Geneva

First time I travel to our sister church down south in Switzerland. I heard about a conference taking place with a guest speaker called Dr. David McAnulty, whom I met during the Munich conference a couple of months beforehand. Listening to his class in Munich, there was not even a hint of a thought not to go to Geneva. So I booked a flight being a little uneasy, as I knew that I will probably not even understand David's classes, who planned to speak in French. Did you know that he is fluent in French??? He even makes jokes in French!

I left Munich accompanied by Renate, she is from my bible group and used to live in that town, heading down to Geneva by plane. Scary small the plane was and my stomach did not like the roller coast ride. How good did I feel having my feet on the ground again. But the most blessed we felt being picked up by Andreas, one of our brothers, at the airport. We would have never found the way to our hosts and what a difference it makes to feel taken care of from the beginning?

Renate

How warm did our hosts welcome us! Ilya and Marina came from Moscow church to Geneva almost 3 years ago. You instantly feel like part of family just being around them. And if you never met a Russian beforehand, sharing time and a good talk is a main focus in their culture I am sure. It's NOT all about Vodka. They are so perfect caretakers - get to know them yourself and visit the church so you understand what I am talking about! (By the way, if I mix up on incidents taking place suddenly on the wrong day or I miss out on an important point David made - sorry - that's how I recall it best. Give me some credit.)

Marina

On the first evening we went to Thierry Fenders place to hear David's first lesson on Intimacy with Christ. The room was packed with disciples mostly speaking French and some German. Many faces I recognized from a meeting in Budapest some months ago. Geneva church might be small but vibrant. As my French circles around bonjour and au revoir I was lucky enough that Andreas had mercy with me and translated the lesson into English.

David McAnulty

Intimacy with Christ. David talked about emotional dependency [Eph3, 14ff - John 1, 14-18 - Heb 1, 1 - Mth 7, 21-23]. His first point was, that Intimacy is a gift of god, not about WHAT we have to do first. A personal - not an 'out in the open to be seen relationship' like the Pharisees used to do and that we belong to him. For whom do I do what I do? This question hit me. God knows his people, he knows a humble and righteous heart [Rom 8, 9 - Mth 9, 1]. The heart shows my stand with god. David said that the bible shows clearly that god went after me first; he makes me know him through his spirit. Difficulties help to lead me further to him if I dare to go that way. David's second point was to question Who Am I? The truth is hidden within me and god will tell me [Psalm 51, 7-8]. What is my root of motivation? Do I have an empty Christian living but the correct way vs. true Christ like life? I loved when he talked about practical implementation [Psalm 139, 23-25 - 1. Thes 5, 16-18]. Prayer as THE way. He told us a story which we should try at least once. To walk a whole day in prayer and thankfulness for everything passing by. If it is a lamp or the wind or whatever. Another Idea was experiencing Intimacy through serving others vs. being too busy with other things.

Afterwards we were able to bombard David with our questions, so I asked him in a quiet minute what the bible says about relationship problems like divorces, boyfriends who are no disciples, disciples who split living in a different town and marriages with disciples who were once divorced. That theme is discussed a lot recently in my church at least. With some I talked about a book I read lately "What a man wants, what a woman needs" by Eddie Long. Which is not one of those worldly books about differences between men and women but with a spiritual foundation based direction. But lets get back to what you might be more interested about.

Geneva was the name of a settlement of the Celtic people (2nd century BC), located at Lake Geneva, between the Alps and the Jura Mountains like the Wildhorn (3248m) and Teufelshörner (3209m) or Mont Saléve (1380m). The most famous sailing regatta called Bol d'Or takes place since 1939 at Lake Geneva. Every 25 years they have a festival called Fete de Vignerons - the best vintager gets a prize. Another important date is the Escalada on the night of the 11th-12th December, the symbol of their independence.

One of the most famous people from Geneva was the reformer John Calvin who was preaching at the Temple de St.-Pierre (St. Peters Cathedral) which was built on the foundation of 2 previous churches. The most I liked the chapel next to the Temple which is in a Flamboyant Gothic Style with glass mosaics. I did not find the stone monument with reformists Farel, Calvin, Beza and Knox but thats ok. By the way, you know Jean-Jacques Rousseau? He wrote the book "La Nouvelle Héloise" 1761 taking place in Geneva. If you are interested about some information about the International Commitee of the Red Cross or United Nations Organisation and the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Centre for Particle Physics (Cern).

Wednesday during the day Marina took us downtown. In the following days she always managed to get us around in Geneva. We saw a park with a little castle and stone angels close to the Lake on a balustrade. Deep snow and cold wind made me think being close to the arctic circle. I should have taken my skiing equipment with me. We went to the Temple de St.-Pierre and looked at the glass windows. I think the craftsmanship is outstanding. We walked across the Rhone river that flows out of the lac Leman dividing Geneva into two parts. We passed the Jet d'Eau Fountain and the Floral Clock. Next time I want to experience a little more of the 'Matterhorn region' as it is called too.

