A great team

The team
Originally uploaded by sraabs.

The high school students from Western Christian College in Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada came with Blair and Susan Roberts for several weeks to help with the church in Belgium and the Netherlands. They gave conversationl English lessons in Antwerp, distributed flyers offering courses in Ghent and helped out down at camp for several weeks.

In Maastricht we would only have them for a few days, so we wanted to make the most of the opportunity. We decided to use the time to challenge our young people to also be an influence and example on these young people in living for Christ. It was a great time of learning and encouragement!

We did a few different things that all involved working together so that we could encourage one another. We cleaned up the building in order to give our ladies a well-deserved rest. Many hands make light work - and it was fun too!

The team was also split up into two groups - each group made up of Canadians and our own young people. Each group had to plan a meal on a minimal budget, buy what was need, cook the meal and decorate the table - for everybody! This was a real challenge, but well-met by these young people.

We also spent time simply playing. Getting out on the local football (soccer) field was a good way of getting to know one another and letting others see how fun it is to do things together. This will be a good example for the future with our young people and their friends.

The most encouraging time for me was the evening we spent some time telling our stories. Everyone has a story - the story of their life and how Christ has touched it. Although this was quite a confronting time as well, it was very encouraging for our young people.

And all of this (inclduing a bit of distributing in the rain) was completed in just four days of being together. In these four days our young people also developed some good relationships with the students. Now that is encouraging!

Family Day!

Johan Huyghebaert
Originally uploaded by sraabs.

Family Camp always ends with a Family Day - a day for the churches in Belgium and the Netherlands to get together for learning, encouragement and fellowship. This year was organized by the churches in Brughe and Roeselare. Johan Huyghebaert, who was also the camp leader for Family Camp (and had the help of his son, Robin, Robin's finacee, Joyce, and Johan's mother, Jose), got the day going with some good singing and announcements.

This is always a day of wonderful fellowship - sometimes the only time you might see someone from a congregation further away. It is always esepcially nice when some of the French-speakers from the church in Belgium are also able to attend. And this day was amply blessed with beautiful sunshine until everyone was on their way home again!

(click on the picture for more pictures of the visiting during this day)

Family Camp

Every year we put together four outstanding weeks of Bible camp for all ages. These weeks are often some of the only times for young people in the church to get together with other Christians. But this is also a time for families. We see the week of Family Camp as a time to provide some needed Biblical training and encouragement. This is a time when families can not only enjoy good textual studies, but can discuss what they mean for daily life - ready to head back into their daily lives encouraged and armed.

This year we focused on the Holy Spirit - in all His aspects. Although several of the teachers ended up stepping on information already presented earlier, it was always a good review and reinforcement. It was especially exciting to be able to discuss how God wants to help us, lead us, make us His own through His Spirit in our lives. As we head into September it is exciting to be watching and waiting for how God will use us, will have changed us and challenged us to live in His might.

As always during this week we have plenty of time to be together and do some fun things as a family in God. For our family this was just about the last time we had to be with Stephan. Sean enjoyed the time he was able to spend with his brother, although he might not have let on that he was going to miss him.

Take a moment and check out some of the pictures of Family Camp and be thankful with us for such times that God gives us. We are so glad that we are able to help in this way and take part as well. That is how a family works!

Tienerkamp 2008

Tienerkamp 2008
Originally uploaded by sraabs.

Check out the pictures for Teen Camp. I know that it was back at the beginning of August, but I am glad to finally be catching up a bit. Hopefully the pictures for Family Camp qill be up in a few days.

This week was such a joy. We worked for the first time with a new couple - Daniel and Caroline Boonaerts. We saw David van Ginneken resurrected to new life. We learned about living upside down, had lots of fun and deepened our relationships together. You can see quite a bit of this just by glancing through the pictures.

We are so thankful to be able to work with these opportunities! It is great to see God working in people's lives! What a mighty God he is!

Catching up

It has been a while since I was able to keep this blog up to date - the summer season tends to take me away from the computer more than most times. Thank you for stopping in and wanting to know what is going on with our lives. It is especially encouraging to us to know that you are checking because you are also praying for us.
At the moment I am in Searcy, Arkansas bringing Stephan to Harding. But I have so much I still want to tell you about the summer! We have put up some of the pictures from Teen Camp, but we still want to tell you about the week. And we had a great week at Family camp as well. After that a group of students from Western Christian (in Canada) came through Maastricht. Lots to talk about, so be patient. I hope to get some of this information up this week or next.

New life!!

Many of you have been praying for the people in our lives here - for their growth, their struggles and their joys. We have mentioned Isha and Valéri - two of our teens - and their search for and desire to know the Lord. They both went with us to Marseille at the end of June and have been talking and praying sincerely for the last weeks.

On July 27 Isha decided to give her life to Jesus, dying to herself, being buried in baptism and raised in life with Christ! She was with her family at home, but now she has a larger family - and that includes many of you! We are so excited for her and her new life. She has also not been able to stop smiling. What a wonderful joy and what a wonderful sister she is already becoming.

On the same day, but down at camp (which is where we were when we heard the news about Isha), David van Ginneken - one of the teens who regularly attends our youth weekends and Bible camp as well (they are members in Ghent) also decided to give his life to Christ. You can read more about his decision and see some pictures over on Luk Brazle's site.

Thank YOU for being part of this wonderful family, for sharing in this joy with us, and for taking part in the growth of these two young people. Continue to pray for them and for the church here in Belgium and the Netherlands as God does mighty things - changing peoples' lives.

Guitars!

I know it has been a while since I wrote. It's not that life has not continued, but that I haven't had much access to my computer (and that other things were more important at the time). But let me update you a little bit - and thanks for checking in anyway - even when nothing was happening over here!

We have been doing our best to cram all that we need to get done into the few weeks we have in the summer, along with cramming as much time together as a family before Stephan heads off to Harding. It hasn't been easy, considering there are so many different priorities. Sean just recently realized how quickly the time was passing and commented, "Stephan's leaving in a week!" I reminded him that he had already known that. "Yeah!" he said, "but Stephan's leaving in a week!"

Before that had hit home, however, we had spent some time together - mostly around the area of Cologne, Germany. Sean has been looking at buying an electric guitar for a little while now (he and his friends have started a band called "Konverse" - check out the band page on facebook). In Cologne there is a music store called The Music Store (inventive name, eh!). They have pianos and things like that, but more importantly, they have guitars!

So we spent some time there, first without Stephan, then on another day when he could come along. Sean bought his guitar and the second time was near Scott's birthday - so he arranged one as well.


And guitars are no fun unless you play them, so Sean got right to work. He has enjoyed playing - all day long if need be. And it has been neat to see him teaching others how to play as well (even though he has only taught himself to play). Down at Family Camp we even got to play together. What a great time!

Stan en Bertha

Stan en Bertha
Originally uploaded by sraabs.

Our neighbors down the street recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We were thrilled to be able to celebrate this with them. Our street regularly gets together for a yearly summer barbecue or some other activity, but this was especially nice.

It is so good to see how a couple can love one another and allow their love to grow for such a time. Of course these two also have their health - which is essential if you want to reach that milestone! We were glad that Stan and Bertha invited us to share in this time, along with the rest of the neighbors. Good to have good neighbors and to be able to share truly good times.