The group was very pleasant and they were all very friendly. Everyone spoke English with me and asked me questions about myself. I was so thankful to speak with young people my age and to come together with a common interest - a love for and devotion to Jesus Christ. We sang English songs (that I recognized from my own Bible study (or Hub) back in Wisconsin), ate gummi bears (actually they looked like gummi pacifiers but I can't be sure) and pretzels!
The topic of tonight's study was die Freundschaft, or, friendship. We each wrote down what friendship means to us and then we compared our answers. We all had very similar answers - honesty, trust, patience, respect, fun, camaraderie, mutual interests, etc. And, as everyone was speaking in German, I sat back and enjoyed the sound of their voices and the heavy accents and many of the people in the group reminded of people back home. It is as if everyone I know back in Wisconsin has a German counterpart or Doppelgänger in this little village. We read from the book of Samuel (18:1-4 and 19:1-7).
It was wonderful to experience such kindness with strangers and to laugh and talk easily with them. Making friends is sometimes difficult but when each side puts in the effort, it can be very rewarding.
The leaders of the study invited me to come next week and I am looking forward to spending another evening with them.
During the discussion (the part that was in German, and that I mostly just dumbly smiled through) I thought about how much I miss my best friend at home and how it will be weeks before I can see him again. But it is also comforting knowing that he is there for me, in another segment of the universe, and that he will be there when I return.
[caption id="attachment_139" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="Baby Schlumpf!"]
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