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