weihnachten

(jaja..bald post ich wieder auf deutsch..)


the freaks started out at the main train station, with muck dressed as santa. the message was "santa would not of died for your sins, but Jesus did." we passed out sandwhiches, kaffee, and gifts to the homeless and drug addicted.


some of the gifts were better than others, i'll admit.. they are things we collect over the fall. this guy turned into a ball of sunshine when he was able to take off a pair of saoked through tennis shoes and replace them with a pair of new leather boots.


the one thing i had asked God for this holiday, was to find hans again. i've written about him alot. he has been missing for a few months, and all i have heard about him in that time has been rather depressing. when we rolled up the dom, he was there.. and doing fairly well, all things considered.


after several hours walking the streets, i was glad to be able to work in the warmth of cafe chance. we set all the tables together and ate family style with the ten or so guests who came. it was a small group, but it was good. there were a few new faces, even. matthias and his wife, who also volunteer there, brought there three (young adunlt) kids to help out as well. we ended up staying open twice as long as usual.


afterwards i barely made it in time for the midnight service at the dom (cathedral) in town. i had the last seat on the last row, but it was still impressive.


on the 25th, moerssl and i made indian curry (enough for a feast), but unfortunately no one else made it. it was good, though.

somehow christmas

Can anyone hide out in a corner where I can't see him?" GOD's Decree. "Am I not present everywhere, whether seen or unseen?" GOD's Decree.(Jeremiah 23:24 MSG)

thanks to my friend tom, whose a missionary in wales, and a phone conversation at 11:23.. this Bible verse is the message i feel given for this christmas. somehow, it seems strangely fitting in a way that probably only makes sense in my own head. but during the holidays we see a lot of deco that tries to get a point across. at times the message is rather skewed (ho,ho,ho? i mean really..) and other times it borders on the truth (manger scenes). and there are different levels of enthusiasm, and different ways of dealing with the season (some love it and go all out, others hate it and overlook as much as they can). and so into this christmas, the verse pops up, reminding me that it is about God, and that He is there, whether we try to hide from the holiday and it's meaning or not, whether we see Him or just a bunch of lights and trees.

so merry christmas. a holiday i don't particularly like, a meaning that i do.

chasing shadows

in case no one noticed, i was gone awhile. i went to hamburg to see the fiji team, and found more than i expected. it was a great four days. it was a miserable four days. i am glad to be home, and i am sorry to have left hamburg.

saturday uwe (a guy from the offen:bar) took me on the train as his plus one (he has ms and gets free accompanyment). we hung out with a group of crazy punks on their way to a demonstration against the big brother state. then i made my way to the church the fiji team was staying at- which turned out to be harder than expected. we joined a team from that church on a bus that they park in st. georg, the area near the main train station where alot of prostitution and drugs is. there they pass out soup and coffee and talk with people once a week. it was pretty cool.

sunday there was a childrens musical and then we went to a club off of the reeperbahn, hamburg's most famous night life street. there are more sex clubs on that street than in most cities. the owner of one club had recently give his llife to christ, and now lets an international group of christians hold church there on sunday nights. the fijis performed, and i translated and danced too. the next day i even ran into one of the homeless guys that had been there and was able to have a cool conversation.

anyway, thats all of the official ministry stuff that went on. the rest was meeting with friends, old, older and new. i guess most of it isn't the kind of thing that can be shared in a blog in a way that would interest people. the main thing i took out of this weekend though, was the title of this post. i decided that it is time to stop chasing shadows, and came back to bremen sooner than i had planned. i want to catch a few solid forms.

wonachten?

ok, entschuldige die bloede sprach witze.

die meisten wissen whynachten... es ist ja der geburt Jesu. aber viele, grad unter den freaks, wissen nicht wo sie es feiern sollten. vielleicht haben sie keine gute beziehung zur family oder einer der nicht feiert. vielleicht bist du einer davon?

