A firm commitment (Home Assignment 2023 Iowa)

Last week we were in the Pearl of the Mississippi or the Watermelon Capital of the world - Muscatine, Iowa. Mark Twain, who lived here for a time, also claimed that it had the best sunsets he had ever seen anywhere. We are here because there is a loving church here that joins with us in the work in the Netherlands. 

As a matter of fact, this congregation has been connected to mission in the Netherlands for about 50 years. While we are here we stay with Pam and Rudy Schellekens. When Pam was at York College, she went to the Netherlands for two years with the Master’s Apprentice Program (MAP). It was then that she met Rudy Schellekens, a young Dutch man in the church in The Hague. 

When Pam returned to the US to finish her schooling at Harding University, Rudy followed to take part in a preacher training course at Harding. They married and began working for the church in The Netherlands where we met them years later. Shirley and I first went to the Netherlands on a campaign in 1981. Rudy and Pam lived in Rotterdam and were just starting a work in that area with other missionaries. 

When Scott was in Haarlem for two years (with MAP), he worked under Jim Krumrei, but was often with Rudy learning printing at the building in The Hague. Shirley worked with Rudy in the summer of 1983 before her time at HUF (Harding University in Florence), Italy. It was in December the following year that Shirley and Scott wed and started making plans to return to missions. They moved to Belgium in 1991 and in 1997 the Muscatine church, where Rudy and Pam were now members, began supporting us in this work. 

During our short stay here we have been blessed to worship with the family here, including several Liberian brothers and sisters. It seems that back in the 19th century, Muscatine was also home to a certain mr. Clark who as a black man was the US ambassador to Liberia. There is a flourishing Liberian population in the city now and also in the church here. 

We taught class on Sunday morning and evening and shared dessert on Monday evening. Members here can identify with much of what we experience in our work. The south of the Netherlands is looked down on by the northerners, as the Midwest is considered “flyover country”. But there is also a link with agriculture and new tech companies, as in our area in Belgium and the Netherlands. We even talked about cement and 3-D printed homes. 

We are very thankful for the relationships that we have with the members here, who also support Sue Foster in Ghent (Sue grew up here and her parents are members here). We know we are talking to people who know what is going on in the church in Belgium and the Netherlands. And we even get to speak some Dutch regularly - at least with Pam and Rudy Schellekens or their boys. 

As we drove over from Omaha, we were able to crash a graduation party for Pam and Rudy’s grandkids and also see their children. Scott worked in the Netherlands when these boys were just little guys. So in Iowa we feel like we get a mix of family and church family. 

Midway through the week we moved on to Indiana where we finally get to see Stephan and Natalie. For Sean and Jill we will need to wait a bit longer. But before moving on, I was also able to throw some discs a few mornings in Muscatine. You can find our pictures of our time in Iowa here.

The Tale of Two Families

This is a tale that will be told many times over during these travels. We are journeying from city to city, state to state visiting family, tied to each other by blood either spiritual or physical. As we arrived in Minneapolis following the tale of the alternate airport, we set off the following morning for the warmer climes of Muscatine, Iowa. 

The day after we arrived the temperature hit 91 degrees (that’s fahrenheit, of course). We thought we had finally found summer. But the next day, and almost every day after in Iowa, brought rain and much cooler temperatures. Iowa is a farming state, and although rain is mostly a good thing, too much rain means that the crop cannot be planted or harvested. So not everyone was happy with the blessing from above. Especially as it also brought a good bit of flooding in its wake. 

We, however, had come to a church and a church family used to depending on the Lord for growth and strength. It was good to see old faces (and even speak Dutch to the Schellekens) and meet some new faces. Scott presented a singing workshop for the area and enjoyed challenging thoughts later with the Bible Bros – the young (and not so young any more) brothers of the congregation. What conditions are helping you to grow the seeds of faith in your life? 

We were so thankful to visit with church family, visit later with residents of a local nursing home singing praise to the Lord, and enjoy the hospitality of this family that has been so faithful not only in supporting us, but also our colleague, Sue Foster, who works with the church in Ghent. It is so good to know and feel this tie between the churches in Iowa and Belgium. 

As we left Iowa, the sun shone for a brief moment and we drove across the state, marveling at the beauty of rolling hills, greening in their spring glory – albeit also often drowning in places by the excess waters from the continuing rain. But we were heading to family, and nothing could take away the expectant joy of seeing them again. 

Shirley’s family lives in Omaha, Nebraska and as we drove past the highway works in Council Bluffs, Iowa, leading into Omaha and then past the Henry Doorly Zoo, road works greeted us everywhere. These are mostly due to the recent flooding in Nebraska. Still, we arrived at our hotel safely and headed off to see Shirley’s sister. We were wondering how everyone was doing since we had heard that Shirley’s brother had had to evacuate during the flooding of his town, Valley. What do you do when everything you own is drowned in unexpected flooding or tossed away in a tornado or turned to ash in a fire? Many of our friends have had to deal with these things in recent months. We were thankful to see that Shirley’s brother had landed on his feet, finding a new home, and that his town was already drying out. 

When we come to Omaha, we enjoy getting to see kids we have known since they were just 2 years old. Shirley’s sister came to live with us at certain periods in the beginning of our marriage. Now those kids are grown, married and have their own kids. Time flies indeed. So besides visiting and enjoying these family moments, we took a quick walk down memory lane, visiting some of the schools Shirley and her sister attended. 

