All day Monday we discussed whether, because of the weather forecast, we should head up to Friesland on Tuesday to Witmarsum and Pingjum. Heavy rain and possibly hail. In the end we said we would. It turned out to be the hottest day of the year in the Netherlands; sunny, humid and hot. We drove from Almere through Amsterdam, up through Zaandam on the west side of the country to the earthen dike that holds back the North Sea and has a beautiful 4 lane highway on it connecting the west to the east side of the country.
Our friends, Jan & Ineke Terbiyhe were to meet us in Witmarsum at noon. Bob & Miriam were kind enough to offer their Ford Fiesta to us for the day. This gave us a flexibility we would not have had otherwise. Driving in the Netherlands was a pleasure in spite of the heat (better get used to it, I thought, this is like North America).
We met our friends in Witmarsum at the church in town on Menno Simonsstraat. We couldn't get into that church (which apparently is Mennonite) but Jan found the pastor of the Reformed church up the street who let us into his church where a special 5 month long display on Mennonites was happening. A photographer had put together photos of current Mennonites in the Netherlands with their personal stories. I wish I could report that the Mennonite church in the Netherlands is thriving and growing but alas, all reports are that the age of the congregations is old and the sizes are small. Many predict they will be gone in a generation. That would truly be a shame in the land where Menno Simons was born.
We ate lunch out of town at the Menno Simons monument/ park. It is a modest place with the metal frame of a church that once stood there, the church Menno preached in. The scenery was wonderful however. The Dutch/ Frisian countryside all around us with the smell of fresh hay in the air. The whole scene was pastoral. Dairy farms and houses, fields of cattle and hay and crops. Probably the other sensation, besides the country smell was the sound of silence, so quiet and peaceful. I wanted to stay.
It had become a warm but now cloudy day. A metal framed picnic table was available and we shared a packed lunch together. Our girls couldn't remember when Jan & Ineke visited us in St. Catharines, nor our connection so we reminded them that I met them in Cairo, Egypt a long time ago when they were working there and I was with MCC. We went to the same church, International Church of Cairo.
After lunch we headed for Pingjum to see where the hidden church of the Anabaptists was. Inside we found a small group of people in a workshop. Mennonites from the Netherlands and from Honduras meeting. I enjoyed a short visit with a man from Honduras during their tea break.
In both towns what struck me was their 'emptiness'. It was midday but almost no one was about. No hustle and bustle on this 'normal' Tuesday. Another thing that struck me was the number of 'Te Koop'/ For Sale signs all around, both houses and businesses. What was going on? I thought, if I had the money, I would love to buy one of these houses and come and live here. I could be wrong about the town, it is possibly like small towns all over the world in that they would not welcome an outsider among them. But you never know.
We drove to the town of Sneek (pronounced 'snake') to for a break before we parted ways. The girls saw an ice cream place and so we ended up with ice cream instead of coffee. Jan & Ineke graciously insisted on paying for the ice cream. Sneek is a strategic spot where they could drive back to their home directly and we could take the road south back to Almere. So we said a fond good-bye and parted ways.
It was after we got back that the storm hit that evening. Winds, rain and eventually cooler weather prevailed. Holland was feeling like it should feel.
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