On Sunday, the plan was always to attend church in Matten. It is where my grandmother attended as a young girl, though it was in her own home, because there weren't enough members to form a congregation. I even have a copy of an old black and white photo of Grandma Anna Allenbach, her little sister Marie, her brother Emil, sitting around the kitchen table with two missionaries from America. One, I would learn eighty years later, she had named her youngest son, my father, after one of those missionaries.
Our cousin Jane has been the most recent visitor to Switzerland. Maybe ten years ago when her daughters surprised her with a secretly planned and paid for gift. While visiting, she attended this same church. Jane warned us that there were few members. There was no one who could play the organ. Jane got to play, and while playing, sat at a the organ shedding tears.
Coming full circle with ancestors can be quite meaningful.
But we found a different scenario. Before the starting time (Swiss time) of 9:30, the parking lot was filling up. Many cars, many people. Children, adults, were coming to commune with the Lord. What joy there is to find a community, unexpected or not, of people striving to learn of Jesus Christ--together.
The foyer was packed and the first young man to reach forward was Lexi. "I am being confirmed today." He was from the Ukraine, and I could only imagine his story.
And of course, there were missionaries. Two happy, energetic twenty-year-olds who were learning to serve others at a pivotal time: when other twenty-year-olds were serving themselves: college, career, dating.
One of these missionaries had a grandmother in the congregation. What? His grandmother had come to Switzerland fifty years ago to work. She'd married a Swiss citizen. They had five children with dual citizenship. Only one of those sons returned to America and thirty years later, his son returned as a missionary. What joy that grandmother had, bringing one of her own back to the fold--if only for two short years.
The meeting began with the confirmation of not one recently baptized member, but two. The first was a young man from Nigeria. When he received the Holy Ghost and accompanying blessing, when the circle said, "Amen," he stood, took a big, beautiful breath and smiled.
The second man, Alexi, when he stood, shook hands with the missionary, but with the other missionary, he bear hugged. The love and connection was electric.
The first speaker spoke about secondary characters in the Bible and in this case, it was Lot. The speaker, Brother Allenbach gave an analysis of Abraham and Lot's relationship and the differences in their lives.
Ahhhh, his name is Allenbach. Is he a relative? Our grandmother's maiden name was Allenbach. When church ended, we learned he was indeed a ninth cousin. An elder couple from Brienz, who shared the name Zobrist with us, were sixth cousins. It is a remarkable discovery to see the leaves on the many branches of a family tree.
We left the chapel and mingled with the people~~the people of our grandparents, the people of our hearts. We spoke with fellow visitors from America, whose cultural experience wouldn't be complete without meeting the Swiss members of our church.
And this church in Matten. When my grandmother learned a chapel was to be built in her homeland, she insisted that her successful sons and daughter donate money to its building. I don't know how much money they donated and if it made a difference, but that is part of the story too.
We loaded up the van now filled with the memories and the miracles of God, and of family~~ our story much bigger when viewed through two continents and a hundred years.
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