I love Christmas Time, and I ain't afraid to admit it!
I generally don't go for cheesy music, but come Christmas Time, well, let's cheese it up! I have a nice big collection of around 100 hundred Christmas songs from Hark, The Herald Angels Sing to Let It Snow to Santa Claus is Coming to Town!
And I love watching Christmas movies in around this time too, such as Elf, which I watched tonight! I also traditionally watch A Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve and The Snowman on Christmas Day!
Also, I really enjoy buying gifts for people! I like walking around the shops when there's lots of people about, looking at all the different things, and finding something where I go, "Aw flip, so-and-so would LOVE this!" Then giving it to the person as well! It's great! And, of course, getting gifts ain't too bad either!
Here in Chemnitz I also get to enjoy one of those loveliest of things from another culture, the German Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market)! Walking around with a live choir or band on stage and all the different stalls full of prezzies and food, it's just lovely!
Plus, taking part in Nativity plays is great fun too! Ya get to have a laugh with the other actors beforehand and then do in front of lots of people, who generally enjoy it! Plus it's a great way to remember what Christmas is all about! Jesus' birth can get swept under the rug so easily with all the other things going on at Christmas time, it's not hard. All these things I've listed here contribute to that as well, but the Nativity play's there to remind us of the first Christmas, and the many rehearsals for those taking part just help to be a constant reminder!
Jesus came to bring Gods love to the world, to show that God is for all people, be they Kings or Shepherds, and to save us our sins! That's what Christmas was all about, from the very beginning, and today still! And that is such a blessing, I think it's just fine to celebrate it!
But watching Elf tonight reminded me of another thing that Jesus' birth has brought us, though more as a side-effect, to be honest. It is something the world has made out of Christmas, but something good! I watched Elf with Maria & Judit, Maria's boyfriend and good friend of mine Friedi and Maria's friend Nicole, Philip and Nathalie who live in our house, and Steffi who lives across the way. And it was this fellowship that made the evening great! Elf's a very good film with a lovely sentiment, but had I been alone it just wouldn't have been the same! And that's what the world has made out of Christmas! A celebration of Jesus' birth, yes, but a celebration to be shared with family and friends! And that is lovely! I am blessed with a wonderful set of family and friends! And I really enjoy spending time with them!
That's what Christmas is for me: The celebration of the coming of our saviour, and having said celebration with those you love!
You can disagree, if you like, this is just what I think! But let's share the love this Christmas! Let's enjoy the lovely time with each other! Let's remind those we love just how much we love them! Just like God showed us how much He loves us all those years ago in that little stable!
Love to you all and wishing you a wonderful Christmas Time, your Christmassy Ginge!
Monday, 14 December 2009
Monday, 30 November 2009
The Luck Of The Irish!
(Steven is down to the last 25% of his teabag supply, let's hope it holds out til christmas!)
Hiya Everyone!
Well, the last two weeks have been somewhat strange, and not quite what I'd hoped they'd be! Basically it all started on Tuesday two weeks ago.
Having had a nice, fairly lazy day off on the Monday, I came into Tuesday refreshed and up for work. We had our usual breakfast meeting, organised our week and got on with the work that needed to be done. We went out again handing out flyers for our Hilbersdorf Kids Club, and then I organised Home Group for that night. It went well, and we had a good wee discussion.
Then afterwards I was planning on going to training for FC Arche, when Corny, a player from Arche and a youth worker with whom we do the Hilbersdorf project, calls and says that he needs another player for a tournament he's at with his youth group. So, I of course say yes! I was really looking forward to it, thinking "Wow, this is gonna be a great couple of days, footy tournie tonight, world cup tomorrow (more on that later), this is gonna fun!" Well, it was fun, and we were doing really well in the tournie, with 3 wins and 1 draw in the group stages. We then went into our fifth group match against an absolute bunch of thugs! This was a 5-a-side tournament and by the end of the 10-minute long match, they were down to 2(!) players! We won 5-0, but I got hurt! This is where things started to go bad. I got injured, and went to the doctor who was there, and he couldn't find anything, strapped up the knee, and said I could play on. But, when I tried to play, I just couldn't. The team made it to the semis but unfortunately went out on penalties.
So that was the start of the knee problem that has been hurting me for two weeks now. I went to the doctor on Thursday, and she said it appears to be my Meniscus, commonly known as Cartilage. I had an MRI the next day, and I'll find out the results of that tomorrow. That will tell us more, but the first look was that I'll need an operation! It is possible that I'll only need a support for a few weeks, but nothing will be clear til tomorrow. If I do need an Op, it'll be my second in less than a year! Another annoying consequence is that it looks like, for the second year in a row, I'll not be able to go skiing!
So, due to the pain that comes with walking, and the fact that I need to rest my knee, I've been sort of half off work. I've still tried to do what I can, and leave out the things where I know I won't be needed, and that the other two can handle themselves. Also, I've not been sleeping very well because any movement of the knee hurts a bit, and also as I'm someone who sleeps pretty much always on my side, which I can't do comfortably due to the injury. So I've been pretty knackered over the last two weeks.
But anyway, on the Wednesday after my injury we had a fun time with the Youth Group where we played our own wee World Cup on the Playstation, and played a Foozeball tournament, before watching the Republic of Ireland vs France World Cup Qualifier, which the Republic very unluckily and unfairly lost!
This loss along with my injury is why I named this Blog "The Luck of the Irish!" Where's it gone?!
Anyhow, I wasn't working at all on the Thursday, as I spent most of the day at the hospital. On Friday I told Barry, who was gutted for me, and told me to take it easy, and to rest up a lot. I went to Youth Group that night anyway, as I figured I'd just be sitting there anyway. It was ok, though my knee was sore most of the night.
On the Saturday we only had SNL, to which no one came, which has lead to the next one being cancelled, and discussions as to how it should go on.
On the Sunday I didn't go to Church in the morning as I hadn't slept well at all. That afternoon Maria and I went to the Augustusburg Cafe, cos we were on to work, but Maria most of the work, while I sat on my Laptop preparing things for English Language Fellowship that night.
We then went to ELF, and surprised Barry and Gillian by driving them to our house where Judit had cooked and set up a candlelit dinner for them, and I'd set up the laptop and projector for them to watch a movie. They were very surprised and I think they enjoyed it. We then went and did ELF, which also went pretty well, I spoke, on "Why do Bad Things happen to Good People?" and it seemed to go fine.
Then this past week was more of the same half-working, half-resting. The past while's a bit of a blur because I've been knackered. But on Tuesday we went out with the Home Group for a social night, went to see Public Enemies at the cinema, which I quite enjoyed, and then for something to eat. On Wednesday we had Kids Club, which was fine, we baked christmas biscuits with the kids.
Then on Thursday I went along to kids club, where I had a number of close run-ins with the knee, either kids nearly jumping on it, or it near being hit by a ball. Then I took Youth Group, and even though numbers were down a bit, we had another decent discussion about a passage from Galatians.
The weekend then saw our first ever Hilbersdorf Kids Club on Friday afternoon. We had 5 kids, which we hope will increase over the coming weeks. But for a beginning it was ok. I then didn't go to Youth Group as it was just a Game Night, and I decided I could give it a miss to rest up a bit.
On Saturday I went along to watch FC Arche play, and they unfortunately lost 3-2, a poor first half which ended 3-1 to the other team couldn't be made up for by a better second half. A draw however probably would have been a fairer result. That night Maria and I watched Hot Fuzz, such a brilliant film, while Judit skyped with her entire family, as they were all gathered in one place!
On Sunday we were at Church in the morning, which was a nice service, the first advent. Twas nice then chatting to people afterwards as well. We went then after the service to the family of David and Alicia, two of the youth group, for dinner. Twas very nice, they're a lovely family. Then in the afternoon I prepared a bit for DreamLabs that night, and then we had DreamLabs, which was interesting, had again a good chat.
So, that's that. If you could I would like to request that you pray for my knee, that it'll heal well, whether or not I need an op; for SNL, guidance as to how it should proceed; and Hilbersdorf Kids Club, that it will grow and more kids will come.
Wishing you all a lovely Advent Period, your clumsy Ginger!
Hiya Everyone!
Well, the last two weeks have been somewhat strange, and not quite what I'd hoped they'd be! Basically it all started on Tuesday two weeks ago.
Having had a nice, fairly lazy day off on the Monday, I came into Tuesday refreshed and up for work. We had our usual breakfast meeting, organised our week and got on with the work that needed to be done. We went out again handing out flyers for our Hilbersdorf Kids Club, and then I organised Home Group for that night. It went well, and we had a good wee discussion.
Then afterwards I was planning on going to training for FC Arche, when Corny, a player from Arche and a youth worker with whom we do the Hilbersdorf project, calls and says that he needs another player for a tournament he's at with his youth group. So, I of course say yes! I was really looking forward to it, thinking "Wow, this is gonna be a great couple of days, footy tournie tonight, world cup tomorrow (more on that later), this is gonna fun!" Well, it was fun, and we were doing really well in the tournie, with 3 wins and 1 draw in the group stages. We then went into our fifth group match against an absolute bunch of thugs! This was a 5-a-side tournament and by the end of the 10-minute long match, they were down to 2(!) players! We won 5-0, but I got hurt! This is where things started to go bad. I got injured, and went to the doctor who was there, and he couldn't find anything, strapped up the knee, and said I could play on. But, when I tried to play, I just couldn't. The team made it to the semis but unfortunately went out on penalties.
So that was the start of the knee problem that has been hurting me for two weeks now. I went to the doctor on Thursday, and she said it appears to be my Meniscus, commonly known as Cartilage. I had an MRI the next day, and I'll find out the results of that tomorrow. That will tell us more, but the first look was that I'll need an operation! It is possible that I'll only need a support for a few weeks, but nothing will be clear til tomorrow. If I do need an Op, it'll be my second in less than a year! Another annoying consequence is that it looks like, for the second year in a row, I'll not be able to go skiing!
So, due to the pain that comes with walking, and the fact that I need to rest my knee, I've been sort of half off work. I've still tried to do what I can, and leave out the things where I know I won't be needed, and that the other two can handle themselves. Also, I've not been sleeping very well because any movement of the knee hurts a bit, and also as I'm someone who sleeps pretty much always on my side, which I can't do comfortably due to the injury. So I've been pretty knackered over the last two weeks.
But anyway, on the Wednesday after my injury we had a fun time with the Youth Group where we played our own wee World Cup on the Playstation, and played a Foozeball tournament, before watching the Republic of Ireland vs France World Cup Qualifier, which the Republic very unluckily and unfairly lost!
This loss along with my injury is why I named this Blog "The Luck of the Irish!" Where's it gone?!
Anyhow, I wasn't working at all on the Thursday, as I spent most of the day at the hospital. On Friday I told Barry, who was gutted for me, and told me to take it easy, and to rest up a lot. I went to Youth Group that night anyway, as I figured I'd just be sitting there anyway. It was ok, though my knee was sore most of the night.
On the Saturday we only had SNL, to which no one came, which has lead to the next one being cancelled, and discussions as to how it should go on.
On the Sunday I didn't go to Church in the morning as I hadn't slept well at all. That afternoon Maria and I went to the Augustusburg Cafe, cos we were on to work, but Maria most of the work, while I sat on my Laptop preparing things for English Language Fellowship that night.
We then went to ELF, and surprised Barry and Gillian by driving them to our house where Judit had cooked and set up a candlelit dinner for them, and I'd set up the laptop and projector for them to watch a movie. They were very surprised and I think they enjoyed it. We then went and did ELF, which also went pretty well, I spoke, on "Why do Bad Things happen to Good People?" and it seemed to go fine.
Then this past week was more of the same half-working, half-resting. The past while's a bit of a blur because I've been knackered. But on Tuesday we went out with the Home Group for a social night, went to see Public Enemies at the cinema, which I quite enjoyed, and then for something to eat. On Wednesday we had Kids Club, which was fine, we baked christmas biscuits with the kids.
Then on Thursday I went along to kids club, where I had a number of close run-ins with the knee, either kids nearly jumping on it, or it near being hit by a ball. Then I took Youth Group, and even though numbers were down a bit, we had another decent discussion about a passage from Galatians.
The weekend then saw our first ever Hilbersdorf Kids Club on Friday afternoon. We had 5 kids, which we hope will increase over the coming weeks. But for a beginning it was ok. I then didn't go to Youth Group as it was just a Game Night, and I decided I could give it a miss to rest up a bit.
