IBC Singles Conference - Berlin

So, this weekend, Brad was the guest speaker for the IBC (International Baptist Church) convention in Berlin. Two soldiers, Gordon and Justin, came with us on the trip. Singles from all over the world who are now living in Europe were there. We had people from Germany, America, the Ukraine, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Poland, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Kenya, Switzerland, Korea, China, Japan, and I'm sure there were several more that I missed. Almost everyone spoke at least two languages, some more than six - all spoke English. It was really cool to get to interact with such a multi-cultural group, especially since almost all had one major thing in common - a love of Christ. (photo is my small group)

The actual conference was pretty fun. There would be music, and then Brad spoke from the book of Jonah at the sessions, and then we broke out into small groups for discussion, which was then followed by a time of fellowship with the whole group. On Saturday afternoon we were able to explore Berlin a bit, and our group went to see the Reichstag and the Brandenburger Tor, the Holocaust Memorial, and the Sony Center. We managed to get completely soaked running to the train station through pouring rain, but it was really cool. We got Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks - what a taste of home!

One of the coolest things for me was:
I was walking up to dinner the first night, and as I walked in, a girl at the first table stared at me and beckoned me over. She looked familiar, but I'm in Berlin, 6000 miles from home, how could I possibly know her? It turned out to be Bethany Andrews, the sister of one of my good friends, who went to Northwest and just graduated from Southwestern a couple years ago. Last time I saw her was before coming to Germany last summer, as I was talking to her and her family about raising my support. We had no idea we were on the same continent, much less going to the same conference. She's been teaching English in Spain and came over with the IBC Madrid church. It was great to get to catch up with her and pray with her and just know someone from home.