Eventful Trip

Last weekend in the Black Forest was very blessed. It was good to be with the board members of the German ministry again (even though only for a few short days) and it was also nice to see some of their homes. The meeting was very fruitful. Amongst other topics, we talked about the organization of our camp meeting next August and also about a new name for our magazine. Not all questions have been resolved yet, but with a lot of faith and prayer, everything will work out. What I find remarkable about our team is the fact that we are all very different, yet we harmonize so well as a group. Only the Lord can do this, no doubt.

I was kind of apprehensive about my journey, as you always have to expect delays when travelling by train. The era of high speed trains has added to the problem. Yes, they are supposed to take you somewhere very fast - I think the highest speed is about 280 km/hour (about 175 miles), but especially when it's very cold (or very hot), they can't run up to their peak performance. Thus, I was having delays already on Friday, but finally I arrived only 1/2 hour later at my destination. On Monday morning, everything went pretty well until I arrived in Cologne. From there, I was supposed to transfer to the Thalys (the high-speed train to Brussels and Paris), but to my consternation, this train had been completely cancelled! I had a similar experience last year, when I had to sit for hours at the station in Cologne to wait for the next Thalys. However, this time they ushered us straight to a regional train which was going to Aachen, and for the last 150 km (90 miles), an ad-hoc bus service to Brussels was provided.

On that bus, I happened to sit next to an MEP (member of the European Parliament), a German lady representing the Green Party. I got into a very interesting conversation with her, mainly about EU politics. Being an MEP for already 11 years, she had a lot of insights. She was also aware about the new "Working Time Directive", which will soon be voted on in the Parliament. I had shared on this blog about the conference on the work-free Sunday which was held in March (the issue about working on Sunday is also part of this proposed Directive). I told her that I had seen it just went into consultation within the Commission (from there it will go to the Parliament and finally the Council to decide). This lady had some interesting background knowledge about the topic, and she also gave me her assessment concerning the work-free Sunday, saying that she didn't think that it would be enforceable on EU-level. I can't share anymore about it at this point though, as it hasn't been decided yet.

Anyway, I also got to talk to her about health a little bit, and I finally gave her a tract about the 8 laws of health. I also asked her for her card and she said I could contact her if I had any questions. In fact, I may do this at some point! I was very thankful about this encounter, and you may imagine that I gladly accepted my delayed arrival in Brussels!