Where oh Where Wednesday: Christmas markets

When we lived in the US one of the things we experienced were “Christmas in July” sales. Mind you, the real Christmas sales would not start until after Thanksgiving (on Black Friday, of course). Buut I knew plenty of people who started playing their Christmas music in July. 

In the Netherlands and surrounding countries (Belgium, Germany and France) what we see sprouting at a certain time are Christmas markets. Every self-respecting city fills their market squares with little wooden huts bursting with what someone somewhere decided were things people want to purchase around Christmas time. This includes hats and mittens and socks and little beautiful things to put on a shelf somewhere or hang in your Christmas tree. 

There are multiple wooden huts selling mulled wine and hot chocolate, as well as beer (depending on which country you are in). There are huts with pancakes or “oliebollen (deep-fried pancake batter in the shape of balls), wieners or pea soup. The smell of supposedly handmade chocolates (especially in Belgium) or candies waft along the walkways, pulling hungry noses into the sale. 

There is of course music playing everywhere. Most of it will be the known secular Christmas tunes, but sometimes, especially now, there might simply be an AI generated beat and sound that sounds “Christmassy”. But there are plenty of people to walk between the huts, smelling and listening and enjoying. 

The market in Maastricht has a giant wheel looking over the market and the ice-skating rink. I recently took part in a choir singing what is considered the oldest Christmas song - “Transeamus”. Together with many others from the city and surrounding villages, I joined the Mastreechter Staar - a famous men’s choir. But I usually do not frequent the market in Maastricht. 

On Shirley’s birthday we visited Antwerp, Belgium, where we first lived when we moved here. As in Maastricht, they had a large wheel, but this one was at the train station and purported to give a view of the whole city. The Christmas market was downtown by the cathedral and city hall. The state of Brabo (throwing the giant’s hand) looked down at all of the commotion below him. 

In past years we have visited Sean in Brussels and walked along the market there. This one is unique - not in what it sells, but in how it is set up. Brussels has several market areas in the center of the city which they connect into one larger Christmas market. So while the humongous Christmas tree is on the “Grand Place”, most of the market is elsewhere in the city. 

We have also visited the market in Aken, Germany in years past, which confirmed what we had already come to know - these markets seem to be made up of the same people traveling from city to city. This of course is not possible, since they are all stationed in these cities at the same time. Still, everything looks quite familiar. We have not yet visited the market in Cologne, Germany or in York, England, but something tells me we would recognize it. 

What is nice to experience are the smiles on some of the peoples’ faces who are walking around the markets. Many are stressed, trying to get those last gifts or trying to have fun while dragging from one wooden hut to the next. But some people’s eyes simply light up. Some are simply looking into one another’s eyes and smiling. They are using this places to be together. And that is very nice to see. We have usually enjoyed our times at these markets because we are together, sharing time with one another. 

What are the things you enjoy the most about the places you go during the holidays? 

(You can see some of our pictures from our walks in Mechelen and Antwerp this year here.)

Taking care of family

The end of the year is often a time for family and caring for family. The holidays take many off traveling until the new year. We always find it to be a time to share family with those around us. Of course as we have lived overseas most of our family is far away. This simply means that we find other ways of getting together or seeing one another. We look forward to being able to speak to the boys around Christmas via video-calling. 

But there are plenty of people around us who also ar not able to travel to family oir be with family at this time. So we want to make sure that we can all share that together as family. This year we will welcome several from the congregation in Maastricht to our house on Christmas for a Christmas dinner. A couple from Ghana will bring some special dishes to share and our airman will bring a friend who also is without family while stationed overseas. 

We are looking forward to some game time, amazing food and wonderful conversation. This will be the second Christmas for our granddaughter and we are excited to see how much of the time she experiences. She is becoming quite a character. After our afternoon with our guests we will look forward to video’s with family. 

We are thankful for the family we are part of all over the world. Yesterday we were all together as a church family and enjoyed good food, conversation and “white elephants”. We pray that you, too, have the opportunity to share what you have with those around you. 

On the Family Side

The end of the year is family time: Thanksgiving and Christmas are all chances to catch up on what is going on and to share time together. We are thankful that we live in a time where technology makes much of that possible. When we were young, being way for the holidays meant not seeing family at all. We have the luxury of being able to connect with family through technology. 

