Where oh where Wednesday: Emmen

Where will Kings Day be held this year? In Emmen. Every year the king of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, and his wife Maxima choose a city in the Netherlands to celebrate the king’s birthday. This year they will celebrate in Emmen. This means that this city will ben looking forward to the arrival of the king and will plan all sorts of local activities to celebrate his birthday. The day itself is a holiday across the Netherlands and cities everywhere will hold markets where anyone can come and sell things. In Maastricht it will be in the city park. The cities will also be decorated in orange.

Emmen is a town in the province of Drenthe. It was a city that was formed by combining several villages and only had any real growth after the 2nd World War. It went from 3,000 inhabitants in the 19th century to the 56,000 living there now. Most people in the country know Emmen because of its zoo which welcomes some 1.5 million visitors a year. 

Emmen is the most populous city of the province of Drenthe, but that is not saying much since the whole province only has a population of roughly 500,000. Drenthe is the 3rd least populated province and is mostly known for its agriculture. Ir borders Germany in the east. The whole province, due to its sparse population and rural nature, is known as a cycling destination. 

So this year Emmen will color orange as it welcomes the king for his birthday. It will show off all its treasures and history and will enjoy a day in the spotlight that is different from the spotlight that has recently shown o the Dutch farmers who have been protesting EU regulations causing their farms to be shut down. 

Mighty is our God

This past weekend several members of the church in Maastricht organized a Youth Day. We do this for our own kids, but also so that our kids can see their friends from around the country - many they have met during a Bible camp week or other youth activity. We planned our youth day in the middle of the country so that more kids could come (Maastricht is in the fa South-West corner of the region). And we prayed for good weather so that we could have the kids outside as well. 

As the day approached, the weather was looking horrid. We had some summer days the week before which got everyone’s spirits and hopes high. But then the real April weather returned. We do, after all, live in Belgium where rain is quite normal. The weather report on the day didn’t look great. 

But we are used to being flexible as well and our theme was how mighty God is. So we trusted that we would be able to do whatever we were planning - in one way or another. And that was how things worked out. The kids arrived, all of us wearing jackets because of the cold, but it stayed dry while we worked through the first part of the day. And what amazing views we had of God’s might and beauty. The trees and flowers were in bloom, the rain clouds waiting in the distance were imposing and we could hear the birds all around us. 

The lessons on the day came from Isaiah 40 which begins with a comforting of Israel, letting them know that He, their God will save. Our God is mighty to save and knows what we experience. It was fun to be able to do plenty of object lessons with the kids, helping to show the truths that we were learning. I had them as teams make a goalie. But of course the goalie couldn’t keep the simplest ball from going in the goal. Most of them could not even get to the goal (one was helped by the team). Why do we think that we can make God, but forget that He made us? 

Later in the second lesson (inside), an object lesson showed that although some things can keep us stable, only God can keep us stable all the way. A bottle of water on a string, a toothpick and two matches proved this point. A very clear lesson for everyone there. In the meantime the teens were upstairs talking about God’s might that can be seen in creation. The example was the most recent eclipse (which we didn’t really hear that much about over here, but the kids knew about). 

The questions in Isaiah resounded throughout the day: Haven’t you heard? Didn’t you know? He is God eternal! We are thankful for our wonderful God, our Saviour and for these kids who want to know about Him. Pray for them and their hearts that they will remember the things they are learning not only from these sort of youth activities, but also from their parents and those around them in the church. We were thankful that we could host two young men whose parents are not members of the church, who do not come from a believing home. 

Next weekend we are looking forward to going to a day with Mike Houts, a NASA scientist, who will talk about science and God. We are thankful for people who are willing to speak truth in a world where truth is hard to find. And we are thankful for people who are looking to hear truth and willing to hear that truth in God. And for our brothers and sisters willing to organize activities like this and the youth days we are able to use to encourage our young people. 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Isaiah 40:28-29

Whensday: 1637 - The Statenvertaling

We of course use our Bible every day. We are extremely thankful not only that there are Bibles readily available (thanks to the invention of a printing press), but that we can read God’s word in so many languages. Just as in English, the Dutch language has many different translations. As a language changes, so the translation needs to keep step in order to be understandable by its readers. 

I remember coming to faith using an NIV English Bible. I am an English teacher by training, so reading the KJV (King James Version) later was not only possible, I enjoyed it and still do enjoy it. But I understand that many people would have a difficult time reading something from the 17th century - just as they might struggle with Shakespeare. The same is true for the Dutch translations. 

When I first came to the Netherlands, I learned my Dutch by reading a Gideon New Testament which had English on one side and Dutch on the other. This way I could figure out what I was reading, seeing and knowing it already in English. This translation was a fairly old version, as was the one I came to use the most - translated in 1951. But it was the version that has become my heart version. All of the texts I know from heart come from this version. 

But the original translation, the first official translation of the Bible from the original languages into Dutch, was completed in 1637 and so is very like the KJV. It was commissioned by the Staten Generaal - the States General of the Netherlands, which is the governing body (Senate and House of Representatives) of the Netherlands. The abbreviation used is SV. 

The NBG-1951 is the translation that I came to know the most. It is an official translation from the Dutch Bible Society (NBG), presented in 1951. In the 1970’s there was a modern language version presented called “Good News” and most recently there has been a NBV (New Bible Version). But those who loved the SV also wanted a linguistically updated version and brought the HSV or Revised Statenvertaling. 

As at all times I find it most important that people read their Bible. The words need to get into their hearts and minds. If someone has a different version (there are also two Catholic versions that many people would have if they have a Bible in house), then I am more than willing to help them read it. The most important thing is that they are reading and applying what they read in their lives. 

We also have various foreign language Bibles in our building, including one in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and even in English. We have a regular visitor who is a Syrian refugee. She has her Bible on her phone (as so many do these days - and what a blessing that is), but we have a version for her if she needs it. 

What is your favorite translation of the Bible? When did you first start reading your Bible?