The Chronicles of Friday

“Ask me and I will tell you some remarkable secrets about what it going to happen here.” Jeremiah 33:3

I'm sorry that my posts have been slightly sporadic. It's not that I haven't had the time to write, I just haven't really been able to find the words. So much has been going on.

Let me start with Friday, Feb 6. For the past two Fridays, we've been doing this thing called Kid's Club. I'm not sure exactly what goes on because I can't understand most of what they say. But, I do know that it's for kids of all ages to come and have a safe place on Friday afternoons. There are songs, games, and a lesson. Oh, and a clown. Yeah. A clown. It's usually one of the workers, but still... a clown.

The four of us head out. The tram is unusually packed; it reminded me of an afternoon in Paris. It was a little unsettling, but I didn't really think anything of it. We're going on our merry way, and we get off to transfer trams, and that one is packed, too. At our transfer point, the screen that shows the stops goes completely insane and jumps ahead about seven stops. Weird.

We're almost to where we need to get off, and literally out of nowhere, there are ambulances, probably some fire trucks, and a helicopter. The tram stops, and a lady gets on (a transport official) and starts yelling at everyone. It was in German of course, so it sounded a lot worse than I'm sure it actually was. None of us could even gather what was going on. After she yelled at everyone, about 75% of the people got off. You'd think we would have gotten a clue, but we didn't. The tram was stopped for a few minutes, then a man came over the intercom and yelled (I'm sure he wasn't yelling, but it sounded like it.) something about a dog and the number 12 (our tram number). There was a lady with a dog, and she got off, but there was another lady with a dog who didn't get off. So, we were further confused. The four of us were about to get off when the tram started, so we thought otherwise.

The tram took a sharp turn, which wasn't normal, but we were hoping we'd get to where we needed to go. We were wrong. We realized this when the stop names weren't on our regular route, and we saw the tram stop posts that has a different line number on it. We deduced (because we are so smart) that the 12 had been rerouted to the 2 line. We got off at a random stop and walked back to the point where the 12 was rerouted then we decided to walk to our destination. I don't know how far it was-- maybe 1 or 2 miles. No matter, we were an hour late.

We had to leave Kid's Club early because we had to meet up with Charlotte. I thought she wanted to meet with us early to talk with us to see where we were in our spiritual walk or something like that, but that's not what happened. All we did was climb up a million and a half stairs to her apartment to pretty much turn around and leave to climb up more stairs to get to the prayer room. The prayer room is located over the Purple Haze.

I guess it would be prudent to tell you why we're praying or at least why we thought we were praying. On Friday nights, Charlotte does this thing called Night Watch. In essence, it's street witnessing. I must be completely honest to tell you that I've never done anything like that, and it scared me to think about doing it. It scared me mainly because I know that the part of town we live in is a big party scene.

We go up to the prayer room, and slowly other Christian Germans start trickling in to pray and worship. It turns into a big prayer session for the people in the room to be healed and such. Charlotte figured that we can't effectively witness if we aren't healed ourselves. I'm sitting on a very uncomfortable stool trying to figure out how to pray for these people I don't know, and I am trying to figure out how to block out the tongues I am hearing. I am very uncomfortable despite the Biblical way they went about it. That's another story for another day.

So, on my uncomfortable stool, I am sitting. I start to pray quite selfishly about how much I am scared about witnessing and how much I really didn't want to do it. Then, I start praying for my team among other things. As we're praying, some music is thrown in here and there. We are finally winding down, and Charlotte decides that she's far too tired to witness that evening, and she invited us all to her house for tea and food. Unbelievably relieved, we all head up to her place.

About an hour or hour and a half later, Charlotte announces that she's rested, and she wants to head down to the street to prayer walk a strip of it and to see what happens. I glanced apprehensively at one of my teammates, and I was thankful I wasn't the only one who wanted to go home and go to bed. We washed the dishes, suited up (that's what you have to do when it's cold all the time), and headed outside. I didn't know what to expect, but I did know that it would be weird for six people to walk around the party street appearing to not do anything.