Since we got to visit our granddaughter in the summer, we have looked forward to every single moment we can share with her (and with Stephan and Natalie). Stephan has changed up his time to video call so that this has become even better. In the past, Stephan would call at his lunch time, which was out dinner time. It worked out perfect as we could share a meal and a conversation together. When Sophia arrived, she was usually sleeping at lunch. And who wants to wake a sleeping infant? Certainly not a new parent. 

Now, Stephan calls us in his morning, our afternoon, when he is sitting with Sophia getting ready for the day. She babbles with us, shows us her toys and we get to share time with both her and Stephan. If we sing one of her songs, she lights right up, recognizing the song. We have been sending some video’s off songs with new items - in Dutch. That way she also learns that she can speak that language. 

We also enjoyed following both Stephan and Natalie running a Turkey trot on Thanksgiving. We get a link to their route and can see how they are doing (even their heart rate). At the end we were sent a picture of everyone together. It is amazing to be able to share in these kinds of moments - live and in the moment. We are so thankful for the technology that is now available. 

Over in New York Sean and Jill are also thankful for technology, but in a different way. We have enjoyed seeing pictures and videos of their new apartment which they were able to move into at just the right moment. Sean tore his ACL back in September and was able to have it operated on this past week. So he needs to be taking great care of his leg. Their previous apartment was on the 5th floor, without an elevator. Now they live on the first floor. 

We look forward to being able to say hello, even if it is briefly, to both Stephan and Natalie (and Sophia) and Sean and Jill on Christmas. As it suits young families and couples, they will be busy with their own plans on that day (as will we), but being able to jump on a call together will keep us bound together. We pray that you, too, are able to enjoy your time with family in these days - either because of the wonder of technology, or because you are able to get together. Savor each moment. 

Thanksmas

It is always good to be with family. As we have explained here before, it is difficult for many Americans here to celebrate Thanksgiving on the day itself. It falls om a Thursday, in the middle of the week. No one gets free from work here on a Thursday. So those of us here in the Netherlands and Belgium plan a day after Thanksgiving and before Christmas to get together and share our favorite holiday foods, see each other again and maybe even play some games or watch an American football game. We call it Thanksmas. 

Two years ago we organized it in Maastricht because of some covid restrictions. Last year Shirley and I organized it, but we both got sick on the day itself and had top bow out. But most years Carol and Paul Brazle in Antwerp organize the day. This year we were more or less back to normal and it was good to see everyone again. 

This is a day when young and old can gather (we had 5 year-olds and 90 year-olds). We have couples who are half American, but they bring their spouses as well. We have some who are connected tangentially with the US. We come from around Belgium and throughout the Netherlands. I think we had a good 40 or more sitting at table. 

Shirley and I enjoyed some conversations with Henk and Celia Rog who we have known for quite some time. We also got to see Jim and Ruth Krumrei with whom Scott worked 40 years ago. We hope to get back up to Haarlem soon to spend some more time with them (they are our 90 year-olds). But I also got to play a game of “war” with the 5 year-old before we left. 

That is the beauty of this day. It is a time for family, no matter how the family is formed. This was a meeting of God’s family. Most of us are children of God (although some are still considering that step). We love being able to share that love and life with one another. And of course most of us are missing seeing our natural family and broader Christian family. But this day reminds us of how blessed we are to have family. 

We pray that you too were able to enjoy your family time together (we enjoyed seeing lots of pictures, wondering at how everyone is growing up so quickly). And we, together with you, want to remember that we do not have to wait for special days to spend time together, although meeting in a larger group may have to indeed wait for such a day. We look forward to the day we can all be Home for a thanksgiving time and home-coming. 

(Many thanks to Carol Brazle for the picture. This is one of two tables)

What does church look like?

“You can’t ‘go’ to church because you are the church!” I remember hearing this early on in my new life as a Christian. And it is so true. The family, the Christians, are the ecclesia, the church. In Dutch, the word for church - “gemeente” - is the same word used for the city government. Some might use the word “kerk”, but this refers more to a building. 

