Chapter 5: Work in progress

At first, thanks for all the responses you sent on our question last post of how to react on homeless people and how to help them. It is very interesting and inspiring to read about your experiences .

For two weeks we stayed with a couple, Jean and Anthony in La Vesse, which is a tiny village in Les Callanques, west of Marseille. Our hosts were globetrotters pur sang, their whole house was decorated with all kind of souvenirs from all over the world. So they were very welcoming to two travelers like ourselves. Via workaway.com we arranged that we could stay in their house and that we could help with their project in the garden.

The entire house was home-made, with the help of some friends and fellow work-awayers, and the final project was to make a four tiered terrace at the back of the house. But in order to make the garden ready for the wooden terrace, it had to be made completely weed and shrub free. This was a good opportunity for us to come in touch with the spirituality of gardening – discussing the Bible while pulling out vines. While working in their garden we also dreamed a bit about how this garden could be, and what our future garden, house and life would look like. In the end Irma made a nice drawing to show our ideas.

Irma quickly grew in favour with our hosts after cooking a delicious diner and baking bread from our witte broodsweken flour, to celebrate the first six weeks of our marriage. Normally Sabine la Voisine takes care of the diner of the two hard working men, but now there was another woman in the house to make the food.

We also went to the big city of Marseille several times. Continuing our growing habit of visiting beautiful catholic churches and walking through the beautiful nature, we went to the cathedral of Major and the cliffs of Sujiton.
The two Wednesday evenings we were in Marseille, we dedicated to meeting the local IFES community – GBU Marseille (GBU = Groupe Biblique Universitaire). The first evening we were introduced to the very French tradition of Raclette, which is basically eating potatoes with melted cheese and fried bacon. One of the students there was a Dutch guy, who studied in Gent, and is now in Marseille for his internship. He was very glad to meet two other Dutch people for the first time in the months that he stayed in France.
Our second evening was a Bible discussion about Galatians 3:23 – 4:11. The subject of Christian identity is fascinating as it is, but trying to convey your ideas about the Bible in French is a whole new experience.
It was absolutely amazing to meet these Christian students during our journey, and we hope to meet some of them again during the IFES Europe conference – Revive! at the end of 2019.

Back in La Vesse it was time to say good-bye to our hosts, Sabine and all the other friends we met during our stay. So we threw a small good-bye party.
And then our journey led us into new and uncharted waters across the border into Spain.

Our journey into Spain did not go unnoticed for some Gilets Jaunes (French protest group, demanding lower fuel taxes). We were stuck in a traffic jam before a blockade for several hours, several times. Which gave us plenty of time to pray, read the Bible and play some guitar in the middle of the road. One guy was filming us while we were singing dutch worship songs, and right after the song another guy came and showed us a shortcut, away from the blockade.
When we finally crossed the border it was already late at night and we were too tired to continue to Barcelona, as was our initial plan, but we stopped at the first parking, and set up our tent next to the highway, under the Spanish sky.

The next day we enjoyed the big city of Barcelona and the sun made it feel like spring again. We were completely overwhelmed by Gaudí’s Sagrada Famillia; we have seen several Catholic churches on our trip, but this is something completely different. It shows us how to use all of your dedication, creativity and inspiration to worship God, be it through architecture, drawing or music.
Barcelona was also a great place to practice what we had learned in Lyon and Avignon, for there were several beggars and people who asked for our help. Irma immediately took the opportunity to pray for them, but Gideon was a bit more holding back. Finally, when we were eating paella at a restaurant, there was another guy who asked for some money and who was limping a bit. Gideon kept trying to ignore him, but God was very clear: 'Go after him.' So when we finished our meal, we went to look for the man. We found him, asked him about his leg, and he told his story. Gideon than could pray for him, and we gave him some change. We don’t know if it made a difference for him, but it surely did for us.

Our next stop would be another work away host from Lleida, Josep Maria. A few weeks earlier, we got his invitation via work away, because he saw that we were going to visit Spain. So we gladly accepted this. For the first time on our trip someone asked us to come to him instead of the other way around.

He welcomed us in a cosy caravan next to his big country side house, which is still under construction. Josep is a very inspirational man, who does a lot for the local community. . E.g. With the construction of this house he asked help of people that were unemployed, as a way to help them back into society and make it easier in the future to find work. He asked us to help with some small chores around the new house, like cleaning and collecting almonds from the trees. The big task he gave us was to design the surrounding area of the house, which, very conveniently, is a skill we just had been learning in Marseille. So at the end of the week we came up with a nice design, and some beautiful drawings Irma made.

