A special Wednesday

So, things got a bit busy with family - as well they should around these days and I did not get the planned post out on "Whensday". So today you will get two posts: last week's "Whensday" and this week's "Where oh Where Wednesday". 

Whensday: Weddings, Anniversaries and concerts

December is always a very busy month. Besides the holidays (Sinterklaas, Christmas, New Years) we also celebrate Shirley’s birthday and our anniversary. In years past this was not always very easy. For years, up until about 10 years ago, this month was full of Christmas concerts, so anniversaries took a back seat. 

Listen Up! was the a capella group that I sang with for years. The members were all members of the church from various locations in The Netherlands and Belgium. We brought the gospel in our songs and always made sure that our audience could understand what we were saying in our songs. This meant that we projected the words of the songs in the language of the audience, whether we were in Croatia, Germany, France or the Netherlands and Belgium. 

Our Christmas concert was called “Always CHRISTmas” and used songs that told the whole story of Jesus. We even ended the concert with Easter songs, telling of the resurrection. We had several times that guests approached us afterwards and remarked that they had never really known that the baby Jesus and the Jesus who died on the cross were the same person. We were always thrilled to be able to t present at least 4 of these concerts in December. 

Listen Up! stopped in 2012 as all of our families were getting bigger and it was becoming more difficult to get together as often as we needed. You can still hear some of our songs here. 

This December we have already been able to celebrate Shirley and we will tried to be together for at least part of the day on our anniversary. We will probably plan to celebrate in January when there are fewer activities. This will also be the 11th year that we can celebrate our son Stephan and daughter-in-love Natalie with their anniversary (which is the day after ours). And this will be the first year they celebrate as parents, having welcomed Sophia in the summer. 

All of this means that December is a great month to talk of how wonderful it is to be blessed by a wonderful and loving God and Father. We can talk about Jesus. We can talk of love. And we can share family time as God has taught us. The day before Christmas was our 'Love meal' with the church, made more festive (see photo). For Christmas we visited our sister from the church and were able to talk online to our kids. We missed seeing one daughter-in-love, but got to see our new grand baby. We pray that you too enjoy the wonderful moments that come with this busy month. Enjoy each moment fully. 

Where oh Where Wednesday: Suriname

Back in 1982, in the year I came to spend two years in the Netherlands working as an evangelist apprentice, things were not very peaceful in Suriname. Many of you might wonder: What is Suriname? Or Where is Suriname? Many people have the same question. But almost every Dutchman, even today, will know about the country and what happened in December of 1982. 

Surinam is a small country in the northern part of South America, just east of Venezuela, sandwiched between Guyana and French Guiana. Suriname was first colonized by the English in the 17th century. When they couldn’t use the local population as slaves because of sickness and revolt, they transported African slaves to the plantations. 

As a result of the English-Dutch wars at the time the Dutch took Suriname from the English. In subsequent wars between the two European powers other areas in the world were traded back and forth. In the end, the Dutch released what had been New Netherlands (which is now New York) and the English relinquished Suriname. The neighboring country of Guyana was also Dutch but ended up under British rule by the beginning of the 19th century. 

Slavery was abolished in Suriname in 1863 which left a lack of workers for the plantations. At this time immigrants were brought into the country from India, China and what would become Indonesia. So the population of Suriname is very diverse: African slaves, Chinese, Indian and Indonesian workers, original inhabitants and western colonizers have mixed through the years. When I was singing with Listen Up!, we always enjoyed visiting Vero’s parents in the middle of the Netherlands. Her mother is from Suriname but is of Chinese descent.

The country became independent in 1975. A coup was led five years later by Desi Bouterse. In December of 1982 several political opponents of Bouterse were murdered. Since Bouterse led the government, nothing was done - until this year. Bouterse was recently convicted of the murders and received a sentence of 20 years. It is not yet known if he will ever spend any time in prison, since the current prime minister can pardon him. 

The church in the Netherlands has a good connection with the church in Suriname - in the one city of Paramaribo. Most of the country is still quite wild. There is a congregation which is English-speaking and consists of English and Indian members. The other congregation is Dutch-speaking. The church in the Netherlands has helped them in purchasing and building a meeting place. 

Thanksmas

It is always good to be with family. As we have explained here before, it is difficult for many Americans here to celebrate Thanksgiving on the day itself. It falls om a Thursday, in the middle of the week. No one gets free from work here on a Thursday. So those of us here in the Netherlands and Belgium plan a day after Thanksgiving and before Christmas to get together and share our favorite holiday foods, see each other again and maybe even play some games or watch an American football game. We call it Thanksmas. 

Two years ago we organized it in Maastricht because of some covid restrictions. Last year Shirley and I organized it, but we both got sick on the day itself and had top bow out. But most years Carol and Paul Brazle in Antwerp organize the day. This year we were more or less back to normal and it was good to see everyone again. 