This past Sunday showed once again what it looks like to be the church. In Maastricht we try to make sure that we do things in Dutch. We are, after all, a Dutch-speaking group in a Dutch-speaking city. But we are much more than that. We have 6 Dutch-speaking couples and 7 Dutch-speaking singles. But that only tells a part of the story. Most of these couples are mixed in some way. There is an Ecuadorian wife, a German husband, Belgians, and two Americans (guess who). Among the singles, there is an Iranian, Armenian, and a Belgian. And this is just the group that speaks Dutch. 

You see, although we try to make sure that things are done in Dutch, we know that we have quite a group that does not speak Dutch. So we translate into English. We have one English-speaking family and 8 English-speaking singles. There are Americans, a Nigerian (who also speaks Russian), an Albanian, a Brazilian and four Ukrainians. Around this time of year some might start singing about partridges and pear trees. 

So what does church look like? On a Sunday people filter in (some with a cultural time adaptation - if you know what I mean) and those who are earlier will be greeting each other and already drinking some coffee. After the study, some others will grab their cup of coffee in the space that we leave between the study and the beginning of our worship time together. This is a time of more greeting, hugging and general hullaballoo. 

We worship, as I mentioned, mostly in Dutch. This means that most songs are in Dutch. But we have talked with the Ukrainians and found out which songs they also have in Ukrainian and Russian. This means that the song-leader can choose songs which they know. At that time you will hear singing in Dutch and a bit of Ukrainian at the same time. A few months back, we would also hear some Spanish when Deysi’s parents were visiting from Ecuador. 

The sermon and prayers are translated into English or from English into Dutch. Sermon outlines are available in Dutch and English. Sometimes you will hear some translating of a difficult point into Russian or Ukrainian. More importantly, when all is said and done, we all gather around the coffee and discuss the lessons and how God has been blessing us in whatever language makes things clear. There is a pleasant hum of discussion and sharing. 

One of our ladies takes the Lord’s Supper to one of our shut-ins. In the week we gather online for a Bible study. The ladies just returned from a week together. Some of the members get together in the week to help each other or just meet and talk. Our Nigerian will be moving, so others will help with a car and trailer. Our young Ukrainian couple is marrying in January, so we look at how to help them get settled in. Family stuff. On a Sunday or any other day of the week.

Yesterday we spent time together having Christmas fun. We played games with gifts (white elephants), ate goodies that everyone had prepared and brought, and had a good time together. This is what church looks like. Language doesn’t matter. Where you are from doesn’t matter. There are some challenges, but we can get through those because we are family, we are church - the body of Christ. 

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.  1 Corinthians 12:12-14

(If you do Instagram, you can find us there @gvc_maastricht)

Around the world

This past Friday we held a CHRISTmas sing-a-long, inviting our neighbors, Ukrainians in the city and any others to pion us in singing Christmas songs in various languages. We sang in French, Dutch, English, German, Ukrainian and Russian (and even in Latin). We wanted people to be able to not only enjoy this time in their own language, but also share this time with others. 

The Netherlands was playing against Argentina in the World Cup, so many Dutch people had quite a conflict for this evening. But we had a great group of Ukrainians who came from Eindhoven (about an hour away) to sing with us and to meet the congregation here in Maastricht. The singing was done before 9pm. The talking went on until about 10pm. We are so thankful for how God creates family. 

Last week we also heard from a small village in Uganda who received 50 Bibles in their own language. The church family here wanted to help with this need and took care of sending the Bibles in a responsible way. As a congregation we have helped with various congregations in times of need: in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, St. Maarten and Curaçao as well as with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. 

God’s family, the church that is the body of Christ, is not some small group of people in a city in a country. It is a body, truly linked around the world and serving as the hands of Jesus wherever they are. If you are a Christian, you are not alone. We are made to be in communion, in a body, working together. And even if you are isolat5ed, you are not alone. Write, pray, email, call, speak to those around you. God is mighty and is using us all mightily, wherever we are. 

Family Time - again and again

The last few weeks have been full of family time. One of the things that I learned early on in my Christian life was how wonderful God makes family. Not only has he designed the family - father, mother and children - but he has designed the church as family. 

