Bad Nauheim - Elvis and Health Spas

Bob in front of the Grunewald Hotel where Elvis lived

Friday August 6 saw us driving about 30 - 45 minutes north of Frankfurt to Bad Nauheim, a town of about 30,000 where Elvis Presley stayed during his stint in the U.S. Army from 1958-1960. Shortly after he arrived in Germany his father, grandmother, 2 friends and body guards joined him. They occupied an entire floor at the Grunewald Hotel in Bad Nauheim.

Sign denoting place where Elvis
stood for his picture.

We also visited the castle gateway, where the photograph for the LP cover of "A Big Hunk O’ Love" was taken. We were like many fans who flock to pose for the camera in the same place as Elvis!

Bob in the footsteps of Elvis

Rita at the Sprudelhof

Bad Nauheim is also famous for its salt springs, which are used to treat heart and nerve diseases. It is Bad Nauheim after which the Nauheim bath is named. A Nauheim or "effervescent" bath is a type of spa bath through which carbon dioxied is bubbled. We walked around the Sprudelhof therapeutic bath "resort" and also marveled at the water filtration system in places throughout the city.

Filtration

On our way we stopped at a fruit/vegetable stand and got some delicious cherries from local trees. Am looking forward to some local-grown apples real soon, too. And we got to have lunch in yet another little local market-grill. A family business where a month-old baby was there in her carriage and when she needed attention whoever was available at the moment took care of her! 

Visit to Trier and Moselle wine country

Last Friday, July 30 we took a day trip to the Moselle wine area and the oldest town in Germany - Trier - settled by the Romans in about 16 BC. The bridge pictured was built starting in 16 B.C. and still in use today - now that is solid construction!! The town gate pictured, called Porta Nigra, is built of colossal, weathered sandstone blocks. Trier is also the home of the founder of modern socialism, Karl Marx. Constantine's Basilica, whose interior is the largest single room to have survived since antiquity, sits unfinished; and the imperial baths which were part of the largest bathing complex in the Roman empire can also be explored below ground. We enjoyed food and entertainment in the Altstadt (old city) square, a bus tour, and then a drive through the Moselle wine country, with a stop in Ediger for a sample!!

Groundwork Ministries Mission Team Trip

Since June 30, we have been with Groundwork Ministries Mission Team - 5 youth from AZ, 1 from MN and our daughter, Robin - doing various activities around Germany. They arrived in Frankfurt and stayed with 4 host families from June 30 until July 4. On July 1 we all went to Vogelsberg and rode on the Sommer Rodelbahn (sleds on a track down a hill), toured the town of Kronberg and had French Flammkuchen and salads followed by our daily devotion in a city park.

Early (6:30 a.m.) on July 2 we helped serve breakfast at a downtown Frankfurt "soup kitchen" and also helped them stuff envelopes for a mailing. We gave the group a quick tour of the center of Frankfurt. The team then met some youth and advisers from our church here, played games, went for pizza and then out on the town in Frankfurt.

Saturday, July 3 we spent time in the morning with our host families and then joined some young people from our Frankfurt church at an Irish Pub to watch Germany play in the World Cup (beat Argentina). In the evening one of the host families hosted all of the families and kids for a BBQ at their house. Thanks Petersons.

Sunday, July 4 the team led the children's message in our worship service and then took about 10-15 kids out for a time of singing, kid's worship and crafts. After a nice coffee time following worship we all boarded a train to Wittenberg in eastern Germany. Our train was delayed for about an hour due to a car which had rolled over onto the other set of tracks. Since we happened upon this accident first, we had to stop while police and Deutsche Bahn officials investigated. Thankfully no one was hurt. After arriving in Wittenberg we checked into the youth hostel and then headed immediately to our favorite restaurant, the Kartoffelhaus (a place frequented by Martin Luther himself)followed by some Eis (ice cream). Since it was July 4, we celebrated a little with sparklers on the street in front of the Castle Church, while trying to avoid being eaten alive by mosquitoes!

Monday, July 5 we toured Wittenberg and did a little souvenir and take-home gift shopping before boarding the train for Berlin. We had another "train incident", this time a delay in leaving due to a medical emergency with one of the passengers. We checked into our wonderfully air-conditioned hotel and then headed to dinner and a stop at a wonderful Chocolate Shop.

Tuesday, July 6 we met up with an American pastoral intern at the American Church of Berlin (ELCA) who took us on a wonderful tour of Berlin - the "bombed out church", a portion of the wall, Brandenberg Gate, and Checkpoint Charlie. For the 3rd day in a row we had a train issue - this time we missed our train (by about 15 seconds!!) due to the bus taking us to the train station being 15 minutes late!! Therefore we arrived at our Kindercamp destination of Verden (south of Bremen) about an hour and a half late. They had a bonfire with roasted marshmallows, roasted bread and other snacks waiting for us when we finally arrived at the church.