On Saturday I went along to watch FC Arche play, and they unfortunately lost 3-2, a poor first half which ended 3-1 to the other team couldn't be made up for by a better second half. A draw however probably would have been a fairer result. That night Maria and I watched Hot Fuzz, such a brilliant film, while Judit skyped with her entire family, as they were all gathered in one place!
On Sunday we were at Church in the morning, which was a nice service, the first advent. Twas nice then chatting to people afterwards as well. We went then after the service to the family of David and Alicia, two of the youth group, for dinner. Twas very nice, they're a lovely family. Then in the afternoon I prepared a bit for DreamLabs that night, and then we had DreamLabs, which was interesting, had again a good chat.
So, that's that. If you could I would like to request that you pray for my knee, that it'll heal well, whether or not I need an op; for SNL, guidance as to how it should proceed; and Hilbersdorf Kids Club, that it will grow and more kids will come.
Wishing you all a lovely Advent Period, your clumsy Ginger!
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
Video-Refereeing
I just wanted to write a wee quickie regarding the Ireland-France match tonight.
As you may know, I was born in the Republic but have lived most of my life in the North. But, with regards to football allegiance, I often feel very attached to both. Indeed for many years I was more for the Republic, always making my character in a football game Irish instead of Northern Irish, and saying that were I good enough to play at International level, I'd play for the Republic. It's only in the last 2 or 3 years that I've switched my allegiance a bit more to the North. But I really do have a place in my heart for both of them. After all, I do have double-nationality.
So when it came to ROI playing against France in the playoffs for the World Cup, I was fully behind them. So I was gutted tonight when we lost. It was shocking. The bad luck of the deflected goal in Croke Park is one thing, but to be done out of going to the cup because of the type of goal France scored tonight is just downright wrong.
And it makes one think, it cannot be much longer before world football changes its rules. I do not understand why football does not yet have TV-Refereeing! American Football and Cricket both have it, and have done for years. And while one can correctly argue that they are very slow, start-stop games, and therefore it's ok to take a pause to check a replay, this argument falls down on the fact that Rugby also uses a TV Ref, very successfully, and Rugby is arguably a faster sport than football!
It would be so easy, there is already a fourth official there, would it really be so difficult to extend his duties from keeping the managers at bay, checking the subs that come on, and holding up a sign with numbers on it, to also include watching a TV during the match? They already have those little headsets, use them in a good way, for goodness sake!
It's so simple, yet FIFA refuse to bring it in, and constantly teams are being outdone or lose thanks to decisions from referees which, with one quick look at a replay, which takes 10 seconds for goodness sake, could be completely avoided.
So, rant over. I'm gutted that neither Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland will be in South Africa next summer, but I will enjoy the football anyway. Come on ye South Korea! Lol! No, don't know who I'll be going for yet. May Football win! Meaning good, well-played, fair, competitive football, with good performances from the referees!
Love from The Ginger Football Nut!
As you may know, I was born in the Republic but have lived most of my life in the North. But, with regards to football allegiance, I often feel very attached to both. Indeed for many years I was more for the Republic, always making my character in a football game Irish instead of Northern Irish, and saying that were I good enough to play at International level, I'd play for the Republic. It's only in the last 2 or 3 years that I've switched my allegiance a bit more to the North. But I really do have a place in my heart for both of them. After all, I do have double-nationality.
So when it came to ROI playing against France in the playoffs for the World Cup, I was fully behind them. So I was gutted tonight when we lost. It was shocking. The bad luck of the deflected goal in Croke Park is one thing, but to be done out of going to the cup because of the type of goal France scored tonight is just downright wrong.
And it makes one think, it cannot be much longer before world football changes its rules. I do not understand why football does not yet have TV-Refereeing! American Football and Cricket both have it, and have done for years. And while one can correctly argue that they are very slow, start-stop games, and therefore it's ok to take a pause to check a replay, this argument falls down on the fact that Rugby also uses a TV Ref, very successfully, and Rugby is arguably a faster sport than football!
It would be so easy, there is already a fourth official there, would it really be so difficult to extend his duties from keeping the managers at bay, checking the subs that come on, and holding up a sign with numbers on it, to also include watching a TV during the match? They already have those little headsets, use them in a good way, for goodness sake!
It's so simple, yet FIFA refuse to bring it in, and constantly teams are being outdone or lose thanks to decisions from referees which, with one quick look at a replay, which takes 10 seconds for goodness sake, could be completely avoided.
So, rant over. I'm gutted that neither Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland will be in South Africa next summer, but I will enjoy the football anyway. Come on ye South Korea! Lol! No, don't know who I'll be going for yet. May Football win! Meaning good, well-played, fair, competitive football, with good performances from the referees!
Love from The Ginger Football Nut!
Sunday, 15 November 2009
"Laughter is an instant Vacation" - Milton Berle
Hi Everybody!
So, hope you're all doing well, have had a good week and a relaxing weekend.
My week went well! Had a nice relaxing day off on Monday, went into town and had lunch in a cafe for a bit, then went round the shops a wee bit, bought a couple of things I needed, then sat in a cafe for a couple of hours writing letters. Then, that night, as it was the Day of Freedom, the festival celebrating the fall of the Berlin wall, we were invited over to Katja's for dinner, where we made our own pizza, and then watched the big festival that was taking place in Berlin. There was literally nothing happening for it in Chemnitz, which was a pity.
Then on the Tuesday we had our meeting with Barry and Katja, and that was good, we hadn't seen Barry in a wee while, as he's been very busy and travelling a lot. We then organised our week, everything we were doing and who was in charge of what etc.
We then went to Mittagsgebet, Midday Prayers, and it was awful, as everyday we read the Psalm for the week, but we do it kinda paragraph about, with whoever's taking it that day saying one paragraph, then everyone saying the next, and so on. But Judit accidentally spoke out loud a bit she wasn't meant to, and that made me, her and Maria all start to giggle, and ya really can't giggle at it, which made it even more tense, which then made us giggle more. It was awful. It was one of those situations we've all been in at some point or another where ya just can't laugh but ya really need to. And it went on for ages and ages and so many people were giving us dirty looks, and the lady taking it was clearly raging. I apologised lots afterwards for us, and didn't go again until Friday, when I had to take it. This story's why I named this blog with the above quotation.
On Tuesday afternoon we had our first KidsCafe, where parents can bring their children and there's stuff for the kids to do, while the parents can just sit back and have a coffee. It went well enough, and will hopefully develop well.
Afterwards I was only able to be at the start of Home Group as I was heading on to take Youth Group as a guest speaker for the group of one of the other football players from my team here. It went pretty well, they seemed to enjoy it, and had a few questions for me at the end as well. Then afterwards we went on to training, and I played awful for most of the night, apart from the last match, which was ok, but I was really annoyed at myself for how bad I was playing. 1) I need to get fitter! 2)I need to play more football!
On Wednesday we organised BOOMerang for the Saturday, and also a little for Youth Group for Friday. We also then in the afternoon had Kids Club, where we walked with the kids to another church where a special drama and program was taking place as it was St. Martin's Day. St. Martin's whole message was to be a light for others in that you help others, so it's tradition for the kids to walk through the streets with little lanterns that they've made. So that was kinda fun.
(I just finished the last Breakaway, which means we have no more British chocolate in the house! Aw!)
On Thursday we organised BOOMerang a little bit more, then in the afternoon we had Kids Club. It went well, we were talking about Samson, and the kids seemed pretty interested. Twas good fun. Then we had Youth Group, and that also went well, Maria talked about...something...lol. I remember it being interesting and lots of discussion coming out of it. I just can't remember what the topic was.
On Friday then we had the School Service first of all at 7.15-flipping-am, and I then went to back to bed for a little bit after. We then spent the morning organising Youth Group for that night, and I organised Mittagsgebet too, which we then did, and it went pretty well, we managed not to laugh! We then had Hilbersdorf Projekt meeting, where we went and looked at the hall and discussed what all we can do with it and what all we need to do for the following week. Then we had Youth Group, we were taking it, and while it may have been kinda long and a bit much, it also went well. And after we met with Michael and Friedemann to organise the plan for the next couple of months.
That night Michael and I watched a Greatest Hits of British Comedy DVD, which was very funny. And then I skyped with Fiona from like 1:15am til shortly after 3am.
So, when I got up for BOOMerang at 8:30am, after just 5 hours sleep, I can say I wasn't entirely looking forward to 5 hours with rowdy kids. But it was actually really good fun, I was just knackered after.
That night I went with Maria and Judit to a nice club in Chemnitz where there's a ton of pool tables, so we had a bite to eat and then played some pool. Twas a good laugh.
Then today Judit and I went to church here in Chemnitz while Maria was at her church in Crottendorf, where she's from. Twas nice chatting to everyone after the service, was ages before we got away. Then today I've had a fairly relaxing day. Just watched the U17 World Cup Final between Switzerland and Nigeria, twas a good match, Switzerland won 1-0.
Well, that's enough from me for now. Planning on working at getting fitter and playing more football this week, and then workwise we have youth group to organise again, we're starting with our Nativity Play practices, and we're taking the English Language Fellowship Service next week. So, lots to do!
God bless you, whoever you are, wherever you are!
Your Ginger Nut
So, hope you're all doing well, have had a good week and a relaxing weekend.
My week went well! Had a nice relaxing day off on Monday, went into town and had lunch in a cafe for a bit, then went round the shops a wee bit, bought a couple of things I needed, then sat in a cafe for a couple of hours writing letters. Then, that night, as it was the Day of Freedom, the festival celebrating the fall of the Berlin wall, we were invited over to Katja's for dinner, where we made our own pizza, and then watched the big festival that was taking place in Berlin. There was literally nothing happening for it in Chemnitz, which was a pity.
Then on the Tuesday we had our meeting with Barry and Katja, and that was good, we hadn't seen Barry in a wee while, as he's been very busy and travelling a lot. We then organised our week, everything we were doing and who was in charge of what etc.
We then went to Mittagsgebet, Midday Prayers, and it was awful, as everyday we read the Psalm for the week, but we do it kinda paragraph about, with whoever's taking it that day saying one paragraph, then everyone saying the next, and so on. But Judit accidentally spoke out loud a bit she wasn't meant to, and that made me, her and Maria all start to giggle, and ya really can't giggle at it, which made it even more tense, which then made us giggle more. It was awful. It was one of those situations we've all been in at some point or another where ya just can't laugh but ya really need to. And it went on for ages and ages and so many people were giving us dirty looks, and the lady taking it was clearly raging. I apologised lots afterwards for us, and didn't go again until Friday, when I had to take it. This story's why I named this blog with the above quotation.
On Tuesday afternoon we had our first KidsCafe, where parents can bring their children and there's stuff for the kids to do, while the parents can just sit back and have a coffee. It went well enough, and will hopefully develop well.
Afterwards I was only able to be at the start of Home Group as I was heading on to take Youth Group as a guest speaker for the group of one of the other football players from my team here. It went pretty well, they seemed to enjoy it, and had a few questions for me at the end as well. Then afterwards we went on to training, and I played awful for most of the night, apart from the last match, which was ok, but I was really annoyed at myself for how bad I was playing. 1) I need to get fitter! 2)I need to play more football!
On Wednesday we organised BOOMerang for the Saturday, and also a little for Youth Group for Friday. We also then in the afternoon had Kids Club, where we walked with the kids to another church where a special drama and program was taking place as it was St. Martin's Day. St. Martin's whole message was to be a light for others in that you help others, so it's tradition for the kids to walk through the streets with little lanterns that they've made. So that was kinda fun.
(I just finished the last Breakaway, which means we have no more British chocolate in the house! Aw!)
On Thursday we organised BOOMerang a little bit more, then in the afternoon we had Kids Club. It went well, we were talking about Samson, and the kids seemed pretty interested. Twas good fun. Then we had Youth Group, and that also went well, Maria talked about...something...lol. I remember it being interesting and lots of discussion coming out of it. I just can't remember what the topic was.
On Friday then we had the School Service first of all at 7.15-flipping-am, and I then went to back to bed for a little bit after. We then spent the morning organising Youth Group for that night, and I organised Mittagsgebet too, which we then did, and it went pretty well, we managed not to laugh! We then had Hilbersdorf Projekt meeting, where we went and looked at the hall and discussed what all we can do with it and what all we need to do for the following week. Then we had Youth Group, we were taking it, and while it may have been kinda long and a bit much, it also went well. And after we met with Michael and Friedemann to organise the plan for the next couple of months.
That night Michael and I watched a Greatest Hits of British Comedy DVD, which was very funny. And then I skyped with Fiona from like 1:15am til shortly after 3am.
