Funny cultural exchange

This morning we were at a nearby store, wanting to buy one of those shopping carts that you pull behind you. I've always thought they were dorky but everyone has one here so who cares? I had it in my mind that I wanted a super deluxe one with big wheels and very sturdy. The one I was looking at cost 89 Euros. A bit pricey but I figured it was worth it for 2 years of carrying groceries. As we were about to purchase this beauty, an old German lady comes up to us and starts talking loud & fast and telling us that this one was no good and we shouldn't buy it. At least that's what we understood from her wagging finger and other body gestures. We kept hearing the word "Norma" and other street names and all kinds of stuff that we couldn't understand. We told her thank you and left the beautiful cart behind. I looked up "Norma" on my phone and there were several of them in the city, a department store, we were guessing. The closest one was 19 minutes by train so off we went in search of an awesome cart that would cost a fraction of what the pretty one cost. We went on 3 different trains to get to the place and then walked for 5 minutes. When we got to "Norma" we discovered that it was indeed a discount store but they had no carts whatsoever. We saw an old man with a nice-looking one so we asked him where he bought it. He took us outside and pointed down the street and told us that 4 or 5 shops down there, we should find them on the street. So off we go, searching for the perfect cart. First of all, we walked way down the street that the old man had pointed to and found nothing. So we walked back and then down another street. We found carts sitting out on the street. Yay! There were 2 carts there, both so ugly that I wouldn't be caught dead pulling them around town. But they cost 10 Euro. Then I thought, it's not like people sit and analyse your shopping cart and even if they think mine is ugly, really, what's the big deal? We could buy 8 of these ugly things for the price of the pretty one that I wanted. So off we went with our red & pink cart. A couple of hours in 95 degree heat but we got our cart! I later took it shopping and loaded it up with heavy things and it performed like a dream. And I doubt one single person glanced at my shopping cart and thought how ugly it was:) Ha ha.

Camp duty!

Darrell & I have offered our help at several refugee "camps", which is what they call them here. There is one girl in particular that took a liking to us and calls us often to see if we're free to help. We've been to the camp where she works three times and done things like paint a women's lounge, dismantle a huge clothes closet (actually 2 rooms) and today, went to pack away a large room full of toiletries, sheets, towels and blankets. We also dismantled the shelves and will go back on Saturday to move everything to a different floor and put it all back together again. The camp is really a huge building with 500 people living in it. There are children running up and down the halls, screaming like children do. The men are out in the garden, smoking and sitting for hours on end. They told us that there are lots of fights that break out because it's Ramadan and half the people are fasting and half are not. Also there are different factions, like Sunni and Shiite and they fight too. As we were packing up the toiletries and linens today, I was able to help a lot with translation as people were getting frustrated that they couldn't be understood. There were mobs of people lined up down the hall, waiting to get toiletries, diapers, clean linens, etc. They only get to change their linens once a month! I wouldn't be good at that job because I'm too soft; I was sneaking things to women on the side:) There seemed to be a lot more Arabic-speaking people in this camp than others we've been in. One of the large populations of refugees is Afghans.  We were told that is is becoming very difficult to move people out of these camps. There just aren't enough empty apartments in this city and many do not want to rent to refugees.  In fact, they're building new camps that will house thousands more who are expected to arrive in the coming months. It seems like a hopeless situation to us. The best we can offer them is a place to escape to and find people who will listen to them and love them and show them that there is hope in Jesus even if their situation seems so hopeless. We've walked the streets of this city for days and weeks, exploring which neighborhoods would be conducive to setting up a community center in. We've pretty much narrowed it down to a certain area but now to find a large hall to rent. Berlin is known for its' bureaucracy so please pray that we can cut through all of that and be able to rent something fairly soon and without a lot of hassle. Thanks for sticking with us on this journey. We can't do it alone!

