I’m here! It’s only been two weeks, but somehow it feels like two years! Everywhere I go, there is this weird familiarity and peace that this is where I should be. It is such an incredible feeling when you know you are where God called!

I’d say it was kindof a hectic start to the trip, when all of my plans fell apart the day before. Crying in the airport, waves of doubt, complete uncertainty, and being forced to board a plane to the wrong city is how this part began. However, with lots of prayers and phone calls back home, my grandma’s friend (aka an angel) picked me up from the airport, and its been an adventure ever since 🙂

Since housing was one of the parts that fell through, for the first few days I stayed with my close friend Paula in Munich, getting a taste of typical Bavarian Germany and loving every minute! Even got to spend a day at a special needs school helping teach English!

The next few days I visited an ICF church (affiliate of the church I am getting involved with in Berlin) in Essen, home church of the German intern who has been living with my family this past year. I was able to spend time in an abandoned-school-turned-refugee-camp there, playing and laughing with the sweetest kids. Over the weekend, I also volunteered with their church and got an inside view how their church runs. It was an awesome time getting my feet wet with experienced support alongside me before Berlin!

This past week, I dove into the deep end of this crazy city and have absolutely loved it! God has opened so many doors already! My good friend Ethan from YWAM joined me on Tuesday to begin volunteering together for the next month and a half.  This week has consisted of: a day of sorting/packing fresh produce for homeless people, that would have otherwise been thrown away, teaching English to a refugee at an International cafe (biweekly yay!), participating in yoga for refugee social integration (mayyybe a one time thing haha), meeting with YWAM Berlin for opportunities and fellowship, hanging out with kids at an emergency refugee shelter (always open, we’re stoked to come often), meeting with a soup kitchen and various refugee camps, visiting a nursing home for young people with disabilities/ addictions (every weekend), and attending a refugee cooking day/fundraiser! Also, we are so excited about the plans on the horizon!

Ethan and I have been enjoying the city on our “new” bikes (mine is a $20 piece of scrap metal off ebay) and feeling like locals in the hundreds of “bahnhöfe” (train stations), struggling with German, but trying our best, learning lots along the way! We can’t thank you all enough for your prayers and encouragement! I cannot imagine even getting on the plane without the tiniest hope that God still had a plan, and now I cannot imagine ever leaving! Trusting Him was sooo much harder when everything seemed so bleak, but it is already soooo worth it! Praise the Lord!