I am going to try my best to not apologize or make up for the lost time in the blog world. What is done is done and yeah. Wish I could say that I would like to go back in time and re-do the last couple weeks. To post more and write more….But yeah… I actually wouldn't trade what has been going on for more time spent on my computer.  … Sorry. 

Life in Germany has been crazy. This past weekend a group of us went to Dresden to shop a bit For most of the girls that went it was to fill in the gaps of our winter clothing. It was a fun trip. 

So, what is going on in my life? you may ask. Well… there has been a lot going on. 

Donna Jordan is here this week speaking on Listening to God. She is a 73 year old power house in pursuit of Jesus. Andy Byrd, who was here from Kona, Hawaii last week affectionally calls Donna "Ninja Grandma". :) Just to give an example of just how amazing she is, this morning during lecture she had us make an aisle lengthwise in the dining hall and she was sharing about when a bride walks down the aisle to her Groom and how some people are strolling down the aisle and looking at other people in the crowd. Still shopping incase there is something better out there. And then she demonstrated how We as the Bride of Christ should be focused on Christ at the end of the aisle. I kid you not, she slipped off her flip-flops. Pretended to hand off her bouquet and then she took off running down our make shift aisle. It is not just her hard hitting analogies that get me but she will stop in the middle of her point and ask God how he wants it said, or what he is saying in that moment. If you have ever been in a prayer meeting with Joanne Picataggi, you know exactly what I mean. These are not subtle little pauses. Im talking legit stops and a verbal question and then waiting to hear an answer. Then she shares what He said. It is so good. And she has the BEST giggle ever!! 

Okay, so back to what I came to realize today. I've been in a funk lately. I have felt in this fog and somewhat disconnected. God felt so far away and I felt like I was straining to hear Him. This past summer I felt so in tune and connected it was so good. I felt him moving and heard Him speak so much and then in the last 3 weeks it was like crickets. Nothing. I would hear other people's testimonies of what God was saying and what visions and dreams they were having and I was coming up empty. I kept thinking that is great for them but I want GOD!! I want to hear and see too! Over the past couple weeks I would be able to enter a few minutes of worship here and there. I would have 10-15 great mins in lecture where it was really connecting but they all faded away. Nothing was lasting.. I wasn't getting anything. 

So today, We had a time when Donna played a song and we were to sit and ask God speak to us. At the end of the song if we so felt, We were to stand and proclaim, Jesus is my Lord. I knew that I was to stand. I did. It was good.. I could feel God moving a bit but as soon as I was entering in I felt like it was gone. We started kneeling at the foot of the cross and just pouring our hearts out to God. After some time had passed and people where reading scriptures over everyone and they were praying out. Donna came in and shared that some students were in warfare. And that the enemy was pulling them asleep. He was casting a spirit of confusion and of condemnation. She began to pray against the enemy and as I began to press into prayer I felt like someone was trying to pull me asleep. Like they were trying to pull shades down over my eyes. 

I went up to Donna at the beginning of Coffee break. I shared what had been going on and asked her to pray. She did. We had been given an assignment to take our coffee and fruit and go for a walk. To ask God to speak to us through nature. I grabbed some coffee and headed out. I ended up laying under a maple tree with the sun shining and the leaves were all different colors as it had started to change colors for fall. God began to speak and it was so good. He reminded me of things he said before I left home and he made promises for the future. 

It was so good. God is so good. 

So, like i said in the beginning. I would not trade anything that has been going on for more time on my computer. Actually I have contemplated fasting from it for a bit. I am not sure tho. God and I need a to talk first. 

Until next time, Tschus! 

5 Euros + 3 Americans + 1 Canadian + 1 German + 3 days

When I left home I had all these grandiose plans that I would send updates and be the super ywam-er that wrote and kept everyone at home up to date. Yeah, that isn't happening. 


I think I have good intentions and I do write all the time. But barely any of them make it to publishing and/or emailed out. My apologies. 


It is also a bit frustrating because I forget who I have talked to and who I have told what information. So, I am going to try and get everything to this place, and People who have my email address can email me directly with questions and messages and what not, but as for sending out updates... They will come through here. :) Along with photos. It is easier to put photos here. :) 


So, brief update:


We spent Wednesday - Saturday on a "faith walk" living on God's provision. On wednesday we were sent out to go ANYWHERE with 1 euro each. In groups of 4/5. The goal was to be a blessing where we could. A couple of us in my group really felt Berlin, so we set out towards Berlin. We ended up in Dresden and that is where we spent two days. God was so good. The first night, we got to Löbau and ran into several other teams. We all slept out under a tree in front of the Train station. A group of the boys who could all speak German stayed up keeping watch while everyone slept. At about 3 or 4am, my watch always is saying a completely different time then everyone else, the police showed up. There was no problem. Well no real problem. They asked for everyone's passports and they ran them all. There was about 30 ppl. I heard yesterday that they told the boys that the next time YWAM Herrnhut decides to do this that they should just call the Löbau police and let them know. 

