THE GRANDEUR OF SWITZERLAND

October 27- November 3, 2011

Please forgive us for letting you sit back in Germany. We did travel through Switzerland, the highlight of our journey, concerning scenery at least. Sam had gone through this country numerous times and kept commenting on the different beauty seeing it in the autumn time of year. It was lovely to say the least, but maybe it was because we didn’t see fall foliage for over two years. The Alps were especially beautiful.

We spent one day walking the Mürren area. This is a small village in the Alps with very limited vehicle access. Visitors enter by cable car up and over the cliff. This is “Heidi” country for those you who are familiar with the book.  It was like living in a calendar page breathing deeply the fresh mountain air.  For October, the sun was surprisingly warm and we relished the crisp warmth, if there is such a thing.

We spent hours walking and sitting, watching the cows and listening to the constant tinkling of their bells. The majestic mountains peaked in front of us. Wow! What a peaceful way to live but it must also be a little lonely so far removed. After all, beauty doesn’t feed and clothe a person.

 

The scene in front of us... The ‘Jungfrau’ is part of this mountain range. The road tells us there are a few mountain vehicles around.

While Sam and I sat and relaxed, the children walked to almost the end of the road.

We spent four days with Gottfried and Bethli Oesch in Interlaken. They are Christian people and hosted us a few times before. On Sunday afternoon we hiked up another mountain side and enjoyed the lovely ‘Indian’ weather. Here we are watching a large herd of alpaca. They were many different colors and quite fascinating to watch.

 

The local vet raises these alpaca as a hobby. He does sell the wool and also their milk.

Touring a bell factory in the Langnau area. We did buy a small one to put on one of our steers back home. We enjoy listening to abit of Switzerland in our pasture but sadness will come when we have to eat the poor fellow next fall.

Sam next to a possible relative’s gravestone. This is at an old cemetery next to the oldest continuous Mennonite church in Langnau. You will find many familiar Amish and Mennonite names here.

This is Trachselwald Castle where many of our Anabaptist forefathers have been imprisoned and killed for their faith. It’s a sobering thought and a very valuable history lesson for our family.

 

Daniel Kauffman, winding up through the narrow steps into the tower of the castle.  A few years ago the Swiss authorities made an apology to the Amish/Mennonite people for the black blot in their history of persecuting their own people. Bethli Oesch told us many of these Anabpatists sites are now open to the public. Even school field trips visit them. There are plaques and recorded speeches in German relating what certain individuals experienced.

Some sober Anabaptist descendants sitting on a concrete bed.

We also visited the ‘Taufervershteck’ (hiding place of the Anabaptists). This is a barn where many pursued Anabaptists ran into hiding.  Hunters could not believe how their prey vanished into thin air. A clever trap door setting had authorities baffled for many years.

God’s Cathedral - The cave of the Anabaptists. Some of the ‘Not Regina’ story took place here. After we returned home we read the story again to our children.

Singing  ‘Faith of our Fathers’  inside the cave.

Downtown Zurich, standing in front of the statue of Ulrich Zwingli next to the ‘Gross Munster’.  Zwingli has the Bible in one hand and the sword in the other.

Sam pointing out the general area where Felix Manz was drowned for his faith in the Limmat River.

 On November 4, we left Europe and flew for our home in America. This is the last glimpse of the Alps.

My Sister Miriam and Brother Roger met us at the Philadelphia airport.  Sam’s brother, Amos and Sarah Kauffman, had just arrived back from Jerusalem that morning. Omar and Carol Stoltzfus had picked them up. Amos and Sarah will be serving under CAM for a year or two and have travelled back to the states for a short time.

Rhonda, my sister-in-law, had a good supper waiting for us. How good it felt to sit in our kitchen as a family. The little children that had been there are turning into adults. The table has become smaller. In reflecting, we feel so blessed to have had the opportunity of serving in Kenya, to have met David’s family in Ukraine, and to have travelled through the land of our forefathers, but how good it is to be home once more.