On the last day Josep asked us to come with him to another house he build in the country side, to help him prune the olive trees. His father had bought an old abandoned olive garden, and he wanted to turn it into a beautiful forest with olive trees. There we met with a friend of Josep, Elodie, and her dog, Lua, who lived in Lleida as well.
Josep asked us to leave one day earlier than we planned, for he went to spend the weekend with his family. And when we told Elodie that we would probably be camping in the wild again, she gladly invited us to her home in the city of Lleida, for the night. That evening she gave us a tour through Lleida and we had a good time together, sharing stories of travelling, playing a game and enjoying her hospitality.

In these weeks we did a lot of practical work, and we also met a lot of new people, and enjoyed the beautiful nature. People inspired us, and we dreamed about how we are living and how we want to live.

Chapter 4: Home for the homeless

Entering in Taizé during autumn was both very familiar and very alienating to our experiences in summer. We’ve been to Taizé three times in the last four years, so after a week of wandering and uncertainty, this place really felt like a save haven and a welcome home. We were welcomed by an old friend of Gideon whom he met four years ago in Taizé, and who is now living in the community as a permanent for one year. This surprise meeting was amazing and it was good to update on each others lives for the past years. He told us however that is was not possible for the two of us to share a dorm, or to put up a tent, so for the first time in our married life we had to sleep in separated rooms again. 

The fun of winter-Taizé is that there are only about 50 visitors (as opposed to the 3000 – 5000 visitors in summer), so it is fairly easy so get to speak with every one, and to get to know almost everyone. There was a common room were we had diner together at real tables, and there was hot tea throughout the day. The prayers were much more intimate and the Bible studies were in general more in depth than in summer.

Among the many wonderful people we met those few days was one family from the US, a couple with two kids. They had lived in a community in France for the last year, and they were now, just as we are, traveling through France for the next month or so. There were so many things in which we could relate to each other. They were a real inspiration for us.

After Taizé we continued our journey south, this time towards Lyon. One of France largest cities, which is famous for its good food, or so we learned in Taizé. We got a lot of good suggestions of where to go and where to eat, so we decided to have a real soirée. After a diner in one of the traditional restaurants we went to the cinema to see Fantastic Beasts – the Crimes of Grindelwald. Part of the movie takes place in France, which made it even better to watch it in a French cinema.

Ever since we visited Lyon, our eyes are turned toward the beggars. We saw someone begging in front of the church as well as at other places in the city and it was difficult to walk past them. As long as we know we’ve walked past people who were begging, trying not to look. But this is much more difficult when we try to listen to God. ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,’ Jesus said. So can we look towards God and walk past Jesus?
Back in the Netherlands we already struggled with the question: If we don’t want to ignore these people, then what do we do? In Lyon we talked about this and one thing is sure, we don’t want to ignore and look away anymore, we want to see them as persons. But does giving money really change something? Earlier in the Netherlands, we decided that when we gave money, we would also ask if we can pray for them, because we believe that God can bless them much more than the money can. This resulted in some wonderful encounters. It was good to think back to that.
One reason to pass by people is because we don’t know whether they are honest or not, whether they really need what they ask for or they just want to profit from other peoples good will. But then again, it’s not a reason to ignore people. If we talk to them and ask with what it is we can help them with, rather than just give money directly, people that are not honest are probably less interested in talking to you than people that are in need, they might tell you their story.
Later that night, when we walked back to the car, Gideon mentioned that if we see some people that have to sleep outside because they don’t have a home, we might as well join them, for we don’t have one either. Irma liked that idea and she definitely wanted to get to know these people as persons and to try to relate to them. But the difficulty that rises up is, what then? What do you say after the first 5 minutes. In the end we didn’t see any more people on the street, so we found a nice place outside Lyon to park our car and sleep for that night.

The next day we went to Avignon, which was a beautiful city in which a former palace of the pope is situated. There we saw a woman begging and Irma went up to her. ‘I don’t have any money, but how can I help you?’ She told that she needed some food for her family and her children. Across the street there was a supermarket, so Irma proposed to buy some bread for her. The lady aslo mentioned some other things that she needed and while Gideon stayed outside with her stuff, she and Irma went into the small supermarket. It felt so good to walk around the shop with her and to see her smile when she was thinking of the things that she could buy for her family. But at the same time it was very difficult to decide what to buy, what was really necessary and what wasn’t. In the end Irma spend much more than she intended to, which felt difficult, but the thankful smile and hug the lady gave, were really rewarding. Still we’re struggling with this and because Irma already spent so much we had to walk past others. So next time we’d rather buy something ourselves and give it afterwards. 

