Styger in Karlsruhe

I was fortunate to find a €15 ride share with people from the gathering all the way out to my next stop in Karlsruhe, Germany. I was there to meet people I had seen in Berlin, and check out the Styger base there. It was the first time I had been to a Styger Base and I was interested in the whole operation along with a wonder if that would be a good place for me to settle in Europe for a while to get my footing. I met a New Zealander in Berlin also from Karlsruhe named Chris. He was sort of in the same boat as me. He had intended to do a DTS (Discipleship Training School) with Styger there in Karlsruhe. Then he got a call from his mate back in New Zealand saying that he would have to come back for his wedding. So this complicated Chris' plans and he would not be able to finish the DTS. He still had some time to kill in Europe, however, and so he thought he would hang there on the base for a bit to get some work, and then he wanted to travel. We talked about doing a hitchhiking race to Amsterdam together. That way, if a driver only wanted to take one of us, we could flip for it, and then the rest of the way would be a race to see who would make it first.

I arrived late on Tuesday evening. The driver had further to travel, so she let the three of us riding with her off in Karlsruhe near a tram stop. One guy went to the train station to catch a ride on to ...Nuremburg(?). The other lived in Karlsruhe, and helped me find my way to Europlatts. I no longer had my black notebook with all my directions in it, so I was just trying to remember by the google satellite image in my head how to find the Styger House in Karlsruhe. I walked aroud for about an hour, but could not find it. But I found an internet cafe with the best price I had seen, and from the net was able to find the address I needed. I also found out that the Doner in Karlsruhe is 3€. So evidently life was more expensive in Karlsruhe. When I found the Styger address, I was faced with the basic difficulty that seems to be in every big city I come to. There is no knocking on the door, there is only ringing of the bell by which to gain attention from the residence. But which one is the right one? If I find the right one, is anyone expecting me? It is 1 in the morning. This should really put a damper on good will and hospitality. When I was in Berlin the first night, I faced the same issue. I was dropped off too late at the other end of town from my destination. I had to learn the Subway, find the right one, then find the right house on the other side, and ring the right bell, all in the dark morning. In Berlin, I was fortunate enough to have a host that sleeps only in the day. I was fortunate to have her phone number, so that I could tell her I was coming. I was fortunate enough to get her door on the third try out of ...oh maybe about 20 different buttons. Now in Karlsruhe, where they did not know I was comming, I had no phone number to call ahead. I did not know which door bell to press, and again, it was dark morning. I looked at the door bells. Some said private, a few others said Styger, and then one said Styger Lift. I was not sure, but I decided to start first with Styger Lift. Right away, there was an answer. I told them it was Jared fro-, "Oh! Jared! Bzzzzt!" the voice and the door interupted about the same time.

I opened the buzzing door and was soon greeted from the stairs by a familiar face from Berlin. She took me upstairs, and showed me to the kitchen, pulling food out of cubbards and asking if I was hungry. She put some tea on to boil and then left the room softly saying, I'll go wake up Chris. I stood in the kitchen alone. My excitement just about broke me. "Oh my! Thank you Jesus! Were you not with me when I left for Florida? Did you not go before me when I was off to Texas? Did you not provide the way for me into Colorado, and then to Nasheville and on to Asheville, and even through New York? Was it not your hand that I rested in when there was no bed for me my first Night in Manhattan? Wasn't it you also that made my way quickly and quietly through customs in Amsterdam. You provided the cars and drivers all the way to Berlin. Food and beds there in Berlin were made for me. Rides, shelter, and pleasant people along with blessings took me all the way through the countryside of Thuringen and out again. Now in Karlsruhe will you leave me? Will you cause me to go without rest? Will you leave me out in the night to be devoured by strange people in a foreign land? Certainly not! Give glory to God, even God on high. For by your hand you brought me all the way to Karlsruhe to sleep in a room with friends, and eat at your very own table with your children. My brothers and sisters have taken me in by your bidding lavishing love and gifts and honor that comes staight from your heart. Oh my soul! Let me be overwhelmed by His greatness. His steadfast love endures forever. Do not despair in the wilderness, or in the strange, cold, or expensive places. The Lord is your refuge, your strong tower, your mighty fortress. So put your hope in God and sing songs of praise unto him in these lands of your sojourning."

