Getting To Frankfurt

Nelda, Gwen and Bobby, Liz and I left Houston on Monday about 4 p.m. for Frankfurt, Germany. As we flew west we were giving away the rest of the day by crossing time lines. When we arrived in Frankfurt it was 9 a.m. their time and yet it was 1 a.m. on my watch. The normal time that we would be asleep had simply disappeared. Can you say, “Jet Lag”? Frankfurt was a surprise. We all have preconceived ideas of what we will see. First, the area was surrounded by forest areas. Second, most of the housing seemed to be apartments that were at least three stories high and did not have elevators. The city is on a river and has a few skyscrapers but did not seem to be any larger than Baton Rouge. Many of the signs and ads on vans were in English. It is about 25 degrees Fahrenheit right now. In the morning (Wednesday) it is supposed to be 13 degrees. Strangely enough, some stores and train stations were heated but had no doors. The heat was just blowing away in the chilly wind. The electric trains go much faster than our trains, but nothing like the bullet trains of Asia. People are not friendly in public areas. No business is offering anything like “free Wi-Fi” to get customers. McDonalds were all around us and there were Levi Jeans stores. The cigarette boxed all had messages like, “This product will cause you to die early”, and yet there were many more people smoking than we see in our area. We ate at the Bull and Bear restaurant by a building we assumed was the stock exchange as you saw in the pictures. If you ask for water at dinner you have to specify that it be water without “bubbles” or what you get is seltzer which is basically, Alka-Seltzer. Now, for those of you that have travelled the world because on military or simply vacationing, you may think this is something everyone would know. These are just a few of our surprises (including how they rip you off to exchange dollars to Euros) but there are some things that are always the same. People here seem to be trying to get through life just like everyone else on the planet. These people need Christ, but the last evidences of Christianity are some old churches that are mostly small liberal congregations and tourists. Our world does not need church buildings. This world in its last years of history needs Christians who live the word of God daily and proudly. I know there has to be a few here because here in my hotel room is a Gideon Bible.