If you know Dave well, you know of his deep admiration for the Moravians who fled to Herrnhut, Germany in the early 1700's when they were under persecution for their faith here in our area of Czech.
Count Zinzendorf, a godly German man, sheltered the persecuted Moravians and permitted them to build the village of Herrnhut on a corner of his estate after they were led there by a man named Christian David in 1722.
Over the next few years, they formed a powerful spiritual community from which they sent out thousands of missionaries around the world and maintained a hundred year, 24 hour prayer chain!
Some say that this was the beginning of the modern missionary movement, and from which we take our spiritual roots.
The day we left Berlin we drove about four hours southeast through the former East Germany to see Herrnhut. A dream come true for Dave!
We visited a fascinating museum in town that is filled with artifacts that were brought back by those early missionarie
s, saw the original church where the Moravians worshipped (and still do to this day), drove to Zinzendorf's estate in nearby Berthelsdorf, climbed the hill to the prayer tower where they had prayed over that hundred year period, and walked through the cemetary where many of the Moravians, including Zinzendorf as well as some of early missionaries, are buried.It was a little like being surrounded by "such a great cloud of witnesses"! Every tombstone is inscribed with Scripture, and honestly, you felt the presence of the Lord there through the faithfulness of those believers.
Oh to be found so faithful! It was a moving afternoon to be in Herrnhut, one that we'll remember for a long time.
Connie, your blog is such a beautiful page. Thanks for taking the time to write up that trip. They are a fascinating and inspiring part of our story as a church. You captured it very well! look forward to more...
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tif
Wow, it's amazing to see your kids looking so grown up! For some reason so many of the JV kids are 'frozen' in my mind from our first couple years there in 2003-4, and it always blows me away to see pictures now, even though we've not even been gone 2 years! Especially Claire - I still picture her and Hayley as little girls, which is definitely not the case now! You guys are such an awesome family, and I love keeping up with you through your blog. Love, Amanda
ReplyDeleteJust now got some time to read up on you! Love your new blog look! Loved the stories about the trip and the ladies retreat! What a great blessing it was to me to room with you! I felt so filled up from all the sweet times when I came home!
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Kristi
This is so cool! We live in KC and are part of the International House of Prayer here - 24/7 prayer. We've often heard about the Moravians and the buildings near IHOP that house the staff/students are called, "Hernnhut"! So, I loved reading your blog and seeing photos of the 'real stuff'!!!! Thanks so much for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteDebi (from FTFL)