Category Archives: Culture

The Caucuses – Day #13 – Last Sessions & Late Night Food/Fun/Fellowship

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Morning coffee never hit so good as it did before the last DLT sessions. Like most places theBean & I have been privileged to stay when we travel in this part of the world, there is a top notch “what’s your pleasure” coffee machine in the dining area. My go-to this trip was: Hit the Americano with an espresso topper, then add my own milk.

Sessions were: the roles of Fathers & Mothers – both in the natural family order as parents & also in spiritual terms, where we’re given the opportunity to help nurture & care for & contend for the spiritual life, development & well-being of others… esp. in situations/places where people are virtually parent-less (no leadership, no input from others, no direction, no care) & have no real idea on how to mature, grow up, live out the life of a Christ-follower.

We see all sorts of examples & precedents for this in Scripture, most notable with the Apostle Paul & Timothy (& Titus, though we hear more about the Paul/Timothy relationship.) Timothy was the son of a Greek man & a Jewish woman. A believer, at some point Paul encountered him & his mom (never really heard anything about dad) & took an interest in his growth & development as a Christian. Paul invited him to travel with him on one of his trips & took the time to impart everything he knew to him through the day-to-day process of sharing the Gospel Good News in new places, helping establish churches for the new believers, & in navigating the challenges & difficulties brought about in opposition, persecution, & other points of adversity. Paul refers to Timothy as his “true son in the faith” & writes at least 2 letters to him (1 & 2 Timothy); we also know that Paul installed Timothy as the pastor of the church at Ephesus as well.

The main encouragements we wanted to offer are these: God can give His people a ‘heart’ to care for others, esp. new believers & people without (obvious) help, leaders, & the like. As we grow up in Jesus, one of the things (I believe) that we’re to do is to take an interest in the well-being & development of others. To intentionally bless, care for, & impart what we’ve learned in Christ ourselves to those we encounter. That can often involve the development & ongoing maintaining of deep relationships that often mirror those of chosen family – spiritual parents if you will – that, like natural parents are called to do with their own &/or adopted offspring, care for & encourage their spiritual children.

I’ve never tried to declare myself to be someone’s spiritual “father” – I don’t know that you can demand/declare that you be given that role of significance & influence in the life of another. I believe it can be given by a person who adopts you as a person of influence & care for them. Its a beautiful thing – & it is a very helpful one, esp. in areas where there aren’t many (any?) visible spiritual elders, mature in the faith, to help lead & guide & offer direction to the believers in an area.

We asked our friend Ewald to share from his perspective what it means to him to be a spiritual father – we’ve known him for about 25 years, having met him & his wife Kerstin years ago at a German pastors conference. He is probably the person I know who most exemplifies what it means to be a spiritual father; the way he cares for the well-being & ongoing development of new (newish) believers in Central Asia (& beyond) is truly inspirational… & I’m praying that many in the room received a deposit of that same Father’s Heart from the things he shared.

Our final session was on Balancing Family Life & Work/Ministry. We talked from our own experiences – burnout, rhythm, rest, Sabbath. Saying “yes” & “no” congruently. Prioritizing family & having a strong sense of what “SUCCESS” looks like for you. Accountability. Margin. Life in all its fullness – as it was intended, by Jesus, to be lived. Our Eurasian Bible College host (& lead pastor/overseer T) shared about the power of rest & rhythm, as our time in this DLT came to a close.

We shared communion together over a light meal, & our time as a group came to an end as the first travelers gathered their stuff & said their goodbyes before heading out to the real world & home.

TheBean & I went to a store on the corner & I bought some Coke Zero & kleenex; we settled in around 9 p.m. to what we thought would be a quiet night, watching a movie & then heading to bed.

And then we got a text inviting us to go for a brief walk & a glass of wine.

Which turned into a group of 12 of us walking the cobblestone streets, somehow making our way only about 1/4 mile from the hotel to a really great Georgian food restaurant (same one we ate at a couple days ago.) The glass of wine & walk idea disappeared into a raucous, joy-filled fellowship around a couple long tables pushed together, as people from 5 nations ate from a smorgasbord of Georgian cuisine. TheBean & I sat at the end of a table, kind of away from party-central but still close enough to be a part. We heard the stories of a young man in a closed ‘stan country who has created a budding travel agency in his country to cover over his movements around the country as he shares the gospel. We listened to (& watched) the music & videos created by another young man, musician & producer, tied to celebrating Jesus & Christmas outreach to his city. We ate the sausages wrapped in tortilla; the lamb skewers. Drank copious amounts of mineral water.

Finally, just after midnight, theBean & I excused ourselves & made our way back to the hotel, navigating the still-bustling city streets. Climbed the 5 floors to our room & finished our movie over a Coke Zero. And, with joy & contentment, fell asleep.

Today is Sunday – nothing on the agenda for us beyond morning coffee except perhaps a trip to a flea market with some of our new friends. We’ll be saying goodbye to others later in the day, & then tomorrow, 8/4, we’ll head to the local airport around 8:30 a.m. to begin our trek home.

Life is good. Jesus is great.

The Caucuses – Day #12 – Friends, food, & digging into challenging Scriptures

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Another hot day… & it lingers in a way we don’t get at home, never really reaching a cooling down. Our hotel room is on the 5th floor & there’s one elevator so we’ve been taking the stairs to the 1st floor conference room or the ground floor lobby/dining area. The top couple floors of the stairwell are a sauna & its a lot of fun to walk down, if nothing else than to get a modicum of relief by the time you hit the 2nd floor.