My team got together in the morning and prayed and decided to head to Dresden via Hitch hiking. First off we were hungry and were  in search of food. We walked back to a cafe that the lady who gave us a ride in to town told us would probably help us. The cafe was closed. Bummer. BUT, right around the corner and across the Plats was a bakery. So, we went in and told her what we were doing and she gave us 5 milk buns. They were SOOO good! With food in us and the kindness of a stranger, we set off to Dresden. 

We found a good spot right by the Autobahn to set up camp to hitch hike. Three hours later.... we got a ride from a 19 yr old guy with a van. He originally was only going to take us to the next town over. However on the way he decided to take us all the way to Dresden. He was awesome. He reminded me exactly of a friend back home. I kept wanting to talk to him and be like "Paul!! It's you!" but every time he talked to Jan in german I was reminded it wasn't paul. 


In Dresden we ran into several more groups, received more awesome food. That evening we were talking to random different shops and the last restaurant we went in to, the chef was a muslim and when he found out what we where doing he told us to sit down and he was going to cook us a meal. We got a full spaghetti dinner. I told my team, I loved them, but to finally NOT have to split something with someone was amazing! I could not believe I had an entire bowl of spaghetti to myself. Ah! It was so good. 


That night, we didn't have a place to stay and we kept talking to people and they kept sending us in different directions, but each turn lead us to run in to another group that had been helping at a youth house that day. When we saw them after being turned down by the 3rd church the other ywam group told the guy that we were friends and that we didn't have a place to sleep. He invited us in and told us we would work out sleeping later. That night, we had worship, prayed and hung out with the two staff guys that run a youth hangout in Dresden. It was so awesome! The corner flat reminded me so much, of what I want to do back home. It was eclectic and a great place for kids to come and hangout after school/work and they had bible studies, game nights, and community. 


It was so good. The whole experience. So much happened. God provided at every turn. Even down to each moment we started to get frustrated or miss familiar faces we always seemed to run in to people we knew. It was so awesome to fully rely on God. He is a good good God.


So, the pictures from this excursion... will be coming soon. :) They need some editing. :)  

First Germany update

Guten Tag!

So I've been here a week and ..... uh, 2 days. Wow.. It seems like I've been here a bit longer than that. 

I was so tired the first day here. I took my bags up to my room. Wandered around and then found a flat surface and fell asleep. 

Saturday, we had worship. After dinner and before the festivities began.  

Photo credit: Chris Greene

The first three days of school were.... intense. Literally. We slept out in plastic tents the first two nights. Our school staff decided to as closely re-create a refugee camp out in the Garden in front of the castle as they could.  So, after worship and the art track pitches we were given our "scenario." Keep in mind by this point it is 11PM and the majority of the people I had met all we had gotten to was name, country, and art track. No one really knew anyone else. 

Our scenario went as follows. We were refugees from the country Yanistan. War had broken out in our home country and we didn't have time to grab but a few belongings. (I had a toothbrush, toothpaste, sleeping mat, socks, and a couple layers of sweatshirts/long sleeve shirts, later someone gave me their extra sleeping bag, PRAISE JESUS!) We were able to make it to a "neutral zone" (i.e. the garden) and the Controller, for now, was allowing us to stay there with minimal means of shelter and provision. 

Here is a photo of the boy's compound sunday morning. We had been "highly" encouraged to just roll up in the plastic and save the tent building until daylight. So... yeah. 

Photo credit: Chris Greene

 The Girl's compound.

Photo credit Chris Greene

The next day was filled with refugee contemplation. We were summoned to the basketball court after breakfast. We were told to sit on the cement for an hour and talking was discouraged. After that hour, the staff came back around from their further preparations and we had a time of refugee education. 

While we had been on the basketball court the staff closed off the whole camp even more from the castle, rolled up big bins of plastic and paper trash and stuff. After the refugee education, we were given our further instructions. Up until this point we had access to the bathrooms on the ground level of the castle. That was no more. There were 2 bathrooms, one men & one woman that we would be allowed to use but could only get to by escort. Oh BTW, there are 110 of us. Showers, they were now these black plastic stations, the girls had one and the boys had one. But for water, we had to go to the one water station in the middle of camp and carry buckets to our respective shower stations. 

On sunday, we built our tents. 

Photo credit Chris Greene

Photo credit Chris Greene

Photo credit Chris Greene

 So, we built these awesome tents. Did a bunch of stuff that I don't remember at the moment. However, that night we got called into the castle at 4:30AM due to a bad storm that was right over us. It was hard for me to get back to sleep once we were inside the castle. I kept thinking that if we were real refugees we wouldn't have a castle or ANY building to go into during a really bad storm.

This is the castle!!!!

Photo credit Chris Greene

After our evacuation into the castle the next day was our "information overload" day. We had a couple lectures, went over Visa information, School rules, and divvied out work duties and then completed those work duties. 

