Wild Wonderful Wednesday: Wild ones

This is a 5th Wednesday, so we get to go to places wild and wonderful. This time I would like to take you to some of the wilder things we can remember doing (that we are willing to share). But actual locations (cities) often have little to do with the wild wanderings we have made. These wild places and situations could be found in many places.

Although I remember living in and visiting places as diverse as Germany and Greece, some of the wildest moments I remember were when we had moved to Colorado. In those days parents didn’t worry too much about where their kids were (or at least we were allowed to be out of the house, on our bikes as long as we were back for dinner time). My brothers and I were always discovering new places. 

Maybe it was more my oldest brother who made the plans and me and my younger brother followed. Whatever it was, we had good fun and we are glad that our parents didn’t know until later. One of these times was when we took our bikes to the floodway on a rainy day. A floodway in Colorado is designed for rainy days. It is meant to take the quickly rising water safely away from residential areas. Usually the floodway is simply a concrete river, empty of water. Perfect for riding your bike or skateboard or whatever. 

Of course once the rain starts coming, the floodway can turn quickly into a raging river. Not too long after this adventure I heard of a classmate of mine (in Junior High) who was drowned in a floodway. But that was after our wild adventure. And we were young and unaware. 

We rode our bikes to the floodway where we had often gone. This time there was a bit of water running along the bottom. The challenge was to sit in the water and then stand up. But when my younger brother sat down, he began to be swept away. We jumped in to help him stand, but one of the bikes now went in the water and started moving along the water. We were able to get everyone and everything out of the water (which was maybe 6 inches deep at the time), but it woke us up to the dangers. 

In that same floodway were large pipes which took the water from the streets into the floodway. On dry days these pipes, large enough to walk in while standing, were a great challenge. Were we brave enough to walk up the pipe without a flashlight, touching the walls as we walked, perhaps touching some insect or worse? The pipe ended after a turn. If you looked back, the tiny dot of light that until then had encouraged you was suddenly gone. And now, to return, you had to walk back in complete darkness. Exciting. Adventurous. 

These days our adventures mostly take us along the canal behind our house. You might think that is quite bucolic and simple. But in October the winds start and the walk along the canal becomes a risky adventure. We have frequently had parts of trees (and whole trees) fall across the pathway. We noticed this past week that there are even 6-8 trees which are marked to be removed - hopefully before they fall on some poor dog walker or jogger. 

What brings adventure into your daily life? And what kinds of wild adventures have you experienced? 

Normal

It is amazing how many things one can do online these days. Most institutions try to get you to do everything online. This means, of course that the information you give has to fit what they are requesting. I remember years ago when we first made our website for our singing group, Listen Up!, that we wanted people from around the world to be able to order a cd (remember those shiny discs that held music). This meant that the form they filled in from a drop-down menu had to include all of the countries in the world. 

The reason we specifically wanted this was because we had often had trouble ordering or filling in information on US websites. Every drop-down menu had all 50 states and other various areas, but nothing more. There was always a place where we had to fill in our state (in addition to our address, which included our city). The ZIP code had to fit the US way of doing things. The Belgian post code only has four numbers. The Dutch post code has four numbers and two letters. 

We realized even back then that we were not “normal”. Even today, when many online stores have figured out that customers can come from across the world, we see that government sites have not figured out that there are plenty of people who do not fit the “normal”. And it is not simply US government sites. Every government is full of red tape and specific ways of doing things. The Dutch tax office has a saying on their radio advertisements: “We can’t make it any funner, but we can make it easier.” But they don’t. 

We have always been extremely thankful that we have people in the US who take care of all of our tax situations for us. This began decades ago when brother McCurdy in Abilene, Texas saw it as a way to support missions. He did missionaries taxes for free. And what a blessing this is. Perhaps he understood that missionaries are already dealing with enough red- tape wherever they are that to mitigate the red tape in the US could only be a blessing. 

So we have always been extremely thankful for E.B. Dotson and now Larry McElroy for the assistance they provide for so many in this way. Because there is nothing “normal” about our situation when it comes to taxes. We were made aware of this fact - again - recently when the Belgian tax office contacted us. 

