Baptism and a backpack

Eastern Europe Tour Pictures

2007-01-27T08:53:00.000-08:00

Picture overload (galleries on my google picasa account)...

E. Euro Tour - Taize Gathering

E. Euro Tour - Croatia

E. Euro Tour - Bosnia & Herzegovina

E. Euro Tour - Serbia

E. Euro. Tour - Romania

E. Euro Tour - Hungary

E. Euro Tour - Austria

E. Euro Tour - Poland

E. Euro Tour - Czech Republic

Back

2007-01-22T13:13:00.000-08:00

I got back to my home in Germany last night. I have a lot of work to catch up on.

This tour, truly was a pilgrimage of trust... thank you to everyone who helped me.

I will get an email out when I put more pictures up here.

More Lutherans!!!

2007-01-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

So... I was walking down the street in Vienna today and randomly meet some American students from Luther College! They are here with there whole orchestra for J-term. They are letting me crash on their floor tonight.

Yesterday, I took a day trip to visit my best friend from back home, who is doing his mission in Debrecen, Hungary. It was a lot of fun... hadn't seen him for a year and a half!

Tomorrow, I think I am going to visit a friend in Krakow.

Wonderful

2007-01-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

Budapest on Vimeo

Arrival in Hungary

2007-01-13T03:07:00.000-08:00

I got into Budapest last night and it is beautiful! I am staying with a Lutheran from California! We are off to explore the city and see the Van Gogh exhibit... totally stoked!

Romania

2007-01-10T14:15:00.000-08:00

I made it to Romania and I am still getting over the fact that people ride horse carriages to town.

Good morning Belgrade

2007-01-09T02:46:00.000-08:00

I am in Serbia now. Here is the sunrise with the with the Temple of Saint Sava...

The Doboj Fortress

2007-01-09T02:44:00.000-08:00

A little castle in Bosnia...

Doboj Fortress on Vimeo

Leaving Sarajevo

2007-01-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

I am heading to Doboj for the day then Belgrade tonight.

English Service

2007-01-07T13:01:00.000-08:00

This afternoon I stumbled upon an English service at a catholic church in Sarajevo called Sacred Heart. It was a simple service and simply amazing. The priest spoke on the importance of Christian unity regardless of religious tradition and the need to except strangers… a message that I found especially pertinent to my life. He could have preached on anything and it probably would have hit me hard. Hearing the Gospel and understanding it fully was a real treat.

My last English service was four months ago in Harlem, New York. I can’t believe how time has flown by in Europe. For the last four months I have worshiped in German and I get parts, but not all.

Merry Christmas... Again

2007-01-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

In the Greek Orthodox calendar Christmas is celebrated today. I attended a packed and very elaborate service in Sarajevo this morning at the New Siberian Orthodox Church.

Board in Bosnia

2007-01-07T12:51:00.000-08:00

Video tour of a Bosnian train. I just set up a video account and wanted to test it out.

Train to Sarajevo on Vimeo

Split, Croatia

2007-01-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

My two day holiday on the Adriatic Sea…
A little sun before I head into the cold the winter in the east.

Split is a charming tourist town without tourists in January.

A Pilgrimage of Trust

2007-01-06T00:20:00.000-08:00

That is what my Central/Eastern European has been so far and when you embark on a pilgrimage of trust, the Lord he has surprises galore. I almost didn’t do this tour in fear of leaving what we have started in Lutherstadt Eisleben, Germany and fear of stretching my finances.

I was about to book a rail ticket to Zagreb, Croatia from Lutherstadt Eisleben and back, but then I found out about the EuroDOMINO pass and I was able to get their cheaper with six days of riding the train anywhere in Europe.

Right now I am in Split, Croatia and heading to Sarajevo for the night.

Taize Gathering

2007-01-06T00:19:00.001-08:00

The journey started in Lutherstadt Eisleben. Kristina gave me about 10 minutes to pack all of my stuff and I needed about an hour to make sure I had everything for two weeks of only God knows where. My laundry was still wet as I through it in my bag.

Kristina and her girlfriend Pauline let me ride with them down to Munich. She took me to the train station and I got on the 8 hour direct to Zagreb. A night train. Right way I met several people from Munich that where heading down to the Taize Gathering. I planned to spend the whole night working on the I am Baptized website, but only got in about two hours of work before my battery died. It was a Croatian train, no outlets… I have been spoiled by German trains.

I arrived in Zagreb and was settled in my new home by the afternoon.

Taize Prayer is a meditative prayer service. It comes from France, but can be found all over the world.

The service is relevant and real, especially for young people.

To learn more about it check out their website: http://www.taize.com/ or send me an email.

The European Gathering was unreal. From December 28, 2006 to January 1, 2007 more then 40,000 young people from all over Europe meet in Zagreb, Croatia.

The city of Zagreb and the surrounding villages opened their doors wide. Every single one of the participants stayed with a Croatian family.

Everyday we meet in small parishes all over Zagreb for prayer and small groups. Then, we would head into town for workshops and two more big prayer services.

With youth from all over Europe language sometimes came a bit of a barrier. Every session had all European language broadcast over the radio.

For me it was one of the best conferences I have ever been to. One of the main reasons was my home stay. In the small town of Jablonevec about 30 minutes outside of Zagreb, I stayed with the Novaks. They didn’t just open their home, but their hearts. I enjoyed it so much that I stayed an extra three days with them.

What’s so cool is that my experience was not unique; thousands of people had the same. Strangers welcoming strangers into their homes and loving them… it is inspiring.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T06:17:00.000-08:00

We are working hard on the launch of IAB in Lutherstadt Eisleben, Germany.