Returning to Mainz

It's May of 2009, about a year since I was last in Mainz where I assisted in planting a church.  Just a year, and much has changed.  Recently God has been showing me how very short and how surprisingly eventful a year can be.  The last five years of my undergraduate study have flown by, and now I'm proudly graduated.  Just five years.

 I digress; being back here has been a huge blessing.  We may typically grow impatient with God, expecting His provision today, this week, or at the very least this month.  So often in the bible we hear of people who waited years, or life times, for God.  He's slowly (which is perhaps fitting) teaching me this patience.

 Seeing how God has moved in Mainz is perhaps part of this lesson.  The church is active, and has already been used by God to bless others around the word, despite its small congregation. 

 Hopefully we'll all learn to wait on Gods time with the diligence, joy, and confidence that comes from faith in Christ.

"Science Experiment" Day 42 - Mainz Germany

The last 14 days here have been a complete blur. With project camp and everything in between. Before I try to organize my thoughts on all of those events I want to tell you a story.

This is a story of my awesome ingorance/arrogance and Gods provision. What did I do that was so foolish? My friends, if you have a wound and you think it might need stitches - go to the doctor. Even if you do not actually need sticthes the visit is worth your time. If you ignor a wound and a week goes by without signs of improvement than you are an idiot and you need to go to the doctor.

Some of you may remember hearing about me falling on the stairs in a recent blog. Though the wound was not that impressive I now know I should have gone to the doctor.

For those of you who know me well enough you know that I fall quiet offten. To be honest I have ignored far worse flesh wounds and gotten away with it in the past....

...not this time though.

It never healed, it only got more and more infected. Then the infection spiked. Gross really. Swollen, unique fluids, inflamed, hot to the touch, the whole nine yards. So I did what I should have done a while ago, I went to the doctor.

Day one took six hours. I got X-rays and blood tests. Both affordable and both telling good things. The bone was fine, and the infection hadn't spread into my blood yet. The doctor asked me to come back the next day. They would need to remove the infected area. To save money he suggested they do it as an out patient procedure, but when I returned the next day the doctors no longer felt that was an option. The infection had worsened, the plan was to removed the infected area around the wound and under my skin then streach my skin and stitch it shut. I would need to stay in the hospital for two days to make sure that infection didn't set in again since some bacteria may be left.

Ok here is the miracle. Other than the fact that despite my not going to the doctor when I really should have I wasn't sick from infection yet. There is no way I could have afforded this opperation. Just the two nights stay would run me over two thousand dollars. Fimiliar with my situation and wanting to help the doctors designated me a "science experiment" and all the costs of the opperation were covered.

Today I have little pain, just a few stitches where the billard ball sized chunk of shin skin used to be, and on Saturday I might not even have those. My credit card is about $500 heavier from the checkups and pre opperation costs, but that is much much lighter than I ever imagined.

A huge thanks to...

God, all things for the good...
The German doctors, although I could not talk to anyone while I was there their generousity and skill were great hospitality.
Natanja, my faithful translator who enabled every conversation.
The anastesialogist... you do good things
Marco my room mate for those two days. Thanks for the good laughs and broken english. Marco also fell on stairs. He broke his right arm which is now also infected badly. He has had multiple opperations and has been there for about three weeks now. Pray that he regains full mobility of his hand. He is in the picture above.
My parents... sorry to call you one night leaving a voice mail saying that I am going to the doctor tomorrow and then not contact you again for three days. Promise I had not planned on staying! Love you guys!

Please pray that the infection does not re-surface and that I can loose the pretty blue stitches Saturday.

"Ty Forrest Johnson!" Day 28 - Mainz Germany

Last night as my head hit the pillow my outlook dinged signaling that I had an email. I rolled over and checked to find a text message from my sister Paula. "They r inducing me tonight. Should have a lil one some time tomorrow. Hope u r ok!"

At 4:15 am Mountain Standard time Ty Johnson was born :)

I now have two neices and two nephews, but Andrea is pregnant which will bring the gender tie breaker! I'm hoping for a boy, girls have had the majority for as long as I can remember in this family.

So today we thank God for Ty Johnson and pray for all the things his life will be.

Here are my parents, now proud four time grandparents.

And a few days later...

"Culture... Adjustment" Day 27 - Mainz Germany

I don't like the term culture shock, I think that for most people it's a cultural adjustment.

If it's a bad adjustment then it's culture shock.

Over these last few days 100 some volunteers have arrived. It's been a beautiful chaos as God continues to moves despite us. As I take these people on their jet lagged tours I get to see through there eyes what I saw only a month ago for my self. There really are a lot of different things worth mentioning about Germany, so I thought I'd take some time to talk about it.

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As I read the other Blogs of my amazing friends who God is using to do outrageous things right now like Andrew http://www.andrewinindo.blogspot.com/ and Jonathan (and Sarah) http://wellofbethlehem.blogspot.com/ I feel influenced to write deeper more reflective and informative blogs.

... but I'm way too tired.

Because at the end of the day I get on and read their blogs instead. Ha.
So instead of summoning thoughts deep from my heart I bring you... this. (In no special order)
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1.The German Shelf. This is a special one. Apparently some time ago there was a widespread sickness in Germany that was easily identified in the early stages by examining ones poo. This influenced the German toilet design. It's like an American toilet in every way except that a porcelain shelf is built in to hold your poo on display until you have examined it. Then when you flush it is hopefully swept away into a tiny hole. Moral of this story, Germans must like looking at their poo. This toilet is especially hard for us men because any attempt to stand and pee will result in a violent splatter. Thankfully a "do not stand and pee" sign is posted above the toilet as a reminder.