So, when I got up for BOOMerang at 8:30am, after just 5 hours sleep, I can say I wasn't entirely looking forward to 5 hours with rowdy kids. But it was actually really good fun, I was just knackered after.
That night I went with Maria and Judit to a nice club in Chemnitz where there's a ton of pool tables, so we had a bite to eat and then played some pool. Twas a good laugh.
Then today Judit and I went to church here in Chemnitz while Maria was at her church in Crottendorf, where she's from. Twas nice chatting to everyone after the service, was ages before we got away. Then today I've had a fairly relaxing day. Just watched the U17 World Cup Final between Switzerland and Nigeria, twas a good match, Switzerland won 1-0.
Well, that's enough from me for now. Planning on working at getting fitter and playing more football this week, and then workwise we have youth group to organise again, we're starting with our Nativity Play practices, and we're taking the English Language Fellowship Service next week. So, lots to do!
God bless you, whoever you are, wherever you are!
Your Ginger Nut
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
A Great Weekend!
Hi y'all!
So, I just gotta say, I had a really good weekend.
On Friday everything ran fairly smoothly, we were organising different things, and working towards the Table Quiz, and it was all good.
Then on the Friday afternoon we met up again for Hilbersdorf Projekt, and one of the guys from another church who's helping out, Cornelius, had made some headway with a sports hall. We could have it Fridays 16:00-17:30, and there's room there to cook and also to do crafts and things, as well as the hall for games and sport. Which is great! God answers prayer! We're having another meeting on Thursday night to talk about advertising, planning, funds etc. and hope to get something started in 2-3 weeks time! Yay!
Then on Friday night we had planned that the Youth would help a l'il bit with the tidying up and setting up of the church now that the Sanctuary is ready to be used again after all the building work that's been done on it. We were just helping out for a little while, as there was already like half the church there and we were heading on to the Foozeball tournie as well.
Funny story though:
I arrive, and am saying hello to everyone who's there already, as in Germany whenever you arrive somewhere you always go around and shake everyone's hand. I then am standing talking to Matthias, when he also starts speaking to another guy Andre, who belongs to the church but is also a builder and was in charge of the work that was being done, and the conversation went like this:
Matthias: "Andre, who's going to get the materials?"
Andre: "We'll send Steven, sure, he has a car."
Matthias: "But Steven doesn't know his way around the material."
Steven: "Well, if ya write a list I guess I could just ask somebody from the shop."
Andre: "Yeah, just tell him what to get and that'll be fine."
Matthias: "Ok, Steven, this beer is called Pozar, it's in Pennymarkt, just get another crate of that, ok?"
Lol! The whole time I thought they were talking about building materials and were sending me to a BnQ type shop, but nope, they just wanted a beer for when they were finished working that night. And they send me, lol, the person there with literally the least clue about beer. Lol! But I went and got it and all was grand.
After we, the youth, were finished helping out in the church, we went on to the Foozeball Tournie, and to be honest, the less said about that, the better. Daniel and I were in a team together, and we came 9th out of 10, having lost all 4 of our group games. The annoying thing was we were so unlucky, every game we had was really tight, and in 3 of them we only lost by the 2-goal margin necessary for a win. It was very disappointing, cos Dani and are both pretty good, but it just wasn't happening on Friday. We won our two-legged 9th-place-playoff 18-2 though, I reckon taking out a l'il frustration!
On Saturday morning and afternoon we had Wesley Scouts, for which we were doing "Basic Knowledge every Scout Should Have". So we were doing things like wood-chopping, building a fire, cooking with a fire, how to use a knife, and knot-tieing. It was fun, as I basically spent my morning chopping wood (how alpha-male am I?), and then eating soup we'd cooked over the fire. As I said at the time, "Ah, es fetzt, mal ein Feuer zu bauen und damit zu kochen! - Ah, sometimes it's just nice to build a fire and cook with it." After the kids had then gone home we had a wee meeting and planned the next Scout meeting in December, where we'll be having a Christmas Party.
We then got home at around 4pm, and I basically spent two hours finishing off all the finer touches for the Table Quiz that night. Then I got a quick shower and we headed to Augustusburg for the Quiz. Although not too many people made it, we did have a good night, with the winning team only 3 points ahead of the runners-up. Some of the rounds were pretty hard, like Judit's Art, History and Literature rounds, lol, and others were pretty easy, like my Bible and Music rounds. But it was good fun, and everyone there seemed to have fun.
After that we got home and I was knackered, as I hadn't had a minute free since like 9am. But, as Megan couldn't make it to our service the following morning, I had to learn lines for the drama we were doing.
On Sunday morning we then had our 3rd and last service of the series in Floeha. And it again went well, though due to sickness or being in Chemnitz to be accepted into full-membership of the church, there were a few of the young people not able to be there. And also, due to duties elsewhere on the circuit or being away, we also didn't have anyone to play the hymns. But Maria and Friedi, who were originally only meant to be playing guitar and bass for the two songs the youth were singing, decided to give the hymns a go as well, and that was really great of them, and it went fine, and was much better than nothing. The service and my sermon were well accepted, and it was not as chaotic as it could have been. Barry said later, "Ya see, God sends 2 fish and 5 loaves and outta that He makes a feast." And he was right, God may have sent us without everything we thought we needed, and what we may have thought was quite little, but He can make something good out of that.
Afterwards we went back to the Erloeserkirche as there were 3 people being accepted into full-membership and two others who were being adult-baptised, and they were pretty important people to me. So it was great just chatting to people afterwards and stuff, and the church was buzzing when we got there, everyone standing around having a coffee and chatting. That is the best thing about church, and what we really are called to in a church: fellowship with one another!
After that I got home and couldn't find my housekeys, and therefore couldn't get into my bedroom. So I was searching everywhere I'd been that morning, couldn't find it in our kitchen or our living room, I checked every little nook and crannie of the car, no sign, so I then drove to Floeha to check the church there, couldn't find it, then I drove to the Erloeserkirche, where I was sure i hadn't had it, and again no sign of it. So I got home really quite down, cos that basically meant I couldn't get into my room all day, and, it being Sunday there was nobody there who'd have a spare key, I wouldn't be able to sleep in my room that night either. So I sat myself down in front of the TV with my lunch and was eating that. Then at one point I needed to go to the loo, and what do I see when I walk in but my keys sitting on the windowsill of the toilet. Lol!
Speaking of the TV, I hardly ever watch TV here in Germany, apart from maybe football or the odd bit of news. On Sunday I was sort of reminded why I avoid it. I turned it on and there was the German version of Britain's Got Talent, "Das Supertalent"! In a half hour I saw a couple who played "alien pop" and the woman said "I've always felt like I'm an alien", a 74-year-old man who showed us his bum, and a middle-aged man who said through his dancing he could give women orgasms. It was the weirdest TV I've seen in a long time!
That night we then had DreamLabs, which was again very interesting and encouraging. We discussed how it should go on, what form it should take, and how Barry would like to step out from it and let us, though we're all younger, lead it and make it our own. I'm ok with that, and I still think it's a great wee thing, as it not only gives you good tips, but also encourages to go out seeking tips, ideas, mentors yourself.
And that was my weekend, and even though there were one or two difficult or annoying parts (playing crap at Foozeball, Key missing) all in all it was a really lovely weekend!
So, God bless you!
Your Fave Ginge!
So, I just gotta say, I had a really good weekend.
On Friday everything ran fairly smoothly, we were organising different things, and working towards the Table Quiz, and it was all good.
Then on the Friday afternoon we met up again for Hilbersdorf Projekt, and one of the guys from another church who's helping out, Cornelius, had made some headway with a sports hall. We could have it Fridays 16:00-17:30, and there's room there to cook and also to do crafts and things, as well as the hall for games and sport. Which is great! God answers prayer! We're having another meeting on Thursday night to talk about advertising, planning, funds etc. and hope to get something started in 2-3 weeks time! Yay!
Then on Friday night we had planned that the Youth would help a l'il bit with the tidying up and setting up of the church now that the Sanctuary is ready to be used again after all the building work that's been done on it. We were just helping out for a little while, as there was already like half the church there and we were heading on to the Foozeball tournie as well.
Funny story though:
I arrive, and am saying hello to everyone who's there already, as in Germany whenever you arrive somewhere you always go around and shake everyone's hand. I then am standing talking to Matthias, when he also starts speaking to another guy Andre, who belongs to the church but is also a builder and was in charge of the work that was being done, and the conversation went like this:
Matthias: "Andre, who's going to get the materials?"
Andre: "We'll send Steven, sure, he has a car."
Matthias: "But Steven doesn't know his way around the material."
Steven: "Well, if ya write a list I guess I could just ask somebody from the shop."
Andre: "Yeah, just tell him what to get and that'll be fine."
Matthias: "Ok, Steven, this beer is called Pozar, it's in Pennymarkt, just get another crate of that, ok?"
Lol! The whole time I thought they were talking about building materials and were sending me to a BnQ type shop, but nope, they just wanted a beer for when they were finished working that night. And they send me, lol, the person there with literally the least clue about beer. Lol! But I went and got it and all was grand.
After we, the youth, were finished helping out in the church, we went on to the Foozeball Tournie, and to be honest, the less said about that, the better. Daniel and I were in a team together, and we came 9th out of 10, having lost all 4 of our group games. The annoying thing was we were so unlucky, every game we had was really tight, and in 3 of them we only lost by the 2-goal margin necessary for a win. It was very disappointing, cos Dani and are both pretty good, but it just wasn't happening on Friday. We won our two-legged 9th-place-playoff 18-2 though, I reckon taking out a l'il frustration!
On Saturday morning and afternoon we had Wesley Scouts, for which we were doing "Basic Knowledge every Scout Should Have". So we were doing things like wood-chopping, building a fire, cooking with a fire, how to use a knife, and knot-tieing. It was fun, as I basically spent my morning chopping wood (how alpha-male am I?), and then eating soup we'd cooked over the fire. As I said at the time, "Ah, es fetzt, mal ein Feuer zu bauen und damit zu kochen! - Ah, sometimes it's just nice to build a fire and cook with it." After the kids had then gone home we had a wee meeting and planned the next Scout meeting in December, where we'll be having a Christmas Party.
We then got home at around 4pm, and I basically spent two hours finishing off all the finer touches for the Table Quiz that night. Then I got a quick shower and we headed to Augustusburg for the Quiz. Although not too many people made it, we did have a good night, with the winning team only 3 points ahead of the runners-up. Some of the rounds were pretty hard, like Judit's Art, History and Literature rounds, lol, and others were pretty easy, like my Bible and Music rounds. But it was good fun, and everyone there seemed to have fun.
After that we got home and I was knackered, as I hadn't had a minute free since like 9am. But, as Megan couldn't make it to our service the following morning, I had to learn lines for the drama we were doing.
On Sunday morning we then had our 3rd and last service of the series in Floeha. And it again went well, though due to sickness or being in Chemnitz to be accepted into full-membership of the church, there were a few of the young people not able to be there. And also, due to duties elsewhere on the circuit or being away, we also didn't have anyone to play the hymns. But Maria and Friedi, who were originally only meant to be playing guitar and bass for the two songs the youth were singing, decided to give the hymns a go as well, and that was really great of them, and it went fine, and was much better than nothing. The service and my sermon were well accepted, and it was not as chaotic as it could have been. Barry said later, "Ya see, God sends 2 fish and 5 loaves and outta that He makes a feast." And he was right, God may have sent us without everything we thought we needed, and what we may have thought was quite little, but He can make something good out of that.
Afterwards we went back to the Erloeserkirche as there were 3 people being accepted into full-membership and two others who were being adult-baptised, and they were pretty important people to me. So it was great just chatting to people afterwards and stuff, and the church was buzzing when we got there, everyone standing around having a coffee and chatting. That is the best thing about church, and what we really are called to in a church: fellowship with one another!
After that I got home and couldn't find my housekeys, and therefore couldn't get into my bedroom. So I was searching everywhere I'd been that morning, couldn't find it in our kitchen or our living room, I checked every little nook and crannie of the car, no sign, so I then drove to Floeha to check the church there, couldn't find it, then I drove to the Erloeserkirche, where I was sure i hadn't had it, and again no sign of it. So I got home really quite down, cos that basically meant I couldn't get into my room all day, and, it being Sunday there was nobody there who'd have a spare key, I wouldn't be able to sleep in my room that night either. So I sat myself down in front of the TV with my lunch and was eating that. Then at one point I needed to go to the loo, and what do I see when I walk in but my keys sitting on the windowsill of the toilet. Lol!
