Introduction to the Orthodox world in the Netherlands
Before I start with my journal reflecting upon the Orthodox-trail, I want to share about my interview in the Netherlands with Father Stephan Bakker, and his wife Heleen. I had a meaningful evening with them both the week before I left on the trail. Father Stephan (62) is a Dutch Frisian by birth and leads the Orthodox Church in Amersfoort. He is ‘the first among equals’ in the Orthodox world in the Netherlands. When this couple joined the Greek-Orthodox church 45 years ago, there were 3 Orthodox churches in the Netherlands, now there are 40. The growth is due to migration, but also to ‘natural growth’, as Father Stephan expresses it. Before I met the Bakker couple, I didn’t think much about the interview; my expectations were low. I was getting stuck in my Orthodox reading, since it was getting hard for me to identify with the Orthodox world. I had attended a Eucharist service at the Russian Orthodox Church in Rotterdam, but it seemed a strange and incomprehensible world to me. I made the appointment with Stephan Bakker to prepare myself as a journalist for reporting on the trail for Nederlands Dagblad and Katholiek Weekblad.
The interview totally exceeded my expectations. I had an in depth encounter with two beautiful people, they made the Orthodox world attractive to me because of the sincerity, joy and strength I saw in both of their lives. This interview turned out to be an excellent preparation for the trial. It will take up too much space to go into the topics we discussed, but this encounter influenced my perception of the Orthodox world and will be reflected in this journal, the articles and the project.

Before starting the journal part, I wanted to take the time to introduce my Orthodox friends; they were key in my appreciation and respect for the Orthodox world. I’m learning from their worldview and theology, but I must admit that some of their traditions like icons and the Eucharist are still strange and foreign to me. It happened while reading ‘The Way of a Pilgrim’ their most precious book about spirituality, that I lost it. Was this all there was to it, as the book seemed describing, to just keep reciting: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me’?! I didn’t get it. Since I needed to get background information anyway on the Eastern-Orthodox churches in Holland, because of articles I had to write for Dutch newspapers, I decided to listen to a friend’s advise. I would try to find and talk to an Orthodox believer in Holland before going on the trail. I googled and found on the www.orthodoxekerk.nl site a name with an email address: Stephan Bakker, a spokesman for the Orthodox world in the Netherlands and leading a Dutch Orthodox Church in Amersfoort. A vague picture of a ‘Father’ in priestly robes appeared on my screen, a bearded figure surrounded by icons, with a woman standing at his side. A quick glance confirmed my thoughts: hierarchic, ancient, not of this world. What on earth could I learn from them?!

But, I was caught by surprise…
I drove on a rainy evening to the town of Nijkerk. I found this Orthodox couple living in a Dutch middle-class house. From the outside it seemed a house like so many others. Yet, when the door opened it felt as if I stepped into another world; a bit foreign, but foreign in an attractive way. This world, this couple, all of it instantly awakened my curiosity. The ‘woman standing at his side’ on the picture on the internet, appeared fully alive, fully there, a personality. Heleen was a professor at the School of Fine Arts, I soon found out. I suspected that her artistic talents created this ‘other worldliness’ an atmosphere that breathed a love for nature and for creation, instead of a desire for material things. Father Stephan was bearded, yes, but ‘hierarchic’, no. His eyes had too much depth for that; his manner too sensitive and sincere. I wanted to ask, to listen and to hear about their worldview. That’s what I did. They took the time, shared and explained. That evening my heart opened for the Orthodox world.