At Wednesday evening we met at Uris place to listen to David's second lesson on Relationships. [John 21, 15-23] Search for deep Relationships he said. "You are only as sick as your secrets" - freedom comes with openness. His first point was to learn to listen before giving advice. Listen, seek to understand, have interest, sent a message that there is trust, show respect and love. His second point was to show believe in others and accept them [Rom 15, 14]. Which message do I sent at all? Everybody is a unique person and if I speak before I listen that's pure pride. [Isa 50, 4] Jesus doesn't correct Peter but re-establishes him [John 21] and makes Peter feel accepted as Jesus treats him with respect. Don't judge others or feel spiritually higher than the "problem case". His last point was to be devoted to one another and be honest and faithful. [2. Tim 2, 11-13] Imitate and stay faithful, find others to be faithful with you. Don't feel guilty when you can't help just by yourself. You can't be responsible for all people (Book David mentioned: "Emotionally healthy church").

Thierry did his best to translate me. The only thing which made me think was, when we listened to Davids responds to questions at the discussion after the lesson ... Thierry always told me that the argument was very interesting. Should I have told him that I could grasp the point with translation? :0)

That evening we had heavy wind and it moved quite some equipment outside. Jana (my poor discipler) landed at the airport with a totally nuts weather condition and we picked her up late at night.

UNO Headquarters

Thursday was a free day of lesson so we slept in late and went to the International Red Cross Museum. Passing by the UNO headquarter with tons of flags out front, there was an unbelievable huge chair with three legs. I did not find out what it stands for, but you have to go and see it. I did not find Amnesty International but a sculpture in the Red Cross Museum which was very impressing.

Amnesty sculpture at Red Cross Museum

At night we went out to a fish place with Ilya and Marina. The interior was impressing and the customers seemed to be from all over the world. The waiters spoke even Russian!!! As Jana and Renate don't like fish I ordered together with Ilya and Marina a big seafood platter and it was unbelievable good! (Did I already say that I am into food?)

Friday lesson was about Motivation. Do I do something just because to please? [Gen 6, 5 - Rom 3 - Ju 21, 25 - Mth 22, 16 - John 6, 15 - John 10, 1ff] Am I authority driven and just following instructions? David talks about 3 principals: Belonging - Competence - Autonomy. Motivation can be triggered by belonging to a group like gods family [John 1, 14 - Rom 12] Church seen as a family. Motivation for forgiveness is more present to a fellow brother. As the group helps & supports, this helps to stop doing the wrong stuff. Acceptance, love, friends no servants [John 13, 34 - John 15, 15]. Second principal Competence. We loose motivation if we feel incompetent. I don't have to be the most spiritual one [Luke 9, 1ff]. Maturity comes with trust. We need the feeling of being able to give [1. Cor 12, 11] Everybody has a gift. Don't push people too much as it doesn't help when expectations are too high. Last is Autonomy & Choice. My motivation starts with ME. Love, humility, treatment of others comes from within [Jos 24, 14-16 - 19-22]. It's my choice to stay motivated. With force motivation will not last. Move motivation from external to internal and it will survive.

Saturday was a family lesson held by David. Sorry but I was not able to attend as we spent that evening at kids kingdom. Interesting when tons of kids run around you, take a deep look into your eyes and ask - in French - to help with something. You start guessing or talking with hands or feet. I asked myself what will happen if I just stare back? Thanks brother that you are fluent in French taking care of those problems. Afterwards we took off - Renate, Ilya, Marina and me - to go to the Lake. I thought my nose freezes off when Marina and I came close to the boats being covered with heavy ice, some of them already sinking. We were so close to the water that we did not recognize the waves being so strong. A minute later we were both wet heading back to the car as fast as possible. Shortly later we had ice layers on our coat and hair. We went home not to catch a cold, shivering but with a grin in our face. What an experience I don't want to miss.

Closing up the evening we met the disciples from Lyon church at a Swiss restaurant. Cheese all over. You know fondue and raclett? Somehow we were the only table in the whole restaurant who ordered raclett and they didn't have enough of those little stoves. So the waiters all the time had to run around to drop hot cheese on the plates. Had a deep and great talk with Ilya - be asured, he will answere your questions straight back into your face. Sometimes you don't need a lot of time to start a good and honest friendship.

Sunday was impressing. I got a new translator and she was sooooo much fun to listen to and to watch her laugh. Her name is Fabienne. She used to live in Paris with her family but moved down to Lyon.

Davids sermon was from the book of Matthew talking about some people from Jesus genealogy.

<<missing: sermon information will follow soon>>

Afterwards we went back to Ilyas & Marinas place to cook and mingle with the disciples from Lyon church.

I would have liked to see more of that Swiss area like climbing up one of the mountains or travelling to one of the 360 castles like Chillon. Lord Byron went there 1816 and wrote "The Prisoner of Chillon" in remembrance of Francois Bonivard who was taken captive in the castle in a dungeon. Or like Chateau de Sales where Franz von Sales lived. 1754 Voltair decided to spend the rest of his live in Geneva in his exile. My exile too? Or Nyon which is known for it's history of porcelain production, Lausanne built on tree hills and not to forget beautiful Montreaux. Well, have to wait for my next visit.

Besides all the good fish I got (you have to know I am a food addict) and visiting all those phenomenial places, the most I loved was spending time with the sisters and brothers. So it was kind a hard having to say goodbye on Sunday night taking the plane back to Munich. André, Ilya and Marina hugged me and with tears I knew I had to come back.

Geneva and Lyon Church plus some Zurich and Munich Church

Recorded lesson of Dr. David McAnulty in FRENCH (he tries to hide on the outer right corner)