January Newsletter

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

January 2008

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

Dear brothers and sisters, family and friends,
As we glanced back near the end of last year at what we experienced, we had a chance to look ahead to what is coming. Here are some of those thoughts.

Looking ahead
We want to focus in 2008 on three major areas of our work (which have also been our focus in the past): youth, equipping members and outreach. In 2007 we had 5 youth weekends and 4 youth activities. This coming year will be no different. The first youth weekend for 2008 was this month. Haarlem hosted more than 20 kids for a weekend on sin (and what to do about it!). It was great to see some of the youth from earlier years leading this weekend.

Community and family are essential concepts if we are going to live and grow. Last year was a beginning for special days with the brothers and activities with the older youth. It has been good to see how this has also taken off. The older ‘youth’ have not let go of their faith. Instead, they want to put it even more into practice in their lives. A new group begun last year - ‘Het Anker’ (The Anchor) continues to be important in this.

One of the most exciting parts of community to me is how God has made us able to sing. 2007 a year of song for us in Maastricht. The members in Maastricht wrote 10 new songs. This has been so encouraging, to us and to others. At the end of this month the annual Camp meeting was held in Antwerp. This is a formality which we use to do even more by making it into a community event. We used the opportunity to teach some new songs and sing together with members from around Belgium and the Netherlands. What a privilege! If you are interested in the songs, take a look at our church website: www.gvcmaastricht.nl. Everything is in Dutch, but some of the songs are in English. Click on the top right tab “Liedjes”. You will see a list of songs and a player. There are at least two in English, but take a listen to the Dutch ones as well. Most of these were written by our young people! That’s how we combine youth with community.

Outreach
Trying to let people know how wonderful God is would seem to be a straightforward activity. In reality it has to be a mixture of large efforts and activities as well as everyday, small efforts by all members. In 2007 we had more than 150 studies (even though we were gone for three months in the summer) and we hope to continue these in 2008. We had a wonderful opportunity to work with a Catholic youth weekend and have been approached to help this year as well. And our everyday opportunities are ever-present - if we open our eyes to the people God brings across our path.

We plan to offer our Wiser on the Way course at least twice this year - this time in combination with some extra efforts in the neighborhood. We also plan to host a concert with Listen Up! at the end of a youth weekend in June. This is a big effort, requiring all sorts of help from all of the members. But it is also a time to see how God can work through us. This concert will bring in all sorts of visitors who are interested in what is being said, but still from a distance. It will be up to us to let them see how good it is to be up close and personal with God.

This month has been a challenging and exciting one for relationships. I have been able to continue with some of my studies from last month and they are exciting. Mr. W. continues to ask such good questions and be genuinely interested in what God says in His word. But other members of the congregation have also been able to talk about their love. Willemien was excited when her neighbor asked her about the Bible. This is a neighbor who helps Willemien regularly and is now interested in where she gets her strength. We look forward to how God is going to continue using us in so many ways (many that we don’t even know right now) to let others see how wonderful He is.

This past month has brought some regular visitors in our services as well. We have never really viewed our worship time as the premium moment of evangelism - it is instead the premium moment for us to encourage one another and be encouraged by the presence and might of our loving God. But we are encouraged that several young people have made a clear choice to meet with us in order to get to know God better.

God is amazing and gracious. We are ready to be amazed in this year as we look for how He will let the year unfold. A bit exciting. A bit anxious, not knowing what is coming. But all will be very good - in His hands.

PRAYER WARRIORS
Please keep the following in your prayers.
- Continue to pray for Mr. W. We are having some great studies in the Word.
- Pray also for LJ who knows how challenging the life of a Christian is and is considering whether that is something she is interested in.
- Pray for our plans for this coming year as we try to reach out more to the neighborhood.
- Pray for our regular visitors A., A. and V. These are young people who want to grow and are an example even for their parents.
- Continue to pray for our youth activities planned for the year. These are so important for the future of the church as well.
- Pray for Ruud and Karla, our co-workers. Ruud is in terrible pain. He continues each day, making it through the pain.
- Pray for our young people heading out near the end of this year to start university far away - that they will continue to grow.

DID YOU KNOW?
Tidbits of information about Belgium and the Netherlands
That’s music to me
The Dutch and the Belgians have had an interesting musical history. In the 60’s and 70’s people will remember the Dutch groups Golden Earring (Radar love), George Baker Selection and Mouth and MacNeil. These days listeners will recognize Anouk, Raccoon, or DJ Tiesto. Country listeners might know Ilse de Lange.
Belgian singers like Jacques Brel and Ann Christy were internationally known. Toots Thielemans is the best-known jazz harmonica player in the world and the Queen Elizabeth contest is the premier contest for classical piano and violin.
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 . . .
We kind of skipped out on the December news. We are so thankful for so many of you who send year-end newsletters updating us on what is going on in your lives, but somehow we always feel like December is a bit of news overkill, since we send you a newsletter (almost) monthly. So we also enjoyed lots of visits (we even crammed Thanksgiving into December!), way too much good food and sweets and lots of time together.
We brought the new year in with a bang over at Ruud and Karla’s house with most of the congregation. That was fun! Sean did magic tricks (with his beautiful assistant Shirley at his side), Stephan juggled and Scott sang a song or two. Others played piano, read poems and made jokes. It was a great evening, rounded off by some good fireworks outside.

Once in January things picked up pretty quick (amazing how quickly a year can get going!). The stores all put everything on sale - which means good fun and opportunities for Shirley! She headed out into the wilds with Geesie and Marjolijn to see what she could find. Even Stephan and Sean enjoyed a bit of this shopping, since they needed some clothes.

It has been interesting to see how Sean has changed in the past few months. He switched schools at the beginning of the school year and this brought an almost immediate change in the way he dressed. Now he is much more willing to listen to the fashion advice of his mother (who knows of what she speaks).
Sean has also decided to buckle down and get to work this semester. A new school brings new ways of doing things, but also brought some pretty good competition in his class. This is not always a bad thing. It has been fun to hear Sean speaking French whenever he is not playing soccer or playing the guitar.
The guitar is Sean’s newfound love. He has decided that he is going to be a bass gitarist and has set to learning quite a few songs from his favorite group (at the moment) Bloc-Party. It amazes me how quickly he can learn something when he decides to do it! Great fun to see - though not always fun to hear (but what budding musician is?)

Stephan was absorbed this month by “Chrysostomos” which is slightly comparable to senior prom, but only slightly. The last-years put on a show for the lower-years and there is a dance. For Stephan the show included the ‘hakka’ (know idea how to spell that) which is the Maori dance. He made sure that he worked out enough first, since they were doing it in traditional dress. The dance does not include fancy dresses and tuxedos and probably resembles more of the ‘after-prom’ dances than anything else. It is not held in or by the school, but simply in a local disco. We were actually pleased that Stephan decided to stay home.

We also started looking at how to fix a few things around the house as the time for spring cleaning gets closer. We’ll see how that works out.

DON'T FORGET!!
What’s coming up?
FEBRUARY
ABSS
Hootenanny/Youth evening
MARCH
Youth weekend
Camp meeting

THANKS!
- For your comments on the blog - great to hear from you!
- For letting us know what’s happening in your lives
- Your prayers for all that is happening here and in Europe

Enjoy each moment as you walk with God today!
Love in Him,
Scott, Shirley,
Stephan and Sean Raab