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Life Together

Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2014

When my roommate Jeff and I moved into our Berlin flat, we knew that we would want at least one more person, maybe two. Jeff had a comfy single room to himself, and I had a massive room to myself, which is equal in size to our living room. The layout of the flat is that we have a small kitchen, a small bathroom, and a small bedroom all in a row between two larger rooms. Jeff was perfectly happy with his room, but mine was definitely too big for just me. For just two people the flat felt kind of lonely, and if one of us wasn’t there then it felt even more so. And neither of us is especially noisy. Plus we couldn’t afford it for just two people. It was definitely fun with just the two of us, but we knew we would need to add another.

 We met Pascal through one of our supervisors. About a month and a half ago, she emailed us saying that she had found a potential roommate, and that we were to meet him at 10 am on Friday morning. We don’t have language school on Fridays (although in December we do) so this was perfect. At around 10 am they both arrived, and the four of us sat down on the living room couches and chatted for awhile. We told him about our experiences and how we had come to Berlin, and he told us about himself. His English isn’t great, although he can certainly hold conversations. He told us a little about his life, how he had come to faith nearly a year ago and how he was happy to have found a living situation with other believers. He was living in Spandau at the time, a district on the western edge of Berlin where he had been born and raised. To Jeff and I, Pascal was the complete package. He was a native German, specifically a Berliner, and so he could help us with practical things like important documents we would receive in the mail. We could practice our German with him to help us improve. And he was a Christian, so we wouldn’t have to worry about how he might perceive us and our mission.

 He moved in about 10 days later. He took Jeff’s room, and so Jeff moved in with me. This was nice because it made a room that was far too big for one just the right size. The downside is that now I can’t lie in bed listening to the music I use as an alarm in the morning. Also he goes to bed at like 10:30, which has totally thrown me off, although it probably has been for the best for me since now it forces me to go to bed earlier so I don’t keep him awake. Anyway, the first few days were definitely a “feeling-out” process. We got dinner with him the first night, and there was definitely a little awkwardness. I don’t think anyone was totally sure what to say or how to act around each other. But we definitely got along.

 As the days passed and we gradually got to know each other better, there were some things about Pascal that really stood out to me. First, we knew that he was a new Christian, but perhaps we didn’t fully take in everything that meant. At least I know I didn’t. As we have gotten to know each other more, it is easier to see that he wasn’t raised in the church with Sunday school, and youth group, and weekly services, and everything else that being raised in the church comes with. Discovering some of the main concepts of Christianity was still a journey for him. I say this not as a negative, it is only natural that new Christians have gaps in even some of the most concrete beliefs of the church. He was still very much discovering what it meant to be a Christian.

 What startled me most wasn’t what he knew or didn’t know (and I am being unfair to him, he has acquired quite a bit of Biblical knowledge in a short time), it was his hunger for the Word and for the Holy Spirit. It seems like every day he has a new spiritual question that he is struggling with. I get the impression that he spends several hours each day on his computer looking up information and trying to understand the Bible. And he isn’t content just with believing in God, he wants ever more of Him. He wants to be always filled with the Holy Spirit, and when he is not he desperately seeks to know why and to make it so again. Another thing that startled me was his servant’s heart. Without being asked or saying anything, he cleans the dishes, washes the kitchen and bathroom, does the laundry, buys some groceries for us, makes us food and drink, etc. I think it is fair to say that he puts me to shame. I know that I am the farthest thing from a servant. Every day his service reminds me how lazy and selfish I am. My dishes remain in the sink waiting to be washed longer than they should. I am slow to clean, and generally don’t make a fuss about things like that. And always my first instinct is to do what feels right for me, what is easier for me. And it has been a long time since I have really hungered for the Word.

 These things are changing in me. Lately I have realized that I may have a servant’s heart somewhere in there after all, that was just waiting to be awakened. You see, for good or for ill, I am very competitive. Previously I would’ve just left my dishes in the sink and said I would get them later, but now if I don’t do them quickly Pascal will do them first. And now I think to offer my houseguests tea and other things, whereas before I probably wouldn’t have thought to do so. I think that I am spending a lot more time thinking about how I can serve others, although sometimes I get my motivations mixed up.

 I thank God for bringing Pascal into our living situation. Pascal has done so much to show me more of what it means to be a follower of Christ, and this is “despite” him only being a believer for one year. And it’s not like it is all just him pouring into us. I think that Jeff and I have done a good job of helping him answer some of his questions, and really just being someone who he can talk to and bounce things off of to help him figure out what all these radical changes mean in his life. We, along with our co-workers/friends Diedre, Beth, and Kelsey, have given him consistent and good Christian fellowship and community, which he has never had before. I think we are also showing him a little bit of what following Christ means, just as he continues to show and remind us. And isn’t that what good Christian community does?

 I look forward to seeing what the future brings the three of us.

 

In His Name,

Robby

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