What do you believe? (2)

I wanted to respond to one of the questions on the last entry about the Catholic weekend.


It was really exciting to see these young people struggle with what they do believe. They expected, I think, that we (the adults) would simply tell them what they SHOULD believe. And as usual, when asked the first answers were typical answers (the ones they know you as adults want to hear).

But then they realized that the question was serious. If they could choose, which elements from the "articles of faith" would they keep, which would they throw away and what would they add to it? There was a time of discussion to talk about things that they believed. Some of these points included: "That man and animals will always live well together" or "That God will always help me to love animals." There was also mention of "eternal love", "friendship" and "forgiveness".

One of the most interesting points came after everyone had had a chance to say some of the things they believed. We then voted on what should stay or go. What with Idols and such, that is what these kids were used to (and to be honest - that is what a lot of adults would like to think they should be able to do with their "articles of faith"). But they only had three votes! They had two blue (a full "YES") and one red ("maybe?"). At the end, we had a board with the various points blue or red-dotted.


An intriguing point came from the article (mentioned by one of the participants): "That we should forgive because Jesus forgives." This point was one that had the most stickers, but they were mostly red. When discussed it was made clear that many thought this a VERY important point, but they also realized that it was very difficult to do.

Some other points concerned whether there really is life after death, whether God created the earth or what it means to be part of the church. The most exciting point of all of this to me was that these young people were seriously THINKING about all of this, instead of just learning something by rote or writing something down. They will struggle with these concepts, for a little while at least. And that is what we are supposed to do!

No - just because we decide that something shouldn't be on the list does not determine whether it is true or not. We don't get to vote on what is true. But we DO, we MUST decide what we really believe. Belief is not cerebral, it is entire - encompassing our thought AND our life-actions. That is something these young people were exposed to in this weekend and I hope in the coming months and years still.

February-March Newsletter

LIGHT in the Lowlands
Reaching out to the people of Belgium and the Netherlands

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

Dear brothers and sisters, family and friends,
Some months just fly by! These past two months have shown us why it is so important to know what we believe.

What do you believe?
Our regular studies, our youth activities and our outreach has been focused on this question - either by purpose or providence. It has been enervating and exciting as well as frustrating at times.
Every week I read from the Bible with four people (for whom many of you have been praying). It has been interesting to see how each meeting is becoming a confrontation - not because I am doing anything differently, but because the message of Jesus is getting through. We mustn’t underestimate how much smoke and miscommunication blurs this message to people in a culture where one assumes the message has already been heard (and long ago rejected). So when the real picture of Jesus - as presented in the Bible - finally gets through, it can be quite confronting.
Some don’t like it. Jesus calls us to follow him and only him. He makes clear that there are good things and bad things - no relativism for him. And he calls sin “sin” - without beating around the bush. So what do you do with Jesus?
One of the people I read with has come to realize what it means to be adopted nito Christ - at least that he is not yet part of Christ. Another has been considering this question for some time. She knows that if she accepts Jesus that this means changing her life. This change can be literally dangerous for her in her own country. She wonders if she is willing to make this choice. Does she really believe?
This is also what came up during the Catholic weekend in which we had an opportunity to participate. The “articles of faith” are usually quoted during confirmation - the moment for Catholics when they accept the baptism they were given as babies and declare their own faith. But do these young people (11 and 12-year-olds) really believe these things? That is what one of the organizers struggled with, mainly because he also is not sure if he believes them. So the young people were encouraged during an activity to put together the things they DO believe in. These young people will have been challenged to think about what they really believe when they make this choice.
Thank you for your prayers for this opportunity. There were some really good opportunities for discussion - with the young people and with the adults. We pray that God will continue to use us in this village in the future. There are so many who do not know what they believe or why.
This is why we want to get people into reading their Bible. Our course “Getting to know the Bible” was offered in March, but there were no takers. We sometimes don’t know if this is because of the time (just after Carnaval), our advertising methods, or some other reason. It was frustrating to have everything ready and no one show up. But we are not giving up. We have put ads in the papers and will offer the course again at the end of April, beginning of May.
Growing together
In February I presented a series of lessons at the Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS) in Germany. The lessons were on “Glory and suffering” and camne from 1 Peter. Difficult material when you are one who has not yet really suffered - considering that in the West we aren’t really persecuted as Christians. But it is important information to internalize. We all expereince what we feel is suffering, and the message remains the same: If we hold on to God, He is glorified and will carry us through, shining as never before.

