November 9, 2012
The event Auf dem Weg zur Versöhnung (On the Way to Reconciliation) was arranged by members of Bitburg’s secular and religious leadership. It was sponsored by a local bank, the Cultural Association and the Lutheran Church. Jochen and Miriam Debus, local Lutheran pastor and his wife, envisioned and prayed the evening into existence, and invited us to participate.
A Few Highlights
Sincerity. The official opening speeches were short, real, heart-felt, with genuine attempts to face the past.
The translator. We asked the Lord for a translator who could go from English to German easily, but also one who would be in tune with the desire for Jesus to be revealed. Werner Martin, a medical doctor, more than fulfilled these requests. The Holy Spirit flowed through us to touch hearts.
Link to Article (Deutsch)
A Jewish couple. From Luxemburg, involved in the Lotz Ghetto exhibition to open the following day, elegant and assured, they sat on the front row. They were about to hear the words “Jesus, my Jewish Messiah” come out of my mouth. How would they react?
After the talk, questions continued coming—good, deep, thoughtful questions. The Holy Spirit directed my answers far beyond my own capacity and gave me godly restraint.
Reflections and lessons learned. Say more about forgiveness—it is not denial or minimizing. Also discuss at greater length how to respond to present wrongs.
Two samples from the many conversations at the end of the evening:
A woman aged around 75 visiting from Berlin was wiping her eyes. She shared how two years earlier she made a journey to the Ukraine to visit the place where her father, a German soldier, had died. She repeated the phrase, “Mercifully he died at the beginning of the invasion,” meaning he was not involved in the atrocities. While there she met two Ukrainian children and could embrace them. I said, “What courage!” She answered, “It has taken all these years before I could take the healing journey, but you have to be ready…”
Another woman, a teacher speaking good English, approached me, maybe in her 50s. With an animated face she said, “I had to come close—I believe you—it IS possible to forgive.” Her eyes were filled with wonder. I pointed upward, and she said, “Yes, I know.”
And what about the Jewish couple? They listened intensely, smiled, even laughed at the Jewish humor. And at the end they came up, hugged and kissed me, first on one cheek and then the other.
A Bitburg journalist headed his weekend article in the local newspaper “Es ist nie zu spät für eine Versöhnung” (It Is Never Too Late for Reconciliation), though Jesus was missing from his text.
