Taking Up Space

As some of my readers know, I signed up to preach on the tiny Caribbean island of Bonaire these last two weeks of August. One of CBC’s missionaries (Totoram Baran) is the the pastor of International Bible Church in Bonaire, and he was going to take some time off to visit the States, so a couple of us from Nashville got the opportunity to fill in. So last Friday, I got on a plane in Nashville and headed for the Caribbean.

Also headed for the Caribbean last Friday was a little storm named Dean. But this did not discourage American Airlines, so I was able to proceed from Nashville to Miami and from Miami to San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I was scheduled to board the last leg of the flight, a 50-seat turbo-prop commuter to Bonaire. About thirty minutes before our scheduled departure, they cancelled the flight.
Because the plane they fly (only once a day) to Bonaire is so small, by the time I got to the front of the line for rebooking, the first seat I could get was going to be Monday. This meant I was going to miss my first preaching appointment Sunday morning. I was able to call the folks in Bonaire so they wouldn’t be surprised. As it turns out, Pastor Toto was not able to take the vacation he had planned (his wife Felicia is recovering from surgery), so he was there to preach. I was stuck in Puerto Rico for three days.
On Saturday, the weather was kind of bad. We were getting the backside rotation from the hurricane, so mostly I sat around the hotel doing nothing. On Sunday, the weather was nice, so I rented a car to do a little exploring.
San Juan looks and feels a lot like Miami, a mixture of Caribbean Hispanic & American. People speak Spanish until you give them a dumb look, and then they know to speak English-and most people can. On the highway, speed limits are in miles per hour, but distances are in kilometers.
I decided to visit Old San Juan, which is one of the oldest continuing settlements in the western hemisphere. It is actually a walled city, with a fortress on the point that juts out into the ocean. I took lots of pictures around the fort and the town, which is full of old spanish townhouses painted in bright latin american colors.

San Juan is on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, and there are miles and miles of beaches. On Monday, I drove east along the coast, and in a matter of minutes, you’re in what feels like very remote country. The beaches in this area are all deserted this time of year, but there were lots of unoccupied roadside food stands that hinted at larger crowds in the winter months.

My flight was at 6:55, but I had to turn the car in at 2:00, so I got to spend a few more hours in the San Juan airport, which is, by the way, not particularly well organized and in the midst of major renovations. But the flight was on time, and I was finally on my way to Bonaire.

Thursday, August 2

The big task for me today was to meet with Terry to discuss the possibility and purposes of bringing a CBC short term team to Germany next summer. We’ve laid out a six point planning process for our short term projects that includes Purpose, Place, Participants, Preparation, Project and Post-game (now there’s some fancy alliteration). As Terry & I went through the CBC short term project development document, we were able to make a good start on the plan for next year’s project.

One of the coolest features of what we came up with is that it will most likely include some time in an eastern European country as well as here in Germany. But I have to be careful not to give away too much before we’re ready to announce the project officially. For those of you who might be interested in participating, we have narrowed the dates down to sometime in June or late May. Also, you may want to know that it will be a two week project. We plan to announce the project and make info/application packs available at the missions conference in October.

While I was meeting with Terry, Andrew made one last trip into Augsburg to collect various shots of things around town. This time, he took the train, which he could catch at a station just around the corner from the Miller’s house. As I mentioned in my last post, we’ve gotten most of the footage we need. Andrew will pick up a couple more shots tomorrow of the Millers around the house and that sort of thing. Then the hard work begins when we get back home, and he has to sort through and arrange and edit about 17 or 18 hours of video into a 10 or 15 minute presentation to be ready in time for the missions conference and for the Millers to use while on furlough this fall. Pray for Andrew as he works on this task.

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Friday, August 3

Well it’s our last day here in Germany. Tomorrow morning, we will leave Augsburg at about 4 am to catch a 7 am plane in Munich. So we’re not doing much today except getting ready to leave. This morning, we took back the lighting equipment and microphones we borrowed last week and vacuumed out the car we’ve been using–graciously loaned to us by a local church member. Later on, we’ll spend some time at Paul & Aisha’s house so Andrew can get a little footage of the Miller’s family life in another setting. Then we’ll be packing and hitting the sack–maybe a little early–to be ready to head home tomorrow.

We appreciate everyone’s prayers. It looks as though the Lord has enabled us to accomplish everything we set out to do here in Augsburg, including getting a lot done on the plan for next time.

