Plans for the coming year

My last name is Raab. This comes from the German for “raven”. This is why our blog site is called “The Raven’s Roost”. Although we are ravens, we will find our roost wherever God places us and can use us. Our “roost” is wherever we are and wherever we will go. 

In the last two months we had the pleasure and the blessing to speak with so many of you, pray with so many about our situation and future plans. In the meantime, the church here in Maastricht was praying for our travels and our conversations. They too knew that we might be approaching a moment of change. Yesterday we took the time to talk about that change with our brothers and sisters here in Maastricht. In the coming days we will be talking about it with others we work with in both Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Our plan here in Belgium and the Netherlands was always to serve God however we could and in any capacity that God made possible. The idea is always that God works through each of His children - as He sees fit. We do not always know how this works best, where we might be sent or be useful. But we always try to be aware of opportunities and challenges that move us into trusting God. That is why we have always said we serve God wherever we are or wherever we go. And that is also what we teach others. 

We have been working with the church in Belgium and the Netherlands since January 1991. Actually even longer when we count the time we came on campaigns in 1981 and my two year stint from 1982-84. We will always be working for the gospel in these areas, wherever we are. But the time has come for us to plan moving out of Belgium (from the house where we have lived for 34 years) back to the Untied States. This is due to how things have changed financially for us - especially the Belgian tax situation - as well as how our family situation is evolving. 

While we were on our Home assignment (the trip we just took to visit family and supporting congregations) we were able to get to know our granddaughter in Indiana even better. She has just turned 3 years old and we would like her to know who Opa and Omi are. At the end of our trip we received the wonderful news in New York that our son, Sean, and his wife, Jill are expecting to welcome a little girl to the world in January of 2027, bringing our second granddaughter into our lives. 

So we are making frantic plans to try and be moved back to the US by the beginning of next year. Not only because the financial situation makes it necessary, but also to welcome a new granddaughter and get closer to family in general. This will be a new season in our lives as we head into the season of “retirement”. We are the right age, even if we don’t feel like we will ever retire. 

Before any of this happens, we have so much to do on the Belgian side. We will be leading Benjamin Camp at the end of the month and teaching at Family Camp. Our Wednesdays and Fridays singing with the church in Eindhoven and Maastricht will continue. In August the church is taking part in a neighborhood activity in Maastricht. In November Shirley and I are part of a marriage workshop. Life goes on and there is so much to do - wherever we are. 

We would greatly appreciate your prayers in the coming months: for our kids and their kids, for our wrapping things up here and the lives being touched with the gospel, for our moving plans (selling house, buying house, etc), for a full trust in our wonderful God who knows how things work and how He is going to use each of His children wherever we are. Our supporters have agreed to continue supporting us through 2027 as we make this change. Thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement and support in this time of transition. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Rietveld

While in New York we visited the Brooklyn Museum. Besides wonderful paintings and amazing Egyptian and Syrian artifacts, there was a floor dedicated to the aesthetics of everyday items. The entrance to this floor had a display with an iron, a teapot and more. It was later in the exhibition that was even more interesting. 

One section was dedicated to chairs. There we found a few designed by Gerrit Rietveld. Mind you, not the well-known “Red and Blue Chair” which can be found in the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). We didn’t make it to the MoMA. But we did see this design. 

Gerrit Rietveld designed the chair in 1918 as an experiment, along with smaller versions of other things for his children. It is one of these that we also saw in the Brooklyn Museum. But it was that Rietveld made something simple and from simple materials that started changing the way designers were thinking. 

In 1930 he designed some worker’s houses in Vienna and then a bit later in Utrecht. Some of his architectural designs are also quite remarkable, but it is his chairs that people remember. It was another chair, made illegally (because he would not register during WWII) that many would recognize. This chair was made from one single piece of pressed plastic. 

Rietveld is a Dutchman anyone can remember if they think about remarkable chairs. He was born in 1888 and died in his birthplace, Utrecht, in 1964, just a few years after I was born. 

Home Assignment 2026 Stage 6 - New York City

As I wrote during our visit in 2023, there are all sorts of sights, sounds and smells in this vibrant city. Every time you visit, it presents a different face and you can be struck with new experiences. This is now the third time that we have come to visit Sean and Jill in their adopted city (we came in 2019 and 2023 as well). And, as expected, we have seen and experienced so many new things, not in the least because the city this year is also home to the World Cup. 

Everywhere we go we are greeted by laughing faces and various languages. People in shirts of all colors, flags from many nations and the sounds of languages from all over the world greet us every day we step on the metro to head to our destination. There are many people visiting with their families, including small children. It gives the already exciting city a vibe that speaks of life and happiness - even when a team has lost. 

We were blessed to be able to stay in the home/studio of a friend while in the city. An apartment in a neighborhood, surrounded by the normal everyday sounds of the city. These include plenty of sirens, buses, trash trucks in the morning and people talking (loudly) on the street. We are surrounded by beautiful brown-stone buildings, fire-escapes climbing down the side of each building. Our walk to the metro leads us past local groceries, deli’s and hairdressers plying their trade. 

Our time here has mostly been spent with Sean and Jill, being able to see them and what they are doing. We were able to spend Sunday morning with the Harlem church (Harlem is the area we are staying) and were greatly encouraged. This group of saints were very welcoming and encouraging. It was in many ways reminiscent of our own congregation in Maastricht. We finally walked into the warm sun baking the streets just before 1pm. 

We have enjoyed seeing more of Central Park on walks with Sean, visiting Jill’s new store which we have only seen on her socials, going to the Statue of Liberty (with people from all around the world on the ferry) and getting to know our subway line every day. After a day or two, the city becomes a part of you: the screaming of the subway trains as they come to a stop, the whoosh of air before they arrive, the constant sirens in the distance or passing you on the street, the amazing smells wafting out of restaurants from all different cultures as you walk the streets. 

We are thankful to have seen where Sean and Jill live. Their apartment is just across from a neighborhood park and gardens where they have a small plot and help out with maintaining the park. The older people sitting in the shade were all glad to meet Sean’s parents and pass on how thankful they were for him. The garden itself is a small oasis in this part of the city, a daily walk for Sean and Jill’s dog, Twiggy, and a place where people gather or just sit and rest. 

On this last full day in the city we will enjoy getting to see more of the city, but from the water. We plan on taking some of the various ferries which are meant for transport, but serve very well as a way to see the sights. Soon we will fly home to Belgium and pick up the various tasks awaiting us. We will be able to hug and greet those we have missed for two months. But for now we will enjoy these last drops of delicious family time in this place-of-many-people. 

If you are interested in seeing our (far too many) pictures, they can be found here.