Reaching out through the years

This past weekend was a reunion. In the US schools are used to having reunions. Every 5 years there is another reunion of the graduating class of specific year. This year is my high school reunion. But in Belgium, this type of reunion is not common at all. So it was exciting to be part of a special reunion. 

Since at least 2007 I have helped with the kids from the neighboring village where our colleagues live. The group that helps the kids in their confirmation (a Catholic ceremony) came first to our colleagues (Ruud and Karla) because they are known in the village as the people of the Bible. They asked Karla if she would be interested in helping with the group. Karla was more than happy to help IF she could teach them something about the Bible. I was added to help with the “2-Day” - a time of two full days when the group goes off to learn more intensely and get to know one another. 

The people I worked with then (and up until last year) had been working even longer with this group of young people in the village. So this year a reunion was organized for the 20 years this has been organized with this team. Although a reunion is not that common here, and people have busy lives, we were still thankful to welcome several of the young people who are now adults and share stories from when they were young. 

It is always interesting to see how much people remember from the times they spent together. Many of the young people stay in the village, growing up together through high school and even working with one another. I was intrigued to hear if any of the things we talked about during the year of activities we shared still remained in their heads. 

I of course could barely recognize most of them. They are 12-13 years old when they come through the group. Now many of them were 25-35 year-olds, with kids of their own. Some could remember some of the activities or the things they had built together (John, the other male member of the team is very creative and always comes up with something to make). Some could remember the songs we sang together (which was usually my task for the group - along with teaching about the Bible). 

We continue to hope that a decision when they were young to choose for God in their life will resonant into their adult lives. We pray that they will remember some of the Bible texts we shared and how we learned to read the Bible together. We continue to thank God for opportunities to touch people’s lives with the truth, grace and love of Jesus. 

(Picture of the part of the reunion group - including the retired priest from their time - that walked from the village to the "party" venue)