Visitors

I remember during my time at university taking part in some short plays. One of the plays was about a cobbler waiting om a very important guest. You might know the story, which is often repeated at Christmas time (a story by Leo Tolstoy) and tells of how important unexpected guests can be. Hebrews 13:2 also reminds us: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”

We have recently enjoyed various visitors. A young couple from Ukraine came to visit “our” young Ukrainian couple. The law in Ukraine was recently changed so that young men younger than 23 can now travel outside of the country (before it was any man between 18-60 years old was not allowed to leave the country). 

Sasha (or Alexander) is just 22, so came to visit. He and his wife, Mika helped organize a Bible camp in  Ukraine this summer and the church in Maastricht helped out with the costs. Sasha came to thank us - as well as to visit Andre and Andre’s father (also Alexander) who helped bring him to Christ. While here we have sung with them, played games and encouraged one another in faith. 

Almost at the same time we have welcomed visitors from the US as well. Our members, Mario and Tonia, welcomed Tonia’s sister and her brother and sister-in-law. Tonia’s mother is not doing well and may soon be going Home to her reward in heaven. And even in these circumstances, it has been good to meet, talk, share laughs, sing and even make plans for coming years. 

This past weekend I went down to camp for the winter maintenance work day and took our new brother in Christ, Jef. We met up with several others from Ghent, Antwerp and even Canada. Getting your hands dirty and encouraging one another in the Lord is amazing. These short work days are always a blessing to all who are able to come as well as for our Bible camp. 

We have also recently received messages fro people we knew in the past who will be in the neighborhood or have returned to the area. A young man we knew as a boy (who grew up with our boys( asked if he could worship with us when he comes to visit his family. He has recently rekindled his faith in the Lord. Another young woman we know from several years past has also asked if she can meet with us. Shortly afterwards, her mother also asked if we could renew contact. 

At the end of October our sister in Christ celebrated her birthday by inviting her family to come to services with her. It was great to meet them and talk about the things we heard fro the Word of God. These moments are all moments of encouragement, challenge and grace. It is so good to see how God uses moments and visitors to touch lives and hearts. “Whatsoever you do to the least of these, my brethren, that you do unto me.” How has God blessed you recently with visitors? 

(Photo is of our First Friday singing with several of our visitors. You can see more photos at our photo site - see the link on the right). 

Whodunit Wednesday: Dutch politicians

Last week the Netherlands held elections for federal government. This was necessary because the last elections resulted in a cabinet that - in the end - could not work together. Politics in the Netherlands are always about compromise, but it doesn’t make it any easier. 

The last elections saw right-wing politician  Geert Wilders become the largest party. But the elections last week came out as a tie between his party and the party of D66 led by Rob Jetten. These two politicians couldn’t be farther from each other in character and outlook. But Dutch politics is never short of characters. 

There is a Party for the Animals, a Union of Better Farmers (abbreviated BBB), and a 50Plus party. There are politicians like Geert Wilders with his white sweep of hair that matches his passionate and loud personality. Or Henri Bontenbal from the Christian Democrats who was accused of being boring (which is what most leaders from this party are accused of) although he was young. 

The Green Party (GroenLinks) combined with the center left Labor Party (Partij van de Arbeid or PvdA) to form one party, but they took the older leader of the PvdA as their candidate instead of the young charismatic leader of the Green Party. At D66 they decided quite the opposite, choosing the young Rob Jetten who celebrated his victory on stage with a kiss to his male life partner. 

Now the parties will have to figure out how to form a government with all of these colors and characters. It may end up being much more boring than the voters had hoped for when voting for their particular candidate. In Belgium one time it took almost 2 years to form a government. The Dutch hope to have their government formed before the end of November. It will be interesting to watch. 

(photo of Rob Jetten and Geert Wilders)

Wild Wonderful Wednesday: Wild ones

This is a 5th Wednesday, so we get to go to places wild and wonderful. This time I would like to take you to some of the wilder things we can remember doing (that we are willing to share). But actual locations (cities) often have little to do with the wild wanderings we have made. These wild places and situations could be found in many places.

Although I remember living in and visiting places as diverse as Germany and Greece, some of the wildest moments I remember were when we had moved to Colorado. In those days parents didn’t worry too much about where their kids were (or at least we were allowed to be out of the house, on our bikes as long as we were back for dinner time). My brothers and I were always discovering new places. 

Maybe it was more my oldest brother who made the plans and me and my younger brother followed. Whatever it was, we had good fun and we are glad that our parents didn’t know until later. One of these times was when we took our bikes to the floodway on a rainy day. A floodway in Colorado is designed for rainy days. It is meant to take the quickly rising water safely away from residential areas. Usually the floodway is simply a concrete river, empty of water. Perfect for riding your bike or skateboard or whatever. 

Of course once the rain starts coming, the floodway can turn quickly into a raging river. Not too long after this adventure I heard of a classmate of mine (in Junior High) who was drowned in a floodway. But that was after our wild adventure. And we were young and unaware. 

We rode our bikes to the floodway where we had often gone. This time there was a bit of water running along the bottom. The challenge was to sit in the water and then stand up. But when my younger brother sat down, he began to be swept away. We jumped in to help him stand, but one of the bikes now went in the water and started moving along the water. We were able to get everyone and everything out of the water (which was maybe 6 inches deep at the time), but it woke us up to the dangers. 

In that same floodway were large pipes which took the water from the streets into the floodway. On dry days these pipes, large enough to walk in while standing, were a great challenge. Were we brave enough to walk up the pipe without a flashlight, touching the walls as we walked, perhaps touching some insect or worse? The pipe ended after a turn. If you looked back, the tiny dot of light that until then had encouraged you was suddenly gone. And now, to return, you had to walk back in complete darkness. Exciting. Adventurous. 

These days our adventures mostly take us along the canal behind our house. You might think that is quite bucolic and simple. But in October the winds start and the walk along the canal becomes a risky adventure. We have frequently had parts of trees (and whole trees) fall across the pathway. We noticed this past week that there are even 6-8 trees which are marked to be removed - hopefully before they fall on some poor dog walker or jogger. 

What brings adventure into your daily life? And what kinds of wild adventures have you experienced?