Dear readers, if anyone of you can relate to this or if you have other experiences with giving to poor people, we really want to hear your stories and advise.

Chapter 3: Wandering through France

Was there ever a day when you woke up and you didn’t know where your bed would be the next night?

Our journey abroad started with our three day honeymoon in the Ardennen, southern part of Belgium. We stayed in a cozy little B&B called L’Ardoise, where we were welcomed by Mieke and Paul. It was a relaxing time of enjoying good meals, long walks in the beautiful forests and small medieval villages, and the kindness of our wonderful hosts. One day we went to Durbuy, 'the smallest city of  the world'. After visiting this town we returned to the car and saw a red van with a sticker saying #Europeisourbackyard. ‘Oh, it looks like it is from other travelers, what would it be great to meet them. Let’s walk around the city one more time to see if we can encounter them.’ And after a round through the city, there they were at the parking lot. It turned out that they were a Dutch couple that also started some weeks ago and it was really nice to speak to each other. When we said that we were planning to meet and help missionaries, they told us about two other Dutch couples that they were following, who name themselves travel many roads. At the moment these two couples are back in the Netherlands and organize a theater production they made about their journey - Songbirds of passage -

The other day, when we were discussing what to visit next, our host, Mieke, came to as and asked: ‘If I may, you look like people that would be very interested in visiting the Hare Krishna community in Radhadesh.’ They are a Hindu community that bought and renovated one of the castles in Belgium, and are now one of the biggest Hindu centers in the western part of Europe. We had a tour around the castle and were amazed by the totally different culture they live in.

Then our stay in L’Ardoise ended, and we said goodbye to Paul and Mieke. Before we left Mieke asked if we could use some clothes, she wanted to give them to us, otherwise she would throw them away. We don’t need them ourselves, but accepted to give them to people who could use them. Despite some of our efforts, we hadn’t found a place to go yet. So where shall we go next? Irma just discovered that towns that are highly interesting to visit are marked on the map. When we were about to leave we looked on the map which city in southern direction seemed interesting, which was Reims. ‘Funny, last night I already thought about Reims’ Gideon said. Reims is known for its large cathedral, which we off course visited. In the afternoon we hoped to find some voluntary work at the salvation army. They were very friendly people that listened with patience while we tried to explain in French what we wanted to do.  Unfortunately they had no work for us, but they accepted the clothes we got from Mieke.

The afternoon passed and the night came. We tried to find a place to sleep in one of the small village around Reims, but without success. Thus we went to the forest, where we searched a place to set up camp. It was already dark when we cooked our simple meal and got ready to sleep under the night sky. The next morning we went further south to the city of Vézelay. Mieke advised us to check out some pilgrim hostels if we wanted a cheap stay and when we checked for cities on the pilgrim routes, we saw the name of Vézelay, which is a starting point of the pilgrimage to both Santiago de Compostella and Assisi. While Irma was driving on through the French fields, Gideon saw an interesting abbey on the map where we wanted to stop, the abbey of Pontigny. It was a large and beautiful abbey and it looked like there was a living christian community. We saw a poster of ‘Mission de France’, an organisation that tries to revive the enthusiasm for living out the Gospel within the Catholic church; which is also active in Pontigny. When we went there we were welcomed to drink some coffee with the people there, and they told us more about their work. They could not help us with voluntary work or a place to sleep, but said to us that if we went to Vézelay, they could give us the contact of the brothers and sisters of Jerusalem, a congregation that is active in Vézelay. And so we followed the breadcrumbs to Vézelay.

At some point the gloomy, rainy day without feeling really useful got the best of us. But that moment we stopped the car to switch drivers, the orange of the setting sun was shining toward us and we saw three rainbows. It was a wonderful moment that really encouraged us. It was already late when we got to Vézelay and we couldn’t find a cheap place to stay. Since we didn’t want to spend too much money already and didn’t feel like setting up a tent again after a rainy day. So we decided to sleep in the car. Not comfortable, but easy and the night sky with sight of the Vézelay abbey was beautiful; we even saw the milky way.

