Whatsit Wednesday: Keurig and Douwe Egberts coffee

At the end of August Keurig Dr. Pepper, an American company that sounds Dutch, acquired JDE Peet which owns the ultimate Dutch coffee brand, Douwe Egberts. 

I remember during one of our recent Home Assignments when we spend a summer traveling in the US, visiting our supporting congregations and family that many people had a Keurig machine in their kitchen. This was a way of making single cup coffees. I was surprised, because the name “Keurig” sounds Dutch. As a matter of fact it translates to things like: neat, elegant, excellent, choice, gentlemanly (or ladylike). And yet it is not Dutch. 

The Keurig brand - as I mentioned in a previous post (see here) - was created by two Americans in the 1990’s. It is now part of the conglomerate of Keurig Dr.Pepper which makes the Keurig machines and various beverages. Anyone from Texas knows about Dr Pepper. It surprised me to find it in connection with coffee. 

But now this beverage company has acquired the Dutch coffee brand, Douwe Egberts. When Phillips first invented the Senseo machine (another single serve coffee machine which is more prevalent in Europe), they partnered with coffee brand Douwe Egberts, wanting to give the new machines and its coffee a caché, a bit of elegance. Unfortunately for the coffee brand, they only had a contract with the coffee machine makers for a few years. When the contract expired, every supermarket in the country could make the coffee pads that work in the machine, removing Douwe Egberts profit while increasing Phillips profit. 

Now the coffee brand will be able to take over the United States via a different coffee machine that sounds completely Dutch, unless you know about that Dr Pepper stuff. How do you make your coffee?

Sing and be happy

This month is a month of singing. We are thankful that we can help congregations in their singing. We enjoy the time together as much as they and we all learn something from one another. This has always been a part of our ministry and as long as I can sing it will remain so. God has put a song in our hearts and singing is what we all will be doing together when we finally get Home. 

This month we have several opportunities to help in singing. The congregation in Haarlem (about 2,5 hours north of us) asked me to come and help them learn new songs and learn how to sing better. We went up at the end of August and will return near the end of September. This is a mix of learning music notation - what is a fermata, what is the difference between ff and mp, why do we breathe at a comma - and remembering that singing for God is about singing with your heart and your head. 

I always want to remind people that God made us to sing. Singing is divine, built for who and what we are. It is the only thing that touches mind and soul at the same time. You can literally feel the sound in your body, but you need to pay attention to the words you are singing. So taking time to look at the words in a song, making sure we understand it, is just as important as learning the rhythm or tempo or harmony. 

The group in Haarlem was excited to learn new songs and to learn more about singing. It was also a great time of fellowship, especially for us. We do not get to see the members of this congregation very often, although many of my Dutch roots come from here. I worked as an evangelism apprentice here when I first came to the Netherlands and learned my Dutch in this city. 

This past weekend we were in Cologne, Germany for a day of singing. Every February Uli and I see each other at the Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS) in Germany. He is from the congregation in Cologne and I am from Maastricht. We started getting together for a singing back in 2014 when we talked about including Aachen again in some way. Aachen is in the middle between the two cities. We organized a singing and have kept this up (with some exceptions during corona years) every year. We have been in Cologne twice, in Aachen twice and in Maastricht three or four times. 

This singing day n Cologne brings us together with another congregation. We had 6 members from Maastricht attend (it would have been 8, but two were incapacitated, including Shirley). The group also included a refugee couple and a visiting couple from the neighborhood. We sing and speak more in German, but this time we also sang some in French. When we started members from Liege, Maastricht, Aachen and Cologne all attended, making it quite international. This time in Cologne we remembered that in heaven we will all be able to sing together in whatever language it will be. 

This coming weekend several of the members from Maastricht will join others from around the Netherlands and Belgium at the Family Day at camp. So we will get to sing and once again enjoy the wonderful fellowship of being together. This time we will simply take part in the singing, rather than lead any of it. But a week later we will be in Eindhoven for our monthly 3rd Wednesday singing there where we also help with learning new songs. Often people simply need to learn a song and see that they can sing it. 

We enjoy singing songs that members in the Netherlands and Belgium have written, songs written by Russian brothers and translated either into English or Dutch (or German), or new songs crossing over to Europe from other areas of the world. It is exciting to see how the song that God has put in our hearts continues to pour over into words of praise to Him. 