-selah

Chris, awoken from his sleep, came in. He was all smiles. "Oh man! I was thinking of you and praying for you earlier today. I was even fasting this last weekend, and I did not know why until now. I was fasting for you." Amazing! I wish I knew love in my heart like this brother has for strange ol' me. "So how was your time at the gathering?" He continued. Once I started going, he could hardly shut me up. I had so much to tell him of my time and my trip to Thuringen. I kept having to be reminded to keep my voice down because the DTSers were having their first night on the base. After food and fellowship, and meeting some other late nighters from the Styger tribe, Chris showed me where I could crash for the night.

Another city, another great time. I did not like Karlsruhe too much. Their doner was too expensive, and I hardly saw any punks. It just seemed like some high class expensive city. Some of you from Karlsruhe may be able to set me straight on some of this. But all I know is I walked all over that city and never found sign of the scene. Styger on the other hand was a different story. Even though I did not care for Karlsruhe, I could consider staying just for the people in Styger. There were some great opportunities there, with possible scenerios as raising... I don't remember the figures exactly, but I think about €400 a month for food, bed, and medical insurance necessary for a visa. For this price I could volunteer to staff a DTS (sometime, somewhere I would like to work as staff on a school in the future.) Or for the same price, I could go out and get a part time job and do some work in the city connecting with kids on the street. If I wanted to really work on my German, I could work in the new children's ministry that Styger is opening up to the local community. So there were some good opporutnities there.

Since I had left Asheville, I have been looking for community. One of the main reasons for this is because I left the one I was in. (Hey guys in the big green house, I miss you all, big hugs!) To me, finding community goes hand in hand with finding work. In community, you get the feeling that someone else is depending on your sweat to get a job done inorder to keep that community wheel rolling. Though it would seem there were many opportunities to serve with the NLM event in Berlin, and just in general in Thuringen, I was not able to shake the feeling that I was mooching. It was like the couple of dishes I had washed, and the little bit of food circle I had worked barely scratched the service debt I owed for all the rides I received, all the beds I filled, and all the peoples food I ate since Asheville. I know there is a bit of that which is all the grace of God and his good will through other people. But still, I want to know that I am blessing others while I am being dependant on them for so much. In Karlsruhe I found that opportunity. Though in the first instance, it feels a little foolish to speak of.

The first instance is that one of the Styger guys loaned me his bike while he went on a trip to Lufkin to visit his Oma and Opa (imagine that). His tire was flat though, and so I was to patch up the hole. Simple projects like this can become difficult quickly when then it begins to rain, you are asking people you hardly know for things they hardly know what to call them in English. Then, someone tells you to go ask someone you have never met, who hardly speaks any english, for one of his very own bike patches. It was a crazy event interrupted by tea, a trip with a wonderful sister (whom I thoroughly enjoyed meeting) to the halfprice store to get a rain jacket (girl, that was a lot of fun, and thanks for the Amsterdam map. Also, I still really think that yellow rain jacket was so cute on you. Lekker schnecke, lol), and dinner. By the time I was finished, it was time for the next project. The end result? I patched the tire, but am not even sure if I got the patch in the right place though I checked it three times. The tire got me down the road but I ended up having to ride the bike home later. (Sorry man, I tried. I hope your trip to see Oma and Opa was good. I think it is time for a new tube on your bike though.)

The next project was awesome and special. I got to sit up half of the night in this girls kitchen doing some discipleship and protecting her modesty (don't worry, I'll explain.) I will call her Claudia. (Sorry, um Claudia. Your name is a lot cooler, but I'll only use it with your permission. I also need to know how to spell it.) When I met Claudia on the night I arrived, I knew I had met a special person. Some how the discussion of how I had sewn my pants came up, and before I knew it, I was talked in to this idea of participating in a sewing party at Claudias. I did not realize that it would be the following night, that though other people would show up, it would be just me working on Claudia's clothes most of the night. But I am so glad that was the way it happened. Claudia had two shirts that were too short on bottom, and one of these was entirely too large of a v-neck on top. We took a third shirt of a different color to extend the bottom hems, and cover fill in the v-neck up top. I think I must have been there sewing until 3 in the morning. I may have been able to finish sooner, but she asked me a lot of questions. Claudia told me her testimony, and I got to share mine. She was curious about me in my journey as she said she was trying to figure out her own. So she asked these questions of many people in order that she can get some ideas of what God is saying to her. So it was cool. Here I thought I was just randomly going over to someones house to do some sewing, and ended up doing some intense discipleship as well.

