Germany

Last week our Europe ministry team had a conference in Germany. Once a year or so we gather as a field - people from UK, Netherlands, and Germany,  and it is normally either in England or Germany. This year it was in Germany. For the children and I it was the first time we have been to Germany. We had transited through Germany numerous times and during one of those transits got our passports stamped but this was our first visit.

We were staying at a Christian Conference Centre near Stuttgart. There was another group there but we only saw them at meal times.

Our time at the conference included some teaching time from Ephesians, some time getting reports and updates of what is happening, and some time in focus groups, groups focused on the same people groups.

This is a view from an abandoned church near the centre looking towards the town nearby. We walked down there one day but it was mainly houses.

This is a door and window at the conference centre. I looked like what I think a window should look like in Germany.

It was hot. Maybe not real hot, just in the 20C/70F range but for us that was hot.

I loved the sunset one evening.

Here is another view of the sunset. You can also see the fields. There were corn in some of the fields which we don't have growing here in England.

The children spent time with some teammates children. They have been together before so they knew each other. They had some Bible teaching time and also some fun time in the afternoons while we were in meetings. They went for a long walk, played mini-golf, created a video about our team, and just had fun.

One of my favourite things to do when I visit a place it go to the local supermarket. I just find it fascinating to see the things sold, the brands, comparing it to what I know. Like I said we walked to the town but there were just a few restaurants. On Friday afternoon someone was driving to the shopping area and had some room in their car so I could go along. I had €20.

The first place we went to was a toy/game store. I think the Germans come up with some of the best games. Settlers of Catan is German and Ravensberger is also German. I bought a game. I did have to look online to find the English instructions.

Then we went to the supermarket. We were going to go to Lidl but then we spied another store. I can go to Lidl here so I was up for the other store.

Look at the selection of Nutella.

For some reason seeing Uncle Ben's rice just made me chuckle. I was not expecting to see that there though we do have some Uncle Ben's here in England. We have korma sauce and a few other things.

Walker's biscuits - we can get those here but seeing them there just made me feel a bit at home.

Heinz Ketchup - That is a brand that is know around the world. Here there are some Heinz products that you would not find in the supermarket in the USA.

There were lots of pretzels. The Pennsylvania girl in me came out. I miss good pretzels. I will also add that Pretzel Chips are a favourite of mine and it has been almost two years since I have seen those.

You can't forget the chocolate. Look at the variety of Ritter chocolate. There were other areas of chocolate as well.

That is just a bit from Germany. I will share a bit about the one afternoon that we had to explore together.

Beth