Journal 4/17/2012
I took the 9:15 train from Leipzig to Munich. Munich has a very comprehensive train/subway system, and from the Haupbanof (main station) one can take the subway to the airport. It is interesting as the subway will arrive at the Freishing station and split, the front half go on to another destination and the back half go on to the airport. I was in the wrong half, but they have English announcement and allow time for passengers to switch to the correct half. I arrive at the airport 2 and half hours early, so have time for a late lunch. The flight was on time and only 1/3 filled; I landed just 10 minutes before brother 邱海平arrived at the arrival hall, when I called him he was standing under the clock, so we connected and drove to the meeting place.
Brother 邱 is very talkative and he shared a bit with me. He said the church responsible sister 陳 was not very supportive of his inviting me, asked if he knew me. But his fellowship has 100+ people and he went ahead and invited me by himself because he has learned inductive Bible study before and recognizes the importance of proper interpreting the Bible. The worry is that the brothers and sisters here are merchants and most do not have college education, so how much they can absorb becomes a challenge. He is a 3rd gen Christian and both his grandfather and father are pastors. He only became involved in the last few years, but is now a very devoted worker.
It took us a while due to traffic to get to destination around 8:10 pm. We arrived at a home with a living room of about 250 sq, ft., and already about 10 people were there. After a quick dinner during which time people keep streaming in, and by the time we got started around 8:30 there is already 50-60 people. As Brother 邱 said, most in the fellowship did come. I barely have enough 10-step cards to hand out. Their dedication and eagerness were fetching; I taught the first lesson, but due to time I showed them how I do the first passage without having them do it first. We finished on 11 pm. Everyone stayed until that time. I was told all the students were present for this class, and afterwards there will be n afternoon class and an evening class.
Afterwards they took me by half hour drive to stay at a sister’s home; her plane had just arrived from Paris and she showed up after brother 邱 left. We shared a bit the next morning and gained some understanding about their church. The Milan church got started in the late 90’s with just a few members, but quickly grew to a large group because of new arrivals from 温州。She said of all the 温州people who left home, about 70% ended up in Europe, scattered around Spain, France and Italy. Her business is clothing. It is only recent that they seek help in spiritual edification, and yet there are different voices within co-workers, and their fellowship is the most progressive in inviting outside helpers.
Please continue to pray that these 6 days of lessons will help train some future Bible study leaders and preachers.
Blessings
Richard