Mnazakan Poghossjan and his daughter Ani  were special guests in Schluchsee.

Jörg Habich, Marian Mulder (Netherlands) and  Mr. Mnazakan were baptized in Schluchsee.

195 people from 10 countries kept the Feast of Tabernacles from October 18 to 25 in the scenic town Schluchsee, located in the southern Black Forest about 25 miles north of the German-Swiss border. Most of those in attendance were from Germany, along with worshippers from Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Great Britain, the Isle of Man, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United States and special guests Mnazakan Poghossjan and his daughter Ani from Armenia.

Beautiful weather and unusually warm temperatures for mid-October provided a pleasant atmosphere for various Feast activities, including a day trip to Meersburg on Lake Constance. In Meersburg the group toured the Meersburg castle, the oldest continuously inhabited castle in Germany and one that was also never conquered in battle. A children's party, a senior's activity, a go-cart race for youth and young adults and the traditional dance evening with live dance music rounded out the social activities during the Feast.

In addition to daily worship services, Feastgoers in Schluchsee attended two "Ambassador Bible Center" lectures conducted by visiting minister Jerold Aust. Jerold and his wife Mary Ann live in Mobile, Alabama, and Jerold presented material that he uses in teaching a class on Christian communication at ABC in Cincinnati.

With messages being preached alternatingly in German and English, a team of translators provided a valuable service for those who did not understand either English or German. The translation was made available via FM radio, with a small FM transmitter provided last year by UCOG. In addition to speakers from Germany and the United States, two men from the Netherlands gave their messages in English.

The group in Schluchsee provided a warm welcome for Mnazakan Poghossjan and his daughter Ani from Armenia. 17 years ago Mr. Poghossjan met Darmstadt church member Albert Wilhelm, who was in Armenia on an editorial assignment for his employer and needed a translator during his visit. Mr. Poghossjan, who speaks fluent German, was his translator, and over the years Mr. Wilhelm and Mr. Poghossjan remained in contact. About five years ago Mr. Wilhelm sent Mr. Poghossjan some literature in German from the Vereinte Kirche Gottes, and Mr. Poghossjan became more and more interested in what he was reading. He began to see that the true teachings of the Bible are quite different from what he learned in the Armenian Orthodox church.

With help from the Wilhelms and other members in the Darmstadt church, Mr. Poghossjan, his wife and daughter planned to attend the Feast in Germany. However, the German embassy in Yerevan refused to grant all three of them a tourist visa. At the last minute, Mr. Wilhelm's congressman in Berlin requested that visas be granted to Mr. Poghossjan and his daughter, who were then able to attend the Feast in Schluchsee. The German congregation sent them home with two suitcases full of clothing and an MP3 player so Mr. Poghossjan can listen to MP3 sermons in German from the Vereinte Kirche Gottes.

On the final day of the Feast a warm round of applause was the response to the announcement that three people had been baptized during the Feast: Mr. Poghossjan, Marian Mulder from the Netherlands and Jörg Habich from Germany.

• Paul Kieffer, October 30, 2005