2nd day of Pentecost

In Belgium we celebrate several Catholic holidays with two days. Easter, Pentecost and Christmas all have two days. And then there is also Ascension Day which always fall on a Thursday and includes the Friday so that there is a long weekend. Of course most people understand what Easter and Christmas celebrate, even with the commercialization and strange things like chocolate bunnies and colored eggs. The confusion often comes with Pentecost. 

Pentecost is of course the celebration of first fruits, the first harvest of the first crop. It is the idea that the people of God were to trust God to give them what they needed. They could give Him their first fruits because everything came from Him anyway. These days it is still good to think in this way, realizing that all we have comes from God and we can trust Him for the future. 

If people know about Pentecost, then they know about it as the beginning of the Christian church. And that is certainly true. Christians, followers of Jesus, are the first fruits of the harvest. That first Pentecost when 3000 gave their lives to Christ in obedience was just a beginning. The church has spread all over the world. And it continues to change and grow in various ways. 

In the Netherlands some of the changes are very visible. The church building in The Hague used to house a church of 100-200 members. That was at a time when the congregation was Dutch members and American expats working in the city. Now the church building still exists, although with many troubles, but it houses a Ukrainian congregation and an international group. And the building has been joined in the neighborhood by a mosque next door. 

Speaking of international groups, the church meeting in Antwerp (in Belgium) and outside of Antwerp is also international. In Antwerp there is a Spanish-speaking group. Outside of Antwerp the congregation is mostly African. The largest congregation numerically in the Netherlands is the congregation in Amsterdam which is primarily Ghanaian and meets in Twi (one of the languages of Ghana) and English. 

In the Netherlands there are congregations in Amsterdam, Groningen, Haarlem, The Hague, Den Dolder, Eindhoven and Maastricht. In Belgium there are congregations in Ghent, Roeselare, Brughe, Antwerp, Turnhout, Hasselt and Rotselaar which generally speak Flemish. French-speaking congregations meet in Liege, Charleroi and Brussels. Each of these places has an interesting history behind their establishment and growth (or lack of) through the years. 

In Maastricht we are getting ready to say goodbye to one of our American families as they return to the US. But we have also welcomed some Ghanaians recently. We teach and worship in Dutch and English and are looking forward to meeting together for a day down at camp for fellowship and encouragement. We understand that our existence is all down to the grace of God and His spirit in our lives. We are still His harvest, His first fruits and we pray that He is able to use us to have an even greater harvest here or wherever we go. 

(Picture is of a youth weekend this year in the building in The Hague)