With apologies to Arlo Guthrie (whose car change was in Memphis, TN).
We did indeed change cars (trains, actually) in Leipzig on our way from Berln to Chemnitz. Along with cars, we changed technology–going from a sleek 200 kph bullet to a clanky diesel train that sounded like it had a bad wheel bearing around every curve. Here’s a scene from inside one of the packed second-class cars.
I should probably note that our team for today was smaller than expected because most of the Knoxville contingent was stuck in K-town due to mechanical problems with their plane. Hopefully they will arrive in Chemnitz tomorrow afternoon.
The rest of us arrived in Chemnitz about 5:30 PM and took a cab to the Hotel Mercure. Bernard Millard, the pastor at FEG-Chemnitz, met us at the hotel and explained the schedule for the next three days. We also had a good prayer time with Bernard.
Few folks in the USA know much about Chemnitz, but it has an interesting, if rather dark, history. During the infamous 30-years war that followed the Reformation, the population of Chemnitz was reduced by 80%. That is, 4 out of 5 people either fled or were killed. During the days of communist east Germany (from 1953 to 1990), Chemnitz was officially called Karl Marx Stadt (Karl Marx City), and there is still a large (black) stone bust of Marx in the heart of the city. Like most of Saxony, witchcraft has been practiced for years in Chemnitz with an annual celebration on the eve of May Day. Historically this celebration involved a number of large bonfires. In the three years since several local churches began praying and holding their own May Day Eve celebration, the number of fires has dropped from 350 to fewer than 20.
Here is a nighttime picture of Chemnitz.
I’m assuming the train photo is from the “bullet” train as it looks pretty snazy! It’s too bad there aren’t more trains available anymore in the States.
The photo is from the diesel train. The bullet train was much nicer, though just as crowded.
hi, guys!
just want to say you’ve got a nice blog but made a small mistake:
the sentence “In the three years since several local churches began praying and holding their own May Day Eve celebration, the number of fires has dropped from 350 to fewer than 20″ implies that the number of fires was decreased as a consequence of the celebrations held in several churches. in fact the number of fires had to be decreased because of new regulations that aim on lowering the pollution with “fine particles” (Feinstaub).
Anyway, have a nice time in Germany!
Thank you for explaining the details of how God reduced the number of witch fires. Tschuess.