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To Hamburg and back in 2 minutes
03-08-2009 | Christchurch Blog | Church | 18-25s »

I kept on having this recurring dream; that we’d arrive back from Hamburg, tired and hungry after driving for two days solid, and realise only then, as we pulled into Christchurch’s car park, that we’d left someone in a service station near Bath on the outward journey.

It was a real fear. I didn’t know anyone that was coming, how could I? I’d started work at 9am on July 1st, only to board a bus bound for Hamburg eight hours later. I called two registers before we left the car park. It was becoming evident that the trip’s intrepid and fearless leader was less intrepid and fearless than first thought.

I stalled the van.

And then we were off.

And for 70 minutes, everything was going swimmingly. And then came the phone call;

“Haia Lewis, it’s Rob…

(Rob’s driving the other bus)

…we’ve hit a spot of bother. The engine’s stopped working. We’re stranded at the side of the M4 waiting for the AA”.

Thing is, it wasn’t as if we had a lot of time to play with. There were ferries to catch (apparently they don’t wait for you). As our half of the convoy pulled up at Membury services to consider our options; the other were taken in relay to Canterbury via the waiting area of the Swindon Marriott. It would be another 72 hours and 500 miles before we would be properly reunited at the E-tap hotel in Dortmund.
     
So,why all the trouble?

Let’s start at the beginning. For a little while now, Christchurch has been serving Arche Church in Hamburg in any way we can as they seek to know more about Sovereign Grace Ministries. The relationship has been mutually beneficial and mutually encouraging. As the friendship grew, it’s a near guarantee that we’ve learnt more from them than they could have from us.

On the ground, this relationship [rep] has meant that Pete, alongside others have been visiting the church to counsel and advise and teach and serve. From previous posts you can see that he’s learned much from the warmth and affection Arche has for the gospel.

It’s been the deepest delight to spend time with Andy and Christian, two of Arche’s pastors as they’ve joined us over here. In many ways, our two week road trip to Hamburg was simply an extension to this ministry. Two minibuses arrived in Hamburg after 2 days of driving and instantly friendships were made. Not this time between pastor and pastor, but between youth and youth.

Over the course of the two weeks there, our thirty joined with their eighty. They welcomed us warmly, inviting us not just into their church building, but into their lives. Many hours were spent hanging out on the sofas in Arche’s youth room, ‘the lighthouse’, and playing football at the riverside. We opened Scripture together, and sang songs about Jesus together. Once language barriers are crossed, we learned that we’re essentially the same; same worries, same desires, same struggles, and same hope in a risen Saviour whose resurrection means that these are friendships that are started over two weeks in July 2009, but will continue throughout eternity.



And it is this eternal perspective that seems to be the most striking thing about the trip for me personally. Early in the trip, we all gathered around Revelation 7. It’s here that the reader is given John’s first glimpse of the eternal congregation of Jesus worshipers. There’s too many to count, and they’re finally enjoying the life free from sin and death that they’d been longing for so long. They’re singing about Jesus - Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb! – to him be the glory! - finally and definitively aware that without him they simply would not be there.

And notice the makeup of this congregation; people from every tribe, and peoples, and languages. The multifaceted glory of God is being sang about by a multinational, multicultural, multilingual army of praise givers.

The following morning, we gathered for worship at Arche, and God gave us a taste of what that would be like. We stood amidst a congregation, and sang songs about Jesus. Some sang German, some in English; to my left stood a German man of Togolese origin, to my right an Australian. In front of us was a Chinese family that had moved to Germany some years ago, behind me, I could here the southern drawl of an American singing about her King.

Guys, it was such a joy; not just in terms of getting to know the Germans, but personally for me in getting to know our own young people. Thank you all for being part of it, whether you travelled with us, supported us in prayer or paid for us to get there. As the newbie on staff, I can’t think of a better way of getting to know my new family.

Can we go back, please?     
Lewis Roderick