Zurich

After our trip to Bodensee, we decided to take a spontaneous trip into Switzerland to visit Zurich.  This wasn't an original part of our sabbatical plans, but we were only 1.5 hrs away and it's Zurich... why wouldn't we go?

So on Tuesday April 7th we cleared out of our vacation home in Bodensee, Dave and Rebekka and their kids drove back to Bammental, but we loaded into our VW Passat for a day in Switzerland.


I'm glad we did.  Zurich was amazing.  One of, if not the, most beautiful city I've ever been in.  We had a wonderful day too; it was a bit cool, but not cold, and very sunny.  I wish we would have had more than 4-5 hours there.

Walking around a city is not Roslyn's favorite thing to do.  In fact, she hates it.  We knew this going into it.  But still.  It was worth dealing with her tantrums and fits for the opportunity.

Zurich is also an important city in Reformation/Anabaptist history.  To the left is a picture of the Grossmunster, the cathedral where Ulrich Zwingli began his reforms in Switzerland.  Zwingli was an influential leader and peer to Martin Luther during the Reformation.  He also was the teacher of Felix Manz and Conrad Grebel, students of his who would go in a more radical direction and become leaders in of the Anabaptist Movement.  Several debates between Zwingli and the Anabaptist ensued.  Eventually, the Anabaptist broke with Zwingli and his reforms.  The Anabaptists wanted a free church that was separate from state influence/control, rejected the use of the sword as a tool of the church, and advocated baptism for adults upon an open confession of faith.

Sitting outside the Grossmunster, I imagined what it would be like 500 years ago when these men worshiped, studied, debated, and argued together in this very place.

Just beind the Grossmunster, on a small street called Neustadtgasse, was the location of the first adult re-baptisms ever recorded.  On January 21, 1525, on the street pictured to the left, Conrad Grebel baptized George Balurock in the home of Felix Manz's mother.  After Blaurock was baptized, he then baptized the others present.  This was a powerful rejection of the state-sanctioned baptism of the Catholic and Reformation churches of the day.  It also marked a significant moment in the development of the Anabaptist movement. And it all took place on this little alley right in the shadow of the Grossmunster itself.




The Anabaptist leaders were ordered to stop their baptizing, teaching, and evangelism or leave Zurich.  When they refused, they were further threatened with imprisonment, fines, and even death.  Still, the Anabaptists refused and remained true to their convictions.

In particular, Felix Manz continued to preach and baptize and give leadership to the Anabaptist movement.  He was eventually arrested, imprisoned, and put on trial.  In the picture to the left, the two towers are cathedral spires of the Grossmunster, the bridge is the place where Manz was sentenced to death, and the place where I took the picture is the place where he was drowned in the Limmat river on January 5, 1527.  For all it's beauty, there is a tragic history that took place here.

But it's not without hope.  When I was in the Grossmunster, after admiring the architectural beauty I went to the book table.  On the table I saw the book pictured to the right, which I bought. It is true that steps toward reconciliation have happened.  The Reformed church has made official confession of their persecution of Anabaptists, and Anabaptists have also expressed a commitment to walking together in peace.

I had a brief conversation with the man at the book table in the Grossmunster.  Through a combination of his broken English and my limited German he made sure I had the directions to the Shipfe, the location where Manz was drowned.  It was a moment in which I felt like we both owned our common history together and are striving to learn and grow from it.

Frohe Ostern!

On Easter Sunday we attended worship service at Dave and Rebekka's church.  We got really good at saying "frohe ostern" which is German for "Happy Easter."

Like any pastor, Dave and Rebekka were busy during Holy Week.  But once Easter Sunday was over, their schedules freed up.  To celebrate we all took a road trip to the very south of Germany to Lake Constance.  The Germans call it Bodensee, which literally means "bottom see" because you can see the bottom through the crystal clear water.




Bodensee isn't internationally know, but it's a place where Germans go to vacation.  I would compare it to Sleeping Bear Dunes in Northern Michigan (only substitute the sand dunes for medieval towns and castles).  Rebekka's mother works at managing vacation condos, so she hooked us up with a last minute deal for all of us to go down for two nights.

When you look south across the lake, you are looking at Switzerland to the SW and Austria to the SE.  You can also see the snow-caped Alps in the background.  The view was much more magnificent than what my Sony Cyber-Shot 10x zoom could capture.

We met Rebekka's parents and sister at their home, and the kids had an Easter egg hunt.

Rebekka's mom served us Kaffee and Kuchen at 4:00.  It consisted of rolls, danishes, and "bee-sting cake," which is a delicious honey cake as the name implies.

I thought this would be our supper for the day, so I ate a lot.










