In Dresden we visited with our travelling table also the Mennonite Church Dresden. What a warm welcome we had from the family Neufeld where we stayed. Alexander Neufeld is pastor of the Mennonite Church Dresden. The church has a lot of youth and young families. And is located in the north of Dresden. We participated on Sunday in church service. We shared about Menno Simons, the Mennonites in the Netherlands nowadays and the situation that in the early days, the Mennonites were more a movement than a church. The people told us while sharing coffee and tea at the table, that our stories inspired them.  Also the church had many other international visitors from the organization http://www.atlanticbridge.org. They do several youth projects within Europe, that aim to work together across boundaries and cultures. They shared how positive it is to work together in a group and make a difference.

Dresden is special city in Germany.  As it has been heavily bombed in WW II, and was afterwards partly rebuilt, it makes you feel the history when you walk around. The Frauenkirche is one of the churches in Dresden that is rebuilt.  Also the Evangelical Kreuzkirche is rebuilt. One can find a special chapel inside the church, with the so-called Coventry Cross of Nails. Following the destruction of the Coventry Cathedral (UK) during WW II, Provost Richard Howard had the words ” FATHER FORGIVE” inscribed on the wall behind the alter of the ruined building.  From the remains of the destruction, a symbol was created to express the spirit of forgiveness and a new beginning. This cross can also been seen in Dresden. Today the Coventry Cross of Nails is a sign of reconcilliation and peace in many places around the world. Many churches work together in the International Community of the Cross of Nails. It learns us that even within the most difficult moments one can choose for peace and creating understanding.

We are spending a few days in the Sachsen-Anhalt area in Germany.  Like many others places in Europe, this region is also experiencing severe drought. It has not rained for three months over here. Apart from the yellow fields where most of the barley has been harvested, agriculture is facing problems because of the lack of rain. The penalty for illegaly watering your garden is now 50.000 euro! And one can hear almost everyday fire-fighters go out to fight fires. Another specific thing in this area, is the demographic transition that is taking place. Driving through the Harz is sometimes not facing a car for more than half an hour. Many villages have seen young people leaving in the past years, to other regions in Germany where opportunities for work and study are better. It left many older people staying behind. This affected also the housing market. Although not many ‘ for sale’ signs can been seen. Many houses are empty. The housing market leads to situations where property could be obtained almost for free. This week we organized a garden party, ‘Sommerfest’, with some local people. Things have changed a lot, and cities like Leipzig, Erfurt and Jena, become interesting places for young people to start ‘ start-ups’ in new economic areas.  So cities in the Eastern part of Germany do catch up. And we can admit if you look for space and silence and dark skies it can be found here! Tomorrow we move on further to the city of Dresden where we will touch down with our Travelling Table once more.

The Mennonite Church in Berlin was founded in 1871. It has a history which is strongly connected to the history of Germany. Especially during WW II,  the church community was highly affected. After the Second World War, as from 1952 MCC helped a lot of refugees, from the so-called Menno-Heim, which is based in Berlin-Lichterfelde. With assistance of also the Dutch Mennonite Charity ” Bijzondere Noden”  a lot of refugees from at that time the separated part of East-Berlin could be helped. Because of the special position of Berlin, there has always been a strong connection to the Mennonites worldwide and still is.  The Menno-Heim was also a place where many youth-groups from Europe gathered. Nowadays, we still could feel the spirit of hospitality.  Al lot of church member originally come from the former USSR, so there is

a mixture of Russian and German, to be heard. We were impressed by the stories, from people who have had ancestors in Kazakstan, Ukraine, Siberia and always have had the spirit and strength to start at a new place and a new country.  On Sunday we shared about the story of Menno Simons who was part of the ‘ movement’ of the Anabaptist.  He showed that in every time we need different answers to connect to society.  And it takes some courage to find these new paths. We enjoyed lunch together at our ‘ travelling table”.  We are thankful to visit the Mennonite Church Berlin and we sure hope to come back again.

 

 

Today our journey starts! We are heading for Berlin where we will visit the Mennoniten Gemeinde Berlin.  We look forward to meet around the table, share and have fellowship.

From 10 – 13 May 2018 we have visited the European Mennonite Conference (MERK 2018). The tenth conference took take place in Montbéliard in the Burgundy Franche-Comté region, where the French, Swiss and German borders meet. During the conference Mennonites from all over Europe met. The theme was this year: transmission; the story you can’t keep to yourself. It was a good time to share  with many people about our project Menno’s Travelling Table and to prepare together for our trip through Europe this summer.  We where thankfull to be part of this special conference and have fellowship together.

 

At 15th April we were welcomed with our Travelling Table in the Mennonite Church of Rottevalle (NL). With the church community we discussed how you can be meaningfull and have an impact on your local community. We shared examples and what it means in daily life. We learned that in small things we can make a difference for those around us. We are invited to do our own part, small but meaningfull. It was a inspiring morning and we say thanks for the hospitality.

 

 

Spring is coming we experienced in April.  We travelled with our table in the nearby community centre in Leeuwarden in the district Huizum. We were warmly welcomed by the committee and had a nice activity with the twelve children. We decorated cakes. Life is about sharing and also showing creativity.  And everyone could show her or his talent.

Earlier this year we received an invitation from Zeeland, to join the Mennonite community in Middelburg during our Springholiday.  For this sunday our theme was: to be on the way. Everyone of us is somehow ‘on the way’ in his of her life. Also the Mennonite communities or ‘on the way’ if you look at history, present and future of them in the Netherlands. We talked about what it means to be on the way. Do you want certainties, is it possible to plan your life, or not? Or you open for the unexpected? Do you hold on to things that look like certainties or do you let go? We told about our ‘being on the way’ with Menno’s Travelling Table, how we got to that project and what it means in our lives. At the end of the gathering everybody wrote down or drew  his or her interpretation of ‘being on the way’.

We touched down with our travelling table at the 3rd January in our home city Leeuwarden. In the town-district of Bilgaard.  It was a fresh start of the new year 2018, during a real storm, with an activity for eleven children. We had the joy to make cakes and decorate them. Each of the children choose his own theme and used his creativity to make a nice cake. We shared what it means to celebrate, what kind of festivities you celebrate and why it’s important to share joy and happiness.  This can be with your family, friends or schoolmates.  And if you share the cake, there is again a moment of celebrating life and care for those around you. The children brought their decorated cake home, to share. We are thankful for the enthusiasm of the children, they gave 2018 a ‘fresh start’.