During breaks & at lunch we’ve been heading out into the neighborhood for a quick mental health break… but also to see this section of the city & walking among the crowds of people. Businessmen, shoppers, beggars. 20-somethings dressed the same as you’d see someone at home dressed; 50-somethings in traditional clothes. This city is a combination of old & new, traditional & cutting edge, east & west.

Lunch yesterday we were invited to a local place known for great Georgian cuisine. A group of us sampled dish after dish as we talked about life, family, food, & the like. Some of the food/drink I have only the vaguest idea what it was… a green carbonated “health” drink that turned out to be tarragon water. Khachapuri, a cheesy bread that looks like: a pizza-like dish (no red sauce; just crust & a lightly salty cheese filling &/or topping, cut into the familiar pizza-style triangles, or shaped like a Venetian gondola with cheese filling & a raw-ish (barely cooked) egg sunny side up. Khinkali, a dumpling filled with meats & spices & a broth that your supposed to slurp out of the side of the dumpling as you hold it by the ‘handle’ at the top. Fresh vegetables, cheeses, bread samplers, spiced sausage wrapped in a tortilla, & deliciously charred lamb/beef skewers, minus the skewers. A real feast.

Our DLT times have been good, with lots of often ‘spirited’ interactions. Topics yesterday included Family, Marriage, Husbands & Wives. There are several countries & cultures represented – all with their own viewpoints & interpretations of the familiar Scriptures & instructions in Ephesians 5 on family/family relationships given by the Apostle Paul. Everyone here is a pastor/church leader… & navigating the theology & understandings around the often emotionally charged topics has been an exercise in walking (& talking) carefully. Some are, very intensely, solid in their belief they know exactly what these Scriptures mean & how they apply them. Very cut & dried. “Scripture says clearly” which (in my experience, & cemented in my thinking today) is usually an indicator of a core position of both identity & theology for the individual… a lens through which they see & interpret & interact with the rest of the world, without the need or desire for any wiggle room. Jesus addresses this in the Sermon on the Mount – talking about “you’ve heard it said…” & then giving “but I say to you.”

I guess what I’m trying to say is this – the intention of God’s law & commands – & our understanding of Him & having relationship with Him – centers on Him creating the ways & means for us to be able to come to Him, on His terms. In a broken world with relationships ruled by chaos, selfishness, & the like, Jesus offers a way of mutual submission, gentleness, order & care rooted in His own, lived out example. The husband is called the “head” of the woman – not to lord authority over her & dominate her, but to provide a space of love, care, & protection where she can thrive & become all God has for her – based in the example given by the Lord – love your wife like Christ loves the Church, giving Himself up for her, laying down His life for her. Calling the instruction given for a wife to submit to her own husband, as she does to Christ – isn’t a punishment or a justly deserved consequence because “Eve didn’t listen to her husband, so she (& all the other subsequent women) need to be “kept in line” by a strong husband & his strong & sure (rigid? inflexible? letter of the law that kills?) interpretation of Scriptures.

Lots of prayers for grace & gentleness & (hopefully) clear & precise language in my communications the last couple days… asking God to help me manage & moderate my own expressions, non-verbals, & tone… when you don’t understand someone’s language & are relying only on a translation (or a 2nd hand translation where you talk through a translator who then is translated into the target language) its easy to misunderstand a person, esp. when they are from a totally different culture & people group & the norms aren’t the same as what you’re used to.

1 more day – 4 more sessions. Looking forward to our times together today…

Thank you for your prayers & support & encouragement.

to the Caucuses – Day #10 & 11? – The Heat is On

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Had a short (1 hour or so) delay to our flight leaving Central Asia, & arrived in the HEAT (35C/95F) of the Caucuses around 10:30 p.m. Turns out we had a few fellow DLT attendees on the plane with us, & we navigated the belly of the airport relatively unscathed. The cleanliness of the bathrooms really was impressive – they even smelled good. Cleared customs without an issues & gathered our luggages from the crawling carousel. Thank you Jesus.

Met our host for the next few days in the waiting area just outside of baggage claim & began the sometimes awkward (for me at least) process of meeting new people… a daunting task for me on a good day at home; especially challenging given the combo of everyone’s tiredness, late night, language challenges/barriers, & newness. We got sorted into a collection of Ubers & began the circuitous 30 minute journey to our hotel, weaving in & out of stop & go traffic, navigating the labyrinth of streets & combo of downtown neighborhoods & McCarran like streets. And then we arrived at our hotel. Kind of.

I’ve gotta say – getting dropped off in an alley, albeit with a sign for the hotel announcing its presence, was more than a little daunting. Hotel sign is there – where’s the hotel? Pulled our suitcases deeper into the alley, which, to be fair, had a bend at the end, so it wasn’t like we were in an alley with no exit… just no visible exit. Dark. Foreboding. Unfamiliar. We got about 10 yards into the alley & saw a collection of big city, almost Chicago-style restaurants inhabiting the ground floors of the myriad buildings crowded in around us, topped with what seemed to be a tetris collection of flats, apartments, & unknowns.