ich werde hier einen family weihnachtsfest feiern.. aber da ich ebenfalls keine family in deutschland habe, lad ich hiermit die freaks von euch ein die irgendwo sein wollen. allerdings post ich jetzt nicht meine adresse, sondern haette gern ne rueckfrage per kommentar oder email, wenn jemand kommen will.

losgeht es am 24 (wenn man ausserhalb bremens herkommt, koenntest du auch frueher anreisen) mit essen und geschenke verteilen in rahmen unsere jesus freaks weihnachtsaktin (ein echter tradition und voll cool) auf die strassen. danach werd ich den cafe chance aufmachen und wer mag darf mitkommen. dass ist ne cafe fuer drogenabhaengige. spaeter gibt es dann ne godi im dom, den ich schon immer mal besuchen wollte- es soll ganz schoen sein, gegen mitternacht beim kerzenschein in so ne riesige cathedral! am 25 (den tag an dem ich normal weihnachten feier) kochen wir dann ne richtige festessen, setzen uns im wohnzimmer beim tannenbaum, und tauschen geschenke aus (erwarte da aber nichts grosses.. es geht ums symbol). abends gibt es nochmals den cafe chance oder den moeglichkeit einfach rumzuhaengen und mit anderen zu reden oder film gucken. auf jeden fall wird man nicht alleine sein.

ich wuerd mich echt freuen ein paar alt bekannter gesichter zu sehen und ne paar neue kennenzulernen.

meine gemeinde schreibt....

3. Wer ist eigentlich...Cate?
Das ist die Cate. In ihrem Pass steht zwar Catherine Helen McMillan, aber die Jesusfreaks nennen sie lieber Cate - das ist kürzer ;o) Geboren und aufgewachsen ist die Cate in Texas in den USA, doch weil sie sich immer schon für andere Kulturen interessiert hat ist sie letzten Endes in Deutschland gelandet, für ein Auslandsjahr. Den Jesus kannte die Cate aber schon vorher. Wie sie den kennenlernte? Eines Tages erzählte Cates Mom ihrem Bruder was von Gott und die Cate fand das so toll das sie Jesus zum Freund haben wollte - da war sie noch ganz klein, ungefähr 4. Seitdem ist sie mit Jesus unterwegs. Die Freaks lernte Cate dann 1999 kennen - da war nämlich ein ex-Junkie, die sich in Berlin bei den Freaks bekehrt hatte und die schickte die Cate dann zu den Hamburger Freaks, wo es ihr so gut gefiel das sie ein Semester später gleich ein Praktikum bei denen machte. Da fing das mit dem Mitarbeiten also schon an ;o) Bei den Bremer Freaks dreht die Cate Kurz- filme und predigt auch ab und zu. Außerdem ist sie vollzeitig als Missionarin unterwegs und macht Straßenarbeit. Das macht sie so gern, das sie mittlerweile sogar ein Auffanghaus leitet, wo Junkies in der Übergangszeit zwischen Entgiftung und Therapie wohnen können.* Das Tolle bei den Freaks ist, das da jeder mitwirken darf, findet die Cate. Und das da nicht nur Glauben diskutiert, sondern auchbeziehungs-orientiert gelebt wird. In 10 Jahren, das glaubt die Cate ganz fest, ist sie immer noch in der Mission. Und die Bremer Freaks werden dann Trendsetter sein für die Umgebung - unter Gläubigen und Nichtgläubigen. Wenn die Cate mal Zeit (und Geld) hat, reist sie gern durch die Gegend. Und wenn die Cate mal nicht soviel Zeit hat liest sie auch gern mal ein Buch oder hängt mit ihren Freunden ab- das freut nicht nur die Maus!
*Infos unter http://hoffnungshaus.jesusfreak.de [die Maus]

amazing grace

wow.
this will be a long story, but "wow" sums it up nicely. i mentioned already that there is a ywam team from figi here and that i have been going around with them all week and filming them. tonight two of the team members came with me to cafe chance.

