Whensday: 2000-2025 in the Didohof

The last several weeks we have been feeling how full our little room on the street, Didohof, can get on a Sunday. Back when we started, of course, things were different. We first met as a congregation in a community center on Sundays. It was an upper room and we were a group of about 10. Within a few years we were meeting in a larger room downstairs. But it was still only available to us on Sundays. 

At one point, one of our regular visitors mentioned a room that was open next to her apartment. We called and were able to arrange to rent the room from then on. It was a new millennium and we had a room that we could use every day of the week however we wanted. It was an upper room again, but that didn’t really matter. That first year we had apprentices from York College who helped with our evangelism and outreach (Sue is still working with the Dutch-speaking work today, in Ghent, Belgium). 

In the following years we have hosted youth weekends here, concerts with singing group Listen Up!, study evenings teaching people how to read the Bible. Song workshops with a group from Harding where we also sang at the local nursing homes, and much more. We have seen members come and go, moving on to other congregations or different countries. We have seen kids grow up and give their lives to the Lord. We have even had some baptisms in the room using a blow-up swimming pool (getting the water out is the real challenge). 

We have a main room, a kitchen (which doubles as a children’s class during the Sunday morning Bible class) and two restrooms out in the hall. This coming Sunday is a 4th Sunday, which means that we hold our potluck (every 4th Sunday). We are able to warm up meals that we share with one another and can move the chairs before setting up tables to enjoy the fellowship together. It is exciting to see how everyone helps one another. 

In these years people in the neighborhood have come to know that we are here, although they do not always know who or what we are. A few years back we walked the neighborhood with a questionnaire about “Church and Society”. It was intriguing to hear if people even knew who met in the room. This coming year we will be repeating the questionnaire to see what people know about the group that meets. 

Our direct neighbors certainly know plenty about us. Some have noticed how we help one of our shut-ins who lives just across the way. Others hear us singing on Sundays and other days when we have a singing. Some have even come to our singings as well. If nothing else, the neighbors recognize that there are more cars parked in the street on Sundays and days when we have something planned. 

We can seat about 40-50 people if we put out all of our chairs. As mentioned, these past few weeks we have had more visitors than normal, pushing our attendance on a Sunday up near that 40 mark. During a Listen Up! concert we even had standing room only. We are thankful that God has blessed us with this space and for how we can continue using it to glorify Him. 

(Click on the photo for more pictures of our building and family throughout the years)