Every year around the end of April, my heart beats a little faster as I set off for Bünsdorf on Lake Wittensee, hoping to see the bright yellow rapeseed fields in full bloom. This play of colors moves me anew every time.
On April 24, I had the privilege of picking up our speaker, Chantal Klingbeil, at the main train station in Hamburg. Full of anticipation, I wanted to show her this special sight, but this year we were probably a little too early. The fields were still dormant. And yet we sensed: Something is about to bloom. And that is exactly what our weekend reflected.
With the theme “Ellen White—a person just like you and me,” Chantal took us on a moving journey. Through her work experience at the Ellen G. White Estate, she gave us deep, personal insights into Ellen’s life.
What a moment it was when we all met again—familiar faces, warm hugs, and at the same time so many new women who had joined us. Some of them had traveled long distances to experience this weekend of fellowship. There was a special atmosphere: warmth, openness, connection. The weekend in Bünsdorf was a moving experience filled with fellowship, hope, and the realization that God can work especially through our fragility, thanks to the personal insights into the life of Ellen G. White.
Who was Ellen G. White really?
Not just a heroine of the faith. Not just a voice of God. But a human being—a woman with a heart, with questions, with struggles. Together, we were able to take a peek into her “family album.” And suddenly she became tangible. Approachable. Real. A mother who knew pain. A woman who had to bear the unimaginable loss of two sons. A woman of prayer who stood up for her troubled child every day. And at the same time, a woman who was able to experience how her younger son stood by her side—a pillar of strength, a gift. A woman with a wounded heart—and an unshakable trust in God. In all of this, she became so close to us.
Her life speaks into the realities of our own lives: into our questions, our doubts, our feeling overwhelmed. Into those moments when we ask ourselves whether, in the chaos of our daily lives, we can ever be instruments in God’s hands. And her answer is powerful and clear: Yes. Right there.
This weekend was filled with deep conversations, honest laughter, shared songs, and quiet moments by the lake. And perhaps that is precisely why it was so special—because there was also room for lightheartedness—like during the joyful pillow fight on Sabbath evening, which let us be children again for a little while.
I am going home fulfilled and grateful—with a heart that has been touched anew.