Thursday and Friday - Germany and Switzerland

Thursday morning was a morning of going places and seeing people. Gisela and I first went to the hospital to see Aunt Traude, which was actually rather difficult because the nurse on duty was not the kindest person... but Gisela can be quite convincing, so we were let in the door at the ICU and could stay for 2 minutes. Aunt Traude was in very much pain and it was sad to see her. We prayed for her and when we left I told her: "Auf Wedersehen hier oder im Himmel". She smiled and understood. Gisela emailed me later that Aunt Traude went to be with Jesus on Saturday morning.

After the hospital visit we went to Aunt Traude's garden. Aunt Traude kept a beautiful garden with roses and all kinds of other flowers, as well as a green house with the most gorgeous orchids. We picked some of the flowers for the table decorations at Kaffee Klatsch in the afternoon and fertilized the roses with cut-up pieces of banana peel. Yes, you read that right: save your banana peels, cut them in small pieces and spread them around the rose bushes, and they will bloom like you would not believe! There is always something new to be learned, now isn't there?!

Our next stop was Gisela's brother's house where her niece had a cake ready for pickup for the Kaffee Klatsch. We picked up the cake and drove over to the church, dropped off the cake and the flowers, and walked across the street to the bank, where I finally got some money.

Then we went home where Gisela prepared lunch and I prepared for the Kaffee Klatsch in the afternoon. Gisela and I sat and talked for a while and then I had the privilege to pray for her. It is so great to know that I don't have to know all the answers; the Lord does however, and the only thing I need to do is ask Him and He will give me what I need. It is really a wonderful arrangement!

At 2:30 in the afternoon we left the house with all my luggage and drove to church where Gabi already was making coffee and hot water for tea. Slowly but surely, a total of 14 women of all ages gathered and we were having a great time with the cakes that people brought; of course I had to taste a little bit of all the offerings... After we had devoured the cake, we sang a few worship songs and it was my turn to talk and to be translated. Funny enough I was not really nervous; I was just very aware that if the Lord did not infuse my words with His spirit, they would all fall flat on the tables without any life in them. I gave my testimony (a short and condensed version) and then I mentioned a few things that I feel the Lord likes me/us to do: to be grateful, to be courageous and to be obedient. After all was said and done, there were tears and laughter and many times "Auf Wedersehen" to me :-). It was great to be there and make friends with Gabi and Renate and Maria and Hilde and Reinhild.

At about 5:30pm, Gisela and I got back in the car and we drove to Estingen where Jurgen and Gudrun Zeeh pastor a church. Estingen is in the Schwabisch Alb, which is a beautiful area in southwest Germany. The Zeeh family lives in an old farmhouse that they have updated and remodeled. Jurgen and Gudrun have 3 children: Malia, John and Ben. And when I arrived Gudrun's sister Monika was also there for a vacation. Gisela and I said our "see you later"; she had to drive back to Frickenhausen, and I stayed with Jurgen and Gudrun. I would really like to go back to Gisela; she is really a missionary in a western country without a friend to talk to.

We had a quick dinner with breads and cheeses in the eat-in kitchen and got to know each other as fast as we could :-). A few minutes before eight that evening, Jurgen and I walked over to the church building and attended a planning meeting for the coming weekend when the Shelter Alb would host a "Cleansing Stream Ministries" weekend, where several members would be involved in prayer teams. It was great to see how people were involved and how they looked forward to participating in something that they had experienced before themselves, and they were now anticipating and preparing for others. After the meeting Jurgen and Gudrun and I sat around the kitchen table and talked for a long time. Finally at 11:30 we went to bed.

The next morning I got up and went to the kitchen were Gudrun already was busy getting the kids to school and making coffee. We had a good conversation, breakfast, and I got ready to pack up my bags again. Right before it was time for Jurgen to get me to the train station in Reutlingen, the door bell ran 3 times in a row and 3 different women walked in the door. It was great and fun! One of the women was Kirstin who was an intern at Coastlands in 2001. It was great to see her and reminisce for a little bit about the time that my sister Klasien was visiting California and they became friends. Kirstin is doing well, working in a bookstore/coffee shop and enjoying church life at Jurgen's church. Then it was finally time for me to get in the car and head for the train station. Jurgen helped me get my EurRail Pass properly stamped and activated and he put me on the train with instructions on how to change trains in Stuttgart and Zurich. It was really nice traveling first class in the German and Swiss train...

I arrived in Bern punctually at 3 minutes before 4 o'clock in the afternoon and my friends Fritz and Vreni were waiting for me! It was so very nice to see familiar faces after meeting so many new people! They took me home and showed me my bed and I was so very grateful!

That evening at 6, Fritz dropped me off at Kevin and Camille Kammermann's place for dinner, where I met Lily who is a gorgeous little girl with beautiful blue eyes and the longest black eye lashes I have ever seen! Unfortunately, I was not able to stay very long due to a not-so-nice headache (potentially a migraine) that had bothered me all day long already... Kevin brought me back to Fritz and Vreni's house and I was in bed by 8pm in hopes that Saturday would be a new day...