{"id":8298,"date":"2005-12-27T01:21:20","date_gmt":"2005-12-27T06:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=8298"},"modified":"2011-07-06T08:29:22","modified_gmt":"2011-07-06T13:29:22","slug":"4664","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2005\/12\/27\/4664\/","title":{"rendered":"German Students Find More Than An Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (December 27, 2005)\u00a0 – German exchange student Isabel “Isa”\u00a0 Schuppan had written “atheist” on the religious preference slot on the\u00a0 program file. She did, however, write that she would be willing to\u00a0 attend church with a host family. She had no idea that the host family\u00a0 would include the pastor of Harvest Ridge Covenant Church in Shawnee,\u00a0 Kansas.<\/p>\n

Helge Meyer, 15, of Bad Segeberg, also left Germany having no religious\u00a0 faith, but wound up living with the family of pastor Randy Rodenberg.\u00a0 He, too, has since returned to Germany.<\/p>\n
By the time the exchange students returned home, they had exchanged an\u00a0 old life for a new one, the pastors say.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>Both students already had arrived in the United States, but still did\u00a0 not have permanent host families. Eric Sparrman, pastor of Harvest\u00a0 Ridge, says his daughter, Johanna, came home from tennis practice where\u00a0 she had met Isa and said, “She’s really nice. Can we keep her?”\u00a0 Sparrman’s wife, Bonnie, liked the idea and their teenage sons, Bjorn\u00a0 and Karl, viewed it as an adventure. Just like that, the family suddenly\u00a0 had a fourth teenager in the household.<\/p>\n
Randy Rodenberg, pastor of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Wausa,\u00a0 Nebraska, said Helge had been living with a woman who had helped arrange\u00a0 his travel, but that she didn’t have room to be a permanent host. One\u00a0 day before classes started, the Rodenbergs had a new high school student\u00a0 living with them.<\/p>\n
Isa first was not interested in attending youth group, but within\u00a0 several weeks she was invited by Christian friends at school to join a\u00a0 Bible study, says Sparrman, adding that she looked forward to attending\u00a0 church.<\/p>\n
The girl had no understanding of the faith when she arrived, says\u00a0 Sparrman. “She was told in Germany that going to church was part of\u00a0 being an American. The Germans told her that it wasn’t like it was in\u00a0 Germany – it was exciting.”<\/p>\n
Her parents had grown up entirely under East German rule and no one in\u00a0 the family knew of the Germany’s rich Christian history. “She had no\u00a0 clue about the Christian heritage of her country,” Sparrman says. “No\u00a0 idea about Luther, no idea about Bonhoeffer.”<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a>“Not only did she hear the gospel for the first time, she was the\u00a0 pastor’s kid,” says Sparrman. “Those first weeks in worship generated\u00a0 many late night conversations as Isa had a lot of questions.”<\/p>\n
Over the course of the succeeding months, Isa attended three retreats,\u00a0 spent a week at camp, went on a mission trip with the Center for Student\u00a0 Missions in Chicago and had frequent discussions with friends. In the\u00a0 spring, she made a commitment to Jesus, Sparrman says.<\/p>\n
“The greatest joy I’ve ever known as a pastor was the day I baptized Isa\u00a0 in Little Mill Creek,” Sparrman says (see accompanying photo). The\u00a0 family has kept in touch by phone and email with Isa, who lives in\u00a0 Gorlitz. She now attends an Evangelical Free Church. “It reminds her a\u00a0 lot of our church here,” Sparrman says.<\/p>\n
Rodenberg says Meyer quickly became involved with school activities and\u00a0 fit in well with the family, which includes his wife, Carol, and three\u00a0 sons – teenagers Ben and Chris as well as Briton, who is in the third\u00a0 grade (lower photo).<\/p>\n
Meyer had attended church in Germany twice a month and was confirmed the\u00a0 year before he arrived in the United States. He told the Rodenbergs that\u00a0 people consider themselves Christians if they’ve attended a church.<\/p>\n
A gifted musician, Meyer joined the praise band and came home from the\u00a0 first practice, saying, “Well, I guess I’ll be going to church every\u00a0 Sunday,” Rodenberg recalls. The teenager told the family that church was\u00a0 so different in the States. Church was like school in Germany, Meyer\u00a0 explained. It was just something you do.<\/p>\n
The family never witnessed directly to Meyer “because we didn’t want him\u00a0 to feel pressured,” says Rodenberg. “We discussed sermons with him\u00a0 frequently and prayed for him constantly.”<\/p>\n
When Meyer inquired about issues that concerned him, the Rodenberg’s\u00a0 would answer his questions. Meyer gave his life to Christ, Rodenberg\u00a0 says, after the teenager had three dreams in which he was given the\u00a0 choice between heaven and hell.”<\/p>\n
Rodenberg says Meyer’s conversion proved a blessing in other ways. “Our\u00a0 youngest son had prayed for Helge’s salvation every night since he\u00a0 arrived. What a confirmation for a young boy to witness the blessings of\u00a0 persistent prayer.” He adds, “Today he prays for Ramiro, a Compassion\u00a0 International child with the same persistence.”<\/p>\n
Meyer, too, has returned home and is determined to share his story with\u00a0 family, friends and pastor, Rodenberg says. “As Helge returned to\u00a0 Germany, he went as a missionary.”<\/div>\n
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Copyright \u00a9 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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CHICAGO, IL (December 27, 2005)\u00a0 – German exchange student Isabel “Isa”\u00a0 Schuppan had written “atheist” on the religious preference slot on the\u00a0 program file. She did, however, write that she would be willing to\u00a0 attend church with a host family. She had no idea that the host family\u00a0 would include the pastor of Harvest Ridge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGerman Students Find More Than An Education - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2005\/12\/27\/4664\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"German Students Find More Than An Education - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CHICAGO, IL (December 27, 2005)\u00a0 – German exchange student Isabel “Isa”\u00a0 Schuppan had written “atheist” on the religious preference slot on the\u00a0 program file. 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