July 24, 2000

German youth get a view of Texas life
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___LATHAM SPRINGS--When a group of German Baptist youth spent two weeks in Texas recently, they learned not everything in America is the same as what they see in movies and on television.
___It was the joint viewing of movie, however, that brought the Germans and their

GERMAN STUDENTS Roswitha Roth and Matthias Loch (left) try to cool down with water July 12 during recreation time at Latham Springs Baptist Encampment. Johnson County Baptist Association hosted Roth, Loch and 10 other teenagers from Germany as part of the Baptist General Convention of Texas' partnership with German Baptists.

American hosts to a new level of understanding.
___The German houseguests, all teenage boys, were asked to choose a video to watch with their newfound teenage friends from Texas. They chose "Saving Private Ryan," the bloody depiction of Americans and Germans at war.
___"Everything has changed," said Johannes Paschen, a 16-year-old student from Germany.
___Fifty-five years after the World War II, grandchildren of the men who fought it sat together in peace in a central Texas home. Viewing the movie created a sort of reconciliation, said Andrea Wichmann of the German Baptist Union's youth department.
___Twelve German teenagers, ages 15-19, and their adult leaders spent two hot July weeks in Johnson County Baptist Association as part of the ongoing partnership between Texas and German Baptists. First Baptist Church of Burleson hosted the teens one week, while First Baptist Church of North Cleburne and First Baptist Church of Alvarado did so a second week.
___The German youths ate barbecue and Mexican food, witnessed a small rodeo, tried on cowboy hats, stayed in the homes of Texas Baptists, worshiped in churches and attended an association youth camp at Latham Springs Baptist Encampment, north of Waco.
___These experiences gave them a view of Texas that is different from what movies and television project, said 15-year-old Damaris Barthel. They learned that not everyone in Texas lives on a ranch or in an expensive home, although they did see that side of Texas.
___The hospitality and heat got their attention.
___"People are very hospitable and open," said Christoph Schwarz, 19, who marveled at how church members had so freely opened their homes.
__And despite the blazing temperatures outside, the Germans experienced a different kind of warmth from the Texas Baptists they met--a depth of spiritual commitment to which they were not accustomed.
___"I was very impressed with the churches especially--how they live together in the churches " said 19-year-old Roswitha Roth, "They are together in worship, but every individual is touched."
___Johannes Paschen, 16, noted how the Baptists he met "live all their life" for Christ. "They don't just go to church."

GERMAN students join Texas Baptist teens in a Bible study at camp.

___"The American Christians give all of what they have," Barthel said. "They give their money and their houses and their gifts; and it comes from the heart. ... They try to live as a Christian, to make a difference. ... I will never forget the people in the churches here. I love the relations between the Christian people."
___Barthel also noted with a smile: "The people here are crazy. They are louder. They scream all the time for everything."
___The idea for the German teens' trip came from Milton Ertelt, director of missions for Johnson County Baptist Association, which has its office in Cleburne. Ertelt and his wife, Charlotte, went to Germany last year on a "survey" trip after the association voted to participate with other Texas Baptists in the partnership.
___He had been thinking of ways to get Johnson County Baptists to go to Germany. The idea then occurred to him to bring a group of young German Baptists to Texas.
___"America is very popular" among German teens, said Thomas Seibert, a regional youth pastor in Germany. He hoped the trip would give the teenagers a "chance to know the real America" and gain an appreciation of their own homeland as well.
___ Editor's note: The multi-year partnership between German and Texas Baptists is in its second year. Churches or associations interested in a mission projects or developing on-going relationships with German Baptist churches should contact the Texas Partnerships office. Some projects still need to be filled this year, and many new projects are available for 2001. Call (214) 828-5181 or send e-mail to coulter@bgct.org.
___

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