Okie-dokey and holy cow!! Right, so this “update” is well over a month overdue, which really means that I should do two updates, the first to catch up with my trip to England, my English classes and “life in the community”, and the second picking up when “Coronavirus” began to hit and what life looks like amidst that! We’ll see how it goes...
But, to remain chronologically correct, we must look back to the end of January, and February!
Two days before the UK left the EU, I flew to England to take part in the 24-7 Prayer Euro Leaders Gathering held near Ramsgate, UK. This is the smaller “conference” which happens each year, looking to resource, encourage and support leaders within some of the smaller, more scattered 24-7 Prayer Communities. As always, it was a fantastic time of catching up, being challenged and encouraged, and getting “re-charged” for the various contexts we all live and work in! I also found it incredibly poignant, on the day the UK officially left the European Union, to be in a room with people from all over Europe (Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Spain...), praying together for Europe and for Britain.
From Ramsgate I went back to Guildford for a wonderful few days of seeing friends and catching up with my Emmaus Rd Church family. LOTS of coffee(and tea!) was drunk, lots of yummy food was eaten, joyous “quality time” was had, and wonderful heart to heart catch ups and conversations were had, “topping me up” before then heading to my Aunt Liza’s in Essex for a week.
Anyone who has known me for any length of time will know how much I love getting to spend time with my Aunt and her cats, and this time was no different! “Pottering” and helping with jigsaw puzzles, running errands and “popping over” to see cousins and nieces, going for walks and enjoying the silence of her garden and surrounding countryside...that, was my week at Liza’s!
Rear view of The Cottage
View from my bedroom :)
Chilling in my favourite chair...with company!
Fin in HIS favourite spot!?!
My Mum's best friend from childhood, my "Aunt" Gill, and my Aunt Liza :)
Returning to Germany was remarkably straight forward, aside from a bit of queue due to a technical problem with some of the electronic readers for the passports! But I arrived home safely and easily, and slotted back into daily life here quite easily. At this time it seems that I have at least the rest of this year to “sort out” a residency visa, or decide what my “Next Steps” may be. That felt like it gave me a bit of “breathing space”, and although in view of the Coronavirus situation no one really knows how the rest of the year will unfold, I’m at least fairly certain I’ll still be here for that long!
In February I began teaching an additional English class, Intermediate Level this time, and between my two classes and the weekly community rhythms “chugged along” quite nicely through February and into March!
In March we also had a visit from Sebastian Schuler, who's been writing a book on the impact of the 24-7 Prayer Movement. He's been researching it for nearly 10 years, since he first went to visit the Guildford Boiler Room, in England, where I met him in 2009(?). I didn't realise who he was, or that I knew him(!) until he arrived! It was lovely to catch up!
At the beginning of March we had the arrival of Isaiah Klemme, a very sweet, new addition to the Klemme Family, and then we were preparing for our spring 24-1 Prayer Event, running from March 12-13. This time the Theme was “Beauty from Ashes”, looking at the promises of God to be with us in the midst of what may look like “ashes” or “wasted” situations and “failures” and more, His promise that He can make beauty out of what looks like “dust”. It was a really positive time and now, looking back, I feel it was an even more significant Theme, as we all entered “Lockdown” on the following Monday!
So, that’s a brief update on what went on at the beginning of the year! I think I’ll cover “Life in Corona Time” in a separate post, as it will probably end up being longer!
Thanks for reading! 💛
View from one of my favourite spots!
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