It was absolutely fantastic having Dr. Jay Matenga with us, 21-23 February 2020.
Little did I know, and I am sure neither did he, when we first met in Malaysia in January 2019 for a strategic think tank for the future of the Mission Commission (MC), that we would meet up again and this time even on my home turf. Meanwhile Jay got elected to be the next global chair for the Mission Commission under the World Evangelical Alliance (https://weamc.global/) and started part-time 1 January 2020.
As he was in between mission meetings in Germany, Jay decided to visit me. Lucky me! 🙂 It was great spending a weekend together talking about missions, sharing life, Hamburg, ancestors, the Mission Commission etc. while showing him some beautiful and historical parts of Hamburg – in rain, of course. We were even treated to a musical!
Next to getting to know Jay a bit better and considering joining his global MC team (whatever this might look like), we also had various special and fun experiences:
- An MTC reunion of a different kind
Jay, my twin-sister Tanja, her Swiss husband Beat and I between 1991-1994 studied at a Missionary Training College by WEC International.
Beat, Tanja and I spent the first year together in the Netherlands. The second year, Beat went to study at the Australian college joining the class of Jay.
Here we are in Germany meeting up again. For Beat it is 27 years later. Incredible and fun to watch as these two exchanged old photos and memories.
2. A living room conversation
I hosted another LIVING ROOM CONVERSATION to which I invite friends and their contacts around a special person and his or her story and ministry. It is a more informal way of engaging.
Because Jay was coming, I thought it would be great to offer another conversation from my living room. Four missionaries with All Nations (Floyd McClung) joined us, two of them being South Africans based in Hamburg now and two were actually our former neighbours. My dad came along as well. I truly loved the engagement and interaction, the fascinating questions and thoughts shared. The people attending were such a great inspiration in themselves, too.
I thank God for such an inspiring weekend with loads of fascinating people.
I love these various global encounters and reconnections. Having a global family is unbeatable. 🙂 Totally!