I spent the next two days in Karlsruhe running some personal errands, hanging out with Styger people in the evening and throughout the day. Chris ended up finding enough work to keep himself busy for the next several weeks, and just before I told him goodbye, he received the news that there may be an opening for him in the university to teach english. This is another thing I could consider for myself as well. This was on a Friday morning, and I really thought that I would make it to Amsterdam that evening. I was told that I already had a bed waiting for me for the next 7 days. So I finished saying my goodbyes, and hitched out a ride to Amseterdam.

But I could not get one...

I did not make it to Amsterdam that night. I walked all over Karlsruhe and out into the country to some nearby villages. Again I liked the walk, but I managed to do nothing constructive towards getting out of the city that day. I tried hitchhiking from several places, but I could not get out. I ended up back at the Karlsruhe central station, buying a €100+ ticket, and waiting several hours at the station to get on the train at midnight. It was 8am before I was back in Amsterdam. The trip was not bad, it was just expensive and in the middle of the night, and a little uncomfortable with limbs falling asleep and all. A lot of prayer went into that ticket, its purchase, and then wheather or not I should get a refund and just go back to Styger. I did not want to leave, but I felt the road calling me forward. The days were rolling on, my visa was getting older, and I had people in Amsterdam to see. So all and all, I felt that one expensive train ticket out of 4 destinations was not too bad, and that I was being a wise steward with the Lords money. It is his anyway, and he said use it! So I did.

This is the end of my trip to Germany. I had a great time, and would not mind going back. I met great people, made a lot of new friends, saw some great country, and got to see the Lord make himself known in the midst of the mundane and the ordinary. Please ask questions. It is likely that I introduced something, and did not follow through with its ending. So though this blog is published, you are my proof readers. All these blogs have been written from the library in Amsterdam. It has been a great time looking back on the past month. I have one more blog to write to bring you up to date. Some of that is about my time here in Amsterdam, but most of it in intent is to blog some reflexions of my time so far here in Europe, and where I see myself going in the future.

Berlin, Rainbow, and Styger

May the Lord be proclaimed, that his faithfulness be known by all and that his children may not despair in the hands of his goodness.

I sit here writing to you all once again of my travels. This time from a library in Amsterdam. It is state of the art, top of the line, just opened within the past month, and is the fanciest library I ever seen. Its predominating color is egg white, and steel. I feel like a flee hopping around on a mac key board. Bazarre...

I just arrived here yesterday morning, from an incredible trip that began about a month ago when I hitchhiked from Amsterdam to Berlin. In summary, I was in Berlin for three Sundays and on into Tuesday. Then I hitchhiked into Thuringen for a late summer rainbow gathering. It was cold and wet. You can find the nearby town if you google 'Zitters', Germany. From the gathering, I paid €15 into a rainbow rideshare that took me to Karlsruhe, Germany. There I visited the Styger ministry base, and had a wonderful time meeting the missionaries and church members there. Finally, last Friday, I made one more attempt at hitchhiking that beat me sorely and so I ended up shelling out just over €100 for a train ride back to Amsterdam.

So there it is in short. Now I want to focus on the wonders of God throughout this trip, and what I am learning through this journey.

I like Berlin. I like it because it is not so pretty.

