The annual Thanksgiving celebration at the Unterwegs campus ministry in Tübingen, Germany, drew 130 people, and the atmosphere was like no other Thanksgiving before it, according to Globalscope campus minister Tyler Crawford.

“We decided to shift the focus to connecting our friends from local churches with the students from Unterwegs,” said Tyler. “We set up the tables family-style and had volunteer wait staff bring the food to the tables to give people a chance to sit, chat and connect with people they might never come in contact with.

“For example, a pastor from the Jakobus church sat next to a student who has never been to a church during all his years in Tübingen,” added Tyler. “And for an hour and a half, a church elder and his wife from the Kreuzkirche sat and talked to the winner of last year’s Unterwegs Servant Leadership Award, and they made a date to celebrate Christmas together.”

For Tyler and his wife Shalynn, one of the highlights of the day came when university student Hannah stepped to the stage in front of the large crowd to share the things she’s thankful for.

“Hannah has been around Unterwegs for a long time,” said Tyler. “We met at a Café English and she wasn’t interested in sharing much about herself.”

That has now changed. As she stood before the group, Hannah took a deep breath and shared: “When I look at my life I see a lot of chaos and problems. But the longer I look at it, the more I see the small things that make me grateful to be here: a song I like to sing, an encouraging word from a friend in the right moment.”

“Hannah didn’t always talk like that,” said Tyler, “and the influence Unterwegs has had in her life over the last four years all comes out on stage. She sings in the Unterwegs band and hosts her Vesper small group in her home.”

“After Thanksgiving, I realized how lucky I have been all these years,” Hannah said later. “I applied to universities all over Germany, and I was accepted in the one city where there is an Unterwegs. I can’t imagine my life without it.”