Jamie Fehr

The Avant-Europe Conference 2006 was a lot like bible camp. Except it was for missionaries. We had a speaker, we had activities, and we had a location. The only difference between this conference and any bible camp that I have been to, is that this bible camp had a lot of parents attending.

The Messages

Most of you who will read this will have never heard John Munro speak. He is a Scottish man living and preaching in the U.S. His messages are really interesting and practical and he had a great series lined up for us.

• Building Momentum by Drawing Near to God (Hebrews 10:19-25)
• Building Momentum by Seeing the Invisible (Hebrews 11:1-7)
• Building Momentum by Seeing the Impossible (Hebrews 11:8-22)
• Building Momentum by Enduring Suffering (Hebrews 12:1-11)
• Building Momentum by Pursuing Peace and Holiness (Hebrews 12:12-17)

Now, there are two things that I would like you to notice about that list. First, the theme for the messages was building momentum. Secondly, we spent some time in Hebrews. Building Momentum was significant because a lot of the individual fields in Europe are established and now the focus is on how we finish them up and create a new independent, reproducing body of believers. Secondly, the book of Hebrews and specifically chapter 11 and maybe 12 have been really important to me, but your going to have to check back a little later for the upcoming devotional that I intend to write on it.

The Activities

The only really exciting thing I did was travel up the Schilthorn with Sheila, Kirsten, and Beth. Sheila, just got her visa papers and is a missionary in Bologna, Italy, and in case you don’t know, Beth and Kirsten work at the Media Center with me. I really enjoyed, my Swiss Alps, mountain-top experience, but I really think that I do prefer the Rocky Mountains of Northern British Columbia more. Never-the-less I was very excited to meet my old friends Snow and Cold, as a matter of fact, I was so excited I kissed a snowman and made a snow angel and got really wet and cold in the process.

Otherwise, I spent the rest of the week listening to what was happening in the world of Avant Missions, conversing with missionaries from other fields, eating fine Swiss food, and buying fine swiss chocolate (but your going to have to come and visit me if you want to get some, I don’t intend to bring any back to Canada).

I was only disappointed in one thing this last week. And that was that I didn’t get to go bun-gee jumping. When I got to Switzerland I had heard that there was a really good one nearby and I really wanted to go but after asking many people and doing a lot of looking I couldn’t find any information on it. I gave up. It was a dream that was not to be. And then one evening, the third last evening of the conference, I was chatting with some co-workers (Larry and Gwynn Conrad) and they gave me a hot tip on where to find some more info. So I followed it up the next afternoon, and what I found was that the bun-gee was a full day excursion and I didn’t have a full day to dedicate to bun-gee jumping. So it’ll have to wait till next time. But doesn’t and 360ft. free-fall sound fun?

A Little about Switzerland

The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. Switzerland’s sovereignty and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers, and the country was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century, as well as Switzerland’s role in many UN and international organizations, has strengthened Switzerland’s ties with its neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations, but retains a strong commitment to neutrality.

Land Area

41,290 sq km

Official Languages

German (63.7%), French (20.4%), Italian (6.5%)

Population

7,523,934 (July 2006 est.)

All information from the CIA Factbook

Switzerland is different from Málaga in many ways. First there was the language, German or French (Mostly German). It wasn’t so different from being in Mennonite Canada. I really enjoyed getting to hear and learn a little German. Secondly, everything was green. People in Málaga are pretty gross in the way they just let their dogs poop anywhere and not clean it up, or litter and just leave it for that non-existent clean-up man to take care of it. And thirdly, there are real mountains that have snow on them. I really miss that. I don’t think that I need to live in Canada, but a Country with a climate like Canada sure would be nice, maybe Switzerland or Finland, but I think I am just dreaming. The only downside is that things are pretty expensive there.

A Last Amusing Anecdote

I was having lunch one day with some fellow missionaries and one of them was an older German lady who was also serving in Spain. Her name is Beate (bay-AH-tay) and some how the conversation had migrated into some German, I said a few words in German, and she looked at me with a look that said she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. I asked her if she could speak our Mennonite Low-German and she could, I answered back as best I could.

At this point I thought she might be at least a little impressed with my ability to pronounce words in German, because the next thing she said to me was (in english): “Jamie, you would make a really good missionary in East Germany.” And I just had to ask why, hoping that I would get to stroke my own ego a little, so I did, I said “Why Beate?” And she responded, “Well, they have a lot of unsaved people there.”

She got me good.

It’s Over

Now Conference is over and I am sitting here in ridiculously dry Málaga, Spain. I heard that it had rained while I was away but upon arrival, everything still looked as dry and as desert-like as when I had left, the only difference is that the Feria is over and the daytime high has dropped by ten degrees (it’s a mere thirty degrees now).

So what do I think now that the Conference is over? The first observation I would like to make is: Where are all the other single guys in missions? I can only hang out with an all female gang for so long and still be able to say nice things about girls. Secondly I now understand better what I was brought here for, my purpose in the grand Avant scheme of things, if you will, and that is to be more of an Avant Europe regional media contact, capable of creating any media for the other fields and available whenever. It’s cool, I like the job title and potential for travel. I just wish I had found this out a little before it was announced to everyone at the conference.