From mid-November to mid-December I had the privilege of attending a 30-day retreat of solitude. Part of my time was spent in long Bible meditations. I received a new text every day and the expectation was that I would spend one hour, four times a day, meditating on the text. The objective was to make sure that I was not preparing my next input, sermon or devotion but to allow the Bible do its work in me. I was waiting upon God and allowing him do his work in me through his Word.

And God did do his work in me. Sometimes his word was speaking very loudly into my life. But most of the time it was more like the quiet work of yeast. I understand the growth and change by looking back. Things in my life have been touched. It was a deep and meaningful time. Very quiet, very wholesome. No Corona frenzy for 30 days. No news except the Good News of the Bible.

In the new year I restarted physiotherapy which I had interrupted a long while ago. The therapist is totally unfamiliar with anything Christian. I have hardly ever met such an illiterate person in Christian matters and understanding. She noticed though a deep quietness about me. She was in fact quite amazed what had happened in me. I told her a bit about my experience. She knows about meditating, but it is about emptying oneself and not about filling up with something good and lifegiving. It was and is a challenge to build bridges of understanding and beckon her to engage in the spiritual realm. It feels at times as a holy bubble meets the world.

As the EEA, we also want to continue to engage with spiritual things and Bible engagement was the topic of the week of prayer and it is also our topic in the newsletters in the first half year of 2021. Bible engagement is fundamental for Christians. To be soaked in the Bible is fundamental for us. It roots us, keeps us in sync with God and helps us to journey safely. The bible is our anchor in a time which pulls us in all kinds of directions.

But Bible engagement, for us, is not an end in itself. Bible engagement needs to lead to engagement with the world. That is how it was meant from the beginning. God’s Word was not spoken into nothingness nor was it meant for mere entertainment of his followers. It was and is addressed to the people which God has made in his image.

Therefore, pray for me as I engage with the Bible and the world around me. I want to be a holy bubble which bursts and engages with the people around me.

And let’s pray for each other that God can do what he desires through his Word in us, through us and through the Evangelical Alliance.

Thomas Bucher

P.S. In the name of the staff team and the members of the European Evangelical Alliance, I personally congratulate Thomas Schirrmacher on his election as future Secretary-General of the World Evangelical Alliance and wish him God`s strength and wisdom in the execution of his new office!