The first leg... 15-06-07 to 11-07-07

Leaving Hurlach, leaving Germany...

The whole month of May and the first two weeks of June found us furiously sorting and packing our things. We gave away household things as God led us and this was an unexpectedly joyous and freeing experience. The bits and pieces that were left were packed up and stored at a friend's place in Hurlach. This time was extremely stressful for us as we found that suddenly we had so much to do and so little time in which to do it. But by His grace, God showed us some ways to do things which made the burden lighter. Praise the Lord.

From Hurlach we went to Munich and stayed in two different places with new-found friends. We were really looking forward to relaxing after our stressful time of packing, but for whatever reason this time brought new challenges. We really enjoyed being in Munich again and our hearts long for the day when we can live there and serve the people there.

'GO!'

Suddenly, we felt strongly that God had given us a big flashing green light and that we needed to trust Him and leave. This puzzled us as we weren't sure of where He wanted us to go. So we simply got out a map and picked a route...! Naturally, we wanted to 'see' Europe, so we headed through Austria to Italy.


In foreign places...

Austria was beautiful, with the Alps all around, but we only camped one night and moved on the next day as we were eager to be in a 'foreign-foreign' place. (Austria looks a bit like far southern Germany and they still speak something like German.) We passed into Italy over Timmelsjoch, a mountain pass whose peak is at 2509 m. It was breath-takingly beautiful! So rugged and majestic! We also saw wild horses on the Austrian side of the pass!!! They were so beautiful.


Merano, Italy

Our first stop in Italy once we made it down the mountainside was Merano - a small city. We camped two nights and really enjoyed this place. At the campground there were other campers who also had a pet dwarf-rabbit with them, just like our Belle. But the owners actually let their rabbit out freely and it wanders around and returns home as it likes, just like a dog! We were always afraid to do this with Belle, thinking that she would just run off somewhere and we would never see her again. But now we were encouraged that it could work, so we let her out and followed her from a distance. She is very strong-willed, so she didn't spend much time 'at home', but rather sniffing out everything and winning the hearts of all the other campers! This was actually a great way to break the ice and it led to conversations with a couple people.

Venice, Italy

We had thought that it would be romantic to spend our 3 year wedding anniversary there, but we were in for a shock! Once we got to the plains below the mountains, the heat was stifling and the absence of German road signs was disorienting. We finally found a supermarket (thank You, God for Lidl in forgeign countries!) and paused for lunch and prayer. We both felt that somehow we were in the wrong place, like we weren't where God wanted us to be, but we realized that it was just the shock of sudden 35 degree heat and completely different landscape, towns and roadsigns! We were also concerned about how much money we were spending and had decided to take the back roads instead of the freeway, which costs money. This made things even harder for us as the way is extremely slow when you have to go through all the towns and small cities! But eventually we made it!

Venice itself was full of tourists, all wanting to see the famous sights. We found it stifling and the city was like a graveyard because there was no local life to be seen... We found out later that they only come out in the evenings and they stay well away from the tourist spots.


Leaving the campground in Venice proved difficult and was the first major money sign to us that something about our trip had to change. Our bank card did not work due to 'insufficient funds' and we were left only with the option of paying by credit card (which takes the money straight from our bank account anyway) or offereing to work for the money we owed. The owner was furious and accused us of not telling them that we had no money when we arrived, and he gave us no room to argue or offer an explanation. He just told us that we had to wait 3 hours and then help the man to clean the toilets. So we waited. Before the three hours were up, another employee arrived and heard what was happening. He had served us at dinner the night before and we had paid with our credit card, so he came to us straight away and told us to try the credit card. He didn't care that the money would come straight from our bank account, he said that was not his problem. He also said that we couldn't work because we were tourists and if we had an accident while working, then they would be in big trouble. He also happned to be a policeman... So we paid with credit card, much to our dismay. Naturally we were asking God all the big questions (again), like, 'Was what we did right?' 'Are we in the right place?' 'How come we have no money?' and stuff like that. Answers were not so fast in coming... Despite the money matters, we had a growing feeling that we were not experiencing what God had in mind for us at this time and that our luggage and possessions that we still had with us were weighing us down and keeping us from receiving more from God. But we also did not yet see how we could change how we were travelling. Still, we felt God gently encouraging us to trust Him and keep going.