But I was wrong.  Because at around 6:00 they served us a full-on Aben Brot, which means "evening bread."  This is the typical German supper that consists of fresh bread, sliced meats and cheeses, lots of butter, fruits and veggies, and other sides such as olives, pickles, etc.





The next day we were able to work off some of the food from the night before by walking around Bodensee and the town of Meersburg where we toured a castle.

Back in Toledo

We've arrived safely back to Toledo.  Our 9-hour return flight from Frankfurt to Detroit went smoothly, mostly because Roslyn watch TV for six of those nine hours.  We landed yesterday at 3:00 Eastern Time, which is 9:00 Germany time.  The girls both fell asleep in the car on the way home from the airport, and that helped us stretch to 7:30 before going to bed.  Then the girls got up a little before 5:00 am this morning, but that wasn't even so bad.  

What an amazing trip!  It's hard to even describe it at this point.  In total, we spent 50 days abroad in five different countries speaking three different languages.  We had four flights, two train rides, one long-distance bus ride, a boat ride, dozens of hours in cars, and numerous trips on subways, trams, and buses.  We slept in 8 different locations, and I lost count of how many homes and restaurants we ate in.  We saw amazing beauty in very different climates, and of course we interacted with amazing friends all over the world.  Such and adventure!

I've fallen behind on some posts, so even though our travels are over now I still plan to write a post about our trip to Zurich and a post about some other events in Germany.  

Since our girls were up early, and we had no food in the fridge, we went out for breakfast at Uncle John's Pancake house in Toledo.  Emiley and I were craving biscuits and gravy.




Then we went to the Toledo Farmers Market to buy some food for the week.  It was fun to see the vendors we've come to know at the market.  Now it's 10:30 and I'm not sure what we'll do for the rest of the day ahead.

Anabaptist History: Augsburg

On Wednesday April 1st, Dave and I took a trip to Augsburg with Wolfgang Krauss, who is the regional expert on Anabaptist History.  Dave has known Wolfgang since Dave's parents were missionaries in Germany when he was just a boy.  Dave has also been a colleague of Wolfgang's since Dave did an international service assignment at the Mennonite Peace Committee office here in Bammental.

So thanks to Dave for arranging a private tour of Augsburg with the leading Anabaptist expert in Germany.  Much of what we saw I had already learned about in Anabaptist history courses, but of course it was nice to see for my self.   Here are some of the sights we saw.

This street is the location where Hans Denck baptized Hans Hut, and is located next to the old city gate.  It is known to be the sencond adult re-baptism upon confession of faith that took place in Augsburg because of the records of Hans Hut's arrest and trial.  Scholars still wonder who was the first Anabaptist in Augsburg, with the leading theory being Hans Denck himself.  But since no records exist, it is merely speculation.  

The two pictures above are of a house in Augsburg at the corner of Hinterer Lech and Schleifergasschen.  It was the house of Susanna Daucher who hosted Anabaptist gatherings.  Eventually, her and the house were discovered by the ecclesial authorities and many people were arrested and imprisoned.  Susanna herself was then banished from Augsburg.  Wolfgang was instrumental in getting this memorial plaque placed on the house, and it is the first officially-recognized commemoration of the Anabaptists in the city of Augsburg.  

This intersection is where the old horse market was located.  It is significant because city records indicated that a meeting of 60 leading Anabaptists took place in a "house near the horse market."  It was at this meeting that some core convictions were agreed upon by Anabaptists in Switzerland and Southern Germany, and from this meeting the participants were sent out two-by-two to do evangelism across the region.   This meeting of Anabaptists became known as the Martyrs' Synod because eventuall 58 of the 60 participants were tracked down, arrested, and martyred.  You can read more about it by clicking here and here, and here.  

These two photos are of the meeting place of the modern-day Augsburg Mennonite Church.  They meet in a cafe/club called the Neruda, named after the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda because he's the owner's favorite poet.  The Neruda is a cafe throughout the week, and closed on Sundays.  Wolfgang got to know the owner and came up with an arrangement where the church can use the space once a month on Sunday morning.  They start their gathering with a potluck meal, then sing a few songs, have conversation around a scripture passage, share communion, and then close with a prayer and benediction.  We went into the Neruda on this particular night and it was packed with people listening to live music.

Berlin to Bammental

We said goodbye to the Whites and left Berlin on Saturday, March 28.  Roslyn was sad to say goodbye to her new friend Ariella, and we of course were also bummed to say goodbye to Ryan and Alethia.  It had been about three years since we had last seen them, and who knows how long it will be until we see each other again.





