Where oh where Wednesday - Margraten cemetery

Just up the road from Maastricht, about 15 minutes away, is a solemn place where history connects the US and Europe and solemn solitude tries to break through the raucous chaos of everyday to remind that there are some things more important than others. Here the fields are sown with white stones laid out in beautiful rows. 

Margraten cemetery is a monument to the US soldiers who died in World War II liberating the Netherlands. About 90 minutes to the south is where the Battle of the Bulge was fought and the fields turned red. Here outside Maastricht Us forces cam to liberate Maastricht, one of the first places in the Netherlands to be freed from the enemy. 

The soldiers buried here did not all die here. Some died further away and on various days. Walking among the stones, you can read their names and dates. You ca be amazed at the variety of men who fought for their country. There are crosses, stars of David and stones. There are young men and older men. As you stand among the white rows, lines stretching out softly over a hill toward the trees, you are aware of the sacrifice given. 

Presidents have come here to show their support for Europe. Every year on May 4 the fallen are remembered. Dutch families adopt the graves here so that the fallen soldier’s family know that all is well cared for, even now.  

When you walk here it is easy to remember that this was horrible. That we are glad that it is over. Then we drive on to the next city and life continues. War continues. Soldiers and citizens die once again. There is a peace that must come from somewhere else than a memorial, as important as such a memorial is. Every Sunday we remember - in a beautiful and solemn ceremony - how important it is that One died. But do I just walk away and continue? Or do I let it change my life, daily?

Once upon a time Wednesday - King's Day

Next week Wednesday. April 27. Most importantly, it’s my mother’s birthday. But sharing her birthday is the king of the Netherlands, Willem Alexander. So April 27 is known in the Netherlands as King’s Day. 

Mind you, it was first known as Queen’s Day. That’s because it was a celebration of the birthday of the queen of the Netherlands. As mentioned earlier in this space, the Netherlands has had queens for quite some time. Willem Alexander is the first king since the beginning of the last century. 

When I first became aware of the Netherlands, when Shirley and I first came on a campaign as students at York College, Beatrix was Queen of the Netherlands. Queen’s day was April 30th every year. But that was actually the birthday of Beatrix’s mother, Juliana. Beatrix was born in January. But holding a Queen’s day in January would be abominable. 

You see, Queen’s day - or King’s Day as it is now called - is a day when everyone, young and old, puts on orange, figures out some sort of things to sell at a street market, and welcomes the royal family in the city the royals have deigned to visit that year. It is like a huge, national garage sale. Children are outside along the streets selling toys, or pancakes, or lemonade (if they drink lemonade). 

Willem Alexander was born on April 27. So that’s perfect. The day was moved up three days and everyone keeps doing as they are used to. This year the king and queen are celebrating in Maastricht. They were supposed to have come here in 2020 but a crown got in the way (or was it a corona?). Most in Maastricht thought that 2021 would be their day, but the royals chose elsewhere. So this year they decided they truly did have to come back to Maastricht. 

Shirley will miss going to the markets. She loves garage sales and has a lot of fun at them. But we are spending that day with friends elsewhere. We will have to see the king and queen some other day. 

Daily doin's

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what to put in this space. We want so much to keep you up to date on what we are doing, but so often it feels like we are simply doing the things we do every day. So let me take the time to just update you on what we are doing. 

Studies

This year we are working through the theme of “In the world but not of the world”. For our Wednesday evening study I have been working through the letters to the churches which give us some practical tips on living as children of God. We started with the letter to the Ephesians and will be looking at the armor of God next Wednesday. On Sunday mornings I have been looking at what the word “holy” means and how we can be holy. 

In addition to these studies with the church I have also been enjoying working through the Acts of the Apostles with a seeker on Thursday mornings with my colleague, Ruud. On about two Mondays a month Shirley and I are also at another couple from the church for a study in Ezechiel. It is exciting and challenging to see how God wants so much to work with us and how difficult we sometimes make it in our own lives. 

Activities

As we have emerged from corona restrictions we have been able to start planning some more activities again. As mentioned already, we are looking forward to planning a youth weekend soon with the youth from our congregation. This may end up being in June instead of May. 

