The Uhlenhorst reunion

A Little Slice of Heaven

We first came to Germany 17 years ago, ten days after our wedding. Jost immediately plunged into his graduate studies and tried to juggle several part-time jobs while we renovated his grandmother’s apartment where we were living and I . . . I hit rock bottom! Those first few months were so hard, adjusting to a new marriage in a new culture and a new language where I had to operate at the effectiveness of a toddler. Except that toddlers are cute, and I was just big and—well, from the looks I got—a little slow.

Conny

It was right about that time that we were introduced to a little Free Evangelical Church that met in a slightly dilapidated townhouse near the shores of the Alster, the beautiful lake in the center of Hamburg. The church was looking for someone to rent an apartment upstairs that had belonged to the former pastor, and we were looking for a church and an apartment—perfect! We went to a service to meet the pastor and we were welcomed warmly. But then the tiny organ at the back of the sanctuary began to play and something started to happen which I gradually realized was meant to be congregational singing, and my terrible homesickness reared its ugly head and I just sat in my chair and wept. It wasn’t exactly the best renter’s recommendation.

Johann

Still, they were gracious (or desperate!) and offered us the apartment nonetheless, and that began a four-year relationship that proved to be overwhelmingly supportive and nourishing for us. Those 40 or so people in that little church truly became our family for those years. When Hannes was born they adopted him as the church baby and I rarely saw him when church people were in the house. We ate and played together, celebrated and cried together. We were an odd assortment of people of all ages and life stages and backgrounds, and we definitely weren’t perfect. But we worked hard at practicing what church was supposed to be.

Astrid

In 1994 the headquarters of the Free Evangelical Church decided that they could no longer keep subsidizing our little congregation, and against our wishes the church was closed and the building where we lived was sold. For us and some others this meant a move to a new neighborhood; for all of us it meant a scattering to different churches.

Jens-Peter

One month ago, though, at the end of the Easter vacation, we all got together again, after 14 years. A few organizers had used our return to Germany as a motivation to call a reunion, and more than 40 people joined together in the fellowship hall of another church in Hamburg to touch base again.

These strange men all became fathers together in 1990.
I think they're recreating a photo of their wives at that time
lined up with their pregnant tummies.

We ate together again—Margret brought her famous Schneewittchen Kuchen—and we laughed together and told about our lives. The hordes of little kids that used to storm our apartment and hang on our legs are all grown up and starting families of their own. Hannes is taller than most of the adults who had held him and tossed him in the air. Several of the older members have died; others are dealing with cancer and its aftermath.

Manfred

But like someone said, “This has got to be a little like what heaven will be like!” Amen.