A couple of weekends ago, I took a weekend retreat outside of Berlin. For several months, I had the thought in my head that it would be nice to get out of the city for a weekend and spend some time out in nature just relaxing. For awhile I had been feeling a bit trapped, both location-wise in the city, but also just with a busy schedule and the hustle-and-bustle of daily life. Berlin has a lot of nature for a major city, with many large parks intertwining with the buildings and vehicles and people that come with a major city, but for me there is nothing like just getting out into the wilderness and taking it slow. Maybe all those years camping with my parents had something to do with that. Anyway, several weeks ago I somewhat spontaneously decided to just go. Both Diedre and Beth were traveling and we had Monday off from German school due to Pfingsten (Pentecost), which is a national holiday in Germany (somewhat ironic, considering Germany is one of the most secular countries in the world), so I researched some places nearby and decided Oranienburg. Oranienburg is not very far from Berlin (about 30-50 minutes depending on which train you take), but it was far enough away for me. I got on the phone, booked a room at a Bed and Breakfast for 2 nights (all in German J) and on Saturday afternoon headed on up.
One of the main goals of this retreat was that I wanted to spend considerable time with God. To me this meant a combination of praying, reading the Bible, reading a book on a topic regarding faith (in this case, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson), and reflecting on my ministry and life so far in Berlin. That doesn’t mean that I would do those things exclusively, as you will see, but I wanted them to be important to my trip. Throughout this blog I will talk about things God showed me, things I learned through reading, or just some thoughts I had.
My first evening on the trip taught me about patience. A number of mildly annoying things occurred right off the bat. First of all, I could not figure out how to get the cable to work in my room. This was important because I wanted to see if Hertha BSC (Berlin soccer team) could survive relegation and remain in the Bundesliga, the top German soccer league. Also, there was supposedly WiFi, but when I asked the Hausmeister he couldn’t remember the password and he said there was a card with it in my room, but I looked everywhere and couldn’t find one. Then, I rode my bike to where there was supposedly a highly-rated Italian restaurant, but it was not there. There were only houses and a police academy. As I was riding back from that, I reflected on how annoyed I was by these events. I realized that I needed to have more patience in my life, and that having patience really means trusting that God will come through when the time is right, and that He will do what is best. I connected this to a number of other situations in my life, where I wasn’t having patience or wasn’t trusting God that He would bring about the best outcomes for me, if only I waited. As I was reflecting on this, I happened to stumble upon the Italian restaurant! And that was some leckeres Essen, let me tell you. After dinner I returned to my room and read Romans chapter 1. The lack of cable and wifi turned out to be a blessing for me, as I had far fewer distractions. As I read, I was reminded that God is a higher power outside of creation. My actions should always reflect that a higher power does exist, and I should always remember this so my actions and thoughts follow suit. Remembering that there is a higher power means that we can’t live to serve ourselves; we are not God. There is something much greater than us, and He is who we must serve with out lives. While I was praying that first night, I also received news that we had sent a woman back to her country to be with her parents. She didn’t wish to be on the street anymore, so we helped her get home. Praise God!
The next day I biked from Oranienburg to Germandorf, which is a small village near Oranienburg. The highlight of this village is a resort and swimming area on a lake there. This resort also contains a decent-sized zoo, as well as a prehistoric area with life-sized, full color dinosaur statues. I’m going to be honest: when I was looking for places to go for this retreat and I discovered this dinosaur park, I knew immediately I was going to Oranienburg. And it was awesome. Check my Facebook if you want to see pictures. Anyway, the biking was good exercise, about 4 or 5 kilometers each way (Google: kilometers to miles converter). And I greatly enjoyed the park, although it was mostly all kids and families. And I couldn’t really find a quiet spot to relax there. After that I went biking in the forest near Oranienburg. There are a number of bike paths that cut through the woods, so there were many other bikers around too. By chance I found a neat little café on the river, and there I relaxed and read some Scripture. The café was nice, it reminded me greatly of a place my dad and I used to stop and get ice cream and sodas when we would bike together when I was young. After that I biked on and found a quiet spot to sit by a lake. There I reflected on recent events and reminded of myself of some important truths, and that I couldn’t get through struggles and difficulties in my life just by trying harder. I realized it was impossible for me, and that I could only do it with God’s help. So I reminded myself to pray in all situations and before I do anything, so that I would be spiritually and mentally prepared when difficult situations happen in my life. It was a beautiful scene, sitting there by the lake. But I made sure to head back to the Bed and Breakfast before it got dark.
