Greens and Brumleys are in Berlin!

December 5, 2009: On our way to Berlin, via NYC

The Greens and Brumleys are journeying to Berlin this weekend to help “coach” the church to new levels of faith and opportunity—PLEASE pray for us.

This all began shortly after the Greens summer trip to teach at the European Bible School in Geneva, Switzerland. We are approached by the Berlin church, whose leadership was seeking three “coaching couples” to help them move the church forward (Berlin will soon have no full time leadership and will be relying on a lay leadership group + “coaches”). Berlin asked for a three year commitment, which we agreed to after consulting with our staff and board. Christian and Sabine Herbst (Zurich) and Valdur & Irene Koha (Boston) will be the other coaches. Each couple will go to Berlin once every three months.

And so this is our first trip, and just on the heels of Berlin’s 20^th anniversary of the Berlin wall’s fall.

We first flew with Ron and Linda to Newark from Seattle, with a fine pre-landing view of New York City. Watching New York’s skyline, I realized anew what greatness that city has seen. Though the twin towers were nowhere to be seen (a shockingly concrete reminder that evil remains in this world), the Empire State Building stood tall like the art deco rocket it is. The statue of liberty watched Manhattan Island offshore, tiny but vigilant, watching the harbor, and watching for more of the “tired refuse” that made America hum in the early 20^th century. Thanks to the movies, it’s hard for my generation not to feel connected to New York, even if you’ve never lived there.

More to come…