Glimpses of God in Germany

Anette, Anna Siri, and I in Berlin

      Each Easter I think about my friend Anette who was one of my dear friends from my year in the Up With People program.  In 1996, during our Spring Break, Anette invited me to visit her family in northeastern Germany.  Easter just happened to fall during that time!  Together, Anette and I searched for our Easter baskets from her parents in their backyard.  Great memories!  AMAZING chocolate!!!!  Another highlight was walking along the Black Sea together.  Then in August of 2005, after a mission trip to Ukraine, my friend Angie and I got to spend a week with Anette and her parents and Anette's sweet little girl Anna Siri.  It was a wonderful week.  We spent the majority of time in Berlin.  We saw Berlin Bears EVERYWHERE!
     While waiting for a train to come one day, I was encouraged to see this sign reminding us of God's love.  It's so exciting to be able to read something in another language!  It makes me think about how my friends Carey and Nate in Southeast Asia must feel when they are able to share the gospel with people in their own language.  What a thrill it must be to sing praises to God and pray and read the Bible all in another language!

"I Love You, I Love You, I Love You" God

While in Germany, both in 1996 and 2005, I have enjoyed talking with people about their experiences from Germany's past.  I learned from Anette's parents that there were certain things they enjoyed when East and West Germany were separated.  They feel that Easterners were more creative because they had less to work with and had to use their imagination and be resourceful.  They felt that Easterners appreciated nature in a special way.  In fact, most homes in East Germany are earth tones, where as Western homes are bright
colors.  Anette's sister liked that  

Can YOU see the cross?

    when she graduated from college, she was assured a job from the government, but once Germany was reunited, she needed to do much more training to catch up with the rest of the world's technology.  Anette herself remembers going to mandatory government classes that were kind of like "Girl Scouts."  The only places she could visit were parts of Russia and Poland.  Once the wall went down, Anette could be a foreign exchange student in America and was grateful for that experience. 
   A tour guide in Berlin told us a great story about the television tower you see on the left.  She told us that the government controlled what the people of the East could watch or listen to.  They didn't even want Easterners to learn about God, so they screened anything religious.  Despite all their efforts, this tower was an encouragement to the Christians of the East because when the sun hit it, a cross was clearly visible!  Our God reigns!
  When I visited Berlin in 2005 I fell in love.... with the little walking dude.... on the stoplights!  When the East and the West had to merge their ways, the Easterners fought hard to keep their traffic lights and not switch to more modern circular lights.  But, despite their efforts, only one intersection exists with the little walking dude still on it!

Little Walking Dudes

You have to look closely at the picture to see the red walking dude and the green walking dude.  I bought a T-shirt with both dudes on it.  It's a great momento from my time in Germany.
   I believe Anette and her family are very grateful that the East and West are now one country.  But, I am glad they were willing to share so much about the transition and how it affected their lives.  I love learning from people.  Everyone has a story.... or two... or three to share!