are the coliseum and Mammertine Prison. We each yesterday on our marathon day.









Today, we saw the Vatican Museum and the rest that goes with the Holy City.










These are just a few of the many shots I took at the Vatican. It was a very good experience with a lot of history in it. The Sistine Chapel was amazing, but no pictures were allowed inside. I'll have to get you a postcard. We leave at at 3 am tonight or tomorrow, it depends on how you look at it, and should be home in the afternoon tired, but happy.

In Rome Now

We woke up this morning and it was still dark. Really dark. Like 3 AM dark. After a quick trip over to Frankfurt we had a 3 hour layover. The kids took advantage of that time and slept all over the place. Then it was on to Rome. We got to Rome about 12:30 PM and thought we would be in and out of the airport since we didn't have to go through customs, but the baggage handlers had a different idea. It took over an hour to get our bags from the whirling spinny thing.

So without a lunch we immediately went on a tour of the Ancient city. It was very cool stuff, but we were hot, tired, thirsty and by the end of the tour, HUNGRY. I'll post some awesome pics tomorrow once I get a free minute.

For dinner we went to a very Italian place that served any number of gross seafood type things for an appetizer. I know I saw little tiny octopi, but I couldn't identify the rest of God's sea creatures on my plate. Then out came a pasta with more sea stuff and while it was good it was still an adventure. Finally, out came the grilled salmon and all was well at my end of the table. The kids ate in varying degrees of like, including some who ate nothing all night.

I'll be back on with pictures and updates tomorrow and then it is off to America in the early hours.

Saturday Night

This evening we journeyed to the center of the city of Leipzig. It is gorgeous as you will see from the pictures. We first enjoyed a very authentic German meal of Schnitzel and then headed to Inner City Leipzig. The photos are random shots of the Inner City and the kids eating at the Schnitzel Culture.











Schnitzel Culture...

A Special Treat

I hope this comes out ok. Turn up your speakers. I got each of the different languages in my group to say that Jesus Christ is Lord in their native tongue. It was so powerful. I get chill bumps remembering the time with them. Here is the video. Some of the girls are hard to hear but the guys come through great.



For those of you keeping an eye on Lufthansa from home, the strike is over and our flights should not see any delays tomorrow AM. Another praise for a week of many praises.

Pictures

These first three pics are of the last worship we went to at the conference. We were a couple of minutes late so we were in the very back of the center. I took this photo trying to give you and idea of how many people there were here. It starts left and goes to the right. The thing you don't see is the 100 or so rows all the way to the front. This place is huge and there are almost 7,000 people officially registered for the conference. WOW!



Here is a group shot in the glass hall before we left the conference for the last time.

Friday night

Here is another short video clip from tonight's worship. It was a great service and we had a chance to unwrap the conference afterwards.



The kids have recovered from their jet lag and are showing signs of life. I took that opportunity to help them digest a little of the information that they have taken in over the last two days. Processing everything they see will help them better apply it to their lives and leave here different kids. We had a great talk tonight and I look forward to tomorrow and another opportunity to visit with the kids. Pray for them today and just have the Lord continue to spur on the charge that is in their hearts right now. It is neat to see. I wish my blog could really show what is going on, but it is impossible to fully experience what I am watching. Pray for the kids to be changed. God has revealed a lot to them through people from all over the world and now they are trying to figure out their place in their communities.



On another note, here is a few photos from out of my hotel window. Very impressive.

Morning Worship

Here is a sample video from worship. I hope it works for you. It gives you a glimpse of our services. Note the Africans tribal gear and dancing. Very cool. I'll post more later.



Here is a link to more pictures from the conference.

Here is a link to several live webcams at the conference.

Thursday

The traveling has finally caught up to most of our group and the are going to get a well deserved rest. They get to sleep in tomorrow and they will get more free time during the day. Hopefully they can keep going until next week.

As for pictures tonight, the memory card reader on my computer is acting up. I'll try and get some more pics on tomorrow. However, I can still give you a brief rundown of the day.

This morning started early for the weary travelers, but it was a good one. We met our family groups today and I heard plenty of good stories as a result. Family groups are small groups of kids about the same age, but from all over the world. Our kids enjoyed the time, but wished there weren't so many Americans in their groups. They had wanted to really experience a group with a bunch of internationals, and while they are still doing that they also have at least 3 other Americans in their small groups as well. The time in their family groups was a an eye opener to many of them as they meeting Christians from all over the world and discovering they face many of the same issues that we do in the States.

Worship tonight was powerful. I think the kids loved the speaker and rightly so. He had a great message about passion and being different no matter what we do. We can be a robot designer, but our contact with the Lord should make us different. It was a great message.

Tomorrow is another day and again I hope to get some pics up.

Conference

This really deserved its own post. Enjoy.





The last two pictures are at the conference. The first is a quick shot of the kids at worship. Taylor Finley is throwing gang signs, but assures me that they were for a Christian gang. The second picture is the stage at the conference. Very impressive.

Worship was amazing tonight as Rev. Aaron George from Grenada shared the Word tonight. The kids enjoyed having him speak in English and hearing a German translator. Many of them have never seen anything like that before and even though it was a little distracting they got his message and enjoyed the experience. The worship band was from Great Britain and did a great job leading and had a really good sound for those of you music types. There are 6,300 participants at this years BWA and there are representatives from 89 different countries. Heavenly is the best way to sum it up for you. Lots of people, lots of languages and just one GOD. Wow.