We had a good train ride from Berlin all the way to Bammental.  It involved two transfers, one in Frankfurt, and one in Heidelberg.  Both transfers went smoothly and we've found we really enjoy train travel.  Train travel is the way to go; less stressed and cramped then air travel, and more leisurely than car travel.

Our train out of Berlin left at around 11:30, so we were soon ready for lunch after departure.  We decided to go to the dining car, and we had a really good and pleasant meal.  Also, Roslyn made a new friend (which has become a theme of our travels).  You can see the little girl in the background, and her name was Johanna.  She and her mom even invited Roslyn to go with them to their car and play for awhile after lunch.  Which was great for us because we took Liz back to our car for a nap and then Emiley and I had some adult time to ourselves.


After about a 6-hour trip we arrived in Bammental.  Bammental is a village of about 6,000 people in the hills of southern Germany about 20 minutes from Heidelberg and one hour from Frankfurt.

To the left is a picture of our little apartment where we are staying in the Hausgemeinschaft.




We are visiting our friends Dave and Rebekka Stutzman who are in Bammental through a partnership with Mennonite Mission Network, Virginia Mennonite Missions, and the Mennonite Conference here in Germany.  They are working as part-time pastors with an intentional community while also doing some networking among Anabaptist-minded young adults.  When their term ends later this year, they will be starting a new church planting project. In my mind, Dave and Rebekka will make excellent church planters, and it's been exciting to catch up with them about their ministry, talk theology, and dream big dreams.

Thus far we've been worshiping with the community for Holy Week as well as taking some time to visit the surrounding areas.  I'll post more about our adventures later, but let me just say, Southern Germany is gorgeous.  It is quintessential Germany in my mind.  The weather has been cool and rainy, but even so, that hasn't stopped us from getting off on the right foot here in Bammental.

Sight Seeing in Berlin

I've really enjoyed Berlin.  Talk about an efficient, well designed city; it really fits the German stereotype, and I like it.  It doesn't look a lot like what I think of when i think of Germany, and that's because most of the city was destroyed in WWII.  The city of Berlin that exists today is therefore a relatively "new" city because most of the buildings are newly built.

Throughout our week with the Whites, we had time here and there to go around and see some of the sights.  Here are a few of the memorable ones....

The Holocaust memorial is an abstract display made up of concrete rectangular blocks of varying sizes.  As you walk through the exhibit, the blocks get larger, and it becomes more maze-like.  It is meant to give the effect of experiencing other people gradually disappear.

The Bradenburg Gate is one of the most well-known and popular sights in Berlin.  Next to it is the Reichstag (government) Building which we also toured.

Even the playgrounds in Berlin are creatively- and well-designed.  Each one has a unique theme, and they are equipped with zip-lines, rope bridges, and all kinds of abstract climbing structures that go really high.  It's too bad these kinds of playgrounds would never be approved in the United Stated due to liability concerns.  They are fun for children and adults.

One afternoon Ryan and I rode around the city on bikes and stopped at two sights.  The first sight, pictured to the left, was a memorial of mentally and physically handicapped people who were systematically murdered during the Nazi regime....

 .... The second sight, pictured to the left, was a memorial to those who resisted the Nazi regime.  Inside was a large exhibit dedicated to the resisters, which included information about Theologians like Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, among other Christian leaders who spoke out against Nazism.

On one of our last days, we went to see the Berlin Wall.  You can see the wall in the background.  Behind the wall is one of the few (if not the only) remaining building from the Hitler Regime.  Most have been demolished or destroyed, but this one still remains and is now a government finance building.

Right next to the wall is a museum called the Topography of Terror.  It is in this location because this is where the central administration of the 3rd Reicht was located.  Many of the atrocities committed were a direct result of decisions and orders given from this site.

On this particular afternoon that we visited the Topography of Terror, Roslyn was in a very feisty mood.  She was running and dancing and being loud, and wouldn't listen to our instructions to walk, calm down, and be quiet.  At first this really bothered me.  Partly because she wouldn't follow my instructions, but also because I was worried that her behavior was disrespectful to the others who were visiting the memorial.  But then, as I took a minute to think about it a bit more, my perspective changed.  I realized that there is something beautiful about an energetic little girl dressed in a bright green coat and full of energy and joy singing and dancing in a place that was formerly a sight of horrific violence and evil.  When I realized that, I was glad to let her be the exuberant girl she is, and I believe God was smiling in that moment too.

Seder

Preparing the Lamb

Yesterday, 25 March 2015, at 4:00 Berlin time, we commenced our Seder tradition.  We were with the Whites and their friends Ben and Melissa.  Ben and Melissa are Mennonite Brethren church planters here in Berlin.

