Built on a strong foundation

Each year in January our Bible Camp commission is required to hold a formal meeting. Years ago we all decided that it would be much better to make a Family Day out of the meeting. So we get together and talk about camp, sing, and encourage one another in what is going on in the various congregations around Belgium and the Netherlands.

This is a time to reflect on what has been done at camp, as well as to see how God has blessed us and challenged us throughout the year. It is also a time to look forward to how we continue building on this foundation of years past.

Looking back over 2015 (thanks to a great review put together by Luk Brazle), Ardennen Bijbelkamp (or ABK as we like to call it) was a busy place. We had 11 different planned activities at camp, including special days with Fathers and kids, a men’s retreat, congregational retreats, and our normal Bible camp weeks in the summer and Fall. In 2015 we had 319 campers. We also had multiple work sessions to clean and maintain our grounds and new building with 45 volunteers from all over Belgium and the Netherlands coming to help out.

We always say that ABK is ‘ours’, it belongs to all of us. ‘We’ are the ones who make it possible and keep things going – not some company or far-away corporate entity. We are a family and this is our place. It is exciting to see how true this is in the hearts of so many.

And 2016 has already started with Winter camp on the first three days of the year. As with many of the activities from 2015, we are looking forward to some new faces in 2016 among the campers and the staff members. More and more congregations are also using camp for a day away together or a retreat.

But we all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some places you links with tons of ‘words’!

- The officialcamp site (in Dutch)

- What we havedone with the buildings and what we are planning.  

- Pictures from various years (even long ago)

- My picture site with our camp pictures

Thank you for being part of this work, praying for these people and the efforts done here. Some of you have been here to help with these camp weeks. Others have been to work on the buildings. Many of you have only seen the pictures, but are faithful prayer warriors for those whose lives are touched here. Thank you!

We praise God for all that He is able to do at this place. And praise Him is exactly what we did Sunday at our ‘meeting’. What better way to use a formal time together.

Gospel truths of a dog owner

Whaddya want?

Any dog-owner can attest to the fact that we all learn from our dogs. Cats will probably laugh at that statement – how could anyone learn from a dog. But you know what God through the apostle Paul said: “Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Coritnhians 1:20) So I have paid attention to the humble life of my dog and have tried to glean wisdom from what I see there. It is this that I share with you today.

His original owner called him Bobby. At 8 months he became Lyuba when he went to our sister, Willemien. It was there, in a house where his owner could barely hear anything, that he learned to bark at telephones. But now that she is 94, he is with us – and we call him Chester.

Chester is very attentive. As soon as you move he will be on his feet, wondering what he can do. Even when he is sleeping, he has an eye open, and ear cocked for any clue as to what he might need to do for you.

And he is willing to do anything! He will run around the table three times, shoving the carpet to the side and bumping into anything along the way. He will speed to your feet and wag his tail in anticipation of your order, sweeping any coffee cups from the coffee table, dropping hairs in anyone’s waiting tea cup.  He is ready!

When you talk to him, he will listen attentively, cocking his head. And if you are telling him that he did something wrong, he will dip his sad eyes in seriousness and await your command. For that is what he wants to hear. “What can I do for you?” he says clearly. He has no attention for anything other than what YOU want. The very first thing that he wants to do is whatever you want him to do.

I know that Jesus used a different picture, but the lesson is the same: Food, drink, clothes and the rest – nothing is as important as knowing the will of God.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

Even that last part is something Chester understands. When his day is done, he will contentedly roll himself up in his basket and snore. What am I saying – he will even do this in the middle of the day! But he is always ready to do his master’s will. Now that is something to learn.

Home Assignment 2016

Click on the picture to see our route

Our tickets are purchased and our plans are firming up for our Home Assignment this year! It has been 3 1/2 years since we last saw most of you and we are looking forward to sharing news and getting to know more of you. We would appreciate your prayers for the planning of this trip as well as during our travels. We very much want to be an encouragement wherever we go.

