Goldschatz

Goldschatz.

Gold = Gold

Schatz = My treasure, my darling, my loved one

Goldschatz = Definitely a sweet term of endearment

Goldschatz.

If you read this post I wrote here,
you know that I’m on a treasure hunt here in Hamburg
…for GOLD.

Let me tell you the story of Goldschatz
because I’ll be mentioning it in future posts:

In October when Buddy was sick for what felt like weeks, one day while at the market I was in the chocolate section (yes, it’s a very big section and aisle here), and I thought, I should get my baby a little treat—he’d like that. My eyes went immediately to this special edition of a type of chocolate we like, and its package was shiny gold. I grabbed it and bought it and that was that.

Here is the Goldschatz in all her golden glory. How could I have dared to pass her by?

When I came home I gave it to Buddy. A little while later he said, “Babe, thanks for the chocolate, but I really don’t feel like it right now, but I think you should take it tonight for the women in the brothels. I think they’d really like it.” So I did.

Each time before we go into the brothels, our team prays. Right before we were about to pray, one of the other women noticed the chocolates that I brought. And she said, “Oh, are those Christian chocolates? I’ve never seen those before.” “Um, no, I don’t think so,” I replied. She said, “Well I read what it said and I thought it was Christian, but it’s not, it’s just Ritter (which is one of the most popular chocolates that people buy here). It says for the flavor that it’s a ‘trinity’ of chocolate” (you know, like the Trinity?!).

But then my eyes focused on the name of this certain special edition. It said Goldschatz. I said, “It says Goldschatz!” She smiled and said, “Yes, I know, that’s why I thought it was Christian at first, and with it being a trinity of chocolate as well. It’s very special.”

Now this was exciting for me to realize, because I know the word Schatz. It’s a term of endearment here that people use all the time, for their loved ones, and it’s really cute. For example, Buddy calls me Schatz. I call Grace Schatzi or Schatzilein or Schatzibear (it’s common to call a little girl such names). Thus, since I use this word, and love its sweet meaning, to find a chocolate with this name, and even GOLDschatz, like my sweet treasure of gold, was so special to me...because I knew exactly how we could use them: we could use these yummy chocolates to share God’s heart for these women...to help give them a little taste of how very sweet His love for them really is.

So that night when we went into the brothels, I gave the chocolates out to a few women, and when I did, I looked them in the eyes and said something like,

“This is for you.

Look what it says here—it says Goldschatz.

God wants you to know that you are His Goldschatz.

You are His Schatzi (His Treasure).”

It was so fun to see their eyes light up and really ‘hear’ what we said. They were touched and they were grateful. Now we’ve gone out and bought loads of this chocolate (before it runs out, as remember, it’s a limited edition) and it’s such a special little treat for the women and at the same time it’s a precious way to tell them how much God treasures them.

Have they ever been told in their lives that they are God’s sweetheart? His treasure? The apple of His eye? I doubt it, but what a joy it is to share this sweet message with them.

How fun to be on a treasure hunt here in Hamburg and to strike gold with a little piece of delicious chocoate, of all things! I am so grateful that my eyes just ‘happened upon them’ that one day in the market. I have a story to share about how one of the Goldschatz has already impacted one of these dear ones…but that is a story all in itself and I will share it another time.