(You can find more photos of our time in Haarlem and Cologne here.)

Whodunit Wednesday: Jim and Ruth Krumrei

This past week Jim and Ruth Krumrei celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary. Every month our town in Belgium puts the various wedding anniversaries of the town in the paper with a picture of the couple and often of their family. These  pictures and mentions begin with 50 years. Nothing less is worthy of mention. I have seen a 65 year a few times and even a 70 year once. I wonder if we will get to see the 75 year anniversary of Jim and Ruth. 

Jim and Ruth live in Haarlem, the Netherlands and are an integral part of my history. When I came to the Netherlands as an apprentice, it was Jim who was my mentor. It was from him and Ruth that I learned, by example, how important it is to have a regular rhythm of reading in God’s word. I was at their house for dinner many nights and they always ended the evening by reading in God’s word. This was how I learned a lot of my Dutch, since the reading was done in Dutch. 

Ruth always took care of me, preparing her delicious rhubarb pie (from rhubarb in their tiny garden out the back) or making her own muesli for me when I was there for breakfast. As a young guy cooking on his own (and I still don’t really know how to cook) it was good to have a place to get real food and have a “mom” who took care of me. Even though I would never have admitted that I needed taking care of at that age. 

Jim and Ruth have always been a part of the church in the Netherlands. This past weekend I was in Haarlem to help the congregation with singing and Jim showed up for a short time. Even at his advanced age (they are both above 90 years-old) he loves to share his joy in Christ. And Ruth will never stop talking about how mighty her loving Saviour is. This time of persistence in purity is such an example to me and others around them. 

No one knows how old they will become. Sometimes I am surprised at my own age and wonder how I got here. I think Jim and Ruth are a good example. They simply got to that age one day at a time, moving forward faithfully with what they know God finds good. That is the type of person I want to be, every day. 

Sean Michael

Recently we were talking with people about names. In the US it is common to have a first name and middle name. My oldest brother is named after my father, using his middle name. He is Christopher Francis. Although I am the 3rd child, I am the 2nd son, so I am named after my mother: Scott Patrick (my mom is Patricia). Most of us are named after famous people at the time. I am named for Scott Carpenter, an astronaut. My younger brother is named after John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King (he is John Martin). 

In Belgium and the Netherlands there are lots of people with only one name. They do not have a middle name. Or if they come from a Catholic family, they have LOTS of names - all named after the parents or grandparents of godparents. But most only have one name. And those of us from the US often only use our first name. The middle name is reserved for when Mom really wants to get your attention: “Scott Patrick Raab you get over here RIGHT NOW!”

Often a name is chosen because is means something. A family we met recently had given all of their children Biblical names that mean something in Hebrew or Greek. But some parents simply go through the name book looking for something that sounds good as it rolls off the tongue. If your last name has three syllables, you might choose shorter first and middle names. 

We had tried to find a name for our first son that would fit in two different languages and cultures. It ended up not fitting in either very well. So when our second son came and we were already living in Belgium, we were certain that we wanted an “S” - we were all an “s” at this point - but we wanted something that would sound right and also work in the language. 

Sean Michael Raab was born on September 1 a few years ago. He had tried to show up a few weeks earlier while we were at camp, but the hospital sent us home - “false labor”. But when he came, he made his presence known. He had a low voice for a baby. And he looked at you with very serious eyes. But oh, he was beautiful. Just like his older brother had been, but different. Our boys were of course the most beautiful of babies in the world. 

We had to decide if we would use both of Sean’s names or just the one. Would he be Sean-Michael? Or Sean Michael? Or Sean? We called him “Sean Michael” for a while when he was a baby, but it ended up as simply Sean (until he wasn’t listening and the “Michael” had to be added). People here still weren’t sure how to pronounce his name. We thought “Sean Connery” would be enough of a clue, but they pronounced this actor as sée-uhn kahn-uh-ree. 

It has been a pleasure watching Sean grow up. We are thrilled with how he cares for the people around him and has become a teacher. He was always a teacher, willing to share what he had learned - if you could understand it. Today is Sean’s birthday and he is far away, but we are thankful for video calls and he and his wife Jilll taking time from their day to say hello. 

(Picture from 2023 during our Home Assignment)

Where oh Where Wednesday: “Cheese!”

