Updates and upcoming dates

As August comes to a close our camp season also reaches its end. This year Shirley and I were blessed to be able to help with Benjamin Camp, not long after we returned from our Home Assignment (2 months visiting in the US). We had a good week with active Benjamins (8-11 year-olds) and a good team of helpers. We were especially thankful for the three young people who came to help and learn about helping. I have already spoken to the young men (who attend in Maastricht) about next year and they both are looking forward to it. 

Along with the young people, we were also thankful for the help we had from a Ukrainian couple who came. They also took a group of Ukrainians down to camp after the end of Family Camp. They had to wait a few days because of the huge fires that were raging not far from camp. Thankfully the fires have been brought under control, not in the least through some very heavy rain. We are thankful for the camp weeks that can be added to the schedule of camp and that camp was not affected negatively by the fires. 

It was at the end of Family Camp, where Scott taught 2 days and attended the lessons all five days, that the fires in the Fenn took off. As we were leaving on Friday we heard on the news of the fires. When we got home, we heard about flooding in Indiana (where our son and his family live). Too dry in one area and too wet in another. It is amazing how we are much more aware of everything happening around the world. 

As we finished up camp, we have moved forward into the time of singing. Our first Friday singing was in the theme of preparing for a special Gospel Workshop that would be offered in the neighborhood where we meet as a congregation. We were thankful for the visits that evening and conversations. And it was a great time of singing! 

In just a few weeks we will be singing again as the congregation from Cologne, Germany comes to visit. We hope to encourage some local visitors also to come sing with us. This coming Wednesday we will also be in Eindhoven again for the monthly singing. We have not been there since April. We are so thankful for the opportunities that we have to sing with people throughout the country. 

In September we will also visit camp again for the Family Day and will hold our yearly evaluation and planing day. This planning day is a time to plan for next year and see who can help. The congregation in Maastricht is looking at taking a more active role in planning and helping with a week of camp. In the meantime we are trying to figure out how we can transition our role with camp as we work through our plans to move back to the US. 

We are thankful for opportunities to serve, to help people grow in faith and to grow ourselves in trust. We are thankful that camp has been used well and has been kept safe from the most recent possible dangers. And we are extremely thankful for t=all the people we are able to work with. 

(Photo of the Gospel Workshop held last week)

Where oh Where Wednesday: Charleroi, Belgium, World

In 1996, 30 years ago, the world ended up watching a horror story unfold in the little country of Belgium. As the truth came out, people around the world lost their innocence and things everywhere, but especially in Belgium, changed. There is a sharp delineation of “before” and “after”. 

Our awareness of the situation came with signs that were hung from bridges across the highway on our way to camp. They mentioned Julie and Melissa, two 8 year-old girls who had gone missing. We had heard on the news about An and Eefje, teenage girls who had disappeared after a party in Blankenberge (on the coast). In the end, after everything came out, it was known that all four girls had died because of Marc Dutroux. 

Most of this all came to light after two other girls were freed alive from one of the houses that Dutroux had in an area of the city of Charleroi called Marcinelle. Dutroux had been caught after the kidnapping of Laetitia and finally agreed to show police where she could be found. He also gave the police another girl “for free”. Sabine Dardenne had been kidnapped earlier in the year and was still being held where Laetitia was being held - in a terribly small cage hidden from sight. The police had even been in the house and had not d=found the hiding place. 

Julie and Melissa died because at one point after kidnapping them Dutroux was in jail and couldn’t get out for several months. His partner, Michelle Martin, was supposed to care for them. She didn’t. They died of hunger and were buried in his garden. She had fed the dogs, but not the children. The horror story caused many things to change in the country of Belgium and around the world. 

In Belgium the police set up a unit specifically focused on finding missing persons. Child Focus was established, which helps in looking for missing children. The police themselves were reorganized, combining the federal police with the normal police so that there could not be any more miscommunication or turf wars among them, causing kidnapped children to be left to die. 

Even more, parents became aware that their children could be in danger. Julie and Melissa were just young friends, out playing together in the neighborhood. Julie’s mother went out at 6 pm to call her daughter to dinner but couldn’t find her. An and Eefje, although teenagers, were kidnapped as they walked along a road. After this summer of horror with Marc Dutroux, people everywhere realized that what happend in Belgium could happen anywhere - even in their own streets. 