That evening the staff called us all into the dinning hall and had us all sit down. First, they announced we were not having "Education" that night. The second announcement was that the scenario was over. I am not sure that us students knew how to respond at first. I honestly thought he was joking with us. But Derrick continued explaining that apart from Tuesday the rest of the week's weather was to be crummy and for the mental, physical and spiritual well-being of us they decided to stop the scenario.  

Derrick did go on to explain what was to happen. Tuesday there was going to be a food shortage. And because the food had already been ordered, the food shortage was still going to happen. (He apologized). Also, Tuesday night the staff was going to kidnap some of the students from camp in the middle of the night. Wednesday some people were going to contract "cholera" and be quarantined. Thursday, the justice DTS students had been told to start "planting" thoughts in our heads that we were better then this & that we deserved to be treated better.  Then Friday, we would revolt and two 'UN vehicles' would come and liberate us. 

That is the Refugee camp. The parts that happened and some of the parts that didn't. 

The joys of travel

The following at the two blog posts I wrote during transit.  -- Since I got to the castle, it has been crazy. I have not really had much time to process it let alone write about it. So, hopefully sometime in the future I will. :) 

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Sitting at the Airport by the windows. 

I like airports, normally I am giddy to be in an airport and I sight where I can watch the hustle and bustle. Today is different, Im not sure why or how, just different. 

So, Im sitting in the airport in Norfolk, Virginia with my back to all the people, watching the window at my gate. 

I think I pissed off the TSA agent running the screener. I don't want to say she is permanently in that mood, I don't know her personally and I would never wish that on anyone.. however I digress. I got all my stuff on the belt, pulled my laptop, removed my shoes and belt, the whole nine yards. I forgot one thing. It is something that is so natural I totally didn't realize until the machine went off… I left my cell phone in my back pocket. FAIL. Oh well. I made it through with a laugh. No worries ma'am I have no other plans than to fly to Dresden, Germany. 

After my little tiff with the TSA agent (Really I'm making more of it than what happened, reality: she gave a look and then used a tone) I went to stare out the window.. across the tarmac there was luggage carts, cones, gates and ladders, and those funny little cars they wiz a round out there.  No one in sight. Then I saw it.

Off in the distance two small objects slowly moving closer. These two small things got bigger   until I was able to distinguish it was two men walking. They were wearing hawaiian shirts, kaki shorts and sandals. I believe one of them was wearing a hat. Im not sure. They looked lost. I really had the urge to open a door and tell them that the beach was 20 mins in the other direction. However I resisted.  

so far this trip has been good…. or Im going crazy. either one. :) 

If Im going crazy then the following posts will be bundles of fun. ;) 

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Guten tag from Deutchland!!! 

I made it, safe and sleepy. :)  My flights were good. Especially my last flight, from Frankfurt to Dresden. I had an entire row to myself. Three seats. Travel bliss. 

Story from today. Now at this moment I do question whether I should be sharing this story at all, for fear people won't let me travel ever again, but I can't help it. In the moment it made me laugh and I thought to myself, "I need to remember this so I can blog it later." :)

Exiting off the plane in frankfurt there were two airport workers, one holding a sign with a Munich flight and the other with a dresden flight. It was my flight to dresden. The guy holding the sign didn't speak english, so i kinda held out my ticket and said dresden and looked quizzical and he looked to the other guy who was able to get out, "dresden flight, Stand here and go to terminal" -- Keep in mind it was 5:45 AM and I had just walked off the dark plane from a crummy night's sleep. Oh I was also the last person to leave the plane too. So, I stood there. Praying I wasn't making a huge mistake, and missing something. 

When the German speaking fellow, confirmed with a mean looking German speaking woman that that was everyone off the plane, the two men looked at me and then escorted me down a set of stairs and out to the exterior of the airport. As we were walking down the stairs I thought to myself, "well this would kind of be an ideal set -up for snagging girls. If anything is to happen to me, this would be it. Oh, well I got Jesus." (Yes, 5:45 am logic was kicking in)  As I came to peace of the possibilities of what I might have gotten myself in to, we came around a corner and there was a shuttle bus. To my relief it had more people in it. "Good, Im not being kidnapped after all." 

But the fun doesn't stop there. We got to the terminal for the two flights, the men directed the 12 of us through a series of doorways, elevators and through to passport check. The first 7 people went up to the counters, got checked and moved on. I got to the counter, just as the guy working was clocking out and the new guy was clocking in. And apparently there was a delay with the system, and the guy kept leaving and coming back. As the police office kept spouting off german, and making faces at computer the rest of the group I was with made it through the passport check. FINALLY, the dude got it all together, stamped my passport and I went in search of the english speaking little man. 

I came around the corner and ran into a girl that had been on my Philly - Frankfurt flight and she was waiting for a girl that happened to be behind me in line. With my look of confusion, She asked if I was going to YWAM… and that is how I met, Alisa and Katherine. 

From that moment I had travel buddies and we made our way to dresden and the train system. I have two things to say about the train system, 1) It is remarkably on time. Like EXACTLY. 2) To my disappointment it didn't look like the Harry Potter train.