The next day was Sunday and it was time to go to church in the large basilica of Vézelay. After the Eucharist we met with two Dutch-speaking sisters, one from Belgium and one from the Netherlands, and they told us about the Monastic of Jerusalem. ‘Are you pilgrims?’ the sisters asked? ‘Well, kind off. We don’t walk to a certain place, but we are on pilgrimage through Europe’. We could stay in the pilgrim hostel of the sisters and when we asked if it was possible to help them with anything, we could help them with cleaning the glass windows of the chapel. The last day, we prayed a final time with the brothers and sisters. After that we said goodbye to them. Sister Ruth told us the story of how God called her to become a sister, we prayed together in the crypt of Saint Marie-Madelaine and she also showed us the garden behind the abbey. It was a very special moment and made our stay in Vézelay even more fulfilling.

Our next plan was to go to an ecovillage. Since we are both interested in growing our own food, and waste reduction, Gideon came with the idea to look if there were any ecovillages on our way. We found the community AVEC (Aventure Village Eco Construction) and tried to call to ask if it was okay to visit and if we could help in some way, but we couldn’t reach them. We decided to go anyway, but when we were in the village, we couldn’t find it. After asking around, and not getting any direction, we called one last time and luckily this time a woman answered. We were welcomed by Ange and she showed us around their large land with which they have big dreams. We hope they will be able to accomplish them. For the next days we were welcomed in their family, worked a bit in the garden, played with their cute daughter Eglantine, and enjoyed delicious meals with fresh vegetables from the garden and even edible wild mushrooms. They also had a lot of musical instruments and Gideon enjoyed playing piano again. One afternoon we also visited another ecovillage together, called Eotopia, where we had a tour, played music and had diner together. It was nice and inspiring to be with people that dare to start and live out great ideals for a better world and for community life. It also triggered us again to think about our dreams of a community life (and Irma’s dream for a garden).

After this week of wandering around, we came home in Taize. More about that next time.

Chapter 2: En Route

The first stage of our journey is complete. Gideon has passed his driving exam, so we drove cross the border into Belgium, and now we are finally en route.

Two weeks ago we left our home in Wageningen and went to Irma's parents. Irma's mom helps to organize a day for elderly people in the village to meet each other and and eat together. Now we were there as well to contribute a hand. For the elderly it was fun to see some young people helping. For us, even though we were still in the Netherlands, it felt like our journey had started.

Then we invited Gideon's family for a farewell diner. It was so good to see them before we left, and we were very glad to gave them a delicious meal, and had a good time together.

In the next week we were asked to help bar tending at a wedding of a friend of ours. At our own wedding we were very glad with all the people that helped us, so we were eager to return the favour. It was nice to see all the guests at a party coming to the bar, and have interesting conversations. We got to know many more people than we would have otherwise.


The rest of the week we stayed with Gideon's parents, and repainted their living room. It was fun to do and very rewarding. It was a week full of shared happiness, we really pampered each other. We made them happy with a shining white living room and cooked for them, while they let us stay in their cute camper van, enjoy a luxurious bath and best of all, go to the cinema together.

Then it was time to hit the road again, and really leave the country. All our stuff packed in our small car, but always room for one hitchhiker. And as we passed by Nijmegen and made our first stop, there he was, our first hiker, Ram. He wanted to go couch surfing in Luxembourg, so we could drive together for two hours, and had all kinds of interesting conversations. Helping each other and sharing stories, that's what makes traveling so interesting.

p.s.: For all Dutch readers, we were on national television. This spring we were interviewed by a pastor at a fantasy festival. You can find the episode here. https://www.kro-ncrv.nl/roderickzoekt/seizoenen/seizoen-2018/boodschap-van-sprookjes (20'50'')

Chapter 1: Goodbye, kindda

When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them. - Luke 10:5,6

The day we leave our little house in Wageningen has finally come. We moved to our even smaller house, our car. We left for the road, on to the horizon.

The last month a lot of people encouraged us by keeping us in their prayers. During the hectic time of packing and planning, it was a relief if people stopped us and asked: 'can we ask a blessing for your journey?' For example, during the Sunday service of the ICF (International Christian Fellowship) - Wageningen, there is a goodbye-moment for members that are leaving; we are not members in this church, but attend it frequently, and told our story of the two years ahead of us. We were invited on stage where two good friends of ours prayed for us, and the church sang a blessing over us.
In all the churches we attended last month, people offered to pray for us when we told about our journey. It encourages us to know that people all over are praying for us, where ever we go.

