Tuesday, May 31, 2011

SMR in Berlin Day Four

Sonrise Mountain Revival Berlin Project
Day Four
By Kristin Gaffney

            I’m actually writing this on the morning of day five because we got back from day four at around one in the morning.
            But here’s day four…
            First, we basically had a free morning and were able to sleep in for awhile, and after three back-to-back-to-back concerts yesterday it was a total blessing.  Mark, Dick and Rich decided to play on a street corner and got some money as well as were able to talk to people.  And yes, when I say ‘play’ they weren’t goofing off on a tetter totter and slides (although I saw a playground and was really tempted to do that) but playing their bluegrass music.  People in Germany really love our music, it helps that we’re so different from all the music the Germans are used to hearing from America.  Since being here I’ve heard Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas, and er… that rapper guy who’s really annoying and has something to do with M&M’s?  Maybe Dad will edit in his name…? (no dad won’t)
            Ashley and her dad, Jeff, went to the pharmacy.  Ashley’s neck was really hurting her and she got some heating pads for the night and Jeff has been feeling very sick.  Hopefully it’s just allergies and not a sinus infection, but they managed to get referred to an English speaking doctor who gave them prescriptions for both allergies and sinus infection for only fifteen Euros!  He has started to feel better, but keep him in your prayer.
            Lianna and I went sightseeing, bought chocolate, took a ton of pictures, and also found a really good ice cream place!  (No, Mom, I’m not just eating food in Germany, I’m also eating dessert!)
            We all came back (sporadically) at around two and then went to eat dinner together.  The food was fine, but every meal came with really good brushetta and at the end they gave us like three whole plates of it because we’d been complimenting the brushetta the whole time!  J
            We had some more free time, about an hour, and basically we all took naps or relaxed.  We’ve been walking around so much that I don’t think most of us want to walk more in our spare time, especially Rich and my dad with their knees.
            But we got to our concert with quite a lot of time to spare (a first) and managed to get all set up long before people started to come in (another first).  The instrumentalists went out onto the street about a half an hour before the concert and played, attracting a small crowd.  It was a great night even though Jeff literally became a baritone overnight with his allergies (hopefully)/sinus infection (L).  We had to cut one song and rewrite the parts for the other, but the audience really loved it and we did two encores, Cor. 1:18 and Dueling Banjos (those songs are our new favorites for the subway.  We now literally play on the trains every time we get on – sparking a lot of fruitful conversations!)
            But at the concert something totally wonderful happened!  There was a mother who had only been coming to church for a few weeks and she brought her daughter (in her early 20s) to our concert and her daughter came to Christ!  She started crying in the middle of Leanna’s testimony and afterward made her decision with the counsel of one of the workers from the Jesus House.  Praise God!
            And although there’s nothing better than that which I can write about, I do have to wrap up this day.  So, we were all really really hungry, and although it took awhile to leave with praying and talking to so many people, we managed to find an open restaurant  at a time just after eleven p.m.
            On the subway over, we played our music, because most people in this band play more often than not, and tons of people liked it!  One guy liked it so much that he offered us a free lunch, hopefully we’ll be able to take him up on the offer.
The first Mexican restaurant we went to was closed for the night, but it was a short walk to the next.  This restaurant had great food, and weird fancy water… I’d ordered what I thought was lemonade and it ended up being strange flavored water…  Anyway, what I thought was great about the menu was that it was the first menu I could read!  Thank you Mom and Dad for taking me to so many Mexican restaurants!
            At the end, Randy decided that we should play a song for the restaurant, which we did, because, again, we play all the time.  They loved it and I think invited us to play again at their restaurant sometime, which would be an awesome ministry!
            I think it was a great day for God, opening many doors, but certainly the best was our new sister in Christ!

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