Rikard and 141 kilos

From Eric --

“Are you coming to church? Here, let us take it all for you.” These were the welcomed words as we entered Hillsong Church London for worship on Sunday. It was a beautiful old theater into which hundreds of people were streaming for the 1 pm worship. Aside from the words of the familiar worship song and not trying to demean the sacrifice of Jesus for us, the words “take it all for you” had special meaning this time.

We had showed up at their building with 5 large bags of luggage and 6 other bags – all 141 kilograms that we have been lugging through the streets of London, up and down the steps and escalators of the underground subway stops.
For an hour and a half the people of Hillsong Church took all our bags for us, checked them in, and freed us from what has been quite a challenge. 141 kilograms equals 310 pounds. For an hour and a half we were free to stand and worship. For an hour and a half I sensed what it is like to have physical burdens lifted. For an hour and a half we got to worship without the worry of keeping up with lots of things.

When the worship ended and our next 20 minute walk to the underground was about to begin, when we all looked at one another and sighed a bit with the challenge again of maneuvering our luggage through the streets and down all the step, Rikard from the Hillsong Church says, “I’ll walk with you to the underground station. You’ve got a lot to carry and I can help you.” Thank you God for another gift. The luggage was back but the burdened shared. This young South African walked with us and carried a part of our luggage for the mile walk to the station, and not only to the station but down the many steps and waited with us until we were safely on the train. “Share one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. If they ask you to carry their bag for a mile, carry it for two.” All these words of Jesus’ kept streaming through my head. Thank you God for Hillsong Church and for Rikard.

Now you may be asking why the Lohes would be carrying 310 pounds of luggage. After all wisdom says there are 2 kinds of travelers – those who pack lightly and those who wish they did. The original plan was not for us to carry all this luggage. The plan was for us to send all the puppets and staging materials to Romania ahead of us. But the local post office could not guarantee it getting to our friend in Romania and UPS would charge us $804 a box. Multiple boxes = lots of money. So, nevertheless, we made the decision to carry all the puppets – 300 hand puppets, 50 mouth puppets, stage curtains and all the metal hardware for the puppet stage – with us. Five big suitcases and 6 smaller ones now makes sense though the 310 pounds is not any lighter.

We are now in Berlin for 3 days, excited for the days ahead and thankful for constant reminders of God’s providing for our needs. Rikard, His church, and great people all along the way – all reminders of His love.