Of course it is just the sound and smile that photographers want when everyone says “cheese”. They could also say “please” or “tease”. But thankfully cheese has in this way become associated with something pleasurable, smiling, happy. And that’s a good thing, because there are so many good cheeses. 

The Netherlands is of course well-known for its cheese. People immediately picture the cheese market in Alkmaar where workers in traditional costumes carry sleds of round cheeses stacked up high from one place to another across the market, tourist phones taking video of everything as they go. But people also immediately recognize the names of the cities where the cheese comes from. 

Edam is a city in the northern section of the province of North Holland. It is now connected with the city of Volendam. Even with two cities combined it only has 37,000 inhabitants. The city was originally on the river E, which was sometimes pronounced or spelled IJe. This is where the name comes from - the city is where the E has a dam, Edam. 

The city originated in 1230 where the dam had been built to stop the Zuiderzee. All of the goods being brought in had to be loaded over the dam, so this place became a business opportunity for building ships, fishing for eel and dealing cheese. The city gained rights in 1357, but it was in the 16th century that the cheese market became the engine for the economy. 

Edam cheese usually comes as a red a ball and is a hard cheese. The red covering is a wax cover. It is well known since the Dutch carried it around the world during the Golden Age of Dutch trade. Ij 2010 it received recognition as a protected brand of cheese. It must be made in the Netherlands from Dutch cows’ milk. 

Gouda is a city in the province of South Holland in the center of the country and has about 76,000 inhabitants. The name of the city comes from the river, the Gouwe. This river and the area is mentioned in Latin writings from the 12th century. This Latin name has remained as the name of the city, making Gouda the only city in The Netherlands which retains its Latin roots. 

The inhabitants of Gouda are called “cheese heads”, which might also be used to yell at inhabitants of Alkmaar. But Gouda was known in the past for many activities. At the end of the 15th century the city had the largest beer production of all of Europe. But in the Middle Ages Gouda was broadly known for dealing in cheese. The name of Gouda is not protected, so any cheese can call itself Gouda these days. The yellow cheese gets its color from anatto which comes from South America.

Alkmaar is where most tourists will go to observe a cheese market. The city is in the province of North Holland and holds the cheese market every week from April to September. As mentioned, these inhabitants are also called “cheese heads” (like so many good people from Wisconsin and supporters of the Green Bay Packers). The cheese market has been around for 400 years and is visited by more than 100,00 people every year. 

In the 18th century the market was held 4 days a week, lasting to 1:00 in the morning. Since 1939 Alkmaar is now the only city where cheese is traded in the traditional manner. The market begins at 10:00 and the cheese are brought to the scale to be weighed. They are then checked for quality and buyers haggle over a price, closing the deal by clapping hands together. The market is finished by 12:30 and the workers and tourist move on to other things for the day. 

What kind of cheese do you like? Did you know that Belgium is also famous for their cheeses (albeit very different kinds)? Have you ever been to one of these cities? 

BBQ Days

Summer is usually days of sun, fun, sports and fellowship for many people. If the weather holds out, one could walk through any neighborhood and catch luscious smells wafting through the air as families and friends wait for a good meal. Sitting in the sun, laughing together, sharing the time with one another. And we even have summer in Belgium and the Netherlands, so we also have beautiful bbq days. 

This past weekend was our church barbecue. We have several members who have their birthdays in July and August, so we get together to celebrate. Especially since many of our members are gone in those months doing Bible camp or on vacation. This special day means that we can get together, invite friends and enjoy the fellowship with one another. 

We always offer our house since we have a yard that is large enough to put everything - two tents to sit under in case it is too hot or too wet, space to play for the younger kids, and a nice area to go walking after a meal for those who desire such a walk. Everyone brings the meat they like and a few other dishes - just like our “liefdemaal” (love feast = potluck) which we hold every 4th Sunday. But this barbecue is a time to meet one another in a different setting. 

For some, our backyard is like being on vacation and may be the only time they really get out of their house to a nice place. More importantly, we all have a good time getting to know one another. It is a time to invite family members who do not believe but are more than willing to attend a bbq. This past week we had almost the whole congregation and some fiends and family. 

