Benjamins

We have been doing Bible Camp for quite some years. There are photo albums at camp with a history of who all has attended and helped throughout the years. The kids love finding these and trying to recognize who is in the pictures. I was amazed to see how often we (Shirley and I) have done the Benjamins throughout the years. We have also done the other weeks, but often the Benjamins. 

And my birthday usually falls in the week of the Benjamins, so I get to celebrate with them down at camp. Some years that means a balloon crown or funny hat. Any year it means some kind of cake or brownie and some good singing. This year we also had two campers with birthdays on the following day as well as a counselor at the end of the week. 

The Benjamin’s are the youngest group: 8-11 year-olds. Their week follows the senior camp of 15-20 year-olds. The week following Benjamins is the teens (12-14 year-olds). The last week of camp is Family Camp. One of the kids this past week asked me why they were called Benjamins and I explained that Benjamin was the youngest of the sons of Israel, as they are the youngest group. But young never means that they can’t learn or be a challenge. 

We enjoyed our challenging week and I look forward to teaching two days during Family Camp next week. At Benjamin Camp I was the camp director as well as the teacher and we learned about the gospel of Luke. It was exciting to see some of the campers making links between what we were doing in the day and the lessons we heard or the songs we were singing. 

Luke taught us that we can trust what we have been taught about the good news. He takes the reader through how remarkable Jesus is - from his birth, through his teaching and miracles, to his death and resurrection. There are pieces that we only find in the gospel of Luke. It was exciting to see how many of these moments we talked about were being lived out during the week. We talked about things being “remarkable” for example. That very day, just before class, the kids found a lobster in our creek! 

Luke also showed us how Jesus taught about forgiveness and choosing to follow. Several of the kids struggled with this very thing - how could they forgive one another. Thankfully, they are young and also had the example of the counselors around them. 

We had a great team to help out with the week. A Ukrainian couple brought their youngest to camp to have the experience. She has dealt with some very serious health issues for the past years they have been in the Netherlands, but they prepare city camp weeks in The Hague for Ukrainian refugees every year. I knew that they would be a great help. In addition we had two young people from two different congregations helping as counselors, translators and activity directors. They were amazing with the kids. We also had the help of a young lady from the church in Eindhoven who had already done a week of camp helping in the kitchen and will also be helping with Family Camp. 

Shirley helped out our sister in Christ, Tonia, in the kitchen, making sure that everyone ate well and remained healthy. This week saw a lot of dry weather which also meant some ticks. The Ukrainian girl ended up having 5 ticks removed and also fell one day over a wall. She got the full camp experience. Shirley was often the nurse for the kids, several of whom had medicines to remember throughout the week. 

In a few weeks, after we have had time to recover and get the photo albums ready, we will be putting pictures up. As mentioned, I will still be going to Family Camp in a week. We know that many of you are also busy with your summer camp weeks and continue to pray for all of the kids whose hearts will be touched with the word of God in all of these places. 

Where oh Where Wednesday: Mining in the area

The area where we live is historically an area of coal mining. Both in Limburg of the Netherlands (for which Maastricht is the capitol) and in Limburg of Belgium (where our house is situated) were coal mining areas. The cities of Sittard, Kerkrade and more in the Netherlands grew up around the industry of coal. Maasmechelen and Genk, Belgium - just down the road from us - have now turned their coal mining past into tourist attractions. Because the coal has long been gone. 

Genk has a site called “C-Mine” which now houses a cinema and stores, as well as a major cycling race every year, but previously it was simply a mine. In August I will go on an outing on a steam train. It will take us along the historical mining sites and we will visit the coal mining museum. All of this in the area of Kerkrade and Simpelveld in the Netherlands. 

Down by our Bible Camp we also have many old mining sites. In the past we have taken the kids on an outing to Blegny in Belgium. There they can go down into the mine and experience some of the sights, sounds and smells of the mine. The guide is an old miner and can tell stories of how things used to be. How they had to eat their lunch while working - preferably quickly and before anyone relieved themselves (which also had to be done in the same space. 

The mines are also why this area of both countries is so diverse culturally. Maasmechelen has a Greek, Italian, Turkish, Bulgarian and Polish community - all of whom worked in the mines at the time. They came as guest workers and built their families in Belgium - although some returned to their home countries. Many simply brought their cultural beauties (and problems) to Belgium. So now anyone can go to an Italian or Greek restaurant, visit various Catholic and Orthodox churches and be amazed at the diversity in general. 

The mines closed their doors in the 1970’s and the area has been trying to recover since then from the economic impact. Ford (in Belgium) and Volvo (in the Netherlands) both had a major factory, but these also closed within the last 10 years. Tourism remains a strong calling card to the area of hills and valleys (some made from the “trash” of coal mining). Some of these areas have been turned into beuatiful spa resorts with twisting bike paths running through the lakes. Others have disappeared into the background of the hills surrounding - as in our area of camp. 

(Photo of Terhills resort near Maasmechelen)

Prayer for coming activities

Our summers are always pretty busy. In the coming weeks we have various activities planned for which we covet your prayers. We know that we are only as strong as we trust in God who is our strength. And partners who are praying for us and the people we are working with are a large part of that trust and strength. 

At the end of this week we will start our week of Bible Camp - Benjaminenkamp. This is the week for the 8-11 year-olds. The Senior week (15-20 year-olds) started on Saturday. The Teens will follow the Benjamins and then Family Camp is planned. I am the camp director and teacher for the Benjamin week. Shirley is helping Tonia in the kitchen. We are looking forward to a good and challenging week talking about Jesus in the gospel of Luke. We pray that the kids will grow in faith, but also that the young counselors we have will especially grow in their faith. 

I will also be teaching during Family Camp. I am preparing lessons on “The Joy of the Lord” for the Tuesday and Thursday. In the past years I have helped with the teens as well and may be able to do this again. It is always encouraging to see people we know and meet new people I this week of camp. Please be praying for all of the kids at the various weeks as well as the teams leading those weeks. 

When we get back we will jump right into preparations for an event in the neighborhood of our building in Maastricht. From August 16-23, the neighborhood is planning week of activities from various clubs (sports, music, dance and more) and we as a congregation will also be organizing a walk through the neighborhood and a Black Gospel Workshop. This is an opportunity for people in the neighborhood to get to know us better. Pray for conversations. 

In September we usually hold a singing with the church from Cologne, although we have not yet set a date. That planning will be for the coming days. There is also a Family Day planned at camp that we will attend and encourage members from Maastricht to attend. This is always a time of encouragement and coming together with members from across Belgium and the Netherlands. 

In the meantime we will also be working through getting our house cleaned, seeing what needs to be packed, looking into various administrative tasks that need to be done and having difficult conversations with people we will miss and who will miss us. We will also continue with the various Bible studies and singing opportunities we hold throughout the weeks. Every first Friday of the month is singing in Maastricht. The 3rd Wednesday is singing Eindhoven. And somewhere along the way we will also plan to get back up to Haarlem to help with singing there. 

We are so thankful for so many who not only care about what we are doing here but who pray consistently for these efforts. We continue to pray for you as well. It was so good to see you again and hear how God is blessing you in walking with Him. God is great and is the only One who truly gives us strength for the tasks he has prepared for us. 

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

PS - I will not be posting next week as we will be at camp.