forEVER in our HARTS: Thursday, June 5th

In the morning we split up into two groups. Half the group went with Clint and helped an elderly lady, who has been a contact of the church for awhile, do some garden work at her home.

The other half went with me to the laundromat. It was about a 6 minute walk from our hostel so we loaded all the dirty laundry from the group into suitcases and made our way there. It was quite an experience. With a little help from some nice people there, we figured out how the machines worked and how to pay, etc. Of course, I realized after we got there that I left a big bag of change at the hostel. The machines only took change so thankfully I was able to go to the office at the laundromat and exchange some money. There were some frustrating moments but we were able to eventually get everything washed and mostly dried. Some things needed to be hung up to finish drying though. Because it took longer to get things dry, the girls told me to go ahead and get the kids back to the hostel and get ready to go to the church building for lunch. The dryers were not drying very quickly and there was a lunch being prepared for us at the church. I headed that way and met Kerstin and Olaf who were preparig schnitzel for us. Kerstin's daughters and grandson were also there.

Come to find out, Clint's group missed the bus so they walked back from their gardening and so they were running late too. Eventually everyone made it to lunch and enjoyed some time chatting with everyone.

The meals that have been provided have been so good and it gives everyone a chance to spend more time with the church members and get to know them better. Encouraging the Christians here is also a really big part of what we are doing here too.

Kerstin, Janine and me. I love these ladies!

The kids were busy again during the free time with sidewalk chalk.

In the afternoon, Hans and Christina from Oelsnitz came to have coffee time with us. Thankfully we were able to lay Corbin down for a nap during that. He really needed it! After coffee, Hans shared about his experience with the persecution of Chrisitians during the GDR (German Democratic Republic). His story is inspirational and something amazing to hear. Just to give you a very small example: Hans said that after working in his company for I think 10 years, he received the ability to take his family on a vacation at a company vacation sight that would have been fully paid for by the company. However, because he had been evangelizing and leading others to Christ at work, this was taken away because talking about God was not allowed. Also, during this time, he was continuously doing renovations and building on to their home. Because of the uncertainty of the future and the freedom to worship God openly, he decided when he was renovating to put a Bible in a hole in the wall that used to have a window and to cover it with plastic with a note inside and then plaster over it in the case that all their Bibles would all be taken away. Can you imagine living in this uncertainty and in fear that you somehow would be punished because of your faith in God? Another sad story is about how his children were also persecuted in school about their faith. One day, his oldest daughter came home in tears. When they asked her why she was crying, she said the teacher made her stand up in front of the class and the teacher told the other students to laugh at her because she believed in the "fairy tales" about the Bible. How heart breaking and difficult this must have been. But because of their continual faith and trust in The Lord, they continued to serve The Lord and thankfully now have the freedom to worship God without fear.