Family Camp

This week I will be down at Family camp every morning for the lessons. We are blessed to live fairly close to camp - about an hour away. This means that I can just drop down to camp and head home to my own bed in the evening. I want to be present for the lessons and some of the afternoons when I can. It is always good to see different groups of people at this camp week. 

On Friday I will present two lessons on Prisca and on Deborah. The whole week is focused on what women in the Bible can teach us. It is always encouraging at this week of camp that we can have extended conversations about the lessons throughout the day. There is of course time to play or take part in some activities, but people also enjoy discussing what has been taught and what it means for our lives every day. 

Somewhere near the end of the week there will also be a “Bonteavond” which is the talent show for the week. This is also always a fun time to incorporate campers who perhaps would not take part in such activities. It is a time of singing, play acting and just goofing off. If this is on Thursday or Friday I may be able to participate. The ;ast two years I have helped an elephant trainer for this show.

On Friday evening there is always a campfire - if the weather permits it. During the older teen camp, the campfire was rained out. This meant that their already built stack of wood was left for the Benjamins. But the evening of the Benjamin campfire was also almost rained out. The teen camp was a week of basically dry weather and they had a great campfire as well. So I hope that the Family camp will simply be able to enjoy their fire and the fellowship that goes with it. 

On Thursday I will offer a discgolf tournament and have already had some campers mention that they are waiting for that day and activity. It was fun this morning to see some people we only see at this week but also to see some of the kids we had at Benjamin Camp. Hugs from thankful campers are always welcome. And it looks like this is a great week of many families - tents all spread around the field. 

Looking ahead

We have almost been on the road for two months now. By next Wednesday we will be in our own house, our own bed, perhaps sweating from what we have heard is a heat wave in Belgium. Here in the US we have been able to visit with family and church family in so many places, sharing about what we are doing as well as picking up on what God is doing in these various places. 

We still have a day in California and then a few days with Sean and Jill in New York, but at times our minds are already turning to what is to come when we get back home. We fly on a Tuesday and arrive on Wednesday morning. That evening we will be able to share with the Maastricht family again in a Bible study we have missed for the last 8 weeks. 

On Saturday we will head down to camp with the congregation to share time together in God’s word and with God’s family. IN the morning we will study and discuss. We will then share lunch with the congregations from French-speaking Liege and Verviers. Following lunch we will join in song together - probably in at least three different languages. We are so thankful for these opportunities to encourage one another and be a family of Christ together. 

As we head into July we will be preparing for a week with the teens at camp. Shirley will be helping in the kitchen, Scott will be sharing the lessons and training new leaders and teachers. The week is full with 24 campers signed up. Please pray for these young people and the team leading them in this week. 

The week afterwards Scott will be down at Family camp once again helping with the lessons for the teens. This week is always a good opportunity to reach out to families who attend. We pray that we will be good examples while there and that God can use us in all of our conversations. 

Looking past the summer months we are looking at how we as a congregation can be God’s light and love in our community. Some of the things we have discussed while on our trip will come up with the congregation. How can we be reaching out to families? How can we be encouraging one another in remaining in the truth? We already have some plans for walks together, studies with students, games days and/or evenings for families and more. 

In all of this we are thankful that God is mighty, that we are speaking of His truth and love and that He is the One using all of us mightily for His kingdom. What is planned for your coming months? How is God using you now? What are you looking forward to? Let us know. And thank you so much for your prayers, your faithfulness as you walk with God and your example to those around you if you are walking with Him. 

What does love look like?

The past month has seen us preparing for and enjoying our weeks at Bible Camp. We are so thankful that we get these kinds of opportunities to encourage and be encouraged by people at camp. It is our fervent desire that these moments bring young people closer to Jesus, encourage brothers and sisters to see how God can and is using them in His kingdom, and enjoy the challenges that God brings us to help us grow in faith as well. 

At the end of July Scott directed a week of Teen Camp with the 12-14 year-olds. What an amazing age, with young people who are wanting to change the world and who are willing to see and accept the challenge that God gives them in changing the world. Our theme was “Living Upside Down” and we talked about being willing to swim against the stream, being willing to stand up for what is right. 

