A Divine Beginning

"Tonight I am really in awe of just how beautiful the bride of Jesus really is".

Geri Keller stood in front of more than 250 Canadian and international Christian leaders at the "Fathers meeting" held this past August in Woodstock, PEI. Keller, along with his wife, Lilo, had traveled as part of a delegation of church leaders from throughout Switzerland.

"We're here like the spies," he explained, "to see what the Lord can do by grace. We are in a land of milk and honey and we will go back and tell our sisters and brothers, the Lord can work also in Switzerland like He is working in Canada. We have seen the fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit. And for us, it is a deep refreshing, a living hope."

But neither Keller nor any of the other delegates could have anticipated what was about to happen next.

Also in attendance at the Woodstock Gathering was a delegation of Amish believers from the western United States. As the Swiss delegation was called to the stage to introduce themselves, Ben Girod, the leader of the Amish delegation, was immediately touched.

"In my heart I just broke down. I had never met them before but I knew this was a divine meeting."

At the front of the room, Geri Keller introduced the Swiss team, saying,

"As Swiss, we have received a double grace tonight. First we want to thank you Canadians with all our hearts for your commitment, for your obedience and for being an example to us.

Today, August 1st, is our national day in Switzerland. And we have been given enormous privilege to behold a great gift. To be here with the Anabaptists."

And with this Keller broke down and began to weep.

A History of Pain
What many of the Canadian onlookers did not know was that the Amish have a long history of pain with the Swiss church. In fact, the Amish are descendents of the Swiss branch of the Anabaptist movement which arose at the time of the Great Reformation. Although Anabaptists held to most of the major tenets of the Reformation, they challenged the doctrine of infant baptism. Like the Baptists who would come after them, Anabaptists rejected infant baptism, believing only adults could be baptized once they had made a conscious declaration of their Christian faith. Thus the Anabaptists separated themselves from the state church and its members. A church under the power of rulers who may or may not be true believers is no true church, they said.

In turn, the Reformers derogatorily called them Anabaptists or "rebaptizers" and brutally persecuted them to the point of death. Some religious historians believe the persecution of the Anabaptists was of a greater measure than even that experienced in the early church at the hands of the Roman Empire. It was search of safety and religious freedom that the Amish, Hutterites and Mennonites first made their way to North America in the 16th century.

"The State church really persecuted the Anabaptists," Keller continued. One of the leaders, Felix Manz, a counterpart of Luther, was dragged from jail and drowned in the Limatt River in Zurich". And because of this we have never been able to receive the full gift of reformation for our church and you have been prevented from entering into your full spiritual inheritance." As Keller bowed his head in shame, Ben Girod and many of the Amish leaders, wept openly.

"But now," Geri declared in faith, "is the time when God will, in His sovereignty, pull together these two broken sticks, the Anabaptists and the reformed members of the state Church. The Swiss church needs to acknowledge its past sins and wrongs. And we need the Anabaptists to speak a release to us so we can both enter into our destiny, together, as the body of Christ".

As he spoke, Keller reached into his wife's bag and pulled out a small package of red candle holders, each emblazoned with a white cross, replicating the Swiss flag.

"This is the only thing Lilo could fit in her bag! When you put candles into them, they light up the white cross. And I want to give them to Ben and Barbara [Girod] that you might be so kind and light them once in a while as a sign of hope that we will see each other in Switzerland. And that the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse the guilt and the sins of Switzerland."

A Release ( - Watch it!)
As the leaders clapped and shouted, Geri hugged and kissed Ben and Barbara and presented them with their gift. Then Ben, motioning to some of the other Amish leaders to join him, asked Geri and Lilo to remain.

"We," Ben began, "as the fathers covering our Anabaptist people extend to you forgiveness. We forgive you from the bottom of our hearts." And with this the Amish leaders encircled the Kellers who by now were sobbing.

"And on behalf of our people," Ben continued, "we ask you to take this forgiveness back to Switzerland and to Germany."

"There has been a release in heaven! There has been a release amongst our people! Our people are walking in darkness. There is a release that has come tonight," Girod declared.

A Mighty River
The next day, as the Kellers and Girods shared and laughed together on the front lawn of the conference centre, they marveled at their meeting.

"It felt yesterday like a divine beginning for a journey we will have in the future," Lilo Keller shared. And looking at Barbara and Ben with a twinkle in her eye she added, "And we will see you in Switzerland, for sure!"

Ben shared, "When I met Geri and Lilo yesterday, in my heart I just broke down. I never met them before. I only knew that this was a divine meeting."

After a long pause, Geri Keller began. "Yesterday evening I came home. I am a child of the Swiss State church. And when [at the end of the reconciliation] our two groups came together and sang the song "God is the Love" it felt like these two streams that had been separated for centuries were flowing together as one mighty river for the glory of God."

Dancing for Joy
A few days later, the Swiss and Amish delegation together participated in a national Canadian Gathering in Charlottetown, PEI. With 1500 delighted Canadians looking on, David Demian called forward the Swiss and Amish delegation. As Russ Rosen and the Upstream band broke into a raucous fiddling tune, the Amish and Swiss leaders jumped on stage and began dancing joyously together. This prophetic picture was only enhanced when a Swiss youth leader grabbed a large Swiss flag and began waving it over them.

"It was a historic moment," Demian said later. "For many of the Amish people, this was the first time they had ever danced, anywhere, let alone in public. They don't even use musical instruments in their worship."

The Future
What will the future hold? Since these meetings, a small group of Amish leaders have traveled to Switzerland to meet with other leaders of the Swiss church. And in January 2003, the Kellers, joined by others from Switzerland, will journey to America to visit Amish communities and continue the process of relationship building. All of the participants see these visits as a preparation for a Swiss national repentance to the Amish that is planned to take place in Switzerland May 1-4, 2003.

"On the day of Pentecost this year I was in a very famous cave of the Anabaptists. It was a refuge during the time of Reformation for the Anabaptists from the region of Zurich. In this cave, water runs from the heights, day and night. It's like a continuous mantle of water. And I feel this is one of the places where reconciliation has to happen.

And I'm longing for the day when the mantle of grace and passion of the Lord will cover us both, both movements, the Anabaptists and the State Church."