Germany 6th – 17th May
Germany 6th – 17th May
Our Journey to reach Herne, a German town near Cologne, took us though France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Although that sounds as if it took a painfully long time to get there in a van limited to 56mph, it actually took us longer to drive to some parts of scotland!
We were in Germany because we had been invited to be the house band for “lighthouse Week” which was a mission week in Herne for young people aged 11-18. The first week we there we visited schools in the town to advertise the week (even more than they had done already – everywhere you went in the town there were posters and banners up for it! Money is obviously not an issue for these guys at the moment!) But we only spent one day in the schools, rather than a whole week and the exhausting day of set up, 5 lessons then immediate pack down was made do-able by the Germans sence of humour and unlimited strength. You pointed to a heavy object that needed moving, pointed to the area you wanted it to go and and a traditional two man job becomes one. Just because they were Germans.
The highlight of this tour was definately the Lighthouse Week because as well as being rediculasly fun, it really sent home some important messages to me. Firstly the language barrier. Ich Kann Kien Wort Deutch means I cant speak a word of German, and I had to learn this because I honestly couldnt speak a word of German. Luckily English is the third largest spoken langauge in the world so all Germans learn it in school which meant that some communication could occur, but before long we all were speaking very slowly and clearly using huge hand movements to illustrate what we were saying. After being in this “zone” and talking to Germans in a slow english way for a long time we even found ourselves talking to each other that way, which was very funny 
Anyway, I learnt that its less about what you say, and more about what you do that will communicate to people. Actions speak louder than words. This really hit home to me on the last day when we gave the kids an oppertunity to be prayed for if they wanted. After saying almost nothing about Jesus myself, there was a queue of kids in the corridor outside one of the rooms I was in who wanted me to pray for them. This was amazing, I saw just how much God had been using me to show other people his reality, his love and his passion for these young guys (and girls) to know and love him just by the things I did… So what did I do? Seriously I asked myself this because I hadnt “done” anything really. But when I thought about the young people who had wanted me to pray for them it all made sence. The guys who had come up were all the guys that I had seen everyday and sat with and talked to and laughed with and learnt and practised and forgot German with They were people who I had come to love as friends.
I dont quite understand how my relationship with them could make them want more of this God that others had been talking about that week. I dont understand how I had helped them “see God was real” as they said in the emails they sent me after we left. But I know that Jesus said, as recorded in John 13:34-35 : “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” And this in 1 Corinthians 13 from The Message: If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.
So, If I had spoken fluent German and communicated that God was real in perfect langauage, but ignored the young people all together… then my words would have been nothing more than the “creaking of a rusty gate” haha, which I love because its quite funny, but also shows how annoying and pointless it is for other people to listen to. However, I have learnt that If we love each other people really will see that we are Jesus’s brothers and sisters; God’s children and by this, that he is out there and very much, down here.
Here is a link to the trailer for the week:
http://www.lighthouse-week.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=76
Much Love, Ben
