West Berlin

“Tear Down that Wall” the president demanded. But when we arrived a few weeks later, the wall, dividing East and West Berlin was still standing, though now standing in rubble chiseled from the wall. It was just a big, gray wall covered in some places with colorful graffiti and slogans. Small boys were climbing up the wall—some standing on the top. To the left we saw an opening and those of us traveling with the Society of At. Andrews passed through into West Berlin.

We were shocked at how colorless everything looked. Buildings looked abandoned, gray and unloved.

We traveled by bus through most of the Iron-Curtain countries, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland, etc. visiting a nursing home, a church,and a home. Impressions I remember are a field of Sun Flowers We watched as dozens of these plants turned in unison to follow the Sun. I also remember the dark forests we passed through. These impressions from Nature were a striking contrast to the stark, war-torn buildings we saw everywhere.

The Society of St. Andrews was a favorite charity of ours. Soon after we came to the Virginia Conference two young men, Ken Horne and Ray Buchanan, were appointed to small, farming communities on the Eastern shore to serve there as Methodist pastors. They noticed that the -not perfect potatoes were not sold to markets but were plowed under. They asked the bishop if this could be their ministry—getting these ugly potatoes to Food Banks to feed the hungry. The bishop agreed and the “Potato Project” was born. The idea grew and grew. Soon there were other spin-offs. The “Gleaning” project for vegetables other than potatoes. The idea spread beyond Virginia to other communities. With the realization that there are hungry people everywhere the leaders began to look world wide and thus our trip to Europe.