Where Oh Where Wednesday: Waffling

When you visit a country, you want to sample the local cuisine (‘cuisine’ simply means ‘kitchen’, by the way). In Belgium that might include waffles. Belgian waffles, next to chocolate, beer and fries are the things most people might at this time in history associate with Belgium. But then you are left with an important question: which Belgian waffle? 

In Belgium there are certainly two very distinct waffles from two very different cities. In Liége, just about 20 minutes from where we live, the citizens speak French, have a rich history of steel production and making weapons, and live in a city along the Meuse, just like Maastricht but very different. 

The waffles that one would purchase here are thick and sweet. They will be slightly carmelized and will be served plain. You do not top them with anything. You eat them as they are. Perhaps that also represents the citizens a bit. The Liegois are strong, opinionated and proud. You don’t have to dress them up. The bishopric was very powerful in the past (this bishop also had power of the city of Maastricht in those days). 

In Brussels you can by all sorts of waffles on the street from vendors in food trucks. You can even buy a ‘Luikse wafel’ - a waffle from Liege (or ‘Luik” in Flemish). But if you want a Brussels waffle, you go to several well-known (and expensive) stores and purchase the real thing. This waffle is large and thick - much more cake-like than the waffle from Liege. And you still have many choices to make. Do you want your waffle with chocolate sauce? Or strawberries? Or ice cream? Or whipped cream? Or all of the above? 

The Brussels waffle is a bit of a show-off, perhaps a bit like the capital city. People here will speak French, Flemish or English. The European Parliament has its home here. Tourists  wander the streets in all seasons. Brussels has always imagined itself ‘little Paris’. So the waffle must show this off as well. 

And then we haven’t even mentioned the waffles in the Netherlands (which are of course NOT Belgian waffles). You will have seen them in the airport or in the specialty section of your supermarket (next to the Biscoff spread - which is Belgian). “Stroopwafels” are thin bits of waffle sandwiched around a thick molasses-like syrup. You can put the waffle over your coffee cup (unless it is a huge American size mug) and let it warm up from the steam on your coffee. Then you tear it apart with your teeth, being careful not to get the stringy molasses on your chin. 

I have never really considered if these waffles in any way might be indicative of Dutch citizens. Back when I first came to the Netherlands to first spread the gospel and learn about missions I simply enjoyed them whenever I could. You can get them anywhere in the Netherlands. They are the same all over the country. 

What do you like on your waffles? Or do you waffle between preferences? (See what I did there?)

There’s a lion in the street!

This past week, in case you missed it, there was a flurry of news activity about a possible lion in the streets in Berlin. There had been a video sighting and some officers even said they had seen it. People were told to stay inside and certainly keep their pets inside. In the end it was determined (by those-in-the-know after examining the video evidence) that it could not have been a lion. It was more than likely a wild pig, just a big boar. 

This reminded me of two different truths that we find in the Bible and in the world. In Proverbs (22:13 and 26:13) the sluggard decries going out because there is a lion in the streets. He uses the possibility, however farfetched, to keep from doing anything. He is afraid of what might, possibly, in some amount of statistical probability happen to him. 

So too do we sometimes allow our fears to keep us from doing anything. Jesus tells us that we should not fear those who can harm the body. We should fear Him who after the body is dead can send the soul to hell. (See Luke 12:5). This is used to point out that we should not be ashamed to stand with the Lord and speak out for Him. 

That brings me to the second lion in the streets. We find him roaming in 1 Peter 5 where he goes about roaring, seeking who he might devour. This is not a fake lion. The devil is not a made up, fake phantom to scare us into doing what is right. Satan wants us dead - as dead as can be. So he temps, accuses and coaxes - every day and in so many ways. 

God tells us to resist him, knowing that we are not alone in this. That God is fully able to save us and restore us, even from all of our suffering. We should be aware of this lion and resist him in any way we can, turning from temptation, staying close to one another and encouraging one another to be faithful. This is why we gather at least once a week (on Sunday) to worship the One who saves and continues to save. 

These are some of the things that are being taught these weeks at Bible camp. The oldest youth have finished their week. The Benjamins (8-11 year-olds) are at camp this week, and next week we will spend learning together with the teens (12-14 year-olds). The last week will bring families together. Please be praying for all of these young people, the team leaders and everyone attending. 

And just so that you know - we will miss posting for a few weeks as we are working with these camp weeks. In the meantime, think about who you fear and who you want to follow. 

Whensday: The day the King stepped down

This week is a holiday in Belgium. Friday July 21 is the national holiday - a bit like July 4 in the US, though not completely. There is also a holiday for the Flemish community and one for the French-speaking (Walloon) community. July 21 is the federal holiday. 