Right then, a car we hadn’t seen because of the darkness & probably our tiredness backed out of an alcove in the alley. It stopped & the driver rolled down the window & said, “You are looking for ….” & named the hotel. We said “Yes” & he pointed around the corner, smiled & headed out. We made our way in that direction & yes, indeed, there was our hotel, a 1920’s themed hotel built out into a 6 story old(?) new building. Seamlessly checked in & made our way to our top-floor room… to discover the temp in our room was 92. Ahhh. Quickly found the thermostat & worked out how to crank that A/C DOWN to 20C/68F. (BTW – that was Wednesday night; right now it is 7:30 a.m. Friday & it STILL hasn’t gotten below 22C/71F). But 71 > 92, at least when it comes to the temperature of one’s hotel room.

The room is about 1/3 the size of our room at the Be Fine, but it is still workable although without adequate dressers & with 1/2 the room taking on the low, sloping slant of the roof…  once we got our bags mostly stowed & our clothes put where they needed to be for the next few days, it was time for bed. Mostly. Too hot to sleep still I loaded up our VPN  & we watched part of a Hallmark show, a pleasant reminder of home.

Good sleep, slow morning, & breakfast in the hotel dining room. Typical setup of a boutique hotel breakfast area, but with local cuisine & breakfast items… & of course, cocoa puffs. Before this trip I hadn’t eaten them in at least 5 years. I ate two bowls. Went back to the room & crashed for another hour or so, then puttered around until lunchtime connections with our other DLT friends in the dining room. Got to meet a few new friends from nearby countries; I’m thankful that everyone speaks at least a tiny bit of English.

Our longtime friend from Germany, Ewald, is here. He’s on the board of directors of the Eurasian Bible College & has been ministering in the region for > 2 decades. He is a steadying force of a man, stable, encouraging, & grandfatherly (he has appeared that way since i met him back in the early 2000’s… even though he’s a little younger than me.) There have been logistical challenges & spiritual attacks/circumstances that will (probably) keep a couple handfuls of people who were signed up for the DLT from coming. There were about 25-30 people registered & we had about 15 who made it to the first session last night. Not 100% sure, but I think this might be the total number. We’re meeting in the hotel’s conference room, a small, odd-shaped room with few amenities or technology, but plenty of places to sit & comfy/cozy layout that facilitates squeezing into chairs around the tables & having easy conversations.

What precious people. Our hearts are moved & we feel connected to them as well…

Van Gogh in the live

Even though it was hot, we decided to brave the night with Ewald, our friend from last year, A, & a young 30 something couple who actually live in the city we were just in in Central Asia. We both connected with them & spent the next couple of hours walking the often cobblestoned streets of this ancient city & neighborhood looking at the things, taking the sights, sounds, & smells. Barkers stood outside their restaurants, hawking their food choices; humanity pressed up & down the street with people of every age & demographic packed into crowded spaces.

The group decided on gelato & we found an out  of the way shop with great A/C. Sat & talked for about 30 minutes, then made our way back to our hotel.

PRAYER REQUEST – I felt a twinge of pain in the bottom of my left foot about 1 inch below the joint on the 4th toe (you know, the little piggy who “had none.”) Not quite the ball of my foot. It hurts. Suddenly painful to walk or touch, bottom or top of the foot. I didn’t actually DO anything that seemed to cause it. I was walking on the uneven cobblestones, & then I noticed the pain.

As I type this in the morning on Friday, it hasn’t gotten worse… its just not any better. No swelling to speak of – its weird.

And we press on.

Breakfast in an hour or so, then 10-1 p.m. & 3-6 p.m. are our DLT sessions today, talking Family, Marriage, Husbands/Wives. We will see how it goes.

CA: Day #5

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Had a quick & earlier than normal breakfast & said goodbye to the last “coffee on demand” we’ll get for a while. (Really enjoyed the Machine of Joy.) Checked out of our hotel rooms & brought our luggage down to the Transporter, S, then piled into a couple vans & made our way over to the Mother Church – MC.

There are 10 services from Saturday to Sunday night run by a variety of people in several languages; the lead pastor of the MC said he goes to 1 or 2 a week, (usually different ones so he can make sure to see what’s happening with the people in each one.) He said his/their philosophy about adding services is: when a service starts to fill up, he will appoint a couple of faithful people from that service to hive off to another day/time & then let people know this is where they’ll go. Very grassroots & fluid – very grace-filled & empowering… especially since formal Bible education & training programs are forbidden by law. Really interesting that the govt “oversight” that many at home would see as persecution & repression only seems to fuel the church’s mission & creativity; they seem to work well in the face of what we’d probably see as a major point of discouragement & reasons why we can’t raise up leadership.

Our team went to first service & worshiped together; its the main ‘official language’ service; went about 2 1/2 hours with lots of joy, good, solid teaching on the power of God’s Word, communion & several opportunities to engage in vibrant worship. Before, during, & after the message. The worship team was fun – & for those who may remember, it seemed like Sue Leishman was running sound & that Dave was playing bass, because the bass was DEFINITELY driving & thumping & filled the hall with rhythm so clear that even I could move to it. A little.

Someone dropped off a selection of pizzas for the team & we ate in the pastor’s office, our own version of the upper room. We had about an hour to kill before the next service, a 2nd language meeting run by one of the pastoral staff. Worship with this people was a little more subdued, but just as pervasive throughout every aspect of the service. I spoke from Colossians 2:6,7 (Rooted) & the give & take of the translation went well; thankful for gifted language people who were able to interpret what I said & make it understandable to their church… not an easy task as every language group has their own “ways & means” of understanding & interpreting language so that what is said makes “sense” to the hearers. My guy was visibly relieved at the end of the message… said he was nervous that he would not do a good job (imagine that.) We had a good laugh & some good encouragement for each other as we both celebrated the fact that the Holy Spirit gives us what we need in the time of need. Amazing how much we have in common with other believers in Christ, regardless of country/region of origin.

