Whensday: Gemündener Follies

You might have noticed that I missed writing on Monday AND on Wednesday. This is because I am down in Gemünden, Germany for the annual Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS). This is a time to meet with people from around Europe and receive lessons on all sorts of Bible topics. This year was quite different in that we even had an art session halfway through the week (see my picture). 

What did not change was that Thursday evening brought the world-famous Gemündener Follies. As our host Patrick would say, this is a low-level talent show. But we all enjoy it immensely anyway. I got to write some verses for a Hee Haw song and sing them with Paul Brazle and Brady Smith. I also sang a Ukrainian song with Carol Brazle and Brady and Stephanie Smith (Stephanie’s father translated the song into English: While on the Sea). 

Every year, or almost every year, Paul and I close out the show with a version of “our” Camp Gemunden song, based on the song which starts, “Hello, Mudda, hello Fadda, I am here at Camp Grenada…”  I have most of the lyrics for past years in my guitar case. Paul and I have been doing this for quite some years. I remember that we even did it via video during the corona version of ABSS. Each year we re-write the lyrics based on the speakers of that year, trying to rhyme and be funny at the same time. 

The joy of a week like this is being able to see people we don’t see often and meeting new folks from around Europe as well as be challenged by good Biblical lessons. This year, as with most years, there was a contingent from the CEM program in Marseille. The young men and ladies, some with delightful French accents, took part in the lessons, the follies and simply serving one another during the week (at meal times, for example). Everyone laughs on Thursday evening and then joins in eating ice cream (dedicated to Doyle Key who had for so long been a part of this event). 

As the weekend starts, the first session transitions into the weekend session. Families are able to arrive, the group from Marseille heads off on their long journey home and the lessons and fellowship continue with another varied group. I have been thankful to have heard about works in Vietnam and Estonia as well as see young people I have known from a young age attending as young adults (from Romania and Marseille). 

One of the lessons was focused on how we can see God in all things around us, including beauty. The Gemündener follies remind us that laughter and joy speak loudly of the presence of God in reality. 

Whatsit Wednesday: Wardrobe

Last week I helped a brother clean out his mother’s house in Amsterdam. She had reached a ripe old age and he and his brother were left the task of cleaning things out. In a house like that one comes across all sorts of interesting things among the heavy furniture. Perhaps it had already been dismantled and thrown away by the time I got there, but it was interesting to me that this house had no wardrobe - it had closets.

Most houses in Europe, in my experience, do not have closets. Growing up in the US every house had closets built into a part of the wall of each room. But here, all room are basically just rectangular, perhaps with a small bit poking around a corner or such. But there are no built-in closets. Instead, people have wardrobes. If you have read C.S. Lewis, then you might have an idea of what a wardrobe is like - it is usually big enough for a child to hide in during hide-and-seek. 

Sometimes, certainly after the movie from the C.S. Lewis book, people think only of large, ornate pieces of furniture made of dark woods and set against a wall or in a corner. But it is just as common to purchase a good wardrobe from somewhere like Ikea - a modern piece of furniture made of some sort of flat-pack wood-like material, put together with screws and the help of a good drawing of instructions. 

In our house we used to have an old wooden wardrobe upstairs in the attic. It was a classic “flat-pack” of its time, which was around the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th century. You could remove the top, sides, bottom and doors (one with a mirror) using metal bolts that went through eyelets on the pieces. An amazing piece, but also a bit wonky. The doors never really shut and we didn’t have the keys. So we gifted it to the charity shop. 

Still, the boys could have hidden in that wardrobe if they had wanted (and if it weren’t full of “stuff”). We still have an old wardrobe in our living room which serves as an office/computer cupboard. Upstairs we have modern wardrobes in the rooms, some with sliding door, some with drawers. But all of them of course take up space in the room. So when you look at a house here, you have to figure in the space for a wardrobe. When people find a house with built-in closets, they are always amazed and pleasantly surprised. 

(Photo is our livingroom wardrobe this morning)

The youth these days

This past Sunday we were blessed to visit the congregation in Rotselaar where I preached. I the past we would visit this congregation regularly on a Sunday afternoon to practice singing. We have always had a good working relationship with the congregation and have a good relationship with many of the members in other capacities. This includes Bible camp. 

Many of the kids we have had come through Bible camp are now young people or even grandmothers. One of the sisters on Sunday was showing off her granddaughter. She mentioned that she herself was only small when she first went to camp with us as directors. And now she herself is a grandmother. It is amazing how quickly the time flies. 

But this of course also means that her kids are old enough to have kids of their own. Her son was also at our camps through the years. He was first a camper, then a counselor and then an assistant director and planner for the youth. Now he is also a father. His little sister has also been helping as a counselor in the last few years. It is exciting to see how people grow up. 

And yet, not everyone who came through camp has remained faithful or followed the Lord. There were a few people at the meal after services yesterday who came through camp, but are no longer attending or doing anything with their faith. This is hard to see and we continue to pray for all of the kids we work with every year. 

We pray that as they grow up into young adults, fathers and mothers, even grandmothers, that they hold onto what they have learned from the people around them. We pray that we, and all the people we have in a team for a week of camp, are good examples for all of the campers who attend. We know that a week of camp is only a week, but can mean so much more. We also know that our example needs to continue far past that week of camp. 