We have already picked a day in May for the congregation to meet together down at camp. This will be a day of singing, teaching and good fellowship. We are hoping of course that it will also be blessed with some beautiful weather. Our congregation has significantly changed in the last years, so it will be good to spend time together, getting to know each other better and enjoying the beauty at camp. 

At the beginning of June we are looking to plan the annual Spring get-together of congregations in Belgium and the Netherlands. This had in the past been planned on rotation by the various Dutch congregations. More recently it was planned by a group of members from the various congregations. This year I will help getting this group together to plan an encouraging hybrid day (online and in-person) centered on Finding Peace in Turbulent Times. 

I also hope to be able to plan a new day of singing in June. It has been quite a while since the last Song Seminar. At this coming event I hope to be able to look at several of the new songs that were passed around and translated during the lockdowns. We now have recordings, but it would be even better if we can learn to sing them together. We will also continue our first Friday singing in Maastricht and our third Wednesday singing in Eindhoven. 

Camp

Working up to the summer we are also finishing plans for our summer Bible camp weeks. Scott and Shirley will both be directing and helping with the Benjamins (8-11 years-olds) at the end of July. Scott will take the week following as well, directing and teaching the Teens (12-14 year-olds). The teams have been formed and parents are already registering their children. 

This brings up an update concerning the Ukrainians and use of camp. We were willing to have camp used as a safe haven and staging area, but the way that things are set up in Belgium has made it less likely that any refugees will choose to spend time at camp. It is not impossible, but not probable at the moment. We had planned to have camp available until June 15. Most refugees are finding other avenues. We of course pray that they will soon be able to return to their country, although this will be a real challenge for many. 

New relationships

We have been so very thankful for the new relationships we have been able to make with the refugees who have arrived in Belgium and the Netherlands. On our third Wednesday singing in Eindhoven and a second Friday devotional near Eindhoven we have been able to connect with the group in Eindhoven. Some of them are friends or family of the Ukrainians meeting with us in Maastricht. 

Adriana is staying with our colleagues, Ruud and Karla. She is the girlfriend of Andrey who is a brother in the congregation in Maastricht (formerly of Kiev). He is the son of Alexander. Both Alexander and Andrey moved to Belgium before the war. Alexander, Andrey and Adriana are a great contribution to the congregation. Last weekend Adriana helped Shirley and I with getting the children’s class cabinet at the building cleaned out and ready to go again. 

Soon I hope to sit down with these Ukrainian sisters (Alina is another sister here) and figure out which songs we know together. This past Sunday I noticed how much they all lit up when we sang a song in Dutch that they knew in Russian/Ukrainian. There are more like that and I want to be able to lift their hearts in that way more often. Song is such a beautiful gift from God for worship and healing. 

In the meantime we continue to keep an eye on changes for travelers because we hope to be able to start truly making our plans to see so many of you soon. Thank you for your prayers for all that God is doing here and for strength for daily walking in His grace. Keep walking in the light - every day!

If we are walking in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.     1 John 1:7

Whatsit Wednesday - Kwark

“Oh, you mean yoghurt?” No. “Is it cottage cheese?” No. So what is this white stuff that looks like cottage cheese or yoghurt but is something different and is found in various countries in Europe (including Belgium and the Netherlands)?

In Belgium, it is sometimes called “white cheese” or “flat cheese”. In the Netherlands it is simply called “kwark”. You can put your muesli in it with some fruit. You can spread it on your bread as a substitute for butter or margarine. You can make a sort of cheesecake out of it. But most of all, you can completely enjoy it and know that you are eating something healthy. 

Kwark is high in protein (14 grams per 100g serving) which is double the amount of Greek yoghurt. It is much lower in salt than cottage cheese which often tops out at 406mg per 100g. Kwark has 40mg per 100g. Add to all of those healthy attributes the delicious taste and you have a great food with a strange name.

