Moriah and Peter moved to Germany.
The memory is vivid: Vicki and I standing on our Kentucky porch, waving as their borrowed car turned the corner. One moment they were waving back—big and brave—and the next, the street was empty. A space opened in our hearts that felt exactly like a bar of German Zartbitterschokolade: dark, bitter, and sweet all at once.
Peter, Moriah, and Cat Stevens, ready to go.
We were proud of them. They had accomplished so much together, but this "Continental relocation" would be their greatest challenge yet. Living abroad sounds exotic, but in practice, it demands a fierce independence and a willingness to be perpetually bewildered. Having navigated similar paths ourselves, Vicki and I knew exactly what they were up against.
Parenting isn’t for sissies. We hated to see them go, but we knew we couldn't hold them back.
Now, Peter, Moriah, and Cat Stevens have a flat overlooking the Rhine, just upstream from Köln. Peter is a freight ace for FedEx on European assignment; it turns out places like Paris, Vienna, and Tel Aviv need their purple packages, too. FedEx takes care of its pilots, but it asks for a five-year commitment in return.
Five years?
The red marker indicates the location of Köln (or Cologne), Germany. Image courtesy of Google Maps.
Fortunately, my own travel life—when not sidelined by global restrictions—frequently takes me across the Atlantic. I’m hoping my employer will be kind enough to grant me the occasional "scenic" route home via Germany. It’s on the way, isn't it?
But their move has me wondering: What does a "Bible Land Explorer" do in Mitteleuropa? What cultural and historical markers here are relevant to our mission? What biblical backstories can be teased from the cold ground on the far side of the Alps?
This move has changed our lives in smaller ways, too. We now have WhatsApp on our phones. We watch the world news with fresh, anxious eyes. We are praying a little harder than we did before. And as for me? I have a lot of homework to do.
It has been good to travel again. Just a couple of weeks ago I was able to meet some dear friends in East Jerusalem that I had not seen since the Covid crisis began. I was grateful to find them alive and well!
Now that that the door has opened, we have a full slate of tours scheduled for summer and fall of 2022. If you are interested in exploring the Bible Lands for yourself, there is no better time. It will only get more and more crowded as the travel industry comes back to life. For a list of opportunities, see our website here.
