Knut and other cuteness

Yep, I did indeed see Knut over the weekend. Yes, Knut is the baby polar bear who was rejected by his mother and, after some controversy over whether a rejected baby polar bear should be put to sleep or be raised by a human being, is being raised by his "keeper". Knut, however, is growing very fast; he now has teeth and claws and all that, and his keeper has to wear special clothing and stuff to cover his hands so he doesn't get torn to shreds playing with Knut.

It was a very fun day at the zoo. Manu was at a seminar for the day on Saturday, and Timo wanted to do something fun with the kids, but it's difficult for him to go anywhere with three kids all by himself. So he asked if I was interested in going with them to the zoo. And of course I was! We had a blast. The kids really like the animals, and Berlin has a pretty nice zoo. I enjoyed it. The place was still packed when it came time for Knut to come out and play, and that was a little crazy, but not bad. We had a fun day.

Other than that, there's not a ton of news... Life is good. A couple things on my mind lately; one thing I can't really discuss publicly (it's not bad, just, uh, secret!) and the other is, well, my future. Specifically, there are some people from our denomination here (the Evangelical Free Church) who are coordinating a missions project called Live to the Power of Nothing (Live^0). They are sending teams about 20 young people (20-somethings) to various cities around the world for a 2-year project; the main focus is on ministering to people particularly through social aid. Anyways... they are contemplating sending such a team to Berlin, and they asked me to help with the research and drafting of a proposal for what the team would do. I'm working with Timo and mainly one other guy on this; it is super exciting, mainly because one of the big things we are really considering is ministering to the Turkish communities in Berlin. Right up my ally! It's so exciting to have other people around me who are excited about my passions and can envision a practical application of them. That doesn't really happen much in America. ("I think when I grow up, I want to teach Turkish kids in Germany." "Huh???") Yeah, so it's really cool.

And that's basically life right now. Oh yeah, I'm doing a really cool Bible study right now, "Experiencing God" (or "Gott Erfahren" in German!) by Henry Blackaby. It's way awesome. My biggest lesson out of that so far is that serving God doesn't just mean doing stuff. It means having a close relationship with Him, knowing Him intimately and being moldable in His hands. Then He can really use us for whatever He wants to do in the world. I am learning to go to God not just to ask for my next assignment, but to get to know Him and enjoy Him for who He is.

Ah yes, the photos from the zoo, as well as a dinner at church with a kids group we have:


by stinaberlin