Lovin' our new home

We have been here in Berlin for about 10 days now. We have walked for hours, learned the bus/train/tram system and only gotten lost a couple of times. Everything is so well marked and orderly in this country. Yesterday we went to get officially registered with the government here and walked into the building at 8:24, the EXACT time of our appointment. At 8:24 our number flashed up on the screen and we were in and out of the office with our important paper in hand in 11 minutes. What a contrast to other places we've lived where it can take days to get registered and a whole lot of hassle in between. We love the bakeries on every corner and the delicious coffee. I suppose we've stopped for coffee and pastries at least 7 of the 10 days we've been here. We figure the walking more than offsets those calories:)
In our travels around, by foot and by train, we have run into countless refugees who have been very friendly as we stop and greet them in their language and ask about their stories. They are eager to share every detail of the harrowing trips they experienced to arrive to this country. The other day we sat on a bench with 3 women and a man while they recounted their stories for almost an hour and then invited us to come to their home. I don't think it will be difficult to gather these people together eventually when we figure out where we want to settle with our community center. They are lonely and looking for friends. We pray that conversations will easily turn to spiritual things and that we will be able to show them true Christian love. Knowing their language is a huge plus for us!
Tomorrow we will go to meet a woman who runs 3 "camps" in a poorer area of the city. We were told that they are in desperate need of help and we hope we can do something to help them, even if it's just cooking or sorting clothes or whatever. They also told us they are just finishing a women's lounge that will be functioning next week. That sounds right up my alley! At this point, we simply want to get to know people and figure out what part of the city we want to concentrate on. The need is overwhelming - in every train and on every street, their are refugees everywhere. Parks are a good place to meet people also. With it being Ramadan right now, things are a little slower and not so many people out and about.
We know that God has big plans for the refugees of this city. Being separated from their families and their societies makes them far more open & willing to consider a different way. Could it be that what man meant for evil by destroying the beautiful country of Syria and dispersing its' people, God meant for good, to bring them to a place where they have freedom to reject the false religion that has enslaved them until now? For such a time as this, we will PROCLAIM the Good News!

First day observations

Our flights all went according to schedule, we got out ahead of the hurricane that never really amounted to much and our entire team was here to welcome us when we arrived. All of our baggage also arrived with us which is never something to take for granted!
After a fairly decent night of sleep we were ready to hit the town and explore our area. The first item of business was to get SIM cards for our iPhones. Turned out neither one worked and it was going to be a big pain to fix the problem so we ended up buying 2 Android phones that work great. This one thing took us more than 2 hours to accomplish. I guess the Arabs have nothing on the Germans! Everything was done on foot and before noon, I had 10,000 steps in. The garbage collection here is out of control - 7 different containers for sorting your trash. I heard of this before but couldn't believe it was really true. One for wet trash, one for paper, one for colored glass, one for brown glass, one for clear glass, one for plastic, one for cardboard. Actually, I think there may be a couple other categories. It's unbelievable. The Germans are all about their bicycles, their dogs, their public transportation. There are trains above ground, below ground and trolleys running along the streets, besides buses. Our team mate gave us directions to get to the center where we'll go tomorrow night for a "language cafe". I think we'll leave a couple hours early to make sure we arrive on time. We walk about 15 minutes and then get on one certain train, go 6 stops and get off, walk across to the other tracks and go another 3 stops, then get off and walk another 15 minutes. Google Maps will be our best friend, they tell us. Grocery shopping is a whole other story! Every plastic bottle can be recycled at the store in a large machine. You get money back for each one, a lot of money. No bags anywhere; bring your own or pay a hefty fee for one. Not a word of English on anything so it's a big guessing game for some things. I think I brought home baking powder but I really have no idea. The fridge and dishwasher in my kitchen are miniature size. That's because people here go shopping every day and only buy what they need for that day since no one has a car and it's too heavy to carry large amounts of stuff. Life is just very different here and it will take time to get used to it but we're up for the challenge. We've already learned so much just in one day. Thanks for coming along on this journey with us! Until next time...

Berlin-bound

In less than 48 hours we'll be heading for the airport once again as we leave for Berlin and a new life that we know little about. Watching my daughter and her husband stuffing things in every possible crevice of their suitcases recently, made me realize that this life we've chosen is not an easy one. It involves constant goodbye's and suitcases and unsettledness! Doing this with young children takes the process to a whole other level. We dragged our three children all over the world, providing for them experiences that none of them regrets. I hope my grandchildren will feel the same one day. I honestly wouldn't trade this crazy life for any other. And now here we go again, into the unknown. I am so thankful to have my risk-taking husband by my side. There's not much we encounter in life, that together, we can't tackle. It's fun to jump into the deep and have the loving arms of Jesus there to hold us up. We are excited about what lies ahead. It will be an adventure for sure. I hope to be faithful in keeping you up to date on the good and the bad. Here we go.....