2. The signs. This brings me to another point. German signs are very graphic. Perhaps to help communicate in a multilingual world; most everything is drawn. This was most graphically displayed by the "no dog poop sign" (sorry it comes back to poo)

3. Beer. Drinking is as much a part of the German culture as you have heard, which was an unusual adjustment. It's very different to see a teenager drinking a beer in a public place.

4. Closed?!?! Many stores close at 8pm every night. Only restaurants, bars, and gas stations (maybe something else.) The same places are also closed all Sunday. I think I like this a lot. It's hard for an American to see such a thriving economy with so much leisure time, isn't relaxation a third world thing??? Taking Sunday to spend with your family is a beautiful thing, I don't care if I can't go shopping.

5. Small Cars. Here I thought my SUV was small...

6. Fast Cars. How do small cars go that fast? I love autobahn system. It relies on people being GOOD drivers instead of SLOW drivers for safety. If you're caught driving too close behind someone or weaving between lanes you will likely loose your license. BUT - you can drive fast, and in some areas as fast as you want. Statistics suggest that the German Autobahn is rather safe compared to the American highway.

7. The garbage system. I need to learn more about this. Germans claim to be hard core environmentalists. I have some theories as to why this is, but that's for another post. From what I hear they incinerate the waste they don't recycle... and I don't know how I feel about that. But they do recycle - a LOT. Oddly enough I've pretty much done the German trash system for the last two years at my house by recycling. The usual, glass, plastic, compost (Thanks Paul and Andrew) paper, aluminum. The one difference is that Germans separate and recycle "packaging" The trouble in America is that packaging is usually recyclable but it's impossible to separate because it contains plastic, paper, and aluminum. I.E. a juice box. So, I like this.

8. No Beef, but the pork and lamb makes up for it.

9. Festivals… at least in the town I’m in there are a lot of festivals for very little apparent reason. I love it. It’s summer, so let’s fill the streets with tents and eat brats and on the last night we’ll have fireworks! Then wait a week until the next festival.

10. Churches. I ran into a couple from the states and they asked what I was doing. When I told them I worked with a group that helped start new churches they laughed and with sarcasm said “I can see that there is a real need for more churches.”

They had a good point. There are a lot of churches, and they’re beautiful. More like museums than houses of worship they tower their historic peak high over the city. Every night at 6pm the bells brashly bellow out echoing the walls Mainz, they are impossible to ignore.

When we explain to Germans what we do their reaction is quite different. “Oh! Are you a cult?” For most Germans Christ and the church is a thing of history; a thing to be explained and gawked at, a thing to attract tourists and snap pictures of.

So there is a long post for you all… and hopefully it made you think and laugh! The list goes on and on, and I love it. Now… back to work.

"Calm Before The..." Day 24 - Mainz Germany

Tomorrow is the day the 70 volunteers arrive from the US. Then 40 European volunteers arrive on Monday.

I can't express to you the amount of work that we've done in preparation. I haven’t left the HQ in three days. I spent more than 10 hours a day at my computer, and I am by no means alone. The team is in this together.

I'm really proud of some of my work.

• A packet that will be given to some of the pastors who are coming.
• A rather complicated fundraising plan.
• The budgeting system for Project Camp.

It's not my "sweet spot" but it's really good work, by doing it I grow as leader and also really help spread the good news of Christ throughout Germany.

Today is the calm before the storm.

It would be our day off, but there is still so much to do. Still we have all taken slightly lighter load today as we brace our selves. We will need a second wind, caz it's show time. The next 16 days are going to be awesome. God is going to do beautiful things in this city through His people.

This morning we prayed through Isaiah 40:31 - That God would be our strength, please pray with us.

"Internet Day!" Day 21 - Mainz Germany

This morning as I walked down to join the team for breakfast our side door buzzer went off. Someone was at the door.

A middle aged German gentleman with graying hair and a cleanly shaved face stepped inside with a sack in his left hand. He was the internet man.

To communicate to you the excitement of our team as they rushed from the breakfast table would be nearly impossible. Many of us have had limited contact without loved ones since moving into the Hotel. In passing conversation we would often discuss that the hotel didn't feel like home... not until we had internet.

It was also crippling to our massive workload. Without being able to email we lost access to our network of resources back in the states. We also were not able to check website resources for information on the city or even email out to the campers who will join us in only a few days now unless we drove the 40 minutes to the Frankfurt location where there was internet.

So, today, we praise God for internet.

On a similar side note - yesterday a large bottle of water was knocked onto my laptop. Seriously delaying all of my work and threatening to never work again.

I completely disassembled it, piece by piece, and let it dry for a long period of time.... seems everything is ok! Praise God!

"Independence Day!" - Day 18 Mainz Germany

Phew....

I haven't had internet for a long time now, sorry about the lack in updates. Right now I'm actually sitting in Down Town Mainz on the ground next to an opera house that just happens to have wireless internet. Wonderful!

My fourth of July was pretty wonderful. Not to hard of a work day, followed by a relaxing evening of German lessons and BBQ in the river shore. The local US army base provided some much celebrated fireworks for us.

Things have changed a lot in the last week. The Hotel is closer and closer to being done and my workload is more and more switching to Project Camp preparation. There is so much to be done in the next week so please pray!

Well, I better get going...

Before I go, here is a picture of where I found the internet.
I'm sitting by the building behind the tree...
Mainz is a beautiful city, really. Today is my day off and I plan to spend it hiking through Mainz.
So.. off I go!