Jutta Berndt—My Story

I'm not an expert in any field by any stretch. I'm just an ordinary person doing ordinary things like nursing and missionary work. Trying to help others has always been my goal, but I felt for years that something was missing. Picture this, a small child riding in a canoe with her brothers and father down the Alster River in Germany and who lives in a stately, three-story house with a grand piano in the front room on Blumenau Strasse in Hamburg, Germany. Picture this a few years later, a child of seven holding hands with her siblings so tightly it hurts and shaking in terror at the thought that she might become separated from them as they are loaded on cattle cars to get out of Germany because it is WWII, and her beautiful home was bombed and nothing remains except a few trinkets to take with her. Only her mother accompanies them because her father has left to join Hitler's army. Jutta Berndt—My Story is an account of a child born to a white supremacist father and a mother who sinks into deep depression only to emerge at times as demanding and abusive. This is the journey that little Jutta begins toward using her God-given talent to care and comfort, first for her family, and later in America as a nurse, and in doing so, discovers exactly what her childlike heart has been missing. By the end of Jutta Berndt—My Story you will understand how an ordinary person can make a significant difference in many people's lives. This novel appeals to men and women alike who enjoyed All the Little Miracles by Carol Huebsch Reeves.

I'm not an expert in any field by any stretch. I'm just an ordinary person doing ordinary things like nursing and missionary work. Trying to help others has always been my goal, but I felt for years that something was missing. Picture this, a small child riding in a canoe with her brothers and father down the Alster River in Germany and who lives in a stately, three-story house with a grand piano in the front room on Blumenau Strasse in Hamburg, Germany. Picture this a few years later, a child of seven holding hands with her siblings so tightly it hurts and shaking in terror at the thought that she might become separated from them as they are loaded on cattle cars to get out of Germany because it is WWII, and her beautiful home was bombed and nothing remains except a few trinkets to take with her. Only her mother accompanies them because her father has left to join Hitler's army. Jutta Berndt—My Story is an account of a child born to a white supremacist father and a mother who sinks into deep depression only to emerge at times as demanding and abusive. This is the journey that little Jutta begins toward using her God-given talent to care and comfort, first for her family, and later in America as a nurse, and in doing so, discovers exactly what her childlike heart has been missing. By the end of Jutta Berndt—My Story you will understand how an ordinary person can make a significant difference in many people's lives. This novel appeals to men and women alike who enjoyed All the Little Miracles by Carol Huebsch Reeves.

Jutta Berndt is a WWII survivor. Her father was an atheist but played Christmas songs on the piano. Jutta wanted to know what was missing in her life after hearing and singing those songs about God's love and His son, Jesus. She immigrated to America in 1952 and received her registered nursing license in 1957 in America and nursed the sick and dying in various hospitals. During nursing school, she attended a Billy Graham Crusade which strengthened her faith. She married, and along with her husband, Pastor Manfred Berndt, became a missionary in Hong Kong. After leaving Hong Kong, where they served for sixteen years and arriving in Pocatello, Idaho, and one of the things she then enjoyed was working with the youth at Grace Lutheran Church and School. She became a Stephen Minister, and with her husband, served as clergy leaders for twenty-two years for Lutheran Marriage Encounter. After retirement from Grace, they moved to Hailey, Idaho, and Manfred served as a retired pastor for six more years. This grandmother and godmother of many children still resides in Hailey, Idaho, after the death of her husband in 2010.