'Do you like coins?' Gideon asked. 'That depends, coins how?' answered the desk lady at THUIS. 'We've got a jar of small change worth of €47,35 and want to donate it to you.'
THUIS (en: home) is a local charity place in Wageningen where people can meet each other, share stories, have dreams and change the world; and we want to support these kind of places. The ladies at the desk were rather astonished by our gift. Because we know God can give more than just money, we asked to pray for THUIS. They accepted, and we prayed for peace for this house. It filled our hearts with joy to see the impact all of this made and it felt like we already started our journey right at home.
This kind of shared happiness is what we would call 'a Kingdom Tale.'

During the last week we had a day of fasting and prayer. This day we only lived on water and tea, and the mealtimes we devoted to prayer. It helps us to seek our dependency on God, and it strengthens our will-power to follow God as opposed to our will-power for our own needs. This is something we will need when we want to follow Jesus' footsteps.
We ended the day with a time of prayer with some good friends. Saying goodbye is always hard, but this moment made us see that God will watch over us, and over the people we leave behind. With the last hugs we realized that we're really leaving now, that is will be goodbye for a long time, for a lot of people.

The first stage of our journey however will be Netherlands. Gideon has to pass for his driving exam, so we will stay here for another week. A nice couple, living in the middle of a forest welcomed us to stay with them, on the condition that we help them repaint the living room. They are also Gideon's parents.

It is good to see how much impact the last years in Wageningen made on us and the people around us. We said goodbye to our student group, Ichthus Wageningen, to our friends, to our family and to our house. One of the goodbye moments that stood out was that of a good friend of us. He wrote us a letter, by which we were very moved. He made us see how important we both are to him. He even made us share in the little he has, because we and our plans are so near to his heart.
Many people helped to make our dream possible by supporting us financially, we are so very grateful for all of this, and for knowing that our dream is shared by so many of you. And now the time has come to see the world.

- Irma and Gideon

Proloog

Een droom over een Koninkrijk, als inspiratie voor onze eigen reis

-Door Irma Koning-

Er was eens een groep reizigers in een land hier ver vandaan. Ze hadden een droom die hen verbond en waren op weg naar het koninkrijk in het westen. Zo gingen ze van dorp tot dorp, van stad tot stad, door landen en over bergen. In sommige steden werden ze maar vreemd aangekeken en vaak zetten ze hun kampement op buiten de stad. Maar in andere steden werden ze gastvrij ontvangen en nodigde mensen hen uit om bij hen te eten en te slapen.

Zo was het ook in de stad Bethel, waar Rachel woonde. Ze was een vrolijke meid die je gelukkig zou kunnen noemen. Rachel had lieve ouders, woonde in een mooi huis, werkte bij een kleermaker waar ze genoot van de mensen die langs kwamen en de mooie kleuren van de stoffen die ze op maat knipte. Ze had nog nooit enige tegenslag in haar leven gekend.

Het was op een zonnige woensdag dat de reizigers in Bethel kwamen en het zichzelf gemakkelijk maakten op het marktplein. Toen nam Peter het woord en sprak tot de menigte over een koninkrijk waar ze naar onderweg waren. Dit koninkrijk was er een van overvloed en vreugde, en iedereen was er welkom. De woorden vulde het plein, lichte woorden met mooie beelden. Iedereen die toevallig op het plein was stopte als vanzelf met waar hij mee bezig was om te luisteren naar deze prachtige volle stem die droop van enthousiasme. Rachel zou niet kunnen zeggen hoe lang ze daar heeft staan luisteren, want tijd leek geen grip te hebben op een moment als dit. ‘Als u het goed vindt blijven we graag nog een paar dagen in de stad. Dan zal ik iedere dag weer op het marktplein staan en vertellen over onze reis en het koninkrijk.’ zei Peter. Toen hij vroeg of er mensen waren die hem en zijn medereisgenoten wilde verblijden met een maaltijd en onderdak, stak Rachel meteen haar hand op. Ze wist niet wat haar bezielde, maar dat deerde niet. Twee vriendelijke vrouwen die zich voorstelde als Maria en Martha kwamen met haar mee naar huis.