The next morning I checked out of the B&B, and found an absolutely wonderful place to be with God. Not far from the B&B was a bench in the grass, by the bank of a small river. The spot seemed like it would be a favorite among local fishermen, several of whom I passed on the way there. Behind where I sat was the local soccer stadium. This reminded me that I should find a local team near my neighborhood in Neukölln to support, of which there are many. So far my efforts have actually been looking for one to play on, although maybe I will achieve both along the way. This morning in particular was especially powerful for me. I hungered for the Word as I have few times before. When I read the Bible normally, it always feels a little rushed as I feel like I have other things to work on and get to, but with no concrete agenda I felt completely free to dive into the Word. I discovered how faithful God was to David in Kings 1 and 2, when he kept his promise to him to keep one of his descendants on the throne in Jerusalem. Even when invading armies came and some of David’s descendants were awful human beings, God kept his promise. That was a very important reminder to me, and is why I have to remember to have patience and trust God. After this I went into Oranienburg, and sat by the same river I was at before. Boats, kayaks and canoes all went down the river. Here I read a lot of The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson, and was reminded of how powerful prayer is and how much we need it. Especially here in Berlin, where it is easy to be pulled this way and that way, I need to be grounded in prayer. And because prayer is powerful, and changes lives.
From here I biked up to the Schloss Oranienburg, which is a nearly 800-year-old castle. This particular day there was a small renaissance fair going on, which I had happened to see advertized via a number of posters put up around town. You’d be surprised how many awesome events I have discovered through posters. I had never been to a renaissance fair before, but I was reminded of a time when I went camping with my parents. They went to a fair and I stayed back at the camper. I probably played Xbox or something, since I was an anti-social teenager. Anyway, they came back with an actual sword. Honestly, you can’t take your eyes off them for two seconds. I did enjoy the sword very much though. It came in handy in the future when I would hear suspicious sounds at night. Ok, sidebar over. At the renaissance fair there were a number of tents of people selling various knick-knacks. Since Beth's birthday was only a couple days away, I bought her some gifts. I also found a cross necklace for myself which I really liked. This was a pretty big deal, as I have been looking for a good cross necklace for about 7 years now. I would look whenever I came across a place where I thought there might be a possibility of being one I liked, but I was always disappointed. They were all so gaudy or had a bunch of jewels or weird designs on them. No offense if you have one. I was looking for a humble wooden one though. The one I found is black, and is actually made of stone. But it is modest, and very cool. A major win for me. As far as performances, the renaissance fair was a tad lacking. There were some musicians and performers. They were okay, but nothing really special. I wanted to see knights battling each other and beheading dragons, or preferably riding dragons. Dragon jousting. That would be awesome. And let me tell you, not only did I find the cross I had been waiting 7 years for, I also found the German pretzel I had been waiting 8 months for. As a lover of soft pretzels, I had so far been severely disappointed. Even the ones I had in Munich (Munich!) weren’t that amazing. But finally I found one. It was roughly the size of a Yorkshire Terrier, it was warm and it was soft and it was delicious. I didn’t need to eat for awhile after that. I figured I should leave the fest then, since it would only be downhill from there.
I wandered from there into the grounds of the castle. A sign proudly proclaimed that the grounds were voted the 2nd most beautiful in the Brandenburg region, and it was certainly deserving of its ranking. A lake with a geyser in the middle, trees, flowers, hedge mazes, streams. . . It is hard to describe, but it was gorgeous. Again, see Facebook for photos. I knew this would be my last stop before heading home. I spent time praying for the people in my life who don’t know Christ, and that I might have opportunities to share with them. And that I would be bold when the time comes. I also prayed again for the prostituted peoples we work with at Neustart, that they would be set free. From there I biked directly back to the train station, and headed back to Berlin.
EPILOGUE:
Since then, I have noticed growth in my faith life. Prayer has been more enjoyable and freeing. I haven’t been in a rush to get through Scripture reading. I have gradually felt better able to control my emotions and see various perspectives in different situations. During my retreat, I made several commitments for when I returned. First, I want to start properly keeping the Sabbath again. This means to me: not doing any work, doing only things I enjoy and find refreshing, and spending a large chunk of my day specifically with God. This is an area I’ve been neglecting, and this retreat showed me how badly I need it. Secondly, I want to do a prayer walk around Neukölln. Wherever my feet may take me. I should be praying for the strength and health of my neighborhood, and learning more about it in the process. Finally, I want more intimate contact with you all, my friends and supporters. Very shortly I will be sending out an email detailing what that might look like. I feel like I have been neglecting you all and for that I apologize. Nevertheless, I want to cultivate a true community with you all, even while I am not in your presence.
I still look back fondly on that retreat. There was nothing like having complete freedom to do what I want and to be with God uninterrupted. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be here though. That weekend refreshed and restored me, and has given life to what I am doing here. Most importantly, it reminded me of why I am in Berlin and what I want to accomplish with the time I have. It may be something I do again in the future, although I would go somewhere else next time. Not because I didn’t enjoy Oranienburg, which I definitely did, but because there is nothing like new and fresh experiences. It will be fun to see what God has in store for the future.
With Love,
Robby