October Newsletter

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

October 2007

Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. 2 Timothy 4:2

Dear brothers and sisters, family and friends,
October was a busy, exciting month full of challenges, hard work, exciting moments and times to grow. It continues to amaze me how God can do so much in such a little time!

Preach the news, in season and out, take every opportunity to tell the good news. That is what we want to do and are trying to do in our life here in the Netherlands and Belgium. For October that meant getting ready to sing. As many of you know, Scott sings with an a cappella singing group called Listen Up! Many of you have prayed for them in the past, followed their efforts and have supported them.
The churches in Switzerland had also heard of how they preach using their song and wanted to use them in reaching out to their own cities, so a tour was planned (with Swiss precision) for five German-speaking cities in Switserland. This meant that Listen Up! had to find a week they could all get free, which turned out to be the Dutch school break. The Swiss churches found venues for the concerts and planned activites around the concerts to better reach people with Good news. By the middle of October, everything was ready and Listen Up!, together with Remco (Vero’s husband) and Shirley headed out for Bern.

Our experience in the next 8 days was amazing. It was so encouraging to see how these brothers and sisters put themselves into making these concerts a chance to talk to people. Many of the members had to do things they were not used to, but they did them, trusting in God’s strength. We were witnesses of this beauty and might – God is truly amazing in what He can do!
It was thrilling for us also to hear how the members were so pleased with how the word was preached. One preacher from the church in Switzerland let us know that he had never heard a singing group preach the word as we had. He had heard groups sing about Jesus, but we preached. That is exactly what we wanted to be able to do and we are so glad that God was able to use us in that way.
Of course we also saw wonderful places and gawked at the beauty all around us in the beautiful Swiss mountains and lakes. But it came home even more because we were shown the same majestic beauty in God’s creation of His family, the church in the various places we stayed. We stayed in the homes of members who spoiled us with love. We saw congregations who were very small stretching to do what they could and simply being faithful in living for God. As we hope their faith grew and was stretched, ours definitely was.

Maastricht
Back at home we were also able to continue some good studies and encouraging contacts. Scott hadn’t seen Lj since before the summer. When they finally got together, LJ mentioned that an hour a week was not going to be enough if she were to really learn what she wants. She is interested in the Old Testament and the new. “Could we meet for a longer time?” So now we are meeting for two hours a week and reading in Genesis and in Acts! This is exciting!
Mr. W. Is growing with each meeting. When we first met, he mentioned that he had read the New Testament before. This month he exclaimed that it was surprising how little you retain after one reading. He was glad we were going over things again. And it is a challenge for him – we are reading in Matthew, where, according to his feeling, Jesus makes some pretty difficult statements. And some of the things we are looking at directly challenge what he thought was in the Bible. It can be frustrating to see that things are not what you thought. But Mr. W. Is willing to look at this and discuss it. He wants to be more than simply someone who says they are Christian but doesn’t really do anything about it.
In November we will offer the 'Wijzer op Weg' course (Getting to know the Bible – abbreviated for the Dutch as WOW) again. It was this course that brought Mr. W. to us for the study we are following now. We hope that we will be able to reach a few more people in November and in the Spring when we offer the course again.
In addition to these efforts we continue our devo evenings with the men, which has been a real blessing for us as brothers in the church. The ladies try to get together every Thursday, but it is harder to get the guys together. This has worked out well so far – the men look forward to each meeting.
Please keep these efforts in your prayers. Pray for the churches in Switzerland as they continue with the contacts they made during the concerts. And pray for our efforts to continue reaching people as we preach in all different ways.

PRAYER WARRIORS
- LJ and Mr. W continue to ask good questions and be interested in what God is saying in His word. Keep praying!
- Pray for our outreach in November and December – WOW classes, flyering, questions in our neighborhood.
- Continue to pray for our young people in their growth – several of our young people are questioning what they want to do with their lives.
- V. is a girlfriend of one of our girls. She attends service regularly, having her father bring her on a Sunday morning, and goes to youth weekends and camp. Pray as she is considering what Jesus means to her.
- Pray for the Swiss churches’ outreach after the Listen Up! concerts in Bern, Thun, Luzern, Zurich and Schaffhausen.

DID YOU KNOW?
Tidbits of information about Belgium and the Netherlands
Places that speak or spoke Dutch
The Netherlands, Flanders (northern part of Belgium), a section of north-western France, South Africa, Indonesia, Surinam, Aruba, Dutch Antilles, Curacao and New York (which used to be New Amsterdam).
Australia used to be called New Holland and New Zealand is named after a Dutch province (Nieuw Zeeland). So the Dutch have had an influence on all continents (except Antarctica).
Have you come across something typically Dutch or Belgian? What did you think of it? Let us know. s.raabs@tele2allin.be

ON THE FAMILY SIDE . . .
Our Swiss trip was a real experience for everyone this month. Usually Scott heads off with Listen Up! – without Shirley, but the boys have reached an age that they can handle themselves at home – alone. So Shirley was able to go along to Switzerland. What a blessing! There were such beautiful sites and wonderful relationships. Shirley makes girlfriends wherever she goes and Switzerland was no different. In Bern we were able to see and stay with old friends (Bill and DeeDee Bundy) and in Luzern and Schaffhausen she made new friends. It is wonderful how God has placed us in such a great family – everywhere we go!
Back in Belgium the boys were home alone. They didn’t have school break – that would come the week after we returned from Switzerland. So they had to make sure the dog was walked before they went off to school in the morning and after they got home. They had to take care of their own food (except for the two times they ate at Leon and Mariette’s house – a real treat!). And they had to take care of the house and themselves.
Sean had to bike to his soccer game on Saturday – 40 minutes there, play a full game, 40 minutes biking home. To have the dog eat your sandwiches off the table at that point did not make him happy. But he and Snuffles figured it out (and she didn’t steal any more food after that!).
While we were gone, the brothers devo was planned for our house. Stephan prepared the lesson and Sean picked and lead the songs. They also made sure the house was clean, got tea and coffee ready and offered snacks. Talk about good hosts – it was great to hear about the things they did.
Of course, when we arrived home a few hours early, Sean was quite clear that we were not yet allowed in the house – he hadn’t cleaned up yet! It was so good to know that they were not only able to handle themselves well while we were gone, but were able to grow from it as well.
The end of the month was a whirlwind of different activites. The boys had a vacation and went off to a games day with Joël. The first weekend of the vacation Stephan went early in the morning to Brussels to take the ACT in preparation for next year and the possibility of studying in the States. He also went down to camp for Fall camp and some lessons on what it was like in Jesus’ day.
In the middle of the week he turned 18 (can you believe it!!). We had the church over for some singing and good fellowship. Next weekend Stephan will have some friends down and go swimming all day. By mid-week Sean was convinced that the vacation was already over and he hadn’t done anything with it.

THANKS!
- Special notes from the church in Woodbury – it was a WONDERFUL packet of encouragement, just reading all of your notes and prayers.
- Hospitality of the churches in Switzerland
- Your prayers for all that is happening here and in Europe

What’s coming up?
NOVEMBER
WoW course
Youth weekend
Flyering in Maastricht
DECEMBER
Listen Up! singing in Utrecht
Bible study in Lanaken