Good evening friends! So glad you've stopped by to catch up with me! I'll warn you now that this will be a very long post. Don't feel obliged to read it in it's entirety, however, I also think you will be as encouraged and inspired as I was. It was a trip years, even decades in the making and it met and exceeded expectations! It came about after a conversation with my spiritual brother Lukas, who is German, became a disciple and we began discussing such a trip just over a year and a half ago.
Our thought was to go to our European Missions Conference, which is typically held in October, was changed to our global conference for our family of churches in August this year. Even though Lukas and I had discussed doing the trip this year, as soon as I found out it would be the biggest conference of the year in our church, it became my literal mission/obsession to be go!
So during the Winter of 2024/25, I was in very poor health. After almost a year of suffering from "long Covid" (you should search this ailment, it's a brutal condition that came about after the Covid 19 pandemic that afflicted older and generally sicker people who had the displeasure of catching the virus once, or in my case, up to several times), my doctor helped me start to heal from the tremendous physical and mental damage done by this horrific malady.
I went on medical leave from my job from the beginning of December, 2024 to the end of March, 2025. Thankfully, I was able to receive disability pay for most of that time. But by the time I was released to return to work, I was hurting financially! It took almost two months to get back on track with my budget, and by that time, we were deep into saving up for our church's Special Missions Contribution. For the first time that I can remember, I fell short of my goal, but I do believe I gave it my best!
So for the few months, from March to August, I worked my day job, and did Door Dash during some evenings and most weekends. I was really pushing myself to my limits to be able to afford to make this trip back to Europe. By the way, this was also a resolution I made back in January as one of my official goals of 2025. Accomplished!
So on August 7th, Lukas and I flew to Berlin, via London, and we landed at the airport. We were exhausted! We had been traveling about 20 hours by that time, and we were just looking forward to crashing at the brother's place, and excited to meet them! So Lukas got to customs shortly before I did, but when I exited, Lukas was not to be found. By this time, I was experiencing some significant back pain and needed to sit down, but in that corridor there were no seats. I looked back through the window and could see he was still talking to the officer. He saw me and shrugged, so I sent him a message that I was going to head to baggage claim and find a seat. I might mention that at this point, my phone was at 1% or 2% battery.
So I waited at the baggage claim and we called each other, while I tried to get some juice into my phone. Verdict: the border police wouldn't allow him to enter the country due to a fine that he had on his record from years ago. I thought to myself. "Now what do I do?" They would not accept a money transfer and banks were just closing for the week on a Friday night.
The brother that was going to meet us was still on his way to the airport. I had to make a decision. By leaving the baggage claim to meet him, I was potentially leaving Lukas behind. I didn't know what to do.... After several minutes, I made the decision to exit into the main hall and meet our welcome party. I felt dejected, and unsure of where to even start.
We had been in Berlin for 30 minutes and I was already wondering if our entire trip would be ruined. I tried to fight the thought, but I was reeling from exhaustion and dealing with physical pain and an almost dead phone, and on top of it all, I just didn't know how to fix this for my friend. So I came out and met our brother Valentino, who was waiting at the arrivals exit. We sat down and introduced ourselves, I told him the situation, and I asked if we could pray. He obviously agreed, and we prayed and got to work on a solution.
So after what seemed like dozens of calls and text messages, several other brothers also came to the airport to help out. I won't get into a lot of detail, but the brothers were able to deliver help to Lukas and after about 4 hours of waiting, they finally allowed Lukas to enter Germany! Everyone was overjoyed, and Lukas had the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders!
So we started on our journey to the brother's house and after over 24 hours of travel, the brothers gave us accommodation, and we were able to lay down and rest from a long day of traveling.
Saturday, August 9th
When I woke up on Saturday morning, I was talking with one of the brothers in the hallway in their flat. About that same time, another brother was coming up the stairs and as he reached the top, he looked over at me and froze. He just stood there, in shock, not believing his eyes. It was my amazing brother Keonte!!! We were roommates on the mission team in Berlin three years ago, and got to know each other in Amsterdam before that for almost a month. We also took the train together to Berlin and were #3 and #4 to arrive in Berlin to plant the church after the Zykovs. So he ran to me and we hugged so tight, and since we're both big teddy bears, the tears flowed. Due to visa issues, he left shortly before I did in 2022 to return to the US, but now he's back in Berlin, living there as a student!
So one of my biggest tasks while in Berlin was to retrieve two suitcases that had been left in Berlin in December 2022 when I had to leave Germany as my visa was expiring. I already took two or three suitcases, and I just couldn't grab the other three (the other one was returned October of last year). So I set out across Berlin, the city I love, and headed toward Tomiwa and Vienne's house to pick up my last suitcase. He had everything ready for me and we had a great conversation!
