In February, Claudia's niece Jenny kindly invited us to her 40th birthday party in Böblingen.

Jenny with mother, brother and his family

Cyrill has been supporting Adonia's spring and fall tours for years. Through him, we learned that kitchen staff was urgently needed for the newly launched tour group for Bremen and northwestern Lower Saxony from April 5 to 12. Since Claudia had gained experience cooking for large groups decades ago in Gnadenthal, she took on the role of kitchen manager with some trepidation, supported by Christoph and another couple our age. So we provided the approximately 70 young people and staff at a comprehensive school in Emden with the necessary calories from morning to night during their rehearsal days and were glad that they all survived it well. The four fantastic “ Mose” concerts, one of which was in Bremen, were a great reward.

From February 6 to June 15, the Museum for Communication in Berlin hosted a special exhibition entitled “ From Asterix to Magic Potion ”. This was the occasion for Asterix fans to meet in Berlin from May 9 to 11.

Christoph had reserved a few days of vacation to help Colin and Karo move from Rome to Heidelberg. But we were told that there was no need, since they had the support of Chaim Lukas and Cyrill. Therefore, we had free time instead!

Since we had both neglected the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Baltic Sea coast until now, we spent six relaxing days in August in Karlshagen on Usedom. Our decision to stay at the Strandhotel Usedom proved to be a very good one. We were thoroughly pampered, not only by the extensive breakfast menu with individually prepared eggs, but also by the location, among other things.

We were just a short stroll from the beach and the train station was within walking distance. As Karlshagen is located in the immediate vicinity of the former Peenemünde rocket test site, we took the opportunity to take a guided tour of the site. Fortunately, there is not much left to see: nature has reclaimed the area.

For this year's vacation in France, we both flew to Toulouse on September 4, where Chaim Lukas arrived by train. Due to a flight cancellation, we arrived very late. Fortunately, Stephanie, a good friend, picked us up from the airport. Since the restaurants were already closed, the four of us got something to eat at a nearby snack bar and ate at the hostel—it was a good time.

We made good use of our days in Colomiers. Christoph met his colleagues at Airbus, Claudia was back at the lycée (it's getting harder and harder to get in there), and Chaim Lukas was invited to dinner with us by a good friend from the church. This gave us the opportunity to meet Jonathan and his growing family at home. On Sunday, other old friends welcomed us to the church service and the communal meal that followed. On Monday, the three of us went to Bordeaux, where Cyrill's godfather Robin picked us up from the train station and then Cyrill from the airport. Together we drove to the holiday resort “ La Jenny on the Atlantic coast, where we were welcomed by Chaim Lukas' godfather Peter.

We had rented a large chalet with three bedrooms for the week, one with a double bed and two with two single beds each, a combination that was only available once.

We both went to aqua aerobics several times, and the boys went archery. Chaim Lukas on inline skates and Christoph on a rented bike rode to Arès (at the Bassin d'Arcachon) one day. Meanwhile, Robin took part in archery with Cyrill. And of course, we also dove into the Atlantic waves a few times, even though it was windy and a bit chilly.

Through our connection with Adonia, we learned from a performance of the “Mose” musical in Hamburg-Neuallermöhe on October 24. Since it was Christoph's birthday the day before and his father lives nearby, it was a great opportunity to celebrate by eating together with him, as well as Christoph's sister and brother-in-law and then to watch the play. We all enjoyed it very much.

In recent years, we have greatly enjoyed attending the Christmas musicals presented by the ICF in Munich and the Move Church in Wiesbaden. As Cyrill was hosting someone else, Colin and Karo generously offered to hire a car so we could travel together from Heidelberg to see the show and then spend the night at their place. Brilliant!!!

In Munich , Chaim Lukas gave a very convincing performance as archangel Raphael. In one scene, he explains to a new angel colleague how many attempts have already been made to point a protagonist to God. To illustrate this, he “scrolls” through the attempts that were made in the last week alone. It feels like God has sent her a thousand such messages through the angels. For me (Claudia), it really clicked again how much God cares for me through the angels.

Cyrill was responsible for the technology of the Move Church Christmas musical production. It dramatically portrayed how positive intentions can sometimes backfire: Four young people were on their way to see the king who was to be born. One stayed behind in Alexandria and became involved in helping the oppressed people of the city by supporting a revolution. It was impressive how he developed into a terrifying figure later on.

We had originally planned to also go to the musical “ Weihnachten neu erleben ” (Rediscover Christmas) in Karlsruhe. But the 90 000 tickets were gone too quickly. We ended up seeing it at home in Bremen. It nicely rounded off the two previous musicals with the message: “What if we were judged not by our weaknesses, but by our strengths?”.

After an exciting and eventful year in Rome, the couple moved to Heidelberg in August.

Karoline is now expected to complete her studies there in 1 ½ years with a theology degree and church examination. She is also involved with Sisters e.V. and has founded the Heidelberg local group.

Colin continues to work from home at Univelop as a software developer and team leader. He is also very active in church committee work, both at the level of the Northern German Church and in the Hamburg-West/Südholstein church district.

He continues to work as technical director at “Move Church” in Wiesbaden. In September, he successfully completed his studies in “Event Management and Event Technology” and subsequently increased his working hours to 40 hours per week.

This year, Cyrill toured again with “Adonia” as a lighting technician in the spring and fall. He spent a week with us on vacation on the French Atlantic coast.

After completing his studies, he decided to get a truck (CE) driver's license; he is currently about halfway through the theory lessons.