Vienna15

Where to even begin.....

This may actually be a fairly short entry(or not!), as I'm not really sure how to explain the time in Vienna, but we'll see!

I arrived into Vienna on Monday, October 19, a few days before the 24-7 Prayer Gathering that would begin on Thursday.  I purposefully planned it this way to 1)allow me a few days to enjoy and explore Vienna, which I knew I wouldn't have time to do during the Gathering, 2)allow myself a few days to try and "get to know" Vienna a bit, kind of hoping to get a "grounding" in the city before the Gathering and 3)allow myself a few days to "land" and process the beginning of the end of my trip and what that might mean for my immediate next steps, before having to answer the "how was your trip?" and "so, what's next?" questions which would naturally come during the Gathering.

I didn't have any contacts, myself, within Vienna, aside from one elderly family friend who, due to health problems, wasn't able to host or connect with me on this trip, and having had no luck with finding a couchsurfing host I finally put out a plea on facebook to see if anyone knew of people I could stay with, rather than resorting to a expensive, "big city" hostel.  Wonderfully, an American friend based in Scotland knew a family in Vienna who said they would be happy to host me for a few days, so, thanks to Crystal Cryer I connected with the wonderful Edith Farley and her daughter Sarah and for three days enjoyed another comfy bed, fantastic food(so spoilt!!), excellent conversations and freedom to explore Vienna from their home!

Vienna is a beautiful, elegant city(at least downtown!) with a kind of "relaxed London" feel to it?  High fashion(Prada, Chanel, etc), high "class"(everyone dressed smartly, LOADS of tweed and flat caps), elegance and prosperity, but with a wonderfully relaxed, "Viennese" approach to life! ("no need to rush, "it" will get done, now come and have some cake.....") It feels like a place where things get done well, with no flap, but with a recognition/determination to maintain a "life balance".  I think it must be "left over", or developed from Vienna's historic culture of coffee houses, where ideas and philosophies, concepts and creations were discussed and debated(never argued as that would be too aggressive and rude!), by the likes of Sigismund Freud or Mozart......even Stalin and Hitler lived here at one point and I'm sure would have debated politics in these same cafes!

In some ways, Vienna was a classic expression of the "pomp" and indulgence of the aristocracy, with an incredible patronage of the arts(especially music, opera and theatre), classic baroque architecture and urban planning(no Napoleonic "boulevards" per se, but many city parks, squares and fountains, etc), and even an old palace which was turned into a stable for the emperor's horses!(?)  I would be interested to learn what the overall socio-economical dynamic was during these times, because at a guess, it would have been a pretty big "rich/poor" divide!  But somehow, aside from a few stories I heard about less than brilliant "customer service" that others during the weekend experienced(I had no problems!), it felt as if even the "average Joe" in Vienna had inherited a kind a relaxed, courteous, open-minded approach to most things......(I realise that, once again, this is from a VERY BRIEF acquaintance and possibly VERY far off "the norm"????)

Anyways, the few days on my own there I spent visiting the Loretto Movement's(a Catholic youth Movement connecting closely to 24-7 Prayer) prayer room(wonderful!), and enjoying the beauty of the Viennese streets and boulevards, peeking into the Spanish Riding School's stables, and enjoying the beauty of the various parks and palace gardens.

Loretto Movement's Prayer Room

A Lippizaner Stallion peeking out of his box stall in the Hofburg Palace

A local Chemist's shop, not "done up" as vintage, but ACTUALLY VINTAGE!

Random, beautiful artwork on a building....cuz why not?

St. Stephensdom, Vienna.  This amazing building is where we got to hold our Saturday evening "15th Birthday Celebration", by invitation of the Cardinal of Austria

Lovely Baroque buildings and squares

Glimpse of the Schonbrunn Palace from the gardens

The Belvedere Palace near "Downtown" Vienna.....

Wonderful autumn colours and avenues of trees in the many parks(this one near Prater)

Lots and lots of horse carriages....they were everywhere, very touristy, but lovely to see and here! (and glad to see they get their blankets in the cooler weather!)

On the Thursday, I bid farewell to the Farley's and made my way across town to register for the Gathering at the hostel where we would be based, and then spent a lovely afternoon catching up with Veronika Ries, a friend from Frankfurt whom I hadn't connected with for a few years!  It was a wonderful time of catching up on things past and discussing things current and future, and it was a wonderful way to begin the Gathering!

Yay! Veronika Ries!