The most difficult part of seeing family is having to separate again. Shirley’s sister is struggling with her health and our heart wants to stay and help. It feels good to be together again but the reality of the differences between physical family and spiritual family assert themselves at times like this. We so want to know that we will see all of our family again, but that is only possible as blood relatives of the family of Christ. We were thankful for time to make this clear during our visit with family. 

Our time in Omaha was short. We drove off in the sunshine and head north again to Minnesota where we would close this loop of the travels. But that is another tale. In the meantime, we have updated some of the pictures if you are interested in seeing those. 

Remember

This past weekend (Memorial Day in the US) we drove down to Muscatine, Iowa, to spend time with God’s family there. We weren’t aware of it, but this congregation has been supporting us faithfully for 20 years! And there is a lot to remember here.

The family in Muscatine has our picture up on a board (right next to Sue Foster!). So when we come back every three years or so, people know who we are. But they also know our names. The first morning here we went out to breakfast with the seniors and it was the ladies who asked Shirley – “So how are your two boys?” They ask about them by name.

We remember being here one year during Vacation Bible School when Scott got to play Jesus and Shirley was Salome at the resurrection. We remember sharing a barbecue behind the church building, playing discgolf on a local course or basketball on a court down by the river, learning about the city from Connie or Lloyd or Janet. It is always coming home, here. We even Skype in a Sunday with this family to be able to worship together.

This year we have been able to make new memories, staying in a different place with people we already knew. And we were able to renew our friendships and family ties with the Schellekens family. Although we had not counted on this being a holiday weekend – Memorial Day – it worked out that we were able to see so many people who we may not have seen otherwise (and them all grown up!). 

It is not always easy to remember names. This weekend we met new people: Arthur from Liberia, Lilian from Ukraine, Jeff (MayCastle if you translate his name), Ethan (who is off to Birmingham in June to tell people about Jesus) and many more. And although we may not remember all the names we would like to remember, we will keep trying. God knows our name. God knows every hair on our head. He knows what each one of us is experiencing and how difficult it can be.

One of the questions the congregation in Muscatine has asked is: What can we do to help you more? Our answer: Help us to know that you are praying for and with us. Prayer and thanksgiving are powerful tools that are only in the hands of God’s children. We can use them mightily. We are so thankful for congregations like Muscatine who love God so much, work daily to be an example of His grace in what they do, and encourage us and so many others in serving God faithfully!

Check out the pictures here.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. Brothers and sisters, pray for us.                          1 Thessalonians 5:16-25

VBS, FSC and IN

The second installment - pictures may be delayed since an internet connection is not always available.

After a wondefrul time up in Minnesota and Wisconsin we got our rental car and headed down to Muscatine, Iowa (just take I-35 south and turn left at I-80). The car had airconditioning and that was definitely necessary. We know that some of you have been praying for rain, while others have been praying for sun – we got the sun. But it has been warm and wonderful – no complaints here (we just smile and sweat).

If you have never been to the Pearl City, you need to go. Muscatine is a sleepy little city along the Mississippi that is full of industry (4 or 5 Fortune 500 companies) and some wondeful people. We were able to see old friends (Rudy and Pam Schellekens) and past students who have worked with us (Jimmy Schellekens and Sue Foster). And we were encouraged by God’s family in Muscatine. It is so great to see how large our family is!

While we were here we stayed with a family who had also opened their house to us last time. This time they were even here, so we got to know the Huddlestons better. And since they had cable, they also had 1001 channels – none of which mattered except FSC – Fox Soccer Channel! If there was one thing Sean would like to take back it would be this channel (Shirley would take HGTV). But there was an awful lot going on in Muscatine.

We arrived on a Monday – the day the VBS started. For those who don’t know (and that included our boys) VBS means Vacation Bible School. This is a time when a congregation can invite local young people (and their parents) to learn more about the Bible, Bible stories and the gospel in a friendly, fun way. Muscatine was presenting crafts, puppet shows and short plays and we got to help. Scott got to play Elijah and Jesus a couple times, Shirley played Mary (sister of Martha) and Salome (check it out in the gospels), Sean got wrapped up and came back to life as Lazarus and Stephan helped a group of kids go through the various stations. For three evenings it was busy, but fun. And you get to know people pretty well when you work with them (Sue’s mother and father, Connie and Ed, also played characters in the plays, Sue did puppets, Rudy narrated and Pam was Mary, the mother of James). Check out the pictures if you don’t believe it (when I get the pictures uploaded).

At the end of the week we were able to jump over to Indianapolis (a 6 hour drive) where Scott’s brother Mike and his family live. We had not seen Mike, Amy and the kids for 6 years, and of course all the boys have grown. It was great to spend time watching the boys do tricks on their bikes, playing chess, playing pool or just walking and talking. We are so thankful for these opportunities to see each other and we are so thankful for many of YOU - it is because of you and your love for God that this has been possible. Thank you!

While in Muscatine we were also able to play some discgolf and soccer. Jimmy Schellekens is the city soccer coach and took Sean and Stephan along for some training sessions as well as a fun session behind the Muscatine church building. Scott, Stephan and Jimmy went discgolfing. Scott has been trying to find some courses in each place they travel to and so far it has been pretty easy. So we are staying active as well as meeting, learning and encouraging (and being encouraged). Our last evening in Muscatine was a Sunday evening with a wonderful church family. It is so good to see how God blesses us with His family!

More next time on our trip across Iowa to Nebraska.