Calvin's College in Geneva

Calvin's Academy in Geneva
Originally uploaded by Reformation Tours, LLC.

Calvin College was founded in 1559 by John Calvin. Boys as young as seven were able to learn Latin, Greek, logic, rhetoric and Calvin's catechism. With the huge influx of French Huguenots after the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, Calvin's College played a vital role in their training as pastors, as well as many other young men who flocked to Geneva to receive tutelage there. At the time of the Calvin's death it boasted fifteen hundred students. It's still used for education today.

Zurich's Police Station

Zurich's Police Station
Originally uploaded by Reformation Tours, LLC.

You don't really expect to see flowers decorating a Police Station! While I was on a guided city tour of Zurich a week or two ago, we were able to see some of the colorful murals painted by local artists. Personally I preferred the medieval colors of the side chapel in St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva and it's lovely to see some restoration work going on. We've still got some room on our Reformation Trails tour leaving in June and in September, so if you'd like to see Geneva and Zurich yourself, let us know!

Lausanne Free Church

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Originally uploaded by Reformation Tours, LLC.

Last Sunday I was delighted to visit Lausanne Free Church, which is a delightful congregation serving the English-speaking population in the Lausanne area. Pastor Derrick and his wife Ann invited me to a fabulous home-cooked lunch with the family, along with two other British couples. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and I look forward to my next visit there. If you are in Lausanne, the fellowship meets on Sunday morning and also has a coffee morning on Wednesdays. The web address is www.lausanne-english-church.com.

The Queen visits Jamestown and Williamsburg

As a Brit living in the States, I'm excited about the Queen of England being on a visit to Virginia to help celebrate the 400 year anniversary of the founding of Jamestown.

"My visits to Jamestown and Williamsburg, separated by 50 years, symbolize for me the warmth and welcome Prince Philip and I have always received during our many visits to the United States over the years," the queen said during a private luncheon Friday in Colonial Williamsburg, the restored 18th-century capital of Virginia.

If you've not been to the Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown area in awhile, it's definitely the year to visit! We'll be hosting a clergy retreat there in August called "Reclaiming the Joy of Ministry" and would love to welcome you there. If you'd like to do a family or group tour, just let us know and we'll be happy to arrange it.

New D-Day Center at the Normandy American Cemetery in France

Sixty-three years after Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy to turn the tide of World War II in Europe, a new visitor center at the Normandy American Cemetery in France will open on June 6 to tell the story of the 9,387 Americans buried there and put the D-Day landings and follow-on battle in Europe in perspective. The $30 million visitor center will be dedicated and opened to the public on June 6, 2007, during the annual D-Day commemorations. The center is sited in a wooded area of the cemetery approximately 100 yards east of the Garden of the Missing. Normandy is the American Battle Monuments Commission's most visited cemetery, receiving approximately one million visitors each year. By relating the global significance and meaning of Operation OVERLORD, the center will pay tribute to the values and sacrifices of the World War II generation. Visit http://www.abmc.gov/ or http://www.franceguide.com/.

Noah's ark replica sets sail in Holland

What a wonderful way to bring the Bible to life! Dutchman Johan Huibers has built a replica ark in the town of Schagen in the Netherlands. The ark is 150 cubits long - half the length of Noah's - and three storeys high. A cubit was about 45cm (18in) long.

When you enter the ark, you'll see life-size models of giraffes, elephants, lions, crocodiles, zebras and bison. Johan will also have a live petting zoo, including a camel. The ark includes a 50-seat theatre showing a segment of the Disney film Fantasia retelling the story of Noah's Ark.

Johan plans to sail around the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany using the ark as a tool to renew interest in the Bible and Christianity. It's certainly a conversation starter!

Corrie's Ten Boom's "Hiding Place" in need of help

I'm a big fan of Corrie Ten Boom and her family, who put faith into action during a very difficult time in Europe's history. The film "The Hiding Place" is a classic and one that never fails to move me.

I got an e-mail about the house in Haarlem, Holland this morning and thought it deserved to be copied in full. We were happy to send a donation to help preserve this important museum and we thought you might be interested to do the same.

This is Holocaust Remembrance Month. It is a time to pause and remember the millions of Jews that died at the hands of Adolf Hitler during World War II.

Corrie and her family were dedicated to serving others. Their home was a haven for anyone with a need. The spread of World War II into Holland did not deter the ten Boom family. Their home became a sanctuary for those Jewish families and resistance workers sought by the Gestapo. The ten Boom family (Casper and his daughters Corrie and Betsie) risked their lives daily to hide their Jewish neighbors and others who refused to aid the Nazis.
Often there were a half-dozen or more men, women and/or children packed into "The Hiding Place," a small room tucked away behind a false wall in Corrie's bedroom. On February 28, 1944, someone betrayed this courageous family, and the Gestapo invaded their small home. Systematically, they searched the house, but God made seeing eyes blind, and they missed the secret place hidden away in Corrie's room, as well as the six individuals crouched there.
Because underground materials were found in the home, the ten Boom family was arrested. Casper ten Boom, Corrie's 84-year-old father, died after ten days in captivity. Betsie died in Ravensbruck; nephew Christiaan perished at Bergen Belsen; brother Willem survived the concentration camps, but died shortly after his release.