Lago di Piano, Italy

After Venice, we just wanted to escape! We had had enough of tourists and needed some peace. We headed for Lake Como, just north of Milan, but we found no-where to camp for free (which was our goal since our money had run out). At 10pm we pulled into the first camping ground we had seen all day. We straight away told the lady that we had very little money and were in need of a place to tent for the night. First she lowered the usual price for us, then after we asked if we could clean toilets for it, she let us stay one night for free. She was an angel to us. So we pitched the tent and fell asleep. In the morning we found that we were right on a lake, a small one called Lake Piano, and there weren't many people in the campground. These two factors were exactly what we had been looking for the day before. Ulf wanted to try to pay for the night before and stay on a bit longer, but Emma felt too ashamed that we had stayed somewhere for free when others had to pay and didn't want to prolong the shame by staying longer, even if we could pay (which I now regret). So we packed up and headed for the hills. [The photo here is of Lake Como.]

Bene Lario, Italy

We found a nice place for lunch (Bene Lario) and enjoyed the view of the lake. We were desparate for a free camping spot, so we spent the whole day driving around the surrounding lakes looking for something. Nothing was to be found, so we headed back up to Bene Lario and pitched the tent in the forest for two nights. And it was beautiful! There was water flowing out of the side of the mountain just below us, so we could cook and wash and drink as well. God really gave us peace at this time. When we were desparate for somewhere to stay, He kept reminding us of the birds of the field which He feeds and gives shelter. There were many locals driving past on the skinny mountain road, but not one stopped to tell us off or ask us what we were doing. They just smiled or laughed and kept driving, so we figured that what we were doing was okay with them. :-)

Winterthur, Switzerland

Ulf had read on the internet about a ministry called 'Stiftung Schleife', which means 'Charity Band (as in ribbon)', who were having a 7pm to 7am worship night on the 7th of the 7th, 2007. He longed for Christian community again and we needed to hear from God. So we drove into Switzerland, turned up on their doorstep and told our story and we found ourselves in a warm bed that night, in the house of Mario and Elisabeth Schaub (See photo). We were shocked at their gracious hospitality. We felt like stray dogs being taken in and cared for. And we SO needed it. We stayed there from the 5th to the 9th of July and were incredibly blessed in so many ways. There was a peace in their house (and their hearts we figure) that told us that we were not alone, that there was Someone bigger than us taking care of us, and that who we are is more important than what we say or do. It was like a breath of fresh air after living in smog for some time! It was an oasis for us. It was during this stay that God put His finger on some things in Emma's heart from her time in Germany that needed addressing. (It was a relief to let them finally go - Em.) [Photo - Belle enjoyed the fields in Winterthur...]

This was also a time of reflection and God showed us that even though we weren't hearing His voice in a direct clear way (which we had before), He was still leading us. So far our journey had been extremely hard - a real test of our faith and trust in Him. Sometimes we felt like we were blindly walking forward, not knowing when the path would take a sudden turn or if it would even drop off into a canyon in front of us. But that's exactly what we had to learn - that the path He set us upon would not take any sudden turns without Him telling us somehow, nor that it would suddenly drop off into nothingness and we would be lost... He reminded us several times that we can never go beyond His loving care. What a beautiful promise, but so hard to learn in practise.

Luedenscheid (?), Bondorf forest, Altenkirchen, Germany

After a beautiful time in Winterthur, we had peace to head towards Luedenscheid in Germany, where a large church has a 'prayer mountain', and a 'house of prayer' on the side of it. On the way, Emma was reading 'The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical,' by Shane Clairbourne, and felt drawn more and more to the idea of giving up everything we have (what was left with us) and fully throwing ourselves into God's hands. We had already felt that our possessions that we were carrying around with us were weighing us down, but now came a desire for freedom from that weight.

As we drove, we noticed that Altensteig was on the way, so we turned off the highway and tried to find the YWAM base there, but were unsuccessful. Forced to find something free for the night again, we headed for the forest near Bondorf, south of Tuebingen. The place we ended up was so beautiful that we ran through the fields chasing wild hares, laid on the grass staring at the birds saoring in the sky, and watched the sunset together. We stayed only one night because it rained all night and the next day as well, so it wasn't really possible to stay there longer. We think the rain was God moving us on again. :-)

Continuing on our way, we found another place enroute that Ulf knew. He had done his 'civialian's service' (one year compulsory service for German men) at a Bible School near Altenkirchen (literally 'old churches'). So we went, to see the place again and to see if they would let us tent one night for free. They did let us tent on their sports field and we could use the showers and the indoor swimming pool (heated!) for only 2 Euro per person per night. What a treat - to go swimming! We had slept several nights in the freezing cold and were so grateful for a warm pool of water!

During this time near Altenkirchen we both felt that we should drive to Ulf's parents house next and leave everything there, except a backpack of essentials each. It just seemed to make sense. The next day we started out for Ulf's family home, making a stop at the prayer house in Luedenscheid on the way. [Photo - going up the prayer mountain.]