Speaking of the TV, I hardly ever watch TV here in Germany, apart from maybe football or the odd bit of news. On Sunday I was sort of reminded why I avoid it. I turned it on and there was the German version of Britain's Got Talent, "Das Supertalent"! In a half hour I saw a couple who played "alien pop" and the woman said "I've always felt like I'm an alien", a 74-year-old man who showed us his bum, and a middle-aged man who said through his dancing he could give women orgasms. It was the weirdest TV I've seen in a long time!
That night we then had DreamLabs, which was again very interesting and encouraging. We discussed how it should go on, what form it should take, and how Barry would like to step out from it and let us, though we're all younger, lead it and make it our own. I'm ok with that, and I still think it's a great wee thing, as it not only gives you good tips, but also encourages to go out seeking tips, ideas, mentors yourself.
And that was my weekend, and even though there were one or two difficult or annoying parts (playing crap at Foozeball, Key missing) all in all it was a really lovely weekend!
So, God bless you!
Your Fave Ginge!
Thursday, 5 November 2009
The Last While
(Written while drinking Nambarrie's Tea, eating Hungarian chocolate called Boci, and listening to Crooked Still)
Hi Everybody!
So, sorry, this next blog has been a good bit longer coming than I had planned. I'm doing good, not feeling quite 100% since yesterday, but getting better. Otherwise we've been fairly busy here, everything picked up again right after we got back from Auschwitz.
On the Friday after we got back we had a prayer meeting for the Hilbersdorf Project and Youth Group that night. Both were fine, and I can't quite remember much about them now, lol, but I'm pretty sure there was no problems with either of them.
After the Prayer Meeting Barry sat down with us as a Team and gave us some feedback on how we've been doing since we've been here. He gave us some encouragement and some constructive criticism as well, but on the whole he's very happy with us and the work we've been doing.
On the Saturday I then wrote a sermon that I'd be preaching for the next 3 weeks in the 3 different churches. I'm pretty happy with it, I think in one or two parts I could flesh it out a wee bit more, but on the whole I think I get across what I'm trying to say pretty well. More on that to come!
On Saturday night we technically had SNL, but with us having been in Auschwitz and Barry having been on holiday in Ireland, nobody knew it was on, so nobody came apart from Barry, Gillian & Michael. So after a while we dropped Michael home and the rest of us went on to the Irish Pub, which was nice, had a good chat with Barry, and we all talked about the Ski Trip in February, Maria and I are both definitely going, and Judit is thinking about it. Twas a very nice evening in the end actually.
Then on the Sunday morning we had our Service, and everything went very well, we sang two songs for the church as a youth group, and 4 of the young people did a drama for us, and I "preached". It went well, one lady said I did excellently with my German, and how clearly I spoke, and another man asked me a few questions about the version of the Bible I used and a poem I'd mentioned. And Gillian said to me later on that she thought it was very good, and that what I'd said was very important for the church to hear. So thumbs up all round, heehee.
That afternoon I played football, for FC Arche again, and unfortunately we lost 3-1, but it was to the top of the league, and it was a closer match than 3-1 suggests. Their third was just a late goal on the counter while we were piling on the pressure for an equaliser. I'm getting fitter as well, which meant I was able to cause their left back a few problems from right-wing. And it was a nice physical match too, actually, which I really enjoyed, I was able to put in a few good hard sliding tackles, especially in the last half hour when I was moved to centre-midfield. I was actually a little surprised that I never got a yellow card. And one of the other players said he hard the other team talking after the match, and said they were all singing my praises. Yay!
That night we had English Language Fellowship, and it was very good, Barry spoke very well, very challenging but encouraging at the same time!
Football on the Monday night was the last for a while, it's been moved to a different hall, and to Tuesday night, when I have training. I felt pretty good again on Monday, scored a couple of nice goals.
Judit also went home for a wee holiday on the Monday for a week. That left Maria and I alone to take care of everything for the week, which was ok actually, it wasn't too much to handle.
On Tuesday we had Home Group as per usual, and it went grand, then Wednesday was Kids Club, and we thought we were meant to be taking it, but we weren't, lol, but it meant we had everything prepared for this week when we were up. On Thursday we had a great wee kids club about the 10 Plagues. I had found games for each Plague, and it was really good fun. Then we went 10-Pin Bowling with the Youth and I scored 134, so I was pretty happy.
On Friday we had to take Schulandacht, the little service for the Nursing students, and it went ok, Maria did the talk and it was grand. As I've said before, it's always strange doing it for people who just aren't interested. We then again had Prayer Meeting for Hilbersdorf and Youth Group. David did Youth Group about the creation and theories about that, and it was very interesting.
On Saturday we had Family Afternoon, and it was nice, and good fun. I wrote a l'il story about a fox and a bear and how they shared food for the winter, and they we made animals out of conkers and matchsticks, and sang a few songs, and drank coffee and ate cake! It was good fun!
Afterwards Michael Sloan, his girlfriend Anne, Maria and I all wanted to go to a showing of Urfaust in the theatre, but when we got there a poster on the door said it was cancelled "due to sickness". So that was disappointing. But we got our money back and went to see Pope Joan in the cinema instead, which was quite interesting.
On Sunday we then did our service again in Augustusburg, for 7 people, which is odd. It went fine, was a little chaotic, because we didn't have anyone to play piano for the hymns, so had to sing a cappella, but it was ok. Afterwards Megan and Theres were taking the mickey out of me for my speaking melody when I preach, lol. They said it's fine, but it's just funny.
It was also the 50-year anniversary of the church in Floeha, so there was a lunch in the church there after their service, so we went to it and ate there. It was nice, as I got speaking to Beate and her husband Georg, Beate was the Pastor in Floeha last year but moved in the summer, and also Simone Focke who I know from her work in Bangor, but who comes from the circuit here originally.
On Monday I had a nice day off and didn't do much apart from read, go shopping and pick Judit up from the train station.
On Tuesday we had a good breakfast with Katja Foerster, the Pastor who's now in Floeha, and chatted about all the things we had to do this week. I also prepared Home Group for Tuesday night, and it went quite well, there was a lot of discussion and it went pretty long. I then went to training with Michael, but when we got there the whole place was empty. I found out today that it had been called off because of the rain, but the manager had accidentally texted my old number. After Michael, Barry and I watched the Man U match, which was a crazy game, but I'm glad we didn't lose.
On Wednesday we spent most of the day preparing the Table Quiz for Saturday night, and then went to Kids Club, where I did the story, and it went pretty well. Afterwards I started to feel sick though, and went to bed quite early, and slept right through.
Today was more preparation for the Table Quiz, then Kids Club which went very well today too, the kids were all in good form, and the tonight we had Youth Group, which was also good tonight.
Unfortunately though it seems as though somebody came into our house today and stole Judits laptop. It really sucks and is also somewhat strange, considering Maria and I are both pretty sure that our laptop's were also wide open to be stolen, but weren't. It really sucks.
Anyhow, God bless all of you, and whatever you are doing!
Love from the Ginger!
Hi Everybody!
So, sorry, this next blog has been a good bit longer coming than I had planned. I'm doing good, not feeling quite 100% since yesterday, but getting better. Otherwise we've been fairly busy here, everything picked up again right after we got back from Auschwitz.
On the Friday after we got back we had a prayer meeting for the Hilbersdorf Project and Youth Group that night. Both were fine, and I can't quite remember much about them now, lol, but I'm pretty sure there was no problems with either of them.
After the Prayer Meeting Barry sat down with us as a Team and gave us some feedback on how we've been doing since we've been here. He gave us some encouragement and some constructive criticism as well, but on the whole he's very happy with us and the work we've been doing.
On the Saturday I then wrote a sermon that I'd be preaching for the next 3 weeks in the 3 different churches. I'm pretty happy with it, I think in one or two parts I could flesh it out a wee bit more, but on the whole I think I get across what I'm trying to say pretty well. More on that to come!
On Saturday night we technically had SNL, but with us having been in Auschwitz and Barry having been on holiday in Ireland, nobody knew it was on, so nobody came apart from Barry, Gillian & Michael. So after a while we dropped Michael home and the rest of us went on to the Irish Pub, which was nice, had a good chat with Barry, and we all talked about the Ski Trip in February, Maria and I are both definitely going, and Judit is thinking about it. Twas a very nice evening in the end actually.
Then on the Sunday morning we had our Service, and everything went very well, we sang two songs for the church as a youth group, and 4 of the young people did a drama for us, and I "preached". It went well, one lady said I did excellently with my German, and how clearly I spoke, and another man asked me a few questions about the version of the Bible I used and a poem I'd mentioned. And Gillian said to me later on that she thought it was very good, and that what I'd said was very important for the church to hear. So thumbs up all round, heehee.
That afternoon I played football, for FC Arche again, and unfortunately we lost 3-1, but it was to the top of the league, and it was a closer match than 3-1 suggests. Their third was just a late goal on the counter while we were piling on the pressure for an equaliser. I'm getting fitter as well, which meant I was able to cause their left back a few problems from right-wing. And it was a nice physical match too, actually, which I really enjoyed, I was able to put in a few good hard sliding tackles, especially in the last half hour when I was moved to centre-midfield. I was actually a little surprised that I never got a yellow card. And one of the other players said he hard the other team talking after the match, and said they were all singing my praises. Yay!
That night we had English Language Fellowship, and it was very good, Barry spoke very well, very challenging but encouraging at the same time!
Football on the Monday night was the last for a while, it's been moved to a different hall, and to Tuesday night, when I have training. I felt pretty good again on Monday, scored a couple of nice goals.
Judit also went home for a wee holiday on the Monday for a week. That left Maria and I alone to take care of everything for the week, which was ok actually, it wasn't too much to handle.
On Tuesday we had Home Group as per usual, and it went grand, then Wednesday was Kids Club, and we thought we were meant to be taking it, but we weren't, lol, but it meant we had everything prepared for this week when we were up. On Thursday we had a great wee kids club about the 10 Plagues. I had found games for each Plague, and it was really good fun. Then we went 10-Pin Bowling with the Youth and I scored 134, so I was pretty happy.
On Friday we had to take Schulandacht, the little service for the Nursing students, and it went ok, Maria did the talk and it was grand. As I've said before, it's always strange doing it for people who just aren't interested. We then again had Prayer Meeting for Hilbersdorf and Youth Group. David did Youth Group about the creation and theories about that, and it was very interesting.
On Saturday we had Family Afternoon, and it was nice, and good fun. I wrote a l'il story about a fox and a bear and how they shared food for the winter, and they we made animals out of conkers and matchsticks, and sang a few songs, and drank coffee and ate cake! It was good fun!
Afterwards Michael Sloan, his girlfriend Anne, Maria and I all wanted to go to a showing of Urfaust in the theatre, but when we got there a poster on the door said it was cancelled "due to sickness". So that was disappointing. But we got our money back and went to see Pope Joan in the cinema instead, which was quite interesting.
On Sunday we then did our service again in Augustusburg, for 7 people, which is odd. It went fine, was a little chaotic, because we didn't have anyone to play piano for the hymns, so had to sing a cappella, but it was ok. Afterwards Megan and Theres were taking the mickey out of me for my speaking melody when I preach, lol. They said it's fine, but it's just funny.
It was also the 50-year anniversary of the church in Floeha, so there was a lunch in the church there after their service, so we went to it and ate there. It was nice, as I got speaking to Beate and her husband Georg, Beate was the Pastor in Floeha last year but moved in the summer, and also Simone Focke who I know from her work in Bangor, but who comes from the circuit here originally.
On Monday I had a nice day off and didn't do much apart from read, go shopping and pick Judit up from the train station.
On Tuesday we had a good breakfast with Katja Foerster, the Pastor who's now in Floeha, and chatted about all the things we had to do this week. I also prepared Home Group for Tuesday night, and it went quite well, there was a lot of discussion and it went pretty long. I then went to training with Michael, but when we got there the whole place was empty. I found out today that it had been called off because of the rain, but the manager had accidentally texted my old number. After Michael, Barry and I watched the Man U match, which was a crazy game, but I'm glad we didn't lose.
On Wednesday we spent most of the day preparing the Table Quiz for Saturday night, and then went to Kids Club, where I did the story, and it went pretty well. Afterwards I started to feel sick though, and went to bed quite early, and slept right through.
Today was more preparation for the Table Quiz, then Kids Club which went very well today too, the kids were all in good form, and the tonight we had Youth Group, which was also good tonight.
