A year ago I signed up to visit Taize, France with my daughter. It was something I had been hoping to do for years.
The view from our room
When we arrived on July 22nd, my 41st birthday, we had ridden in a bus all night from London. We were tired, but it was exciting to arrive and head to breakfast. We had read in blogs about the bread, chocolate, butter, and cocoa and it did not disappoint. We went to the chapel and experienced for the first time the spirit-filled worship which has inspired so many. That afternoon we walked the three-quarters of a mile to the next village where the family compound, Olinda, is located. We were assigned a room with a bunk bed and a single, which had the gorgeous French farmhouse windows of my dreams. After a nap, we went to dinner and met many of the 95 families we would be living with for the week.
The drama troupe
The setting was gorgeous. Taize and Olinda are on hilltops, with valleys on either side. We ate every meal outside, looking at the hills of Burgundy. The rooms were comfortable. The food, while simple, was good. The worship was inspiring and peace filled. I loved the daily teachings from Brother Matthew. His wisdom reminded me why I enjoy scripture and his insights into Moses were deep and incredibly clarifying. He spoke in English and then other people would translate into their languages, leaving lots of time for note taking and understanding. In the afternoons a group of young people performed a play based on the themes we were exploring in Exodus.
Some of our group washing the dinner dishes
Building a tower of yogurt cups
The best part was the small group we had with other families from around the world. Our group was composed of an English/German family, a Germany family, a Polish family, a Finnish family, and another American family, whose 13-year-old daughter moved in with us for the last several days and has become one of my daughter’s best friends. We talked together, played together, did chores together, and learned from one another. It was one of the best spiritual growth experiences I have had. My daughter loved her time with the youth small group in the mornings, where she interacted with kids from Belgium, Spain, Germany, and the UK. In the afternoon our small group was joined by our children, meaning we had great conversations as families. Although the 7-year-old girl from the Polish family didn’t speak any English, she and I developed a silliness together and spent the week squirting water at one another and laughing about things. There is something powerful about shared experience and openness to God that transcends all barriers. In the evenings we would gather with our new friends at Oyak, the shop in Taize, and sing, dance, eat crepes, and chat with young people from all over the world surrounding us.
At Taize, I encountered true rest and not just because I took a nap almost every afternoon. The rhythm of the days; prayer, breakfast, time with the brother, small group, prayer, lunch, rest, snack, drama, small group, dinner, prayer, and fun was incredibly healing. The prayer services were beautiful, the time with other families was enriching, and the setting was glorious.
My daughter learned so much about the world and made friends from so many places. Thanks to things like Instagram she is continuing those relationships and experiencing teenage life outside of the US through their eyes. We’re thrilled that her friend from the other American family will be joining us for Martin Luther King weekend.
The church at Ameugny, the village where the families stay
I truly think that everyone I know should spend a week at Taize. The family program is amazing, and I would be happy to talk specifics with anyone who is curious. I would recommend taking kids over the age of 7. The family program is only for kids under 15, but the other American family had kids in the young adult program as a result, so you can still go with older children. They only take 85 families each week, so sign up as soon as possible after January 15! It’s affordable, for the two of us 7 nights and 23 meals only cost $240. Of course getting to Taize is the big issue! There are buses and trains that are easy to navigate even if you don’t speak French. For all the information you need, follow this link: https://www.taize.fr/en_rubrique9.html
My daughter and some of her friends here are already planning for our youth group to take a trip in 2020 when she is 15 so we can experience the young adult program at Taize. There were over 2500 people while we were at Taize, only 390 of them in the family program. While we got a taste of the rest of the experience we are looking forward to the chance to return and find even more to love about this amazing, holy place. We’d love to have you join us!
-Eilidh
PS I hardly took any photos of our time, because we were so busy being in the moment all week. <3
Photography is not allowed during worship, so here is the chapel on Sunday afternoon. The brothers sit inside the area marked by the hedges and the congregation sits on the floor all around. There is another huge section of the building behind me in this shot. The space is big enough to hold over 5000 people.
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