At this point, we’ve gotten most of the video we need. The core of the project is the interviews with the Millers. That material will be used as a framework for the other interviews and illustrated with shots we’ve be gathering along the way. We may also get a chance to tape some short clips with Paul & his family.

Monday, we took a drive through Bavaria, gathering what Andrew calls B-roll, which means things you can use to illustrate the main storyline of the video. Our first stop was in a little town with a big church, Ottobeuren. Next to the church is a large, and mostly unoccupied Benedictine monastery. The church is decorated in the Baroque style, which is apparently another word for overdone.

This is also a great place to illustrate the excesses of the Roman church–lots of veneration of saints, adoration of Mary, and opportunities to look out for your soul by lighting candles in front of the bones of dead men for a small fee. On the front of the church, it says in German, “The house of God and entrance to heaven.” I found myself quoting the last verse of 1 John: “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.” It struck me as ironic–or perhaps fitting–that the painting on the ceiling over the narthex of the church was of Jesus purging the money-changers from the temple.

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From Ottobeuren, we proceeded to the town of Marktoberdorf, the town where Terry & Ellen served for many years before coming to Augsburg. While in Marktoberdorf, they operated a tea room–as a gathering place and outreach for young people–on the first level of this house. Terry had not been in Marktoberdorf in many years, and his comments fluctuated between nostalgia and “things have really changed.”

After lunching at the Marktoberdorf McDonalds (we were kind of in a hurry), it was on to the south, to the town of Hohenschwangau, at the base of the Alps near the Austrian border. Hohenschwangau is home to two of King Ludwig’s (1845-1886) castles. One of these is Neuschwanstein, which is the most photographed building in Germany. Perhaps the most interesting fact about this castle is that it is not a medieval castle at all, but Ludwig had it built in the nineteenth century to fulfill something of a fantasy. Nevertheless, it’s a spectacular building in an equally spectacular setting. Here’s a couple other shots from the area:

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Tuesday we continued our quest for B-roll footage around Augsburg. First we walked along the old city wall.

Then we visited the Rathaus (city hall), which has a spectacular room in it called the Golden Hall. You can see why.

Finally, we spent some time at a place called the Fuggerei, which is “the oldest social settlement in the world” founded in 1521 by Jakob Fugger and his brothers. Poor people still live here for about a $1.20 per year (less than half what it cost us to visit for one day). In addition to this “rent,” residents are require to say three daily prayers for the founders. One of these is the “Ave Maria,” or Hail Mary, which ensures that only Catholics participate.

Jakob Fugger was one of Luther’s enemies. It was Fugger’s bank which, as the pope’s agent in Germany, had the right to sell indulgences. John Tetzel, famous for the saying “When a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs,” was essentially a salesman for Fugger, who collected a 50% commission from the Church for gathering and transmitting the funds to Rome. Fugger’s wealth increased by a factor of ten through the sale of indulgences. As you might imagine, Fugger saw Luther’s movement as a threat to his great wealth and the power it enabled him to exercise. Until he died in 1525, Fugger worked to thwart the protestant cause.

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Wednesday

Today, we’re taking a day off from filming. Andrew decided he wanted to see Munich, so he took the train out this morning. I’m hanging out at the Miller’s house, working on bringing the blog up to date, and sorting out the lesson I’ll be teaching in Sunday School (back at CBC) this weekend.

Tara Bass requested some photos of Ellen & the Miller home, so here’s a little Miller home photo album.

 
Here’s a shot of Ellen that was actually taken by her granddaughter Noa, who came to visit yesterday.

That’s Noa on the left. As you might guess from this picture, she’s not a shy girl. She was full of questions and ready to play with the camera equipment and the computers. She spoke to us energetically, and it didn’t seem to matter to her that we couldn’t understand German. That’s her big sister, Enyah, shooting a little video. They are the daughters of the Miller’s oldest son, Paul. We had a great visit with Paul and his wife last night. They also have an 8-year-old son named Keanu, but I didn’t get a picture of him.

Terry relaxing in the living room.

Here are a couple of shots of the back of the house. And yes, that’s the whole yard.

A little wider view of the house. As you can see, it’s a townhouse with three units. The Millers are in the middle.

Finally, here’s Ellen getting a little work done in the kitchen.