Refreshing Rivers and the River of Life

Standing together outdoors amid amazing scenery, Rev. Gerry Koning and his wife, Laura, would often read psalms aloud during their their 12-week journey to fly-fish streams and rivers in several U.S. states, including Alaska.

They did this nearly every day and were able to use their “outdoor voices,” reading a psalm in the way it was intended, said Koning, pastor of Trinity Christian Reformed Church in Grandville, Mich.

“Most of the psalms were written outdoors or in caves, and frequently they interact with creation more than we think. You can’t really understand the psalms unless you are outside in the Lord’s temple,” said Koning.

In order to make the journey this summer, Koning received a Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Grant. These grants are administered by the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, Ind., to help pastors from many denominations refresh and renew their ministry in various ways. More than 50 CRC pastors have received one of these grants since they became available in 2000.

Koning is a pastor for whom care and appreciation of God’s creation — especially water — are important, both personally and in light of Scripture’s teaching for us all.

There are many examples of the significance of water in the Bible, he said, starting with the Spirit “hovering over the waters” in Genesis 1:2, including the vision of healing water in Ezekiel 47, and continuing on to Revelation 22,  which says, “The angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the street of the city” (vv. 1-2).

“God is the living water, the River of Life, and if I want to refresh myself, I do it in a river. Through water God brings life to his creation,” said Koning. “For me, I’ve always loved being in and around rivers.”

Koning traces his love for fishing to a day 25 years ago when he was standing in the cold, clear, spring waters of the Rogue River in Rockford, Mich.

It was the first time he’d ever fished for steelhead trout and, soon after he cast his line, he hooked a male. “We played tug-of-war for about twenty minutes until he won and spat out the hook,” Koning said.

But by then Koning was hooked — “hooked on the challenge, the joy and complete thrill of catching a large trout or salmon on a fly.”

Just being in a river, as he was that day, and watching and feeling the water flow gives vitality  to his body and soul, said Koning.

Times spent on rivers has also awakened in him concern for their preservation and renewal — hence his efforts over the last several years to get members of his church involved in testing and cleaning up Rush Creek, which runs along the Trinity CRC property.

As much as he loves fishing, the demands of being a pastor have kept him away from rivers for periods of time, he said. So he applied for the Lilly grant, seeing a fly-fishing sabbatical as a way to combine his love for fishing rivers and his love for God and God’s creation into a trip in which the Lord could cleanse him of the hardships of life and fill him with fresh energy.

It was also a way for Gerry to spend more time with his wife and son and, later in the trip, to connect with another son, who has a Ph.D. in the study of freshwater rivers and habitats, and daughter-in-law — as well as with his daughter and son-in-law.

Driving a 2001 Ford van with the slogan “River of Life” on one side, their first stop was the White River in Arkansas, where they fished with the help of a guide. It was the start of an epic summer for the Konings.

Laura Koning said she loves bird watching but began the trip with little experience in fishing. With her husband’s help, she learned quickly and over the course of their journey landed some pretty big fish.

“It is exhilarating when you feel something wiggling on the end of your line, and it begins pulling and moving, and then you land it yourself,” said Laura, who teaches English and Spanish for Grandville Christian School.

They fished in — or in tributaries of — the San Juan River in New Mexico, the Yampa River in Colorado, the Big Horn in Wyoming, the Madison River in Montana, and the Columbia River in Washington before taking a ferry up the coast to Alaska.

A highlight for their son, Jesse, 25, was stopping in Thermopolis, Wyoming, to visit the Wyoming Dinosaur Museum, near which they also spent a day on an archeological site digging for dinosaur bones.

Jesse loves paleontology, and he spotted a camarasaurus bone poking out of some rocks. The archeologist with them identified it and placed information on it as to who found it — and then left it there to be gathered when the entire excavation of the mountain is finished.

“Jesse felt great. That was exciting for him and for us all,” said Laura.

On the ferry to Alaska, they saw large whales and other big fish breaching and diving in the water. They also stopped in a small Indigenous village along the way, where fishing for salmon is the people’s livelihood.

Then in Alaska they met up with other family members and traveled along the Kenai Peninsula, fishing the Kenai River and tributaries for salmon. As they did, they were surrounded by mountains and glaciers and saw bears, elk, and moose.

“We looked around and could say, ‘What an imagination you have, God!’” said Gerry Koning. “When you are out there, you get connected to God in a deeper way and allow God to work on and heal you from the wounds that have come from many years of ministry.”

Soon, though, the family had to hit the Alaskan Highway to start the nearly 4,000-mile ride home. It was a long trek, which they made in eight days. But one morning stands out in their minds. They were in British Columbia and, before getting on the road that day, they did what they did every morning, said Laura.

“We prayed and finished up with, ‘Whatever you have for us today, Lord, we will receive with gratitude’.” On this day, they asked God to let them see a rare stone sheep — since they would be driving through one of the few areas in which these sheep live.

And “not long after that, we came around a bend and saw a stone sheep by the side of the road,” said Gerry.

For the entire, trip, he said, it felt like the Spirit was leading them through rivers and landscapes featuring many reminders of God’s handiwork and sovereignty.

“It all belongs to God — and if we pay attention, we learn about God. We are able to get a vision of how God is going before us,” said Gerry Koning.