Unfortunately though it seems as though somebody came into our house today and stole Judits laptop. It really sucks and is also somewhat strange, considering Maria and I are both pretty sure that our laptop's were also wide open to be stolen, but weren't. It really sucks.
Anyhow, God bless all of you, and whatever you are doing!
Love from the Ginger!
Thursday, 22 October 2009
The Concentration Camp 2
Hello everyone!
On Tuesday we went to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Auschwitz-Monowitz, the two other parts that were built onto the original Auschwitz nearby. Monowitz was a small camp, but Birkenau was massive. It was here that the most people were murdered.
I saw in Monowitz a community that wanted to put the horror behind them. There were almost no remains of the camp.
I saw a community that had built up where once was a concentration camp. This was the people who had lived here before the Nazi's drove them out.
In Birkenau I saw the train tracks where train loads of people were brought, and if they were fit for work they were sent to one of the more than one hundred barracks, and if they weren't they were sent straight to the gas chamber.
I saw the brick barracks where up to 700 people would be crammed in, to sleep in the cold, on stone.
I saw the wooden barracks where 700 people had to sleep. These wooden barracks were originally stables for horses.
I saw their toilets and washing "facilities", the toilets being literally just one hole after another over a pit, and the washing "facilities" having either cold water, or no water in the winter.
I saw the ruins of the 5 crematoria where millions of people were burned after they had been gassed.
I saw a pond where the ashes of these people were thrown.
I saw little pieces of bone in the ground that are still there from this time.
I saw where people were brought when they first arrived, where their clothes, belongings, hair, and identity were stolen from them, where they no longer had a name, but were a number.
Birkenau was massive. No matter what direction you looked, it seemed to go on forever. Everything was perfectly linear. The ground was stony and harsh. There was no hope to be found here. The biggest atrocities ever committed by mankind were committed here.
"The biggest graveyard in the world"
On Tuesday we went to Auschwitz-Birkenau and Auschwitz-Monowitz, the two other parts that were built onto the original Auschwitz nearby. Monowitz was a small camp, but Birkenau was massive. It was here that the most people were murdered.
I saw in Monowitz a community that wanted to put the horror behind them. There were almost no remains of the camp.
I saw a community that had built up where once was a concentration camp. This was the people who had lived here before the Nazi's drove them out.
In Birkenau I saw the train tracks where train loads of people were brought, and if they were fit for work they were sent to one of the more than one hundred barracks, and if they weren't they were sent straight to the gas chamber.
I saw the brick barracks where up to 700 people would be crammed in, to sleep in the cold, on stone.
I saw the wooden barracks where 700 people had to sleep. These wooden barracks were originally stables for horses.
I saw their toilets and washing "facilities", the toilets being literally just one hole after another over a pit, and the washing "facilities" having either cold water, or no water in the winter.
I saw the ruins of the 5 crematoria where millions of people were burned after they had been gassed.
I saw a pond where the ashes of these people were thrown.
I saw little pieces of bone in the ground that are still there from this time.
I saw where people were brought when they first arrived, where their clothes, belongings, hair, and identity were stolen from them, where they no longer had a name, but were a number.
Birkenau was massive. No matter what direction you looked, it seemed to go on forever. Everything was perfectly linear. The ground was stony and harsh. There was no hope to be found here. The biggest atrocities ever committed by mankind were committed here.
"The biggest graveyard in the world"
Monday, 19 October 2009
The Concentration Camp 1
Hey again!
So I hadn't planned on writing again so soon, but I thought I'd just quickly share a few of the thoughts and impressions I have from visiting the original Auschwitz Concentation Camp today. Tomorrow we visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, the much bigger part later built onto the original 3km away.
I saw rows upon rows of photos of people who didn't last longer than a month in the camp.
I saw pictures of women and children who were experimented upon by Dr. Mengele, a sadist who did illegal medical experiments on prisoners.
I saw a huge cabinet of hair, people's hair, people who'd been gassed, or died, and I saw that it was used to make carpets and other things.
I saw the clothes and shoes of babies, who were sent to the gas chambers as soon as they arrived.
I saw quotations from Hitler and others that damn near made me sick.
I saw where the prisoners slept, what they ate, and an example of the ridiculously hard work thay had to do.
I heard how they had no shoes at the start, I heard how they got only 1700 Kcals for 12 hours work a day, 7 days a week.
I saw the gas chamber, where thousands of people were killed. Later, when we had our own time, I went back to the chamber. I coincidentally walked in on the spontaneous singing of a Hebrew prayer song by a group of 30-odd Israelites, singing for their fallen forefathers in the gas chamber. That God allowed me to witness that is one of the most incredible things I've ever had the privilege of.
"Opinions vary on the number of Jews killed in the camps. One Historian says it was 1.1million. Another says it was 1.5million. But the fact remains, whatever the exact number is does not matter. When one was killed, it was already one too many."
So I hadn't planned on writing again so soon, but I thought I'd just quickly share a few of the thoughts and impressions I have from visiting the original Auschwitz Concentation Camp today. Tomorrow we visit Auschwitz-Birkenau, the much bigger part later built onto the original 3km away.
I saw rows upon rows of photos of people who didn't last longer than a month in the camp.
I saw pictures of women and children who were experimented upon by Dr. Mengele, a sadist who did illegal medical experiments on prisoners.
I saw a huge cabinet of hair, people's hair, people who'd been gassed, or died, and I saw that it was used to make carpets and other things.
I saw the clothes and shoes of babies, who were sent to the gas chambers as soon as they arrived.
I saw quotations from Hitler and others that damn near made me sick.
I saw where the prisoners slept, what they ate, and an example of the ridiculously hard work thay had to do.
I heard how they had no shoes at the start, I heard how they got only 1700 Kcals for 12 hours work a day, 7 days a week.
I saw the gas chamber, where thousands of people were killed. Later, when we had our own time, I went back to the chamber. I coincidentally walked in on the spontaneous singing of a Hebrew prayer song by a group of 30-odd Israelites, singing for their fallen forefathers in the gas chamber. That God allowed me to witness that is one of the most incredible things I've ever had the privilege of.
"Opinions vary on the number of Jews killed in the camps. One Historian says it was 1.1million. Another says it was 1.5million. But the fact remains, whatever the exact number is does not matter. When one was killed, it was already one too many."
Report from Auschwitz
Hiya evereyone!
So, I thought I'd just write a quick wee blog about what we've been doing on the trip!
On Thursday, we basically just did ice-breaker games and getting to know each other, and Friday morning was the same. Tis a good bunch, all from Germany apart from me and Judit, the majority are still in school, and then there's a few of us who are a bit older. But they're all grand. A few funny characters. One huy loves his Star Wars. Says if he sees anything to do with Star Wars he has to have it. Tis funny, cos most of us are reading books about Auschwitz or concentrations camps and he's reading some Star Wars book, lol!
On Friday afternoon we then did a role-play game, where some of us were Jews being made to work in a factory, and others were Nazi officials or police or shop-owners, who basically made the jews' lives difficult. I was a jew. Twas interesting. No matter how hard we worked it was near impossible to reach our quota, and therefore earn money. We were also punished for the littlest of things. And it was totally unfair. We were in a Munitions Factory, and were meant to do 20 cases of Munition a day, but one day I was given a different task to do, which meant at the end I didn't have 20 cases, and I therefore didn't get my pay. 2 people also got fed up and got themselves killed. I got sent to a camp and, strange as it sounds, was happy when I got brought out of the camp to work again, cos when you work you at least have a hope. Then, I wanted to destroy the factory. I had it all worked out, it was a munition's factory, if we destroyed it we'd make a big dent in the Nazi's plans, and it'd be easy to destroy cos it's got explosive things there. Yes, we'd have to die for it, but who cares, we'd hurt the Nazi's! I'd tried to convince my other Jews, but they were too cowardly. Twas interesting just the different emotions it brought out. And it was only a game!
On Saturday then we came to Oswiecim, the Polish name for the town where the Auschwitz concentration camp is. We're staying in a youth hostel here, which also has a german guy as a guide and helper, so that's handy. On Saturday night we watched a film based on a true story about a guy who was in a few camps. The film was crap, from a purely film point of view, it got on my nerves, but the story is insane, what the guy had to go through was awful!
On Sunday morning, thought, it got particularly mad. We met a lady who had been not only in Auschwitz, but also in another concentration camp. Halina Bierenbaum is her name, and you can look her up on t'internet, she's written books and been in documentary films and other things. That was truly insane to meet someone and here a first person account of everything that went on in the concentration camps. These are 3 things which are just insane:
1) "Auschwitz saved my life." She said that, because the other camp was even worse, but then she got sent to Auschwitz. Isn't that insane?
2) She was actually meant to be gassed. She was in the room with the other women, naked, looking at up at the supposed shower heads, knowing this was it. But then nothing happened, and a soldier came in and said they weren't working that day. There was some sort of problem and they could gas that day. She was then never selected again to be gassed.
3) She was shot, but still survived. When the Allies were nearing in on camps, a lot of the time the Nazi's tried to cover themselves, so to speak. They would burn all the documents. And sometimes, when the Allies were right on the doorstep they'd shoot any remaining prisoners as well. She was shot, twice, but both bullets missed her vital organs. She just said she felt the pain, but knew the Allies were coming, so would not give up now.
She was a living example of the power of hope. Her book is called "Hope dies last" and that's a fitting title for her life. And the joy she was able to experience again after surviving it all, it just made me so happy to see how she delighted in things.
We later did a tour of the town here, and went to the Jewish centre, which was built onto the synagogue which was built up after the war. The original had been torn down by the Nazi's in 1939. Before the war something like 55% of the population of Oswiecim was Jewish. Now there's not a single Jew living here.
We also bumped into a group of Americans who were staying at the hostel as well. Twas funny, I asked them where they were from, then said that I was from Ireland, and they were like, "Oh hey, Rob's from Ireland!" Then this guy with a full american accent starts speaking to me. Turns out his Grandparents are from Cork, but moved to America in the 50s. But fair play, they go home every summer, he usually spends 5 weeks in Cork during the summer.
So, hope you're all doing good! Just thought I'd let ya's know some of the things I've been experiencing here!
God bless you all!
The German-speaking Ginger Genius!
So, I thought I'd just write a quick wee blog about what we've been doing on the trip!
On Thursday, we basically just did ice-breaker games and getting to know each other, and Friday morning was the same. Tis a good bunch, all from Germany apart from me and Judit, the majority are still in school, and then there's a few of us who are a bit older. But they're all grand. A few funny characters. One huy loves his Star Wars. Says if he sees anything to do with Star Wars he has to have it. Tis funny, cos most of us are reading books about Auschwitz or concentrations camps and he's reading some Star Wars book, lol!
On Friday afternoon we then did a role-play game, where some of us were Jews being made to work in a factory, and others were Nazi officials or police or shop-owners, who basically made the jews' lives difficult. I was a jew. Twas interesting. No matter how hard we worked it was near impossible to reach our quota, and therefore earn money. We were also punished for the littlest of things. And it was totally unfair. We were in a Munitions Factory, and were meant to do 20 cases of Munition a day, but one day I was given a different task to do, which meant at the end I didn't have 20 cases, and I therefore didn't get my pay. 2 people also got fed up and got themselves killed. I got sent to a camp and, strange as it sounds, was happy when I got brought out of the camp to work again, cos when you work you at least have a hope. Then, I wanted to destroy the factory. I had it all worked out, it was a munition's factory, if we destroyed it we'd make a big dent in the Nazi's plans, and it'd be easy to destroy cos it's got explosive things there. Yes, we'd have to die for it, but who cares, we'd hurt the Nazi's! I'd tried to convince my other Jews, but they were too cowardly. Twas interesting just the different emotions it brought out. And it was only a game!
On Saturday then we came to Oswiecim, the Polish name for the town where the Auschwitz concentration camp is. We're staying in a youth hostel here, which also has a german guy as a guide and helper, so that's handy. On Saturday night we watched a film based on a true story about a guy who was in a few camps. The film was crap, from a purely film point of view, it got on my nerves, but the story is insane, what the guy had to go through was awful!
On Sunday morning, thought, it got particularly mad. We met a lady who had been not only in Auschwitz, but also in another concentration camp. Halina Bierenbaum is her name, and you can look her up on t'internet, she's written books and been in documentary films and other things. That was truly insane to meet someone and here a first person account of everything that went on in the concentration camps. These are 3 things which are just insane:
1) "Auschwitz saved my life." She said that, because the other camp was even worse, but then she got sent to Auschwitz. Isn't that insane?