This is a day when young and old can gather (we had 5 year-olds and 90 year-olds). We have couples who are half American, but they bring their spouses as well. We have some who are connected tangentially with the US. We come from around Belgium and throughout the Netherlands. I think we had a good 40 or more sitting at table. 

Shirley and I enjoyed some conversations with Henk and Celia Rog who we have known for quite some time. We also got to see Jim and Ruth Krumrei with whom Scott worked 40 years ago. We hope to get back up to Haarlem soon to spend some more time with them (they are our 90 year-olds). But I also got to play a game of “war” with the 5 year-old before we left. 

That is the beauty of this day. It is a time for family, no matter how the family is formed. This was a meeting of God’s family. Most of us are children of God (although some are still considering that step). We love being able to share that love and life with one another. And of course most of us are missing seeing our natural family and broader Christian family. But this day reminds us of how blessed we are to have family. 

We pray that you too were able to enjoy your family time together (we enjoyed seeing lots of pictures, wondering at how everyone is growing up so quickly). And we, together with you, want to remember that we do not have to wait for special days to spend time together, although meeting in a larger group may have to indeed wait for such a day. We look forward to the day we can all be Home for a thanksgiving time and home-coming. 

(Many thanks to Carol Brazle for the picture. This is one of two tables)

Whatsit Wednesday - Skates

Every year the Dutch wonder if it will be this year. Of course the temperature needs to be just right. It needs to freeze for quite a while to make it possible. The “11 City Race” is a skating race along canals between 11 cities in The Netherlands. It is what every skater wants to be able to say they have experienced, even if they never win it. Simply being able to take part is enough. 

The last race was held in 1997 (the 15th since the beginning in 1909) and most people do not expect this year to be the year that the next one will be able to be held. But you never know. I remember when I first lived in The Netherlands and spent the Christmas break with a wonderful family, they took me skating. Everyone seemed to have skates. It wasn’t a question of “if” you had skates, it was what kind of skates you might have. 

Ice skates come in all different kinds. I remember as a child that we had some metal contraptions that we attached and tied to our snow boots or shoes. In the summer we had roller skates that also attached to our sneakers. There are skates for figure skating, for ice hockey or for racing. These days there are also various forms of racing: short track, track and long distances outside. 

The Dutch have always been contenders in the skating sports. When you come to The Netherlands and want to watch sports in the winter, be prepared to hear plenty of skating news. It was the Dutch who invented the ‘clap skate’ which is a skate with a hinge, making it possible to put more power into the skating movement. The Dutch used this skate from the 1980’s but it was not allowed in international competition until 1997. 

Skating in Belgium is not as popular as in The Netherlands, but recently there have been several Belgians making news in the sport. Brother and sister Stijn and Hanne Desmet have made their name in short track skating and the European top female figure skaters include Belgian Loena Hendrickx. But the Dutch continue to dominate the sport, including names like: Irene Schouten, Marijke Groenewoud, Jutte Leerdam, Sven Kramer, Patrick Roest and Kjeld Nuis. 

Although skating races are very Dutch, the other forms haven’t really caught on. Ice hockey teams are not very common here, whereas they are everywhere in the US and Canada. Still, if the weather allows, one day it will be cold enough to finally hold the next 11-city-race and all of The Netherlands will put on their skates to take part if possible. 

And then there are the other skates and skeelers. But that is a story for another time. 

Shirley

It comes around every year. Some years we don’t really get an opportunity to celebrate on the day itself. This year was different. Dutch custom says that you wait at home and accept guests. I told people they could have the morning (if Shirley wanted) because I had plans for the rest of the day. 

We spent the day walking around the stores of Maastricht. Shirley hasn’t been in a while and she enjoys her window shopping. It is always nice to look and see what is being sold. And the Christmas lights were all out! Afterwards we stopped for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - a fusion place with steak, fish, chicken and veggie variations. 

Later this evening we are going to cuddle down and watch some Pride and Prejudice (the series, not the movie) after we light all the candles in the house and get some good snacks ready. We are blessed to be able to celebrate, to have time to do this together, and to be able to get around with our car. But mostly I am blessed with this wonderful woman who has been with me more than half her life. 

Thank you for so many who have already wished her a happy birthday. And happy birthday to all of those who share this day with Shirley - there are a lot of you in our lives as well! 

Whodunit - Sinterklaas

Today is “Sinterklaas” in Belgium. The Dutch, in the Netherlands, celebrated Sinterklaas with a “packages evening” last night. I have understood that Sinterklaas is also celebrated in parts of Germany and I know that it is celebrated in Luxembourg as well. This is also the origin of the American “Santa Claus”, even if that jolly man doesn’t show up until December 25. 