Our trip will run from May 17 to July 18, since we are able to travel outside of school holidays now. This way we are also hoping to be able to see some of you who we have missed in years past. Here is a run-down of where and when we wil be. The red lines are Scott and Shirley, the blue line is Sean with Wouter and Marc and the purple is all of us together.
May 17-25 in the Minneapolis area (nr. 1 on the map). We fly in on the 17th and drive out on the 26th. We will be visiting our Woodbury family during this time and look forward to seeing the changes that have taken place there since our last visit.
On the 26th of May we will drive down to Muscatine, Iowa (nr. 2) where we will stay through Monday, the 30th with our Muscatine church family.  From there we will drive across Iowa on May 31 to Omaha, Nebraska (nr. 3) to visit Shirley's family, where we will stay until June 3. For the first time we will not drive down to Colorado, but will instead bring the rental car back to Minneapolis on June 4 and fly down to Denver.
Our next leg of the trip will be June 4-12. In Denver and Colorado Springs (nr. 4) we will visit Scott's family as well as church family in the area. New family members to meet, a chance to speak a little Dutch with the Rog family if possible and meeting up with Scott's Mom who will come in from New York if possible.
We will fly out of Denver on June 13 and head to the Texas leg of the trip (nr. 5), spending time in Abilene with our 11th and Willis family as well as time with church family in the Dallas area from June 14-22. In the past, this has been our last stop before heading back home. This time it will be in the middle of our travels.
On June 23 we will fly out to Indianapolis (nr. 6) where we will be until July 5. The first part of this Indiana leg Shirley and Scott will have time with Stephan and Natalie and the White family as well as being able to hook up with Scott's family and church family from Minnesota who have moved. On June 30 Sean will arrive with his friend, Wouter, and Wouter's dad, Marc (blue line). They also joined us on our last trip to be present at Stephan and Natalie's wedding. This time it is middle of the summer instead of a snowstorm ar Christmas. This time we will celebrate the 4th of July with family.
July 5 we all fly out together (purple line) to the last leg of the trip in California (nr. 7). In Long Beach we will be able to spend time with our Long Beach church family as well as visit some of Scott's family in San Diego.
This will probably be the last time that Sean travels with us on a Home Assignment. He will be finishing his studies this year and moving into his career choices. So this year we will take a short road trip together. Another friend from Belgium will join us on the 11th and from July 12-17 we will drive around California, seeing what there is to see.
We all fly out on July 18 and return to Europe on the 19th, ready to jump right into our full summer schedule of Bible camp. But we will have seen all of you and have been refreshed by the fellowship we share, the family that we are. This has only been possible because of the generosity of our church families - our brothers and sisters who continue to encourage us and are co-workers with us in what God is doing here in Belgium and the Netherlands. We look forward to seeing you face to face again!

Holy – Giving my best

When I was young, I was taught to always do my best. It didn’t matter what I was doing, I was to do my very best, try my hardest. So when I played little league baseball - even when I didn’t get to play – I did my very best. I encouraged my fellow team mates and murmeled “heeey batta, batta, batta” from the bench when the opposing team was up to bat. And what did it get me? I still didn’t get to play (this was before the PC police tried to make sure everyone got equal playing time).

At school things were different. I could study just before a test and cram things pretty well into my head just long enough to do well on the test. But I got good grades – so that was my best, wasn’t it?

Is it worth it to give your very best? Why should I? Do I give my best because I will receive more if I do? Or because people will like me better? Well, actually, people may like you less if you give your best. Workers who do not work as well as you (or do not want to work as hard as you) will not be happy with the attention your hard work brings to their shoddy work. And mightn’t it just happen that you get more work because you have shown that you can handle the load?

But I am missing the point if I think giving my best is for me – although it does have benefits for me. I give my best because God gives His best and I am His child. All the way through the Old Testament – and then repeated in the New – God tells us: Be holy, for I am holy. (Check out Leviticus and 1 Peter 1:15-16)

Can you imagine where I would be if God had only given just enough to get by? Just enough for whom? To get by what?

God sent us His only begotten Son who then gave His life for us to redeem us for all eternity. And He has sent His Holy Spirit to live in us and continually sanctify us (make us holy). It is therefore in my (new) nature to give my very best in all that I do. I am holy, because He is holy and living in (and through) me.

And this is making a difference in the world and in eternity. If I allow God’s holiness to live in me, He can reach many others through me. His holiness and grace can be clearly seen and He can be glorified. That is why I give my very best: at my work, in my studies, in my relationships, even in my sports activities. It is a part of who I am – a child of the King – every day.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24