by Shane Heflin | Fall 2023
As I reflect on my study abroad experience, I am reminded of all the impactful experiences I have encountered along the way. Berlin is one place that had a real impact on the way I see German culture and how I can learn and implement it in my own life. Throughout our trip to Berlin, I experienced a country and city that faced and talked about a dark time in their history, rather than destroying and starting fresh, avoiding the truth of the elephant in the room. They did it with such humility that they recognized their wrongs for what they were and did not defend themselves or anyone else as we often do as human beings. There are many different things they have done to point to how they approach the history of the country, such as not repairing chunks out of pillars, creating memorials for those who were hurt, and creating monuments to highlight events to remember. For example, the memorial of all the stones commemorated the victims of the Holocaust and highlighted the hard things in German history rather than trying to move on and make everyone forget the terrible things that happened. This teaches me that it is not effective to just push the hard things in life down and not talk about them but rather bring them into the light, and this exemplifies the call of Christ to walk in the light.
Another experience that I will never forget was our first free travel weekend; we went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. While we were there, we saw some of the most amazing views of nature that you could get in the world, and it allowed me to learn some valuable lessons about God and his glory shone through His creation. It was a changing moment for me where I could truly see how big of a God I serve through this lens of creation. The community I was surrounded by with these friends made it all the better because even though it was raining the whole time, we were not complaining at all since the beauty made the journey more than worth it to be freezing cold and wet. So, I thank God for putting me right where He wanted me to be with those exact people to enhance the entire experience. Kathryn, the RA in our villa, traveled with us on our trip and pointed out that we see all these mountains and beautiful gorges and are amazed, yet all these things are of less value than us in God’s eyes, for we were made in His image. This gave me a new perspective on creation and allowed me to see the inherent beauty of a human being made as an image bearer of the creator Himself.
My experiences have all had a common theme, and I think that God has put me on this trip to experience faith in new ways and how he moves throughout the entire world, not just in America. I never could have imagined going on vacation to another country, much less living there for an entire semester. It has been a blessing, and I have learned so much from observing other cultures and how they conduct work-life balance, religion, sports, etc. My worldview has been refined by these experiences, and I know the lessons that I have learned will continue to serve me for the rest of my life. I am thankful for the opportunities that I have been given.