Words really can't describe the opening ceremony. The leaders walked the entire audience through the church's role in Germany's history starting with Martin Luther. It brought us through the ages and then the entire building went black and all you heard were the boot steps of the gestapo. It was so moving. Then came the images. The German Baptists feel deeply responsible for not stepping up and keeping Hitler out of office and for what happened to the Jews. I was crying my eyes out. Then they went to the wall and heartache of a divided nation. That too was gut wrenching. Finally, the celebrated the wall being torn down with live footage and I can bet that most of the kids had never seen video from that historic day. It was very powerful.

Then the worship band played through a song as the MC read off the list of names of all of the countries present. I was filled with great pride as they read off our country and yet felt very small in the scheme of things. I could see it on the kids faces, they were blown away at that moment. Sharon was crying. Barbara was crying, and the youth minister was sobbing like a baby. Wow.

I can't wait for tomorrow. It guarantees to be an extremely long day physically so I am going to bed now. It is 12:40 am in Germany. I'm tired.

Lots of Excitement Today

I have lots of pictures as promised. I am trying to round up all of the kids photos too because they have some really good ones. Maybe tomorrow I will have a few more. The photo above is the Berlin Train Station. German does architecture very well.



This photo is of a few of the kids goofing off in front of the Reichstag. It is the capitol of Germany.



This is a great shot of our kids in front of the Bradenburg Gate.





This is the Victory Column. The second picture is the kids at the top of the Victory Column. You can't see them, but they yelled down to us adults on the ground. I think Taylor Finley has a shot of the adults on the ground from the top of the tower. Kayla counted over 200 stairs to the top of the tower, and now you know why the adults were on the ground. haha.



This is a few of our kids in front of the Berlin Wall. It was an amazing piece of history that our kids saw today.



This is Checkpoint Charlie. The kids really enjoyed this stop and many of them have pictures with the military men in front of the checkpoint. My battery was running low by this time and I couldn't snap off as many shots as I would have liked.

All in all we made a fast and furious train ride to Berlin and spent 4 hours racing around the city so we could be back for worship. It was an unbelievable experience and even though we were literally running from stop to stop the kids never complained and always wanted more. We covered about 10 miles of Berlin, the Wall, and WWII exhibits to today. Historical is a short way to describe today. Ask your kids about it.

We're Here

Though several of us have tried, the calling cards haven't seemed to work yet. I think Julie was able to get through to her parents, but not sure how. Regardless, we are here in Leipzig. Everything went very smoothly and the strike didn't hinder us at all. The only noticeable problem was that the drink carts weren't stocked with Coca-Cola due to the strike. I can live without Coke since I already have to live without Dr. Pepper.

The plane ride was long and not many of us slept, but the rooms we are in are very nice so I imagine a good night sleep for everyone. We got registered for the conference tonight and it is a very good thing we did. Sharon and I have to remind ourselves that Germany, and most likely all of Europe, operates at a much slower pace than we do. Nobody is in a hurry as was evidenced by the BWA people. Maybe that is a good lesson for our kids to learn. Speaking of kids, we have the greatest group ever. They haven't complained once and have been super flexible to schedule changes. It helps the leaders a ton when the students cooperate because most of us, mainly me, have no idea where we are going. (Andy is West Point trained so I feel good about his navigation skills).

Tomorrow is a busy day as we attempt to head to Berlin and then start the conference. Internet is expensive here so I am not sure when I will get on. I will do my best to update frequently. I also hope to include pictures from Berlin and the Opening ceremonies tomorrow. All I know is that God is so big that He made our way very straight thus far so I can only imagine what He has in store for us next. Keep praying and I know God will do big things.

Good night all.




These pictures are at the train station in Leipzig. We had dinner there and also signed in for the conference. We ate Pizza Hut, but man it was good.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Here are a few shots of the gang as we patiently wait for our plane. Some of the students hit the restaurants while I played on the internet. We are about an hour out from our first flight, but there is no word yet on what is going to happen with the strike going on in Germany. Luckily I am traveling with a great group who is willing to roll with any punches that come along.

So far I found out that Danielle has like 9 packs of gum with her, Stacie likes to play Sudoku, Taylor Sprouse has more movies than blockbuster, James likes Dunkin Donuts, Barbara got a new camera, Andy has a sweet MacBook (I already knew that), and as I learn more I'll be happy to share.

To everyone reading this blog, a big thank you once again for all that you have done to make this trip possible. Most likely you are a parent, family member, friend, or church member to our crew and without you none of this would be possible.

Thank you!

What, me worry?

I got a call from Brad Grimes earlier today and he gave me some unsettling news. See for yourself here. Basically we may run into a few snags once we reach Germany. Normally I would be freaking out over this, but God has been so big every step of the way throughout this trip so I have no doubt he will take care of this as well. I checked on our flights and at least today they are ok, but that all could change tomorrow. I'll keep checking and will let everyone know what our back up plan is if one is needed. I think the only thing we can do is head to Germany and hope for the best. Maybe in Germany we will take a train from Frankfurt to Leipzig if plane travel is out of the question. Either way, God will work this out. I believe it. However, still pray for things to work out smoothly.

Meeting Sunday

Germany prayer meeting Sunday afternoon at 4:30. It is our last meeting before we leave, and it will be special.

Our group

This is our great group of awesomeness that is headed to Germany. Missing from this photo is Andy and Julie Sparkman, Sharon Grimes and James Jackson. I am missing from the photo, but I am the one holding the camera so I'm there just not there.

Just so you know, Taylor Finley always makes goofy faces for pictures. What a sweet guy.

Germany and Rome

This blog is for everyone who is interested in keeping up with the youth group as we are in Germany and Rome. There will be pictures and posts that when time allows, will keep you up to date.