I’m Going to Germany in July

Soon the Spring 2009 semester will come to a close. Last summer I chose to remain in Tallahassee for the duration of the summer in order to lead a Bible study for the students remaining in town (and also to look for a new job). After praying over my options, I have decided that this summer I will be serving on a team headed to Berlin, Germany for two weeks.

It might seem like this came out of nowhere, since I’ve not been too vocal about wanting to do something like this. But the truth is I’ve had a desire to go overseas on a short-term mission trip for nearly three years now. Specifically, I have wanted to go on a trip that sought to share the Gospel by teaching English to non-native speakers. This year an opportunity became available through Wildwood Presbyterian Church, the church I joined last summer. They partner with a ministry in the eastern part of Berlin that puts on a summer English camp for ten- to fifteen-year-olds. The trip will be from July 14-27. This trip was a perfect fit! I’ve wanted to get more involved at Wildwood, I’ve wanted to teach English overseas, and I have exactly two weeks of leave time from work.

Our team will spend the first few days learning how to serve in the specific role we have each been assigned. We will also learn how to communicate ideas about God to children who have varying levels of English comprehension. The camp itself will have many activities. I will serve as an English tutor and will be partnered with the same two to three kids for the entire week. I don’t speak any German, but I’ve been told this is actually an advantage. (Well, it’s an advantage when I’m around the kids. Things could get interesting when I’m out exploring Berlin.) The participants of this camp have signed up to be immersed in American English as a way to supplement the Queen’s English they are learning in school. Our team aims to immerse these children not only in our language but in the love of Christ and to speak to them about what He has done in our lives.

I am in the process of forming a “sending team,” people who would commit to helping me get to Berlin this summer. There are two parts to this sending team: financial supporters and prayer supporters. I am fund raising in order to go on this trip. God has already blessed me with 26% of what I’ll need. You can contact me if you’d like more information on how you can give financially. At any time you can check out the progress bar on the right-hand side of my website to see how close I am to reaching my funding goal. I’m also in need of people who would be willing to pray for me, both in the weeks leading up to the trip and while in Germany. Right now the biggest needs are for our team to bond prior to leaving and for each of us to raise the money necessary to travel.

I’d really like to answer any questions you may have about what I’ll be doing there, the organization we’re partnering with, or anything else about the trip for that matter. Leave a question in the comments or send me a message.