敬愛的林皙陽牧師平安，
萬分感謝，在您的記憶和貴會的關懷中還給我保留著一個名分。誠然，我和主顯愛惜台灣，疼愛我們所服務過的台灣基督長老教會和祂的神學院。談論和關心台灣的處境是我們的日常主題，台灣有什麼風吹草動，都為我們所關注和代禱。
我們開放家庭接待台灣的年青學生。去年夏天，有三位台灣高中女生來跟我們同住了三星期。她們是台灣和德國學校的交換學生，在德國主人的家裡居住期滿，等待前往柏林修習德文之前，得到台灣基督長老教會的牧師同工介紹而有此機緣。在這期間中，跟她們談論台灣歷史、文化、語言；一起觀賞「打拚：台灣人民的歷史」，激發她們認識自己的國家的熱情。
做為牧者最大的歡喜，就是去年元旦第一個主日，在基督的聖名之下給主顯的親人陳孜怡小姐施洗。她是天分極高的年青女鋼琴演奏家，現今服務於美國Columbo 大學。她的琴藝和詮釋樂章的能力卓越，但在高度商業化的音樂世界要佔有顯著的一席之地，誠非易事，我們祈求上主的美好帶領。
去年是我們的家庭悲喜參半的一年。喜事是，孩子Ikki和媳婦Anne成婚，而由我來主持結婚禮拜，這應是為母者給孩子最好的祝福。新郎是柏林歌劇院的提琴手；媳婦為鋼琴演奏者，組有三人六手 ”Some Hands Handsome "演奏團隊。喪事有，家母在去年秋天安然息勞歸天，享壽88歲。她的不孝查某囝，親自主持老母的告別禮拜；這算是父母當年反對她讀神學、當牧師的最佳答案和安慰吧。
我們歡喜知道德國教授對於台灣有非常美好的風評。那是，數年前我曾介紹德國風琴大師凱撒教授(Professor Kaiser)到輔仁大學演講和演奏。今年凱撒教授再度獲得邀請來該校演出。這位教授回德之後，為他的台灣經驗做了非常好的評價，讚揚有加，對於貴國的學者和人民的印像極佳。當然啦，對於台灣美食文化也受到極大震撼。
我牧養的St. Joahnnis堂會已經完成教堂外部的修建工程，今年二月將開始教堂內部整修。我們是市中心的教堂，會友並不富裕，但大家齊心努力，通過音樂會、文化活動、特別捐獻，而有260,000歐元獻金。我們喜見即將達成總會要求堂會負擔金的額度，三十萬歐元(總工程費是內部二百萬歐元，外部一百萬歐元)。感謝上主鴻恩，在一般德國教會教勢盛況不再的情形下，本會兄姊盡力以赴，大家歡喜展望著明年六月以前，修建工程得以完竣。
求主賜福您、牧師娘秀卿，以及千金、公子。我也深深感激您招集台灣教會的朋友，大家好意關懷曾到台灣貴會事奉的傳教者。我非常感謝您在聖誕節前惠賜的「協會」的慰問金。
主內同工，胡陳美娜 敬上
Mainz. 2013/2/18
Rev. Dr. Bettina Opitz-Chen
Dear Sek Iong,
Our greetings from Mainz on the eve of the Chinese New year. May your family be blessed and your work be fruitful.
We spent a very intensive time to follow the elections in Taiwan and my husband Chu- Hian was hopeful for the recovery of Taiwan and I was really moved to see the brevity and style of the election campaign of the DPP candidate, and a wave of awakening went over Taiwan. But the despair was also deep to see that the majority of Taiwanese finally was entangled with the present government and brain washed for so long time. So, speaking of Taiwan daily we see that it takes a lot of work to prepare the path for fairness in election and a true political insight of the majority of the Taiwanese. In March Chu- Hian will return to Taiwan for a month for a family event which is healthy for his soul.
My work in the St. Johannis church in Mainz is very tough concerning the renovation duty of this old church building. The outside is finished. And this summer the renovation inside will start. We spent a lot of energy for fundraising in our poor downtown congregation and among the citizen of this heavily katholic city and raised 210 000 Euro and still have to raise another 50000 Euro as our share of the costs. The rest up to 2 million is paid by the church government. And it is finally a restorations and the church will look like before, no special art is possible, it will be only the preservation of the old treasure from the 10th century.
It is not easy to keep the spiritual life of the congregation as the priority in the middle of all the practical construction business, not to talk much about money but raise funds. But if the spiritual life of the congregation and the personal presence of the pastor decreases, the people immediately go to other churches, the sense of belonging is not strong, the sense of receiving and consuming spiritual nutrition is stronger. This is normal in the German church.
In these days of christmas until New Year we had a special guest, a relative of my husband, Tzu-Yi Chen from Taipei, a very excellent young pianist who finished her Konzertexamen in Karlsruhe, Germany, and is now an assisten /student in the Music faculty in Columbus, Georgia. I had the great joy to baptize her in the New Year´s serviceon the 1st of January in St. Johannis church.
Coming from a Christian family but spending her study time in France and Germany she had a long way of searching her religious ground, and there were obviously no Christians around in her music world to bring her to the fresh water of Christ. And then, suddenly in her new surrounding and very competitive hard life in Columbus, which she describes as hell, a small group of Taiwanese-Chinese Christians, who help the new students in practical life and give them a spiritual home, could touch her heart, and she did very serious bible studies with them.
They did a great work, prayed for her decision to become a Christian, the holy spirit worked on her clearly, her decision was clear and easy after two month of studies and prayer, and we continued here in Mainz to feed her great hunger of bible knowledge, and she was really mature to receive baptism. For my congregation it was very moving and a real ecumenical event.
The other good news of the Christmas time was that my son Ikki in Berlin wants to marry here in St. Johannis in this year. He is working in a leading position as a violinist in the Berlin Opera and his wife Anne Salie is a very warm hearted solid person, a pianist.
This generation in Germany is so very much hesitating to marry, as so many of them experienced broken marriages, so we are double happy as we could not take it for granted. It is really a phenomenon just of their generation. The much younger ones dare to marry. You know, pianists have even more difficulty to live as performing musicians as there are so incredibly many on highest level. . So our daughter in law (Anne Salie) founded a Trio on one piano: Three pianists, six hands on one piano and the literature is mainly composed for them. The ensemble is called "Some handsome hands", you can find them in the internet. That is how they try to have a chance in the music world, which is hell, as Tzuyi describes it.
These are news from our present situation in Mainz, Chu- hian is diligently writing his book of introduction to comon sayings and I do my daily pastoral work until summer 2014, then I have to retire.
My sincere greetings to you and your family
Bettina Opitz-Chen