The Odyssey of Your Soul

Summit University in The Netherlands – May 21-24

By Joyce Carels

We were very excited to have our first Summit University in Dutch. We had been working on the translations for months and still in the last days before the Summit University we were adjusting things, and asking Carla Groenewegen for her opinion. How convenient that she is Dutch!

We booked the venue a year in advance, because our Summit University would be with Pentecost and the hotel could be full. That was quite a risk for us, since we had to invest while we didn’t know how many would come. We decided to aim for 40 people – 30 Keepers and 10 new people.

The community chose The Odyssey of Your Soul and we started making a website and advertisements. This SU seminar received a lot of publicity, it was really sponsored. We stood at fairs for a minimum price, we had a front page article in a mainstream spiritual magazine, we had a banner on the homepage of a spiritual website, in a word, many advertisements and mailings. Nevertheless no one from outside came to the seminar. Everyone who participated was either a Keeper or someone’s friend or relative. We ended up with 37 participants plus 3 persons who came for 1 day. That makes 40.

The Odyssey was magnificent. It was a great adventure and the sponsorship was tangible. The community was wonderful. We came so much closer to each other. The venue was beautiful and the personnel was very kind. We stayed in Mennorode, which is a sustainable conference hotel. They work with green energy and organic food. Before it became a hotel, it was a Baptist community, and I believe that is the reason why the place has a friendly and peaceful atmosphere.

Our community was overjoyed with the entire experience and they asked for another Summit University next year. Because of the amount of work we will probably not do it next year, but we are very enthusiastic to find out if we can hold another SU in two years.

The Sunday after the Summit University we used the spare dictation in our Sunday Service and played the entire movie The Odyssey in the afternoon. Afterwards we had homemade apple pie with cream. It was a wonderful conclusion of our SU experience.

Or was it? It seems there is no end to this experience. For we are still talking about The Odyssey, and using it to explain personal situations. The Odyssey guides us like a map. That is such a blessing, that we can experience this as a group, as a community.

I believe this SU gave us the impetus to growth. Many wonderful things are happening since this SU. But that is another story. Beloved Lord Maha Chohan, we are grateful!

The sky Saturday night above our venue had a present from the Holy Spirit: