Another great youth day

The past two years the congregation in Maastricht has decided to expand our focus on our youth. Youth activities in the church are organized generally by the various congregations in Belgium and the Netherlands and spread throughout the year. But all of these weekends begin at qo years old. Our young people were younger. 

In the past we have also organized “Dieno”days (servant days with a play on words to include it sounding like dinosaurus). These were even for kids as young as 4 years old. So we decided as a congregation that we wanted to have a day for our kids, knowing that there were also other kids in the congregations of this age who would also be interested. 

Our age spread was actually from 7-13 at the time. So we planned a youth day utilizing our members who were very interested in the task and in the spiritual welfare of the kids. One of our members brought her grandkids to the first one, which was held in our backyard. But we realized from the beginning that doing the day in Maastricht (in our backyard in Lanaken) meant that parents had to travel quite far, since we are on the edge of both Belgium and the Netherlands. 

So in 2023 we moved the day to a community center in the village of one of our members - in Herselt, in the middle of Belgium. This meant that parents even from theWest could get to the day, spend some time in the area, and head home with their kids at a reasonable time. And more parents lived closer to this central area. The community center was well-suited to our needs for the day as well. 

The day in the Fall of 2023 went well, so we planned two for 2024 - again in Herselt - one in the Spring and one in the Fall. We have a great team working together from the congregation and the parents of the kids are quite happy that there are activities for their kids (even the younger ones). We focus the lessons on the younger and older ages, splitting the ages up for the 2nd lesson. 

This past weekend was the Fall Youth Day. Being in Belgium we always having to hope and pray that we can work well with whatever weather we get. This time the weather was not great, but it was also not terrible. We were thankful to have Rudy and Pam Schellekens visiting who could also help out. Some of the kids got sick at the last minute and could not come, but that is the reality of working with kids. 

The theme of this day was the elements which help us to grow in faith - based on 2 Peter 1:3-11. It always amazes me, although it should not anymore, how well children can learn and remember. Even the boys who have trouble sitting still are actually listening! We are so thankful for being able to work together with such a great group of brothers and sisters from the church in Maastricht for these days. We already have the next ones on the schedule for 2025. 

Thank you for your prayers for these activities, for the team and for the kids. You can find some pictures on our picture site.