After the services I was toast, but we needed to wait until the transport came back. Thought it would be about 5 p.m. but it turned out to be closer to 6:45. There’s lots of hurry up & wait times… not because of poor planning or someone dropping the ball, but because life happens & in a city of a couple million, there are a lot of variables beyond our control, including traffic, tech, life surprises, & extended service times. Our team rolled with & took the opportunity to talk together & with new friends from one of the represented congregations. While we were waiting for the vans, the evening service started; the pastor told me it was specifically created for people who have been burned by church, by life, & by various combinations of the 2… people who couldn’t bring themself to come to the morning services (high energy, high interaction/community, & production) but who wanted to push through & find a space to allow the Holy Spirit to heal, restore, & help them see HOPE restored in their lives.

Of course I was intrigued so i watched & listened to part of the service from the foyer (on the TeeVee.) It had a very informal opening, with just a piano playing a gentle & haunting & worshipful melody for several minutes. (Think From Eternity by Jeff Deyo). ; I didn’t know it had started until I heard a person talking on the microphone, obviously giving brief introduction to the evening, but it was so brief & to the point & low energy, I wouldn’t have associated it with a ‘welcome to service’ if I didn’t know. I wish I could have stayed for the whole time & that I could speak the language; would have loved to be a fly on the wall & hang out on the off chance one of those attending would have wanted to talk. Jesus is near to the broken-hearted, & His gentleness & compassion in dealing with people knows no bounds. This is one aspect of ‘church’ & ‘ministry’ I hope to continue to grow in.

The team got transported to our hotel in shifts, & my van was the last to make the hour-long trek to the hills, meaning, by the time I arrived, theBean had everything set up & unpacked. I felt pampered, & I needed it (remember the “I am toast?” Still toast, except darker brown than I was before.)

Had a quick & interesting dinner together, then got a tour of the facility. TheBean & I were crashing so we navigated to the respite of our room & settled in for the night, albeit after a few minutes soaking in the views on our upstairs balcony. Booyah & Hey now! Thankful for the unforeseen & continuous blessings. And thank you for your continued prayers.

Things shift tomorrow as pastors from around CA will gather here for talks, teaching, & building community. We’ll be taking it where it goes & seeing how we fit in with the programming I’m sure.

Blessings to you!

Central Asia Mission – Days #1 & #2

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We started our 24 hours of travel on Tuesday with the 1st of 3 flights. All of our scheduled connections & connecting flights were too close together (from 40-80 minutes each) but it was beyond our control to change. So, we purposed to be present, to be positive, & to “roll with” whatever our travels brought us. (NOTE: as we “rolled with” our travel curveballs, never did we actually, nor will we ever “Roll Tide.” But I digress.)

Flight out of Denver to Frankfurt was delayed by an hour; the “trip alert” software used by our airline let us know while we were still IN Denver that we’d miss our Frankfurt to our “final destination in Central Asia that shall remain unnamed throughout this series of blogposts other than calling it ‘Central Asia’ or “CA” for short, per the request of said hosts in CA.”) We purposed to stick with our chosen “be present/positive/& roll with it” motto. Got very little sleep on the almost 9 hour flight due to a very loud 18 month old in the row next to us & also (most likely) the excitement of the trip.

Upon arrival in Frankfurt, we found that even though we’d left Denver an hour later than scheduled, we still made our scheduled arrival time. Yay.

And then we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes waiting for our gate to open.

And then we got news that we were assigned to a “bus gate” meaning we got to drive for 20 minutes in the plane to an empty spot where we’d be picked up by buses & transported to the terminal where we’d then scan our boarding passes, & — theoretically — get on OTHER buses & drive to another open area with a plane headed to CA.

And it took > 90 minutes.

And yet… we still made the flight to CA because our flight was delayed by > 90 minutes.

But our travel app, powered by the latest greatest versions of AI, informed us that our Bags were possibly missing & that they MAY have taken an earlier flight to our destination. But not for sure.

No worries. We had our carryon backpacks with supplies for 3 Louie outfits (black polos & shorts for the win!). TheBean prayed for an upgrade on the flight, & I must say, I wasn’t too hopeful (man of great faith!) only to find out that we were indeed upgraded to Premiere Economy, which meant MUCH bigger, recliner-lite style seat with footrest & menus. Thank you Jesus. Made for a much more comfortable flight, albeit with just A little tiny bit of sleep on a ‘daytime’ flight.

Eventually we Made it to CA at just before midnight Wednesday, & noted that we are exactly 12 hours ahead of home on the clock. So when it is 7 am in CA, it is 7 pm the previous night at home. (My brain still feels silly at this point, so I needed to talk that out.) Met up with Teresa, a team member from a church in the Bay (by way of Australia) & got our BAGS(!) from the baggage claim; navigated customs & met our driver, a wonderful man named S that spoke no English but used his translator app to communicate with us while driving us to the hotel. (Adventures in Driving in CA.)