emosi (i am guessing at spelling here) and kali and i led the devotional. emosi is a very gifted worshipper, and he played guitarre and sang, and we joined in where we could. he played for almost ten minutes, but the guests were patient and seemed to be enjoying it. he even sang one song in figian (i'd requested that). then kali preached.



i had told them it's very low key, and that they didn't need to prepare anything, it would only be a very short devotion. usually it is about five minutes long, and the guest are rather disruptive, they make jokes, talk, argue, know everything better, leave, telephone, or go to the bathroom. it is hard to keep their attention. (yes, there are some exceptions and some people who are attentive, but generally this is how it is).



so kali started talking and says, "so i won't be long. there are just a few points i want to make. and first, i want to ask you two questions. the first is, do you know that there is a heaven? and the second, if you die tonight, do you know where your spirit will go?" dead silence. cartoon-style pop out eyes. a heavyness filled the room. and he began to preach. he basically shared the whole package. he said we are born in sin, and that each of us sins everyday. that we are like dry leaved that are hanging from a tree. that sin seperates us from God. it is like a wind that blows the leaves off the brach. and that we are like little children in a big sea, who are drowning. but that God loves us. and God is just. and that is why He sent His son jesus to earth, as prophesied, to be fully man and fully God. to take our sins and die on the cross and to rise up again to heaven. that we too can be saved if we accept this. that it is like a gift, and all we have to do is take it. he said alot of times we have the knowledge in our heads, but do not do anything about it, do not let it into our hearts and accept it. but that that is what we need to do, we need to accept christ. and he asked us to take three minutes and ask ourselves that question. his challenge: do you want to accept jesus to come into your life and take your sins?

there were three long, spirit-filled minutes of total silence. and then we prayed.



he spoke for 35 minutes without any interuptions. i am pretty sure that's a first in cafe chance. and he said even more than i just related, i gave the basics. it was awesome. the guests and volunteers alike were captivated, hanging on his words. the spirit of God was present in the room, and i believe that lives were changed tonight. i am so thankfull that they were able to come with me.

small world

an old joke suggests that the platapus is evidence the God has a sense of humor. but yesturday i walked right into a new punchline.

there's been some stressful stuff going on lately, so i decided to visit a different church sunday to get away from it all. i was at the international bible church, and this group of young black people my age walk in late, accompanied by an older german couple. odd, i thought. i just couldnt shake the feeling that i know the germans.. they were introduced as being from figi, and i tried to think of how i could possably know anyone from figi. no luck. but as the service progressed i became sure i had met this guy before- there was a presence about him that couldn't be mistaken, it's too rare. and then it hit me- he had been to my house a year ago! i was almost certain, and as i walked up to him after the service, i wasn't sure what to say- they had only been at the house for five minutes to pick lilly up. so i asked "this might sound really odd, but is it possible you know katrin nemitz?" and he looked at me a little confused, his eyes lit up, and he snapped his fingures "yes! and we came to your house last year, right? you lived with her?"

they introduced me to their team and asked if i would join them for dinner at the christmas market and afterwards to lead a youth group. it was fun to be back with a group of crazy ywamers and to also be able to talk to the german couple. today i spent all day with the team, showing them bremen in the cold and rain. i think the part they liked best was cafe chance.

so then we were back at my place drinking tea, and they asked what is causing me stress right now. i told them about the documentary and how there is no one left for me to film and time is running out. one of them asked, "is it not anything we can do?" and i said yeah, sure, but they don't have the time. then several offered at once that they would make time, i should just film their activities and they would use their next day off to give me interviews and film more scenes around town. how cool is that? i was able to bless them with warmth, and they are able to bless me with a film!

bye kai

unser phantom-mitbewohner ist ausgezogen (mehr oder weniger) zum wochenende hin. es war zwar fast als ob er nie einzog, dennoch hatte er viel krams was er wieder raustragen muesste. wir sind froh, dass er aber gar nicht so weit weg sein wird.. durch sein heirat mit die liebe uli wird er nur ums eck wohnen.

enrico!

wir haben seit mittwoch ein neuer bruder!