In the coming month we will also have some good fellowship opportunities, but then in different forms. The first Saturday in September I will lead a singing with the church in Cologne. Several of our members and members from around the Netherlands will also attend. It is always good to meet brothers and sisters from other cities and countries. The second weekend of September will find us all back down at camp for Family Day which will be organized this year by the church in Eindhoven. 

We are so thankful for these days and the family that God has placed us in. What times of fellowship have you had so far this summer? Do you have some days coming up? Who will you be seeing? 

Whensday: Three summers

The summer of 1991 was our first summer as a married couple and evangelists in Belgium and the Netherlands. We had arrived in January of that year and only moved into our house in June the following year. But we were already plugged into the church in Antwerp and fully active in serving in any way that we could. That summer I was one of the teachers for Benjamin Camp at Ardennen Bible Camp. That includes the 8-11 year olds. 

I remember working out lessons and activities (for the first time in Dutch) and trying to make sense of the Dutch language. You see there are lots of dialects in Dutch and Flemish. And young kids usually speak their own dialect. This meant quite the challenge for me since I only spoke Dutch with a Dutch accent (the northern part of the Netherlands where I learned the language). 

In the summer of 2001 I experienced several different things. We had accepted apprentices from York College in 2000, so I was working with them in the summer. These were challenging and very rewarding experiences. It is nice to see how God continues to touch these two lives. 

But I had also taken steps in that year to gain Belgian citizenship. This was because our visa was going to be denied after 10 years. Rules were being changed and it became possible for me to become a Belgian citizen without giving up my US citizenship. I got the news in August that my citizenship had been granted, a short time before important events in September which made it hard for some to understand why I would want a different citizenship. But this way I was now able - like the apostle Paul - to use my citizenship for the kingdom of God. 

In the summer of 2021 we were scrambling to figure out how to continue holding Bible Camp after flooding had devastated the area where our camp is located. We had already dealt with a year organizing camp under corona rules and were thankful that it had been possible. But now our camp had been struck by the flooding. The first two weeks of camp even had to be held at different locations. But they turned out being amazing weeks. That year we not only led the Benjamin Camp at a different location, but also led the Teen Camp week as the first group back at our camp location. 

Our summers are always exciting and challenging, blessed by people and activities that God puts in our lives. 

You can find pictures of the camps in 2021 here: Benjamin Camp and Teen Camp. (The picture is of Benjamin Camp in 2021)

Prison visits

This week, if all goes well, I will be able to once again visit our former neighbor in the prison of Antwerp. I try to get to see him at least once a month. By now I have become familiar with the habits of this visit. It is only possible to make an appointment in person. This would mean that I would need to drive to Antwerp, park and go to the prison on one day in order to make an appointment for another day. The drive itself is close to 90 minutes with traffic. Instead, I simply drive to Antwerp and hope that someone who has an appointment won’t show up. 

At the prison, which is in a nice street with cafe’s and little shops, I first have to stand at a large iron door and press a green button, waiting until  I hear a click and can open the door. The door leads to a small room with two benches and what looks like a sort of post office windows behind which the guards sit. As a visitor, one is not allowed to bring anything in. There are lockers, most of which have broken locks, into which, if you find one that works, you can put your phone, jacket, keys and anything else you might have with you. 

Once you are called (because I am always on standby, you pass through a turnstile, put your coat if you have one in the winter through a scanner and pass a metal detector before standing at the next iron door waiting for it to be opened for you. Once through this door, you enter a small yard where everyone is waiting together to go into the visiting room. There are toys for little kids, who are often there with their mother visiting father. There is a place for those who need to smoke before they go inside for the visit. 

Once we are gathered by a guard to enter the visiting room, we all take a seat at the table which has been assigned us and wait for the prisoners to be brought in. My former neighbor always looks around for me when he enters and gets a big smile on his bearded face. He, like the other prisoners, is wearing a yellow vest over his prison clothes. We have about an hour to talk about whatever has been happening most recently. He likes to hear about my life since his is pretty much the same every day. 

This year I also started visiting a man who met my former neighbor while they were both in prison. This other man is now waiting in the psychiatric hospital just down the street from our village. He waits patiently, doing all that he needs to do to be able to join society again. I visit him once a month as well, sometimes helping with small tasks he might need done. 

Both of these men struggle with different things in their lives. Both are men of faith of a sort. Our former neighbor believes that he is his own pope and has created a sort of religion for himself. The other man is a muslim, though not really practicing. Both ask for prayers and we pray for them both regularly. 

