Comments on the Dutch edition Paul Nouwen in his foreword to the Dutch edition: ‘In this beautiful description we follow how the search of the movement went. I hope the readers of this book will feel strengthened to promote the changes that are needed and to help people around them.’ Katholiek Nieuwsblad: ‘The ideal to forgive for a better world is still of paramount importance... a near revolutionary thought in the Netherlands of today.’ Friesch Dagblad: ‘This book is honest and it holds a mirror for the reader. It describes the essence of the movement, without being yet another catechism. The principles come together in the Golden Rule: Treat others as you want them to treat you.’ Bert Endedijk, publisher of the book in the Netherlands, director of Kok/ten Have: ‘The author describes an important movement. She places herself in a vulnerable position by looking critically at the movement which is dear to her.’ Father Bert ten Berge, SJ: ‘This book was my spiritual reading for my retreat. It gave me a lot of food for thought.’ Reaching for a new world Initiatives of Change seen through a Dutch window Hennie de Pous-de Jonge CAUX BOOKS First published in 2005 as Reiken naar een nieuwe wereld by Uitgeverij Kok – Kampen The Netherlands This English edition published 2009 by Caux Books Caux Books Rue de Panorama 1824 Caux Switzerland © Hennie de Pous-de Jonge 2009 ISBN 978-2-88037-520-1 Designed and typeset in 10.75pt Sabon by Blair Cummock Printed by Imprimerie Pot, 78 Av. des Communes-Réunies, 1212 Grand-Lancy, Switzerland Contents Preface 9 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1 How it started 17 Change in Keswick 18 Quiet time 19 China 20 Ideas 22 House parties in the Netherlands 25 Concert hall meetings 28 Sailing camps 30 Mass meetings 31 ‘New Netherlands is launched’ 33 Oxford Group in Dutch East Indies 35 2 Oxford Group becomes Moral Re-Armament 39 Tension in Europe 40 Appeal by Queen Wilhelmina 42 Loudspeakers from the roofs 44 Public domain and personal change 46 Mobilisation 47 3 The Netherlands at war 52 On the bike 53 Letters from prison 55 The small strip of light 57 Food help for Camp Vught 58 Girls from the biscuit factory 59 On a knife's edge 62 With a hundred women 63 4 Post-war reconstruction 68 The Netherlands will rise again 69 Swiss initiative 70 ‘Where are the Germans?’ 72 Europe’s novel experiment 74 MRA’s overlooked role 76 Plays and musicals 78 The Vanishing Island 80 Two weeks became nine years 82 Across the borders of social classes 84 The need for an ‘ideology’ 89 Inspiration from silence 91 5 Germany and Indonesia: a next door neighbour 95 and a far friend ‘To wish all Germans well’ 95 ‘Answerable for the suffering’ 97 Food for Germany 98 Japanese camps in Indonesia 100 Victims and culprits 102 Re-establishing a relationship 103 Commotion in Baguio 104 The message of Linggarjati 107 6 From revolutionary youth to lively families 112 The longing of young people 114 Make your own Sing-Out 116 MRA and Up with People go their separate ways 117 Imitation 118 Sing-Out in The Netherlands 119 Travelling shows 120 The Black and White book 122 Youth conferences in European cities 123 Families: looking in, reaching out 124 With the best of intentions 125 Family conferences in Caux 127 The changing of the guard 128 7 ‘The steady growth of a new world’ 132 Snow White and the seven dwarfs 134 The permissive society 135 Films in our homes 137 Actions for India 138 The South African connection 140 Confrontation or living the alternative? 144 Structures and people 146 8 A house with a heart 151 Pacesetter 152 ‘Married to Latin America’ 154 Social-democrat 158 Home with a heart for the world 160 Youth in action 162 Protestant and Catholic 167 Message for all Europeans 170 9 A colourful collection of initiatives 174 Caux Round Table 174 Ethical Code 176 Example for top industrialists 178 Alcoholics Anonymous 179 Young entrepreneurs 181 Democracy needs moral foundations 184 Interaction with international programmes 187 Silver in motion 189 A l’Arche experience 192 10 The road of reconciliation 196 The first step 197 Letting go of old pain 198 Memorial in Mizumaki 200 What one person can do 201 A never-ending process 203 In the rustle of the wind 204 Reconciliation with life 206 What is normal? 