Chapter 11: Love your neighbor

After a busy week with the students in Exeter, we swapped the lively campus for the quiet rural area of Stentwood farm, only 45 minutes east from the city. On our last day in Exeter, it started to snow, and by the time we were in Stentwood, the snow was about 20 cm high on the meadows. So when we arrived, the fire was lit, and the we were welcomed in a cozy tea room where all the noise of the city flows away, and everything that matters is just here and now.

In this renovated farmhouse lives a lovely Christian community of about 30 people, called 'The Twelve Tribes' after the twelve tribes of Israel, and we planned to stay with them for a week.

We were lucky to arrive on the eve before Shabbat (Saturday), because they celebrate that day in a very special way. First there was singing and dancing of special Israeli circle dances. With our background in Balfolk dances, it was quite easy and a lot of fun to catch up these new dances. After that there was a special Shabbat diner.

The next day was Shabbat and everyone laid their work down for this day. It had snowed even more last night and the large blanket of snow looked very inviting, so the whole community came to play with the kids in the snow. We had a lot of fun sleighing from the hills.

Every morning there is someone with a guitar playing, singing and walking around the compound to wake everyone up. Although it was often early in the morning, this was the best wake up alarm since the pancakes in O'coto. Before breakfast they have worship time, always with dancing and joyful songs, and some teaching from the Bible and other material, to reflect on the rest of the day. Breakfast was maybe one of the most unusual ones we had in our journey: cold sauerkraut with a honey-vinegar drink – it sounds worse than it is, and after a few days we could get used to it.

After breakfast it was time to work. Irma often helped with the women in the kitchen, preparing the food for the rest of the day, and Gideon often helped in the bakery, baking bread, crackers and cakes to be sold at the local market.
The group was quite divers, with people from England, Scotland, Ireland, USA and Germany. There also were some other guests like us, some people from the neighborhood, a guy from Switzerland (who is also traveling through Europe, visiting different communities) and a lady from the Netherlands.

At one point we heard that there would be a new guest for a few days. A young lady, together with her little dog had also been wandering through Europe in a small car, and was now in need of a place to rest for a few days. It was great to see how the community wanted to welcome her. They didn't allow dogs inside the farm, but her dog was very important to her and she would rather sleep in the car with the dog, than in a bed without him. They couldn't bear the idea of her sleeping in the car, so they turned a broom closet into a small, cozy bedroom, where she could be with her dog.

Though this place is beautiful, and the people are lovely and very kind, we felt stronger and stronger that there was something between us and the people from this community. The morning teachings were far from positive about Christians outside the community, and especially bad about any ecumenical (inter-church) movements, like Taizé. In conversations with people we learned more and more about the ways they read the Bible and how they see the world, and however much we agree about who Jesus is and what he did, we couldn't agree on what that means for our life today. They seemed to be very strict on their biblical interpretation, leaving very little room for input from outside their way of thinking – something that is quite hard for us, for a big part of our journey is based on meeting different people and learning from them.

We're not alien to discussions with people who think different than we do, but the discussions we had here were often emotionally very tiring. So however warm they welcomed us, this was the first time in our trip that we reconsidered if we really wanted to stay for the whole week.

We prayed a lot together and talked with our family about it. Jesus said to his disciples: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. He encourages us to love the people around us, no matter if we agree with them or not. Now was the time for us to learn and deepen our love. We decided that is would be worth it to stay, to learn how to love the people of the community back, and to keep enjoying the good things that we share. 

On the final day in Stentwood Farm, we were shown to the Yellow Deli, a restaurant that the community is building in the nearby village, Honiton. Their idea is to make a place were everyone is welcome, can eat for a cheap price and can feel the serving love of the community members representing Jesus. It is called Yellow, because the first community in the USA wanted to renovate an old shop to a sandwich bar (deli), but they didn't have any money, and the cheapest paint was yellow. So the whole front was iconic painted yellow. The restaurant in Honiton, however, was in all different colors. We were amazed by all the creativity, handcraft and care that was put into building this deli. They used a lot of recycled materials, and the walls were decorated with beautiful paintings. This made the peace and care tangible from the moment we walked in.

We learned a lot from this community. They really inspired us in the hospitality, creativity, devotion and care for each other, but they also showed us how important is it to stay in contact with people that think different than we do, and to keep learning from them. It was good to continue looking for the love of Jesus, even if we are in difficult places.