A New Year

For the first time in a while, the sun is shining here in Chemnitz. Unfortunately, it’s -9 degrees Celsius, so I’m not exactly bathing in the sunshine. But that’s just me. Tiffany, on the other hand, has really embraced the beauty of the season, as evidenced by the posted photos.

While I’m loathe to call them resolutions, Tiffany and I have started trying to live a bit healthier: a little less sugar and a lot more vegetables. Also, I hope to start working out at a fitness center that’s only across the street. But whether we’re trying to lose weight, be more active or what have you, I think the main thing is that we’re striving to live more responsibly. We need to live in such a way that we hold ourselves accountable to the decisions that we make. Weighing our actions against those decisions we’ve made–living deliberately, to pull Thoreau’s quote way out of context–is a sign of maturity. And good self control is, of course, a fruit of the spirit, and holding oneself accountable–and also being held accountable by others–is also a central aspect of a Christian’s life.

Finally, a bit of news: the past month or so has been very slow. Many of our readers have been sick or on holiday, and while we initially enjoyed the downtime, we’re ready to get back to work. As many of you know, both Tiffany and I work best and are happiest when faced with a little bit of stress. So, we’re now trying to really expand our outreach. This month, we’ll be taking out an ad in the local paper offering free English conversation through Let’s Start Talking, and we’ll be looking for other ways in which we can serve. So please be praying that people respond!

Photo Droplets

I feel like it’s time to share some of my favorite photos since coming to Chemnitz. Photography is a love of mine, something to help capture favorite moments.

Photos are journies; when I take them I feel like they capture my ideas, feelings, and experiences along the paths I travel. I hope photography will be a journey I continue throughout my life, and that you can enjoy a peek into my mind:

Camera: Friend or Foe?

The Alps in Summer

I dance, I play, I dream

Feisty

Passage

Fresh Air

Lady Red

MOOoooOO

Nosey

Sunhats and Sunshine

Sweet Summer

Take Flight

The Beaten Path

Focusing Skyward

The Gentle Wild

The rain in Spain has drifted o’er the Plain…

…and into Germany.

In autumn, Germany rains. The sun does occasion to shine, but only to punctuate the end of one storm and the beginning of the next. And, thanks to daylight savings time, the sun sets around 5:30 now, making this a very gloomy season. This is not really a surprise. You’ve seen depictions of eastern Europe on television and movies, haven’t you? With the exception of Everything is Illuminated–in which the sun must shine or the title would be just vicious irony–the sun is elusive in this part of the world.

So we use artificial light: we’ve just begun a series of English Movie Nights. (Apparently, we also use sickeningly contrived segues). At the suggestion of Larry, we’re replacing the summer-y activities we’ve been hosting for our LST readers–baseball, especially–with America’s real favorite past-time, staring at a screen. It’s actually very exciting. This past Monday Sarah hosted our first film, The Emperor’s Club, and we had a magnificent time.

Look, the term “Movie Night” for me usually means we gather with a bunch of people, watch a movie we compromised on (which means one no one’s really delighted about), and afterwards look awkwardly at each other until someone decides they’ll be the first to attend to the “stuff they’ve got to do.” Sarah’s gifted with the ability to bring the best outcome to a given situation, and we really had a blast! I’m so impressed particularly by the discussion she got rolling after the movie. Instead of that heavy, after-credits silence, she asked simply, “so… what do you think?”

The Emperor’s Club, with “what I’ve learned” voice-overs, sets itself up as a not-subtle message movie. But our conversation dug beyond the film’s obvious message that moral fortitude is good and important. The film warmly touches on things like self-awareness and forgiveness, and brought us to the question, “If we are doomed to make mistakes, what actions and attitudes constitute our character?”

It was a great evening, and I’m looking very forward to the next one. Mom, I’m sorry about this, but we’ll be watching It’s a Wonderful Life the first Monday in December.

Turning Points

Tonight marks a new, wonderful beginning: worship service was held in Leipzig this afternoon. Larry and Pam Sullivan, our missionary supervisors, along with missionaries Mark and Karen Abercrombie, are establishing a new work in Leipzig, a city of 750,000 people about 90 minutes north of Chemnitz.

I’ve never witnessed anything like the birth of a new church. I suppose I knew churches began, that despite the claim that the churches of Christ were established around 42 AD, congregations bearing our name were sometime after the 19th century begun. But we’ve only been a part of church families in the middle of their existence, and, on a couple of tragic occasions, the end. And here we are now, waiting eagerly to see God’s love and glory as his gospel brings a new harvest.

This exciting landmark coincides with another, significant milestone in the churches of Saxony: until now, the church in Chemnitz has relied on the leadership of American missionaries–the Sullivans, Cantrells, Nashes and many others. But the leadership has been turned over now to Alex Bartsch and Steffen Pietsch, men who teach, preach, lead and demonstrate the degree to which God has matured this congregation.

A quick word of clarification: Tiffany and I will continue to work primarily in Chemnitz. We will, however, travel from time to time to Leipzig for worship service and other events. And for the time being, Larry and Pam will stay in Chemnitz and commute to Leipzig for meetings with contacts.

Language School Dropout

Two weeks ago, I (Roy) walked into the front office of the Volkshochschule (the community school) to enroll in a German course. With no other way to determine exactly at what level I could speak and understand German, I was given a test. Apparently, I’m a rockin’-awesome test taker, because I was placed in the first Intermediate level course.