207 The quality of our society 209 Ethical questions on life and death 210 11 A new wind 214 International consultations 217 Transparency in finance 219 New name 222 Aims 223 The connection 224 Communication revolution 227 12 Choice for a new world 230 Two developments 230 In search of a common denominator 231 Learning from the past 233 Standards, values and virtues 235 Finding the balance 237 Special approach 238 Europe’s challenge 240 The world’s divides 242 The soft voice of nuance 245 Working together 247 A new world 248 Preface A spiritual movement that came into being in the early years of the 20th century is in itself already becoming part of history. We can be grateful to Hennie de Pous-de Jonge for this lively, moving and informative book about the development of the Oxford Group – Moral Re-Armament, now Initiatives of Change, in her native country of the Netherlands. Her book is not limited to this country by the North Sea, since her compatriots have ventured far and wide and have played their part in trying to heal the hurts of her country’s colonial past. Caux Books produces this series of titles (the Caux Docs) in the hope that they will be of value and interest to those inter- ested in this movement that has sought to make an impact on history for the better. Certainly it has marked the lives of many individuals, who in their turn, and in their different ways have indeed marked events, large and small. Here are lessons learned, mistakes made, lives changed, situations altered, all through the simple idea that people are both the root of the problem and the root of an answer. Andrew Stallybrass, Director, Caux Books 9 Acknowledgements In this book I broadly follow the lines of my book written in Dutch on the development of Initiatives of Change and its fore- runners, Reiken naar een nieuwe wereld. For that book I received help from a number of people for which I want to express my deep appreciation. Digna Hintzen-Philips and Aad Burger have helped me think through the whole concept from the very beginning. Their knowledge, experience, insight and critical minds have proved invaluable. Lotty Wolvekamp gave information from the memoirs of her father. Also her own contribution was valuable, because of her inside knowledge of this work. Her mother Biny Wolvekamp was the one whose memory went back furthest. Some people have read the whole text and given critical comments. Apart from the people mentioned above they were: Anneke van Nouhuys, Geert- Willem Overdijkink, Maarten de Pous, Kees Scheijgrond and Jos Sterk. I am grateful to everyone that I interviewed for the open and frank way they answered my questions. Two subscribers to the publication Ander Nieuws looked up documents in the archives in Friesland of which information I gratefully made use. Bas Woltjer helped me to find information in the archives of the office of Initiatives of Change in The Hague. At a crucial moment Jonneke Burger came to help me. For a year and a half she came one day a week to discuss the progress of the book with me. She was my big stick and my sounding board. With her professional publishing training and her criti- cal mind she was a great stimulus. A big thank you goes to my husband, Johannes de Pous. He is my first and most important advisor. He read all versions with 10 11 his typical accuracy and gave comments. In all stages of writing he has continuously encouraged me. This English book is not a translation, but a new creation. I owe thanks to the publisher of Caux Books, Andrew Stallybrass, for encouraging me to start this venture. Paul Williams, with endless patience, has put my writing into proper and readable English. I enjoyed the to and fro with him about the meaning of words and sayings. As second editor Ginny Wigan read the manuscript with a fresh and critical eye, which resulted in more deleting and rewriting. We share the love for language and an interest in finding just the right words and expressions. Paul and Ginny, thank you! And thank you, Blair Cummock, for the layout and design. Hennie de Pous-de Jonge The Hague, May 2009 Introduction This is the story of a movement that did not set out to be one. What it did was to put movement into people with the aim of building a new, a better world. It is the story of an organisation, starting more as an organism, that, in the 80-plus years of its existence, twice changed its name: from Oxford Group to Moral Re-Armament and then to Initiatives of Change. With the new names came a change in style. There was a different emphasis, but in essence the message stayed the same. And building bridges of trust always remained the prime activ- ity; trust based on change in individuals. It sought to build bridges in the family – between man and woman, parents and children – but also between classes, races, adherents of different world views and religions, people coming from different cultures.