Everyone who works with us for Ardennen Bijbelkamp, for example, is a volunteer. There are 3 youth weeks and a family week in the summer, a youth week in the Fall and Spring along with a youth weekend in the Fall and Winter. Every single team member of these activities is a volunteer. IN the summer, the volunteers even have to pay to help. This is not normal in our society and certainly not something the tax man can imagine. 

When people want to help and give advice, the advice is often based on what they know in their own normal world. But we have come to understand that we are far from normal. That means that we often have to explain things many times, find ways to prove things that are hard to prove, look for different ways of filling things in and basically trust that it will work out. And these days that means working past chatbots and all of the “normal” answers. We are thankful that we have a God who knows what is going on and is more than mighty to work things out. 

Be thankful for when things work out “normally” and don’t freak out too much when things don’t seem to fit. Keep calm and look further. Ask questions. Give grace in conversations, knowing that the person you are talking to might not be able to understand how different your situation is. And know that God is mighty. Don’t give up; give in to His might and guidance. God is not normal and neither is our life with Him.

Where oh Where Wednesday: Herbricht

More than 105 years a cafe has been the place to be in the tiny hamlet of Herbricht just down the road from our house. When we first came to live here we experienced one of the largest floods of the Maas river in 1993. At that time 37 people still lived in the tiny village. The flood returned in 1995. Herbricht is used to the river stretching its banks a bit, showing off for the tourists, it seemed. 

When the river flooded in 2021, the river bed had been widened. This flooding, associated with what they were calling a “water bomb” in the Ardennes was larger than any had ever been. The widening of the river bed meant that the water still reached new heights in the village, but didn’t wipe it out. Herbricht was “saved” from the worst of the floods that had ever come. But this was the last straw for the people living there. 

Now there is only one couple still living there and they will soon move. They started the cafe all those years ago and their family has run it throughout the years. We used to visit with the boys, taking a long walk along the river and stopping at the cafe to play at the playground set there for all the bicycle tourists who stopped. They had a very tall slide which the boys loved. Later we would walk along the road to Herbricht with the dog. He loved seeing all the swans out in the water. 

People will still bike along this road, following the river up into the next city of Maasmechelen. We live on what is called the “Maas side”, a string of villages and small cities gracing the side of the river like a set of pearls strung together. The dialect along this stretch is all similar. You can hear if someone is from this area. And people like biking here. But they will not stop at Herbricht any more. Herbricht will simply be a note in the history books, a place noted in old pictures. 

Making a choice

It is intriguing to see how God can use people. Many of us perhaps can understand king David’s amazement that God would use him. David knew who he was, his own shortcomings. But he also knew how mighty God was. And he trusted that. Even when he messed up royally. 

We have always tried to remember that God is using us however He sees fit and in ways that He sees as possible. We try to be faithful in simply continuing to follow Him and speak of His wonderful love. As we do this, we try to remember that each person makes their own choices in their lives. We cannot change people. They must allow themselves to be changed by meeting the amazing love of God. 

Years ago we met several of our next door neighbors when we offered a chance to “Get to Know Jesus” by looking into the gospels. The house next to us is used as a half-way house for patients dealing with mental struggles and transitioning back into society. Some of these neighbors grabbed the chance to meet someone they had heard of but never really known anything about. 

One of those neighbors was Jan. He called himself a speeding train that always moved at high speed. When we met him he was coming down off of extreme medication. He had grown up attending a Jesuit school and was very intelligent. Hen enjoyed the group reading in the gospels and was familiar with the story of Jesus. Finding Jesus in his own life was more of a struggle. 

After he left the house next door and went on into society, some of his struggles returned with a vengeance and he ended up in prison in Antwerp. I would visit him there every month and try to encourage him and remind him of Jesus who we had met. He chose to do things his own way, which was often quite confusing (including making his own religion of which he was the pope). 

About two weeks ago he called in the evening. He regularly called when he had enough telephone credits and asked me to look up addresses and phone numbers on my computer. This time he mentioned that he had set up his cell to die. I let him know that he was not alone and that God was mightier even than his situation. But later in the week I got news that he had continued with his choice to end his life. 