Belgium is a complicated situation of political entities and levels of government. What is clear is that on July 21 the banks and such are all closed, as are most stores. Since this day always falls in the summer during one of our Bible camp weeks, the group that is at camp that week has to be sure to have done their shopping before this day comes. 

I remember the day that the king passed away. It was also during a week of camp, so we didn’t get the news until we were going home. He had passed away on July 31, 1993, during our Benjamin camp (for 8-11 year-olds). We had only been in Belgium for 2 years and this was only the third time I was helping with camp. But the death of this king really touched the country. He had been a remarkable king in many ways. 

Modern Belgian kings don’t really have that much power or authority. Not like Leopold II who made Congo his play ground and private zoo in the latter half of the 19th century. Baudouin became king in 1951, married the Spanish countess Fabiola in 1960 and tried his best to rule his country in modern times. It was his reign that made it clear to the government that there needed to be clarity about who was actually in charge - the king or the government. 

All came to a head in 1990 when in April of that year Baudouin made clear that he could not agree with a law that had been passed by the government allowing abortion. Baudouin had always been very clear about his faith and he and his wife were sticklers about morality - even among government ministers. 

The contraceptive pill had been designed in 1961 by a Belgian, Ferdinand Peeters. This was already further than the king would have liked to have gone. But the law now presented was allowing abortion itself. Still the constitution only allows the king to be informed, to warn and to encourage concerning laws. And yet, all laws must be signed into law by the king. 

Baudouin could not in good conscience sign the law allowing abortion when he himself considered abortion immoral and against the will of God. In order for the law to be signed, the king would need to be found “unable to govern”. So for 36 hours, he was technically not king - as the law was passed and signed by the government ministers. 

Many people in the country considered the king’s principled stance very encouraging - even those who might have disagreed with him. And yet, in the period that he was king, even as his faith became stronger, the normal Belgian became more and more unchurched. The government realized that they needed to restrict the power of the king even more, making it more symbolic and simply representative of the country. 

That summer in 1993, the whole country mourned. We found out at the end of our camp week as we went home with the radio on in the car. This year, Belgium will celebrate 10 years of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde on July 21. In the meantime, much has changed around abortion laws and what people think of them. King Baudouin was one of those in power willing to use that power to make his views known. 

God is good all the time

What do you do when things seem to go wrong? Most people want to stay calm and move ahead. But how does one do that? It means that you have to trust - doctors, politicians, parents, schools and more. But can we trust? Most of us have experienced that people are not to be trusted. Not that people always are evil, but people are people. We are all human - and that means that we are fallible. We make mistakes. We let people down. 

I remember well, before I was a Christian, hearing Ron Carter say from the pulpit: “Don’t put your trust in me. I will certainly let you down.” And he did. Even a man that I (still) consider to have had a deep influence on my life for the good. He was after all, just a man. But he knew something that I did not know then. He was a man who walked with God. 

Since then I have met many people who knew the same thing. I have given my life to God as well. That doesn’t mean that I, or any of these people, have become somehow perfect. What it means is that we have figured out who we can really trust. When everything else is going to let you down, the Father in heaven, with whom we walk daily, will always be there and be reliable. 

When we were traveling in the States we came across some amazing examples of people who know this very truth. A young couple pregnant with their first child were able to only greet their too-soon born child for minutes before having to say goodbye as the child died. And yet this couple spoke of the goodness of their Heavenly Father and how good He is. 

In the coming weeks we will be visiting with a sister in the church in Eindhoven to talk about her funeral. She has known for some time that she is dying. And she praises the God of all creation, singing to his glory when her voice allows it. She understands what it is about and shares this with those around her. God has given her life and eternal life. And her trust in His grace speaks of His beauty. 

At the same time, we have witnessed joy and happiness in so many around us due to this same trust in God. A laughing family of young girls blessing a couple who may have thought at one time that such a thing was not possible. Happy faces thankful for the extra years that have been granted after a cancer diagnosis. 

At the end of June we were thankful for becoming grandparents for the first time - even if it was earlier than expected. Sophia Ruby Raab was welcomed into the world. All are safe and the new family is getting used to being a family together. And God is good - all of the time. He is the One who can be trusted. He gives what we need most - strength to deal with all situations. He teaches us to put our trust where it truly belongs - in Him. 

As war rages in parts of the world, as sickness devastates bodies, as political situations seem to darken the future, we can know that there is One in whom we can put our trust. But then we must be ready to accept what He presents to us. Like the young couple who for a minute welcomed their child, like the sister who knows where she is going, like the brothers and sisters living for God in a strange land because war is ravaging theirs, we can know and live as people who trust that it will work out.

God IS good. He is good all of the time. We can only see that if we can trust Him. We can try to trust other things, but we will be disappointed. We are thankful that we have found and learned to trust God who is good all the time.  

