Joeletter 7.2

So much has happened since the last Joeletter! I haven't picked any weird yogurts since I wrote last, for which I'm grateful. I've been able to continue playing floor-ball and basketball with the guys. Today I went with Philip, one of the guys, to play pool and ping-pong for a couple of hours. It was nice to be with him, and he helped me improve both my cue-ball shooting, and my paddle skills.

This past week we got to go to Munich, Germany for a week. That ambiguous 'we' refers to Ben, myself, Jeff Valodine, Steve Cone, and Mark Fischel. We rode on a train for six hours, and were greeted by Sandy Graham. Also part of the Impact-Munich team are Brandy Laurance and Bethany Schmich. We took over their apartment for the time we were there, and they graciously stayed with a friend.

It was nice to be able to visit a different city. Their subway system, though, took a little getting used to. Here in Praha, there are only three Metro lines. If you go to one station, only one line runs through it. In Munich, however, just like New York, many different lines can run through one station. Thus you have to watch carefully to make sure when a subway train pulls into the station that it's the right one for you.

Something fun about the subway, though, that kind of made up for the subway differences, was the escalators. You may remember that here in Praha, the escalators can be six and a half stories tall. Well, in Munich they aren't as tall, but they stop when nobody is using them. When you want to use it, you just walk up and step on the motion activating pad. The great part is that there is one of these pads at each end of the escalator. So you can go up or down on the same escalator! It's really fun to walk up to an escalator, and make it move in the direction you want to go. I wanted to bring one home, but it wouldn't fit in my backpack. Oh well . . .

While we were in Germany we had a chance to visit Dachau, the first WWII concentration camp. It wasn't ever used for mass extermination, but it had the facilities too. But even without that specific evil, Dachau was still a somber experience. I kept thinking about the fact that not too long ago, right where I was standing/walking/breathing, prisoners had stood/walked/breathed. It was surreal. It was also sobering to see what a world without God naturally, logical ends up looking like.

I didn't realize how large such camps were. I'm sure that Dachau was by no means the largest camp. But the prisoners camp was enormous, with room for a massive amount of people. And the camp itself extended way beyond just the prison camp. Much larger by far was the part of the camp that supported the prison officers and wardens.

All in all, I am very glad that we got the chance to go see Dachau. As horrific as it was, it was good to be there physically, and see it with my own eyes.

One morning we got a chance to spend some time with two Mormon guys. For several months they have been regularly meeting with Sandy and Robert, and we were invited to join in. I really appreciated the time, though I said not one word. I came into the meeting pretty sure that this was a learning time for me, just as much a time where we hoped to plant more seeds within these two young men. Several significant, major differences between our two belief systems were explained, which was very helpful to me. Also, listening to everyone else talk was a great chance to think more about my own faith, and what that looked like.

In addition to seeing part of the city, we spent as much time as possible with the Impact-Munich team. We were blessed with three times of corporate worship, singing interspersed with prayer. God used the skills He has given us, Ben playing guitar, and me playing makeshift drums. It was a wonderful time of family, though none of us are biologically related to each other.

Bethany, one of the Impact girls, shares my (or should I say I share her) penchant for reading. We discussed several books both of us had read, as well as exchanged the names of authors we recommended. Due to the lack of space coming over, I didn't bring many books with me. Bethany kindly loaned me some, which I am devouring. They will be coming down to visit us at the end of March, at which point I will be able to give them back. In the mean time, it's great on the Metro.

Yes, I'm feeling quite comfortable on the Metro, and somewhat on the tram lines, to read and listen to music while traveling from place to place. It's a good feeling, and one that I know I'm going to miss quite a lot when I go home. It's so nice to be able to go anywhere, with a minimal amount of trouble.

Well, that's quite a bit of what all has happened. I know I'm forgetting some things, but those are the highlights. Thanks for your prayers.

In His Time,