Singing and praying

One of the ways that we have enjoyed helping the churches in Belgium and the Netherlands is in singing. In Maastricht we get together every first Friday. On the 3rd Wednesday we are in Eindhoven and every September we get together with the church from Cologne and others. Last year we also started driving up to Haarlem to help with the singing there. 

In August our first Friday song was at a time that one of our young men was at camp, so we went to their house on the Sunday to talk about and practice some tips for song leading. It is always exciting to see young brothers willing to learn how to lead the singing in a congregation. Anyone excited to sing for the Lord is a blessing to the congregations they attend or visit. And our First Friday singing was special as well, as we practiced some songs we will use in a neighborhood outreach this coming Wednesday evening. 

We look forward to September when our first Friday singing will mix with the singing with Cologne. Each year we hold a day of singing in either Cologne, Maastricht or even Liege or Eindhoven. This year we will meet in Maastricht. We will use this opportunity to also reach out in our neighborhood. This week (Wednesday, August 19) we are also organizing a Gospel Workshop for the neighborhood and hope to meet some people from the neighborhood who also love singing. 

One of the things that we will continue to do even whien we leave the country is to help with this singing. We hope to continue recording songs for the Youtube channel and more. 

In the meantime we remain in prayer for the various places in the world dealing with some pretty nasty natural disasters. There is flooding near our son in Indiana (and elsewhere), the largest fir in Belgian history burning just miles away from our Bible Camp (and other fires elsewhere), earthqueakes in Colombia and Indonesia, and much more. This is not counting the ongoing suffering due to war. And still we know that God is mighty and able to help in all of these situations. 

(Photo is our First Friday singing in April at our house)

Whensday: August 11, 1999

The special glasses are sold out in all of the stores. Just the other day someone realized that they might need them and went looking. Not a pair of glasses to be had in all of the stores in the area. Everyone is ready to watch the eclipse this year and it will be different than last time. 

The last time that an eclipse was so prominent in Belgium was on August 11, 1999. We were busy with our Bible Camp weeks, as always. That week would have been during the Family Camp. I remember how often the topic was discussed in the news. First that people should be careful and use the correct type of glasses. Stories abounded then as now of people who had not taken the precautions and damaged their eyes. 

But on August 11, 1999 the weather was the biggest wet blanket. It was a cloudy day and brought a bit of rain. The eclipse was to have been at 100% and was to be seen best in the Ardennes where we have our camp. It got a bit darker, but since it was a grey day anyway, not many people noticed unless they were aware of the eclipse and waiting for it. 

Today, August 12, 2026 the eclipse will be at 90% in Belgium and the weatherman calls for clear skies. As a matter of fact, the news was telling people this time not to charge their cars on Wednesday, or run their airconditioning (which most people in 1999 didn’t even have) because the eclipse will reduce the amount of available electricity by about 1.3 megawatts. Of course the eclipse will show up in the evening from about 7:15pm.

I will be down at camp during the day, but will be back home at the time of the eclipse - teaching a Bible study online. Have you ever experienced an eclipse? Where were you? What did you think of the experience? 

(Photo is of eclipse in 2003, but similar clouds as in 1999)

On the Family Side…

One of the reasons we will be moving back to the US, or one of the blessings we will enjoy, is being closer to family. This includes, of course, being able to be grandparents from closer by. Our granddaughter will be a car ride away. We hope to be able to see her and she us more often than we get to see one another now through video connections. 

And at the end of our Home Assignment, we of course also heard that we will be becoming grandparents a second time - for Sean and Jill’s baby. Although we will certainly not be within driving distance of New York, the possibility of seeing granddaughter number two will be exciting. A continental flight will be closer than an international one. 

We of course do not yet have any specific dates or times for when we might be able to see one another, but the wheels are moving. We are talking to moving companies, are putting the house up for sale and are trying to get rid of the accumulation of “stuff” from 35 years. How much stuff can one gather in that amount of time? More than enough. 

We were glad to be able to see almost all of our family as we traveled during our Home Assignment. It will be interesting to see if the distance, although it is closer, is actually closer when we move. Reality remains that one has to be intentional in getting together with family and friends. When our first neighbors moved across the town, they said farewell, knowing that it would not be that easy to find time to see one another - and that was simply across town.

But we look forward to enjoying the little moments of the grandkids. We have already seen granddaughter nr. 1 before walking and talking and now well on her way to talking up a storm and running wherever she wants to go. Granddaughter nr. 2 is due in January, so we are praying that all goes well and we get to meet her soon and start making these memories as well. 

