Whatsit Wednesday: Elstar apple

The trees are blooming everywhere. White, pink, red flowers in an explosion of Spring as you drive around the countryside. In our backyard our cherry tree is blooming as well. We used to have a pear orchard just across the canal that would be a full field of blossoms at this time. That field is now just a field, but not far from us is the fruit district. Pear and apple trees grow all along the sides of the roads everywhere they can be found. 

It will soon be the time of year to eat apples. Although, to be honest, the apples have never really left the supermarkets. If they are not being grown here, they are going from Spain or elsewhere. Some are even grown in hothouses year-round. And there are all types of apples. The Elstar is one of the most sold here, next to the Jonagold and Granny Smith. I like the Granny Smith because I like my apples sour. It reminds me of the apple trees in our backyard when I was growing up. 

The Elstar apple is an apple that was made in the Netherlands in 1955 by crossing a Golden Delicious with an Ingrid Marie (an older race of apple). This was done by Arie Schaap and Tijs Visser. When the time came to give the apple a commercial name, a solution was sought combining the maker’s name and the place he lived, Elst. So they combined Elst+ AR (from Arie) and created the Elstar. The apple official went in to production in 1975. 

By 2006 about 45 percent of apple production in the Netherlands was Elstar. They can be plucked in September and saved until June. It is a red striped to dark red apple which is also used for apple juice and apple sauce. 

What kind of apple do you prefer? 

Whodunit Wednesday: M.C. Escher

He is still one of my favorite artists. M.C. Escher is well-known for his drawings that trick the eye. The detail in his drawings is what always drew me to his work. When I first came to the Netherlands, I got a subscription to the library so that I could check out his books and look through the pictures. Several of his paintings adorn the walls of buildings around the world. 

Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in 1898 in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. Leeuwaarden is a part of Friesland, which in the past was its own country and people. But Escher’s family moved to Arnhem (much further south) when he was only 5 years old. He was considered a sickly child and did not do very well at school, although it was clear from early on that he was good at drawing. 

He went to a technical college and the Haarlem School of Architecture and decorative arts where he learned to make woodcuts. In his journeys in 1922 he traveled to Italy and Spain and was amazed at the intricate designs that he saw there. He started a family and lived in Italy until just before the war. In the end he ended up in Baarn, the Netherlands, where most of his work was done (although he had already been commissioned to design stamps for the Dutch Postal Service). 

His work is quite mathematical, which often means that conservative artists consider him less and artist and the general public loves his work. His technical ability is praised by all, but some cannot find themselves in his mathematical, symmetrical style. Perhaps Escher would say that they simply need to look deeper into the works. Some of his works tend to push into infinity.

You can find his work in The Hague, of course, but also in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and in Huis ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Japan. Have you ever seen his work? What do you think of it?

Training

One of the joys and challenges of our work in Belgium and the Netherlands is working with young people and those wanting to learn more. The body of Christ is just that - a body. The church is made up of all sorts of people and God can use us all in many ways. Buut we learn from each other how we can be used to help others. That is part of what we are doing, helping to train and mentor others to become leaders and helpers. 

This past weekend we offered a day of training for those wanting to work with the Bible camp. It was Inspiration for Aspiring leaders, so we called it “Breathe”, knowing that it is the Holy Spirit who prepares us and forms us in our tasks. Last year we held this day at the church building in Antwerpen because that was more central, easier for people to reach. But we have wanted to hold it at camp itself so that the prospective leaders can see in person what they are working with. So this year we met down at camp. We are thankful to be able to do this with good colleagues (Luk Brazle). 

It was great to see the willingness of these few young people to learn and be aware of the responsibility of leading a team for a week of Bible camp. This is a time of reaching young hearts with the truths from God’s word and putting those into practice every day for a week before they return home. It is a time when many young people from the churches in Belgium and the Netherlands see friends from around the country or make new friends. This is all facilitated by good camp leaders. 

We are also helping to mentor some of our couples and singles in Maastricht. We meet on Mondays to study and talk about situations in leadership. On Wednesday afternoons we have a Bible study in English for some of our young people where they can ask questions and get honest answers. It is exciting to see how the members of the congregation are maturing in Christ and stepping up to new challenges in their daily Christian life. 

In April we will also be taking part in a First Aid course for those who work down at the Bible Camp. This is another aspect of learning and teaching. The Red Cross will offer the course and we are thankful for the various people who will attend, including several from the church in Maastricht. We are learning how to use the spiritual muscles God has given us and feeling the challenge of using those abilities and trusting in God’s strength and leading. 

(Here are some more pictures of the training day at camp.)