We visited the Normandy beaches earlier on the trip and we ended our time with Grandma and Grandpa with an excursion to some WWI trenches. The French had dug in at Hartmannswillerkopf so they could keep an eye on the Germans. At this point, Alsace, a region that changes back between French and Germany, was in German hands. The Germans had the same ida and dug in on the French border (the French side of Alsace). It turned into a battle in which 30,000 men died. War is so pointless.
"Beneath the crosses, row on row"
This was one of the few parts of the French trenches left
The German trenches, on the other hand were much better built
The memorial
Still here?
Today, we arrived at the Gundlach's house after a slight detour to the town of Worms, where Martin Lurher took his stand against the Catholic church. Many people think he took his stand on the words, "Here I stand. I can do no other." But, he actually stated, "Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."* Befuddled as to whether this was really the place we sought, Mom noticed two men speaking English. As her knowledge of the French language would not suffice when trying to communicate in German, she found relief in the fact that the pair of men were from Wales. It turned out, also, that they had been reading the Bible when Mom discovered our similarity. During our talk, we discovered that they were praying for a change in Worms. They prayed that the people of Worms would realize the message of Luther for its truth. After praying with them, we parted ways, us to our lunch, them to continue their prayer-walk through Europe. Finally, we rolled into Bonn and were guided by a running Ben to the home of the Gundlachs. Now, after our brief excursion to the Rhine River, we are settling down to wind down our trip.
The cathedral in Worms
After all that time, Karis has a sister again!
*Learn more about Luther at <http://www.luther.de/en/worms.html>
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