Kwark (sometimes spelled ‘Quark’ in the US) is made by warming soured milk until it curdles. Lactic acid bacteria are added and the kwark is strained in a cheesecloth. It is hung up (which is where the name of one of the products “hangop” comes from) and results in a firm yet creamy textured product. Kwark is something you can make at home if you can’t find it in the stores. 

In Belgium it has been made for quite some time in Rotselaar, a city where we have brothers and sisters in the church. So far we have only enjoyed singing together and worshipping the Lord. But perhaps in the future we will ask about their “plattekaas” (flat cheese). 

Whodunit Wednesday - Kings and queens, princes and princesses

Royals. It’s something Europe is certainly well-known for. Although in the US people might be most familiar with the British royal family (William and Kate), there are plenty of people here who are enamored of their own royals and those around them. In Belgium and the Netherlands this is no different. 

Belgium has only been a monarchy since 1831 when King Leopold took the throne as its first king. This Leopold could have become King of England (he was married first to Charlotte, heir to the British throne), turned down being king of Greece and in the end became king of Belgium where he oversaw the first railway line on continental Europe in 1835. 

It was Leopold II who is better known in Belgium. This is not so much because of his amazing accomplishments, but because of how poorly he treated people in his conquests of the Congo. Following Leopold comes some very interesting history with Albert (the first), a third Leopold, Baudouin and a second Albert. The current king of Belgium is Philippe. His wife is Mathilde. But most people these days are keeping a close eye on their daughter, princess Elisabeth. She, in her time, will be the next royal and the first Queen of Belgium, if all goes normally. 

In the Netherlands, they know what it means to have a Queen. Although they started out with a king, the first of three Willems came in 1815, by 1907 the monarch was Wilhelmina. And so the Netherlands entered into quite a long period of queens. Wilhelmina was followed by Juliana who was followed by her daughter Beatrix. In the Netherlands they had understood early on that it was okay to have the oldest child become the monarch, even if the oldest was a girl. 

In 2013, Beatrix stepped down to allow her son, Willem Alexander to become King. His wife, Maxima, came from Argentina and quickly became a favorite of the people, even if Willem Alexander was not. This couple has three daughters, with Amalia being the eldest. So the Netherlands is preparing to welcome another queen when the time comes, although Amalia is only 19 at the time. 

It is normal here to speak of royals, kingdoms, kings and queens and being a child of the king. This month King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands will be spending his birthday celebration on April 27 in Maastricht. Many people will want to be able to see or be seen with him and his wife, Maxima and daughter Amalia. We ourselves are most thrilled to be known as children of the King of kings. 

It's been such a long, long time

That’s what many of our young people feel. In the past the churches in the Netherlands and Belgium have always tried to make sure that there was some kind of youth activity almost every month. The youth in the church need to have opportunities to grow and to grow together. Now, after two years of not being able to get together - except for the amazing oasis of summer Bible camp - we have begun again with youth weekends. 

In March, the annual “Console Weekend” was held again in Antwerp. Luk Brazle and others always know how to combine the fun of console gaming with the excitement and truth of God’s word in our daily lives. And this year was no different. As with so much in these times, the reality of depending on one another was also clear for this weekend as Luk had to pass off the leadership due to coming down with covid. 

In Maastricht we have always been active in organizing for youth and helping where we can. It has been a while since we had our own group of young people, but that has changed in the last year as well. We now have four families with children as well as possible Ukrainian youth. So we are planning our next youth weekend here in Maastricht. It may end up being only a a day (we have a few much younger kids who we want to include), but it will be good to have the opportunity to organize again and get members involved in this way. 

Our kids are already getting to know one another. The past few weeks have been an interesting mix of Dutch, English and Ukrainian. What a challenge for the sister leading the children’s class! Most of the Dutch speakers also speak English, though not all of them. The Ukrainians don’t speak anything else. And the English speakers can understand some German, but Dutch is still a challenge. 

Still, when the singing is finished and the adults are all standing about drinking coffee and tea and sharing good conversation, the kids are standing at the white board drawing, playing drawing games (tic-tac-toe) or laughing at one another - in all languages. We are thankful for these challenges and look forward to how God will continue using these opportunities to His glory. 

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.                            Mark 10:13-16