- Scott taught at ABSS -

The week after ABSS Shirley was able to go to the Ladies Retreat in Germany. We weren’t sure if her health would allow it, but she did well on the drive there and back and enjoyed the time with sisters from around Europe. We are so thankful that several of the ladies from the congregation here are able to go - and want to go.

- at the Ladies Retreat -

Back in Maastricht we continued working on some memory verses - another possibly confronting situation. It was exciting to see some of the young people learning these verses, while the adults were the ones struggling. But it was also a challenge to make clear that this is a opportunity and not a badge of superiority. We want everyone to know the pleasure of knowing God through His word. In April we will get together for a weekend at Easter and test our knowledge a bit, but in the meantime we will put our knowledge into practice - the best test. What a wonderful, challenging, life-changing God we have!

PRAYER WARRIORS
Please keep the following in your prayers.
- My reading in the Bible with LJ, the Chinese PhD student.
- Our contact with young people in the village of Ruud and Karla (Veldwezelt).
- Development of a program for our older youth (18-30) and helping them to grow in their faith.
- Our upcoming youth activities. These contacts are going well, with our own young people and their friends.
- The “Getting to know the Bible” series in April and May - for good visitors.
- Shirley’s and Ruud’s health.

ON THE FAMILY SIDE . . .
I want to use this opportunity first to update you on what has been going on with Shirley’s health. At the time of this writing she is feeling pretty good and we are very thankful for your prayers and for the wonderful care we always have in our Father.
In December Shirley realized that the pain in her arm and neck were not going to go away, so we went to the doctor. He sent us to the physical therapist, who really couldn’t help, so we were referred to some tests. Shirley has now had the pleasure of expereincing a CT scan, an EMG and an MRI. To clear up that alphabet soup a little: a CT scan is like an all-around x-ray, and EMG measures electrical impulses, and an MRI uses magnetics to look at the soft tissues in your body (sees what the x-ray cannot).
All of these tests confirmed what the first specialist said - Shirley has two major hernias in her neck pressing on two nerves which go to her right arm. The hernias may be caused by or exacerbated by the arthrose in her neck (arthrose is basically wear and tear - the bone is worn out). She has anti-inflammatory medicine to help what may be swelling (although it is not certain that anything is swelling) and takes some pain madeicine. She also needed to stop doing the things that hurt (easier said than done!).
At the end of March we had a further meeting with the neurosurgeon (works on nerves) about the possibilities of surgery. He is happy that Shirley seems to be doing well with the medicine. Shirley will go in for another EMG in April to make sure that the nerve is not deteriorating (even though she does not have as much pain). At that point they may discuss surgery again.
In the meantime, Shirley continues being the joy she has always been in the lives of those around her. She makes bread and muffins and cookies (as long as one of her “men” gets the things from the tall cabinet), makes sure that everything is running well in the household and shows a continuous and firm trust in God. She knows that this physical ailment is frustrating, but not eternal.
The boys have continued growing and learning in all they are doing. Sean is now well above Shirley in height. In fact, he may pass Stephan soon. They both continue to enjoy their sports and keep going in school (whether theyreally want to or not). Stephan takes the SAT in May, so he has been doing some extra studying.
It has been great to see how both of the boys have tried to help in all ways when needed while Shirley was not feeling well. Stephan is truly a young man, willing to accept responsibility, taking the consequences when he does something wrong, willing to make things right, sharing in his victories. It is exciting to see.
At the end of March we were pleased to be able to see Sue Foster. She is still planning on joining the team in Ghent and was able to spend some time with them there. We were just glad to be able to visit some. What a joyful spirit!

