Well the last few days have certainly become a mad rush of people, work shifts, and trying to fit sleep in there somewhere. I was able to talk with Andor and Bence a lot more for the time they were here, they were so much fun and really enjoyed hanging around the hostel. When they left everyone was so sad that they had gone, and kept up promises of e-mail and facebooking. A couple nights after they left we had our first completely full night, and it just so happened to be waffle night as well. We have free waffle nights every Monday and Thursday night at 9pm, which always draws a big crowd because of the "free" part and the "food" part. This past Monday was crazy, with about 50 people around the hostel, practically inhaling the waffles as soon as we could make them. With the amount of people checking in, the laundry that needed to be done, and all the other things going on, I was pretty distracted and stressed out. It was nice to finally get off shift at about 10:30 and go downstairs to the quiet and peace of our apartment. I think I was so overwhelmed by everything that was going on that I was unable to see how God was working that night, but the next day we all discussed it at team time (prayer and devotion time). It was incredible to hear how God really had worked that night, despite my own perspective of a crowded house with little opportunity to talk to people. Jenn was able to make waffles with Jannes, a Romanian guy whose been staying here for the past week, and they talked extensively about the Gospel, Christianity and the church. Jeff spent some time with Charlie, a South African guy who was also a Christian, and Justin was able to lead Daniel, a Russian guy, to the Lord that night. Huge things happened during a time when I felt overwhelmed and distracted, which is a testament to how great God is and how he is so much bigger than our own perspective.
Just tonight I've been on night shift, and since we have more than 50 people, I had to stay awake the whole night. I was concerned that I wouldn't have the energy to do so, especially because I have night shift again tomorrow night, but I was able to have 2 very good conversations. The first was with Jannes, for some reason he never sleeps so he hung out with me for a while, and we got to talk about good and evil, the purpose of life, God and a whole bunch of other deep stuff. After his conversation with Jenn the other night, he began reading Mere Christianity, so I think he's been interested in discussing what he's been reading. After talking with him for several hours, there were 3 Spanish guys just hanging out on the bay window talking for what seemed like forever. I wondered why they were up so late and so I sat down with them and started talking. We spoke about Spain and America, differences in culture and family life, and ended up talking about religion, the Catholic church's presence in Spain, faith, and then about relationships and sex. It was so interesting to talk with them, and it was funny because they said they had been wary of coming to a Christian hostel because they were afraid the Gospel would be shoved down their throats. I laughed and said, no, we weren't a whole bunch of nuns and priests walking around in large flowing robes and disallowing anyone from saying curse words or "hell". I think they got a really different perspective of Christianity after our conversation, especially from a Protestant point of view, and I was really glad that they actually listened and participated. One of the things I was most surprised about was the fact that they understood me so clearly when I told them that faith was a personal relationship with God, it wasn't following rules and rituals that were manmade. A lot of times when we share the Gospel with others there is less of an understanding about the personal relationship aspect, and we have to say it a couple times before they actually begin to process it, but these guys totally ate it up and understood completely. We ended up talking until 5am, which was about half an hour ago, just about life things and faith things and relationship things. I always love when people are dying for deeper conversation, because there is so much small talk in the hostel community. Where are you from, where are you traveling, what are you studying, etc etc etc. But I find that so many people are just thirsting for deeper conversation and are oftentimes searching for something greater than they have seen in their lives, and I guess that's why we're here at the Intermission Hostel. We're here for people to talk to us, we willingly bring the conversation to a deeper level and minister to the whole being instead of skimming the surface.
Prayer Requests:
Several people on my team are experiencing discouragement and failed expectations, and others have things going on at home right now that are really tough and are big distractions. Please pray that God continues to work and gives us perseverance, as we've reached a point of weariness and exhaustion. Please pray for people we've shared the Gospel with and with whom we've formed relationships: Fernando, Daniel, Andor, Bence, the Spanish guys (Eduardo, Nicolas, and Pablo), Marcello, Jannes. Please also pray for Kellie, our friend we met in Brussels and who came with us to Berlin. She's a budding Christian, has started praying, but things are really tough for her because her grandmother just passed away.
Praises!
Things have been running pretty smoothly here, and God has been doing some great things. We've been able to share the Gospel with quite a few people here, and we have also touched the lives of many who have been staying here, with God working through us. The Russian guy, Daniel, just became a Christian the night before last night. God is giving plenty of opportunities for deep discussions and question asking.
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