Now I think it's appropriate to say here that one of my main goals of this trip was to make sure I had reconciled with several people from some things that had happened while I was in Amsterdam and Berlin in the Fall of 2022. That's why I call this my spiritual reset. I won't go into details here because I think that will necessitate it's own post in the near future. But it would suffice to say that I was really struggling when I left Berlin. By the time I left the city, I had gotten very sick twice in two months, which I believe to have been the coronavirus. And it left me weak physically and spiritually. (More on this to come later).
So I had a great conversation with Tomiwa in his kitchen, where I apologized to him, in tears, and noting that I had a lot of insecurity from the way things ended there three years ago. This is one thing I absolutely love about the Kindom of God. Reconciliation, forgiveness, love. True agape love, not the artificial stuff. The real thing! He said "You did the best you could, and I'm glad you're still faithful." Or something very close to that. His forgiveness and his loving words softened my heart and the tears began to flow again. This was the first of several such conversations that I would have over the next 8 eight days...
So, when I left Berlin three years ago, the suitcase I picked up at his house was broken and in pretty bad shape. Even though I had just bought it new in London in August that year, mere months before, it began to fall apart. So Tomiwa grabbed some duct tape and made it so I could schlepp it across town to the brother's house. The suitcase was quite large, and without the duct tape, impossible to roll behind me, but God helped me got it done!
So I jumped on the bus with the old rickety bag and headed toward the S-Bahn (commuter train). I desperately needed cash so I stopped in a little Döner Kebap store where they had an ATM, and got a Döner since I didn't have time to eat breakfast, and I was starving. I've eaten at that place before and the food there is not that great for Berlin standards, but oh boy, it was amazing for someone who hadn't had a real döner in three years. It was beautiful! Haha!
So one of the things I realized on that gorgeous, hot Saturday in Berlin, was that I think I may have some lingering issues with heat intolerance. If I'm walking around in the shade, I do okay, but in the direct sun, I struggle mightily! I've always sweated probably more than the average person, but due to my weight, I'm not that surprised. But what I realized here was that it had gotten significantly worse. If I'm completely honest with myself, I was actually kind of concerned. This was essentially day one of a 10-day vacation and I was already drenched in sweat the first morning! Guess I just need to keep hydrated...
In the afternoon, we went to a brother's birthday party that was held near Potsdamer Platz in an arcade! I was pretty wiped out already so I hung out but didn't really take part too much, except in general fellowship. I saw Lisa there for the first time since 2022 and she came up to me and gave me a big hug. I tell you, family reunions are a powerful thing... It was so special reconnecting with her, Keonte and the rest of the Berlin family!
Afterward, I just wanted to get a picture with Lukas and the brothers at Brandenburg Gate and then I headed back to the brother's place to relax for the evening. It was in the mid to upper 80's in Berlin that day, and I was truly spent. I also needed to go through my suitcase and move everything I wanted to keep over to another suitcase that I brought with me, since I knew the other one was too damaged to take back with me. (By the way, when I flew over, I put my regular small suitcase inside the bigger one so that I didn't have to pay for extra luggage or purchase another bag in Berlin.) By the way, even though the bag I brought was a fair bit smaller than the one I left there, God allowed everything to fit perfectly! Thanks, God!
Sunday, August 10th
Both of the mornings in Berlin were just stunningly beautiful! Cool temperatures, but clear skies and incredible sunrises!
On Sunday morning, since the brother's house was on the opposite side of town from the train station, I left two hours early to drop off my luggage at the hotel next door to it. But (as usual), I was running super late and had to take a taxi from there because partially the place I paid to leave my bags didn't acknowledge my reservation so I had to do a plan B for that. The lady at the hotel was also not particularly helpful... But I finally got the bags stowed and I had to make a mad dash for service. I was going to cut it close!
So I got in a taxi at Berlin's main train station, and the driver was an older German man. I was speaking German with him, but he could tell I was American. (He did mention that my German was almost accent free, but let's be honest, I definitely look American! LOL!) But I told him that my friend and I were leaving later in the day and that I would be visiting my old German hometown of Zweibrücken. That's when our whole conversation changed. He used to work for decades at an American Army post in Miesau, just a 25 minute drive from "ZW"! What are the odds??? We had a great conversation for the next 15 or 20 minutes, but when we got to the pin on the map, it was behind a wall from the street where we were at, and I wasn't about to climb a wall with my chubby self!! Service was in the park and there was no obvious entrances that I could see.