EXTRA'S
DID YOU KNOW?
Tidbits of information about Belgium and the Netherlands
Well-known current sport celebrities
- Women’s tennis: Justin Henin and Kim Clijsters
Interestingly - Justin is from the French-speaking area, Kim from the Flemish-speaking area of Belgium.
- Swimming: Dutchman Pieter van den Hoogenband was American sensation Michael Phelps’ major competition in the 200meter freestyle at Melbourne. He won 3 Olympic gold medals in Sydney.
-IOC: Jacques Rogge, a Belgian, is the chairman of the International Olympic Committee.

What’s coming up?
APRIL
Youth weekend
Getting to know the Bible
Listen Up! Concert
MAY
Getting to know the bIble
JUNE
Youth weekend and concert

THANKS!
- For your emails and comments on the blog
- For all those helping with our furlough
- For your continued prayers and encouragement

Thank you for all of your prayers and comments (on the blog). We are enjoying the things that God has brought into our life, knowing that we are always with Him - so it’s going to be great!

Sonrise

Zonsopgang / Sunrise
Originally uploaded by sraabs.

This past weekend we held a youth weekend down at camp for our young people. We have been learning memory verses and looking at the letter to the Philippians, so we put some of that to the test with a quiz.

We also split up into groups and wrote some new songs based on texts from Philippians. Unbelievable what these young people can do! We have four new songs to add to our songbooks. And they did that in 90 minutes!

Sunday morning we got up early to see the sunrise - you can't really see the sun rise from here, but you can see it getting lighter. It was so beautiful! A good time to remember what we have in Jesus. Back at camp we ate breakfast together and headed out to our respective congregations (we did this weekend with some of the youth from Tongeren).

It was a wonderful weekend that we are looking forward to repeating at different times in the year. What a great family we have been put in by such a wonderful Father!

What do you believe?

This past weekend I took part in a youth weekend for Catholic youth preparing for their confirmation. You might remember that Karla Verheijen was approached in her village by the committee which organizes the catechism for these young people. They knew Karla and Ruud were believers and that they know their Bible, so they asked if Karla wanted to help. Along the way Karla mentioned that I had experience with youth weekends and the committee asked my help with this weekend.

This was a unique opportunity – both Karla and I want people to consider what they believe and to look deeper at what they are taught. We also encourage all people to read the Bible. The other adults in this committee not only don’t know much about the Bible, they aren’t really sure if they believe in God. But they do believe that the church is important for these young people. So this weekend was organized to help prepare them for their confirmation – the time for Catholics when they accept the decision made for them when they were baptized as babies, and the moment when they receive the Holy Spirit, according to Catholic teaching.

At the weekend, one of the activities was to look at the creed that they were to know. Often this must simply be learned by rote and repeated at the ceremony. But the committee member who isn’t sure if he believes in God thought it better to have these young people look at what they really believe. In this way they will not be saying that they believe something that they don’t believe. So we had them list some things they believe in. Then they were allowed to vote for the points they considered most important. It was very interesting to see what came out of the voting.

What do you really believe? What are your articles of faith? Do you believe that God is creator of heaven and earth? That Jesus died and was raised on the third day? That we can live eternally? That the Holy Spirit lives in us and guides us and gives us strength to be different people? And what is the most important for you? And what does this mean for your daily life then?

And then the thought: does it really matter what we think? We can vote all we want – and we live in a world where the publics opinion is the most important (“Idols” with the tele-voting) – but that does not change what is. When we say: “I believe”, are we saying “I think this is true” or are we saying “I accept this truth”?

It was an exciting weekend. And these young people have been challenged in ways that others certainly will not have been. And that happened because a man is not sure what he believes and is willing to ask others to help. I am glad that we were able to participate and look forward to what will happen in the future.