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.  1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Whatsit Wednesday: Sound carriers

I remember working together with my brothers and friends to create a sound recording of harmony. If we sang onto one cassette, we could then play that cassette and sing along with it while recording on another cassette. In that way we could get both voices onto one recording. You could even do it one more time, although the quality got worse each time. 

But wait a minute. What is a cassette, some may be asking? A tape cassette was a way to record sound onto magnetic tape and then be able to play it back. When I was growing up, my father had reel-to-reel tapes. These were large reels of magnetic tape that were played off on a large audio system. A cassette tape was the miniature version of reel-to-reel. 

You might have seen it in movies like “Guardians of the Galaxy” or some tv series that look back at the 70’ and 80’s. We would sit with our cassette recorders at the ready next to the radio, ready to hit record when “our” song came on and then hope that the dj would not ruin it by talking at the end of the song. In this way we could make a mix-tape of our favorite songs - the Spotify of our age. 

Cassette tapes were later replaced by compact discs - cd’s. These were plastic discs which had been “written” on by a laser and could be “read” by another laser. There had even been large discs, about the size of a long-play album (an lp) which could show a whole movie. CD’s could hold much more information that cassette’s and did not have to be played sequentially. You could choose whatever song on the album you wanted to listen to, followed by whatever other song on the album. 

The same technology was bettered and made able to hold even more information so that video’s in the end also ended up on these discs, which we called dvd’s (digital video discs). People had already been able to watch video on a video cassette recorder (a VCR), but now there was no more rewinding and torn and tangled magnetic tape. 

As we traveled this summer we were able to watch any number of video’s on the plane, simply choosing which video was to be played at our seat. Other passengers nearby were watching their own video’s on their laptop computers or their phones. In fact, people listen to any music or watch any kind of video content using their phones these days. 

This was all set into motion together with a Dutch company back in the day. It was Phillips who made cassette recorders, cd recorders and dvd recorders. More recently, Phillips dropped this side of their business and began focussing more on medical technology. Phillips is the major industry in the Dutch city of Eindhoven where we go every 3rd Wednesday to sing with the church there - without recording in any way. But if you are interested in hearing some of the recordings made of songs we sing, you can check them out at this video site (combining sound and video).

Camp preparation

Are you willing to swim against the stream? To go against the grain? To live upside down? Our society pushes us in all sorts of directions, but God is calling us to stand firm and walk with Him. 

In just a few weeks we will be headed down to camp for a week with a group of teens. This year we have Teen Camp for the 12-14 year-olds and we will be welcoming 24 campers. We are almost full (we can house 28 campers with 4 counselors). 

We will be looking at Matthew 5-7 and the amazing things that Jesus says. “You have heard… but I say to you…” We are excited about the opportunity to work with these teens and share the things that we will lear together from God’s word. And we are looking forward to a great week of fun and making new friends as well. 

This year we have quite an international group of campers, as we did last year. We have a few who speak French and English, others who speak Dutch and Ukrainian or Russian, and still others who simply speak Flemish (or Dutch). We have a team that should be able to handle the language challenges as well as the normal challenges that comes with working with teens. 

In the two weeks before our week, the older teens (15-20 years-old) and the Benjamins (8-11 years-old) will hold their week at camp. The past week has been very warm, but we never know what it will be like down at camp until we get there. We may not be able to have a campfire at the end of the week (the area has been very dry), but that will not put a damper on the fun. Somehow, we always find a way to have fun and learn about how to grow in faith. 

We are thankful for this opportunity. Please keep our teams and all of the young people in your prayers as we work through the summer. At the end of the youth weeks we will also hold a family camp week. Everyone is welcome at this camp where we will look at prayer. I will teach one lesson and work with the teens during the second lesson every day. 

We know that there are various camps going on around the world. Our young Ukrainian couple is off to Camp Amerikraine in Poland. Friends are organizing various weeks at Midwest Bible Camp in Iowa. And other friends have just finished up with camp from Colorado (but held in Wyoming). We pray that all of these efforts are touching hearts everywhere to walk with God in our daily lives. 

Whodunit Wednesday: What’s in a name?

My last name is usually either pronounced incorrectly or written incorrectly. If I say “r-ah-b”, people spell it ROBB. If I say “r-aaa-b”, people write it as RABB. If I spell it out “R-A-A-B” people hear “R-A-B-B”. And I have understood that my experience is not that unique. Many people have difficulty in sharing their name and how it should be spelled. 

My last name is German. It originally comes from the word for ‘raven’ which is why this blog site is called the Raven’s roost (the place where all the ravens sit). The double “a” in the middle is very common in the Dutch language, so the name is often spelled and pronounced correctly here. But then my first name gets the treatment, being uncommon here (and usually only getting one “t” at the end). 

