May/June Newsletter

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

May/June 2007

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17

Dear brothers and sisters, family and friends,
By the time you read this you may be able to greet us personally! Thank you so much for making our upcoming trip to the States possible. It is always so good to see you again (or meet so many new people!).
The heart of the gospel
I want to take a little time in this newsletter to tell you about some of the studies we have here. There are very different kinds of studies, different kinds of people, but the same gospel.
As you read in our last newsletter, and as many of you have been praying, I started studying with Mr. W. after our Getting to know the Bible course (abbreviated “WoW” in Dutch). He loves opera, loves song and has a heart that is willing to hear what God is saying. He feels like the world is leaving behind the real truths that God has given us. At the same time, when those truths come close to his life, he is not so sure he wants to listen. But he is willing to listen, to think about things. We have only met three times. During the summer he will be reading the gospel of John. Please keep him in your prayers.
You have also been praying for my studies with LJ. She is always asking penetrating questions about the texts we are reading together. We are currently reading in the gospel of Luke. Luke is a favorite because he is a very good historian. It is clear that the things he has written were well-researched. But still it is difficult to read some of the things - like the miralces - and accept that these really happened. How can a thinking person accept this? Yes, Jesus said some very important things, but can we really believe that he did all these miracles as well?
It is exciting to be able to speak clearly with LJ. She wants to know and is willing to be confronted. She is also willing to think things through. And the cultural differences also make for some very interesting conversations. It is amazing how universal the gospel really is (or is it so amazing?!)
These two studies get to the heart of the gospel. Does Jesus really want us to follow him? Or is just listening to him enough? Why him? Is he really capable of the things he says? Who is this man?
Family tries
In these last two months we have also continued our studies with our young people. It is so good to see how Stephan and Shareya are growing in their faith and actively following God in their lives. We are blessed in Maastricht with a good group of young people – a fairly “large” group for Dutch standards. They can encourage one another, and if we want to have a get-together, we have a group of more than 10 people already. In some of the cities in Belgium and the Netherlands some of the young people are alone in the church.
It has been good to see how these young people have taken part in the studies we organized with them. We are looking specifically at the gospel, what it means and why it is good news. The same questions come up once again - Who is this man? Even when we “grow up in the church” we need to really find out who Jesus is and why it is so good to be with him.
Besides these studies Scott was asked to preach in Rotselaar and explain a difficult biblical passage. This always means that Scott himself grows. None of us have all of the truth - that is why God gave us his word. And a good challenge is always good for growth.
This has also been true in the conversations and emails in the last two months. Scott and Shirley have been trying to encourage the members who are struggling with their faith. What do you do when you feel like no one in the congregation understand who you are? How does this affect your walk with God? Pray for our efforts to help the church grow in faith and love.
Listen Up!
When Scott started with this singing group, the desire was to help people to “listen up!” to listen to God. Through the years they have encouraged the church in song, challenged audiences to think about God and have equipped members to use song in praise and teaching. June was an extremely busy month with Listen Up! The youth weekend planned for Maastricht ended in a concert which was a wonderful day of encouragement for the church. The meeting place was packed full! In addition, the new cd finally arrived and had to be gotten ready before we left for the States. We are excited about the possibilities to tell others about God in this way, but also about the continued opportunities to encourage people in their singing. It is great to be so blessed by such a wonderful God!

PRAYER WARRIORS
Please keep the following in your prayers.
- My reading in the Bible with LJ. She is seeking, listening and willing to hear. Pray for courage.
- Praise and thank God for His working in the youth weekend and concert last month!
- Pray for the coming summer camp weeks. This is a time of growth for the young people and their friends.
- Pray for our safe travels this summer in the States and that we can be an encouragement wherever we go.
- Thank God for Shirley’s health as she is doing much better!
- Pray for Mr. W. - with whom I started studying - that he will continue reading through the summer.

DID YOU KNOW?
Fashion
For several years now the city of Antwerp, in Belgium, has been a center for fashion design. The fashion school there regularly turns out designers who go on to make their name. You have probably heard of Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Kaat Tilley or Vronique Branquinho (if you follow fashion or are interested in names).
Although the Dutch are less well-known for their fashion designers, you probably have heard of Viktor and Rolf, a Dutch design team.
Have you come across something typically Dutch or Belgian? What did you think of it? Let us know.

ON THE FAMILY SIDE . . .
As mentioned, by the time you read this we will be in the States - we may even have already seen some of you. Unfortunately, we will not be able to see all of you. Here is a very summary list of where we will be stopping:
July 1-9 in Minnesota
July 9-16 in Muscatine, Iowa (and Indianapolis, IN)
July 16-20 in Nebraska
July 20-30 in Colorado (Colorado Springs and Denver)
July 30- Aug. 10 in Long Beach, CA
Aug. 10-23 in Texas (Abilene and the Dallas area)
If you are in the area, please contact us and let’s try to get together! We would love to see you. Our email address is on the front of this letter and we will be chekcing all along.
Back in the news from May and June - Sean’s elbow (see last month’s letter) was broken, but not really. When the doctor took him out of the first cast (the one given him because they weren’t sure if the arm was broken) the elbow was x-rayed and examined and the doctor said that there was a very small break. The remedy was movement. Sean just needed to take it a little easy for two weeks and then get back to normal. You don’t have to tell him twice! He is glad to be back to active. And he is growing! You will probably not even recognize him.
Stephan, as you may have been able to read and see on the blog, was basketball champ for the state (not just him, his whole team of course). There was a medals ceremony held by the city and everything. Next season Stephan will play with the men’s team. And that is how he has been acting with many things. He takes responsibility around the house and in the church. Mind you, responsibility at home has always been important for the boys, but now Stephan is also cooking and helping in the kitchen at times (Scott doesn’t have to worry about eating cereal when Shirley is gone for the Ladies Retreat!).
Shirley had a very stressful couple of months - especially when the youth weekend came in to town. We had expected a smaller group, since the Belgian young people had exams - not a great time to have a weekend. But we ended up with plenty of young people. There were 13 boys i our house, with four more adults and a baby at our house alone. This meant a lot of cleaning, preparing and organizing. But that is what Shirley is good at. Our biggest worry actually during the weekend was with Snuffles - she does not do well at all with babies (one of which was staying at our place). But even she did well - although she was VERY glad when all those loud things (the teenagers, not the baby) finally got out of her house!
As we have been trying to get ready to be gone for two months (that’s a really long time to leave your house!) we have gotten together several people to watch the house and the dog, fixed some of the weird things we see as normal before these people arrive, and tried to get all of our important papers together. But it’s worth it - we’ll soon see you!

What’s coming up?
JULY/AUGUST
Furlough
Camp weeks
SEPTEMBER
Youth weekend
Listen Up! CD presentation
WoW course
Bible studies

THANKS!
- For all the planning for this summer
- For your prayers for our studies and for the church here
- For your encouragement

Don’t let busyness get in your way - have a great day!