Jesus tells Peter and the disciples, after speaking with and about the rich young ruler, that “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age.” (Mark 10:29-30)

I have always experienced this, from the moment I became a Christian and left my own family but gained a Christian family. So too with Shirley in her life. And yet, we never left our families, our brothers and sisters - they simply had a different place in our lives. 

From November 14-24 we traveled to the US to visit Shirley’s family. Her sister is not doing well and we wanted to see if we could help, to be there for her. Usually, when we are back in the US for Home Assignment, we have about two and a half days in Omaha for Shirley’s family. This time we had 8 and a half days. It felt as if we were able to lavish this time on her family and we were very thankful that it was possible. The travel itself went very well. We would appreciate prayers for the health of Shirley’s sister. 

The Sunday we returned, we were able to share and see family again - in the spiritual sense. We have a young Ukrainian couple in the congregation who are far away from home. They will marry in January, far away from home and most family. But they are with their Christian family. We held a wedding shower for them and blessed them financially as a congregation to help them on their new journey.

The congregation in Maastricht is indeed a big, amazing family. We have several young men studying or working, far from family and culture. We have three young ladies from varied cultures who have made their homes in Belgium or the Netherlands. We have mixed culture families, Belgians and Dutchmen all together in one loving family - because of Jesus Christ. 

This past weekend Shirley and I helped get the Americans in the church in Belgium and the Netherlands together for “Thanksmas”. We cannot meet on a Thursday for Thanksgiving and often have other obligations for Christmas, so we meet in the middle and make it Thanksmas - sharing our American culture and our Christian culture together. Although Shirley and I got sick and couldn’t attend, we were thankful that the others were able. 

This coming Friday evening the congregation has moved our regular 1st Friday singing to the 2nd Sunday and invited people of all cultures to come and sing of Jesus Christ in this time that welcomes Him into everyone’s lives. Our CHRISTmas singalong will be with songs in all different languages. We have specifically invited Ukrainians in the city to come join us. It should be a great time of fellowship and let people know how beautiful family is to God our Father. 

We pray that you have enjoyed family during Thanksgiving and will be able to see family during Christmas. But if you are not able to travel, open your home to others and experience family as God has always intended. We are meant to be together and He does that best. 

Go here (Instagram) if you want to see our fun with Andrey and Adriana. 

Dog days and family fun

The holidays are usually a time of friends and family. Of course our time here has always been a bit different. We have chosen to live further away from our family. And now that our kids are grown and flown, they too have chosen to live further away from us. Part of that comes from the realization that distance is relative and that family continues over all distances. 

So we enjoyed our Christmas time by visiting with our boys and their girls via technology (for which we are so very thankful). In generations past this would not have been possible. Then it would have been cards, letters, perhaps a long-distance phone call. Now we are able to enjoy pictures and video’s and seeing one another. It is different, but it is still good. 

Here are a few pictures of the cute ones in our boys’ households. Both of our daughters-in-law are amazing photographers, so we are blessed with amazing pictures. Both ladies are also allergic to dogs, which means that they have chosen poodles - which have no dog dander and make them compatible with people who are allergic to dogs. 

Stephan and Natalie have a puppy mini-poodle called Mochi. She plays disc-golf with Stephan and they are enjoying training her and getting used to her in their home. 

Sean and Jill adopted a 10-year-old mini-poodle mix from the shelter. He was already called Pierre, which fits perfectly with them. Pierre has no teeth, so his tongue is always hanging out. He knows it just makes him look chill. 

Our own old man, Chester (turning 13 in February) still has fun with us every day. He knows when we are calling the kids and always wants to get in on the conversation. He still takes the job he learned form his first owner (Willemien) seriously and barks every time the phone or the doorbell rings. 

We have enjoyed seeing all of your pictures in the last days, receiving year-end letters and cards, seeing how God has blessed you in this past year - in spite of or perhaps because of the various challenges in the year. Hold on to family and enjoy each and every minute. Praise God for this past year and put your ;life in His hands for the coming year, living day by day in His grace. 

The second day of Christmas

In Belgium and the Netherlands (and many other places) we celebrate two days of Christmas. Both the 25th and the 26th are holidays (in the Netherlands the stores are closed, in both countries the banks are closed). But of course the ‘second day of Christmas’ gets me thinking in musical terms and I end up with two turtle doves. And that is what is so intriguing.