Corrie spent a year in prison in ill-health and persecuted by her captors simply for loving the House of Israel. God blessed her for her faithfulness.

Corrie survived the death camp determined to share the reality of God's love. Armed with her realization that "There is no pit so deep that God's love is not deeper still" and "God will give us the love to forgive our enemies," Corrie began a ministry that would last 33 years and take her to sixty countries.

Dr. Billy Graham made the American public aware of the story of Corrie ten Boom and the sacrifices of her family to aid the Jewish people during the Second World War through her book and the movie, "The Hiding Place." The dedicated prayer life of her family is less well-known. Corrie's grandfather founded a prayer fellowship in 1849. It was dedicated to praying for the "peace of Jerusalem and the rebirth of the nation of Israel." The 100-year long prayer meeting at the ten Boom home ended when the family was arrested and imprisoned.

Twenty years ago, the ten Boom family home and clock shop in Haarlem, Holland were purchased. It was lovingly restored, and is open today as a Holocaust museum, and as a beacon and a testimony of the courage, dedication and faithfulness of one family who, like Moses, chose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God," than to escape the wrath of the Holocaust.

In 2002, in order to keep the 100-year prayer meeting alive (1844-1944) by the tradition of the ten Boom family, the Jerusalem Prayer Team was founded. This organization is dedicated to praying for the peace of Jerusalem according to Psalm 122:6. The prayer meeting was stopped the day the ten Booms were taken to the concentration camps.

The Corrie ten Boom Holocaust Center in Haarlem, Holland, is open to the public. It is run solely by volunteers, and is funded through donations. In its twenty year history, no one has been charged to see "The Hiding Place." Over 800 Jews bound for Palestine were saved by the ten Booms. Corrie told me that God gave her Psalm 91 while she was in prison as her promise on her 51st birthday. (Corrie lived to be 91 years old.)

Would you make a donation today to help us keep the Corrie ten Boom Holocaust Center open?
There are no paid employees at Corrie ten Boom House. Volunteers willingly and joyfully give their time and talents to keep Corrie's family story alive for another generation. The final verse of Psalm 91 says, “With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (91:16)

Sadly, we see a growing anti-Semitism in Europe. The horrors of WW II are pushed into the background and the suffering of the Jews is minimized. For this reason, it is important that the Corrie ten Boom House stays open and that the story of the Ten Boom family continues to be told, especially the story of Corrie. This house is a place where God touches the hearts of people.

We mourn with those who mourn

Our hearts go out to those who are affected by the sad recent events in Virginia. We join with those praying for the bereaved families and the students who had to go through that ordeal.

Our hearts are also heavy today with the news that three wonderful men of God ministering in Malatya, Turkey have been brutally murdered. Brothers Necati Aydin ('nedjati', father of 2), Ugur Yuksel and Tilman Geske (father of 3, and a German citizen) were working in a publishing house in a city that has seen way more than its share of martyrs. Ten young men have been arrested for this brutal attack.

Aydin was the pastor of the 30-strong Protestant community of Malatya. Tilman is pictured left with his wife and his 3 children. Ugur was due to be married very soon and was a new believer.

Let's pray for their families and the church in Malatya and that Christians in Turkey would not be fearful, but would seek the Lord in this difficult time.

Need a new passport?

A passport is the first step to exploring the world. We have occasionally had to send ours in for extra pages!

The US Postal Service makes obtaining a passport easy and you can go online to www.usps.com/passport for more information. The National Passport Information Center has a toll-free number 1-877-487-2778 and a website for more information.

We always recommend making two photocopies of your passport photo page. Leave one at home with your emergency contact and pack the other one in your luggage. If you go on any of our tours, we'll also keep a copy of this page and will assist if anything happens to your passport while on tour.

A passport costs $97 for age 16 and older and $82 for age 15 and under, which includes the fees to the U.S. Department of State and the acceptance fee. You can pay extra to have your passport processed more quickly, which is an extra $60.

Need some ideas of where to travel with your shiny new passport??

Katie Luther: The Morning Star of Wittenberg

We have the longer version of this video, but this short clip is excellent. It's a good introduction to Luther's wife, Katherine von Bora. She entered a convent as a child, escaped in a fish barrel and went on to be one of the most influential wives in the Reformation.