What always amazes and encourages me is how God presents immediate opportunities to put all of the lessons we are learning into practice. Not only did we have a few campers who are not believers, but we had to struggle with what it means to differ in opinions and still try to love one another and get along together. Of course the setting always helps – the fantastically beautiful nature, getting to work together at ‘kp’ (kitchen duty), playing sports and games together. And struggle is good. 

The following we were both down at camp for Family camp – Scott directing and Shirley directing the kitchen. I am always thankful to be back together as a team – I depend immensely on Shirley’s ability to run a kitchen well and very efficiently. But we are also then able to share our thoughts, feelings and prayers at the end of the day – preparing for the next day. 

This week was centered on prayer, and it was the question from our young brother in Christ, Mathias van Ginneken that stuck with me from his lesson on the Lord’s prayer (“Our Father” in Matthew 6:9-13): What does love look like? He pointed out that in this prayer – the most important thing Jesus teaches his followers concerning prayer – Jesus mentions forgiveness as the most important thing we do (it is about ‘us’, not ‘me’). After the Lord’s prayer (verse 14 and 15) he reiterates this essential element: forgiveness. That is what love looks like. 

This struck me because we were blessed with families in this week who were so grateful to be away from struggle, away from angry neighbors or strident ex-partners fighting for kids, or difficult relationships with family members. Here at camp, although no one is perfect, we work together, we share, we encourage one another. It was like another world. And isn't that exactly what God intends? 

It has stuck with me since that week. God’s greatest show of love is in forgiving us. That is what Jesus came to do and what he modeled for us as well. It is the hardest thing we will have to deal with in our lives – nigh on impossible. And yet God asks us to do the impossible – with His strength and might. He makes the impossible possible. 

So as we head into September and many more activities and wonderful discussions and studies, we hold on to that thought: What does love look like? It looks like us forgiving one another, striving to live together. What a blessing! 

Head on over to our pictures and taste a bit of what the weeks were like. You can see Teen Camp here. You can see Family Camp here. Thank you for your encouragement and desire to live for Him every day!

Finding Family

Isn’t it amazing what God creates? Look at the things we see in nature, the wonders of His creation. But look, too, at what he has created for us! We are made to be in relationship. We are made to be together – and when that is done as He has designed, it is amazing! One of those ways of being in relationship is family.

Family is God’s design. And God’s has created His family – the church. Just like with any family – we have only one thing we can do: accept it or reject it. When we decide to put our lives in God’s hands through the blood of Christ in the waters of baptism – God adds us to His family. Then we are brother and sister, children of the Almighty One who is sanctifying us daily through His Holy Spirit in our lives.

In August we were able to spend several days down at Family Camp. The nice thing about this week of camp is that it fits everyone – just like God’s family should. From the letters of 1st and 2nd Peter we learned about suffering, being used for good, persevering and the love of Christ in all we do. We spent time singing together, laughing and playing, and enjoying God’s creation all around us.

You can see some of the pictures from camp here.

Back in Maastricht we were so thankful to be able to meet again with our Maastricht family (who are actually from many places around Maastricht). We are not homogenous; we are a varied and mixed group, put together by the wondrous view of our Father, God. And sometimes it is not easy, but we keep trying to love one another, because we are loved by the One and Only, who has shown us that this kind of love really is possible.

This past Wednesday we had our first ‘First Wednesday’ again since back in May. This is when some of us from Maastricht get together with some of our family from Liége and sing our hearts out to our wonderful Father. Sometimes we learn new songs. Sometimes we just enjoy singing the songs we know (Merveilleux Amour). But always – always – we are amazed and overcome by the beuaty of God’s love in His family.

At the end of September we will get together with the family from Cologne and sing our hearts out again. Isn’t it great that God has even given us this way to put our hearts into words – together! Last year we met for the first time in Aachen (in between Maastricht and Cologne). This year we are allowed to use the garden of the museum where we met last time. As long as we have a place to be, it will be good. Because the people meeting, this family moment, is the most important part of the day. We are looking forward to taking some other members from Maastricht along with us.