I am always reminded when I visit them that our situation is not really that different. Without Jesus in our lives, we were slaves, lost, not really knowing where we were going. Paul says in the letter to the Ephesians: “without hope, without God in the world.” (Eph. 2:12). But we have been saved to wake with Jesus sharing His grace to all around us. I am thankful that we are no longer prisoners, but are now servants of the living God. (Rom. 6:15-18). 

Whatsit Wednesday: Wash hand

How do you wash up? Did you know that cultures vary, even within a country? When I first came to the Netherlands I first encountered something that I, at least, had not yet encountered in my life. It was called a “wash hand”. Now that I have been down at camp these past weeks I have seen plenty of them again, since almost every child brings one along in their toiletries for the camp week. 

A wash hand, simply put, is a wash cloth that you can put your hand into. So it looks like a small oven mit made of Terry cloth. It will have a little loop on the corner so that you can hang it up on a hook in the bathroom. And, as mentioned, almost everyone has one. It is used in the shower for cleaning your body, but can also be used at the camping grounds just for washing your face or doing a quick once over under your arms to freshen up. 

I have always found these to be much more useful than a simple wash cloth, which has to be folded or laid across some place to dry. And a wash cloth inevitably gets balled up in your hand as you try to use it when washing (my experience, in any case). But a wash hand fits over your hand so that you simply wash as you would naturally when using soap. 

It is simple. Perhaps it is in many countries and I was never aware of it. But I first encountered this wonderful tool when I came to the Netherlands. Have you heard of a wash hand? What is it called where you are from? 

Planning ahead

We try to get back to the US every three years to touch base with the congregations that support us and visit family. All of these spots are spread around the US, meaning quite a time of travel. It is always nice to see everyone again, as well as see plenty of the places we also call “home”. This is why we call it a Home Assignment. The last time we were on Home Assignment was in 2023, so next year, if all goes well, we will be visiting again. 

But this trip takes a good bit of planning and figuring. Which route should we take? How do we plan the various Sundays to work out with the congregations we want to share time with? How should we divide the driving and flying time? And there are always people that we would very much like to see who simply don’t fit on the route. Are there any ways to see them anyway? 

When the boys were still at home, we always had to plan this trip in the summer, during the school vacation. But now, when we could leave whenever we want, we still have to keep our plans for our ministry here in mind. In addition, we have a new granddaughter in the mix and we want to be there for her birthday, which is in the summer vacation months. So I have been figuring, planning, checking prices and generally trying to discover the best way to travel next year. 

We are looking forward to seeing church family in Long Beach, California; Woodbury, Minnesota; Muscatine, Iowa; and Abilene, Texas. But we also hope to see church family we have met in Denver, Colorado; Noblesville, Indiana; and Omaha, Nebraska. These are the places we hope to sp[end our Sundays, although it may not be possible to hit all of them on a Sunday. We only have 8-9 weeks of travel time. 

In this time we also hope to see family in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Montana, Indiana and New York. There is a little bit of overlap between family and churches, but not much. And, as mentioned, there are still others we would like to meet up with who live in places like Tennessee or Pennsylvania or Florida - far out of the route. So we would love your prayers as we plan this time - prayers that we can find some good deals, that we will be able to get things set up, and that our visit will be encouraging to those we meet. 

If you are in any of the places we are planning to visit (mentioned here), put us on your schedule and make plans to find some time to share with us so that we can encourage one another. If you are not on the route, maybe we can meet somewhere along the way (like driving through Iowa or Wisconsin, or Chicago). These Home Assignments are only possible because of the faithfulness of our supporting congregations, brothers and sisters willing to sacrifice so that we can make this trip. Thank you for these possibilities and all the memories from previous times. 

In the meantime, I am traveling every day this week down to camp and back. It is good to see people we don't see too often, meet new people who love the Lord, and share encouragement from God's word. I will be giving the teens a lesson every day, trying to help make the messages from the Minor Prophets something that they can understand and sow into their spiritual growth. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Belgian basketball players

Soon the European Championships basketball will be starting - the championships for the men. Djokic, Giannis and more will be playing for their countries. The ladies already had their championship  and the Belgian ladies won. The Belgian men will have a much harder time. This is because most of their best players are playing in the NBA and will not be able to take part in the Championship due to commitments or injuries. 