What followed was three days of enjoying good friends, brief catch ups, new introductions and some challenging and encouraging stories and teachings which I think will take everyone who attended months, if not years to see the full impact from!  We had some 750 people(rising to roughly 4000 on the Saturday night "Open Celebration"!) from 40 different nations and across the "denominational spectrum", with Catholics, Serbian Orthodox, Pentecostals, Baptist, Anglican, Methodist, Vineyard, and the various "Evangelical" expressions of church, all in one accord, loving each other and pursuing consciously or unconsciously the Moravian's belief in "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things love".

Yay! The wonderful Polyux "Crew" again! :)

General morning session at the Jugendkirche venue

Oh my goodness, wonderful and challenging stories from the DTES of Vancouver, CA and Mandeburg, SA (held, by the way, in the courtyard of the Bishop's Palace in Vienna!)

Awesome expression of unity with 4-5 different nationalities forming the bands!

It was an incredibly challenging weekend(in a good way!) looking at what, I think, will be an even greater presence within the 24-7 Prayer Movement over the next 15 years, which is the role of "social justice" and "bottom up" initiatives to "love our neighbours" and to seek to serve the "poor and the least", and also challenging us in what those phrases even mean!

We looked at the differences between "acting mercifully"(disconnected charity?) and having a heart that LOVES mercy(challenging the why's of what we do), the difference in our approach with people who are considered "marginalised"(do we come as "doctors" to "treat" them or are we simply loving our friends?).  We heard stories from people who have been working with and loving people within the refugee situation in Lebanon, and considered and prayed for what our part is and the opportunities to simply LOVE PEOPLE WELL are in the midst of this crazy situation that Europe will be negotiating for a long time to come, and we were able to bless and pray for "brothers and sisters" from different Christian "traditions", different "tribes and tongues" and celebrate what God is doing through them in the places they are!  A very simple, but I think one of my favourite expressions of the 24-7 Prayer Movement shows up in the people who lead the music during our gatherings.  We had people from Ireland, Macedonia, Spain, England, America.....and I've probably missed someone, coming together, sometimes not even having met before, but coming together as one team to worship and celebrate who God is and His goodness in our lives.  I love that! :)

We finished the weekend with our "Auction" where, with hilarity and laughter we managed to raise between €5000-7000 which we split to bless three different communities or individuals throughout the 24-7 Prayer "Family".

I don't feel as if I'm able to fully express the power and significance of what these 24-7 Prayer Gatherings bring and release.  It is a unifying time, reminding us that we are all one, and we are all in this together.  It is an encouraging time, bringing new thoughts, tools and connections to strengthen us and move the part of God's heart that we are each involved with in, forward, and its a reminder that we are not alone.  Many of the people or communities connected with 24-7 Prayer are very small, simply trying to do their best at "Loving God, Loving Others" where they happen to be.  These times allow people to catch a glimpse of the "bigger picture" which then brings encouragement in pursuing our own "part" of the picture. And lastly, it IS a challenging and a "releasing" time.  I can't remember whose quote it is, but someone once said something about, "now I have seen/heard about it, I can't pretend to not know, I can choose to do nothing, but I cannot say I didn't know......", I have no idea what that means for me, or for anyone within the 24-7 Prayer Movement, and many of us in the past 15 years(if not longer) have been challenged and have begun to work out our responses to the needs, but something more is coming, I believe.  This weekend felt a bit like a "girding of the loins" for the 24-7 Prayer Movement and each of us who are a part of it.  Those who have begun have been encouraged and challenged anew, and those of us who maybe haven't "begun" in quite the same way can no longer claim to not have "seen" or "heard" the call.  How that looks will be incredibly different for each person, whether it is loving young mums in our local neighbourhood, encouraging and fighting for "at risk" kids in our schools and streets, whether it is becoming "activists" for human trafficking or advocates for refugees, the old, the struggling, or something completely different again, but we've had 15 years of God graciously revealing Himself and His heart to us in prayer rooms across the nations......and part of what we have heard from the beginning is that yes, we meet God FIRST in the prayer room, we discover HIM, we discover His love for us and increase in our love for Him, but then it needs to go OUT.  "Love God, Love Others, Love the World".  Stage 2 our of the Movement's "calling" is beginning to happen,  we've practiced and learnt and fallen and failed and succeeded and been amazed and overwhelmed by what God wants to do in/with/through us......"now, let's begin again"!

:)

Beautiful night shot with the moon, off Michealplatz, Vienna