Share the heritage!

SHARE THE HERITAGE!

Romkje and I invite you to join us this summer for a two-week trip to discover
Europe´s rich Christian heritage, through Holland, Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland.

Short memories breed short-sightedness. That´s why in the Old Testament the
Israelites were exhorted again and again ´to remember!´ and ´not to forget´.
They had to remember the Lord their God, remember the way he had led them,
remember his acts in the past, remember his promises and remember his
instructions. Amid the rubble of a conquered Jerusalem, Jeremiah received hope when he remembered the steadfast love of the Lord.

Today more than ever we need the perspective of the past to gain hope for the
future of Europe. Too much pessimism, fatalism and fear is bred in Christian
circles by short memories. Too much speculation about Rome being the
anti-Christ, or Fascism, or Communism, or the European Union, and now Islam,
has distracted us over the years from our central task of discipling the
nations.

Hence this mobile seminar – beginning on June 26 in colourful Amsterdam and
finishing in Calvin´s Geneva on July 9 Рis designed to introduce us to people
and places that have helped shape Europe´s past and present. Accommodation will be mainly in YWAM facilities and in shared rooms, and in very interesting and beautiful settings.

In Amsterdam, we will visit the Biblical Museum to reflect on the unique
transforming effect this book has had on European society, and the English
Reformed church where the Pilgrim Fathers worshipped, reminding us of how
Biblical ideas were carried to other parts of the world, with huge
implications.

A day trip around the former Zuider Zee (now the IJsselmeer) will introduce us
to the Friesland of the Anabaptist leader, Menno Simons, and of Boniface, the
Apostle to the Germans, murdered in Dokkum; and to Thomas a Kempis of Zwolle, author of one of the all-time best-sellers,´The Imitation of Christ´.

A second day trip will take us to Willibrord´s ancient city of Utrecht, and to
the fortress-town of Naarden where the Czech reformer, Jan Amos Comenius, the father of modern education, is buried.

HERRNHUT
Heading east by bus through Germany via Cologne (the cathedral where the
Crusades began) and Fulda (centre of operations for Boniface), we will visit
Wittenberg, birthplace of Luther´s Reformation; and then on to Herrnhut, close
to the Polish border. We will spend the weekend in Count von Zinzendorf´s
historic township, where the famous Moravian mission movement began out of a 24/7 prayer meeting that lasted a hundred years.

Southwards into the Czech Republic, we trace the roots of the Moravian movement in fascinating Prague, where Jan Hus stands immortalised in bronze in the Own Town Square. Here we also recognise the work of the Orthodox missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius, apostles to the Slavs and, as patron saints of Europe, bridge-figures between east and west.

Our route takes us now back into Germany, where we stay two nights in Schloss Hurlach, the castle YWAM purchased in 1972 for the Olympic Games outreach in Munich. After visits to Augsburg and Dachau, we set off for our last country, Switzerland. St Gallen is our first stop, named after an Irish Celtic monk who settled there to evangelise the surrounding region.

We then visit Zurich, where Ulrich Zwingli led the Swiss Reformation, and where
the Radical Reformation of the Anabaptists emerged, before stopping overnight in Einigen, one of the most scenic YWAM locations worldwide, overlooking Lake Thun and the Alps.

Our last two days will be spent around Lake Geneva, from St Maurits (an amazing story of 3rd century martyrdom) and Caux (a 20th century link with the origins of the EU) at the eastern end, to Lausanne and then Geneva at the western tip. Guiding us around both cities, Dr Tom Bloomer will explain the impact of a faithful minority not only on Switzerland but throughout Europe and the world.

Study materials will be sent to participants prior to the trip, to help them
better understand what they will be seeing. Hopefully through this mobile
seminar, more people will be encouraged to share and teach how the story of
Jesus has profoundly shaped Europe’s past. Gaining this perspective will
strengthen our expectation that this same story will continue to shape Europe’s
future.

Interested? Pre-register now with Jelly van der Wal (jwal@ywameurope.org). Space is limited to 30 people, and unfortunately we cannot offer space for children. Total cost including bus travel, museum entrance, accommodation, meals and study materials is 750 euros (20% discount for YWAM staff and students). Registration is confirmed after your deposit of 100 euros has been received (before June 10).

We look forward to you perhaps joining us on this ‘trip to remember’.

Till next week,

Jeff Fountain