Turtle doves are symbolic for romantic love. You will see them in logo’s for weddings. We say things like, “Oh, look at the turtle doves.” And this time of year is a time of love. Shirley and I were married on the 21st. Stephan and Natalie on the 22nd. Although I imagine few get married on the 26th, this period is one of sharing and remembering the love we have for each other.

Two turtle doves were also the offer that Joseph and Mary brought to the temple when Jesus was born to redeem him as the first born male. They were faithful in worshipping God with their lives. So this is a time of family, of loving one another as we love God. The doves even show up in films like Home Alone 2, testifying to this element. We enjoy being together with heavenly-made family at this time as well as sharing via technology with family around the world. 

And God, who knows us all and wants all to be able to come to Him, was gracious in the sacrifices required of the Israelites. The doves were so that everyone, even those who were less well off, could offer and be in good standing with God. How ironic – or simply prophetic – that this simple offer is all that was required while it was Jesus who actually brought the ultimate offer and redeemed Joseph and Mary – and all of us. Those simple doves remind me of the beautiful, gracious love that Jesus Christ showed and shows to us all, even today.

So I really like the second day of Christmas. Don’t quite know what to make of all those leaping, milking folks later on, but those two turtle doves are quite a picture!

Enjoy this day, knowing that God loves you and wants you to be with Him, every day. He has done everything necessary to make this possible – now all that is needed is your (and my) willingness to accept Him.

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christʼs physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. Colossians 1:21-23

All in the Family

To Christmas or not to Christmas? Is that the question? For most in the Western world, there are certain holidays (from the word Holy days), based on Christian religious remembrance days (either put in place by the Catholic or other church or based on the Bible). Many people get a free day from work and this gives people the possibility to get together as family.

Of course, holidays also give stores opportunities to sell things. Anything can be made commercial. I didn’t think Thanksgiving could be turned to the dark side, but then along came Black Friday (with everyone ‘enduring’ Thanksgiving to get to that most hallowed of days). But holidays are not new. And they are not truly religious (the word in Dutch is ‘God-serving’). So I don’t expect them to be.

I simply enjoy that these are times to get together with family – whether it be family from far away via skype or travel, or church family from close by, showing what true family is. And in these moments we can share what is most important every day – the grace that Jesus Christ has brought to our lives. And isn’t that why we are here?

Enjoy your family time.

On Assignment - at home in Indiana

How often do you need to see people in order to retain a close relationship? This is something that has intrigued me almost my entire life. I grew up traveling all over. I had lived in six cities in three countries before the 6th grade. So family was always important, and making friends meant figuring it out quickly, or keeping things on the surface (I would not immediately call this superficial).

This continued when I went off to university, where I traveled all over the US, traveled to Europe and in the end spent two years in the Netherlands. My brothers and sisters also traveled. Three of my brothers were in the military and the other roamed off to Alaska. But we have always been able to re-connect. And we are still there for each other.

Our last leg of our Home Assignment brought us to Indianapolis where my ‘little’ brother, Mike and his family live. We keep and eye on how Mike and Amy and the four boys are doing through the wonder of modern communication – and I have always been very thankful for that. Since Indiana is not in the normal ‘loop’ of our travels on home assignment, the last time we visited was in 2007. Now we not only got to visit, we were blessed to spend Christmas together!

We arrived a day late so that Shirley could recover after the wedding. That left us two and a half days to enjoy the time together. And we were mixing several families as well. Marc and Wouter, who had traveled with Sean to New York city and then joined us for the wedding, were experiencing their first Christmas away from their rather large family back in Belgium. So it was good to share, to experience some local family traditions, and to just have fun.

And all along our travels we had expected snow but had seen barely a flake. Each time we left somewhere, they received a foot of snow after we left, but we were not burdened at all on our travels with snow-covered highways or backed-up traffic. Now, with a few days, we expereienced a blizzard, right in Indianapolis, for Christmas! And when it was time to leave, the roads were clear where we were headed.