On the ladies side, you might not know Emma Meeseman, Julie van Loo or Julie Allemand, but you will probably be familiar with Ajay Mitchell. Mitchell plays for the Thunder and won the NBA championships with his team. The other well-known player is Toumani Camara, who plays for the Trailblazers. More importantly, Belgium has been losing its players to college teams. 

Belgium and the Netherlands do not have a system like the US. There is no high school basketball and no college basketball. Players who are good are scouted at a young age and may join the youth training of a national team (like Oostende or Antwerp Giants). But more recently players have been scouted and recruited by college teams in the US. This gives the players a better opportunity and training. They get more playing time and more opportunity to break through into the NBA. 

Players like Retin Obasohan, who played for Alabama, or Manu Lecomte, who found a home in Texas, are able to earn money, get an education and build on a career in basketball all at the same time. Stephan Dibongue Swenson replaced Ajay Mitchell at point guard for UC Santa Barbara. Some players have played under coach Brian Lynch, who happens to be the husband of Belgian tennis star of old, Kim Clijsters. As a meter of fact, Clijster's daughter Jada is now playing for the young Belgian national team. 

Basketball seems to have become quite the national sport in Belgium. They also have a good 3x3 team, although it is the Dutch 3x3 team that has won all of the championships and medals in recent years. So the next time you are watching your favorite basketball team, whether during March Madness or the NBA, WNBA or Olympics, pay attention to the Belgian names (which do not always look very Belgian). 

Camp conversations and challenges

We are in the middle of Bible camp season. Shirley and I started at Jongerenkamp (the 15-20 year-olds) and took the following week to recover at home. In that week the Benjamins (8-11 year-olds) were down at camp, enjoying a lot more rain that we had had. This week the teens (12-14 year-olds) are down at camp and next week the Families will arrive. IN that week I will go down each day and help with the teen lessons. We enjoy the various weeks that we get to help with these times of growth. 

Each week is different and unique every year. This year was the first time since before corona time that Shirley and I did the older young people. We had 24 campers and it was an amazing week. The questions that come from this group are very different than those which come from a Benjamin. And the conversations during the day are much deeper (and last much longer. It is always exciting to see how everyone at any of these camp weeks has multiple amazing opportunities to grow spiritually. 

During our week there were lots of conversations going on about the week’s theme (our identity in Christ) as well as challenges in daily life. We had all sorts of singing time with this group that loved singing and wanted to learn more. And our counselors - who were barely older than the campers themselves - could easily get a group together for an activity. The group mixed well and the young people even ran out for a game of soccer in the rain. 

We were thankful to have good friends from the past working with us that week as well. Rudy and Pam Schellekens joined us from Muscatine, Iowa after already having done good work at Midwest Bible Camp. Rudy taught the lessons and Pam helped in the kitchen. The kitchen team was a bundle of laughing, giggling girls at times and an efficient team for the group of hungry teens sat at every meal. Rudy sat patiently and fielded questions about the lessons and life all through the week, discussing patiently Greek words and their meanings as well as implications for our daily lives. 

Next week I look forward to dropping down to camp to help out and experience the group during Family Camp. We are blessed to live fairly close (an hour’s drive) and I can just drive down for the lessons and a bit of the afternoon. I will help out with the teens during the second lesson as we look at the Minor Prophets. I am also looking forward to the conversations I will be able to have with people I only see during this week of the year. 

In the meantime we are praying for the young people that were at our camp week, the young ones who attended the week after and for the teens experiencing camp this week. We are especially praying for the counselors - several of whom were campers at our week and counselors at the Benjamin week as well. Thank you for your prayers for these moments and for so many of you who also take part in camps and activities in your area. 

Wild Wonderful Wednesday: Walking in Daalhof

We meet as a congregation in an area of Maastricht called “Daalhof”. This area used to be the surroundings of a roman villa. Then it was farm land. There is still a working farm and a Children’s Farm, which has become a bit more than a petting zoo. It has camels and several other animals that one would more likely find in a zoo. 

In the middle of the neighborhood is a Roman road. It is actually a walking path and bike path, but it is on the same trajectory that the old Roman road took through this area. This road separates the neighborhood into two sections. The section built earlier looks like a more normal neighborhood with apartments and housing blocks. The newer section is sometimes called “doolhof” or maze in a play on words. It is a maze of narrow roads with houses built in small little enclaves. 