Wednesday, July 7 was planning day with the German team for the 3 day Kindercamp in Rotenberg (Wumme). What an awesome experience it was to see how the two groups, from two countries with different languages, worked so well together - all in Christ's name. Their youth and host families were amazing as far as hospitality and having fun (cherry pit spitting contest)and working together. In the afternoon we had a tour of Verden and then a "Kaffee and Kuchen" picnic on the banks of the Aller River in Verden. That evening the American youth went with some German youth to the public viewing of the World Cup match which Germany lost to Spain. They had an awesome time, though. The 3 "old-people" on the team watched the game in the quiet living room of the pastor's home!!

Thursday, July 8 Kindercamp started with 24 kids (none from the church - what an amazing outreach!) at 10:00 a.m. and ran until 3:30 p.m. In the morning we had a lesson based on the parable of the Hidden Treasure, skits, songs (German and English), games, and snacks (fruits and vegetables, not sweets). After a delicious lunch we played more games, did some teaching of English with games, and also had a baseball clinic - teaching the basics of catching, fielding and hitting. The kids loved the baseball!! That evening we went by train to Bremen where we got a tour of the city and had a great German meal of brats or Flammkuchen at an outside eating area.

Friday, July 9 was another day of Kindercamp, this time with the theme of the Lost Sheep. All the while we were in Verden/Rotenberg the temperatures were well into the 90's and the humidity must have been around 60% - unusually hot for them. They don't have air conditioning so needless to say, everyone was very worn out from both the activities and the heat. Friday evening we went canoeing on the Aller River - went about 12-14 km (about 8 miles) - stopping mid-way for a sandwich-and-apple dinner on the shore. We had 3 canoes for the 23 of us and had lots of fun singing Christmas songs, English songs, German songs - and of course, splashing each other.

Saturday, July 10 dawned another bright sunny day (we were praying for clouds!). The theme for this day was the Prodigal Son. Skits and mime skits were done by the Germans and Americans to reinforce the story. The kids fell in love with the "Woot, woot" song (Blessed Be), "Stand up, Sit down", and another silly song with lots of actions. In the afternoon we went to the school a few blocks away and played a little baseball "scrimmage". We modified the rules quite a bit to allow all the kids the opportunity to bat, run bases and field. Some of them caught on real quickly (like Pastor Christoph who got 2 home runs!!) and some will need some more practice. Sunday evening we had a great BBQ at the church, breaking up in plenty of time to get back to Verden so the youth could go to the public viewing of the World Cup 3rd place game which Germany won.

Finally on Sunday morning we got our clouds - and a little sprinkling of rain!! Pastor Christoph was totally astounded at the number of people (70) who attended the worship service, including 10 kids from the Kindercamp and their families! It was an inspiring bi-lingual worship service with the kids participating in various ways - singing, mimes, and reading lessons. After worship was the first of several "meals" shared that day - lunch at church, waffles with powdered sugar after our evaluation meeting, pasta salad and vegetable-topped bread for dinner. The youth then went en-mass again to an older pub to watch the finals of the World Cup. What an experience they had watching 5 of the World Cup matches with their new German friends!!

Monday, July 12 we boarded our last trains to head back to Frankfurt where we had our final devotion and a snack as a group in our apartment before heading out to host family homes for one last night. The group then flew out on Tuesday morning, all arriving home safely and pretty well on time. As many of them wrote, it was a bittersweet ending to a God-inspired time together. We hope many seeds were planted and we now let the Holy Spirit do his work in the hearts and souls of all those we touched these past 2 weeks.

Picture captions (top to bottom, or right to left and then down - depending on your browser)
Sledding; Devotions in the park; Elsa, Karina, Kat serving breakfast; Frankfurt host families; Waiting at the train station in Frankfurt; Dinner at the Kartoffelhaus in Wittenberg; Standing in front of the Castle Church door with Luther's 95 Theses in Wittenberg; Brandenburg gate in Berlin; Kindercamp snacks; Planning Kindercamp; Cherry pit spitting; A house in Verden; Kaffee & Kuchen on Aller River banks; The team ready for the World Cup match; Kindercamp; Sponge-passing game; Singing; Baseball; Cooling off with feet in cool water; Worship in Rotenberg; Rotenberg church; Verden/Rotenberg host families

Wittenberg English Ministry

The 2 top pictures are the inside of the small chapel.
The next picture is of the small chapel and City Church. The 4th one is the chancel of the City Church.

The last picture is Bob preaching in the City Church - where Luther preached a couple of thousand times during his time of living in Wittenberg.


