Lights of Munich

The second weekend of February I had the opportunity to go with a few other Mission Academy students to visit Munich, the Bavarian capital. A really great Church was hosting us and we were all very excited to take a break from the studying and see another part of Germany. Thanks to some insider information we were even able to take a train and spend a day in Salzburg Austria for only $11!

 To be completely honest I was more excited about going to Salzburg then about Munich. Growing up I was a big Sound of Music fan and for all those other fans out there, we knew The Sound of Music is filmed in Salzburg. So when we knew we were going on this weekend trip I did what any responsible person going to a foreign place would do, I watched The Sound of Music… twice. Throughout the entire weekend the girls in the group would take turns singing different songs from the movie… (sorry Michael)

The Horse Bath Fountain seen in the Sound of Music. Sadly a lot of the sites from the movie weren't open due to the off season. 

A view from inside catacombs that were built into the mountain in Salzburg

Salzburg by no means disappointed! It was beautiful, informative, and (thanks to one of the missionaries I worked with in 2015) very cheap. We were able to tour the fortress above the city, walk through Mozart’s birthplace, and even see a few of the areas from the movie!

Heading back to Munich was definitely an adventure, we got off the bus at the train station seeing we only had 4 minutes to make our train. The whole group took off running through the train station, up the escalator and made it on to our train just seconds before the doors shut and pulled away. By the time we found seats we were already out of the station!

Outside of Mozart's Birthplace

Now the church we were staying at while in Munich wasn’t really in the best neighborhood. Walking back from the train station later on a Saturday night we had to walk through people fighting on the streets, down a road lined with Strip clubs and sketchy bars with large clusters of loud men hanging around. The four of us walked silently and quickly through the chaos of the night life. When we arrived to where the entrance was supposed to be for the church, we found a large metal garage door locking us out in the midst of the chaos. We all sort of looked at each other, I was praying silently “Oh Lord what should we do now” about that time a very scraggly rough looking man comes walking up to us with a cigarette in his mouth and asks what we need (I am very thankful that Inessa, a native German speaker, was part of our group) She explains that we were guest staying in the church for the weekend but now couldn’t get in because of the gate. This man, takes the keys out of her hands turns around and appeared to walk away with our keys!… but then like in the 2^nd Hobbit movie, he finds the hidden keyhole in a seemingly normal wall and just like that the garage door rises!!!

I could have hugged him!

He gave Inessa back the keys then proceeded to walk towards the church with us, using his own keys (which I am very thankful he did) he opened the building and let us in, then he told us goodnight and quietly disappeared upstairs as we headed down stairs to where we were staying. We now affectionately refer to him as “Our Angel”.

Our group was the only crazy ones to stand on these stones in Munich's city center

This church was so encouraging for me to visit and see its light shining in the darkness that we all witnessed in such a heavy and oppressing way that Saturday night.

Every night on our visit this church had ministries and meetings going on, many of which lasted late into the night. They had a large Turkish ministry, an Asian ministry, and a Bulgarian church that met in its youth room Sunday midday. They also had a great program for getting people off of the streets and out of the exotic dancing business. They had apartments on the upper floor of the church building that they used as a halfway house where the ministry had members of the church living in community with the men and women who were trying to break the cycle of addiction. We later learned that our “Angel” is part of this ministry.

Kitti, Inessa, and me exploring Munich's city center before needing to catch our bus back to Wuestenrot.

Sunday after the church service we were invited to stay for a church dinner where we were able to talk with quite a few of the members. We met a young university student from Hungary named Kiti who ended up joining us for the rest of the afternoon. She walked around the city center with us as we learned how she had grown up Catholic in Hungary, but she felt like something was missing. After being in the city for almost six years, she met someone from the church we were staying with and they invited her to services there. She has now been a part of the church for over a year and has developed a personal relationship with Christ and is eager to go deeper. She asked the question “why isn’t a personal relationship with Jesus emphasized more within the Catholic Church?”

I left Munich in a very reflective mood, thinking mostly of the people we met and some of the images we saw within the old Catholic Churches. Michael made a very thought invoking comment as we saw Mary depicted crushing the serpent's head standing under the crucifix of Christ. He said, that seeing images like this one can see how Luther and Calvin saw the great need for reformation. That thought lingered with me as we sat in the bus driving out of this busy city, this year marks the 500^th year of the Reformation, but we still have a long way to go. 

We need more Churches like Gemeinde Lasenstrasse, willing to be the light in the places that seem the darkest. 

Please be praying

• For these ministries currently going on at
• Pray for all of those people in this community and for those who are trapped in this cycle of self-destruction
• Pray for Kiti, as she continues to pursue truth and for direction for her life. Pray that she may make some good, Godly relationships with people in Munich and for her continued studies in University.
• Pray for our time here at Mission Academy, pray that we can stay focused and continue to prepare for the practical times that will be starting between April and May for those involved.
• Pray for the people I will be working with in Paraguay. I have been in touch a little with the missionary in Asuncion (and she does know English, praise the Lord) and it seems that my time in Paraguay is going to be very busy and moving around a bit to different areas of ministry. Be praying for those connections, and that I can be very intentional with the time I have in each place. Though it may be shorter than I anticipated I know that God can do some great things.
• Pray for my visa here in Germany. I have to have it extended a month before I can head to Paraguay and I had planned on spending that time visiting my friends and the church I spent so much time in last year in Duisburg as well as starting some of the requirements for mission academy during the practical portion. I have a meeting on Wednesday to turn in my paper work, and today I actually went and got new passport photos to turn in with it.

Thank you all for going with me on this journey, and for all of the encouragement you sent after my first post.  I am so very grateful for all of you (especially those who stuck it out and read this longer blog post) :)