Bible camp was immensely important in my spiritual growth, but it was not the only influence. We hope and pray that we can continue to be a good influence not only for the kids at camp, but the kids in our congregation in Maastricht and the adults we have contact with every week. This past week we celebrated the graduation of one of our kids from the kid’s class to the adult’s class. He received a Bible and we all prayed over him. He joins two other young men in the congregation. Later this year we will graduate a young lady.  

We all were kids once. People were an influence on us as well. Now we want to be those people who are a good influence for the kids around us. Do you remember who was an influence in your spiritual life? How can you be that person to the young people around you now (no matter how old you are)? 

Whodunit Wednesday: Silvius Brabo

At the end of last year Shirley and I took a day off to celebrate our 40 years of marriage and Shirley’s birthday. We spent a day in Antwerp where we first lived when we moved to this country. Antwerp was where we first worked with the church and was where Shirley learned her Dutch (or Flemish as it is). We came to know this city a bit and enjoy visiting again when we get the chance. 

One of the well-known sights, among many, in Antwerp is that of Silvius Brabo. This statue is on the market, surrounded by gilded guildhalls, with the cathedral towering over the whole square. Looking at the state you see a classical male in an active pose. Brabo is the man. It looks as if he is in the middle of throwing something. As you look closer you see that he has a hand in his hand. He is about to throw this hand away. 

The city of “Antwerpen” (as the Flemings call it) is the city where Brabo is “throwing the hand” (literally “hand werpen” means “hand throwing”). But why in the world is the city named after this action? Whose hand is he throwing and who is he? Brabo is Silvius Brabo. According to the folklore saga he was a Roman soldier who killed the giant Druon Antigon, cut off his hand and threw it in the river Schelde. 

This giant had been terrorizing the city by forcing all the shippers to pay a toll before they were allowed to cross the Schelde. If anyone refused, their hand would be cut off and thrown I the river. The legionnaire Silvius Brabo rebelled, fought Antiogon, killed him and threw his hand in the river as a symbol of this victory and the end of the terrorism. 

This single legionnaire may have also been the origin of the province of Brabant as well as Aarschot and Arnhem (he supposedly shot an eagle (“arend”) that had its nest in the eagle’s nest (“arend heem”). Of course this all is mostly a saga, with little historical truth to it. 

There was a Roman settlement in the area. But the city name could also have come from the Germanic “anda verpa” which would refer to the land in the curve of the river. It could also have come from “on the wharf” (in Flemish of course). The legend of the giant Antigon probably came from finding whale bones in the river. 

Still, we enjoy visiting the city, walking in the market and visiting the various tourist areas. There is a castle on the river. The cathedral is famous to Japanese tourists because of the story of a dog. And we simply like visiting church family and reminiscing about our time here when we first arrived. 

Some busy weeks

The year is well begun. January has already passed and we are into the second month of the year. And as February starts we’re looking ahead to a slew of activities planned in the coming weeks. Alongside our regular activities which have continued from last year, we are planning some new events for this year. 

We are thankful that the studies we had in 2024 have continued into this year. We have a regular mentoring study almost every Monday. Added to this is a monthly study with an atheist man who began our conversations wanting to know what the Bible was all about. Most recently he let me know that, although he still doesn’t think he will ever believe in God, he bought a children’s Bible for his granddaughter because he wants her to know some of what is in it. 

Also added on Mondays is a chance top learn Greek. Our young Ukrainian couple has good contact with their friends in Ukraine and there is an American teacher who is offering Greek lessons for all who are interested. I have at various times in the past looked at learning some more Greek, but have never gotten past the first 2 or so lessons. I know the alphabet and know my way around a lexicon. But this way I can learn more and also develop my relationships with some brothers and sisters in Ukraine. 

Our online English study on Tuesdays has expanded as some of the participants have asked if others may be added. We now have participants in France and in Brazil as well as those in The Netherlands and Belgium. In February I will add a week in Germany at the Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS) which you have heard me talk about before. I look forward to meeting some others from around Europe during this week. 

We will travel to Rotselaar, Belgium to preach this coming Sunday and will go over to Roeselare.Belgium in May. Shirley will join several other ladies from Maastricht at the annual Ladies Retreat at the beginning of March. Then they will organize their own Ladies Day at our building on March 15, reaching out to the ladies of the neighborhood. At the end of the month I will lead a special training day for those wanting to learn how to direct a Bible camp. 

In April we will plan another Youth Day with the congregation and in May a day for the church down at camp. These days in the past have also been opportunities to write new songs. It has been some time since we have written anything new within the congregation. But this doesn’t mean that singing has taken a back seat. Most recently I have spent some time getting the music notes online in videos of songs we may already know so that members can also learn them in that way. I will also continue working on getting more songs into music notation. 

By the end of May we will take some time to get camp ready. This is always done during the weekend of Ascension Day, which is a holiday in Belgium. We are hoping to start the renovations on camp some time this year, although not before the summer camp weeks. This year Shirley and I will be working with the oldest group of teens. 

Thank you for your prayers for all of these activities and for your faithfulness in how God is working in your lives as well. Above all, we are thankful that we can simply live for Him daily, touching lives with His grace in everyday ways, no matter where we are. 

(Sunrise, sunset on our daily walk near our house)