Our last day was spent in Chicago with another blast from the past – Jimmy Schellekens is a young man that I knew when he was about 2 years-old in Schiedam. We spent time getting ready to leave, saw some of Chicago, had some great food (again) and even played a bit of football (the real kind). And we could relax the English or work on Dutch by speaking Dutch with Jimmy. We are so thankful that Jimmy and Amy were willing to share their apartment with us for that short visit on our way out.

After two months in the US we were now finally headed back … home. But we have been home all along the way, everywhere we stopped. You are why we can be home when we are with you. We are so thankful for the reality that wherever we are, if we are with God and his family, we are at home. Thank you!

Here is wher you can see pictures of our visit to Indiana and Illinois. 

Fall Newsletter

LIGHT in the Lowlands

Reaching out to the people of Belgium and the Netherlands

October, November and December 2008

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Dear brothers and sisters, family and friends,
The Fall season is usually a fairly busy time of different activities - with youth, weekly studies, holiday visits and family times.

New life!
Our most important news is the birth of our new sister, Valéri. It has been exciting to see her growing towards this moment in her faith. Let me give you a quick summary of this journey.
Valéri is Isha’s best friend at school (Isha is our colleague, Ruud and Karla’s second daughter). These two have been encouraging each other throughout the year - beginning especially from the time this past summer in Marseille.
Isha was baptized on a Sunday evening at home because she knew that she didn’t want to wait. Valéri, in the meantime, had been told by her parents that she would have to wait until she was 18 (next year summer). We have always been very encouraged that her parents are concerned with what is happening with their daughter. We would be no different with our children! 
Partly because Valéri was obedient, wanting to help her parent’s understand, her mother asked her in December when she would like to be baptised. “Now!” was the answer. Her mother agreed that after exams would be possible. This was a big step for the family.
But it has been the courage and faith that these two young people have continued to show to the church and those around them that has been such an encouragement to us all.
Church life
As we moved through the normal months of activities it has been good to see the desire for life in the members here. Danny - a young postman - comes to all the mid-week Bible studies, even though he has to get up quite early the next morning. He not only wants to learn, he wants to encourgae. Willemien, who has so very little in her life, is more than willing to press an amount into my hand to pass on to the people in Myanmar who are suffering. There has been a desire in all the members to see how God is changing them, making them able to do mighty deeds that He wants done. And these are being accomplished in their everyday lives.
How “great” is it that someone is able to bite their tongue and say something nice instead? For that person, who has struggled for so long to change - it is amazing! How “wonderful” is it that someone is present regularly at church activities? For someone who has struggled to order their life - this is a victory! I am in a privileged situation to see some of these victories and I praise God for His might and faithfulness.
Everyday life
We are thankful for the tasks that we are able to continue - because of the spiritual and financial support of so many around the world. We continue to have at least 6 weekly studies with a variety of people. We are trying to encourage and train up our young people - throughout the week, during special events (Fall Camp in October), and at special moments.
With Listen Up! we were able to challenge people to think about the Saviour, encourage a new sister as she begins her life, and let people know who Christmas is really about. When Willemien recently lost her dog or needed new furniture, we were able to help. It is great to see how these lessons are things that all of the members are learning - God can use us all, wherever we are!
Looking ahead
Some of the things we are doing are in preparation for the future. We are updating a songbook - with our own songs. We are planning for a campaign group in May, a yearly church get-together in June, and a song seminar in July. In the past months we have seen how important family is. God has put us in a family that He wants to use as His body. And He is able to do amazing things - even with us. Here’s to the coming days!

PRAYER WARRIORS
Please keep the following in your prayers.
Praise God for our new sister Valéri! Continue to pray for her and her parents. Pray for her growth and for peace and understanding for her parents.
Pray that we can grow as a church as we focus on His strength in 2009.
Pray for me with RW as we continue to study in the word.
Praise God for our young people who have encouraged one another and have been an example in faith for so many this year.
Pray for our plans in the coming year for a campaign, youth weekend and outreach.
Pray for guidance for world leaders, also here in Europe.