Bob received a call a couple of weeks ago asking him if he could substitute in Wittenberg for the English Ministry services they hold each year from May through October. So off we went last Thursday morning on our first longer auto trip - 450 kilos. He conducted chapel services on Thursday and Friday afternoons and a full worship service on Saturday afternoon. We met many people from different parts of the U.S., most of them in touring groups, most of them going to the Passion Play in Oberammergau (very southern part of Germany) which is held every 10 years.

The Wittenberg English Ministry program has pastors from Lutheran Churches in the U.S., Canada and Australia come over for 2 weeks at a time (at their own expense) and conduct 3 chapel services (Wed. - Fri.) and 1 worship service (Sat.) each week. They stay in the wonderful Luther Hotel in Wittenberg, and are free to wander Germany or wherever between the scheduled services. We participated in this program for the full 2 weeks in both 2005 and 2006. The people who attend these services are in awe of being able to worship in the same buildings where Luther preached almost 500 years ago. There are so many churches, museums, restaurants, statues, etc. to see just in Wittenberg, and most people go on to see other Luther sites in Erfurt, Eisleben, Eisenach, Worms, and many more.

We look forward to being able to substitute when needed many times during our 6-year stay here. It is also a good opportunity for us to tell travelers about our congregation in Frankfurt, and invite them to stop in if they travel in or near Frankfurt.

International Pastors Conference in Stockholm

OK, so it is over a week since we got back from a wonderful conference - but it's never too late to post this blog.

We attended the AICEME (Association of International Churches in Europe and the Middle East) annual conference, this year held in Stockholm, Sweden, April 26-May 3. It was hosted by Immanuel International Fellowship of Stockholm. They share a huge building with the Swedish Immanuelskyrkan and the Korean Fellowship - complete with 3 worship centers, a chapel, 2 cafeterias (with kitchens), a gym (where we played the indoor floor hockey game Innebandy), sauna, and classrooms. They also own the attached Hotel Birger Jarl (pronounced "beer y'all") where we stayed, and Stensnas Retreat Center, where we spent a day hearing Swedish theologian, Dr. Runar Eldebo, talk about Christianity in a European Context (how it has changed from a ministry for ex-patriots to a ministry to immigrants), breaking into small groups to discuss International Ministry, having Fika (Swedish "coffee & and a little something" break), eating (lamb sausages) and playing Kubb, an original Viking lawn game. What an uplifting experience for us to meet 31 other people who share the experiences of international ministry with us.

We were able to do a lot of sightseeing in Stockholm - Sweden's Royal Palace and the changing of the guard on horseback; Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town with tons of shops and restaurants along the narrow, cobblestone streets; the Vasa Museum of the Swedish warship Gustav Vasa, salvaged 333 years after it sank just minutes into its maiden voyage in 1628; Skansen, Europe's largest outdoor museum with historical buildings, native animals (brown bears, reindeer, seals) and plants; Stockholm's Historic City Hall where the Nobel Prize banquet and ball are held each year.

On Wednesday afternoon we boarded the cruise ship Silja Serenade for an overnight cruise to Helsinki, Finland, where the International Church in Helsinki was our host. We visited the Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral, the Tuomio Lutheran Cathedral, and the Temppeliaukio Rock Church where the International Church worships on Sunday afternoons. It is literally built inside a rock of which the center was dynamited out - what a fantastic ministry they do in this unique setting! They also have a Community Center where they minister to immigrants from several countries, serve meals, give out food, hold Bible Studies, teach English classes, and have a huge English language library of religious books. On board the ship we shared a traditional Swedish Smorgasbord dinner - must of been a dozen different ways they served herring! - found a lovely lounge, which Bob christened the "Windshield Lounge", to hang out in and play cards and share a drink (Rita and her "Cherry Bomb") with our new friends. On our way back to Sweden on the ship we ate in the Happy Lobster restaurant where 3 of our group shared a variety platter of seafood that was enormous!

The worship experiences we shared with people from around the world were awesome. The renewal, support, nurturing, strengthening and fellowship were amazing. We have become Facebook friends with many of the participants and look forward to keeping in touch with them and inter-visiting each other at our home locations. We are already looking forward to the next 2 years conferences, 2011 in Paris and 2012 in London!

Following is a brief description of the pictures:
Stensnas Retreat Center - Playing Kubb
Changing of the Guard - Our Cruise Ship
Orthodox Cath. - Cherry Bomb (mmm) - Lutheran Cath.
Us in Helsinki - Bob in the Rock Church
Windshield Lounge - Seafood Platter for 3
Nobel Prize Banquet Hall - Us in Stockholm
Playing Innebandy - Vasa Museum