Kreuzberg - April 15

Berliners were out in full number enjoying our first warm day in Berlin

As I am prayer walking all of Kreuzberg....I am simply walking up one street and down the other.  For most of this prayer walk, nothing was standing out; there were no impressions; and I was thinking, "What will I write in my prayer blog?"

This Canal runs through Kreuzberg and many were enjoying the sun sitting alongside the water.

As I approached Golitzer Park on the way back I happened to notice 2 men who looked like plain-clothes police.  I´m not sure how I recognized this, but I did.  They were across the street from the park and looking very serious and concentrated.  Then I saw a police van drive slowly down the street and as I crossed the street to the park about 6 police men were walking parallel to me and ready to enter the park.  I decided to sit on a stone just outside the entrance and watch.  It turned out to be a huge drug bust in the whole park.

As I sat there, I couldn´t believe that I had just been in the park yesterday praying for the drug-dealers.  Can the Lord asnwer that fast?  "Before they call, I will answer.  While they are yet speaking, I will hear.¨"  I didn`t pray that they could be caught or arrested.  I just prayed that the Lord would do something.  I had to believe that this was the something and that He would use this to bring men to Himself.

There were abou 40 police in all and as I sat there and watched I noticed that they were surrounding many areas of the park.  As I watched them search some of  the African guys I began to pray for the police and for the guys being searched.  The plain-clothes men across the street were searching someone as well.  I KNEW the Holy Spirit had directed me to that spot and I was called to sit there to pray and intercede.  I think I sat and prayed for about 25 minutes.  While sitting there I happened to look behind me and there was a man with a dog and the dog was sniffing in the middle of some black-berry vines.  He sniffed and sniffed.  The man pulled him away but the dog went right back up the small hill into the middle and began sniffing again and digging.  Suddenly, the man threw him a bone; called over another guy who dug out a baggie of drugs; and a police man recorded it.  I couldn,t believe that I got to see a police dog sniffing and finding drugs!!  It was pretty amazing.  I managed to snap a picture.

Amazing what dogs can do!

The cops are really hated in districts like Kreuzberg.  Drugs are so prevalent it is sort of like if police busted Woodstock!  So, I pray for them and I pray for the people who are so used to a lifestyle of no absolutes or morals that they can`t see their left hand from their right hand.  Sometimes the sin feels so deep and overwhelming that it seems impossible in our human mind to even begin to sort it out.  Yet I know that this is where and when God loves to move - in impossibilites!  Then only HE gets the glory.  Nothing is too hard for God and no life is too messed up or too far gone.  No city is too impossible to bring to repentance.

Police entering Golizter and interviewing people

To God be all the glory.

Gorlitzer Park

Kreuzberg - April 13th

Yuppies Out!

Mom's Out!

 I had to laugh when I passed these walls of graffiti.   I think they say it all for the feel in Kreuzberg.  Today, I came out of the U-1 at Schlesisches Tor, took a right and then another right onto Falckensteins Str. which I walked straight on for 30 minutes. 

The beginning of Falckensteins Str. is really cute with great looking cafes on both sides - meaning to me - cheap food and charming!  There was Mexican, American, Asian and Italian.  Also, a darling ice-cream shop with fresh flowers in the open windows. 

The drug dealers are at the end of this walk

 I eventually walked straight into Gorlitzer Park once again, this time approaching it from the back side walking straight through and out to the street.  At the entrance and exit, there were so many African guys lined up to sell drugs, it was a bit overwhelming.  As well, the smell of marijuana was over-powering.  Once I left the park the Holy Spirit overwhelmed me with compassion for those men.  I know that most of them are illegal aliens from Africa and that they come to Germany hoping for a better future and jobs.  Once here, it is not as easy as they supposed and they end up dealing drugs.  To go back home is usually a dead-end as there are no jobs at home or war is breaking out and to stay means to keep dealing drugs.  I wept as I walked and prayed that the Lord would intervene in their lives.  When I came back through on my return, one of them started talking to me.  He shook my hand and I told him that I was a Christian and that I knew what he was doing and why.  He said that he sends the money home to his family.  I told him that I would be praying for him. 

