The Path of Luther Tour Begins with Day One in Berlin

By noon, it was clear that all of the thirteen from Westlake Lutheran had found their way to the Hotel Holiday Inn City East in an area that use to be in East Berlin under communist control. The drab buildings of the time have gradually added new facades to add color and style, but the area continues to have a pre-fab look to most of the buildings. The hotel was fine and the YMT tour leaders greeted us warmly.

 

Most of our Westlake family of God had come at least a day early and were more time change adjusted than those arriving the day of tour. But we were still pleased that our rooms were ready for us to get unpacked before returning to our first bus tour of Berlin. We are all on the green bus, and we took the initiative to ask everybody to share where they were from. Many were from the Midwest and some from New England and Wyoming. But CA took the honors with our large group and others from San Jose.

 

We took a three hour-tour primarily focused on the best known historical sites in the German capital. We had stops at Brandenburg Gate and our guide Benedict, showed where the Berlin Wall had divided East and West Germany. The gate itself was in the middle of the “kill zone” where no East Germans could enter. Just on the west side of the wall is where President Reagan had declared to Gorbachev to open the wall and to “tear down that wall.” Many factors were involved, but the moving pictures of citizens taking down the wall remind us of the importance of freedom. The gates were not to keep people out; they were to keep people in.

 

We were then taken to the Reichstag building that had been the parliament building and remains so today for ceremonial events. The renovations created a large glass domes that people wait hours in line to enjoy. It shows a panorama of the whole area and the other government buildings where Chancellor Markel now is in office.

 

Our last stop was at the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church where an Evangelical Church (Lutheran) still holds services. During the week, they charge for viewing the church. We did not have the time, but did take time for pictures of the outside, our church family, and some bronze reliefs with Luther.

 

We made it back in time to have a short walk to make reservations for a very special evening dinner at Restaurant “Altes Standesamt” were we will have dinner as a small group with communion on Friday night—the one night that dinner is not provided. It will be an intimate dinner, but upstairs in the same facility will be two wedding parties. Pastor told the owner that he could be available for the service. We suggested that he provide a special LA Lutheran Blessing to both. We are already the laughing Lutherans!

 

After all, Luther had said, “If I can’t laugh in heaven, I don’t want to go there.” That’s my kind of saint! On a more serious note, we had our first devotion as a group in the bar…with German beer, of course. We talked about faith as a pilgrimage, and shared our travel and trip events to that point. God has indeed blessed us with safe travels and a great family of God to travel with.

 

The rain started about the time we were half-way through the devotions and was pouring buckets by the time we finished. We are thankful God held it off until we had returned from our tour. For dinner, the 125 attending this tour took over the hotel dining room. It was one hungry group and the buffet line seemed to never end. The food was excellent. Some of us got to meet and eat with Del, Jo and Donna. They are members of a black Lutheran church in New York. We invited them to join our special dinner on Friday night. They accepted. God is so good in extending the family as he wills.

 

Pastor Craig introduced himself to the tour pastor and may be helping at times with devotions or the service this Sunday. We’re ready for bed, but I will try to make posts when the Internet gods allow. Hope you enjoy! Pray for us as we are praying for you.  

 

By the way, if you find any spelling or grammatical errors in this tour summary, I did it for you. I knew everyone needs to feel needed…even English teachers who like to edit! We love you all. We are amazed that the land that created Luther could also launch a Hitler on the world. We have much to learn, but praise God for his Holy Spirit, the saints through the ages and His loving grace that saves us.