Dresden, Warsaw

Well, it has been quite a while since I was able to write. Much has happened since then. I attended a few "German" events in the past couple months. On Feb. 13 a memorial service was held to remember the bombing of Dresden 60 years ago, Feb. 13, 1945. Over 5,000 people came out in snow flurries and freezing cold to light candles in honor of the 30,000 to 80,000 who died that night. At 10:45 pm (the time the bombing started) all the church bells in Dresden rang simultaneously. It was a very sobering time. The same day the NPD, the modern Nazi party, decided to hold a big rally in Dresden. Their were several thousand NPD members who marched and attended the rally, as well as several thousand Dresdeners who attended to protest the Nazis. There were literally thousands of police with riot gear and many armored vehicles. They seperated the two sides and kept the peace. However, their was much angry shouting and gesturing between the two crowds. There was one thing that surprised me. As the Nazis were marching across the bridge, some of the anti-Nazi crowd unfurled three flags: American, British, and Israeli. Then they unfurled a big banner beside the flags that read: "60 YEARS OF LIBERATION". I was surprised to see that sign, but it really made me proud to be possibly the only American in the crowd. It also made me feel like I was reliving the 1930's over again. The Nazis started out as a small minority then, as is the case now. And we see how they ended up taking over. In the last election here, they actually gained seats in the government. Really makes you think. On a different note, I attended my first German professional soccer match. Dynamo Dresden is in the second league of the Bundesliga (the German national pro league). I saw a match against Koln (Cologne) with some guys from my church. These soccer fans are crazy. The Dresden fans are known as being quite rowdy, sometimes even penalized by the league because of it. We were in the standing section and it was so crowded I could have went to sleep and never fell down. Well, our team won in an upset 2-1. Everyone went nuts. It was a lot of fun. I took the kids to a "real" knight tournament over Easter weekend. It was outside of Leipzig at this old Palace. There was a whole Medieval fair set up. Of course there were knights in full armor and lots of sword fighting and jousting. It was great. We all had a good time. We also had our Central Europe Spring Breakaway. It was held in a renovated castle in Poland. This retreat was a great time of fellowship, worship, hearing from the word, and relaxation for all the missionaries of Central Europe. It was great for us because we got a chance to meet a lot of other missionaries and put faces with names we had heard before. We also were privileged to have Greg Mundis, our Europe regional director, with us for two days. It was also great to get to know and hear from Jim Sabella, our new area director. It was also nice to have ENGLISH preaching and worship. We are already looking forward to next year's retreat.
I just finished working with a team from South Hills Assembly in Bethel Park, Pa. We were in Warsaw working on the seminary addition. They were a wonderful group of people and a pleasure to work with. We did lots of different things including: electrical, metal studs, insulation, drywall hanging and finishing, painting, and even burying an electrical cable. I also was able to get to know the new Director of the seminary, Peter Nowak. He is a great guy with a wonderful heart and vision for the school. It was really a privilege getting to know him. It is exciting to think about how this school and it's graduates will influence the nation of Poland in the future. It was an interesting time to be in Poland. The pope died while we were in Poland for the retreat (the pope was Polish). Then I was in Warsaw the whole week after his death. In Poland it was almost like the end of the world. All week long there were masses held everyday, there were candles everywhere, businesses were closing early, and on the Friday of the funeral the whole nation shut down. The government declared it a day of mourning. All schools, businesses, and everything else, were closed on Friday. Everywhere you went people had put out Polish and Vatican flags with black strips hanging from them. It was really an incredible time to be in Poland.