Is There Really Hope?

The Reeperbahn

Quoted as "one of the wickedest miles in the world"

Women are enslaved here

As are the men

Slavery takes on different forms, you know

Is there really hope for these precious men and women?

Is there really and truly hope for a different future?

We believe there is

This is one of the most popular streets of the Reeperbahn

It's called "Grosse Freiheit,"

which means Great FREEDOM

Funny, isn't it, that some think of freedom as

the freedom to do whatever you want to do

...even if it enslaves you or another person

We have a different view of Great FREEDOM:

Jesus

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves
be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."Galatians 5:1

One weekend this past June the Reeperbahn held one of its annual festivals, which on Saturday night was packed with tens of thousands of people--all in one mile. Buddy felt compelled to go there that night. He called me from there and said it was unlike anything he had ever seen.

At one point he felt like he should walk right down the middle of the above street I mentioned, so he did. Right down the middle. He was keeping his eyes open, but nothing caught his eye.

Until he reached the end of the street.

With no where else to walk, he turned around, and his eyes went directly to the above plaque. It was posted at eye level on a wall outside of some old church. Who would ever think that there was a church at the end of this street? He went up to read it, and not knowing German, he turned back to the middle of the street from where he had come. There were two girls there, talking. He asked them if they could help him...to translate it.

They said something like,

"It says that there is nothing that Jesus cannot do."

He replied, "Do you believe what it says?"

He said they both become thoughtful.

One answered, "I don't know."

The other answered a definitive "No."

He talked to them for a few more minutes and then was on his way. It is staggering to me that in such a rowdy crowd of noise that Buddy's eyes fell directly onto this plaque--a still, small voice of truth penetrating into the darkness. That is powerful. To me, it speaks of hope...and that in the midst of such a dark mess, yes, there WILL be freedom for the captives.

Hallelujah!