We spent 10 days settling in and then we left for Missouri and Nebraska to visit the Bender family. I had not seen my brother Dwight since his accident and we couldn’t rest until that was done. There will be one more post on that trip including an update on Dwight’s condition. Then Kenyan Kauffmans will be discontinued and exist no more.

To be concluded:

Mattie for the Kauffmans

KAUFFMAN'S LONG WAY HOME- GERMANY

October 22-26, 2011

We flew from Kiev, Ukraine to Berlin, Germany. Sam wanted to have his family see where he lived when he was in IW service back in the 70’s. Our children have pulled their noses out of their school books and now are walking through history. We are renting a modern van for our travels through Germany and Switzerland.

On Saturday, Daniel and Debbie (daughter of Lewis Overholt) Wiens took us on a tour of Berlin. Since the wall fell 20 years ago, things have changed a lot. What used to be “no-man’s land” is built up and you can hardly tell where the wall was. Brandenberg Gate is jam- packed with tourists and you wonder what Hitler would say with all this publicity...... especially if it’s negative......as if we care what he would think.....

It was a gorgeous Fall day! Here we are ‘smiling’ in front of the small memorial of “Great Berlin Wall” that had separated its people for nearly 30 years. This is very different from what it had been when Sam lived here in 1971-73. He and his buddies would peer over the wall at the armed officials peering back at them from the watch tower.

The October 24 birthdays have arrived again. This time Daniel is 17 and Monica 19. We celebrated by eating at some expensive ‘backerei’ and had some delicious donuts. Everything is highly expensive in Europe. You have to pay to park, to drink, to eat and to eliminate.

On Monday we drove into former East Germany and visited the home of James and Esther Miller. Esther served us some coffee and tea with Plum ‘Kucken’. Their home and lifestyle is quite like the pioneers.
On Tuesday, we started out for the Black Forest area in southern Germany. We entered the auto bahn and drove very fast down this modern highway. It was amazing how the miles flew by. There were no people walking along the side, no cows and no goats crossing the highway, no potholes or crazy drivers.
Along the way, we stopped at the old medieval city of Rothenburg. This city has preserved its walls of olden days built even before Columbus discovered America.

A number of years ago Sam had taken a picture beside this big teddy bear outside one of the shops. We found him again and this time Myrna and David met the bear.

In Triberg, the area is known for its cuckoo clocks. We visited the ‘House of 1000 clocks’ and also found the world’s largest cuckoo clock. We waited until it struck the hour and it made one feeble cuckoo. It was interesting nonetheless.

We parked along the road and had our picnic lunch. The dark pine trees have dubbed this the Black Forest Area.

 Just after we crossed the Rhine River and entered Switzerland, we stopped for supper. It seemed to be more tavern than restaurant. This old pappy stopped in for his beer. He looked like he was related to our Amish relatives. The food was good and the atmosphere smoke free.
We are now in Switzerland and enjoying our trip. Internet access is a problem. This is why you don’t hear from us more often.

More later-Mattie for the Kauffmans

GOOD-BYE KENYA!

October 13, 2012

The day has come. We pulled it and dreaded it. Our hearts are full. We have been so blessed and yet Sam and I are weary of being Baba and Mama to these all these people. They need so much. They have given so much. sigh.....

The Kajulu church meets to say good bye
October 13 has come and our tickets say it’s the day the Kauffman family leaves Kenya. We plan to leave Nairobi tonight and make an overnight flight to London. From London we fly to Kiev, Ukraine and stay in country for a week. Wayne and Connie Hursh offered to take us to meet David’s family in the south western part of Ukraine. We trust this will be a good experience to meet David’s mother and father and 6 bothers and sisters. Whoever thought that our entire family would have such an opportunity!
From Kiev we fly again to London and from London to Berlin, Germany. Sam thought he would like to show his children his IW home of two years back in the 70’s. We will rent a van and then travel through Germany and Switzerland to tour some Anabaptist sites. We fly from Zurich yet again back to London and then leave for Philadelphia, our final destination.
A weeks or 10 days later, we leave for the Midwest by van this time and visit Mattie’s brother Dwight and family. We also want to spend some time in Nebraska to visit the new Bender stomping grounds. Ah! Will we be weary of travelling? Maybe so......once we arrive back in Lancaster, we can stay at home and hunker down all winter.
Pray for us as we travel many miles and take in many things. It’s a lifetime experience and we and our children are so blessed.

