Whensday: Day of the princes

Yesterday, the 3rd Tuesday of September, was a day for hats, briefcases, pictures with the Dutch royal family and the King’s speech. It was Day of the Princes - originally the day to celebrate the birthdays of the royal princes. This is now the day every year that the current government presents their budget for the coming year and that the King gives a speech - written by the sitting government. For many it is a day to do some royalty watching as the Dutch royal family takes a ride in the glass coach, waves from the balcony in Amsterdam and enjoys celebrations. 

All of the politicians and very important people in the land gather at the Knight’s Hall in The Hague to listen to the King’s speech. Women wear all sorts of special hats for the occasion. It is a bit like Oscar evening in the US with journalists all talking about who is wearing what hat and who looks good. 

The finance minister of the country arrives with a briefcase. The briefcase holds the budget which has been agreed upon by the governing parties in the coalition and sets out the policy for the coming year. It is this policy that the King alludes to in his speech. The speech is written by the new prime minister, but the King presents it. 

Plenty of pomp and circumstance, bright colors and lots of formality. This year the two eldest daughters of the King will also take part, since they are both older than 18. The youngest daughter has to wait her turn. Princess Amalia (the oldest daughter) will some day be Queen of the Netherlands after her father. 

In the news people are questioning whether this day should become an official holiday. Some say that it should not. There are plenty of other things that happened and are celebrated at this time. In Eindhoven, the city celebrates Operation Market Garden (the film “A Bridge Too Far”) since Eindhoven was the first city in the Netherlands to be freed by Allied forces in 1944. This year cities all over the Netherlands, including Maastricht, are celebrating the 80th anniversary of this liberation.  

Visiting with the family

Yesterday the congregation in Maastricht organized the yearly Family Day held down at camp. This has always been a day for the various congregations together from around Belgium or the Netherlands for a day of fellowship and encouragement. Each year a different congregation organizes the day. 

We were thankful to be able to put this day together and it was exciting to see all of the members doing their part. Shirley coördinated the food - we provided lunch for everyone that came as well as coffee, tea and drinks with cookies and cake for during the lesson time. Several of the ladies helped her throughout the day. Our youth teaching couple, Paul and Deysi too care of the young kids during the lesson - which was presented by our Ukrainian brother, Alexander. And two of our brothers took care of the singing (Mario and Paul) while I presented a quiz on the lessons that had been offered in the 4 camp weeks this summer.

The great thing about a day like this is that people come from all over who we don’t usually get to see. This year almost all of the congregation from Den Dolder in the Netherlands took the time to come to the day. This meant that some of them had to come earlier to stay in accommodation nearby instead of driving down for the day. But there were also several from Ghent and the Belgian coast, which is a good 2.5 or 3 hour drive across Belgium. But this is the kind of day people do not want to miss. 

For some it was the first time to visit camp. One of our sisters brought a friend with her. Since they were early, he got to help set things up with me - putting all the chairs out, sweeping the leaves away, moving tables outside. But that is the feeling on this day - everyone is willing to help and simply enjoys being together. 

We were really thankful that the weather blessed us as well. Several years back we moved this day from the end of Family Camp (in August) to the 2nd weekend in September. Although September can have some truly beautiful days, it is also a time for plenty of rain. We had a dry day, although it was a bit cool. That didn’t stop the kids from getting out to play on the basketball court or take advantage of the swings hanging in the trees. 

One of the special moments of the day was a time to pray together. We split up into various groups, including a group of women together, in order to pray for our world, the church, our local congregations, brothers and sisters around the world and much more. It was good to see the various groups and also a group of kids that Paul Brazle organized together to pray together as well. It is never too early to learn about talking to our wonderful Father. 

The day ended officially at 4pm after a nice walk in the woods, but some continued on with the yearly evaluation and planning meeting for camp. This was also well-attended and helped start things off for the camp weeks in 2025. Camp has grown from 4 full weeks and 2 weekends to 6 full weeks and 3 weekends, as well as various days and mid-weeks organized by the various congregations around the countries. We are thankful that God has made it possible for us to use this facility and that there are so many brothers and sisters willing to help and encourage one another. 

(You can find some pictures of the day here.)

Whatsit Wednesday: Val Saint Lambert crystal

With a history resounding from the conquests of Napoleon, the defeat of the Dutch to the French and the changing borders in the late 18th and early 19th century, this Belgian crystal has quite the pedigree. The specific crystal which is called Val Saint Lambert comes from a factory which was set up after the fall of Napoleon in what was a former abbey in Seraing, near Liege. This area had changed hands between the French, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and finally Belgium. 

The glass works served mostly Belgium, the Netherlands and Russia of the time, but they also opened a market in New York. It was after visiting this city that the then CEO realized that they had to step up their game and started creating what is now known as their “bright period”. The Art Nouveau and Art Deco pieces from this period are what made the name for the company. These pieces are still desired for collections. 