If we take a walk out past the border stone, which is on the edge of the neighborhood, we enter Belgium, without really ever knowing it. This is an area where people walk their dogs - and there are lots of people with dogs in the Netherlands. The dirt path leads out to the Albert Canal which runs between the Belgian cities of Liege in the south (French-speaking) and the harbor of Antwerp about an hour’s drive away. 

We enjoy walking around the neighborhood at different times of the year. IN the early Spring the cherry blossoms color several streets pink, while other streets color orange with flags if the Dutch national team is playing and doing well. In February red, yellow and green flags appear in the streets to celebrate Carnaval and we often see people dressed in costume waiting at the bus stop to go into the city center.  

(photo of a section of the "doolhof" in the Spring)

Whensday: Flood of summer 2021

Eline woke up early. She was staying down at camp with her family - mom and dad and brother, as well as grandma and cousins. It was a fun week to be together in a very nice place - Bible camp. This morning she was hoping it would be a bit better weather since it had been raining. Especially last night. As she looked out the window she was surprised at how high the creek was that ran next to camp, so she went and woke Grandma to show her. In a very short time - 15 minutes or so - they whole group had gathered as many belongings as they could, loaded the car and driven away from camp. The creek had become a flood. 

That day in 2021 the weather people called it a water bomb. It had rained enormously in a very short period that night. Later, studies would show that some poor decisions had been made as far as opening gates or closing gates. These decisions contributed to some of the extreme damage caused in the various valleys that were flooded by this water bomb. 

At our Bible camp the bubbling brook that runs through cam became a streaming river and swept away all sorts of things. There was a wooden building behind our dormitory which was swept into the dormitory and torn to pieces as it was swept along. All of the tools and metal lockers full of things we use for camp were swept away. Thankfully the lawn mower was off for repairs. 

The tiles that had recently been placed on our terrace , a place to sit outside to eat or study, were rolled up and pushed off into the adjoining field, along with the picnic tables (heavy wooden tables). It looked like a frozen wave of cement tiles. Glass from broken windows accompanied stones thrown up from the creek bed and covered the field. It would be a year before we were able with several cleaning crews to clear up the field well enough to be played in without danger of being cut by glass or sharp stone. 

That summer of 2021 the youth Bible camp weeks had to adjust. The first planned week was only a week after the flood and had to find somewhere else to hold the week. The Benjamins also had to seek other accommodation until the camp could be cleaned up. But by August several crews had been to clean up well enough that the Teen camp could be held back at our normal Bible camp grounds. The kitchen and bathrooms had been flooded, but had been cleaned and disinfected. 

The summer of 2021 was to be a summer that would be different for Bible camp. The summer of 2020 had been a special year because of covid rules. This year was to have been more “back-to-normal”. The flood made it a memorable summer for everyone. In the villages and cities around camp there were people who lost their houses and lives. Some have, even now, not yet been able to recover from the loss. We are thankful for all the people around us that made this bad situation into a strong memory.

(Picture is after the flood and after some of the cleanup - the flood took all the tiles away and the cleanup crews came later and stacked them).

Blessing in Bible Camp

One of the most important moments in my spiritual life was when I went to Bible Camp. For me that was a Carter camp, run by Jack, Dave and Ron Carter in Colorado. It is still being run today (run by Bret Carter and Julie Oehlert) and is called Kamp Koinonia. These camps bring all sorts of memories and touch lives in so many different ways. 

As scenes of the Texas flooding filled my news feed, I thought of our Bible camp a few years back and the flooding here (more on that later this week). But I also thought of all of the ways that these camps have taught and are teaching young people and parents about the grace and glory of God. God is here always and we will all experience amazing wonderful times, and difficult challenging times. But He is there to guide us through. That is what I remember learning at Bible camp. 

When I first attended, I was not a Christian. I was a believer in God, but my life did not belong to Jesus Christ. And my life at times seemed to be falling apart. My parents were divorcing, my relationships within my family were strained and I didn’t know what was going to happen. It was camp that was part of what taught me that God is everywhere, all the time. 

