Faith Weekend 2012

Me, David, Rachel

Often, we spend our lives working for extra things to create the comfort of a safety net. We want freedom from worrying about money. We work unsatisfying jobs in order to have savings accounts, spare cars, extra clothes, overflowing refrigerators... And yet the paradox is that what is meant to make us more free actually locks us in further. Jobs take time away from family and friends, low savings accounts cause us stress, cars break down, insurance needs to be paid, we can't decide what to wear or what to eat for lunch- or we eat too much. It turns into MY car, MY home, MY food, and so on, separating us from the need for anyone to help us and our ability to really help anyone. In the process, we eliminate our need for God. 

True freedom, it seems, comes through having less. 

Last weekend, Fina, David, Rachel, and I embarked on a journey that tested this theory. Does true freedom come through having less?

Packing List:

Two euros.
Two Bibles.

One guitar. 

One camera. 

One journal.

Four friends.

Cardboard and pen

  (for hitchhiking purposes).

No food.

No shelter.

Plan:

Pray.

Destination:

Unknown.

Purpose:

To be entirely dependent on God.

  

 Timeline (as it unfolded):

9:30 am. Departure. Walk for 30 minutes, then hitch a ride to Lobau!

10:00. Play worship music on corner in Lobau.

10:45. Ride #2- to Dresden!

11:30. Arrive on outskirts of Dresden. Along the walk into the main city, we found blackberry bushes and apple trees. Food! Some picnic-ers also gave us leftover donuts. hoozah!

Picking blackberries on the way to Dresden.

Feast

 1:00pm. We have arrived in Dresden- and so has the rain. It's chilly and wet out, so we eventually take shelter in a tunnel where I play music for the passing pedestrians and make 5 euros! We decided we should use the money to bless someone in town, so we bought hot chocolate for a woman on the street.

3:00pm. Mid-day was the most challenging- cold, wet, tired, and hungry, we took some prayer and worship time... and then decided to try hitching a ride to a nearby (ish) town called Boutzen.

Hitch Hiking.

5:00pm. Walked through the streets of Dresden. 

7:00pm. We got a ride part way to Boutzen- we were dropped off at a rest stop on the side of the autobahn and after hearing what we were doing, the guy who drove us decided to give us 30 euros. We were shocked and overjoyed.

30 euros and prayer cards!

 9:00pm. Still no ride to Bautzen, so we called it a night and decided to set up camp in a bathroom at the rest stop. It was a tight squeeze with all four of us in a 5 feet by five feet room..

A true rest room.

6:00am. Wake up. We held our own church service at the rest stop- prayer, music, and Bible reading.

7:00. We decided to forgo stopping in Bautzen when someone offered us a ride all the way back to Lobau, where we used some of the 30 euros to buy a decent meal at the only open cafe in town.

Croissants, latte, fruit.

Fina, me, Rachel, David.

 10:10. Used more of the 30 euros for a bus ride back to Herrnhut.

11:00. Back at the castle! Weekend success.

Closing Thoughts
 

Full dependence on God seems only possible when there is room for God to provide for us. With so little provided already, the weekend brought more than the occasional conversation with God. And when we were provided food and transportation, we praised God for it and couldn't help but ask, "How can we share this with someone else?"

The weekend was challenging, though, for sure- we were hungry, cold, tired, and wet at points. Sleeping in a public restroom on the side of the autobahn was interesting, too. On the other hand, we actually felt blessed to have somewhere safe (a locked door) and warm(er) to stay for the night.

Another thought that struck me was this: it was a struggle for us to go without food, transportation, and shelter at our fingertips for a mere two days, but the women I worked with in Jaja for the last two months live every day that way. What does this imply about us? Or perhaps them? Are we so apathetic as to let our days pass mindlessly while we turn a blind eye to the daily struggle of so many people?

As for whether or not having less allows more freedom, my answer is yes. When you have nothing, there's nothing to lose. Life becomes eager anticipation of the future, while simultaneously, you cannot take your focus off the present.