Het gezelschap bleef nog enkele dagen. Iedere middag stond Peter weer op het marktplein en Rachel luisterde aandachtig. De groep had een bepaalde aantrekkingskracht op haar die ze nog niet begreep. Toen ze de laatste dag op het punt stonden om te vertrekken verhief Peter voor de laatste keer zijn stem en zei: ‘Vrienden, het was een waar genoegen om hier in Bethel te zijn. Dank voor alle gastvrijheid. Ik heb enkele dagen iets van de droom gedeeld die ons het verlangen heeft gegeven om alle achter te laten en op weg te gaan. Nu dan, ik wil ieder van u die een brandend hart heeft gekregen uitnodigen. Sta op en volg ons.’. Met deze woorden sloot Peter af en Rachel wist dat ze mee zou gaan.

‘Waarom doe ik dit?’ dacht Rachel hardop terwijl ze Bethel achter zich liet en langs de korenvelden naar het westen liep. ‘Nooit had ik verwacht mijn huis te verlaten. Het ontbrak me aan niets thuis, maar toch verlang ik er nu naar om verder te trekken.’ Een jongen met krullend haar en een gitaar op zijn rug kwam naast haar lopen en antwoordde: ‘Zo is het met velen van ons. Het is als met een vogel die tevreden is met haar nest tot ze ontdekt wat voor een uitgestrekte wereld ze kan verkennen met haar uitgestrekte vleugels. Je deelt nu een verlangen waarvan je het bestaan niet wist, een droom die je nog nooit gedroomd had.’ Na dit gezegd te hebben glimlachte hij en ze wist dat ze hem vaker zo wilde zien glimlachen. ‘Ik ben Jakob.’ Rachel zat vol met vragen. ‘Maar hoe weet je nou welke kant je op moet?’ vroeg Rachel. ‘Het simpele antwoord is, naar het westen. Als we het niet weten volgen we de rivier naar het westen.’ ‘Maar er is meer over te zeggen. We volgen ons hart, of eigenlijk niet ons hart, maar we volgen datgene dat ons allemaal verbindt. We volgen Gods plan.’ Uren praatten ze met elkaar tot het tijd was om het kampement op te zetten en te eten. Martha, die bij Rachel overnacht had, bleek een geweldige kokkin te zijn die iedere avond een overheerlijke maaltijd kon bereidden van het weinige dat ze hadden. Na de maaltijd was er muziek en werd er gedanst. Rachel wist dat het waar was wat Jakob had gezegd, dat er een verlangen in haar brandde dat ze nog niet eerder gevoeld had. Hoe gelukkig ze thuis ook was geweest, nu ze met deze mensen op weg was, voelde ze zich nog voller, nog levendiger. 

Tijd verstreek, mijlen sleten weg met iedere stap en keer op keer voegde meer mensen zich toe aan deze groep reizigers. Altijd naar het westen en langs de rivier. De rivier die hen zo veel gaf, water, een vruchtbaar landschap, een plek om je te wassen. Op een avond liepen Jakob en Rachel langs de rivier. De prille liefde van het begin was groter geworden met iedere glimlach en elke goedemorgen die ze elkaar gaven. Toen ze bij de ondergaande zon in het zachte gras gingen zitten pakte Jakob zijn gitaar erbij en zong een lied voor haar. Een lied dat zijn hart voor haar opende als een roos haar bladeren. Liefde. Het zag deze twee aan en zetelde zich gemakkelijk tussen hen in. Het tintelde in hun handen en vulde hen met warmte.

Maar liefde is niet zomaar te vangen en laat zich zeker niet in een kruik stoppen om het vervolgens voor de zekerheid bij je te kunnen houden. En dat is ook wat Rachel merkte. Als ze hand in hand liepen en Jakob haar losliet en een oudere hielp zijn spullen te dragen. Wanneer hij bij haar wegrende achter een kind aan dat hem aantikte, om helemaal op te gaan in de spelletjes die ze speelde. Wanneer hij ’s avonds nieuwe reizigers verwelkomde met de strelende klanken van zijn gitaar, waarvan ze zo graag zou willen dat ze haar streelde.