Hotel is super-nice & very Soviet-era chic. Spacious room, incredible A/C & big Euro style bath & shower. Headed to bed around 1:45 am & slept fitfully til about 7:30 (4 good hours or so). Made our way to the breakfast area & had several cups of premium coffee made by the Machine of Joy. I ate beef vienna looking sausages & oatmeal w/raisings. Tried the yogurt only to find it was sour cream. Talked w/Teresa & theBean for a couple hours, milking our access to the Machine of Joy (MOJ)… the ladies stayed to talk & I decided to tour the exercise room & sauna area, which I plan to hit later today.

Only thing on the agenda is lunch & team-time from 1:30 – 4 p.m. The rest of the day is dedicated to rest & getting acclimated to CA.

Very thankful for traveling mercies. Made connections in SPITE of all sorts of rumors & threats of missing them, & got our BAGS even though the Machines told us we most likely wouldn’t. (Don’t trust SkyNet. Ever.)  God is already answering prayers, & we are both looking forward to our time here with our team & new friends.

Thoughts on making disciples… or an email I wrote to a friend who encourages & challenges me to use my brain & my heart…

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TheBean & I are on “day 4” of our recovery time from our trip to Germany. As I reflect on our time in Germany, I’m reminded of an email I wrote to a dear friend, Kurt, in response to his “hope letter” (You can read it & his other “hope letters” HERE.) This particular hope letter was called, “I’m gonna need that back,” referencing a desire to reclaim the word “Disciple.”  I’d encourage you to check it out & then give this a read as well…

Kurt –

thank you for this… esp. the “I’m gonna need that back” for disciple. As I type this, Joni & I are in Berlin, nearing the end of a 17 day trip to several spots in Germany, brought here by the invitation of a local German pastor & longtime friend. We spent a week of our trip with him & the church at Bielefeld, called “Christ for All People” – it’s made up of/represented by about 15 nations & they have weekly translation of the services into English, Russian, Arabic & a handful of other languages, as needed.
The thing that has stood out to me about this trip is the focus our friends have on ‘making disciples.’ My friend Ewald is a regular traveler to Central Asia (Kazakhstan & all the “other stans” in the region, as well as Mongolia.) In many of the places he & his friends are going, they are seeing 1st generation Christians, meaning: the first people in their neighborhood, village, city, region, & even country(!) to become Christians. Places where the ‘old heads’ of Christianity have been walking with Jesus for 20 years, maybe, with no prior history at all of Jesus people in the region. In many ways, it tells/reads like the Book of Acts, complete with the living, breathing, Paul & Barnabas, Silas & John Mark teams of older/longer believing believers heading to regions to bring the encouragement of Christ, to rehearse the teachings of Jesus with people largely (completely?)  untouched by the junk I often associate with what we experience in the Western (American?) version of christianity (little c on purpose).
All that to say – I read your hopeletter, & I’m encouraged… because I know you. We. Many others. Are being stirred to ’need that back’, to contend for discipleship to not be a program led by a solitary director, sequestered in a building away from the people, but to be a multi-way process & exchange between peoples choosing to seek Jesus, to listen to the Holy Spirit, to trust the Holy Spirit speaking to & with each other.
I see a road in front of me as a pastor in the US… a road that grows increasingly ’simple,’ with the invitation & place given to the HS to strip away all that is not Him. A willingness & a refusal to label someone as a disciple/not a disciple based upon the completion of a ‘course’ of study, but rather as a goal we seek to be as we endeavor to obey the words of Christ & to teach others to do the same as we share a Gospel Good News centered solely on Jesus as He reconstructs us, burning away the chaff, calling us back to a simplicity of life & devotion to Him that is applicable in myriad cultural & country & language settings, not dependent on technology, well-crafted theologies, & our gurus.
Brothers & sisters embracing & encouraging brothers & sisters.
I used to hate that term when it was thrown around in church… a lazy way to avoid using names & to hide behind religion.
This last week, I got to be with brothers from Ukraine, Russia, Palestine, Israel, the stans, & just about every country in Europe. To learn. To listen. To love.
One Ukrainian guy said, “Look around. Only with Jesus is THIS possible.”
100%.
A few thoughts from friend who greatly admires you & appreciates you & your journey & communications.
Louie

Deutschland 2023 – Days #15 & 16 “Fun with Alex & Linda, which mostly involved trying out new restaurants & street food… “

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Day 15 – the afternoon & evening

We met Alex & Linda in the courtyard of the building where our flats are located, & made our way through the maze to one of the adjoining streets to meet our Uber. They typically employ 1 of 4 modes of transportation: walking, riding a bike, hiring an Uber/taxia, or (rarely) taking the public transportation system (combo of buses/S & U-bahn trains.) The driver dropped us off & it was just a short walk to Parma Pizza. To say it was a hole in the wall makes it seem bigger than it was… there were 3 or 4 tables crammed into 2 rooms, & the ‘kitchen’ was literally 2 steps from our table. Alex stepped into the kitchen twice & was reprimanded each time for violating the ‘chef’s’ space, but it’s not like he could access his seat without stepping into the kitchen. Inside of the rooms looked like a half-finished construction site where the workers had gone home for the weekend, leaving a bunch of stuff half-done, with tools & supplies strewn around the room. There were two guys in the kitchen area; one, the owner/chef, the other, a guy who kept sampling the box of wine on the edge of the super tiny refrigerator. He reminded me of someone who was probably a buddy of the owner who comes to hang out at his buddy’s place in the hopes he’ll be able to sponge some free food & drink if he hangs out long enough. The chef guy looked as though he was an Italian photographer just returned from a taxing & oh-so-draining photoshoot somewhere & by the way he acted, it sure didn’t seem like he was happy to have customers. I dubbed him “Artist Guy” & the other guy was “the Leech.” 