Eventually we found what we thought was an entrance to the park, but it wasn't. Then I got lost for 10+ minutes before finding the actual entrance to the park. I was almost 30 minutes late to church. Pretty sure I was the last one to arrive. I was sweaty, and definitely feeling stressed and overheated.
Now, this is nobody's fault, so I'm not mad at all, but I have to admit I was having a rough time during the service. For decades, I've not really been able to just sit on the ground for long periods of time, and my body was in a fair bit of pain. But God blessed it, I powered through and I survived to tell the story! (Hahaha!)
In all seriousness, though, the service was very encouraging. The disciples were great, and Lukas even led a couple of songs and did the contribution message, sharing his story from two nights before. It was great to see him up there just being open and giving his heart to the German family of believers!
The church had a baptism after service and then a picnic with some barbecue provided by an American brother as well as many other dishes brought by the membership! But unfortunately, we had to tear ourselves away from the disciples and head to the train station. Lots more walking, mostly in the shade, but also in the sun. I was definitely overheating again and had to take a couple of breaks... Lukas was really a good sport about it, though I know at times he would have loved to have been able to go a bit faster.
So we took the underground and went a few stops, but I could tell that we might very well be late for our train. So I decided to get another taxi and it actually turned out to be a great thing! Due to being in Berlin for less than 48 hours, Lukas really wanted to see other sights: the Siegessaüle and the Kaiser Wilhelm church, and others. He went on Saturday night with the brothers down Unter den Linden to see several of Berlin's other noteworthy sights. But in the taxi on our way to the train station, we drove by them! He was very encouraged!
We got to the hotel where I left my bags, grabbed them and rushed to the train station next door. We grabbed some food and drink and we made the train with 9 minutes to spare! WHEW!!! Now for the next four hours, we could relax! We got seats in the first class section (I HIGHLY recommend it, and it was only a few euros more than the standard seating!) I had bought some snacks the night before and we decided to get a Hefeweizen beer. It was sooo refreshing! Man, what a blessed man I am, God really made this trip so special. And the good news is, that it wasn't anywhere near over, it was just the beginning!
FRANKFURT
We took the train to Frankfurt, just a couple of hours from my German hometown. Since I couldn't pick up the rental car on a Sunday in Frankfurt (most businesses are closed Sundays in Germany), we stayed the night there in Frankfurt. By the time we got to the hotel, WE. WERE. EXHAUSTED! Even Lukas crashed out by like 8:30pm! He got up later and went to get a döner, but I stayed at the hotel. I couldn't move, I was so tired and sore! Ugh!
So the place we stayed there was only a few blocks from the train station, right in the middle of an old neighborhood, but also near the city center, which is full of modern high-rise office buildings. We wouldn't fully appreciate this until the morning.
Now I had never spent much time in Frankfurt when I lived in Germany as a teenager/young adult. The one thing I did do there was see my first concert at the Festhalle on October 29, 1987: The Cure, Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me Tour! Great first concert, by the way. But the rest of the city was a mystery to me. We didn't have much time for sightseeing there, but there was one thing I did want to see.
Monday, August 11th
When we woke up on Monday morning, the sun was coming up down the end of the street. With the skyscrapers in the background, wonderful old ornate rowhouses in the foreground, and the brilliant orange glow of the sun poking up over the horizon, bringing a warm glow to everything it greeted. It was absolutely stunning, what an incredible gift from God!
Before we headed out to pick up the rental, we stopped at the little "To Go" store right across from the hotel. We grabbed some Brötchen with cheese and meat, some fruit and coffee, a cappuccino for me, and grabbed some snacks for the road. By the way, if you've never had a traditional German breakfast as described here, you. are. missing. out. on one of the true joys of life. It's indescribable in it's simplicity and stunning in it's freshness and delectability. Truly one of life's culinary treats!
Now this trip was mostly going to places I've been many times, and generally seeing people that I knew and love (but also meeting many other amazing people, too) but I wanted to do or see at least one thing that I hadn't before, so on the way to pick up the rental on Monday morning, we went to see the Römer, an incredibly beautiful square flanked by centuries-old churches and wood-framed houses. It was absolutely stunning! We also got to visit the Frankfurt cathedral as well! Well worth the time to see all of that!
Then we marched on to pick up our car, a new VW Golf station wagon, "GOAL" version and we made our way toward the Autobahn! My first time driving on the Autobahn since 1992! I was SO excited! I learned to drive in Germany on the Autobahn, so it should be like riding a bike, right? :D
END PART 1
