Germany trip wrap-up — the countries

Our ten-day trip to Germany also included a two-day trip to Poland.  Prior to the second world war, the area of what is now northern Poland was part of Germany and it included an area where our ancestors had lived.

Actually, the paternal side of our family began in Enns, Austria some 500 years ago.  Our family was Anabaptist, and persecution from the reformation drove them to northern Germany, and persecution for their faith there led them to settle in the Ukraine in a Mennonite community.  When the Soviets came into power in Russia in the early 20th century, the confiscated all personal property and again our family was persecuted for their faith, so they fled to Canada in the early to mid-20s, where most of them remain.  My immediate family moved to States in 1969.

While Dad has made several trips to Enns, he’s never seen the region where our family was in what is now Poland, so since we were relatively close (our family was from the region just south of Gdansk), we made a quick trip to see the region.

So some additional thoughts about our time in the countries of Germany and Poland —

 

The state of the church in both countries is very weak.  Poland is primarily Roman Catholic and Germany is dominated by liberal Lutheranism, though pockets of the evangelical church exist throughout the country.  Especially as we drove through town after town in Poland, seeing only the stately Catholic churches in view, I was overwhelmed with the reality that in each place there was likely no true Biblical testimony — so that whole towns and regions were likely destined for eternal suffering under the wrath of God.  And seeing the pervasiveness of a secular (read:  immoral), anti-Christian mindset in Germany, our hearts were heavy for a people who were at the forefront of the Reformation and now are largely ignorant and apathetic towards it.

 

 

 

Yet even in Germany, we found like-minded brothers.  The two primary teachers at Word of Life are graduates of Dallas Theological Seminary, one of whom (Paul Troxler) I worked with at the same pool-cleaning company while we were in seminary.  And Matt, the director of this campus attends a church pastored by a graduate of The Master’s Seminary (I previously mentioned Daniel, another member of that church who also desires to attend TMS).  Matt also has attended NANC basic training, and is working on a Master’s degree in Biblical counseling from Faith Baptist Seminary, which has been influential in helping GBC begin its counseling ministry.  So in Germany we found three guys (and likely more, had we gone to each of their churches) who were not only of the same faith, but like-minded and kindred spirits.  It was a sweet reminder that God always is faithful to preserve a remnant of His people and often has a testimony for His name in some of the most unexpected places.

 

While the evangelical church in Germany is small, its members are serious in their love for the Lord and their commitment to the Scriptures.  So the class we taught was relatively small, yet the students were obviously well-trained by the kinds of questions they were asking, and desirous of being used by the Lord in ministry.  It not only made the teaching a joy, but also gives hope for the next generation of leaders in Germany.

 

 

Finally, going to Poland to see the land where our ancestors were was a particular blessing.  We had three regions that we wanted to see and had no real idea of what we might find.  Near the town of Malbork we found a Mennonite cemetery that may have contained the remains of some of our ancestors.  We found numerous family names in the cemetery, though none that we could definitively say was family.  Because of two world wars and an area that now is no longer Protestant, the cemetery was in much disrepair and had perhaps only 20% of the headstones remaining.  What we did find were inscriptions after inscriptions on the headstones that articulated a clear trust in the blood of Christ alone for salvation and a confidence in eternity that was founded on the finished work of Christ.  The tombstones were an encouragement of a faith that had long preceded our own and that God had been gracious to preserve in the midst of much persecution.  How kind and extensive God’s grace is to us.

 

This trip has proven to be a real blessing for it has served as a reinforcement of the magnitude of God’s grace in preserving His people and our family and faith, and of the privilege of ministry and the proclamation of the gospel.