FISh

So in Copenhagen there is a group called FISh--Fellowship of International Students. The group holds meetings at my school, DIS, and they have meetings weekly on Tuesdays. It's a bible study, in English, for students studying in Copenhagen. I went to the first one last week but the leader, Pastor Chad, was ill so there were just a few students there. But tonight, he hosted dinner at the church house in Hellerup, about 20 minutes from school. I should say that he is the pastor of the International Church of Copenhagen, a nondenominational church for English-speaking students/residents/visitors of Copenhagen. He is an American who actually attended seminary in PA!

So my friend Jesse and several others went to the church house for dinner at 6:30. All told, there were about 20 of us from FISh there. We ate a traditional American grill dinner--burgers, chips, etc. And cookies! We ate dinner and sat around and talked. I met a lot of nice people including a girl from England studying music, a girl from Hungary studying business, and a guy from North Carolina at Copenhagen U. We talked for three and a half hours and it was undoubtedly the best evening experience I have had in a long while. Everything came up for discussion: Copenhagen, live in England/Hungary/U.S., Christianity, school, faith, and the list goes on. Tonight's conversations were great because they were genuine, and among genuine people. I loved the people there because they were caring, compassionate, Christians who were just as much interested in me as I was in them. I felt for the first time in a while I could openly discuss things like faith, Christianity, and the like with people who cared and could give thoughtful responses. I got to meet Chad too which was nice. He seems like a great family man--his two kids were adorable and provided some entertainment for us all. He provided some insight into the basics of the Lutheran faith of which I had not known. His church services sound nice too; I hope to attend some of them. The entire experience was something I hope to continue having, each Tuesday at FISh meeting. Here's to a good semester with the group!