I stepped into another Garden plot on this walk.  It was called "Kolony Freie-Stunde" or Colony Free Hour.  Even though this one was pretty run down, it still felt like stepping into "The Secret Garden".  Once in myriads of birds were chirping; crocuses were pushing through the ground; people were weeding and carrying wheel-barrows of weeds.  These gardens, even the small run-down ones like this one are just so sweet and special.  I could only pray that as those Germans connect with the earth that their hearts will realize there is a creator behind it all and that He longs for relationship with them.

The only deviation of my route was when the Holy Spirit directed me to go to a church that was on the next block.  It was a Catholic Church - St. Christopher's and after awhile I realized it was the same church I had just read about in a book about life in Berlin during the war. Many people were saved by living in the basement of this church during the bombings.  I wasn't sure what I was to pray but I walked around the building and prayed for renewal and that the fire of God would fall down in that place.

Walking back, I took pictures of this really cute place for kids called in English, "Children's Farm". There were goats and sheep inside of a large fenced area.  This was literally right next to where the drug dealer's are.  It made me sad when I saw some young Turkish boys sitting on some benches near the drug-dealers.  I can only imagine how young some boys might be who get involved in that world.  I prayed for Teen Challenge which is located in Kreuzberg.  I prayed for new strength to carry on; for finances to keep operating; and that drug-addicts would get delivered.

KREUZBERG

As this is my last month in Berlin, I have decided to concentrate my prayer-walking in the district of Kreuzberg, which is also my district. Friedrichshain (where I live) and Kreuzberg united in 2001.  I have been to Kreuzberg more times than I can count in the 5 years that I have lived in Berlin, but last week when I went in for my prayer walk, it felt more alive and unique than I ever remembered it feeling.  There was a buzz in the air, along with bright colors and the smells of many Turkish cafes.  Kreuzberg is known for its large percentage of immigrants, mostly Turkish. Wikipedia says that in 2006 over 31% of the district did not have German citizenship.

After I crossed the beautiful Oberbaum Bridge going over the River Spree, I thought about how the two districts were so recently divided by the Berlin Wall.  Kreuzberg was in the former West and Friedrichshain was part of the DDR.  The bridge was closed by the Berlin Wall and only foot-traffic from the West could cross the bridge, first going through Russian-controlled inspectors.  It didn't open to traffic until 5 years after the fall of the wall in 1994.

Oberbaum Bridge

 Coming off of the bridge I entered into a world of excitement and color.  I wanted to walk forward into it but I heard the Holy Spirit tell me to turn left, which I did.  I passed more interesting looking cafes and shops and then turned right onto Curvystr.  There were some interesting sculptures in what looked to be a park sort of in the middle of the street between old housing.  The area was very run-down.  I turned left and walked towards a magnificent church building that was built in the early 1900's and survived the bombing of WW2.  I walked on, listening to the Holy Spirit and came to the kanal that runs through the district of Kreuzberg.  I came to another unique park and once again marveled at the creativity of Germans.  Then I spotted the biggest slide outside of an amusement park that I have ever seen!  What joy!

Looking across the canal at the humungous slide

Every park has such unique toys

After I climbed to the top of the slide I looked down from the bridge that I was on and recognized the Squat-Village where we had participated in a Flea-Market.  It wasn't until my next prayer walk that I realized all of this is located just behind Gorlitzer Park, a well-known park where we used to do evangelism.

I bought a Falafel from a cute Turkish man who had a solitary stand in the middle of the Pedestrian Bridge.  I prayed for him as i walked away eating my sandwich and later kicked myself for not giving him the tracts that I had put in my purse for the precise purpose of reaching out to Muslims. 

