Cars, cars, cars

As you may have read in our last post, we had a bit of an exciting New Year’s Eve when our car decided to tell us something was wrong. Cars these days. In the past you might have gotten some kind of hiccup, or smoke or some strange sound. These days the car simply tells you that something is wrong. Our car is from 2016, but it is still young enough to have this sort of computer in it. “Engine trouble” is what we were greeted with when the car didn’t seem to be moving as well as usual. 

Since New Year’s day fell on a Thursday, our garage wasn’t open until today (Monday), which meant that we spent the weekend without a car. Not really a problem in these days, except for Sunday morning. Thankfully we have plenty of brothers and sisters who were willing to pick us up if needed (and bring us back home). So we enjoyed a wonderful Sunday morning worship time and also had some good conversation with our sister Gaiane while she picked ups up and dropped us back home. 

Today I took the car in to the garage. It drives just well enough to get it to the garage, about a 10 minute drive away. Of course I would have to leave it there until they could look at it and let me know what was wrong. That meant a good 50 minute walk home in the snow, but that brings its own charms. When the garage called back, they let us know that the fix would be far too expensive for this car with more than 260,000 kilometers. Thankfully they also told us, after I walked back in the snow, that the car would still work for small distances - city driving. 

So now we have spent a good bit of the day looking at second-hand cars and wondering what we are actually looking for. We enjoyed our Citroën, but are pretty sure we will not be able to find another like it for the price we want to pay. You know how it goes - you make up a list of all the requirements that said car must meet in order to be picked. 

Are there any brands you absolutely would not choose? (Renault, Mercedes or BMW) Does the type of fuel matter? (We want a diesel because it fist our needs) Are there other requirements? (Must be Euro 5 designated exhaust in order to get into cities, preferably a bit taller so we can step in easily, and if possible with a trailer hitch for our trailer) We don’t worry about color, at this point, even if we may have preferences. We pay most attention to how many kilometers, how old, and what the price is. 

We hope soon to be able to find something and be completely mobile again. In the meantime we will enjoy the snow which is slowing everyone else down on the roads.

(Photo is of our previous Citroën back in 2018, stuck in the mud at Bible camp)

Whodunit Wednesday: Thierry Neuville

There are plenty of young kids who dream of driving their cars over every sort of terrain, sliding through curves, jumping over hills and speeding on to win the race. But there are a few who actually do this - ij the dirt and dust, in the snow, in the mud. They are called rally drivers. I remember as a kid being amazed at the pictures and video’s of these cars flying through the air. 

Rally car driving is quite popular in Belgium, just as is riding bikes through mud and dirt and anything else that can get in the way. Belgians like seeing sport people get muddy, I guess. But there has never been a rally world champion from Belgium, until now. Thierry Neuville just won the world championship this year. So at the moment, Belgium and the Netherlands are top of the world as far as motorsport goes, since Dutchman Max Verstappen has been crowned Formula 1 world champ this year - his 4th time. 

Thierry Neuville comes from the German-speaking area of Belgium, in St. Vith. Belgium has 3 official languages and areas: Flemish (which is basically the same as Dutch), Walloon (which is basically French) and German. The German-speaking area is a small little sliver over in the East of the country, bordering on Germany, of course. It is just East and south of where we hold our Bible camp weeks every year. 

Neuville has been racing for quite some time, even though he is still fairly young (only 36 years old). He looks like a mild-mannered Clark Kent, with glasses and a little smile playing across his face. But he and his navigator know how to tear up the course in a rally car. These cars look somewhat like normal cars, except for all the stickers and the built out bumpers. Subaru’s, Peugeot’s, Citroën’s, Toyota’s and many more are all competitors in these type of race. Neuville has been racing for Hyundai. 

It is intriguing that we have so many sorts of racing so very close to where we live and work. One of these days we may get a chance to stand along the side of the road as the rally cars go roaring past, tossing up mud and dust as they race to victory. For this year, in any case, that victor is Belgian Thierry Neuville. 

Being taken care of

Giving to others is great. Jesus spoke truth when he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. And yet there are many times that we need to learn to accept help. How else will we be able to accept the amazing grace that God offers us. If we are always trying to pay things back, or feeling ashamed of receiving help because we feel we should do it on our own, then we cannot experience forgiveness or grace or how good it is to be part of a loving, helpful family. 