2) She was actually meant to be gassed. She was in the room with the other women, naked, looking at up at the supposed shower heads, knowing this was it. But then nothing happened, and a soldier came in and said they weren't working that day. There was some sort of problem and they could gas that day. She was then never selected again to be gassed.
3) She was shot, but still survived. When the Allies were nearing in on camps, a lot of the time the Nazi's tried to cover themselves, so to speak. They would burn all the documents. And sometimes, when the Allies were right on the doorstep they'd shoot any remaining prisoners as well. She was shot, twice, but both bullets missed her vital organs. She just said she felt the pain, but knew the Allies were coming, so would not give up now.
She was a living example of the power of hope. Her book is called "Hope dies last" and that's a fitting title for her life. And the joy she was able to experience again after surviving it all, it just made me so happy to see how she delighted in things.
We later did a tour of the town here, and went to the Jewish centre, which was built onto the synagogue which was built up after the war. The original had been torn down by the Nazi's in 1939. Before the war something like 55% of the population of Oswiecim was Jewish. Now there's not a single Jew living here.
We also bumped into a group of Americans who were staying at the hostel as well. Twas funny, I asked them where they were from, then said that I was from Ireland, and they were like, "Oh hey, Rob's from Ireland!" Then this guy with a full american accent starts speaking to me. Turns out his Grandparents are from Cork, but moved to America in the 50s. But fair play, they go home every summer, he usually spends 5 weeks in Cork during the summer.
So, hope you're all doing good! Just thought I'd let ya's know some of the things I've been experiencing here!
God bless you all!
The German-speaking Ginger Genius!
Monday, 12 October 2009
Heimweh!
Hi Everyone!
(Steven has Irish teabags again! Nambarrie! Yeah!)
So, the last two weeks went grand! Work-wise things have been fine, as usual, though a bit disappointing has been the numbers attending things! Youth Group, Kids Club, SNL have all had low numbers over the past 2 weeks. Hopefully things will puck up again soon!
I organised Schulandacht in the Hospital this week! See, there's a school attached to the hospital we live at which teaches people to be nurses or old-folks-home-nurses, and every friday at 7:15am (!) they have a wee service. The thing is, barely any of them are Christian, or from a chruch background, and therefore are only there because they have to be. Tis interesting doing a little 15 minute long service for people who just aren't interested! But it went fine, I did a wee talk about 1 Corinthians 13v1, one of my favourite verses of the bible. And it went ok, I had some funny stuff at the start and actually got them laughing a bit. And afterwards one of the students said that she thought it was a cool sermon. Who knows, maybe something got through!
Then, from Monday to Wednesday of this past week my Mum and Dad were here. That was great! They brought me some things like extra clothes, a pair of football boots, my iStation, my shaving kit, football and movie magazines, a few books, some nibbles, and perhaps most importantly, TEABAGS!
Twas lovely having them here too, they're so encouraging and it was just nice to have some more familiar Northern Irish input for a few days. I showed them around a wee bit, and they got talking to Gillian for a little bit, and we went to the Italian restaurant, my favourite restaurant in Chemnitz, which we found together when they came over last year!
But, alas, once they left on Wednesday night, I started to get really homesick. That's why I entitled this Blog Heimweh, the German word for homesickness. Well, there were a few factors: I'd already been feeling a little down cos a friend of mine's having some problems and I'm not able to be there for her, then Mum and Dad reminded me of how I missed them, then a good friend of my sisters passed away at just 26-years-old on Thursday and my sister's struggling with it and I can't be there for her either. And there's Autumn Soul coming up and I haven't missed it for years. So I'm a little down at the moment, just cos of the homesickness.
But, work goes on, and life goes on here. On Thursday we're going on a trip to Auschwitz. It's like a Young Adults trip combined with visiting the Concentration Camp. So we spend a few days together doing a plan along with spiritual teaching, then we visit the camp, then we have another couple of days with more teaching to help us digest what we've just seen. Should be both a fun but very challenging trip.
I played for FC Arche again yesterday. We drew 1-1, though we probably deserved the win. I was a bit slow to start but had a much better second half. My Dad says it's just lack of match practice.
Played football tonight too, found it amusing how silly some people are when they're trying to be cool: one guy went and changed kit half-way through! He started off in Bayern Munich and when he came back after the drink-break he was wearing Brazil. Why wear two different kits?
I'm now going to go enjoy some of the tea Mother and Father brought me, along with the last of the Dairy Milk they brought me!
God bless you all, wherever you are, whatever you're doing!
Love, your favourite Ginger Nut!
(Steven has Irish teabags again! Nambarrie! Yeah!)
So, the last two weeks went grand! Work-wise things have been fine, as usual, though a bit disappointing has been the numbers attending things! Youth Group, Kids Club, SNL have all had low numbers over the past 2 weeks. Hopefully things will puck up again soon!
I organised Schulandacht in the Hospital this week! See, there's a school attached to the hospital we live at which teaches people to be nurses or old-folks-home-nurses, and every friday at 7:15am (!) they have a wee service. The thing is, barely any of them are Christian, or from a chruch background, and therefore are only there because they have to be. Tis interesting doing a little 15 minute long service for people who just aren't interested! But it went fine, I did a wee talk about 1 Corinthians 13v1, one of my favourite verses of the bible. And it went ok, I had some funny stuff at the start and actually got them laughing a bit. And afterwards one of the students said that she thought it was a cool sermon. Who knows, maybe something got through!
Then, from Monday to Wednesday of this past week my Mum and Dad were here. That was great! They brought me some things like extra clothes, a pair of football boots, my iStation, my shaving kit, football and movie magazines, a few books, some nibbles, and perhaps most importantly, TEABAGS!
Twas lovely having them here too, they're so encouraging and it was just nice to have some more familiar Northern Irish input for a few days. I showed them around a wee bit, and they got talking to Gillian for a little bit, and we went to the Italian restaurant, my favourite restaurant in Chemnitz, which we found together when they came over last year!
But, alas, once they left on Wednesday night, I started to get really homesick. That's why I entitled this Blog Heimweh, the German word for homesickness. Well, there were a few factors: I'd already been feeling a little down cos a friend of mine's having some problems and I'm not able to be there for her, then Mum and Dad reminded me of how I missed them, then a good friend of my sisters passed away at just 26-years-old on Thursday and my sister's struggling with it and I can't be there for her either. And there's Autumn Soul coming up and I haven't missed it for years. So I'm a little down at the moment, just cos of the homesickness.
But, work goes on, and life goes on here. On Thursday we're going on a trip to Auschwitz. It's like a Young Adults trip combined with visiting the Concentration Camp. So we spend a few days together doing a plan along with spiritual teaching, then we visit the camp, then we have another couple of days with more teaching to help us digest what we've just seen. Should be both a fun but very challenging trip.
I played for FC Arche again yesterday. We drew 1-1, though we probably deserved the win. I was a bit slow to start but had a much better second half. My Dad says it's just lack of match practice.
Played football tonight too, found it amusing how silly some people are when they're trying to be cool: one guy went and changed kit half-way through! He started off in Bayern Munich and when he came back after the drink-break he was wearing Brazil. Why wear two different kits?
I'm now going to go enjoy some of the tea Mother and Father brought me, along with the last of the Dairy Milk they brought me!
God bless you all, wherever you are, whatever you're doing!
Love, your favourite Ginger Nut!
Sunday, 27 September 2009
"Life should be enjoyed, and for that, sometimes you need chocolate!"
(This blog was written while listening to Dave Matthews Band and while wishing I still had Irish teabags)
Hello all you lovely people!
So, this week was again pretty good! On Monday night we were invited over to Katja and Matthias's house for dinner. They're a lovely young couple from the church in Chemnitz, and it was very nice. We had Spaghetti Bolognese, twas very tasty.
We had breakfast with Barry again on Tuesday and we ended up talking about all different work things for 3 hours! It was long, but good! Meant we got all our concerns, ideas, suggestions, everything talked through.
Then that afternoon we as a Team sat down and organised things for the week, and any other things that needed sorting. That was also good, it all went pretty quickly and smoothly. It was also roasting on tuesday, so we had our TeamTime on the roof.
After that we had Home Group outside as well, and it was nice and we had a good discussion about friendship and community.
On Wednesday we again spent most of the morning organising things. And it again was grand. You may be noticing a pattern here: whenever I talk about team things, I seem to usually say that they went well. Well, that's cause they are. Even when an event doesn't maybe go so great or to plan, there's no bad feeling and finger-pointing like there was last year. It's a lot more like, "Look, don't worry, it happens, let's just do it better next time!" And we encourage each other. I'm very thankful to God and my Teammates that things are going so well.
On wednesday night Matthias (mentioned above) came by to fix our bikes. We have three bikes and all 3 were unridable. Is unridable a word? Ah well, I'm saying it anyway. So Matthias was fixing them and I was trying to help. I was useless.
On Thursday we had Kids Club and Youth Group as per usual. Kids club was great. I did the story of Noah's Ark, and got all the kids on a group of chairs that was the Ark, then I kept flicking water at them, twas a great laugh! Then Youth Group was a bit strange, all the young people were either not feeling great or really stressed with school or other things, so the atmosphere wasn't great, and poor Judit felt terrible after, because she was leading it, but it really wasn't her fault.
Afterwards I decided to buy us all chocolate! I just really felt like chocolate, and I wanted to treat the other two to something nice too, especially since they weren't in great form. So I bought us all Milka, yummy. When they asked why I just said, "Because life should be enjoyed, and for that, sometimes you need chocolate!"
On Friday Katja (mentioned above) took the three of us to get new T-shirts to be made into team T-shirts. We chose a navy colour, looks pretty nice. Now they just need to be printed. I'm looking forward to see what they look like. We then later had Youth Group and, in what is becoming a bit of a tradition, lots of us went and had a Kebab afterwards again.
On Saturday we had our first Family Afternoon and Saturday Night Live in Augustusburg. Unfortunately both of them were practically washouts. One couple with their two kids and one mother with her daughter came to Family Afternoon, and only two people came to SNL. We've decided to advertise the rest better.
Today we had a special kids service, Promiseland, a monthly kids service started by the Willow Creek Church in Chicago, and it was good fun!
Now I'm going to watch the latest episode of The Office, and eat some Ice Cream!
God bless all ya'all!
Hello all you lovely people!
So, this week was again pretty good! On Monday night we were invited over to Katja and Matthias's house for dinner. They're a lovely young couple from the church in Chemnitz, and it was very nice. We had Spaghetti Bolognese, twas very tasty.
We had breakfast with Barry again on Tuesday and we ended up talking about all different work things for 3 hours! It was long, but good! Meant we got all our concerns, ideas, suggestions, everything talked through.
Then that afternoon we as a Team sat down and organised things for the week, and any other things that needed sorting. That was also good, it all went pretty quickly and smoothly. It was also roasting on tuesday, so we had our TeamTime on the roof.
After that we had Home Group outside as well, and it was nice and we had a good discussion about friendship and community.
On Wednesday we again spent most of the morning organising things. And it again was grand. You may be noticing a pattern here: whenever I talk about team things, I seem to usually say that they went well. Well, that's cause they are. Even when an event doesn't maybe go so great or to plan, there's no bad feeling and finger-pointing like there was last year. It's a lot more like, "Look, don't worry, it happens, let's just do it better next time!" And we encourage each other. I'm very thankful to God and my Teammates that things are going so well.
On wednesday night Matthias (mentioned above) came by to fix our bikes. We have three bikes and all 3 were unridable. Is unridable a word? Ah well, I'm saying it anyway. So Matthias was fixing them and I was trying to help. I was useless.
On Thursday we had Kids Club and Youth Group as per usual. Kids club was great. I did the story of Noah's Ark, and got all the kids on a group of chairs that was the Ark, then I kept flicking water at them, twas a great laugh! Then Youth Group was a bit strange, all the young people were either not feeling great or really stressed with school or other things, so the atmosphere wasn't great, and poor Judit felt terrible after, because she was leading it, but it really wasn't her fault.
Afterwards I decided to buy us all chocolate! I just really felt like chocolate, and I wanted to treat the other two to something nice too, especially since they weren't in great form. So I bought us all Milka, yummy. When they asked why I just said, "Because life should be enjoyed, and for that, sometimes you need chocolate!"