He finally got around to bringing us our menus & made a big show about the artistry of his pizzas… he took the time to explain several of the pizza options to us, in German & English, even though we already knew what we wanted to order. Once we ordered, he engaged in conversation with the Leech for about 15 minutes, seemingly forgetting we were there. Eventually our drink orders came, with our bottled water & the finest boxed red wine the kitchen had to offer placed hurriedly on the table so Artist guy could get back to his conversation.

He remembered we were there to EAT, so he frantically began to assemble the ingredients for the pizzas we’d ordered on his prep counter & then painstakingly made the pizzas, popping them 1 by 1 into the pizza oven on the far side of the kitchen. Good thing they only had to bake for about 90 seconds. Artist guy deposited the pizzas in front of us & stepped back into the kitchen. 

About this time, a younger guy arrived, complete with a dark mullet of curls on his head (theBean said they were the size of the classic pink 1 1/2″ sponge hair roller that hadn’t been brushed out after removing the curlers); he spoke only broken English & his native Italian, & he seemed to be there to do all the jobs Artist guy didn’t want to do.

Pizza was ok – I got a Salamewurst & Tomato & Mozzarella & theBean had a ham pizza (ham put on after the pizza cooked, much to her chagrin & displeasure.) We ate our fill & laughed a lot around the tiny table in the bizarre pizza place/construction zone while the Leech drank more wine & the Mullet guy went through the motions of cleaning & puttering around looking for something. 

We had a blast… time with Alex & Linda is always the BEST time. Good conversations on a variety of topics: Jesus, church life, health, exercise, conspiracy theories, Joe Rogan, specialty meal replacement shakes, work (Alex works in a start-up that does high end health supplements & Linda is a supervisor in the educational system, focusing much of her life on helping foreigners & others trying to make the best of school in Germany.)

Alex had us rolling with his active & quick sense of humor & Linda’s joy & love of life are evident in every conversation we had with her. Truly dear & much loved friends. 

After our meal, since it wasn’t raining (YES) we decided to stretch our legs & walk home through the dark back streets of Berlin’s Kreuzberg & Neukölln neighborhoods; it only took about 30 minutes & it was really refreshing, esp. considering how much we had sat around with little activity the first week of our trip. Went up to their flat for more talks & a late night glass of wine… eventually made our way across the courtyard to our flat & were in our room a minute later. It was a good day.

DAY 16 – Templehof, Street Food, & Crazy Kim’s

Woke up late & headed to the Cafe Bread for coffee & a breakfast pastry… guy from yesterday wasn’t working (bummer) & but the new girl hooked us up & quickly as we settled into our spot to read, enjoy our coffee & people watch. Alex worked until 1 p.m. & Linda until 5, so theBean & I went for a walk through the neighborhood & picked up some supplies from the local grocery store. When Alex called us, we met him outside at an Uber & made our way downtown for some “on the go” site-seeing & a quick stop for a ‘snack’ at Goldie’s Smashburger &.I’ve had smashburgers in the US & they were ok… nothing compared to a good 3×3 animal style, protein style, w/extra grilled onions & cheese, no tomato, no spread, ketchup & mustard please @ In-N-Out burger, but ok.  

This was > ok. This was incredible. Keep in mind, we stopped here for a snack… & also because we hadn’t had a burger our whole time in Germany. So of course, we ended up getting doubles, which were the size of my two fists together. We came at the perfect time, so no line. By the time we were done eating, the line had wandered down the block. We crushed our burgers (so good) & took turns sampling the fries until we couldn’t eat any more. This was, by far, the food highlight of our trip. 

After eating waaaay too much for a snack, we wanted to do some walking, so we made our way through the streets til we finally got to the old Templehof Airport (check out the link for Templehof above), the site of the Berlin airdrops that saved Berlin in 1948 & 1949 (go USA). This massive former airport is now a recreation area, where miles of former taxi & runways have been turned into places for exercise, (bikes, roller blades, scooters, & foot power), with large grassy areas here & there for picnics, kid-friendly recreation, & a couple designated dog parks. Very cool, & lots of places to stop & read about the history of the place. Spent about 90 minutes walking & ended up on the far side of the airport, where we (thank the Lord) found bathrooms that were open & available for usage, without any fee. (NOTE: most of the time to use a toilet in a store/restaurant in Germany/Europe, it will cost you at least 1 Euro. Put that on your list of Even More Things to be thankful for at home.) 

Caught an Uber home, with just enough time to rest, change clothes, & meet Linda to catch another Uber to our dinner place, Crazy Kim’s Korean. We got seated by Kim herself at a table in the entry way, & placed our orders. This restaurant was one they hadn’t been to before, but our coming to visit gave them an opportunity. Food was decent & there were 15 appetizer bites brought to our table (no choice in the matter) & it was fun to try different things. For our main dishes, I got bulgogi & theBean got Korean short-ribs.

