Beusselstr. Prayer Walk

Prayer Walk

I am amazed at how the Holy Spirit has led me on my prayer walks.  Last week He gave me the idea to go to a different station each day on the Ring-Bahn (which is the train that does a circle around Berlin) and pray for an hour while walking the streets.  Today was the day for Beussel Str. and after some amazing times of walking around beautiful parks on my other prayer days I wondered if there could be any beauty at Beussel Str.  This station is where we normally catch  a bus for the airport.  The road is busy with traffic and I was thinking that I did not want to walk in the direction of the airport.  However, as I came out of the station, there was an unmistakable voice that said, “Turn right” and so I did.  I wondered why I was led in this direction but decided that I was to pray for all the commuters that possibly travel that route every day. I prayed that angels would be in their cars and (or) that the people would realize that angels are around protecting them.  I prayed for an awareness of their Father God and that they would be seized with the knowledge that there is a God and that He loves them.

Then I saw a sign that said, “Gedenkstatte Plotzensee” and although I didn’t know what Gedenkstatte meant, “See” means lake in German and I thought the Holy Spirit was leading me another lake and so I followed the signs.  I was disappointed when I finally got to the Gedenkstatte Plotzensee (means Memorial Center) because it obviously was NOT the See but looked like a huge factory!  There were no cars or people in sight and it was a little scary.  Then I came to an entrance gate with a Visitor Welcome sign with hours posted and so I walked in and found myself all alone in a huge courtyard.  In front of me was a big wall with the words written on it, “Den Opfern Der Hitlerdiktatur Der Jahre 1933-1945” – (The Victims of the Nazi Dictatorship – The years 1933-1945).

What a shock to see “Hitler” written on a wall in Berlin as Germans have done their best to rid themselves of any remembrance of him.  I walked further on and entered into a room that had pictures and information in German and English and I learned that the place had been a prison built in 1868-1879.  So, the Holy Spirit had led me to a former prison!  I was amazed and knew it was no accident that I was there.

It was massive in it’s day with 62 acres and housed 1200 prisoners.  When Hitler came to power, conditions at the prison became much harsher and many were killed for retribution or simply because they were “inferior elements.”  The saddest case I read about was a young man only about 22 years old who had said to his mother and her friend, “Hitler is a mad man.”  The mother’s friend turned him in and he was murdered at this prison.

 There is still a high wall that surrounds the acreage and I read that while much of the prison was destroyed in the war, the property is now a prison home for Juvenile Delinquents.  While I was walking around I could hear shouts and yells of many boys.  I longed to see them or visit them.  There was barbed wire on top of the brick walls which gave an eerie feeling and down the road many signs saying not to enter into those grounds.

I knew without doubt that the Holy Spirit had directed my steps to this former prison to pray.  I sat on a bench and asked the Holy Spirit, “What should I pray?” and I felt that He wanted me to walk around the complex and proclaim forgiveness.  As I began my walk around praying out loud, “Mercy & Forgiveness” I felt like I’d been slugged in the stomach – such an oppression came over me.  I almost felt sick but I kept on and prayed out loud, “He who the Son sets free is free indeed!”

After this I wanted to see if I could get a peek into the Juvenile Grounds but found you couldn’t get near.  I found myself walking alongside some Berlin Garden houses that are prevalent all over Germany.  I felt led to walk into the complex where there was a sign welcoming visitors to “our tiny garden”.  After the harshness, starkness and coldness of the prison this was a fresh breeze of joy for me.  The gardens were all unique and beautiful in their own way.  I thought about the fact that each garden was a picture of humans.  Some of the gardens were immaculate; some were stuffed with plants; some were clean and some messy yet they all had a personal touch.  They were all unique and that is how I think the Father views us: beautiful as flowers yet unique and special.  I had fun praying in the gardens and before I knew it over an hour had passed and I still had to walk all the way back to the train station.  The day had been well worth the time.  Walking and praying with Jesus is always an adventure!

Typical Garden plot with small structure

More on Germany's little garden plots.  I found this info at http://www.slowtravelberlin.com/2011/11/08/berlins-community-gardens/

 These are Germany’s allotment gardens, which are something like U.S. community gardens, super-sized. Though we like to think of urban agriculture and local foods as some sort of newfangled revolutionary things, Kleingartenkolonies have been around for a long time. The concept originated in the 19th Century, when the German government, instead of handing out welfare, granted land to poor folks to garden so that they could provide for themselves. The gardens were also intended to reconnect kids with nature, which was certainly an idea before its time.
Over the decades, the number of allotment gardens grew; when the city ran out of empty land, it bought more, with help from the federal government. After World War II, people actually lived on their plots, which may explain why so many of the current structures look more like little houses than potting sheds.
Today, there are more than 800 Gartenkolonies in Berlin, alone.