We've been back for over a week from the conference called Awaken. We mentioned it in our last blog. It was a Great Commission Europe conference that meets every two years. The last Awaken was held in Amsterdam, a very busy, exciting city. This Awaken took place in the middle of nowhere about an hour south of Cologne. It is a very peaceful, serene setting that 200 people converged upon. The conference went from Jan. 2-6 and six countries were represented, Spain, Italy, Poland, Holland, Ukraine and Germany. The main teaching sessions were in English and were translated into five languages, Spanish, Italian, Polish, German and Russian. The music worship was mainly in English led by a band from Amsterdam. They also did some worship songs in Spanish, Russian, Polish, Dutch and German. It was fun trying to follow the Russian:)
The organizers did a great job providing opportunities for fun and fellowship to accompany the great teachings. There was a coffeehouse every evening and each one had different musical offerings and even poetry and skits. Dieter and two guys had a jam session one night. There was a bonfire where marshmallows and bread were put on sticks; no, not a loaf of bread. Just enough bread to sprinkle sugar or cinammon over. One day was a free day and about 75% of the people took a train into Cologne to go sight seeing. Lucy went along and visited the Lindt chocolate factory.
There was also highspeed internet for the really desperate people who needed some outside contact.
Our Rock Berlin church sent 18 people to Awaken. Three guys were worried about having nothing to do out in the woods and one was concerned about the lack of city noise to lull him to sleep. To their surprise, everyone had a great time interacting with people from different countries speaking different languages but serving the same God.
Some great stories came out of this conference and we'll share one with you. It's about Irina from Kiev, Ukraine. She spoke Russian and English, but no German. She was separated from her traveling companions in Cologne, but was able to get on the right train to Pracht, the village near where the conference was held. Irina had traveled over 20 hours and had spent a lot of money to get this far. She was still not sure she would be able to find the conference center so she asked God to provide people to help her complete the trip.
When the Rock Berlin group entered the train for the final leg of the journey we saw a lot of empty seats, but we decided to sit in the same area as Irina. We spoke in English and German and tried to make a connection with Irina. After a bit she pulled a book out of her bag and ten minutes later Dieter saw that it was a Bible (his eyes aren't what they used to be). We then began speaking about the conference and eventually Irina asked if we were traveling to Awaken. She began praising God when we told her we were and she told us we were the answer to her prayer. It was a great introduction to the conference. After Awaken Irina traveled back to Berlin with a few of our people who came by car. She stayed one night with of our leaders and even toured the city for half a day. Irina was praising the Lord the entire time. What a blessing for everyone.
The conference theme was Waking Up to the God of the Story. Are we willing to join God in the story He has for each of us?
The second session was called Waking Up to War. We are in a spiritual battle and our enemy is coming after us. Waking up to God is waking up to war.
Then in the last couple of sessions we were encouraged to Go Change the World and to Go Out and Glorify God by obeying the Great Commission.
There is much more, but you can hear the teachings in English at http://www.gceweb.org/.
We have included some pictures below to help you imagine the blessing that Awaken was to 200 people from different parts of Europe who came together to worship our heavenly Father. Thank you for your part in this adventure.