My rockin’-awesome test-taking skills, however, aren’t matched by my language skills, and since Tuesday I’ve been drowning in adjective declensions and subjunctive cases that I was already supposed to know. And, I was expected to actually be able to carry on conversations in German. Today, after I answered a question, my teacher looked at me and said, “Ich verstehe Sie nicht” (“I don’t understand you”).

I decided that my difficulties really stem from being in the wrong class. This is calculus, but I don’t yet know any trigonometry. I’ll speak with an administrator next week about getting enrolled in the correct course. It’s a blow to the ego (which, by the way, has no place in language-learning), but it’s really for the best.

I just thought I’d share with you one small bump in the road to learning a second language.

American Baseball Party- LST

 

Yesterday evening we had the annual LST baseball party! We had probably 40-50 people come, and we played two great games. We also enjoyed drinks and snacks and fellowship. It was really fun to see people play a sport that some of them had barely heard of! Everyone had a really great time, and it was a good light-hearted time to meet new people.

Roy is demonstrating how you hold the bat!

Pam is showing Kai how to hit the ball

He hit the ball, but didn't know he was suppose to run....

 

 

Janine, preparing for a homer.

Our Anniversary in Dresden

Tuesday, August 18th was our anniversary, and to celebrate we traveled to Dresden. It was a wonderful time, and the trip gave Tiffany and me the opportunity to spend some time alone. Life’s really lurched forward here: appointments and meetings and activities and several projects have kept us busy, so we enjoyed just wondering the city. Dresden is at least 800 years old, and it renowned for its art and architecture. Needless to say, we wandered around the city for hours and really only visited two sites. It’s a good thing we live only an hour from Dresden, and I’m looking forward to seeing much more of it in the future.

Tiffany in front of the Frauenkirche, an enormous Lutheran Church that was destroyed by Allied bombs World War II and has only recent been rebuilt. Dresden is, among other things, a testament to the horrors of war.

This is a view of the Kronentor (the Crown Tower) from inside the Zwinger. Many parts of the Zwinger have been rebuilt as they, too, were destroyed in WWII.

The Zwinger holds three major galleries. We visited the Alte Meister (Old Masters) Gallery. The painting Tiffany is posing in front of was painted by Jan Vermeer, one of Tiffany's favorite artists.

The Doner Kabab

Tuesday, July 21st was our first day in Germany. It was also the first time that I, Roy, have ever eaten a Doner Kebab.

Click here if you don’t know what a doner is (and forgive me for omitting the uemlaut). Rather, let me explain to you what it does to me when I dive in for a bite. Usually, I fumble through my order, mixing botched German phrases with accidental English and a lot of pointing, which all seems unnecessary because all I want to say is “One with everything, please.” Usually, there are three or four different sauces drenching my doner and spilling over the edge, so eating is a process of biting, licking and wiping with a napkin. I know that I could order a Durmer instead of a Doner, thereby having the flatbread replaced with a large tortilla and making the experience less messy, but that would be so boring.  No, I accept the mess as a small price to pay (along with my 2 or 3 euro) for something so heavenly.

I’ve been here for 13 days and have consumed 3 doner, which doesn’t seem at all excessive. It’s just that good. If you see a lil’ doner shop next time you’re anywhere in Europe (especially in Germany, where they load it garlic sauce and cabbage), do yourself a favor and grab one. And a napkin or four.

Picture of a doner I stole from the net (sorry for the infringement!). Mine are usually messier.

On Illiteracy

Let me preempt this post by saying we are not discouraged at the task before us. We are excited to discover a new language and a new system of understanding, and we are blessed with the best environment in which to learn.

That being said, I’ve never until now had to wrestle with a lack of literacy, but here in Germany I feel like I’ve lost something. The written word is such an integral part of experience that often we read unconsciously; our eyes hit a composite of shapes and lines and we understand–intuitively–the meaning those signs convey, without any exertion or intent on our part to “read.” For the moment, I’ve lost that natural, effortless understanding. Reading German, whether on billboards or in books, is an intense exercise in deciphering, and it can be exhausting. Shopping right now is a chore because we are constantly trying to read whether or not a product on shelf is one we intend to buy. I made dinner the other night and spent more time reading the cooking instructions on the back than cooking the meal. (By the way, I was instructed to empty the bag into boiling water for 7 minutes. It took me twenty to figure out that’s what it was telling me to do).

All is well, though. We’re practicing and learning, and every day I understand a little more about the language. And I’m really encouraged that Tiffany’s learning and picking up on things. But while we’re out of our apartment our brains are constantly working, constantly trying to twist meaning out of meaningless words, and it’s all very, very tiring.

Wittenberg: Luther and Coffee with Kooi

Friday marked the end of the Church history seminar. Dr. Chip Kooi, theology and church history professor at Oklahoma Christian University, has spent the past week teaching a short, intense course in Reformation history, illuminating for us our historical and theological roots and convincing me that I need to buy some Karl Barth and Deitrich Bonhoeffer books. To celebrate Luther and the other early reformers, we took a trip to Wittenberg, the home of Martin Luther and the birthplace of the reformation. We finished the outing with coffee. I was sorry to see him go; Dr. Kooi is a wonderful teacher, a brilliant scholar, and a good friend.

Door Commemorating the 95 Theses, replaced the door on which they were nailed.

Pulpit from which Luther preached

Wittenberg Fussgaengerplatz (pedestrian zone)

The outside of the church Luther preached in.