Saturday was an exciting day, indeed, with seeing all the sites of Hamburg, but nothing can beat the Lord’s Day, Sunday! This Sunday, I visited International Baptist Church-Hamburg (IBC), an English-speaking church in the city. However, I decided to give my legs a rest after their hard work on Saturday and I took German public transportation for the first time. It was exciting but a little intimidating at the same time. I generally like public transportation because it is convenient and good for the environment, but I’m always nervous the first time I use it. I am afraid I will go the wrong way and end up in the middle of nowhere, waiting 30 min for the next train. Fortunately, that did not happen, and I made it to my destination in good time using the Untergrundbahn (U-bahn, “Underground").
When I got off the U-bahn, I was a little turned around. Of course, I didn’t have a map with me, but I thought I had remembered which direction the church was. So I set off on my course for IBC. After 150 m, I realized that the street names did not sound familiar. I headed back to the U-bahn station, and took a different direction. About 250 m later, I decided this wasn’t right either. I returned to the U-bahn station and chose a third direction. I was so relieved to find out that this was the right way to church. I would have been pretty upset with myself if I had gone through all four directions before finding the church. So much for honing my keen sense of direction.
As I approached the church, I was relieved to see other young adults walking through the doors. The woman greeting and passing out the bulletins warmly welcomed me (in English!) and asked where I was from. I responded, “America.” Then the next expected question, “And your parents?” “China” “Great! I thought maybe you were Filipina like me. Anyway, welcome!” And she gave me a big hug. This hug set the tone for the rest of a warm and friendly service. I was really blessed to experience songs of worship with such a multiracial group. When they say International Baptist Church, they truly mean International. I saw so many different ethnic and cultural groups in a congregation of about 200 or so people. Later I learned that about 40 nations are represented in the church. The congregation spanned all ages as well. I didn’t realize how much I missed singing praise songs that I knew until I was actually singing. At that point, I was just belting it out. “It” being music to God’s ears, of course. Being in the service reminded me of InterVarsity on a larger-scale and got me very excited Urbana 2009, which will be on an even larger scale.
After the service, I attended the open members meeting and learned how other churches take care of business matters. I think it was good for me to see, especially since I didn’t have anything to compare PVBC’s Congregational Meetings to before this. Similar to PVBC, the young adult group went out to grab some food afterwards. I enjoyed talking with and hearing stories from fellow Christians with backgrounds from Ghana, Namibia, and UK to name a few. It was so much fun and I look forward to getting to know the group even better as the summer progresses.
Later in the evening, some of my haus mates and I went to Planten un Blomen for a water works show. Right before the sun sets on summer evenings, there is a water show in one of the pools in the park, similar to the Bellagio water show but much smaller and with colorful lights. This Sunday evening, they played music from two Russian composers, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. Instead of trying to describe the show, I’ll try to let you experience through the wonders of technology. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
So as you can tell, this weekend was very exciting for me. I explored an historical city, met a friendly group of people, and watched a beautiful water show. Please pray that I would be productive in the lab this week and form good relationships with people at church. I really appreciate your prayers thus far. God has definitely answered them in ways I did not expect.
At IBC, the church just finished up a series through Titus that was titled, “Transformers.” I enjoyed reading the following passage:
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. Titus 3:4-8
Loved that passage - thanks! I'm so glad you're having such eclectic experiences there! :D
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