We know that God is able to change things to help us. We know especially that God is able to change US to be the people that He knows we can be. But our choices influence further what direction we will take. We can choose to follow Him or go our own way. And those choices will determine where we end up. We will miss seeing Jan and are pained that we will not see him again. And we will double our efforts to remind the people around us how important it is that we choose to follow Jesus now, today. 

We are not given tomorrow. We have today. Jesus has proven that He is able to keep us safe if we walk with Him. He has done all that is necessary to free us of the troubles to which we are enslaved. But it remains our choice. We pray that you, too, will choose to walk with Him, get to know Jesus in your life. 

Whensday: Moving the clock or the calendar?

At the end of this month we will move the clocks back an hour. “Fall back” is what we say to remember which way the clock goes. A young person recently asked me: “Do we really need to do that? Doesn’t it happen automatically?” And of course, if you only have your computer or smart phone to use as a time keeping instrument in your house, perhaps this could be true. But many people will still have to think about the various clocks around the house. 

In Belgium and the Netherlands we always change our clocks, moving out of Daylight Savings Time (DST) on the 4th Saturday to Sunday. This year that will be October 25-26 (we are technically supposed to change the clock at 2 am). The US will change a week later, if I understand correctly, because DST should end on the first Sunday in November which will be November 2. So we here in Belgium will already be well-rested before the Americans finally set their clocks back. 

Now imagine that you not only have to jump in time, but completely skip several days. That is what happened in 1582 for Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland. In that year those countries skipped from October 4 to October 15 when they decided to switch to the new Gregorian calendar. Of course it took decades to be adopted in other places. 

Day light Savings Time was officially introduced in the US in 1966 and has been a bone of contention ever since. People talk every year about ending it, but wonder if they should then keep Winter Time as the default or Summer Time. As long as we don’t lose two weeks on our calendar as they did in 1582, I think I fine with either decision. 

Planning for Camp

This past weekend I was blessed to sit down with about 20 people to evaluate and plan camp. We wanted to see what had gone well this past summer or needed changing and also look forward to the coming year. In 2025 we hade full or almost full camp weeks all summer. Shirley and I were blessed to help run the oldest group this year and I helped with the Family camp week as well. Next year it looks like I will be helping with the youngest group again. 

The exciting thing about Ardennen Bijbel Kamp (ABK) is how much the church members from around Belgium and the Netherlands are invested in it. There is an amazing mix of younger and older people who help each other plan and run the various camp weeks. These are memory-making times for so many young people who then also go on to help others make the same kinds of memories in their lives.  

In 2026 we will have 3 new camp leaders, people who have stepped up to a challenge to help others. It is exciting to see how this happens and to see the courage of those who step up. A young brother with a growing new family will lead the teen group, assisted by another young couple with a new baby. In the Fall a young man will lead his first Fall Camp after having helped this year in various camps. And in the Spring, when we meet to work on camp, a brother has stepped up to be present and help direct the efforts while our usual leader for that week has to be away. 

In the meantime there are all sorts of new teams forming. Bible camp is a place where people can put their talents to use helping others. It is a place to learn how to lead and how to help. It is a place to help young people and families grow in faith in the Lord, learning in practice what God tells us in His word. I am so thankful that we get to be part of this effort and working together with these people. 

Whatsit Wednesday: Vlaai

Recently a baker from our town of Lanaken got together with a local Dutch baker from Maastricht to bake the largest “vlaai” in the world. It was even recorded in the Guiness Book of Records. This typical Limburg pie was an apricot crumble version, but there are many different variants. 

A “vlaai” (sounds like “fly”, holding a bit longer on the vowel in the middle: fla-ee) is a pie. Some people might be familiar with an apple pie. It will have a crust, lots of good apples in it, and topped with criss-crossed bits of pastry. You can do this with cherries in the middle or apricots and they will still all be called a vlaai. But the people Limburg (a province in both the Netherlands and Belgium) consider their vlaai to be the most delicious. And the choice is also immense, although everyone has their favorite. There is a pudding vlaai with crumbly bits on top, a rice custard that is just the right consistency topped with chocolate shavings (my favorite), and many others. 