DID YOU KNOW?
Tidbits of information about the Netherlands and Belgium
Holidays
The Fall season brings all sorts of holidays - and holidays are where you see how much you are part of a culture. Since we are Americans, living in Belgium, working with the Dutch - this can be a pretty interesting time.
In the Netherlands: people in the South (where we live) celebrate St. Martin, sometimes with paper lights, sometimes with tricks. And of course there is Sinter Klaas (on the 5th of December) when kids get presents.
In Belgium: All Saints day is quite important here, when the dead are honored (and flowers are sold). Of course Sinter Klaas is here as well (on December 6).
Interestingly, Halloween is making its way into both cultures because it is similar to Carnaval. Thanksgiving is nowhere to be seen.

What's coming up?
JANUARY
Youth weekend
Camp meeting
FEBRUARY
Youth weekend
ABSS

THANKS!
For your continued financial support, especially now
For your prayers for our work! New life is exciting!
For your cards (Irene and the Thurstons) and emails

ON THE FAMILY SIDE . . .

The Fall has been a beautiful, ever changing whirlwind of activities and people. As the colors change and the weather has gotten colder (though not really that cold), we have enjoyed the changes in our days.
We have always been very thankful to be able to get around as we need. We have a good car that gets us wjhere we need to go (and back). Gas prices may make you think twice, but at least you can consider going. But the car is still not always the best way to get around. When we get the chance, or when we need to, we have taken the train. We have used them to go to Brussels (with the ladies or just together). Sean even used one recently to get back from his friends’ house - and it all went fine (thankfully). The last time he and Stephan were on the train was a bit of a stress. In the Netherlands the train is more expensive, but it is well worth it to Scott to not have to sit in the traffic jam which is the normal traffic going north. If he has to go to Haarlem to rehearse with Listen Up!, it is better and easier to take the train.
Our visits this Fall have taken us to Antwerp - for a wonderful “Thanksmas” dinner, a day out shopping at the mall or rehearsals, to Brussels - with the ladies from church for a day together, or a day together for our anniversary, to Leiden - to visit with Genya and Ken, and even to Cologne (to find out that the store was closed). We enjoyed seeing Genya and Ken. They were both working in Maastricht some 6 years ago - Genya from Siberia, Ken from Japan. Genya brought Ken to Christ and then both moved away. Ken married a Dutch girl and lives in Leiden where they also have a little daughter. Genya is now planning on moving to Haarlem to be close to his job in Amsterdam. He is also married and has a son and a daughter on the way.
Sean has been enjoying his electric guitar and he is getting quite good, so he decided that he needed a bass guitar as well. (He also wanted a drum set - but that’s a NO). He sold his games consoles (and learned a lesson about how people will cheat you) and planned which guitar he would buy. The Music Store is a huge store in Cologne, Germany (about 2 hours away). We drove over, only to find that they were closed - on Christmas Eve! Go figure! So we just had a great time together (in the only store open for a while - McD’s) and then headed home - to order the guitar online.

Christmas was a wonderful day with Willemien and skyping with Stephan. The second day of Christmas we spent with friends in Belgium. New Year’s Eve will be in Antwerp. It is so good to be able to see, hear, talk to and be with people we love. We are so thankful for all the possibilities we have to be family!

Sharing Christ at Christmas

This season has always been a time for us to let people know about who Jesus really is. In past years Listen Up! has taken the time to present the whole story of Jesus in music. This year we went to Haarlem to sing with some kids from the BOB (the after-school daycare with the Bible) for a home for the elderly, sharing the message and the joy of Jesus. It was thrilling to see how the members even came out on their balconies to listen and to sing together with us, celebrating the goodness of God.

A few days later we welcomed Willemien to our house for Christmas day. She is such a part of our family. It was great to be able to have Stephan in the living room with us (via Skype). He was able to laugh and joke with Sean, greet Willemien and share in a cup of coffee (kind of) for a little bit of the day.

We are so thankful for how blessed we truly are with so many things, so many opportunities, and especially all the people in our lives.

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2008
Originally uploaded by sraabs.

What a wonderful day! From even before I became a Christian I saw that "Family" with God was something special. How else could people who were so diverse be so close and really love each other? That is what continues to thrill me about this life that God has given us!

This Christmas day we had Willemien over to celebrate with us. It was great to spend that time together, share the smiles and laughter of our giving moments, and just know that we were family. God is so good!

(Click on the photo to see some more of what we did at home on Christmas.)