Top 10 Moments in Germany...

Most of the dinner crew

10. Dinner at the Braun’s: 

On one of our last nights in Germany a couple who lives in Mosbach and was attending the GO conference invited a few of us over for dinner. It was a great time to get away from the chaos of the cafeteria for dinner and have a home cooked meal (though most of the food was pretty delicious throughout the week, you can’t beat homemade food and being able to relax in someone’s home). It was also good to spend some time with awesome people!

9. Youth Hostel:

The place we stayed was a lovely 20 min walk from the Mill where the conference was held. It was a really nice facility and I was blessed with two amazing roommates: Marina (German) and Sarah (British). These were two of the first people I met outside of the people I met at the airport. We were very well matched: all kept our stuff fairly clean, liked the room at the same basic temp, went to bed around the same time (until I had a few late nights).  I also had some great times in the hostel eating bread and yogurt for breakfast, taking ice-cold showers (only happened once to me, some people it happened a lot to them), staying up till 2A with a new friend sharing life-stories and sharing what God has been doing in our lives.

Youth Hostel

8. Cultural Experience: 

The end of Mission Possible (below) was our cultural experience. They had 5 rooms set up from different cultures (Brazil, Romania, Afghanistan, there were two more that I can’t remember right now). It was set up as though we had been invited to a “local person’s” house. The local person “didn’t” speak English or any of our other native languages (they had asked us what languages we knew earlier in the week). My group got to go to Afghanistan…it was a very good, challenging experience for me. It was hard not only in not knowing the language but also not knowing what was culturally expected/acceptable for me to do (especially as a female). The host and his “daughter” were very nice and tried teaching us the Arabic word for everything in sight which got a bit overwhelming. Other than the confusion of what I should do or say it was a great time. 

My 2:00A talking buddy

7. Mission Possible:

 After a morning session with security orientation our whole afternoon was just labeled “Misison Possible.” They took the whole OM Deutchland base and set up an elaborate simulation of getting a visa, getting a plane ticket, and going through customs and immigration. We were divided into our Discovery Groups (described below) and got to go through each of these processes together. They would send about 3-4 groups at a time every 30 min

utes or so.  My group was blessed to be part of the last set that was sent which meant we had lots of bonding time before we even got to experience the actual simulation. This was when we learned more about each other’s cultures and learned some Korean rhythm games and gangm dance moves. Once we got to start the simulation…we had to fill out a passport, were given “money,” purchase a visa that could be used in a closed country, purchase a plane ticket, take a “plane ride” (a bus with windows blocked and had to wear blindfolds), and go through customs and immigration. We really came together as a team and got to know each other a lot better through Mission Possible. The simulation was really a great experience…I can give you more details about this later if you’d like. 

The Mill: OM Deutchland 

6. Prayer Day:

What can I say about a day devoted to prayer? It was great! We started with some different forms of prayer then we had some of the different countries where OM is based represented and prayed for their requests.  I then had some down time where I went to the “garden” they had set up in the conference room…it was a place of peace to spend with God. They did have different stations, but I mostly spent time reading God’s word and praying. I then went on a “Day with God Walk” which was about 2 hours walk with no extra distractions (no talking, no phones, no electronics, no nothing), just you and God time. That was pretty great, just spending time in God’s creation meditating on Him and listening to Him. 

Part of my daily walk and "Day with God Walk"

5. Worship Night:

About a week into the conference we had a night of worship with prayer, scripture reading, storytelling, dance, and songs (most in English, some in many different languages). It was so good to see and be a part of many different forms of worship and to get a glimpse of heaven when we all sang together in our native tongue. 

One of my roommates and one of my new friends

 4. Knowing Me, Knowing You:
Who am I? Who are you? How do we relate?

 We had a few sessions that were focused on understanding ourselves, understanding others, and developing our ability to better adjust and relate to others. Out of all the sessions I think I learned the most from these. We took a short temperament test and from there looked at the four temperaments, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they interact with others. There was a lot more that I learned during these sessions, but I’ve noticed it has already helped a lot in my interactions and understandings of people in my different groups.

 

 3. Fellowship Group: 

Groups based on where we came from…was meant as a time for people to get together with others from the same native language in order to reflect, share and pray. I got the privilege of being the facilitator of our group of 7 amazing ladies (1 Barbados, 2 Canadians, 4 Americans). What was great is that from the first meeting we were all very open and honest with each other. We were able to encourage each other, pray for each other and discus what God was showing us and challenging in us throughout our time together in Germany. 

Me by my corner...we had a great
interaction with some locals here

2. Discovery Group: 

This was an assigned group and during the times we met we learned about cultural/worldview sensitivity and working in multi-cultural teams. My group was made up of 4 guys (3 South Koreans; 1 German) and myself…we had plenty of opportunity to work through cultural differences.  I learned so much from these guys during our times together and bonded with them through communication issues; cultural sharing times; learning some Korean and German phrases, games and dancing; and during Mission Possible.

1. Community: 

Hands down the best part of the GO Conference was the community. We had about 300 people (including staff, volunteers, and those new to OM) from over 60 different countries who were coming together for the purpose of being sent out by God to be used to make His name known to the corners of the earth. God blessed me so much with the people He brought into my life during this time and how they encouraged me, challenged me, loved me, and delved deeper into God’s word with me.