I walked along the Canal for quite a ways and came to a Youth Recreation House where I felt led to stop and pray over.  From there, I got a bit lost and came to an industrial area.  I had to find a bus-stop so I could get on a bus and go to a train connection.  By doing that, I ran into a young girl who used to come into der Garten every day.  She and her 2 sisters turned themselves into Support Services because they could no longer stand living with their alcoholic mom and step-dad.  They left us suddenly and it was very sad.  We saw them not long ago when they came to see us in der Garten.  They had no idea that we were closing and it was very hard for them.  Anyway, I knew it was no accident that I saw her and in my broken German invited her to our going away party in May.  Even my getting lost was an amazing way for the Holy Spirit to coordinate our meeting!

Hausvogteiplatz on the U2 January 24th

Gendarmarkt with the German Cathedral, Concert Hall, and French Cathedral

I exited the train station right out to the Gendarmarkt which is a popular tourist attraction in Berlin.  At Christmas time there is a beautiful Christmas Market in this square, one of the few you have to pay to get in to.  The building on the right is a French Cathedral built by the Huguenot Community between 1701 and 1705. 

The  Huguenots were Protestants from France who had been inspired by the writings of John Calvin.  They were driven out of France by the Catholics due to their criticism of the Catholic Church.  Many were murdered by the Catholic Church.   Around 1685, Huguenot refugees found a safe haven in the Lutheran and Reformed states in Germany.  Nearly 50,000 Huguenots established themselves in Germany, 20,000 of whom were welcomed in Brandenburg-Prussia where they were granted special privileges.  In Berlin, the Huguenots created two new neighbourhoods: Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichstadt.    By 1700, one-fifth of the city's population was French speaking. The Berlin Huguenots preserved the French language in their church services for nearly a century. They ultimately decided to switch to German in protest against the occupation of Prussia by Napoleion in 1806-07. 

After learning all of this history, I understood why I was led by the Holy Spirit on an earlier prayer walk to a French Cemetery.  While there, I read about a prominent French man who had helped plan and build the city of Berlin.

The Holy Spirit never forgets.  He remembers how many Huguenots died for their faith.  He remembers that they had to leave their home lands and be scattered all over the world as a result of religious persecution.  Just like in the book of Acts when persecution scattered the early church, I believe the Lord pushed the Huguenots out of France to spread the gospel to the world.

While I walked around this square and claimed the ground for Jesus I felt His heart leap.

I also walked around a memorial to a woman who had been part of Germans royalty but have up her palace and conceded land to Poland.  She work closely with former Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt.  I have forgotten what her name was.  As I walked around the memorial I envisioned worship taking place there. 

Prayer around a former Nazi War Office

I am reading a book called, "And Another Morning is Breaking" by Regina J. Schwenke.  The book details Regina's childhood from 1938 (when she was born) to New Years Eve 1949.  She was raised in Neukolln (a district in Berlin) and it is so amazing that her whole family (of seven) survived the war.  One day when she and her siblings were playing outside their home a dirty, skinny man came walkng down the street.  "He was wearing a soldiers uniform.  He looked like all the other men these days, so we paid no attention.  We saw him questioning people and finally he asked us if we knew where the Ziebarths, who used to live here were now?  He was looking for his family, who used to live here in No. 2.  No. 2:  that was us!  We took a closer at him, and finally recognized our own father.  We hadn't seem him in two years and didn't expect him to appear so suddenly.  All at once he, too, recognized us.  He embraced all three of us.  Tears of joy flowed down his emaciated face.  It was as if we had been born again, because he had feared that we would lie buried under the rubble of our house."  (Pg. 132). They almost WERE buried in their home.  Half of their building was destroyed (while they were in the cellar) and they had to leave, but thankfully were able to take over a flat in their Grandparents building where the occupants had sadly died. 