This is the 9th time that we have celebrated Seder, and it has become a significant event for us during the Easter season.  The first 5 years we celebrated in Pasadena during seminary.  Since then, our friends have scattered but we've continued to observe the tradition whenever possible. We have gathered in Ritzville WA, Sauderton PA, Toledo, OH, and now Berlin Germany.

Preparing the Toum

In addition to being a wonderful feast with good friends, the Seder meal is an important faith experience for me as well.  It recounts the Exodus story, and the liturgy we use connects the story of Israel to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  It's very rich in tradition, and it makes significant connections between both testaments of the Christian scriptures.  My faith iss always deepened each year through both the liturgy and the conversations that have taken place around our 9 Seder tables.

Preparing the Falafel

Preparing the Salad

At the end of a Jewish Seder liturgy, I understand that it ends with the line, "Next year in Jerusalem."  The liturgy we use ends with the line, "Next year in Peace."  We've often adapted that closing statement to point toward the location of the next time and place where we might celebrate Seder.  The last time we celebrated Seder was two years ago when the Whites were just preparing to move to Berlin.  We ended that Seder with, "Next year in Berlin!"  It took two years, but we are glad that this year, we were able to fulfill that hope.



So this year in Berlin.  Next year, who knows.  But wherever it may be, may it be done in the peace that God offers the world    through the resurrection of Christ.  

Berlin

We flew from Nairobi back to Amsterdam on March 19.  The over-night flight went well, and I'm really impressed at how well our girls do on our travel days.  They both slept almost the entire time.  We arrived in Amsterdam at 5:00 am, made it to the Owl Hotel by 6:30, took a morning nap, and had breakfast around 9:30.

The last few days before leaving Africa, we all came down with some kind of food-bug.  Roslyn and Lizette both threw up at different times, and Emiley and I had episodes of nausea.  We were concerned about the girls, so on our last day in Nairobi we made an appointment with a doctor who comes and visits guests at the Mennonite Guest House.  He gave us a lot of reassurance that it wasn't anything serious (like malaria), and that we should just keep the girls hydrated and it will all clear up in a few days.  Sure enough, it did, and we were glad to get through the flight without incident.  

So after a good flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam followed by an over-night in Amsterdam, we took the train to Berlin on April 21st.  We are visiting our good friends Ryan and Alethia White and their daughter Ariella for our time here.  They are in Berlin through an appointment with the Presbyterian Church USA.  They are sharing a position at a church as a pastors to Iranian expats and refugees who are moving to Berlin.

One of our main agenda items for our time here is to celebrate a Seder meal with the Whites.  For all 5 years of our seminary experience together, we celebrated a Seder meal with the Whites.  In fact, it was that very first Seder meal of our first year in seminary which Ryan initiated that really cemented our friendship with the Whites.  We've kept the tradition going even after seminary, and it's such a gift to celebrate with them again, this time in Berlin!

So far, we've been exploring Berlin using the metro and bus system.  And we also took time to enjoy some classic German fair at a beer hall in Potsdam.  It was very yummy.  Glad our stomachs are back to normal so we can enjoy it :)

Goodbye Dodoma

Our time in Dodoma has come to an end.  It wasn't always easy to navigate such a cross-cultural context with two young girls, but it was definitely a growing experience that we will never forget.

We got to see old friends like Pastor Musa and Pastor Manase and their families.  Emiley and I hosted Musa and Manase in our home when they visited Toledo in November of 2012.  It was good to see them in their context and spend time with their families in their homes.

 

In total, I preached five times, had several more formal introductions where I brought greetings from Toledo along with some kind of brief meditation, and dozens of more introductions to many different people.

We visited Shirati Mennonite Church, Tarime Mennonite Church, two Mennonite churches in Dodoma, two hospitals started by Mennonite Missionaries, The University of Dodoma, the Serengeti National Park, and probably some other things I'm forgetting.

On our last night, our hosts threw a big going-away party in their home...

 

It was long, and we were tired, but it was a special and fitting way to say good bye.  

Then on Monday we took the 6-hour (no, make that 9-hour) drive from Dodoma to Arusha.  We stayed in Arusha over-night where we said goodbye to our wonderful driver, Shomari.  Even though he doesn't speak much English, and we don't speak much Swahili, we really got to know him and appreciated his companionship.  

On Tuesday, we took a bus from Arusha to Nairobi and checked into the Amani Garden's Guest House by mid-afternoon.  The bus ride and border-crossing actually went really smoothly, and it was nice to be back on familiar ground.

 


We fly from NBO to AMS on Thursday night, spend a day in Amsterdam, and then take the train to Berlin to see our friends, Ryan and Alethia White.  I'm really getting excited for this next phase of the sabbatical.