Rainbow and Convoy

Yesterday was new moon, and thus the closing day of this year's European Rainbow Gathering which took place in England. The Rainbow people are a faszinating subculture that take alternative living seriously. The gatherings happen in the natural landscapes, without electricity, without bathrooms and are regulated by an anarchic structure. There are few christians in touch with these people, sometimes out of fear because of all the strong new age and pagan stuff that is going on, sometimes because of ignorance. Last year we decided with a couple of friends that the gathering in Germany cannot happen without some Jesus Freaks being part of it, so we went there, set up a camp, worshipped, talked, cooked, prayed and just shared life with the others. We have been around 40 people, mostly Jesus Freaks from all over Germany, but also individuals from Portugal and the USA. Though we had an amazing time there with our Jesus Tribe I don't know of anyone who went this year. Perhaps because some of the core people are on their Middle East Convoy right now; Barbara, Maren and friends being in Jerusalem, while others are still on their way through Syria and Jordan to meet up with them. Check Barbaras Blog as well as Joni's Blog to find out about their really cool experiences. And of course, pray for them and the people they are in touch with. They are in fascinating, but also very tough places, as we can tell.

Freaks united at Flevo

Just returned from the Flevo Festival in Holland, a huge open-air with lots of bands, seminars and what they call cabarets (never been to a performance, so I don't know what happened there). It is more expensive (extra charges for program booklets, parking and the apocalyptic Flevo card without which noone can buy food and drinks) and less foreigner-friendly (rarely programs in english and no translations) than Freakstock, but we (here: Sam and Hajo because Rebecca didn't come along) had a really cool time. Enjoyed nice gigs with Blindside (pic), Sacrificium, TSTGU and alikes.

We were invited to have our tents in the camp of the dutch Jesus Freaks and enjoyed many conversations and food together. They really made us feel as a part of the bigger Jesus Freaks family, and we could prolong the "You are not alone" feeling that has been so crucial at Freakstock. The group in Ede exists for about one year now, and it looks as if there are more to come. Excited to see this happen! Many thanks and greetings to Benjamin ("I can arrange something"), Jan Willem (see you in Thailand!) and all the other dutch Jesus Freaks. We love you!

Very special was the possibility to meet Rana, another friend we made back in Beirut. We met her together with the other people from Youth on Fire and found out that we have a number of things in common. She came to Holland to prepare the production of a childrens' TV programm that has been broadcasted in Holland and is being adapted into arabic. Really cool stuff! She presented some of the scenes in a seminar about Lebanon and ended with an arabic song.
On monday Sara and me brought Sam to the airport. After two and a half weeks together we became close as brothers and I feel that we will meet again, perhaps on the "Cedarstock" that he is starting to prepare (not sure about the name, the place and the time yet...).

remember me

The war in Lebanon is over!? The ceasefire certainly is good news. It's one step ahead for all those displaced and eagerly waiting to go back to their country, to their homes and families.
But war is never over once a ceasefire has been agreed upon. It will take many months more until the traces of fighting will have been removed. When we visited Lebanon Beirut still bore scars of the civil war that lay 16 years back. The scars of people are even deeper. It is hard to keep up hope, harder even to resist the temptation of hatred and revenge that leads to nothing. Let's keep praying for the people of Lebanon and beyond...
Please remember Lebanon even when newspapers decide it's no longer top news.

On the road...

The mud on our trousers being hardly dry we left Freakstock to spend some days in Frankfurt with old and new friends from the local Jesus Freaks church. It was really nice to have some extra time with friends whom we won't see now for another couple of month.


It was such a blessing just to hang out and relax together. Thank you Sara for your amazing hospitality!

Sam enjoyed his time in Germany so much that he decided to spend another 10 days with us before going back to Cyprus waiting for the war to end. Don't be mislead by the picture... It was his own free decision to clean all our shoes in that way :-)