Happy Thanksgiving

More to come...

http://picasaweb.google.com/taylorrjohnson/Thanksgiving

Letter to MLCers

Greetings MLC!

Many of you know that I have been living in Lutherstadt Eisleben, Germany for the last month and a half. The Lord has been working in amazing ways here and so far it has been a spectacular experience. I am writing this letter on November tenth, the 523 anniversary of Martin Luther's baptism. Just a few hours ago we finished a baptismal remembrance service in St. Peter-Paul, the very church Luther was baptized in 1483.

The remembrance service was wonderful and with only 40 people, it had a very intimate feel. We wrote our names on a piece of cloth and tied it together to form one band. Pastor Claudia, one of the American pastors I am working for explained that we are all tied together in the body of Christ. I got homesick as I thought about the church I was baptized in and where my faith was nurtured.

I have been keeping busy here in Eisleben with a couple of outreach ministries. I teach English lessons four days a week and am starting a website class. I’m meeting a lot of youth and just moved into a new flat. My flat is conveniently located and a great place to meet with youth. I have a spare room that I would like to make into a worship space.

The youth group is going very well. We have about 25 youth and usually 15 come to our weekly meetings. During the day I help the pastors with a lot of the day-to-day church work.

I will be doing a live presentation/conference call Sunday Dec. 10th right after the fellowship hour. I will be speaking on life in “Luther Land” and our ministry here.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for our ministry. Remember… in the name of Jesus Christ, "ich bin gertauft" – I am baptized.

Rockin' and rollin' out,

-Taylor

Martin's Baptism and Martinstag

New gallaries (each photo links to a seperate gallary)...

Martin Luther's Baptizmal remeberance service...

The base of this fountain was the very one Luther was baptized in.

Click the photo below for more pictures of Martinstag...

Carnival

Today, at 11:11am marked the start of the "Carnival Season." It is called the Fifth Season and runs until Ash Wednesday. Carnival is has Roman Catholic roots and it is celebrated in many different ways across the country.

Here is an interesting article about it: http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-3-15/39319.html.

Pictures from the Eisleben market square this morning...

 

Lantern Walk

 

Birthday Service

Today we celebrated Luther's birthday in St. Peter-Paul. It was an ecumenical service for the kids. The youth put on a great skit. The church had more then 4 times as many people on a regular Sunday. It was wonderful.

Happy Birthday Martin

I am about a stones throw away from the birth house of the man who started and fueled the reformation. Martin Luther was born exactly 523 years ago on November, 10 1483 here in Eisleben. Living amidst such history still hasn't settled with me. Yesterday also marked another very important day - my sisters birthday. Oh... and the 17th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I looked at apartment yesterday, but it will cost more then I expected. It is the least expensive one listed and it will not be ready until the end of next month. It is one room and has a perfect location down town. It comes with a bunkbed... so whoever wants to come visit get on a plane and you have a place to stay in Germany.

I finally bought battiers for my camara and will post pictures of the festivities that will be taking place this weekend.

More to come next week about the English lessons I am doing...

Rockin' on and out,
-taylor

Running

Things are busy here in Eisleben. Scott and I where able to get in the high school last week and he spoke to a class about poverty. I was able to get the info out about my English lessons and they are giving me a classroom at the school. The students seemed to be very excited about the lessons. I am also hoping to start a class on website design after the English lessons get rolling.

A couple weeks ago we had vacation bible school. We had about 40 little kids under 12… it was a lot of fun. I acted as a jungle jim for most of the days. It made the paper too… I will translate it and post the article on here.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the thrown of God.” –Hebrews 12:1-2

The imagery is fantastic in these versus… I can see myself running the long distance race of life in a gigantic amphitheater with all the heroes of the past cheering me on. I have left all my sin and baggage behind. My eyes are constantly fixed and my life focused on Jesus. To live like him is my ultimate life goal and objective. He is the perfector of our faith, having already overcome life – my supreme example. Jesus endured the cross so that we all may to be saved. I choose to endure as Christ did. The joy set before me is far greater then anything found in this world.

In Christ,

-Taylor