Youth Trip to Germany

Christmas Church Send Youth to attend German Kirchentag in Frankfurt as part of the Youth Exchange Program with our partner church in Machingen.

Yes, our dream became reality as we left the northern border of Bethlehem with a sense of surprise and curiosity. Curiosity, you ask? Yes, for we wondered what sort of feelings we should have after leaving our big prison Bethlehem.  To tell the truth - there were many obstacles to overcome to make this trip possible and we lost hope many times that we would ever be able to travel abroad. Some of the obstacles were not solved until the last hour.  The most difficult hurdle was obtaining the necessary permits from the Israeli government to leave Bethlehem and travel via the Tel-Aviv Airport.  This issue occupied our minds the whole time prior to our travel.  Yet even with uncertainty to the last moment, our German colleagues, who supported us by their prayers and diplomatic contacts, kept the program ready for us in case our dream to travel became a reality.

Following our arrival at the Israeli airport, heavy security checks were awaiting us! But, this only gave us more and more confidence that we were not alone on the journey, our heavenly Father was with us.

After long hours of very detailed luggage and body checks, the moment of freedom came, and the time to enter the Lufthansa aircraft was close.

The Youth Members were all astonished and signs of deep, a very deep, happiness could be read upon their faces. Yes, this particular moment came and words could not really express what was going inside our hearts and minds.

Would it be possible after all the time of psychological pressure to feel ‘like normal people’ and to act and enjoy our time as if we are coming from a normal situation?  Nobody could answer such a question. However, we felt that it was important to release the psychological pressure and try as much as we could to enjoy living in a normal atmosphere. Something we are not used to….

Upon arrival in Frankfurt, we were astonished by the cooler weather.  But, this shock was soon replaced by the very warm welcome from our German hosts!  We stood gathered together amazed, preparing ourselves to experience and enjoy every single minute from our trip.  We all knew, even from the first, that these particular moments were going to be in our memories forever. 

There were many surprises!  Why?  Well, we are not used to walking without fear.  We’re not used to having no one ask us about our IDs.  We’re not used to living without worry about being endangered by shelling or clashes.  And, most importantly, we’re not used to tasting the healthy environment among green forests. The seemingly perfect infrastructure in Germany reminded us of what the corruption of occupation has done to our beloved country throughout the hundreds of years of military occupation. The nice pictures and postcards posted on the train stations reminded us of the enjoyable interests that the many people have in their daily life.

Other surprises? The individuality of the culture both shocked and attracted us simultaneously. The life of young people is so different than ours. We, as young people in Palestine, still often live out the habits and traditions of our more conservative Arab culture.  The differences we experienced made us wonder about the negative and positive aspects of modern culture.

 In the ‘Street Festival’ we witnessed the joy of the people in a safe society. The variety of musical bands, with strong and moving music, all expressed a deep need for humans of all ages, of all nations, to join and be united.  

Background:    

 Preparations for the Christmas Church Youth Group trip to attend German Kirchentag/2001 in Frankfurt had faded due to the critical situation in Palestine, and our youth members became more and more convinced that their trip abroad could only be achieved by a miracle.  However, the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church Youth Group succeeded in attending the German Kirchentag despite tough Israeli military measures banning Palestinians from the West Bank from traveling.

The eleven youth members reached Germany on 13 June and enjoyed some of the activities in the program, such as sports, African music and dancing.  Then our German hosts accompanied the group to Maichingen, our hosting congregation. We stayed with them overnight.  The next morning we said goodbye as we left to the Bodensee to enjoy the nice German weather and sunny summer.

We visited many tremendous places, among them Flower Island, Monkeys Garden, Friedrichhafen, Meersburg and the Austrian Alps.  Among the most striking events we attended and places we visited were the Street Festival, the Mercedes Company in Sindlefingen, the main tower in Frankfurt, and the Planetarium of Stuttgart. 

And, you know youth, shopping in German towns was also enjoyable, as was the swimming in clean water!