Names can be very important. But the spelling and writing down of names has not always been a thing. Until there is some sort of registration or formal record of names, spelling is really not that important. Even after we have records, misspellings are common and cause all sorts of interesting stories. But keeping good records can help in some things, especially in collecting taxes. 

In the Bible we read about Joseph and Mary having to return to their home town to register for the census. This was held so that taxes could be levied. So, as we have always suspected, taxes have been around as long as death (the other certainty in life). But in the area of Maastricht, it was Napoleon who brought some of this “certainty”. 

Maastricht has always been a strategic city. It is at the crossing of the river Meuse and has always been a fortified city. The Romans first settled here with a barracks and soldiers. The Spanish and the French fought each other constantly in this area (d’Artagnan died here fighting for the French against the Spanish). So it is no surprise that Napoleon also took an interest in the area. 

Of course Napoleon took an interest in the whole of his realm. And he brought a formal administration to the areas he conquered which did not have such. This would make it easier, in the end, to collect taxes. So in Maastricht, where you might have simply had “Peter on the Straight Street” before, you suddenly needed a last name for Peter. All people had to be registered - according to the way Napoleon wanted it done. 

This brought about some very interesting names in Maastricht specifically. You see, the people of Maastricht are rather proud. Maastricht is not much more than a large farming town, but they consider themselves much more. After all, the Romans settled the area. And it is the provincial capital. So they are much more than simply a large farming town. 

This meant that when the French under Napoleon starting forcing people to give last names, some of the people thought it might be funny to “kick against the goads”. They gave silly, strange names. The French had no way of knowing if these were typical local names and registered them. 

The French had the last laugh though. Now, centuries later, there are whole families stuck with a name that some ancestor thought would be a good joke against the French. And the spelling has stuck as well. And the taxes are still owed. 

The French under Napoleon brought some order to administration throughout the area. But with order comes the inevitable red tape and bureaucracy. This has never left (as we all know about red tape and bureaucracy). And in the end it doesn’t really matter if you are called “angry fly” (what became a fairly common name here) or “raven” as long as the government can find you when they want to. 

What is God doing?

As we returned from the US to Europe, we were greeted with some of the troubles taking place around us. The war in Ukraine continues, as our brothers and sisters continue to move back and forth from ‘home’ to new ‘home’. So many have now made their home here in Belgium, but still long to be home in Ukraine. 

In the meantime, France seems to have exploded in anger, with cities igniting under the frustration of the youth (and many others) who are striking out blindly. Riots around France come just as many are getting ready to go on vacation. And it seems, if one watches the nightly news, as if the world is on fire. Has God completely forgotten about it all?

Last week we were blessed to be together with the congregation from Maastricht down at camp for a day. We met several members of the church from Liége, our French-speaking brothers and sisters from the sister-city just 30 minutes from us. They were together with a group of students from Harding University who had come with Robert McCready, their French teacher. 

The day was an amazing time of fellowship as the Maastricht congregation spent the morning learning from the Old Testament before sharing lunch. Song and conversation with the French-speaking brothers and sisters afterwards. This was the reality. There was peace and joy and comfort here together as children of God - even if it was just for that afternoon. 

This past weekend, we knew that that group of students was going to be in Lille, France for a concert with the local singing group Atout Choeur. We have enjoyed Atout Choeur for many years, but getting across to Lille (a 2.5 hour drive) is not always that easy. But we were planning on being there. 

The news said that there were riots in Lille. The news said that the buses and trams were not running. We sent a message asking if the concert was going to be held and received a clear message: Yes, of course. Please come! So we did, arriving in time to meet and greet as well as we can in our very broken French. 

Somewhere in the city there may have been some unrest. I do not want to make light of any of that. But in this neighborhood (a very ‘common’ area of the city, tucked up against a bit of highway and railway) everything was quiet and calm. Even better, there was singing! Members of the family in Lille were present as were several visitors and the gospel tones spilled out into the street. 

Afterwards we spent a very little time sharing encouragement with those we could speak with (those who spoke more English) before heading back to our car for the drive home. We would not get back until 1 am, but it had been a good visit. God is busy wherever His children are. He is busy in all sorts of places and situations. Even when we may think the world is burning and God is absent, He is there, in the middle of it all. 

We are so thankful for our brothers and sisters in so many different places who are faithful in singing of Him, speaking of Him and living for Him every day and in all circumstances. In Lille they are singing. In Marseilles a special week of missions is continuing. In Ukraine people are coming to Christ in the middle of a war. In Russia brothers and sisters are speaking of the true peace that comes only with Jesus Christ. God is working in His world. Is He working in your life?