Hiding from the Light

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." -C.S. Lewis

I'm not sure how to describe today. It started off rather badly. I went to give my host family some strawberry preserves that my mom had cooked especially for them; when I unwrapped the jar, I found it with TSA tape wrapped all around it. As if to clarify that the preserves were inspected, the glass jar was busted into a million pieces-which is hard to do when it is covered in a thick layer of bubble-wrap. (Since I know the NSA will be monitoring this blog, I just want to say I'm ashamed of the you and the Obama administration. Even Europe thinks you all are crazy.) Needing to travel into Heidelberg for the language placement exam, I ran to the train station but missed the train, because I did not know that the train doors did not open automatically. I finally arrived in Heidelberg 30 minutes late, and following the missionary's directions, I boarded the correct bus to the school, but it was going in the wrong direction. I found this out after several stops and got off bus. Fortunately, I ran into a member from the CVJM who gave me directions back to the school. I finally arrived, only to test so well that I cannot take the intensive language course. Instead, Mary will arrange a time each day for me to converse with a native German speaker from the church. Man!

After leaving the school, my friends and I went to the University of Heidelberg cafeteria to conduct evangelism surveys. It basically consists of an oral interview with an individual about their beliefs on big questions such as "What is the basic problem of mankind?" or "What do you believe happens after death?" The survey is intended to make people start thinking about God, Jesus, Heaven, etc. The second person whom I interviewed was a senior religion major. (Studying religion or theology in Germany is usually seen as a entry into a profession, and most either atheist/agnostic or do not understand what it means to follow Jesus.) She followed the stereotypical agnostic beliefs of uncertainty of God and truth in science. This belief is far too common in Europe and is a primary reason why American missions planning should not ignore Europe. Especially among the young people here, the ideas of "entlightenment" and relative "truth" are rampant. The Europeans make effort to hide themselves from the Light of the Good News. This girl told me she had never really given much thought to the questions I asked. However, she is interested in hearing about other's beliefs, so that opened the door for me to quickly present the basics of the Gospel before I had to leave. Please keep her in your prayers. She expressed interest in our discussions of these questions on Thursday nights.

This evening, we had dinner with Mary and Alan and discussed responsibilities for the summer. I will be doing most of the things involving technology as well as preaching one Sunday.

Please keep my friend Cathy from my home church in your prayers. She will be having surgery tomorrow.