Refresh Europe 2018

Last year, Mike Harris, one of the pastors from Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, took this picture with his Go-Pro camera as he swam across the lake. You can see Schloss Heroldeck in the background. This year many of our group went swimming in or paddle-boarding across the lake. The weather has been fantastic.

Bob and Jeanne Claycamp leading worship in 1969 at the Shiloh House in Portland

One person we were so glad to reconnect with was Bob Claycamp, who we first met 48 years ago. Kathy and I were both in a Christian communal house ministry started by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, called Shiloh where, in the early days, Bob and his wife Jeanne were one of the few married couples.

Steve, Bob Claycamp and Kathy 48 years later

Today Bob and Jeanne both are ministering at Calvary Exeter in the U.K. Bob and Jeanne are also one of ten couples making up Poimen Ministries, a ministry designed to strengthen the pastors and churches in transition.

David Savio is responsible for the dining room

My job during the conference is to serve in the dining room. Each of the various service areas (maintenance, housekeeping, kitchen, etc.) has an overseer who directs the volunteers and makes sure everything runs smoothly. I work two shifts, lunch and dinner, and David Savio is the one who makes sure everything gets done.

David just finished a year of working as an intern to Rod Thompson at the Calvary Chapel Conference Center in Murrieta. In a few weeks he is moving to Kauai, Hawaii to manage a Shave Ice stand for a Christian retreat center.

Cheryl Brodersen teaching one of the five women's sessions

Kathy's job is more visible than mine. Each morning she is doing book reviews and emceeing the women's sessions. That means she works until lunch time, and I work starting at lunch and getting off after dinner. Between lunch and dinner, we get some time together to visit with those missionaries that we've met on previous trips.

A tired bat hitches a ride out of the office

When I'm working, she often spends the time exploring. One of the staff here, "Big Ben" took her to see the bats that nest in one of castle towers.

Devotions and prayer to start the day in our pension

Instead of lodging at Schloss Heroldeck, the volunteer workers are staying at various pensions around town. Before breakfast, at 6:30, we all gather together for a short devotional message and prayer for the conference. On this day Pierre Petrignani, from Calvary Chapel Nice, France, gave the message.

More Old Friends

This year, the conference center has been sending a van around to the various pensions, so we don't have to make the climb up to the castle. My 68-year-old bones appreciate that a lot more than they have in the past. Since we get there while many of the conference attendees are still having breakfast, this is a prime time for us to connect with missionary friends.

Joan and Rob Dingman (outside) along with Loretta, Arden and Rafael Manzanares

On Wednesday morning we found Loretta and Rafael Manzanares along with their son Arden, having breakfast with Joan and Rob Dingman, who we spent time with at Creation Fest in 2013. In 2007, as part of my first sabbatical at Orange Coast College, Kathy and I spent the fall semester in Europe.

Kathy, Loretta, and Rafael in Palma Majorca, Spain, October 2007

We came back to the states on a repositioning cruise that stopped at their church in Palma, Majorca. They picked us up from the cruise terminal and drove us back to their church. Afterwards, we all went out to lunch at a tapas restaurant in the shadow of the Palma Cathedral.

Visiting Calvary Chapel Haarlemmermeer in 2017

In 2017, Kathy and I had a short vacation. I had to be back in the middle of June to teach summer school. We visited Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. We stayed five days in Haarlem, just outside of Amsterdam, and one of the highlights was going to church at Calvary Chapel Haarlemmermeer. That's where we met Andre de Haan.

Steve, Andre and Kathy at Refresh Europe 2018

It was great to connect with him again at the conference. Andre just finished college and has his first job teaching sixth-graders in the fall. He also just bought his first house which is really exciting. He still leads worship at Calvary Chapel where his brother Caspar is part of the church leadership. He is really a great young man. Hearing about his life it's hard not to get excited.

Marnie and Stan Marinussen in the Netherlands, June 2017

It was also great to reconnect with Marnie and Stan Marinussen, who pastors Calvary Chapel Haarlemmermeer. We had a wonderful time visiting with them in 2017, and it was great to see them at this conference.

Stan, Marnie, and Kathy at Refresh Europe 2018

Marnie was the Friday women's speaker and Kathy got to introduce her.

Kathy and Marnie Marinussen

One of the people that Kathy wanted me to meeet was Karen Holdcraft, originally from David Guzik's church in Simi Valley, but now working with the Calvary Chapel in Siegen, Germany.

Karen Holdcraft, Kathy, and me

Karen is a pretty extraordinary person. Kathy wanted me to talk with her because she just finished a thirty-two day pilgrimage walk from Lisbon to Santiago del Campostella in Spain. This is similar to the route from St. Jean de Luz in southern France across the top of Spain, made famous by Martin Sheen's movie, The Way, of a few years ago.

I've always wanted to do that, so I wanted to hear all about it. Karen also kept us engrossed in her stories of learning Creole in Haiti, building churches and orphanages in Mexico and Nicaragua, working for years in LA as a journeyman carpenter, and doing a five-hour open ocean swim off of Todos Santos island, Mexico.

Pierre and Nancy Petrignani with Kathy at Calvary Chapel Nice, October 2007

After talking with Karen, we were happy to run into Pierre and Nancy Petrignani from Calvary Chapel in Nice, France. We first met them in 2007 on the same cruise where we visited with Rafael and Loretta.

Nancy and Pierre, Kathy and Steve, Refresh Europe 2018

It was wonderful reconnecting with them, hearing what the Lord is doing in their church, and meeting their children, Tonio and Lindsey, and their new grandchildren.

That evening, instead of returning back to our pension after dinner, we stayed for our pastor, Brian Brodersen's teaching, which was interrupted by a bat flying around the room. After seeing the bat belfry and having the bat in the service, Kathy wondered if the castle might want a new version of the dove logo.

Well, that's it from Austria. Tomorrow morning we're getting up and heading for Venice.