Anniversary Celebration of De Bazuin (Enschede, NL) with Posaunenchor Schwerin (Germany)
Esther plays (as some of you may know) with the Posaunenchor Schwerin. And as it happens, De Bazuin from Enschede has been in contact with the Posaunenchor Schwerin for many years, and De Bazuin is currently celebrating its 80th anniversary!
And so… we (as Dutch people living in Schwerin) went to visit the Netherlands to celebrate it together! (the story continues below the photos)
And what a welcome, people! Wow! If warmth and hospitality could be expressed through actions, this would be the perfect example of welcome and kindness. In a beautiful, peaceful place just outside Enschede, we were welcomed with open arms, and everything, absolutely everything, had been thought of.
(and yes, they had dried sausage, cubes of cheese, Grolsch, croquettes and frikandellen. Martin was absolutely delighted. As they say, a child is easily pleased)
In the evening, a campfire with wonderful stories about all the years they have been working together, going all the way back to 1993! And those stories really bring it to life. Wonderful to hear, and especially to be able to witness. Almost like a family seeing each other again. Very special.
80 years of making music together, 80 years of being part of the Baptist Church in Enschede, 80 years of sharing joys, sorrows and history.
Friday was the welcome, Saturday a joint rehearsal, followed by leading the service on Sunday and a coffee concert after the service.
The Sunday service was special and beautiful, really beyond words. So instead, we would rather share this song that was played and sung, and which fit the theme of the service (Psalm 57) best:
We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling, and needing more each day thy grace to know: yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on thee, and in thy name we go”; yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing, “We rest on thee, and in thy name we go.”
By the way, do you know how wonderful it is to be able to attend a Dutch-language church service again? For many of you readers, attending a service in your own language is probably the most normal thing in the world. For us, it is something unique.
Something else that was really beautiful to see was that the pastor translated his sermon into German for the visitors from Schwerin.
That too may seem like such a small thing, just translating a sermon into German, but as a visitor it means so much. For a moment, you are truly part of the congregation, sharing in both joy and sorrow. That too was beautiful to witness.
And what remains… are the rest of the video recordings we made. Enjoy:
(the closing text is below all the videos)
Coffee concert after the church service:
We absolutely loved it! We were able to step into a friendship, or a bond, that had been built many years ago. We enjoyed the hospitality, the friendship and the freedom to do this together with De Bazuin. To everyone who made this possible: thank you so very much, and we hope to see you again next time.
Tomorrow we continue to Apeldoorn and… and…. and… and ….. And why do we do all of this, and why are we travelling again now? This is why: