Switzerland

Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. I moved to Lausanne, headquarters to the International Olympic Committee, on the north shore of Lake Geneva. The country is divided into four parts, each with a different language - German, French, Italian and Romansh. Lausanne is in the French part.

The YWAM base is up toward the top of town, centered in a large, 5-story former hotel called the Chalet. I shared a room on the top floor with several other guys. The view from our window was incredible. It took in part of the lake and beyond was an amazing panorama of the French Alps. As usual in YWAM, life was communal with a large dining room and common areas for hanging out.

Procla-Media shot video and produced programs for YWAM bases around the world. There were about 8-10 of us on the team. Russ Martin was one of the senior guys. He was from California but had been in Switzerland for some time and had learned to speak French. Russ was also a bus driver and had been one of the guys who had picked our family up when we first arrived in Venice. We used to see him from time to time in Greece when he was driving some team on outreach from Switzerland.

The production office was about a 30-minute drive from the base so I had to get a ride. I started out as the duplication guy. People would order copies of whatever production they wanted and I would duplicate, label and send them out. It was a somewhat tedious job but it was a helpful position for the team and I was living in Switzerland!

When one lives in Switzerland, one should do one of things for which Switzerland is famous – downhill skiing. Alas, I still had very little money. I was dipping into the money I had been given for my education for my staff fees. This was part of my education but it wouldn’t have been good stewardship to use it to go skiing. The base did have some cross-country skis that I borrowed. But cross-country skiing can be serious work and is not near as fun.

When I arrived at Procla-Media, there was a schism between certain members of the team. Russ and another guy had just gotten back from a production trip during which a rift had developed. Upon their return, others had taken sides and there was tension in the camp. 

I tried to stay out of it by hanging with people from both sides. But for no intentional reason, I ended up hanging more with the non-Russ camp. They just seemed to invite me to more stuff. One of the guys was big into records (with which I had never had any experience). I had begun my music collection of my future favorite band with the purchase of U2’s War on cassette but my new friend bought me their first two albums, Boy and October on records and recorded them on cassette for me. However, I soon learned that I was hanging with the wrong side.


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