‘Liefde is niet te vangen en laat zich zeker niet in een kruik stoppen die je bij je kunt dragen’ zei Johan plotseling, die haar blik gevolgd had. Johan was een van de ouderen die mee waren op deze reis. Hij was als een eik die de tijd doorstaan had, stabiel van geest en vol van wijsheid. Het meeste van wat Peter vertelde was geïnspireerd op wat Johan had gezien en meegemaakt. ‘Maar wat moet je dan, als je liefde niet vast kunt houden?’ vroeg Rachel, die zich snel op haar gemak voelde bij Johan en graag alles wilde weten wat hij haar vertellen kon. ‘Je bent bang dat er te weinig is. Dat er te weinig liefde overblijft voor jou. Maar geloof me, ik heb gezien dat brood zich vermenigvuldigde toen het gedeeld werd. We reizen samen met de God die brood kan vermeerderen, zo is het ook met Liefde. Wanneer je het uitdeelt, wordt het alleen maar meer.’ vertelde Johan haar, met een overtuiging in zijn ogen die ze wel moest geloven. Momenten flitsten aan haar voorbij, momenten dat anderen haar iets van liefde hebben laten zien, en ze wist dat het waar was. Iets in haar was aangeraakt door wat ze had ervaren die avond en de volgende dag voelde ze zo veel liefde in zich opwellen, die ze aan anderen door wilde geven. Zo werd ze echt deel van het gezelschap, door niet alleen mee te reizen, maar ook mee te delen in het geheim van de liefde die allen om haar heen aan het uitdelen waren.

En er waren veel mensen om liefde aan uit te delen. Ze trokken door een gebied waar de oorlog gepasseerd was. Vele waren geliefden kwijtgeraakt en anderen waren invalide. De steden waren dorstig naar liefde en zorg, en dat was wat deze reisgenoten overvloedig konden geven. Ze bleven in deze dorpen langer dan gebruikelijk en gaven meer dan ze kregen. Rachel liep van huis tot huis om te vragen of ze nog kleren kon maken en iedere avond kookte Martha op het marktplein voor allen die op straat leefden. Maar de meeste impact had Peter met zijn woorden, met de stralende droom van dit koninkrijk in het westen. Velen sloten zich aan bij de reisgenoten.

Op een gegeven moment boog de rivier naar het zuiden en een beslissing moest genomen worden. Een moeilijke keuze, die nog veel invloed zou hebben op dit reisgezelschap. Zouden ze de rivier blijven volgen, en met een boog via het zuiden reizen, of in westelijke richting gaan? De groep had ondertussen een grootte van ongeveer 3000 man en sommigen begonnen ongeduldig te worden naar de bestemming. Er waren wel verhalen, maar bijna niemand had het koninkrijk ooit gezien. Na een dag op deze plek gekampeerd te hebben besloten ze het westen te blijven volgen. Vol enthousiasme en goede moed werd de reis weer hervat. Maar na enkele dagen veranderde het landschap. Het gras werd droger, de bomen schaarser, de zon feller en het reizen vermoeiender. Nog een paar dagen tot de volgende stad, zeiden we dan tegen elkaar. Maar de mensen daar waren taai en we konden niet blijven. Nog even.. zeiden we tegen elkaar. Maar iedereen verlangde terug naar de rivier. Toen sprak Johan, met zijn oude, wat krakende stem tot de groep, waarna Peter het herhaalde voor eenieder die het niet kon horen: ‘Ook in deze moeilijke periode voorziet God. Hij is de reden dat we op reis zijn en ik wil Hem volgen. Laten we God vragen om ons bij te staan, zoals hij dat onze hele reis al heeft gedaan.’ En hij begon te vertellen, van begin tot eind, wat voor wonderen God onderweg al had laten zien. En terwijl hij vertelde kwamen de wolken voor de zon en begon het te regenen. Warme zegenende regendruppels daalde neer over het land en bloemen begonnen te bloeien in de woestijn. Het geluid van de regen werd verwelkomd door duizenden mensen die God loofde.

Er was eens een reisgezelschap. Ze trokken van stad tot stad en doorkruisten vele landen. Ze hadden een droom die hen verbond en waren op weg naar het koninkrijk in het westen. Menigeen sloot bij hen aan. Er waren mooie momenten en moeilijke momenten, maar ze leefde een vol leven, vol van liefde en geluk. Op een dag kwamen ze op hun bestemming aan. Ze kwamen het koninkrijk binnen waar de velden gevuld waren met goud koren, de bomen gevuld waren met de heerlijkste vruchten. Ze kwamen bij de stad die gevuld was met liefde en goedheid. En daar waren ze allen uitgenodigd voor een feestmaal.