Whatsit Wednesday: a mussel pan

From August to September is the best time to eat a Belgian delicacy served in many restaurants and homes throughout the country: mussels. Mussels are mollusks, but are not clams. A mussel has an elongated shell compared to clams. Mussels can be freshwater or saltwater, but it is the saltwater variety that Belgium is known for. 

Most Belgians will be able to tell you how to eat mussels and many will even have a special pan in the house to prepare the tasty meal. The mussels are often eaten with “firieten” (French fries). These pans are made specifically for preparing mussels and can be stainiless steel, enamel-coated steel (most of them) or even cast iron. They are designed to steam the mussels. 

Recipes for mussels include cooking in butter, oil or even beer or wine before steaming in order to add flavor. When the mussels are prepared correctly, the shell opens and the delicacy can be removed and eaten. If they are open before cooking, you should not eat them. You should also discrad any that do not open after cooking. 

The whole process can be done in about 10 minutes, making this a favorite meal for groups together. It is a bit like gathering around a fondue, but everyone gathers around the pan. It uses all the things Belgians like in a meal: butter, garlic, beer or wine and seafood - as well as “frieten”. 

People here wait for the first fresh mussels and get their pans ready or plan their next outing to a local restaurant. Do you have a mussel pan? Do you have a special recipe that you use for mussels? Have you ever had mussels? My family loves them, although I personally do not eat them. 

Benjamins

We have been doing Bible Camp for quite some years. There are photo albums at camp with a history of who all has attended and helped throughout the years. The kids love finding these and trying to recognize who is in the pictures. I was amazed to see how often we (Shirley and I) have done the Benjamins throughout the years. We have also done the other weeks, but often the Benjamins. 

And my birthday usually falls in the week of the Benjamins, so I get to celebrate with them down at camp. Some years that means a balloon crown or funny hat. Any year it means some kind of cake or brownie and some good singing. This year we also had two campers with birthdays on the following day as well as a counselor at the end of the week. 

The Benjamin’s are the youngest group: 8-11 year-olds. Their week follows the senior camp of 15-20 year-olds. The week following Benjamins is the teens (12-14 year-olds). The last week of camp is Family Camp. One of the kids this past week asked me why they were called Benjamins and I explained that Benjamin was the youngest of the sons of Israel, as they are the youngest group. But young never means that they can’t learn or be a challenge. 

We enjoyed our challenging week and I look forward to teaching two days during Family Camp next week. At Benjamin Camp I was the camp director as well as the teacher and we learned about the gospel of Luke. It was exciting to see some of the campers making links between what we were doing in the day and the lessons we heard or the songs we were singing. 

Luke taught us that we can trust what we have been taught about the good news. He takes the reader through how remarkable Jesus is - from his birth, through his teaching and miracles, to his death and resurrection. There are pieces that we only find in the gospel of Luke. It was exciting to see how many of these moments we talked about were being lived out during the week. We talked about things being “remarkable” for example. That very day, just before class, the kids found a lobster in our creek! 

Luke also showed us how Jesus taught about forgiveness and choosing to follow. Several of the kids struggled with this very thing - how could they forgive one another. Thankfully, they are young and also had the example of the counselors around them. 

We had a great team to help out with the week. A Ukrainian couple brought their youngest to camp to have the experience. She has dealt with some very serious health issues for the past years they have been in the Netherlands, but they prepare city camp weeks in The Hague for Ukrainian refugees every year. I knew that they would be a great help. In addition we had two young people from two different congregations helping as counselors, translators and activity directors. They were amazing with the kids. We also had the help of a young lady from the church in Eindhoven who had already done a week of camp helping in the kitchen and will also be helping with Family Camp. 

Shirley helped out our sister in Christ, Tonia, in the kitchen, making sure that everyone ate well and remained healthy. This week saw a lot of dry weather which also meant some ticks. The Ukrainian girl ended up having 5 ticks removed and also fell one day over a wall. She got the full camp experience. Shirley was often the nurse for the kids, several of whom had medicines to remember throughout the week. 

In a few weeks, after we have had time to recover and get the photo albums ready, we will be putting pictures up. As mentioned, I will still be going to Family Camp in a week. We know that many of you are also busy with your summer camp weeks and continue to pray for all of the kids whose hearts will be touched with the word of God in all of these places.