In 2006, Vance received an NSF grant to study in Germany with a rose geneticist in Hanover. Isaac (who was only 4 months old at the time) and I tagged along for the summer, and made the 1-person funding stretch to accommodate our family of 3. Vance and I have many sweet memories from that summer: the delicious/affordable döner kebap from the street vendor, the quiet allées of the royal gardens, the raucous and fun-loving World Cup fans that overtook the country that summer, the faces, accents, and friendships we built in our little international church. We were a new little family, and those two months in a new place drew us together in a new way.
Fast forward 13 years: our family is bigger, ganglier, louder, and more expensive, but we are once again on the doorstep of Germany. Vance didn’t have business there, but we had the motivation of friendship to get us on another train. Or, rather, another 4 .
I met Yesupadam when I was about 13 years old, and his testimony of poverty, oppression, bitterness, and violence, all overcome and transformed by the power and blood of Jesus had a profound impact on me. I spent a college summer in India with Love-n-Care Ministries, teaching at the school, loving on a couple hundred adorable kids, and learning to pray like I never had before. I came back after graduation to write a book about Yesupadam’s life and the ministry that grew up around him. Since that time, however, life and finances and health issues have prevented me from going back. Yesupadam and Monika have been investing deeply in Germany, and this was our chance to get close to the action.
After weeks of travel and the AirBnB life and doing things on our own, it was so wonderful to hug an honest-to-goodness friend. Monika met us at the train station, and we drove through the flat, green fields and tidy brick homes on our way to Bethany House.
LNC has a 200 year old farmhouse tucked away in a quiet suburb of Bremen, and it is beautifully situated to be a haven for people leaving addictions and destructive lifestyles. It was also a sanctuary for us. The kids fed the chickens, explored outside, helped with yardwork, and basically had a fabulous time.
We started most mornings around the breakfast table with Monika, Michael & Jessy (who lead Love-n-Care Deutschland), Manuel & Lottie (who have assisted with the ministry), and Antje, our reggae-worship loving friend who lives at Bethany House as well. After breakfast and Bible study, we prayed for that day’s needs. On the first day, we prayed for tiles for the House of Hope, which LNC is in the process of building for those who need a stable residence as they rebuild from an unhealthy past. That afternoon, we heard that bathroom tiles had been donated for the House.
Every time I am with my friends from LNC, I am impacted by the power and immediacy of their dependent faith. Most of us wouldn’t try to build a recovery house without funding, but then again, there is so much joy in seeing God provide when you are unable to pave your own way forward. We get addicted to our own security, and I find that it is rare to find role models who live beyond those confines. We were surrounded by believers who were living in that peaceful place of expecting God to do His work, and it was richly encouraging to me.
On Thursday, we drove into Bremen to the Jesus Haus, where LNC hosts dinner and a Bible study for those who are on (or on the edge of) the streets. Vance taught a short message on the love of God from Zephaniah 3:17. I wondered if the kids would hang back, if they would be shy around people who looked and spoke differently than them. They loved being there, though, and they clearly saw the kindness of God in that house. It was palpable, and we were so glad to be there.
On Saturday we drive into Bremen again, this time to the train station. We set up tables and filled them with hot dogs and pastries and coffee, and served anyone who needed a free meal. This was actually the beginning of LNC’s ministry in Bremen, so it’s an established weekly tradition. The kids handed out food and smiled and prayed. I don’t speak much German, but there was one Spanish-speaking man who came, and I was able to share Jesus with him in my broken Spanglish. The whole event was very simple–hand out basic food, smile and pray and keep putting the love of Christ at the center of it all.
To top of our visit, the leaders of the Madagascar branch of Love-N-Care also came to visit Yesupadam and Monika in Bremen. We have heard of their work and even been able to support some of it, but it’s totally different to be able to talk and see and hear the stories personally. It’s just exciting to be reminded again and again that wherever we are, we are just at one corner of this beautiful tapestry of God’s work to draw all the peoples of this earth close to his heart. We just see the edges of all the glory.
After many weeks travel, it meant so much to get up close and personal with a community of believers there in Germany who were obedient and filled with faith in God and love for one another. We were there only a week, but the authenticity of their fellowship was so evident. We were so privileged to be able to spend time with our friends-like-family there, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to support them and pray alongside them.
Wonder and Wander 