If you visit the factory in Seraing today - this is a city we drive by often when visiting churches in the west of Belgium - you will find only modern buildings built in the current century to replace the derelicts left after the bombing of WWII. A modern steel and glass factory with museum greets the visitor next to the restored office buildings of the 19th century. 

Singing with the family

On Saturday we had a full house in our building. It has been 5 years since we were able to host a singing with the various regional congregations: Cologne and folks in Aachen, Germany; the French-speakers in Liege, Belgium; and our brothers and sisters in Eindhoven. We also had our Ukrainian brothers and sisters.

In 2022 we were able to hold a singing workshop where we learned some of the songs which were written or put on video during the corona years. But this international gathering hasn’t been possible for some time. So we were looking forward to being able to see everyone again and share in raising our voices to the Lord. 

It was fun to have members in Maastricht who are also able to help on a day like this. Mario is a German (originally from East Germany) married to a Belgian, attending a Dutch congregation. And he loves to sing. So it was great that he was also able to teach one of the songs in German for the group there. And since we had a group from Cologne, it was great to hear this song sung heartily. Mario will also be helping to lead the singing next week at the Family Day. 

We also advertised this day in the neighborhood and were thrilled with a few visitors who came to share the day of song and international fellowship. It is not all that common for people to sing a capella, so this was already a challenge. But to come to an event where one doesn’t know anyone was quite courageous. We were thankful for these visitors and everyone who was able to attend. 

After singing we had plenty of time to fellowship as well, sharing stories and getting to know one another. Plans have already been made for next year when we (Shirley and I and some members from Maastricht) will go to sing in Cologne. How good it is to sing to the Lord and share the joy that He brings to our lives!

(Picture: Learning a new song in German)

Whodunit Wednesday: Eddy Merckx and Remco Evenepoel

Belgium and The Netherlands are cycling countries. Every Saturday and Sunday we can see the groups of cyclists flits by along our canal. When we had the dog and went walking, we always had to watch out - although you can hear these groups coming from afar. Even though they are bicycling quite fast, they seem to be going at a normal pace for them, gabbing as they pedal. 

Anyone who follows cycling knows the name Eddie Merckx. Many other names may also come to mind (from various countries), but this is the one almost every cyclist will mention. That is because he won the Giro d’Italia 5 times, The Tour de France 5 times, the Vuelta once and he was world champion 3 times. He had 521 total wins and was known as the best cyclist of his generation. 

This past year Remco Evenepoel did something amazing. In 2023 he became only the 2nd cyclist in history to win the road race and the time trial in the World Championships. At the Olympics this summer he won the gold medal at both the time trial and the road race despite getting a tire puncture. He is the first man to win both gold medals. 

Evenepoel surpassing some of what Merckx did is like when Hank Aaron surpassed Babe Ruth. And this by a young man who was also played soccer for Anderlecht and the under 16’s for the Belgian national team before putting all of his energy into cycling. To live in a time when you see history being made is amazing. 

Pictures

As I have posted the most recent pictures from our week at Benjamin Camp (you can find them here). I notice that a lot of my pictures come from camp. These are most of the moments that I can be the picture taker and thereby give people a view into some of what we do. 

I have to admit that I have more trouble finding opportunities to take pictures of other activities that we do. It has become a bit more of culture to take pictures of all sorts of activities throughout the day, but I am becoming more and more of a dinosaur, perhaps. I see younger people taking all sorts of selfies, pictures of their food, pictures of everything. It has always been a matter of principal for me to ask people if they want to have their picture taken. Not everyone does. So I do not always take pictures of everything we are doing.

Some would say that we need take no pictures and simply live the moment, with the memory as a blessing. But pictures are also a way of keeping hold of the past and what we have experienced. Shirley’s sister, Mary passed away this past week and we are thankful for the pictures we have. We can look back at those pictures and bring back the moment. Still, we are also now mindful that we will not be making any new pictures with her. 

So I am thankful for the moments that we can share some of what we are doing through pictures. It does help to get an idea of what things are really like. If we speak of people we know, studies we are holding, activities planned, it is helpful if you can get a picture - literally - of what we mean. I hope in the coming month to be able to share some of what we are doing. 

In the meantime, let me share some of the most recent photo’s of things we have been doing. 

We live relatively close to camp, so sometimes I get to drive down to put the trash up on trash day. This also means that I get a beautiful morning drive, most of the time (depending on traffic). 

Family camp is always a special time. This was "Bonteavond" the talent show night. 

Back at home the moon was full. This is a view out our backyard at the moon shining over the canal. 

Almost every Monday we are able to have a Bible study at Mario and Tonia's place outside of Aarschot (about 50 minutes away. Ion the summer, the sun doesn't set for quite some time, so we get a beautiful evening and stars when we get ready to drive home.