Everything came through without a hitch. We flew through the night and arrived in Berlin at about 8:00 on Sunday morning and even managed to take a short nap during the flight. About thirty minutes later, we were in our hotel. The first familiar faces we saw were of our own bishop, Dr. Doug Beacham, and his wife, Susan. After a quick moment to freshen up, we boarded a bus with other IPHC (International Pentecostal Holiness Church) people and headed to one of our churches where Bishop Beacham had been scheduled to preach for the morning service. The church is called Treffpunkt Gemeinde. In English that means, "Gathering Point". We are so glad that we were able to go. This church left such an impression on me. Outside, it was a nondescript yellow structure with a small wooden cross carved into a block of wood near the top of the building.
Once we were inside, we were so surprised to see our friend, Doris Leung all the way from China where she serves on the ministry staff of Wing Kwong IPHC, the largest church in our denomination. Wing Kwong had sent an entire delegation to the Wittenberg congress. We all just stared at each other for a moment until we embraced and kept repeating, "You're here???!!!" After recovering from the surprise of seeing Doris, we looked around and noticed that the interior of this church looked more like an art gallery / coffee house than a church. The sanctuary was set aside to the right of the entrance and everything else was straight ahead or to the left. The walls were lined with contemporary art which we quickly recognized to be the artwork of IPHC missionary and painter, Linwood Berry. A few moments later, Rev. Berry walked up as we were admiring one of his pieces.
We enjoyed good coffee and conversation as the Praise Team rehearsed in their sanctuary. The feel of this church was very urban. Rev. Berry explained that in this region of the world, they often set up churches to operate as community centers during the week. They offer classes on art, technology, English, etc... This gives the community the opportunity to become comfortable in the church building and also gives the church members an opportunity meet people and develop friendships. Another thing about the church that I really like was the nursery. The nursery took up the back section of the sanctuary where a wall and large glass windows separated the children and parents / nursery workers from the rest of the congregation. Inside were toys for the children and comfortable couches for the parents. It reminded me of the approach to nursery ministry that I had experienced as a small child when we still lived in Baltimore, MD. At the old Baltimore church (Loch Raven Blvd.) the nursery was high up in the second (or third?) story of the church and there was also a large window inside the nursery that looked down into the sanctuary and a speaker in the nursery room so that workers, parents and children could still feel connected to what was happening in the service.
Praise and worship was wonderful. We sang a lot of familiar songs. One was in English. One was in German but mostly we sang together - each in our own language. Although we were a relatively small group and the congregation was relatively small, we had IPHC representatives from the United States, Canada, Spain, Africa, Germany and China, at least. There may have been more. While we were there, we also had the honor of witnessing a young local couple receive their minister's license and were able to take part in praying over them.
Bishop Beacham gave a stirring sermon from Habakkuk 2:2-3:
"Then the Lord answered me and said, Write a vision, and make it plain upon a tablet so that a runner can read it. There is still a vision for the appointed time; it testifies to the end; it does not deceive. If it delays, wait for it; for it is surely coming; it will not be late."
The local pastor has a heart for revival and we were all aware of the focus of the conference we will be attending which is centered around the word "FINISH" and is geared towards giving careful consideration to the contribution of the Protestant Reformation towards fulfilling the great commission of Jesus and also of our own role to fill in this generation.
Perhaps the most moving part of the service was the simple conclusion when together we stood to pray the Lord's prayer together, each in our own language. Chip and I both could not make it past, "Our Father...." The rest of that prayer was offered up in tears as we became so beautifully aware of our connection with other Christians around the world.
After service we enjoyed a few more moments of conversation and then went to enjoy a nice meal at a local Asian restaurant. Afterwards, we rode trams and trains back to the shopping center near our hotel and walked the last five blocks back through very cold, wet weather. I was so glad I had brought my heavy coat and worn my boots instead of heels but a memorable moment during our walk was the opportunity to see a few remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall that once separated Germany into East and West. It is disturbing to look at that small space on the ground of about twelve inches wide and realize that those few inches and a wall separated one people into two radically different ways of life for generations.
Fear and the need for power drives people to build all kinds of walls to separate and control but the love of God tears down walls and breaks through all kinds of barriers to reach in with healing for our souls. We are all united in him across nations, cultures and time when together we bow our heads to speak those two simple words, "Our Father."