On Friday Katja (mentioned above) took the three of us to get new T-shirts to be made into team T-shirts. We chose a navy colour, looks pretty nice. Now they just need to be printed. I'm looking forward to see what they look like. We then later had Youth Group and, in what is becoming a bit of a tradition, lots of us went and had a Kebab afterwards again.
On Saturday we had our first Family Afternoon and Saturday Night Live in Augustusburg. Unfortunately both of them were practically washouts. One couple with their two kids and one mother with her daughter came to Family Afternoon, and only two people came to SNL. We've decided to advertise the rest better.
Today we had a special kids service, Promiseland, a monthly kids service started by the Willow Creek Church in Chicago, and it was good fun!
Now I'm going to watch the latest episode of The Office, and eat some Ice Cream!
God bless all ya'all!
Friday, 18 September 2009
What's new?
(This blog was written while drinking Punjana Tea and listening to the Scrubs Season 1 Soundtrack)
Heya everyone!
So, what's new since I last wrote? Well everything's still going grand! On Saturday I had my first match for FC Arche this season. Beforehand they had played 5 matches already (3 losses and a draw in the league and a loss in the cup). Not a great start, it has to be said, but we were all determined to change that against one of our lower end of the league rivals on Saturday. And change it we did, with a very convincing 6-1 win! It was 5-0 at halftime, and we could take the second half fairly easy, with the opponents not offering much in way of a challenge.
And, I'm very happy to say that I had a hand in 4 of the goals! The first of the game was an own goal coming from a defender trying to clear away a pass aimed at me, but rifled it into his bottom corner. The 6th goal came from a header from a free kick which I won!
And our 2nd & 3rd goals? Well, they were scored by none other than yours truly! If I sound like I'm bragging, you should know that in almost 150 games, they were only the 3rd and 4th goals I've ever scored! I've a scoring ratio of something like a goal every 37 games, lol! But I'm mainly glad we got the win, and hopefully we can get a good run going!
An already good day was made better with the news that Agape FC, my team at home in Northern Ireland, won 13-0, and then it got even better when Man U won 3-1 against a very good Spurs side.
On Sunday we had dinner with a very nice family from one of the churches here. It was very funny though: There were 10 of us at the dinner table, and in the middle of conversation the 4 year old daughter says "Steven?" and I reply "Yes, Lea?" "I think I love you! In fact, I could see me marrying you!" LOL! We all laughed, it was very funny!
On Monday I watched Valkyrie for the first time, tis very good, if you've never seen it you should watch it some time. I later on played football too, which was good fun, apart for a few people throwing the strop because their team was losing.
On Tuesday we had our first Breakfast/Work Meeting with Barry, which went fine apart from us being a tad late. Then on Tuesday night we had our first Home Group of the year, which was ok, although it was only two of the old regulars who made it. Hopefully we can reach a few more people soon.
I was then sick on Wednesday and ended up most of the day in bed! But I'm pretty much all better now!
We had Kids Club and Floha Youth Group yesterday. Kids Club was good fun, although we only had 3 kids. I had a chat with the mother of 2 of the kids who regularly come, and she said that Thursday is a bad day for some of the kids. So we may be looking to change that at some point, but that's still only an idea. Youth group was great as well, we had fuller numbers again and had a nice practice for Abenteuerland. And then, in candlelight (which was really nice, though it was only because the power's out in our youth room because work's being done), we chatted about God's protection and plan for us, looking into the Bible a lot. It was very encouraging and I really enjoyed it.
On Thursday and Friday, Judit and I took part in a First-Aid-Course, so I'm now a qualified First-Aider, yay!
For those of you who can, you should swing by the Lesecafe in Augustusburg on Sunday between 14:30-18:00. IMT are on duty, ya see!
For all of you, I hope this weekend is a lovely, relaxing, fun, and blessed few days!
Love to y'all, from your Ginger Nut!
Heya everyone!
So, what's new since I last wrote? Well everything's still going grand! On Saturday I had my first match for FC Arche this season. Beforehand they had played 5 matches already (3 losses and a draw in the league and a loss in the cup). Not a great start, it has to be said, but we were all determined to change that against one of our lower end of the league rivals on Saturday. And change it we did, with a very convincing 6-1 win! It was 5-0 at halftime, and we could take the second half fairly easy, with the opponents not offering much in way of a challenge.
And, I'm very happy to say that I had a hand in 4 of the goals! The first of the game was an own goal coming from a defender trying to clear away a pass aimed at me, but rifled it into his bottom corner. The 6th goal came from a header from a free kick which I won!
And our 2nd & 3rd goals? Well, they were scored by none other than yours truly! If I sound like I'm bragging, you should know that in almost 150 games, they were only the 3rd and 4th goals I've ever scored! I've a scoring ratio of something like a goal every 37 games, lol! But I'm mainly glad we got the win, and hopefully we can get a good run going!
An already good day was made better with the news that Agape FC, my team at home in Northern Ireland, won 13-0, and then it got even better when Man U won 3-1 against a very good Spurs side.
On Sunday we had dinner with a very nice family from one of the churches here. It was very funny though: There were 10 of us at the dinner table, and in the middle of conversation the 4 year old daughter says "Steven?" and I reply "Yes, Lea?" "I think I love you! In fact, I could see me marrying you!" LOL! We all laughed, it was very funny!
On Monday I watched Valkyrie for the first time, tis very good, if you've never seen it you should watch it some time. I later on played football too, which was good fun, apart for a few people throwing the strop because their team was losing.
On Tuesday we had our first Breakfast/Work Meeting with Barry, which went fine apart from us being a tad late. Then on Tuesday night we had our first Home Group of the year, which was ok, although it was only two of the old regulars who made it. Hopefully we can reach a few more people soon.
I was then sick on Wednesday and ended up most of the day in bed! But I'm pretty much all better now!
We had Kids Club and Floha Youth Group yesterday. Kids Club was good fun, although we only had 3 kids. I had a chat with the mother of 2 of the kids who regularly come, and she said that Thursday is a bad day for some of the kids. So we may be looking to change that at some point, but that's still only an idea. Youth group was great as well, we had fuller numbers again and had a nice practice for Abenteuerland. And then, in candlelight (which was really nice, though it was only because the power's out in our youth room because work's being done), we chatted about God's protection and plan for us, looking into the Bible a lot. It was very encouraging and I really enjoyed it.
On Thursday and Friday, Judit and I took part in a First-Aid-Course, so I'm now a qualified First-Aider, yay!
For those of you who can, you should swing by the Lesecafe in Augustusburg on Sunday between 14:30-18:00. IMT are on duty, ya see!
For all of you, I hope this weekend is a lovely, relaxing, fun, and blessed few days!
Love to y'all, from your Ginger Nut!
Thursday, 10 September 2009
The Old Days!
Hi everybody!
So, IMT 2's going really well so far. Judit and I organised Jungschar (Kids Club) together for today, and it was great because she has a bunch of experience as well. So we could just bounce ideas off each other and work out what we think would be best. And to be honest, it was one of the best Jungschars I can remember. Not because of us or what we did, or what our ideas were, because I'm pretty sure we've done better stories in better ways with more fun games and more interesting crafts before. But it was great today because the kids were all on really good form. They were really well behaved, were good craic too, and listened well enough to the story, seemed to really enjoy the games, and got really into the craft. It was nice and easy today, which rarely happens.
Things are also comfortable within team-life too. Maria and Judit are both very nice, Maria's very talkative, almost to a fault, and Judit's still a bit shy but lovely. No problems there. We also can sit down and share ideas fairly openly and easily, which is also good!
Lukas came to Floha Youth Group tonight too! Lukas is the guy who was on team with me last year! He's working in a church about an hour away now, and starts tomorrow properly, but has said he's gonna try and come to our things as often as he can. He then came back to ours after for a cuppa. And it actually started to get me kinda sad. See, it was just like the old days, him being here again, and I started to miss it. Last year was an incredible experience, extremely difficult though it sometimes was. And now it's all so different. It's just strange. It's gonna take me a little while still to get used to it all!
Tomorrow I'm going to be spending pretty much all of my day translating. I don't exactly how long it'll take, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna take a good while, and could take me a normal working day, 9-5. That's what I'm aiming for anyway, that length of time. If I'm done anytime sooner, then happy days!
I also have my first game of the season for FC Arche on Saturday, which I'm looking forward to immensely! They've played four league games already, three losses and a draw, and a cup match, which they lost. But this Saturday they hope to take all 3 points. I can't wait! I haven't played a full match of football since the last day of last season, so I hope my fitness holds up!
I hope you're doing well, whoever you are, wherever you are!
Your Ginga Ninja!
So, IMT 2's going really well so far. Judit and I organised Jungschar (Kids Club) together for today, and it was great because she has a bunch of experience as well. So we could just bounce ideas off each other and work out what we think would be best. And to be honest, it was one of the best Jungschars I can remember. Not because of us or what we did, or what our ideas were, because I'm pretty sure we've done better stories in better ways with more fun games and more interesting crafts before. But it was great today because the kids were all on really good form. They were really well behaved, were good craic too, and listened well enough to the story, seemed to really enjoy the games, and got really into the craft. It was nice and easy today, which rarely happens.
Things are also comfortable within team-life too. Maria and Judit are both very nice, Maria's very talkative, almost to a fault, and Judit's still a bit shy but lovely. No problems there. We also can sit down and share ideas fairly openly and easily, which is also good!
Lukas came to Floha Youth Group tonight too! Lukas is the guy who was on team with me last year! He's working in a church about an hour away now, and starts tomorrow properly, but has said he's gonna try and come to our things as often as he can. He then came back to ours after for a cuppa. And it actually started to get me kinda sad. See, it was just like the old days, him being here again, and I started to miss it. Last year was an incredible experience, extremely difficult though it sometimes was. And now it's all so different. It's just strange. It's gonna take me a little while still to get used to it all!
Tomorrow I'm going to be spending pretty much all of my day translating. I don't exactly how long it'll take, but I'm pretty sure it's gonna take a good while, and could take me a normal working day, 9-5. That's what I'm aiming for anyway, that length of time. If I'm done anytime sooner, then happy days!
I also have my first game of the season for FC Arche on Saturday, which I'm looking forward to immensely! They've played four league games already, three losses and a draw, and a cup match, which they lost. But this Saturday they hope to take all 3 points. I can't wait! I haven't played a full match of football since the last day of last season, so I hope my fitness holds up!
I hope you're doing well, whoever you are, wherever you are!
Your Ginga Ninja!
Sunday, 6 September 2009
"I couldn't find the way home again..."
Hey y'all!
Today we had our welcome service! It was nice, a lot of rounds of applauses...rounds of applause...yeah, I think the second one's right.
Barry brought us up to the front and introduced us. He said first of all something like, "Now one of our team you'll all recognise, but can you work out which one?" at which everyone had a giggle. It was nice to see them all again, they gave me my own wee round of applause which was nice. Barry then asked me how it came about that I was here again, saying, "apart from the fact that I 'love' hanging out with him." To which I replied, "I couldn't find the way home again..." which got a nice wee giggle!
We were then at the Sloan's for dinner, Gillian had made a proper sunday dinner, with roast chicken, carrots, green beans, mashed potato, gravy, and best of all ROASTIES! And then after that we had Gillian's own homemade apple pie, warm with cream, which was also reeeeaally good! Twas a great dinner, compliments to the chef!
I then played minigolf with the other two on team. I won. Woo! I got 93, Judit 94, and Maria 98! I've never seen a more poorly thought out minigolf course though, it was somehow at the same time boring and impossible. Or maybe wee Northern Irelanders are just spoilt with the Pirate Golf at Dundonald.
I'm going for a nap now, looking forward to skyping with the parents tonight.
If you're not in the same country, drop us a line, if ya are, I'll see ya soon!
Love from the Mighty Ginger One!
Today we had our welcome service! It was nice, a lot of rounds of applauses...rounds of applause...yeah, I think the second one's right.
Barry brought us up to the front and introduced us. He said first of all something like, "Now one of our team you'll all recognise, but can you work out which one?" at which everyone had a giggle. It was nice to see them all again, they gave me my own wee round of applause which was nice. Barry then asked me how it came about that I was here again, saying, "apart from the fact that I 'love' hanging out with him." To which I replied, "I couldn't find the way home again..." which got a nice wee giggle!
We were then at the Sloan's for dinner, Gillian had made a proper sunday dinner, with roast chicken, carrots, green beans, mashed potato, gravy, and best of all ROASTIES! And then after that we had Gillian's own homemade apple pie, warm with cream, which was also reeeeaally good! Twas a great dinner, compliments to the chef!
