Week 6: Frankfurt

Well, I'm back from Frankfurt, and have had another week of school, and I'm so excited about God! But I'm tired, so this post'll be just about Frankfurt. See next week (or maybe this weekend), for week 7: Holy Spirit.

I don't want to post any pictures up right now, 'cause it'd take too much time, but you can see the album I put on facebook here. I still have to put captions up, but I can do that tomorrow. For now, you'll have to use your imagination.

Basically, we were working with JMEM Frankfurt, and they were giving us an introduction to city missions. The team at Frankfurt is different from most other bases in that they don't have an actual base building, nor are any of them full time staff. They all have normal jobs and are YWAMers part-time. They planned a different outreach for us every day.


We left Saturday morning, and got there around Saturday night. It was a 5-6 hour drive from Wiler to Frankfurt, and we all rode in a big bus we rented, with a trailer with all our stuff in the back.

We stayed in a youth church in the middle of Frankfurt called the Subzone (the website is in German, but there are a few more pictures under "Gallery"). The church is underground, but not in the metaphorical sense. People know it's there, but it is, literally, underground. No windows, very little air circulation. There was an air circulator machine that we had to run for 15min, twice a day, to bring air in from outside. We all slept in the same room (there was a divider), and there were no showers. Fortunately, though, on monday, we went to a pool, and on wednsday, we split up into groups, and each group went and had dinner and showered at one of the Frankfurt Team's houses.

On Sunday, we did a short program at an old folks' home in Frankfurt. The theme was thankfulness, and we did a short skit (the story of Zaccheus, but in german. I was Random Nonspeaking Townsperson #2), and there were a few testimonies from us, and we sang a few songs (the residents didn't really sing with us much). They served cake, and it was good fun for all. Me and Jessica (the other American, if you didn't know before) were a little left out, because none of the residents spoke any english, and I don't trust my german enough to get into a big conversation with them. So me and Jessica mostly took pictures of the thing.

On Monday, we ran a program for kids in a church in Berkersheim, which is on the outside edge of Frankfurt. For those readers who are familiar with the children's ministries at First Pres in River Forest, it is similar in design to how I remember Kid's Day Off, with a short message, some songs, a snack, and some games. I helped to run a game where kids tied balloons to their feet and ran around trying to pop other team's balloons. I had a lot of fun that day, and it was a lot easier to talk to the kids in german.

Tuesday, me and 4 more DTS students went and taught a lesson on Images of God at the religion class in the public school at Berkersheim. They start to learn english in 1st grade, so they could understand me a little, but I was still translated. We taught 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders, and it was really cool, because we saw a lot of kids that were at the kid's program at the church, and they recognized us.

Then on Wednsday, it was überraschungs-tag (Suprise-Day). We prayed to God, and asked Him what we should do. Some people prayed back at the Subzone for us, some sang worship songs in the streets, and some gave out heart-shaped leaves with Bible verses written on them. I had the impression to intercede for the rest of the group (intercessory prayer. look at the week 1 post farther down the page for more), so me and a few others went to a rooftop observation deck on a mall in the middle of the city, maybe 100 feet up. It had an amazing view, and all of the skyline pictures in the album are from there.

On Thursday, we helped out at a soup kitchen in Frankfurt (me and a few others helped clean up the place beforehand, some helped cook, and some got some grocery-bags together to give to the people), and did a short program for them with a message (I didn't understand everything they were saying). After the program, we had lunch, and me and Jessica talked to a professor who liked speaking in English better than German.

Weeks 4 and 5: Two posts in one!!

Well, sorry about the late post. I've decided to do this week and last week in the same post, because next week I'll be in Frankfurt on outreach (more on that later), and almost definitely won't have access to a computer, especially for the block of time it takes me to write a blog post.



So, I'm gonna do last week first, then this week. not both at the same time. that may be confusing, to me likely more than you.


Well, last week was AMAZING! The lecture topic was Personal Transformation, and the speaker was Thomas Grunder, a leader at JMEM Chalet, another YWAM base in Switzerland. We talked about letting Christ change us and heal our psychological wounds, and look at things in our lives that keep us from hearing, seeing, and knowing God. I feel so much better, more confident, and closer to God than I've ever been before.


We also learned where we're going on outreach:




That's right. KENYA! I'm going to Africa. Me and 8 of the other students are going there, and the other 5 are going to Budapest, then North Africa. We don't really know what we'll be doing there, but we know we'll spend at least a little time in the YWAM base in Mombasa (on the coast, in the south). here's a picture of all of us in the group that's going.

The people, from the top left, are Jenny (Finland, but from the Swedish speaking part), Nadja (Switzerland), Bettina (Germany, near Stuttgart), Cornilia (Germany, in Bavaria), Me (USA, Chicago/Virginia), Roman (Germany), Jessica (USA, in Minnesota), Björn (a leader, Germany), Galina (Switzerland, but grew up in the US), Meret (Björn's wife, from Switzerland), and Mario (Switzerland)

On Tuesday, me, Jenny, Micha, and Simone led the worship with the DTS. Simone played violin, Micha played djembe (a drum), Jenny played piano, and I was the lead singer. We played 7 songs, and it lasted about 45 minutes. It felt really cool to praise God that way.

We also went back to the Asylum Seeker's Home on Wednesday (remember two weeks ago)? This time, there were more kids, and they already knew us. They were really happy that we were here, and I spent most of the two hours we were there playing with this Moroccan kid named Aimon (i think). I think he was, 3 or 4. it was really fun.

On Saturday, we went to a real Swiss wedding. The guy who ran the Mule Trek was getting married to a woman on the base staff, and we were all invited to the wedding, and for food afterwards. Here's a picture of the church, from the inside.

Afterwards, we went to a place to have food. They had spring rolls (asian food of some sort. don't know why they were there, but they were good), and this swiss food called Raclette. It's basically melted cheese on toast with spices 'n' stuff. It was actually very, very good. Sometimes there are potatoes or vegetables with that, but this was just simple raclette.

This week, the topic was Bible Study, and the speaker was Heidi Kovacs, one of the base staff. We talked about how to study the Bible, and we used Ephesians as an example. It inspired me to read the Bible more and better. I really haven't done that that much, and now I've decided to read the Bible all the way through. Not just to read it, but to ask God every time I read His word what He wants to show me through it.

This morning (Friday), we went up to Lake Biel, and 5 of us got baptized. It was pretty cool, if shivering cold.

Next week, then, we're going to Frankfurt on outreach. We've been preparing a few dances and a few skits for it (I get to be Jesus in both skits. i'll see if I can post videos of some of it next week), but beyond that, I don't know much about what we'll be doing.

And for Mom, here's a picture of the Bernese Mountain Dog that lives in Wiler. Awww. Isn't he cuute? :P

Well, I'm probably not going to have internet access for the next week, so I'll post after I get back. The school just got a webcam, so I'll see if I can post a video. just in case you wanted to see my face.

Well, see you later, and God Bless
Frederick Beuttler
macrovore@gmail.com