Good bye! Oritiuru! God be with you all until we meet again!

The Kenyan Kauffmans

HEARTS TURNING TOWARD HOME

 August 18, 2011

Our hearts are turning toward home these days. This is our last weekend in our Kenya home. Sorta sad and somehow it tugs. But that’s what life is about. Memories and tugs! The time has come to move on.

Bishop Merle and Mama Sue have been living in the guest house. They are leaving Kenya on Thursday. They have left Kenya many times before but this time they have no plans to return unless God directs them in that way. When the guest house is vacated, we plan to move in for three weeks until our departure.  It will be like living in a dawdy haus with us eight Kauffmans.  We anticipate the arrival of the Marlin Stoltzfus family on Sept. 30 after we get this house all scrubbed and shined up in preparation for their occupancy.

Recently Ivan and Kay Peachey have celebrated 20 years of marriage. The two of them went on a toot to Romania to visit Kay’s parents, David and Amanda Raber.  The children are doing well in the capable care of Abigail and Jason, the two oldest siblings. Jason needed an extra van driver for the hour drive to their Nyagondo church so Martina assisted in that today. Of course when Martina goes, then Monica also wants to, then Daniel goes too and even Miriam. They had a good day but the Kajulu youth felt their absence. Sam and I were left with the two little ones, half grown now, at the dinner table and somehow we felt ready to move into the dawdy haus.

                                  Dwight and Rachel Bender at a July wedding in Missouri.

My brother Dwight turned 40 in July. His life came over the hill quite fast;  in fact almost to a grinding halt. It’s now two weeks  since the accident and he still continues his stay in the Blessings Hospital in Quincy, IL. Rachel faithfully stays by his side. The five children are well taken care of by relatives. Dwight is still on life support but is alert and knows what’s going on. The ventilator in his mouth hinders him from communicating and is quite frustrating. The surgery to repair the broken neck went well and time alone will tell us when and how much movement and feeling he will recover. There are still heart issues that puzzle doctors. The rate can drop as low as 25 and they wonder what the cause is. This makes everyone alittle edgy.  Sedation keeps it more stabilized but then he less alert. It’s been abit of a yo-yo. Pray for wisdom. You can follow his progress on caringbridge.org/visit/dwightbender.

This coming Tues, Brother Martin and Kristy Bender will fly to America to visit Dwight. The children will be cared by auntie and her daughters. These incidents make for special memories with birthday parties planned and all.

My seven little brothers have grown into men. Being the oldest in the family, I used to take care of them alot and even had to apply some discipline when my parents were away doing revival meetings. Not any more! In a literal sense, they all look down on me.

Left to right they are standing here according to age.  (47-32)

Nelson, Merlyn, Martin, Dwight, Marcus, Everett and Roger are all married to nice ladies and they don’t need my care anymore. But as someone stated about being the older sister; somehow you still feel responsible.

 

The Kisumu compound Family. This was taken out on the street the other evening. This becomes your family during your stay here because we ALL are very far away from relatives. For you relatives and others who know folks here this may be interesting.

Left to right you will find: Rosalie Beiler, Jenelle Miller, Jason and Cynthia Beachy family, Sam and Mattie Kauffman family, Martin and Kristy Bender family, Tommy and Marji Wagler family, Ivan and Kay Peachey family, Kathryn Hostetler and Joseph and Becky Hostetler.

Merle and Sue Beachy couldn’t be there for the picture. We as a compound bid farewell to you. 

Aufwiedersehen!

Mattie Kauffman