Globalscope England
I owe a sincere apology to our friends in England. I have been unfair to the country as of late – making light of, among other things, the dreary weather (how much does it rain in England? According to Yahoo Answers UK, “not as much as in Scotland”).
I by no means dislike the country – I have, in fact, written many warm, glowing things about England in the past – and I don’t want to strain relations between England and Germany, which at times in the last century have been tenuous.
I love England. England has given the world such great things as the English language, Guy Ritchie, and America. Can you imagine James Bond with a Schwaebisch accent? I can’t. If we didn’t have Wales, we wouldn’t have actor Christian Bale to ironically star in movies like American Psycho. And on top of all that, England is the chief developer of some of the world’s most portable foods.
But I don’t just love England: I love Globalscope England. Globalscope England has given the world (and Globalscope Germany as a part of the world) such great ideas as celebrating Thanksgiving with a ridiculous number of students. Globalscope England’s creative power is a source of inspiration to me and to our team – in art, music, use of technology, ideas for ministry… the list goes on and on. The team in Birmingham has not only supported our team here in times of difficulty (and times of not-so-difficulty) but has also played host to us on several occasions, even when it was terribly inconvenient for them to do so. Globalscope Germany (and me as a part of Globalscope Germany) would not be where we are today without our older-sibling ministry in Birmingham.
So, to be clear: if I ever gave the impression that the two ministries were ever in competition, I apologize – we’re not. Unless, of course, Germany ends up playing England in the World Cup Finals this summer, in which case, yes, we’re totally in competition. But only for two 45-minute halves.