Holding on...

Since the beginning of May we have been living in a new place, again an interim solution, in Weissenburg in Niedersimmental. Our friends, where we have stored all our belongings, opened their home to us. In their house there is a small “church room” with a kitchen, which is only partly used and we can now use as our living room. We moved into a large room in the basement, which serves as our family room and office.

The last two months have been an intensive time. At the end of May, we had to liquidate our storage of materials, which we still had on the farm. Cheese-making utensils, garden material and other things either had to find a new owner, be stored elsewhere or find their way to the garbage dump. These were all things that we thought we might be able to use on a “new” farm. Whether, when and how we will ever be able to use these things again is uncertain. We are still trying to sell the milking stand for the sheep - so if anyone wants to get into sheep milk production and still needs a milking stand, please feel free to get in touch😉.

June was the end of the school year, which means one thing above all: writing school reports. At the same time, Marlen was working 60% as part of her pre-study internship at the HAFL (School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences) in Zollikofen. She resigned from her job at Compassion, as she didn't find her place in this organization. Christoph was regularly involved in the roof renovation at our new place of living, and one day a week he works on the farm of friends (current neighbors).

At the moment, we sometimes have the feeling that we are facing “zero” . What we dreamed and hoped for doesn't seem to be coming true, at least not at the moment.

So we have decided that finding a home is our top priority. We need to “settle down” again so that our lives regain order and more structure. The children want to belong somewhere again (christian scouts, sports club, etc.). We “grown-ups” also want a place with more commitment. And above all an apartment that is not just a temporary solution, but where we can settle in again, where everything has enough space and we don't have to improvise on a daily basis. And indeed, a door has recently opened a crack: An affordable apartment in a Christian community. We are currently in the process of clarifying whether this really suits us and whether we want to be part of this community. Even if it's not quite what we were hoping for, it's still a lot better than many of the apartments we've looked at. We'll keep you up to date on what happens. Nothing is clear yet and you are very welcome to pray with us that we can recognize and do God's will in the process.

Sometimes we (Christoph & Marlen) are at the point where we realize that our vision is slowly dying or that steps in the hoped-for direction seem impossible. Sometimes there are situations that give us a boost. For example, a new contact with a German couple our age who is pursuing a very similar vision to ours and is certainly further along in certain aspects of implementation. Even if it makes little sense to work together at the moment, the exchange is very valuable and inspiring for us.

Marlen's enrollment in agronomy at the Bern University of Applied Sciences is certainly a step in this direction. And Christoph would also like to continue his training. Whether this idea and Marlen's studies will really work out will become clear over the next few months.

Last year was full of good and rewarding experiences. We certainly learned a lot of new things. And perhaps it is the small and inconspicuous things that have enriched this time so much. And yet, at the moment we are simply longing for stability, a new home and a place where we can find our feet again.