And in the meantime, there are those who are considering what this family means. There are those we have been talking to, with whom we have been looking at the gracious love of Jesus, who are considering this choice we have to make. It is the only thing we can do – accept or reject. God wants us in His family and He has done everything necessary in Jesus to make it possible. All that is needed is a new birth. How wonderful are God’s creations!

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:12-13

Camp is where it's at

For the last four weeks young and old have taken advantage of Ardennen Bijbelkamp. We are so thankful that we have this facility and can encourage one another here. Each camp week (there are four) are organized and run by various members from various congregations working together to serve the youth and  anyone interested in learning more about God during such a great week. We have a week for "jongeren" (15 and older), for "Benjaminen" (8-11 yr-olds), "Tieners" (12-14 yr-olds) and a "Gezinskamp" for families or anyone who wants to come.

Jongerenkamp (click on the photo here to see more pictures) had the theme of "Serving". (You can see more complete compilation here on Luk Brazle's site.) It was exciting to discover together the various ways that we can serve one another and to dream about how we are going to put this into practice after camp. During the week we helped people in the village, shared candy during "snoepwinkel" (where you can buy chocoalte, chips and cola) by buying for someone else instead of yourself, and of course enjoyed "corvee" (kitchen duty).

The Benjamins learned about the gospel of Luke. Karla Verheijen worked with her father and Annette and Mainor Boalanos from the church in Haarlem to teach 23 kids during this week. This was a full week! There were also good helpers among the young people.

The teens learned all about the parables of Jesus. The members from Rotselaar pretty much took care of the organization of this camp. Although they had fewer campers, they enjoyed their time learning together immensely. Check out the photo's on Daniel's site by clicking here.


The last week of camp, Family camp, was a rainy week. While much of the world has been groaning under heat and drought, much of northern Europe hasn't seen very much of summer. But every moment that the sun shines, or that it is simply dry, we rejoice and enjoy. So the theme of Salt and Light was appropriate for our time together as well. How can we make an impact on our world, bring the goodness of God to where we are?

Each day brought a different teacher. I was blessed to teach on the first day and enjoy all of the speakers throughout the week. Family week is always a great mix of young and old, married and single - even different languages sometimes (although we do the lessons in Dutch). It is great to see how God is helping us to grow, to have this time to encourage one another, to know, as Peter says in 1 Peter 5, that our experiences are shared by our brothers and sisters around the world. Check out some of the pictures by clicking on the photo.

We are so thankful for these opportunities because we see how these short weeks, rainy or not, bless us. Tey give us challenges to take us into the rest of the year. They give us moments of friendship so that we know we are not alone. They bring new relationships into our lives that strengthen and challenge us the rest of our lives. Thank you, Lord, for Bible Camp!

Family Camp

Every year we put together four outstanding weeks of Bible camp for all ages. These weeks are often some of the only times for young people in the church to get together with other Christians. But this is also a time for families. We see the week of Family Camp as a time to provide some needed Biblical training and encouragement. This is a time when families can not only enjoy good textual studies, but can discuss what they mean for daily life - ready to head back into their daily lives encouraged and armed.

This year we focused on the Holy Spirit - in all His aspects. Although several of the teachers ended up stepping on information already presented earlier, it was always a good review and reinforcement. It was especially exciting to be able to discuss how God wants to help us, lead us, make us His own through His Spirit in our lives. As we head into September it is exciting to be watching and waiting for how God will use us, will have changed us and challenged us to live in His might.

As always during this week we have plenty of time to be together and do some fun things as a family in God. For our family this was just about the last time we had to be with Stephan. Sean enjoyed the time he was able to spend with his brother, although he might not have let on that he was going to miss him.

Take a moment and check out some of the pictures of Family Camp and be thankful with us for such times that God gives us. We are so glad that we are able to help in this way and take part as well. That is how a family works!