When I was there I could tell that I was standing on the edge of Western Europe, looking over into the East. I have long had a fascination with Eastern Europe which I've mostly suppressed. However my recent trip to Amsterdam and loosing myself from such a single focus on the squat scene has opened up my heart to discover new possibilities. My visit to Berlin helped. It is a raw city. Trash is everywhere, and the buildings are not all that pretty. But there is a layed back feeling of comfort there, sort of the nastalgic comfort a late gen-x kid may get for finally seeing things with his own eyes that were forbidden shortly after his parent's generation. Berlin is a wild city, where you can take a bottle of Beer with you anywhere you want to go. At night the parks are dark, but there are still people out there (not just homeless people), sometimes even lighting campfires.
The city is covered in graffitti, from cheap tags to enormous counter culture murals, to finer artistic pieces. Men seem to be aloud to urinate almost anywhere they please. This is not intirely true I suppose, but for an American boy relief is generally outside and never too far off. Briefly, while I am on the subject, most public toilets cost €.50. So they getchya both ways for eating in this country. It costs rather you are picking up or dropping off >=<. The food is cheap though. You can get a cup of yogurt for €.25, a nice 5 serving bag of muslix for around €2. Nicer cans of sardines can be bought for about €1, and Doner kebab (a Berlin/middle eastern fast food phenomenon served with lamb that is destined to put Mc Donalds out of business) is only €2. Housing is cheap in Berlin. I am told that it would not be difficult to find a flat in the city for under €300 a month, and they appear to be bigger and nicer in sum than the apartments I have lounged within in Amsterdam. Finally there is an abundance of foot traffic; mainly punks.
The place just might be a paradise for them. I think much of the reason for this is that Berlin is an easier place to live. There are several squats in Berlin, transportation is easy at unlimited public use for the week for €24. One of the gritty nite life centers in the city is on Oranienburgerstrasse centered with an old building which was squatted and now an art gallery with several layers of grafitti paint decorating the stairwells, an indipendant film movie cinema, several bars, and a backyard metal sculpture garden amidst a cluster of stages, bars, and coffee shops. So this is the Berlin that I enjoyed. During my three Sundays and on into Wednesday's stay there, I met with American friends from the Jesus Loves You rainbow bus ministry including AL n Tina and friends. I came, however hosted by generous Jesus Freaks both of whom I knew from the states and others who I met there in Berlin. *THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL TIME GUYS, I LOVE YOU!* I slept on various generous peoples couches, floors, and in one VW bus known as Wonder Boy. I got to meet with YWAMMers, and various members of other churches including some missionaries from Waco, Texas. Together with Teen Challenge and one of their former base leaders, most of this broad community unified to host an evangelistic event in Mauer park that included street outreaches, an outdoor flee market lounge with entertainment, a week of 24-7 prayer in Wonder Boy, and climaxed on Friday night with a free concert in the park performed by Suspekt and headliner No Longer Music of Syger International Ministries.
I love the people I met and the time I spent in Berlin. It is my heart to tell of the ministry that happened in Berlin, but so much of it seems so tender, precious, and embedded into the very fabric of my Berlin experience that they are difficult to render from there surroundings. Sufficeth to say that almost everyday (there were a few bad ones) I met people, and was able to listen to their stories, and love them with the representation of Christ's love poured out for all. One specific interaction comes to mind where a woman was looking for direction, and wondering if she will find the fulfillment she is looking for in a certain course of study. The music of discipleship was so tender at that moment as I saw Christ minster to her in my words.
These various people are brought to mind from time to time and I pray for a furthering of the ministry in them of which I was able to participate in some small way. Towards the end of my time in Berlin I wondered if I should stay, but I heard the road calling me forward. I delayed by one day though, to see about a job in one particular coffee shop. Strangely, the shop was closed when I went by to see about the position, though the sign on the door said I was there during normal operating hours; how bazarre. What was the Lord trying to communicate with this? Maybe just, 'not yet for Berlin.' So I spent one more night at the house of a generous Jesus Freak who is such a bro, and hitched myself some rides towards the rainbow gathering the next day. My eyes are still on Berlin. In addition to all of the reasons that may be found above, there remains an opportunity open to me. I spoke with the prospective leader of a new YWAM base thought to be taking its start by the close of fall. He told me that there are other guys with street experience (they have lived on the streets) comming to join YWAM Berlin. This is a concideration for me. It would grant me a Visa, community, and others to work with in seeking works of compassion toward the streets of Berlin. It may be a done deal if I can raise a steady support cost of €700. I don't think I would need that much.
The money will not go into some big organization, it is just that I need to prove to the German government that I have means of support so they will grant me a visa. This is not a tag on the end of a news letter asking for money. This is just the end of the Berlin story, and the lead in to what could one day be a return to Berlin. It would be an interesting option, however, if enough support was generated. So here is an idea. Anyone interested in commiting to supporting me for one year towards this end, don't send your money to it just yet. But just let me know you are out there so that I perhapse may hear from the Lord through you. Blessings, and peace in the name of our Lord who is mighty and powerful to grant you blessnigs and peace.