Suffice it to say that vlaai from Limburg is often what tourists come to experience in this area. And now they will be able to try one just like the largest vlaai in the world. It is amazing that this apricot monstrosity (weighing over 1000 kilo and measuring 7 meters across) was made by our local baker. It was exciting that it was done with the help of a French pastry chef with a store in Maastricht and a local baker’s school. Both Belgium and the Netherlands are claiming the honor.

Prayer Warriors

Teamwork is amazing too see and experience. Accomplishing something on your own is exciting, but being part of a whole is even more enervating and challenging. We are members of a body, God’s team. He is using us. And we team together with people around the world. 

The amazing thing is how powerful prayer is in this team work. As with any team, we sometimes forget all the parts and only focus on certain elements - the ones more visible. Everyone notices the striker who kicks the goal, the basketball player who makes the dunk, the wide receiver and quarterback who hook up for an amazing touchdown. Some think they are doing nothing - “All I can do is pray.” But prayer is the power behind change. 

Jesus mentions that we can make our desires known before God. He says that if we ask we receive, if we knock the door will be opened. He will give us what is best for us. God is just like us as fathers (or is it the other way around) - a father loves to be asked to help and to be trusted to help. God wants to hear what we want and wants to hear how we trust Him to do it. 

Most recently the body of Christ in Maastricht has been praying for many people we know who are seeking God in their lives. Many of these people are clearly seeking Him. They are on a path to become a child of God. Others do not even know that they are seeking God. They are seeking peace and we know that peace only comes from God, the Prince of Peace. As we pray, we look for opportunities to share the grace and love that has been shared with us. 

We are so very thankful for others who are also praying for us, for our words, as we are praying for people who are seeking peace. We know that we are part of a team. Many of you are partnering with us as we are partnering with you. We pray for one another and thank God for the ways that He is working in so many lives around the world. 

Thank you for prayers for our conversations. Thank you for prayers for the various activities we have planned (for Bible camp, youth weekends, Bible studies, retreats and more). Thank you for being part of the team. Everything you are praying for is very important. Knowing that God is our strength and calling on Him for His strength is extremely important. And it is so very encouraging knowing that you are praying for us. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Edith Cavell

Edith Cavell was British and yet she is known in Belgium for her exhaustive work. She was born in 1865 in Swardeston near Norwich. The first time she experienced Belgium was as a governess for a family in Brussels from 1890-1895. It was after this that she became a nurse and started her work in Belgium. 

The founder of the Belgian Red Cross, Belgian royal surgeon Dr. Antoine Depage, asked Edith to be matron of a nursing school in Belgium in 1907. She trained nurses for three hospitals, 24 schools and 13 kindergartens in Belgium. When WWI broke out she was visiting her widowed mother in England but returned to Belgium and her work there. 

It was during this time of war, in German-occupied Brussels that she helped many allied soldiers and fighting-age men to escape to the neutral Netherlands. Many of these were wounded soldiers she had also helped nurse. She was arrested by the Germans in 1915, put in prison and, in the end, executed for working with the enemies of Germany. 

Although she was a nurse and could not be prosecuted under the Geneva Convention, since she had helped further than medical needs, she was seen as complicit in the war. She was not arrested for espionage, but for war treason. She was executed by firing squad on October 12, 1915. Her last thoughts and words, which are inscribed on a memorial to her near Trafalgar Square, are: “Standing as I do in view of God and Eternity, I realise that patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.”

Cavell was 49 at the time of her execution and was a pioneer of modern nursing in Belgium. Among the many memorials around the world to Edith Cavell, her name is among the 35 names on a memorial in Schaerbeek in Brussels. The name Edith was not common in 1915 until this event. French singer Edith Piaf who was born two months after the execution was named after Edith Cavell. In 2005 the French-speaking Belgians voted her 48th greatest Belgian. On October 12 it will have been 110 years since her execution.