Thursday

After another great day, we are back at the hotel. We were able to sleep in a little late this morning and had time to walk around the Christmas Market in Erfurt. We are in a beautiful and very historic part of Germany. Walking around the market is almost surreal. The sights, sounds and smells of the market definitely give you that “gingerbread feeling!” (to quote my friend Bruce Morgan.) We loaded the bus and headed to the nearby town of Weimar. Weimar is loaded with history. As you drive into town, you pass the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. I took a tour of that camp on a previous visit to Weimar. It is one of a few of the camps that was not destroyed. In the town square, there was a small but beautiful Christmas Market. The chocolate and cream crepe was my personal favorite! Weimar was one of the great cultural centers of Europe and home to Bach and Goethe and Franz Liszt. It has a world famous music school today. We went to the church where we were served a wonderful meal. After our devotional time, we sang to a full house. I was in the first tent mission we did here in 1994. Rick and Nancy Dill planted this church and Rick pastored the church until recently when they moved back to Alabama to care for aging parents. It is a strong and healthy congregation. At the end of the concert, a church leader posed a question to the congregation. He asked, “what is the most beautiful of all the instruments?” Of course, he was reminding them that the human voice is the only instrument God created and the greatest and most beautiful. They seemed to love the music and were very responsive. Someone from the church told us after the service that they were excited that there were many visitors present! We have one more concert tomorrow night and then we’ll head home on Saturday. It has been a wonderful experience and I am so thankful to have had this opportunity and blessing. chip