Papua New Guinea to Berlin. Completely third world to thriving first world. A place with no opportunities, few rights, and no medical help whatsoever to unlimited opportunities, rights for all, any desired amenity a few blocks away. The biggest difference, however, was not the culture, but the clear lack of faith in Berlin.

Its crazy that I feel like I learned the same amount, if not more, from my 6 weeks in Berlin than my 6 months before. My faith was challenged deeper than I’ve ever known, I had no prior training or plan, yet God was glorified, not just despite, but because of my weakness. It was in every doubt, every uncertainty, every worry that I drew closer to God and realized He was already right beside me. I had an illogical peace consistently throughout my time in Berlin. From the moment I stepped off the plane, something clicked that told me I was right in the middle of God’s plan, living it out simply by putting one foot in front of the other and asking Him to lead. Little did I know that looking back, I would see God’s hand so clearly and feel so incredibly fulfilled, assured in my little part of His unfolding story for Berlin.

• God is so near – Another seemingly fundamental part of Christianity, however, a simple truth that rocked my world in a new way while I was there. I tried to study all I could and know what & why I believe, but when I sat staring into the face of a Muslim who is just as convinced as me, any semblance of confidence faded fast. See, in Islam, the idea of Jesus Christ as God’s son is blasphemous, disrespectful, and totally ridiculous. The Quran actually discusses it many times and they believe many “compelling” arguments to why Jesus could not be God. It wasn’t until I fully realized the closeness and love of our Father to regain my full assurance in Jesus Christ again. Like Muslims believe, its true – there is no rational reason for the God of the universe to limit himself by coming to Earth, except for complete and perfect love, to come in complete humility and nearness to show us Himself. He came as a servant to all, as a tangible example of true love and total nearness to His creation – us.
• God is the same God everywhere – I know this sounds obvious, but I found that a lot of people, including myself, try to fit God into some box, some expectation, with limitations on His power in a given circumstance. In Papua New Guinea, for example, we experienced blind eyes seeing again and crowds gathering for street corner worship sessions – a place where God is exalted publicly and radically. However in Berlin, we saw people healed by intelligent doctors and small church services with intimate worship and conversations – a place where God speaks to the individualistic, skeptic society, using God-given brains to create medicine and His imperfect children to do the talking. I saw how God moves differently but behind every move is the same intention and goal: to demonstrate unconditional love and to be our Father.
• God will travel any path to reach His children – In Berlin, I found that God is either thought of as an irrational, ignore-science-belief that can’t possibly be true, or a relative God who can be whatever you imagine and whatever role in the world each individual decides. Less than 1% of Berliners claim to have a personal relationship with the loving God of the Bible, yet I believe, now more than ever, that God is actively pursuing 100% of Berliners (and everyone of course). Whether it be through yoga or academia or Islam, talking to people made it clear that God is walking right beside these people, revealing Himself in different ways and longing for them to see the true Him. He doesn’t wait until we find Christianity, He is already with us, trying to lead us to Him. This doesn’t mean all roads lead to God, but that God will take any road to get to us.
• Embrace differences – In today’s culture, I feel we all have a tremendous pressure to not see any differences between people, in a sense “ignoring” what makes them unique. Background, ethnicity, varying opinions – we are told to put them aside in order to be united. Something I loved about Berlin was this crazy diversity. Obviously, not everyone embraced everyone, but for the most part I found different cultures strengthening the society instead of integrating and hiding anything. I believe the key to unity is pulling out those differences and seeing them as strengths.

My perspectives now include such an array of global mindsets, adding and shaping my view of all kinds of people and my love for such a global God. I fully believe God prepared me and guided my words and steps to the person I am today, even though I probably don’t have it all right yet ( 😉 ), I am excited to see where He takes me in my future adventures, starting with Oklahoma!