This is something that I remember learning long ago from the first Christians I came to know - my best friend and his family and friends. Pizza every week or so with the youth group sounded great, but I didn’t want to be beholden. My best friend’s father let me know: “This is what we are doing now for you. Later you will do this for others. We do it because God has done it for us. We just want to be like Him.” 

This past month our car needed plenty of TLC (and then some!). And we all know that car care come at a price. Thankfully, we are well cared for because of so many of you who support us, making it possible for us to be sharing God’s good news here. And we use our car an awful lot. This was something that our church family here also understood. They have either been a recipient of us traveling to them, or have seen how we use what God has blessed us with. 

Every 5th Sunday the congregation in Maastricht holds a special contribution. This is in addition to our regular giving. The members can share a need that we can all decide to contribute to, according to our own desire and ability to help, One of the members put us own the list. We were surprised by this attention and even more by how much was given to help us out. It is amazing to be a part the body of Christ! These brothers and sisters give from the heart. 

Those many years ago I learned that the best thing about walking with God is how thankful we can be. He blesses so immensely. He does that through what He has given - true grace and forgiveness and love and peace - as well as through His body, our brothers and sisters. We are indeed so thankful for all of you who continue to support us in prayer and encouragement and financially, making it possible for us to be here. Our trip to the US this past month was also an example of this giving love. And we are so thankful for the group of people we are working with here who also know this wonderful truth of the joy of giving. 

(That is our car back in 2018 when Stephan and Natalie came to visit).

Whatsit Wednesday: Traffic innovations

Traffic is everywhere. As we are traveling in the Midwest we are thankful to have the use of a good car to make our way around and the travel in each of the cities we visit. Most cars in the US are automatic whereas most cars in Europe are “standard” where you have to be able to shift, using a clutch. 

In northern states in the US it is quite common to see cars with whole sections rusted out - and the cars still taking part in traffic. In Belgium and the Netherlands yearly inspections make it impossible to keep driving cars with so much rust. This also means that much older cars are less likely to be part of daily vehicle traffic. 

While we were driving in Minnesota we noticed a few things that are quite common in the Netherlands and Belgium. In many neighborhoods in the US a 4 way stop sign is common. This means that cars from each road stop at the intersection, yielding to any cars which arrived earlier. In Europe, and especially in the Netherlands, this type of intersection is solved by a roundabout. Traffic remains flowing at an efficient  and safe rate. We saw several of these in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. 

An innovation that was innovated by the Dutch and is extremely helpful are links in the road in front of a stoplight. These links are pressure sensitive and send signals to the stoplights which then regulate the traffic based on how much is coming from which direction. This means that, if you approach a stoplight and there is no cross traffic, the light automatically turns green. 

Another innovation from the Dutch is perhaps less-desired by most drivers: the red-light camera. This is of course used to catch any cars traveling through the intersection after the light has already turned red. Although no one likes to get a ticket for running a red light, people who have experienced the shock and disaster that can come from being hit by a red-light runner are happy that such an innovation has reduced the number of drivers running red lights. 

Another thing we saw plenty of in Minnesota which is quite common in Belgium and the Netherlands was bike paths. In the Netherlands the bicycle is a major way to take part in traffic 

Where oh where Wednesday - Francorchamps

This Sunday the roar of Formula 1 cars will pierce the air around where our Bible camp is located. Spa-Francorchamps, where the Belgian Grand Prix is held, is about 30 minutes away from camp in Solwaster. So this weekend the Dutch driver, Max Verstappen, as well as all the rest of the F1 coterie will be present to chase their cars around this winding track in the “mountains” of Belgium. 

The first time went down to camp, back in the 80’s when I was first in the country as a trainee, one could actually drive on a part of the race track. I can even remember driving the track myself shortly after we first arrived as a couple in 1991. But it wasn’t long after that the track was closed to public driving and a route was made going around the track. 

Back at our camp we not only hear the roar of the F1 race in August, but at other times we can watch all sorts of oldtimers race right along the road which passes our camp. There is an oldtimers race every year passing through the small village of Solwaster. Any other time, we simply hear the roar of motorcycles who like to hit the hill near our camp. Or we hear the tractor of the local dairy farm pulling the feed wagon up to the lowing cows in the fields. Any other time, we simply enjoy the peace of the countryside.