But the highlight of the night, for me, was the 2 women who came in shortly after us. One of them HAD to be the owner’s daughter & the other seemed to be a beloved best friend, because Kim doted on the super fancy & chic ladies, dressed in what were probably pretty fashionable (definition: super weird clothes that real people don’t wear) all the while snapping photos of themselves, each other, & the little pocket sized dog the daughter brought in in her purse. If you’ve ever seen wanna-be IG ‘influencers’ in action, you have an idea of our entertainment for the duration of dinner. They helped themselves to all sorts of things behind the bar, often leaving their table to walk around the building, often retreating into the “private” & “Staff only”, only to emerge later & hit the bar again. So. Funny.

Finished dinner & made our way to our Uber outside. The drive home only took 5 minutes, so we had to be close, but it was raining & we’d already walked about 8 miles earlier in the day. As it was our last night, we made our way up to Alex & Linda’s flat again, & sat around their table trying to pack as many conversations as possible into the time we had left. So precious. 

We sadly made our way back to our flat to sleep the short night’s sleep that comes before the departure flight home. We’d made plans to come to their flat in the morning for a cup of coffee & hugs goodbye, so we knew we’d get to see them at least one more time before we left. 

Slept well, with dreams of home in our minds.

Deutschland 2023 – Day 2… “Time with family…”

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Sleep. It’s what we needed after a “i’m barely able to keep my eyes open but I’m pushing through it” travel day. Ended up crashing at about 8:30 p.m. according to my never-too-happy-with-my-sleep score Garmin watch.  And still, it tells me we got 11 hours (!) , albeit with a middle of the night “who/where/what am I doing?” moment followed by a couple hours of both of us trying to convince ourselves & each other that “Yes, we were indeed Ready, Willing, & not quite Able to return to the Land of Slumber.” But eventually we both dozed off again & slept well until about 9 a.m. 

Woke up to the smell of coffee & a spinach, bacon, onion, & shrooms frittata graciously prepared by the gifted Eddy & Laura. (In their 1st year of marriage, Laura made 365 different dinner meals for Eddy. For reals. She cooks like that & does mathematics {M.I.T.} too, ladies & gentlemen. But I digress…)

All the ‘kids’ (Taylor, Elliott, Max, & Kira) were either at school or in their space doing school online, so we settled down to Psalm 90, a prayer of thanksgiving, & to a couple hours of talks, interspersed with coffee & water refills & lots of laughter. 

We talked about family & the changes that come over time. About seasons of life & church, the  Working Genius assessment & how it can help within the context of life, relationships, church & work; God’s continued process of growth & healing in our lives; vulnerability, friendship, partnership, marriage, etc. Could have gone on for days.

The ‘boys’ come home from/finished up with school. I say ‘boys’ but they’re  20 & 18… young men.. both with a killer sense of humor, & definite/obvious gifts & applied intelligence. Taylor & Elliot added all sorts of joy & insight & perspectives to our conversations. 

In addition to pastoring a church Eddy is the VP at a worldwide company that does digital platforms for businesses, so he had to tackle some work meetings. My theBean & I started the process of getting ready, packing up & preparing for today’s travel by train to Baden-Baden late this afternoon to see our Julia.

The 90 minute train trip to Baden-Baden was uneventful & Julia met us right on the train exit. It’s been 7 years since we’ve seen her in person (we text & send Marco Polo’s to each other on the regular) & it was so good to see her! She swept us (& our luggage) into her car & transported us the 20 minutes or so to the house of her sister Linda & her incredible brother in law, Heiko. We first met them back in 2008 when they escorted teenage Julia to the US. For Hillsiders – imagine Cole had a German cousin who loved to cook & help as much as he does, (church, home, & Royal Rangers,) & add in a bevy of ATV’s, & you get a glimpse of this man.  

Also joining us @ the Casa de Tilgner (Heiko & Linda’s last name) were Julia & LInda’s parents, Klaus & Pia. Such gracious people who adopted us into their tribe when Julia originally came to stay with us. What a joy to be brought to the table of a family to celebrate life, eat great food (tonight it was round after round of different types of Flammkuchen – savory, veggie, & sweet) & tell stories, laugh til it hurt, & catch up on what God is doing & what is happening in their lives.

The time today (& the times over the last couple of days with the Dueck family) really make Acts 2:42 come to life… the powerful connection with God & each other that happens around shared meals, + shared time, space, & experiences. It requires that we give of ourselves, that we stretch into sharing a type of  ‘divine hospitality’ that reaches beyond the comfortable & invites the Holy Spirit to the table in a manner that develops, establishes, & maintains kingdom of God family connections. This is the way.

Around 11 pm, Julia drove us to her flat – so cute. After a quick tour, we headed to bed & ended up crashing pretty good shortly after midnight. Woke up the next morning to the smell of coffee (Julia has grown a lot & even incorporates coffee into her daily routine. If you know, you know.) I decided to finish this post (yesterday’s/Day 2’s) post & then dive into the day of fun, relaxation, & good talks. 

Thank you for your prayers – we are seeing the goodness of God & divine appointments set up for us on the daily. 

The pictures are Julia, theBean & Pia; theBean, Julia, Pia, Klaus, me, Heiko, & Linda; Klaus & me

Fishing TOGETHER & other musings…

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This post isn’t about actual fishing, or more pointedly, about Louie going fishing. I can only imagine people that know me thinking, ‘Fishing? Louie? What?’ 

It’s not that I don’t know HOW to fish; I fished quite a bit with my family in my early years… it’s just that I really don’t ENJOY the fishing, partially since I don’t enjoy eating the fish. At all. But I digress. 

