Whensday: Gemündener Follies

You might have noticed that I missed writing on Monday AND on Wednesday. This is because I am down in Gemünden, Germany for the annual Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS). This is a time to meet with people from around Europe and receive lessons on all sorts of Bible topics. This year was quite different in that we even had an art session halfway through the week (see my picture). 

What did not change was that Thursday evening brought the world-famous Gemündener Follies. As our host Patrick would say, this is a low-level talent show. But we all enjoy it immensely anyway. I got to write some verses for a Hee Haw song and sing them with Paul Brazle and Brady Smith. I also sang a Ukrainian song with Carol Brazle and Brady and Stephanie Smith (Stephanie’s father translated the song into English: While on the Sea). 

Every year, or almost every year, Paul and I close out the show with a version of “our” Camp Gemunden song, based on the song which starts, “Hello, Mudda, hello Fadda, I am here at Camp Grenada…”  I have most of the lyrics for past years in my guitar case. Paul and I have been doing this for quite some years. I remember that we even did it via video during the corona version of ABSS. Each year we re-write the lyrics based on the speakers of that year, trying to rhyme and be funny at the same time. 

The joy of a week like this is being able to see people we don’t see often and meeting new folks from around Europe as well as be challenged by good Biblical lessons. This year, as with most years, there was a contingent from the CEM program in Marseille. The young men and ladies, some with delightful French accents, took part in the lessons, the follies and simply serving one another during the week (at meal times, for example). Everyone laughs on Thursday evening and then joins in eating ice cream (dedicated to Doyle Key who had for so long been a part of this event). 

As the weekend starts, the first session transitions into the weekend session. Families are able to arrive, the group from Marseille heads off on their long journey home and the lessons and fellowship continue with another varied group. I have been thankful to have heard about works in Vietnam and Estonia as well as see young people I have known from a young age attending as young adults (from Romania and Marseille). 

One of the lessons was focused on how we can see God in all things around us, including beauty. The Gemündener follies remind us that laughter and joy speak loudly of the presence of God in reality. 

Whatsit Wednesday: Wardrobe

Last week I helped a brother clean out his mother’s house in Amsterdam. She had reached a ripe old age and he and his brother were left the task of cleaning things out. In a house like that one comes across all sorts of interesting things among the heavy furniture. Perhaps it had already been dismantled and thrown away by the time I got there, but it was interesting to me that this house had no wardrobe - it had closets.

Most houses in Europe, in my experience, do not have closets. Growing up in the US every house had closets built into a part of the wall of each room. But here, all room are basically just rectangular, perhaps with a small bit poking around a corner or such. But there are no built-in closets. Instead, people have wardrobes. If you have read C.S. Lewis, then you might have an idea of what a wardrobe is like - it is usually big enough for a child to hide in during hide-and-seek. 

Sometimes, certainly after the movie from the C.S. Lewis book, people think only of large, ornate pieces of furniture made of dark woods and set against a wall or in a corner. But it is just as common to purchase a good wardrobe from somewhere like Ikea - a modern piece of furniture made of some sort of flat-pack wood-like material, put together with screws and the help of a good drawing of instructions. 

In our house we used to have an old wooden wardrobe upstairs in the attic. It was a classic “flat-pack” of its time, which was around the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century. You could remove the top, sides, bottom and doors (one with a mirror) using metal bolts that went through eyelets on the pieces. An amazing piece, but also a bit wonky. The doors never really shut and we didn’t have the keys. So we gifted it to the charity shop. 

Still, the boys could have hidden in that wardrobe if they had wanted (and if it weren’t full of “stuff”). We still have an old wardrobe in our living room which serves as an office/computer cupboard. Upstairs we have modern wardrobes in the rooms, some with sliding door, some with drawers. But all of them of course take up space in the room. So when you look at a house here, you have to figure in the space for a wardrobe. When people find a house with built-in closets, they are always amazed and pleasantly surprised. 

(Photo is our livingroom wardrobe this morning)

The youth these days

This past Sunday we were blessed to visit the congregation in Rotselaar where I preached. I the past we would visit this congregation regularly on a Sunday afternoon to practice singing. We have always had a good working relationship with the congregation and have a good relationship with many of the members in other capacities. This includes Bible camp. 

Many of the kids we have had come through Bible camp are now young people or even grandmothers. One of the sisters on Sunday was showing off her granddaughter. She mentioned that she herself was only small when she first went to camp with us as directors. And now she herself is a grandmother. It is amazing how quickly the time flies. 

But this of course also means that her kids are old enough to have kids of their own. Her son was also at our camps through the years. He was first a camper, then a counselor and then an assistant director and planner for the youth. Now he is also a father. His little sister has also been helping as a counselor in the last few years. It is exciting to see how people grow up. 

And yet, not everyone who came through camp has remained faithful or followed the Lord. There were a few people at the meal after services yesterday who came through camp, but are no longer attending or doing anything with their faith. This is hard to see and we continue to pray for all of the kids we work with every year. 

We pray that as they grow up into young adults, fathers and mothers, even grandmothers, that they hold onto what they have learned from the people around them. We pray that we, and all the people we have in a team for a week of camp, are good examples for all of the campers who attend. We know that a week of camp is only a week, but can mean so much more. We also know that our example needs to continue far past that week of camp. 

Bible camp was immensely important in my spiritual growth, but it was not the only influence. We hope and pray that we can continue to be a good influence not only for the kids at camp, but the kids in our congregation in Maastricht and the adults we have contact with every week. This past week we celebrated the graduation of one of our kids from the kid’s class to the adult’s class. He received a Bible and we all prayed over him. He joins two other young men in the congregation. Later this year we will graduate a young lady.  

We all were kids once. People were an influence on us as well. Now we want to be those people who are a good influence for the kids around us. Do you remember who was an influence in your spiritual life? How can you be that person to the young people around you now (no matter how old you are)?