With the darkening nights came the wonderful excuse for cozy candles and store-bought Glühwein, the weather was generally good so walks round the lake were still possible and although it all meant a “shuffling” of what our normal Christmas plans would look like, there was still the possibility of an easing for Christmas!
Unfortunately, the “easing” didn’t really happen, as the Covid numbers refused to decrease, which meant more adaptations and “alternative options”…
Due to the increased restrictions, our traditional “Weihnachten auf dem Datzeberg came into doubt, as the gathering of 500-600 people we would normally have at our Christmas Service was no longer possible. We considered just “skipping” it this year, but also felt that it might be even more important to hold something this year than in others!
We ended up deciding to try and do a “road show” kind of event. We got hold of a trailer, some sound equipment, put together our little band, and instead of gathering everyone in the local gymnasium, we “took to the streets”! We went to 3 separate locations within the neighbourhood, and invited everyone to join us from their balconies as we sang some Carols and had the local pastor (a friend) share some thoughts about the Christmas Story, especially in relation to this year’s oddities!
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| Event Poster |
It rained, and we had to sing with masks on, and everything was a bit awkward and “rougher” than it normally would have been, but it was also fun and it was lovely to see many people join in from their various windows or balconies or on the street corners! It was also a lovely way to see many of our friends and give Christmas greetings to people we haven’t been able to have direct contact with for many months!
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| Some of the neighbours joining in! |
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| Basti & Jakob leading the way |
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| Katharina, Moni & I singing along |
It was an odd, but ultimately beautiful experience! On one hand it felt very “pointless” and possibly unwanted by the general population, and it was somewhat difficult to judge whether people were actually engaging with it, as we noticed many people opening their balcony doors but then going back inside, etc…were they listening in the warmth? Hope so! But on the other hand, it also felt particularly poignant this year, in the midst of the numerous strains and disappointments that have been present throughout this year, to sing and speak peace, and hope, and joy, and the promises of God to be with us in the midst of the darkness and fear and unknowingness, over the wider neighbourhood.
Because of the Lockdown restrictions we also couldn’t meet together as a whole community for our Christmas celebrations but, as households were allowed to have 1 person from outside their circle visit, it worked out that the 3 single people in the community were able to join, 1 each, with the 3 families within the community, so that everyone was still able to celebrate with others!
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| I had a "mini tree" this year as I hoped I would be leaving for the UK on Boxing Day...but still bright & Christmassy! |
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| A small, but VERY satisfactory "haul" |
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| Sylvester (New Year's Eve) with the wonderful Zaddach Family! |
The time between Christmas and New Year’s is always quiet here, but with the beginning of January the constraints began to be seen again, as schools remained closed and everyone watched with nervousness the growing number of “new variants” showing up in the news, let alone the ongoing saga that was the US Presidential situation!
But again, much of life was (and is) still beautiful in the midst! As we continue to be unable to meet in person for our “Kirche auf dem Datzeberg” (Church on the Datzeberg) evenings, we’ve begun doing weekly WhatsApp “Inputs”, sharing thoughts, encouragements and prayer ideas through short video messages with one another which, although perhaps not as “perfect” as being able to meet in person has continued to be a help and encouragement to people!
We also managed to have another 24-1 Prayer Event in our Chapel (with single occupancy slots and LOTS of anti-bacterial wipes and hand gel!), focussing on reviewing the year behind (gifts and challenges) and trusting for the year before us.
At the very beginning of February we celebrated the birth of Ralf & Katharina’s second daughter, Selah Hedi Neumann, who came joyfully into the world on February 6! Coinciding with that we also had a few weeks of lovely cold, snowy weather during which the local lake froze enough to slip and slide on, followed surprisingly by a week of lovely, mild “hints of spring” weather which has been WONDERFUL for people’s morale!
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| Ava turned 6! |
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| ...and 2 weeks later welcomed her little sister to the world! |
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| Skating on the local lake |
The other exciting and hope-filled thing within the Polylux Verein life is, having learned towards the end of last year that the Caribuni Family Centre had been granted additional funding in order to remain open (including help from the Mayor and the City in recognition of their work and influence within this neighbourhood!!), we have also now learned that the centre will be moving! Its current location has, until now been adequate, but very much “tucked away” in a back corner. The new location will have a better layout of rooms and more efficiently used space inside, and will now be located directly between the two kindergarten/nursery schools on the Datzeberg! This is exciting as it will hopefully enable a whole new level of involvement and opportunity for relationship with the wider range of families who use these schools! They are currently having to do various renovations on the rooms before being able to move in properly, but hope to have access to them sometime this spring.
Now, as we head towards March, schools are beginning to try and open again, although all other restrictions will remain in place until the next “Review Date” (sometime in March). This will hopefully ease some of the challenges for parents with kids at home, but otherwise the spring looks like it will be another season of waiting and seeing how things develop! But the current sunshine and promise of spring is definitely helping keep spirits up!
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| the same lake, in the winter sunshine! |
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| and as always, the view I love! |
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