Each summer, thousands of young people from across the world travel to Taizé in France for a time of community, worship and prayer.
Two young adults from the Diocese of Oxford, Emma and Libby, share their hopes and expectations as they board the train to France for the 2024 pilgrimage.
Hear what Emma and Libby had to say on their way home.
"Sometimes there are challenges in life and I do feel like I get a tiny bit frustrated with God... But I still trust him regardless of all of the chaos going on, and I'm excited to see how God speaks to me at Taize."
Transcript
Kathryn Aboud, Discipleship Enabler
Hello there. I am here with Libby and I'm also here with Emma and we're just doing a little 'before' reflection of Taize. So the first question is what are you expecting?
Libby
I'm not sure really. They say there's lots of chanting there and it's it seems very sombre if that makes sense. Like very calm because I've just come back from New Wine which is the opposite vibe to this. Yeah I'm looking forward to it.
Kathryn
How about you Emma, what things are you expecting at Taize?
Emma
I don't think I'm expecting anything. I signed up to this trip not knowing anything but trusting that it was going to be good. And I think I'm just expecting lots of time to reflect and think and ponder life.
Kathryn
So what are you excited about?
Emma
Really excited about meeting lots of different people from different backgrounds but we all hold one thing in common, that we want to be at Taize, and we want to explore more and I think it's just a great opportunity to reflect, learn more and get to meet loads of new people.
Libby
The same really, just meeting lots of different people because I've heard people come from all over the continent to come so it would be interesting to see sort of people from maybe like different denominations and see like how they might worship differently to me. Yeah, would be interesting to see.
Kathryn
Yeah, sort of different nations and cultures come together, yeah. If you're happy to share, how would you describe your faith at this point in time before you head off to Taize?
Emma
Life is hard and there are lots of challenges but my faith is the one thing that hasn't taken a hit this time and it's the thing that I wholeheartedly believe in and it is strong and it is the foundation in which the rest of my life is built on at the moment.
Libby
Similar kind of answer, like I absolutely love Jesus but sometimes there are challenges in life and I do feel like I get a tiny bit frustrated with God and I kind of like, why can't you just tell me what's going to happen? But I still trust him regardless of all of the chaos going on and I'm excited to see like how God speaks to me at Taize.