I then played minigolf with the other two on team. I won. Woo! I got 93, Judit 94, and Maria 98! I've never seen a more poorly thought out minigolf course though, it was somehow at the same time boring and impossible. Or maybe wee Northern Irelanders are just spoilt with the Pirate Golf at Dundonald.
I'm going for a nap now, looking forward to skyping with the parents tonight.
If you're not in the same country, drop us a line, if ya are, I'll see ya soon!
Love from the Mighty Ginger One!
Saturday, 5 September 2009
IMT 2
Hi y'all!
So, here I am in Chemnitz, Germany again, doing a second year! I know some of you are asking yourselves how that has come to be, so let me explain!
I had studied German & French in Queens, though I had never really enjoyed. The people were all lovely, including the lecturers and all, I just didn't enjoy it a lot. Anyway, in 3rd year you have to do a year abroad, in one of those countries. I heard about IMT and wanted to do that, but there were problems with it and all, and what the plan ended up being was that I'd take a year out from Uni, do IMT, then do my Uni Year Abroad in France.
During my year in IMT though, I decided that I wanted to study Youth Work, and become a Youth Worker. So, I left Queens, and was hoping to apply for a Youth Work course in Jordanstown, but my application would have been too late, and they were already full. So, I can re-apply again for next year, and I'll be applying to Belfast Bible College too.
But that basically gave me another year with nothing to do. So, because we all on IMT last year agreed that the work here needed to be continued, and that the young people, who are amazing, still need someone to help them along in their faiths, I spoke to Barry and said I'd be up for doing another year, if they'd still have me! And luckily they would! Crazy Germans, huh?
So thats why I'm here again! We started on Wednesday with training things about how you do kids clubs and youth groups, and all that stuff, and child protection and all. I'm on team this year with a girl from Germany called Maria, and a girl from Hungary called Judit, who's coming tonight. We hope! See, she had said she'd be coming, then said she couldn't actually come, then said she could again, then said she'd be late, so we all are just like, "We'll believe she's here when we see her!" So, fingers crossed!
Anyhoo, it's been nice, strange that I'm here and Fiona isn't, mainly, but I get on fine with Maria, and hopefully will too with Judit, and it's nice to see everyone here again. I'm still knackered after the summer, but I'm sure I'll live. Lol! And I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to working once Judit gets here. Our first big task is translating a video about new forms of church! So, I'm gonna listen and translate, and then Maria is gonna correct any grammatical things, and then we're gonna dub over the video! So it should be good fun! I ain't ever done that before! I wonder will it lead to a career in dubbing work...probably not, I dunno if I'd have a nice voice for that...not like Morgan Freeman, he could do a commentary on paint drying and you'd be hanging on his every word!
Anyhoo, I miss ya, if you're not here, and I hope to see ya soon!
God bless y'all!
Love from your favourite Ginger!
So, here I am in Chemnitz, Germany again, doing a second year! I know some of you are asking yourselves how that has come to be, so let me explain!
I had studied German & French in Queens, though I had never really enjoyed. The people were all lovely, including the lecturers and all, I just didn't enjoy it a lot. Anyway, in 3rd year you have to do a year abroad, in one of those countries. I heard about IMT and wanted to do that, but there were problems with it and all, and what the plan ended up being was that I'd take a year out from Uni, do IMT, then do my Uni Year Abroad in France.
During my year in IMT though, I decided that I wanted to study Youth Work, and become a Youth Worker. So, I left Queens, and was hoping to apply for a Youth Work course in Jordanstown, but my application would have been too late, and they were already full. So, I can re-apply again for next year, and I'll be applying to Belfast Bible College too.
But that basically gave me another year with nothing to do. So, because we all on IMT last year agreed that the work here needed to be continued, and that the young people, who are amazing, still need someone to help them along in their faiths, I spoke to Barry and said I'd be up for doing another year, if they'd still have me! And luckily they would! Crazy Germans, huh?
So thats why I'm here again! We started on Wednesday with training things about how you do kids clubs and youth groups, and all that stuff, and child protection and all. I'm on team this year with a girl from Germany called Maria, and a girl from Hungary called Judit, who's coming tonight. We hope! See, she had said she'd be coming, then said she couldn't actually come, then said she could again, then said she'd be late, so we all are just like, "We'll believe she's here when we see her!" So, fingers crossed!
Anyhoo, it's been nice, strange that I'm here and Fiona isn't, mainly, but I get on fine with Maria, and hopefully will too with Judit, and it's nice to see everyone here again. I'm still knackered after the summer, but I'm sure I'll live. Lol! And I'm looking forward to getting stuck in to working once Judit gets here. Our first big task is translating a video about new forms of church! So, I'm gonna listen and translate, and then Maria is gonna correct any grammatical things, and then we're gonna dub over the video! So it should be good fun! I ain't ever done that before! I wonder will it lead to a career in dubbing work...probably not, I dunno if I'd have a nice voice for that...not like Morgan Freeman, he could do a commentary on paint drying and you'd be hanging on his every word!
Anyhoo, I miss ya, if you're not here, and I hope to see ya soon!
God bless y'all!
Love from your favourite Ginger!
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
The Operation
hello again, everyone! i hope you had a lovely christmas time, and i wish you all the best for the new year!
so, picking up right where i left off last time, i had my operation on the 18th! i'll not lie to ya, my head was a bit away with it the day or two before. i was genuinely a little scared, not too much, but a little, i've never had an operation that i can remember before, see. so, on the wednesday night i wasn't allowed to eat much, just had a small sandwich wi cheese, i think. i had to be in the hospital at 7:00am on the 18th, so didnt stay up too late on the wednesday. we went over and i got to put on one of them lovely backless gowns, though i was allowed to wear my boxers, so that was ok. then a nurse came and shaved my arm, and basically just had to lie in bed then the rest of the morning in this ward waiting. it wasn't too bad, i slept a bit, and i knew one of the interns, mandy, working in that ward, so i chatted to her a bit too.
then an orderly came to take me round to the surgery at about 12:30. twas funny, cos so many people in the hospital knew me, either from the churches we work in, or we've met them through living at the hospital, or some recognised me from being Joseph in the nativity play at the hospital's Christmas celebration. i was brought into the first preparation room, where Stefan and Stefan, i found that funny, did some prep, and then brought me to the next prep room, right beside the surgery. a doc there hooked me up to the iv, and then dr rascher and the head surgeon lady came out to say hello to me. the fun part was that their faces were covered in blood specs from their last surgery, very encouraging to see! i was then brought in and had to lie with both my arms outstretched, like a cross shape. then i was put under, general anaesthetic.
i woke up and asked where i was, and they said i was in the "wake-up room", and then i asked if it had gone well, and they said yeah. they then carted me round to the ward i'd be staying over in, where Barry and a girl we know Maxi were waiting. i was still really groggy, but Barry let me talk to my dad using his mobile, i don't remember the conversation, and dad says i wasn't making much sense, lol. then also, i remember Barry leaving, but I've no recollection of Maxi leaving, and thought i'd falling asleep on her, but apparently we had a full conversation, none of which i remember, lol!
i woke up properly at about 7ish, and i wasn't allowed to eat or even get out of bed, i was meant to pee in a bottle thing in bed, but i just waited til the nurses went away then went into the bathroom anyway. then after 8 the team came and visited me, and they said lots of people had asked about me, and some had come to visit me, but i was still in surgery, and they had to go on. i'd brought my laptop with me, and watched two films that night.
i'd been told that i was allowed to then go on the friday, and was sitting in my bed waiting, when a doctor came. she checked my chart, said everything had gone well, that my cast would be changed again on tuesday, and i could go home after that. i was just like, "n-no, i'm meant to be goin today..." so she called dr rascher, and he told her the deal, and that was no problem, and i was allowed to leave at about 2pm. i later found out that dr rascher, who's one of the head surgeons, an attending if you watch scrubs, had not told the head-head surgeon, who was the main surgeon on me, that he was gonna let me leave on the friday, and that had she known that, she wouldn't have allowed it. but everything was fine, i was in a bit of pain the first few days, and travelling on the train and plain home was a little difficult, but it was ok, i made it!
so, i went today to the doc again today then for a checkup, and he was happy with everything, he said the wound was looking very good, he took the stitches out, and put on a new cast, which i've to wear another 3 weeks, then i'll have to do some physiotherapy for a while. i'm not allowed to go skiing, and i'm not allowed to play footy until at least march. here's the fun part, though: the metal screw in my hand is permanent, i'm gonna have it til i pass through the pearly gates!
thanks for all your prayers for me and the operation! God answers prayer, and he kept me safe throughout, and everything's gone as well as it possibly could have gone, so i thank God for that! and i thank all of you for all of your support. even though i wasn't able to see my family around my op, and that was hard, for them too, i knew i was on all your minds, and you were all supporting me, even from afar!
God bless you all, whoever you are, wherever you are! :o)
so, picking up right where i left off last time, i had my operation on the 18th! i'll not lie to ya, my head was a bit away with it the day or two before. i was genuinely a little scared, not too much, but a little, i've never had an operation that i can remember before, see. so, on the wednesday night i wasn't allowed to eat much, just had a small sandwich wi cheese, i think. i had to be in the hospital at 7:00am on the 18th, so didnt stay up too late on the wednesday. we went over and i got to put on one of them lovely backless gowns, though i was allowed to wear my boxers, so that was ok. then a nurse came and shaved my arm, and basically just had to lie in bed then the rest of the morning in this ward waiting. it wasn't too bad, i slept a bit, and i knew one of the interns, mandy, working in that ward, so i chatted to her a bit too.
then an orderly came to take me round to the surgery at about 12:30. twas funny, cos so many people in the hospital knew me, either from the churches we work in, or we've met them through living at the hospital, or some recognised me from being Joseph in the nativity play at the hospital's Christmas celebration. i was brought into the first preparation room, where Stefan and Stefan, i found that funny, did some prep, and then brought me to the next prep room, right beside the surgery. a doc there hooked me up to the iv, and then dr rascher and the head surgeon lady came out to say hello to me. the fun part was that their faces were covered in blood specs from their last surgery, very encouraging to see! i was then brought in and had to lie with both my arms outstretched, like a cross shape. then i was put under, general anaesthetic.
i woke up and asked where i was, and they said i was in the "wake-up room", and then i asked if it had gone well, and they said yeah. they then carted me round to the ward i'd be staying over in, where Barry and a girl we know Maxi were waiting. i was still really groggy, but Barry let me talk to my dad using his mobile, i don't remember the conversation, and dad says i wasn't making much sense, lol. then also, i remember Barry leaving, but I've no recollection of Maxi leaving, and thought i'd falling asleep on her, but apparently we had a full conversation, none of which i remember, lol!
i woke up properly at about 7ish, and i wasn't allowed to eat or even get out of bed, i was meant to pee in a bottle thing in bed, but i just waited til the nurses went away then went into the bathroom anyway. then after 8 the team came and visited me, and they said lots of people had asked about me, and some had come to visit me, but i was still in surgery, and they had to go on. i'd brought my laptop with me, and watched two films that night.
i'd been told that i was allowed to then go on the friday, and was sitting in my bed waiting, when a doctor came. she checked my chart, said everything had gone well, that my cast would be changed again on tuesday, and i could go home after that. i was just like, "n-no, i'm meant to be goin today..." so she called dr rascher, and he told her the deal, and that was no problem, and i was allowed to leave at about 2pm. i later found out that dr rascher, who's one of the head surgeons, an attending if you watch scrubs, had not told the head-head surgeon, who was the main surgeon on me, that he was gonna let me leave on the friday, and that had she known that, she wouldn't have allowed it. but everything was fine, i was in a bit of pain the first few days, and travelling on the train and plain home was a little difficult, but it was ok, i made it!
so, i went today to the doc again today then for a checkup, and he was happy with everything, he said the wound was looking very good, he took the stitches out, and put on a new cast, which i've to wear another 3 weeks, then i'll have to do some physiotherapy for a while. i'm not allowed to go skiing, and i'm not allowed to play footy until at least march. here's the fun part, though: the metal screw in my hand is permanent, i'm gonna have it til i pass through the pearly gates!
thanks for all your prayers for me and the operation! God answers prayer, and he kept me safe throughout, and everything's gone as well as it possibly could have gone, so i thank God for that! and i thank all of you for all of your support. even though i wasn't able to see my family around my op, and that was hard, for them too, i knew i was on all your minds, and you were all supporting me, even from afar!
God bless you all, whoever you are, wherever you are! :o)
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