Switzerland summary (Part 1)

You know those people who want to share every moment of their trip in minute detail with photos etc, boring you senseless? Well, I’m joining their ranks. Behold, my time in Switzerland…

Day 1: Thursday, 8th April
Early start for my morning flight into Switzerland. Get picked up by Myriam, who coordinates presentation teams in Switzerland. During the drive to Dietlikon, we discover similarities– same age, both TCKs (she went to the Swiss school in Singapore as her parents were missionaries in Thailand), both ‘in transition’. We arrive at the farm that will be my home for the next ten days, meet Werner and Marianne Benz - our hosts, and the other members of my team, Siegfried and Airton. We head over to the OM office in Wallisellen for our briefing. After a very Swiss dinner at the home of an OMer, Michelle, we crawl back to the farm, anticipating delicious sleep. Unfortunately, the church next door to the farm thwarts our hopes. The church bells ring out the time every hour and peal again once every half an hour. All very charming in the daytime, but at 3AM I harbour dreams of arson…

Day 2: Friday, 9th April
After a few hours in the office organising our weekend schedule, we jump into an OM car and begin the drive across Switzerland, from Zurich across to Cortaillod in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Siegfried (our designated driver) has several vocal disagreements with Erika (our GPS), which results in several scenic detours. Finally we arrive at the tiny OM office in Cortaillod. There we meet Hugo, leader of the work in that region. He cooks us supper (which we wolf down at astonishing speed) and then we take a walk around the nearby lake. Ridiculously beautiful area – vineyards, stunning panorama etc. I hatch plans to leave OM in London. Again we hop into the car and make the long drive to Hugo’s home – his family farm – in a tiny village called Ulmiz over the language border in the German-speaking part.

Day 3: Saturday, 10th April
Because we arrived late at night, it is only today that I appreciate how amazing Hugo’s house is. It’s an enormous ancient farmhouse, filled with all kinds of stuff. Can’t even describe it. Anyways… After organising the weekend's meetings, we have an outdoor lunch, watching the cows have their lunch. Following that, we decide to briefly take a nose around nearby Bern, Switzerland’s capital. I can confirm that Bern is beautiful. Sight-seeing completed, we drive over to Herzogenbuchsee for our meeting. It’s a small group that night, but they are all quite responsive. We don’t leave till very late, only to discover we can’t remember the name of Hugo’s village to type into the GPS. Panic! After some time, we find the name on a map – saved!


Day 4: Sunday, 11th April
Sunday meeting in a dynamic little church in Boudry. Amazing to see how different the feel of French-speaking Switzerland is to the German-speaking part. A lot more laid back, etc. After our presentation in the service, we are invited to the pastor’s home for lunch. Airton is thrilled to see rice on the menu, as being Brazilian, he’s used to rice and beans twice a day. Just a small example of how God looks after us. After a delicious meal, almost when we are too sleepy to move, we hop back in the car to pick up our stuff from Ulmiz, and then head back to Zurich.

Part 2 to follow...