Long time, no see!

It has been a very long time since I updated the blog. As you will hear in the newsletter (which has also been a long time coming), we have been preparing for a horde of exciting activities - many of which have started taking place. So here are a few pictures to show you what we have been doing. You can always check out more photos by clicking on any of the pictures or clicking on the link in the sidebar. 

Thanks for continuing to drop by to see how we are doing! 

A group of more than 50 from Belgium and the Netherlands went down to Switzerland to play football (soccer) with teams from churches from all over Europe (including Austria, France, Switzerland and Germany). Great fun, but also great fellowship, getting to know family and encouraging one another. I was blessed to be able to preach on the Sunday there. 

In the meantime our house renovations have continued. When the wall came down, everything had to be put into one room - a bit cramped! And this was just before our campaign group was to arrive (half of which would be staying with us).

But the windows have arrived, the floors are almost here (maybe next week) and we are able to breath a little again. Soon we may even have a kitchen!

Check out those low-tech earphones! A few threads, a spoon and you're ready to go. Just clang them against something hard, with your hands over your ears, and you've got an amazing sound!

Mid-May we went over to Antwerp for a youth weekend on Science and Faith. I taught some lessons, we looked at some science and we had a good time encouraging one another. Our campaign students from Harding (and Stephan!) also went with us. 

In between Stephan, Sean and Scott went up to Eindhoven to celebrate Jan Blaakmeer's 50th birthday - he "saw Abraham". Jan and Nit are good friends and loved brother and sister for many years. 

By Ascencion Day weekend it was time to head down to camp for our yearly clean-up, fix-up of camp, getting it ready for the summer. In the last few years it has been a miserable, wet, muddy bit of work (with plenty of good fellowship to outweigh all the negatives). This year was still muddy, but full of sun. 

Quite a bit still needs to be done, so it was great to have so many there to help! On to the summer camp weeks!

From May 11 our campaign group has been working hard. A part of the Good News Singers (from Harding University), with director Chuck Hicks and his wife, Melinda, has come to offer Black Gospel Workshops. We have had two groups in Maastricht and another with the kids in Veldwezelt (this picture). All of the groups learn to sing, learn about the message of the songs, and then sing for a nursing home in the area. 

It has been a great time to meet people from the neighborhood, sing some great songs, and really be an encouragement. As a matter of fact, many of the participants want to know if we can continue. Keep this in your prayers. 

This weekend we as a congregation are organizing the annual spring gathering of the churches in The Hague. Our theme this year is unity. This will also be the last activity for our campaign group, after which we will have a preparation month of June, getting ready for the busy month of July. Hopefully I will get some news up here again before then!

Thanks again for stopping by! Praise God for all that He is doing in our lives (yours and ours).