Camps like these teach us that Christians know what fun us. As a matter of fact, Christians know best how to have fun. When we love one another and are in tune with God and His will for us and our hearts and bodies, we can really have fun and experience really joy. That is one of the things I learned when going to camp and one of the things I try to pass on in 0our Bible camp weeks here. 

This weekend Shirley and I will be down at Ardennen Bijbelkamp leading Jongerenkamp. This is the 15-20 year-old week and our week is almost full (21 campers). We will be looking at our identity in Christ and will be enjoying getting to know these young people. We pray that we will be a good example to them as so many were for us in the past. 

We have been praying for Kamp Koinonia, Midwest Bible Camp, WCYC, Flaming Pine, King’s Kamp and many more that we have experienced in the past and know are taking place in the coming weeks. We would appreciate your prayers for us and the kids in the 4 weeks of our camp, starting this Saturday and running through August 16. I will not be posting next week (although I may post the Where oh Where Wednesday early), but you will know where we are. 

(You can find pictures of all the years we have been doing camp on our picture site)

Whatsit Wednesday: Bookbag on a flagpole or "hanging out the flag"

The last several weeks the Netherlands has become a country of book bags. As you drive through the city you will see them: book bags hanging out on the flagpole under a flapping Dutch flag. This shows that there is a graduate at that house. Everyone is happy. And everyone can know it.

In the Netherlands when you are in your senior year of high school, you can look forward to exams at the ends of the year. Not just any exams. Not just end of year exams. These exams are for your whole school time. These state exams test if you have truly learned all that the schools say you have learned, from beginning to end. There is no cramming for the exam this year and then forgetting it. Everything you have learned will be on this test. 

After the exam, students go home and wait anxiously. They have to wait for a call from their teacher. They will be called one way or the other, but of course they hope to hear that hey have passed. There are tons of examples of students picking up the phone and listening intently to the news given before exploding in joy that they have passed or silently putting the phone down to wonder what their summer will look like. If you do not pass now, you can still re-take the exams and hope to pass the second time. 

But if the scream of joy was heard in your house, then the book bag is ready to be hung out. These leather bags are typical of what the student has been using throughout high school, biking or bussing to school every day for the last 6 years or so. And now everyone in the street can celebrate with eh graduate. Everyone knows. It is not uncommon for neighbors walking by to congratulate the family or whoever is outside at the time. 

André Rieu

When I mention that we work with the church in Maastricht, some people ask if we know André Rieu. We have had people visiting from Australia who have asked about him, people we meet in Germany, and a few of the people we see on our Home Assignment to the US have asked. Who is André Rieu? 

For anyone who enjoys walzes, Strauss music and an entertaining way of presenting music to a broad public, André Rieu is well-known. For more than 20 years he has, with a whole orchestra and set of classical singers, entertained the world and brought classical (sometimes) music to the masses. He sets up a stage based loosely on the palace at Schönbrun in Vienna, Austria and all of the musicians and singers (and dancers) wear period costumes while playing and performing. 

André Rieu is from Maastricht, which is of course why people wonder if we have met him. We do know that he brings his concert to Maastricht every summer. In that week downtown is pretty much shut off to anyone who does not have a ticket. This who have a ticket sit on the Grand Square while hundreds of others (every night) have tickets where they sit at the restaurants which flank the square. They watch the concert on large screens (ro small screens at the restaurants further away) while enjoying a meal and drink. 

Last night I was able for the first time to attend such a concert. I volunteer in the neighborhood and the city decided to treat some volunteers. I got lucky. So, together with three other volunteers from the organization I help, we first went for a meal at city hall where we were welcomed and then enjoyed the concert together. It was a time to connect with others, get a taste of some Maastricht culture (Rieu finishes the concert with songs in the Maastricht dialect that parts of the audience sing along) and enjoy a very international audience. 

There were people from Germany, France, Denmark, England, Wales and Scotland and all over the Netherlands and Belgium. I had never seen the market (in front of city hall) so full of touring buses. It took us a good 20 minutes to shuffle along back to our car (which was only parked 5 minutes away). You could hear almost every language along the way if you listened carefully. 

It was a long evening, but a good opportunity to get to know people while enjoying music. I would never have been able to go to such a thing (the tickets were 170 euro a piece), but was glad to be gifted such a chance. And it was good to be able to talk with colleagues about life, faith and what is important, as well as laugh and sing.