A Sunday To Remember

Our first stop today was the Belgian town of Ypres (Ieper), a significant site on the Western front during WWI.  This town was leveled as a result of constant German bombing and then was rebuilt after the war to match its former architecture.  We all had the opportunity to visit the recently opened In Flanders Museum in the old Cloth Hall off the city square.  Several of us climbed the 231 steps up the belfry tower where we had a great view of the town and surrounding countryside.  After grabbing lunch and a lot of chocolate we made a stop at Essex Farm where Corporal John McCrae wrote his famous poem, "In Flanders Fields."  The Passchendaele Museum was the site of our next visit.  We were impressed by the reproduction of dugouts, tunnels, and trenches depicting the life of soldiers in WWI.  Following our visit we had time to relax in the sunshine and explore the grounds outside the museum.
Tyne Cot Cemetery is the largest British Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the world.  This is where almost 12,000 soldiers are buried, 70% of whom are unidentified.  We wandered through the rows of gravestones, then gathered below the Cross of Sacrifice to spend some time together in a reflection done by Mr. Wassink on Christ's great love and sacrifice.  Following this, Kelsey Dykstra led in reading the poem "In Flanders Fields" and we closed by singing "Ten Thousand Reasons" and praying.  In our prayer we also asked the Lord to bless and comfort the family of Hilbert Kroondyk whose brother Harm passed away recently.  It was wonderful to have some of the other visitors to the cemetery join us in song and prayer.
A delicious beef stew supper awaited us back in Ypres at De Trumpet restaurant.  From there we went to the Menin Gate to witness the Last Post ceremony.  It has been held every evening at 8:00 pm since 1929.
It was a Sunday to remember.