LIGHT in the Lowlands
Reaching out to the people of Belgium and the NetherlandsOCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2006
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1 Peter 4:19
Dear brothers and sisters, family and friends,
It is wonderful, exciting, a bit scary and amazing to see how God can and wants to use us every day!
- Stephan, Willemien and Ruud -
There are so many things that have been done these past two months and I could list them all, but instead I want to tell you about our colleagues, Ruud and Karla Verheijen. You prayed for Ruud last year after the summer camp season - he had a car accident which landed him in the hospital for quite some time with a broken hip. He now knows that he also has severe rheumatism, five hernias and the broken hip wjhich is not healing because of the rheumatism. In the meantime, bills continue, their four girls continue growing up, and the church is a daily desire in their lives. So what do you do when you can’t or shouldn’t be doing so much?
When Fall camp arrived at the end of October, Ruud made sure that all the young peopl who wanted to go had a ride. His car can seat seven people, so whether he drove or not, his car took kids down to camp. At the end of November when the next youth weekend was held, he and Karla encouraged their daughters to go. They don’t do this because they have to, but because they love God with all that they are and want thier children to know that love as well. It is their ideas and encouragement that gets the youth activities in Maastricht going and continuing. Because of their example, their daughters regularly invite their own friends to activities also.
Ruud is the one in the church who glues the mebers together. He is always issuing some good challenges, pushing the members to stretch themselves in their faith. And he is the first one to call, email or just talk to someone to make sure they are doing okay.
They are both just as excited as I am with the studies with LJ, who is weekly asking who God is and what it means to follow Jesus. They know when my studies are and are praying for me. They know the othe rpeople we study with and take every opportunity to get to know them better and tell them about God.
So a month full of pains, a house full of teenage girls and the cares that come with them, a table full of bills that need to be paid - these are all challenges to see the mighty and loving hand of God in their life. They don’t always have a smile on their face and are sometimes just plain tired, but they keep on holding on because they know who God is.
We are so thankful that we have co-workers like Ruud and Karla. This is what it means to lead a life with Christ. Every child of Christ is a member of the body - and this body of Christ is ACTIVE and able, with His might, to do amazing things!
We want to thank so many of you, who also share in this work through all that you do. It is so good to see God’s hand working in our lives and the lives of the people here.
PRAYER WARRIORS
Please keep the following in your prayers.
- Pray for Ruud and Karla as they struggle with Ruud’s health issues. They are such an example of faith - to us and those around them.
- Continue to pray for “LJ” from China who is studying the Bible and hearing the story of Jesus in its entirety for the first time. Pray for her heart and the Holy Spirit working in her.
- Praise God for our outreach in October and November. We were able to reach a few people this time and look forward to the next time we hold this class. Keep this in your prayers as we continue to talk with those who followed the course.
KID'S KORNER
Communication
There are so many ways to communicate. Talking, body language, looks that can kill. But there is also technology to help with communication. These days you can email, MSN, sms, chat, or even write a letter.
Sean and Stephan both have friends from the youth weekends they chat with. Sean has a cell phone, but since he can’t use it at school and the time costs too much, it has basically become a fancy toy.
As you have been able to read here, they both also put up videos. Sean keeps a blog and they like keeping in touch. But neither of them ever really writes a letter.
What communication methods do you use most? Do you ever write letters? Communicate with us!
e-mail Stephan at: greenleaf@tele2allin.be
e-mail Sean at: dudeis2cool4u@hotmail.com
ON THE FAMILY SIDE . . .
October and November flew by - and we aren’t even really in Fall yet! The weather here has been extremely mild for the year. They have even been talking about heat waves (for this time of year). Mind you, our visitor from Ghana didn’t find it to be much of a heat wave. But we have enjoyed the soft weather and the things we could do.
Sean has been enjoying his soccer team and enduring school. He does well with both, but it is obvious which one is his favorite (which is no surprise). He has had to put up with some pretty hard beatings recently, though. In October he was kicked from behind and had to be taken off the field with a calf injury. We had a sonogram done just to be sure that nothing really bad was done, but the pain lasted a good week and a half. In November he was injured again - again while making a goal. This time the goalie slid into him with his feet held high. He ran straight into Sean’s chest, putting holes in his shirt and bruising a rib. Sean was carried off again. His greatest pain however was that they didn’t allow his goal and even gave the other team a free kick. Thankfully his team is on a winter stop right now so he has plenty of time to recover (and it is going quite well). And you thought American football was rough!
In the meantime Sean continues to make crazy videos when he gets a chance. Most recently he was asked by the webmaster of the Genk soccer team (professional team that Sean supports) if Sean could take videos of the games. He had seen a video that Sean had made of one of the matches and liked what he saw. So Sean’s desire to become the next Peter Jackson or such is well on its way. MOst importantly, he enjoys himself with these things and it lets his creativity out.
October was of course also the time for Stephan’s birthday. He had two friends over for a games and video evening. It is amazing to think that he is now 17! Where has the time all gone? But it is so thrilling to see how he is growing up (and at times thoroughly frightening trying to let go). Stephan has, with typical dizzying speed, gone through several different interests and rediscovered old ones again. He took a PSAT test in preparation for the SAT coming up in the Spring. There are no firm plans, but we want to have all avenues open. Interestingly enough, language was the hardest part of the test - not reading or such, but simply understanding the terms in a math question. We are working on that.
Shirley struggled with some recurring pain in the neck and heel. We checked out the possibility of rheumatism and found that she needed some special soles in any case. These have helped to take the heel pain away. Thankfully, this was not enough to stop Scott and Shirley from spending a day together in Utrecht. We were able to hear some great music, visit some nice shops and spend some good time together.
We also enjoyed the visit from ‘our Canadians’ at the end of October, beginning of November. Eric Nyrose, who worked with Scott 20+ years ag0, brought a three of his students for a few days work in Maastricht. We enjoyed catching up on the years gone by as well.
THANKS!
- For your responses on the blog, your cards and calls and your encouragement
- For your prayers for the work here, we really need your support.
What’s coming up?
DECEMBER
Youth and family activities
JANUARY 2007
Youth weekend
Camp meeting
“Get to know the Bible” course
International studies
We pray that these days have been a blessing to you as you experience God each and every day.
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