Sinterklaas is a shortening of “Sint Nicolaas” or Saint Nicholas. If you know the song, you might recognize “jolly ol’ Saint Nick”. In the Dutch-speaking world a whole story has grown up around this actual historical figure. Although the holiday that is celebrated is said to be his birthday, it is actually the day Saint Nicholas of Myra died: December 6, 343. This Bishop Nicholas was of Greek descent from the city of Myra which is present-day Turkey. All of these elements come together in the tradition. 

Historically, Nicholas was known as a well-doer who often gave secret gifts to those who really needed it. These include him dropping sacks of gold coins through the window of a house three days in a row so that a father could pay for a dowry for his three daughters, thereby saving them from forced prostitution. Another story tells of him saving three innocent soldiers from execution. And so the idea of giving goods things at this time was born. 

These days Sinterklaas arrives on a steamboat (often coming from Turkey) and rides on a horse. He wears his clerical robes - it is clear that he is a bishop. And he has several helpers. These helpers have changed throughout the years and depending on the country. We remember seeing Sinterklaas in Echternach (Luxembourg) with two executioners at his side! In The Netherlands and Belgium his helpers are called “zwarte Piet” or black Pete. They are often in black face and are meant to be helpers from Morocco. In more recent years, the black face has changed to some swipes of black on their faces because they came down the chimney. 

On this day, children put their shoes out and they leave a carrot and some goodies for the horse and the saint. They receive sweets and gifts in or near their shoes. Americans can immediately see how this corresponds to Santa Claus coming down the chimney bringing gifts. I remember leaving cookies and milk for him and the reindeer. He even wears a red suit, although the religious costume has changed to a winter suit. More than likely, the resourceful Dutch merchants of early America were the ones who introduced Santa to the public (he showed up in a big way in the middle of the 19th century). 

In the last 30 or 40 years, commerce in Belgium and The Netherlands has figured out that you can sell more goods if you include Sinterklaas but add Christmas. Christmas used to be more of a religious holiday, without gifts. Now people can buy gifts the whole month of December. One is not supposed to start with Christmas until after December 6, when Sinterklaas has been and gone. 

We remember adding Sinterklaas to our traditions for the boys as they grew up. It was nice that we could let them know that he was an actual historical figure. What traditions do you have around the Christmas holiday? What do you remember as a child growing up? What do you do with your children? 

Why?

As a parent, I am quite familiar with this question. At a certain age, all children will ask this question. And that is good. It is a question we all should continue asking throughout our lives. I also recognize this question from may time as a teacher. A good student will ask this question regularly. A good teacher, or parent, will be willing to answer the question to the best of their ability. 

Of course it is important that such a question be genuine. How often might a child start on a series of “why’s” just to make sure that bedtime is slightly delayed? The question can be repeated after every answer or explanation. It becomes a time of game. Students can do the same thing. But then we are not really looking for an answer or to grow. We are simply playing a game. 

It isn’t uncommon for us to run into people who ask “why” as a game. But more than not we have people asking some really good questions and looking for answers. Most recently the question was asked: “Why did Jesus have to die just a cruel death?” This was asked by a woman I visit with every two weeks. Since she is Catholic and knows that I am not she usually asks something like - “Do you have John the Baptist as well?” My response is most often to point to what we can read in the Bible. “If it is in the Bible, we have it.”

So also with the question she asked most recently. God’s word shows us from the beginning how loving God is to have come up with a way for us to be saved - in spite of ourselves. That is often the other question I hear: “Why didn’t God just take our sin away if He is almighty?” As a matter of fact, that is one of the questions one of our young people has asked recently as he is considering giving his life to Jesus. 

We can see throughout the Bible that God loves us and created a way for us to be with Him throughout eternity. But did it have to be so gruesome? That was a good question. Was it possible for Jesus to have died for us, innocent as He was and therefore paying righteously for what we deserved and clearing the path for us to be with God, but in a less gruesome manner? The question made for some good conversation (and I would love talking with you about it if you would like - just send me an email). 

Other questions have popped up throughout our conversations in the last weeks. We talk about Jesus, His life and what it means for us several times a week. We have at least one study on Monday, three studies on Tuesday, two on Wednesday and at least one on Thursday and Friday. “Why do we have to suffer as we are trying to follow God?” “Why am I even here on earth?” 

It is exciting to be able to share how amazing God is. It is also a good challenge regularly. Along the way we are also able to confront some of our own “why” questions that come up in our conversations with others. We are so thankful for so many who have made it possible for us to be here sharing God’s love and grace. We are thankful for those who have been an example in the past as we questioned. And thank you so much for praying for us as we try to answer questions.