World Assembly – day 3

Yesterday - Sunday - was a day of rest and celebration. No presentations and workshops. As every day we started with morning prayer. This time I was happy to read the words “Prayer dance” on the screen. It turned out to be some minor movements but still, very refreshing in the midst of so much talking. The prayer was led by two delegates from Asia. The 30 minutes long prayer, which also included some prayers from the ancient St. James liturgy, we were blessed in Aramaic, the language of Jesus. This is always powerful. To understand that some of our Christian sisters and brothers still use Jesus’ own language.

At 10 we all gathered and went to Amsterdam. We got a chance to see the canals by boat and were also served sandwiches on board. At three in the afternoon, we all gathered in Westerkerk close to Anne Franks house. The Bible Society of theNetherlands and Flanders, that arranged the whole day, also were hosts for this service. The musicians were excellent, and we shared the Word of God in so many languages. Most of all I loved all the singing, also in several languages. An again, the musicians really helped to make the singing into a beautiful experience.

The day ended with dinner in the magnificent wintergarden of hotel Krasnapolsky. It is so good to be able to sit down and enjoy the company of colleagues from all over the world and to share a meal.

Today we will continue with the presentations and discussions. Before we leave on Wednesday some important decisions are to be made that will set out the direction of the Untied Bible Societies for the next 5-7 years.