This past weekend theBean & I were in Chico with dear friends at LIFE Church Chico & we spent a lot of time in conversations about the concept of being TOGETHER (aka in one accord, of one mind, one passion, one heart & one soul…) It’s a reality that has strongly impacted me as I’ve read (& taught) through the first 5 chapters of the Book of Acts.  Specifically, there are several situations in those chapters where the disciples of Christ are gathered TOGETHER & it is much more than sharing a physical proximity to each other. It’s a devotion to Christ that shows up in the willingness to:

  • be being transformed & to humbly submit themselves to the will of God in Christ Jesus for the cause of Christ.
  • embrace God’s definition of the Kingdom of God, partnering with brothers & sisters of every tribe, tongue, & nation, for the cause of Christ.
  • NOT insist on one’s own ways, preferences, & needs above those of others for the cause of Christ.
  • compromise with others & work together WITH others for the cause of Christ.
  • give & live sacrificially with their time, energy, & resources for the cause of Christ.
  • look beyond historic & deeply held people-separators, things like culture, customs, prejudices, racism, sexism, & bad blood for the cause of Christ.
  • relentlessly forgive, extend grace, look for & think the best of others for the cause of Christ.

TOGETHER is a powerful thing, especially when it is for the cause of Christ.

So where does the fishing come in? Glad you asked…

During one of our times together, our friend Chris, talking more in-depth about TOGETHER, shared a picture that he had… in Matthew 4 & Mark 1, Jesus calls the brothers Peter & Andrew, James & John, to leave the life they know (as fishermen) to come follow Him, wherever He may go, with the promise that if they do, Jesus will make them Fishers of Men. I got it. 

What I immediately pictured when he said “fishermen” was dudes fishing solo, with poles & gear. One pole/line/hook in the water as the dude explores the fishing hole looking to catch fish. It’s the most common picture in my head of what I think of when I think “fishing.” It’s a solo pursuit… esp. in the context I’ve participated.

But Chris kept talking. The context for the disciples (Near-Eastern, 1st century) fishing was with nets. Nets requiring a team of people working TOGETHER to bring in a catch. We see a couple examples of this TOGETHER partnership happening when Peter experiences a miraculous catch of fish that threatens to split his nets & overturn his boat because there were SO MANY fish (Luke 5:1-11.) And Peter’s first response? To call out to his fishing partners to come work TOGETHER to bring in the catch. 

Because that kind of fishing requires teamwork. Partnership. Pulling the nets in a coordinated fashion, TOGETHER, to bring the catch in.

Fishing TOGETHER.

So, over the last week, I’ve not been able to get that fishing TOGETHER image/concept out of my head. I think its because (or at least I feel) I’ve known that 1st century, Jesus-style fishing was a TOGETHER activity, but whenever I worked it out in my head, the TOGETHER part never translated to my own context. 

And it serves as a powerful reminder to me that the call & cause of Christ  are not individual pursuits; they are TOGETHER pursuits. Reminders of our need for a community to be a part of; a people to partner with/come alongside; a local context where we get to ‘work out our salvation’ in the context of relationships centered on Christ & committed to the mutual benefit & encouragement of our fellow believers.

I know TOGETHER is often messy. Imperfectly done. Challenging. Costly. Even risky. 

But it’s worth it. 

Some thoughts on “connection” & other musings on a Monday…

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Was browsing my morning roundup of “all things interesting in the world of Sport” while waiting for the Monday meetings to start & something caught my eye. First, a little background:

Yesterday at church, both in the announcements & in the speech, theBean & I referenced a few of the goals that we have for people who call Hillside their home. One of those goals is simply stated as a desire for Hillsiders to know, experience, & nurture deep, meaningful, life-to-life connections (real relationships where you’re known & where you know others in return,) with other people.

This morning I came across this ARTICLE in ESPN. In it, the wife of Rams QB Matthew Stafford shared some significant insights about her husband’s experiences with attempted connection with his young teammates. Stafford described how difficult he was finding it with his current team, compared to previous experiences. He’s quoted as saying:

“In the old days you’d come out of practice, you’d shower, & people would be playing cards, interacting. Who knows what they’re doing, but they’re doing something together. Playing pingpong, they have a tournament going on. They’d at least be talking. But now they get out of practice, & meetings during training camp, & they go straight to their phones. No one looks up from their phones…What do I DO here?'”

Wow.

To me, this is an incredible testimony about a common, everyday practice/behavior pattern that not only doesn’t HELP with meaningful connection with others, it actually HURTS & INHIBITS it.

I shared the info with theBean & she commented, “Think about being in the airport yesterday. Even the couples that were sitting together were lost in their phones.” As I reminisced about the day, I thought about every place we’d gone: multiple airports; a hotel lobby; a restaurant. All with people glued to their phones. 

Not throwing rocks here. I’ve BEEN that guy. WE’VE ALL been that guy/girl. 

But it seems that when its the RULE of our life, our meaningful connections may suffer as a result. Makes me want to be even more mindful of this little device (& what it represents – distraction, diversion, disconnection, escape, etc.) & to be the boss of IT & not have IT be the boss of me.

Praying for meaningful connections that lead to life-giving relationships & real community for theBean & I; for my kids; for my grandkids (for whom this world of me-focused entertainment & diversion will be their generations native environment.) & for you.

Blessings to you today.