Not far from their home was the headquarters of the former National Self-Defense where important decisions were made during the war.  There were offices, medical examination rooms, and air-raid shelters for the Nazi-elite. They had heard that there were rations of food stored there and the author, her brother and Aunt went there one day to see what they could find.  The complex was badly damaged as the Allied Forces had singled it out as a place of permanent attack.  The front of the building was in a pile of rubble.  They found a demolished cellar entrance and debris blocked the way.  They had to clear a path and crawl into the cellar.  When they reached the dark cellar room, they lit candles and were shocked to find many dead bodies sitting or lying on the benches right before them.  Children were cradled in their mothers' arms even in death.  Their Aunt recognized by the uniforms that they were high-ranking SS and SA Officers. They supposed that they had taken cyanide capsules when they realized the war was over.  The Aunt told the children to just look straight ahead.  The went into the third cellar room where they found flour, sugar, tea, soap, toothpaste, and toilet paper.  As they were starving, this must  have been quite the amazing find.

The author tells her address and the address of the Nazi Offices so I decided to make those places my prayer focus on this day.  Here is a picture of the Nazi Offices located on Pfluger Str. 46.

 

There was a huge field to the left of the buildings which is now a Preschool and I am assuming that there had been buildings in the field which had been bombed.  I prayed up and down Pfluger Str.  I also found the Catholic Church where the family had attended.  They had used the cellar in the church for protection from the bombs at night when half of their apartment was destroyed by bombs and the building was uninhabitable.

 I found their former apartment building which of course had been rebuilt.  I walked along the canal just a block away from their home where they had played.  

At times it feels overwhelming to think about the history of Berlin in the not so long ago distance.  On the other hand, it is sad that in just 10-20 years time few (in any) will be left who will be able to tell us of those days.  As I walk the streets I continue to pray for restoration and healing.  May the healing even go into the very soil of Germany.  

U6 Line - January 16

Today I walked through five stations on the U6 Line starting at Friedrichstr and ending at Mehringdamm.  Most of my walk was through downtown Berlin and I mostly prayed in tongues the whole route.  I was led  into a small park on the route where I sang and declared joy and rejuvenation.  A couple of days ago I visited the Jewish Museum here in Berlin and learned that starting in May of 1935 Jews were banned from the parks.  I then realized why I am often moved to tears when I visit the parks and why the Spirit of the Lord is always leading me to the parks.  What a day of rejoicing it will be when the Berlin parks are once again filled with God's chosen people.

The park

When I arrived at Mehringplatz - which is an area where the buildings form a circle around a park I felt led to walk around that circle and pray.

I  came to a place that had some signs telling the history of the area and I had no idea about this history!  It turns out that it was first built in 1730 and looked like this:

I was excited to be led to an area with such history.  I learned that the area was one of  three important/beautiful spots in the heyday of Berlin.  The other two were Potsdamer Platz and the Brandenburger Tor.  The middle of the quad is now under construction as they are trying to once again make it a beautiful place.  From the looks of the neighborhood you would never imagine that this was once one of the beautiful places in Berlin.  It appears run down and the walls are full of graffiti.  One day it will be restored to its grandeur.

U-8 Line January 10th

Today I felt led by the Holy Spirit to walk each station of the U-8 line.  I loved how the Holy Spirit led me and helped me to follow it without a map.  The U-8 line is full of drug dealers.  As I walked along, I sensed men eying my purse and felt an inward nudge to hold it tight to myself.  As I was approaching Kotbusser Tor I walked across the Spree Canal and felt delighted as I always do when I am around water.  I looked to my left and saw a building that looked very beautiful.  Something inside said to me, "Go look at it."

To my surprise, the building turned out to be a Jewish Synagogue!  There was a big placard in front telling how the Nazi's had destroyed the building.

A picture of the destroyed synagogue

 

 

 

 

I wept for the Jews as I felt the heart of God.  I prayed that they would experience the love of God. 

There was even this picture showing the Swastika.

I thanked the Lord for showing me the Synagogue and for the privilege of praying into His heart for His lost, beloved people.  The street was pretty and I imagined what it might have looked like before the rise of Hitler.  My hearts desire is that one day Berlin will be a city full of color, flowers and God's people once again inhabiting the city. 

Looking across the street from the Synagogue