Here’s the poem by Wolfgang Borchert that set the tone for our team retreat two weeks ago:
Ich möchte Leuchtturm sein
in Nacht und Wind,
für Dorsch und Stint,
für jedes Boot -
und bin doch selbst
ein Schiff in Not.
Roughly translated:
I want to be a lighthouse
in the night and the wind
for cod and smelt,
for every boat,
but I am myself
a boat in need of help.
die Blümen are bloomin' in Tübingen
Welcome to the first morning of full-time support raising. It feels good. It’s 10:00am right now (official Mighty Joe Espresso time), and already I have written a thank you note for a one-time gift received yesterday, prepared an envelope bound for Indy containing several other smaller one-time gifts, and I received email notification of our first online commitment! A banner day for support raising, all before the sun has risen on California -assuming the sun rises at, like, 7:00am. Or are they four hours behind us? Not really sure.
Betwixt the meandering streets that wind their way through the old city lies the city square, whereupon once the mayor – or Bürgermeister – would look down from city hall – or Rathaus – and address the people of the town. It is this square where, daily, merchants will move in their mobile stands to sell everything from meat and bread to flowers and herbs. It’s like the farmers’ market died and went to a European version of heaven. The crowd pours in and out of the square all day, pulsing quite literally like the heartbeat of Tübingen.
The square is quite a different sight during the evenings and weekends, though… when Germans are aren’t working, they are very hard to find – but I can tell you that they are not in the square. That means that the square is an empty canvas, waiting for the brush strokes of activity. Our activity. What can we use the empty square for? Impromptu soccer matches? Silent dance parties at midnight? However we can engage the students, the old city square will undoubtedly play a part in it.
If you had a dime for every bakery in Germany, you might have enough dimes to buy airfare to Germany (even at today’s prices!) – and enough dimes left over after that to buy a native seven-seed bagel. Or a jelly-filled Berliner. Or an Apfeltasche. Or a Mohnschnecke. Or a chocolate croissant. Mmmm…. German chocolate pastries. Oh, sorry. My point is that not only do bakeries punctuate nearly every city block, but they produce one of Germany’s national treasures: fresh bread. If you have ever had bread, I’m sorry to inform you that you have never had bread – until you sample the wares of the revered German corner bakery.
Support raising: Sent out four hand-written letters last night. Would have sent out five, but that first one just didn’t have the crispness of the other four, and I’m a terrible perfectionist. Also, had a new monthly supporter jump on board. We will pass 20% monthly before you know it.
the currency of poor european students
They say the closer to Turkey you get, the better the Turkish food gets. That’s why real Döner afficionados choose Globalscope Germany. Germany’s geographical location at the heart of Europe has many benefits – a large international airport in Frankfurt, easy train access to the rest of Europe, and ideal for international trade within the European Union – but college students agree that the biggest “plus” of German real estate is the close proximity to the home of the cheapest, most widely-available and widely-favored food in Europe. The value of the dollar may be struggling, but for my dollar, there is no better value than a 3-euro kebap and an Apfelschorle.
A quote from an email to Beth
Read more about the Döner here… linky.
Support raising: Friday is support-raising day! Many letters to come. Over the past two days, six letters total have been sent out.
because caffeine is the new caffeine
Greetings from the new center for support raising – Mighty Joe Espresso, king of independent coffee in the fief-kingdom of beautiful Tucker, GA. This is the first week that I will be taking entire days off of work to dedicate to support raising, and much of my work will be done from here… an escape from the house, a sanctuary with an internet connection.
Let me tell you about some of the exciting geography that will be contributing to our ministry. Globalscope Germany features more diverse topography than all of the other Globalscope ministries combined! Just a block and a half behind our campus house rises a giant hill, hundreds of feet tall (or hundreds of meters, since we are going metric) with a panoramic vista of Tübingen below. The hill is, in fact, visible from orbit – as long as you are orbiting at 400 feet or lower (fact not yet confirmed).
Now what will we be using the hill for, pray tell? Let me answer your question with another question: what will we not use it for? The German winter should provide hundreds of hours of winter sports entertainment – sledding competitions sponsored by the ministry with hot chocolate at the bottom! – and in the summer, you’ve got a good two-minute wagon ride to the bottom, or ten minutes if you choose to roll down without a wagon. Just stop before you hit the creek at the bottom.
Bottom line, the giant hill (whose name still escapes us) is a great opportunity for student games and activities and is close enough to our house to be our back yard. The hill will undoubtedly play a role in our ministry, so look for it in pictures, videos, and reports from the field!
Look at the hill here… linky.
quality time around the laptop
Yesterday, August 23rd was the original target departure date for our team to leave for Germany; however, I am writing today’s post from the American comfort of my room in Tucker, Georgia. Did I miss the plane? Was I unable to find a ride to the airport? Did it just skip my mind altogether?
No.
Not only have I never missed a flight, but I also have an intricate knowledge of the airport and an unflagging memory for major life-changing events. As you may well be aware, I am currently nearing 20% of the monthly support necessary to get me to Tübingen, and I need 100% before I can go.
And I am not alone. My teammates have also struggled to come up with 100%. Our team leader is currently at 70% and going to the top with a bullet – in fact, she is signing up for language school as we speak in preparation for living in the field. The Colemans are at 50%, and Chandler is at 30%(+).
Last weekend at our team retreat we talked about our adjusted target departure dates. Globalscope honcho Naomi says mid-October, which is pretty ambitious for a 20-percenter. My personal goal is to celebrate Christmas 2008 in Germany with my team.
Support raising: I know my reporting/accountability has been spotty at best for the last few weeks. I apologize to you, my anonymous readers. Just know that I have sent out a relatively steady stream of support letters, and several monthly supporters have stepped forward (as of the last post, I was at 15% monthly).
PDP: Reading Liquid Church by Pete Ward.
Agnostic writer A.J. Jacobs shares his experiences and insights after a year of living the laws of the Bible as literally as possible… linky.
A comment left on our facebook Globalscope Germany video post:
“The song Lazarus by Porcupine Tree! I love that song! God bless this project!! I love globalscope! Jeremy and everyone in Spain have changed my life! My prayers are for you all!“
-Javier Ezpeleta Remírez
As if the excitement about Globalscope Germany in the States wasn’t enough, the anticipation of the international students in Chile and Spain certainly are. We already have Globalscope students in Santiago waiting to come serve as exchange student interns as a part of our future ministry, and apparently the fever is now catching across the pond at our Globalscope in Salamanca.
You can check addressing student loans off of the list of things that must be done before leaving for Tübingen. That would leave…
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