The second we rounded the corner, (according to the Journeygirl, Amy) there was one young man who saw us, screamed “CHRISTIANS!”, and ran off screaming as if he were in pain. Amy thought he was possessed. We were standing on the sidewalk, and a lady on a bike who knows Charlotte rode up. At that point, screaming guy came running up to us. He said, “Bist du Christians?” which means, “Are you Christians?” Charlotte told him we only speak English, and as he was walking away, she told him to stay because we wanted to talk to him. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by Germans. All of whom were drunk, high, both, or close to any of the above.

Day and I were talking to a girl who was interested in the fact that we were Americans and could speak English. We breached the topic of God when she first came over. That was weird because how did she know? Her first words to us were, “I believe in You.” She even lifted her arms and looked up. Day asked her if she believed, and her immediate response was a disgusted 'no'. When asked what she did believe in, she told us that she believed in her mother. We talked for a long time about America, and we danced around the topic of why we're here.

As we were talking with this girl, several people approached us. I will admit that I was uneasy the entire time until the end. I could feel the presence of evil all around us, and I could sense in the girl to whom we were talking that she was so close and so far away. I was shaking from it all. The random people that kept approaching us made me even more nervous. Germans don't have an issue with personal space, by the way. I was praying hard the entire time for God to protect all of us from evil and to protect us from personal violation.

Of the people who came to talk to us, were two of the girl's brothers and another guy she seemed to know pretty well. We found out that one of her brothers used to drink a lot, but he found no use for it, so now he drinks only a little. It was getting to a point where I was starting to feel more and more unsettled, and I couldn't figure out why.

Out of nowhere, Charlotte came back and asked the people if we could pray for them. I felt in sense that my cover was blown, but I guess it's not what I think, is it? She told them (in German... I think. I say that because I could understand what she was saying and so could they.) that we are Americans in Germany, and we don't drink or smoke or do drugs, and we live a fulfilling life. Then, she told them why, and that why is God. The girl we were talking to seemed to be completely against the idea, and she even mocked us.

However, the three guys we were talking to actually seemed pleased with the idea. One guy said he didn't have anything we could pray for, one told us that he needs a job, and the last told us that he wanted to find true love. True love. If that isn't a cry for Jesus, I don't know what is. We gathered in a circle and pray for them. Charlotte then got their numbers, and went over to one of the guys we prayed for and said that she could feel that he would work for her one day.

As we walked back to Amy's apartment, we talked about our experiences. She told us about the two people she, Jessica, and Sarah talked to and prayed for. One of them was the first guy we encountered. All I know is that despite the fact that he was so high and drunk, he seemed to be sobered by the fact that they wanted to pray for him. A lady friend of his came over and was also quite receptive of the offer of prayer.

I didn't quite understand what my purpose was that night because the people we were talking to were all over the place, and a lot of random (and a little scary) people kept coming up to ask. They were trying to get us to say stuff in German, but Day and I knew they trying to get us to say awful things. Amy told us that the reason so many people kept coming up to us was that we were running interference since the conversation they were having with their guy and girl was quite obviously of God. The enemy was trying to distract from that, but that's where Day and I came it. We intercepted all the people who would have distracted the conversation otherwise. Even though it was frustrating to begin with, I found it quite cool how God uses all of His servants if only they're willing. Even though He doesn't need us, He decided to use the five of us that night. We may never know the impact we'll have on those people, but God was definitely moving.

As you continue to pray for Dresden, please pray for these young people as God moves through them. I feel that if they open themselves to the Spirit and allow Him to heal them, they can be amazing witnesses to the youth in the city. I am sad to say that the part of town in which I live attracts party people as lost as the youth we encountered that Friday. However, if only one of the guys we encountered on Friday turns his life over to God, I am confident that person will do everything in his power to get his friends to see the light. Neustadt (New City) is the part of town where I live. Only God can truly make it a New City. I hope that just a little of the ache I feel for Dresden reaches your heart so that you can pray with ferocity for this city.