Training

One of the joys and challenges of our work in Belgium and the Netherlands is working with young people and those wanting to learn more. The body of Christ is just that - a body. The church is made up of all sorts of people and God can use us all in many ways. Buut we learn from each other how we can be used to help others. That is part of what we are doing, helping to train and mentor others to become leaders and helpers. 

This past weekend we offered a day of training for those wanting to work with the Bible camp. It was Inspiration for Aspiring leaders, so we called it “Breathe”, knowing that it is the Holy Spirit who prepares us and forms us in our tasks. Last year we held this day at the church building in Antwerpen because that was more central, easier for people to reach. But we have wanted to hold it at camp itself so that the prospective leaders can see in person what they are working with. So this year we met down at camp. We are thankful to be able to do this with good colleagues (Luk Brazle). 

It was great to see the willingness of these few young people to learn and be aware of the responsibility of leading a team for a week of Bible camp. This is a time of reaching young hearts with the truths from God’s word and putting those into practice every day for a week before they return home. It is a time when many young people from the churches in Belgium and the Netherlands see friends from around the country or make new friends. This is all facilitated by good camp leaders. 

We are also helping to mentor some of our couples and singles in Maastricht. We meet on Mondays to study and talk about situations in leadership. On Wednesday afternoons we have a Bible study in English for some of our young people where they can ask questions and get honest answers. It is exciting to see how the members of the congregation are maturing in Christ and stepping up to new challenges in their daily Christian life. 

In April we will also be taking part in a First Aid course for those who work down at the Bible Camp. This is another aspect of learning and teaching. The Red Cross will offer the course and we are thankful for the various people who will attend, including several from the church in Maastricht. We are learning how to use the spiritual muscles God has given us and feeling the challenge of using those abilities and trusting in God’s strength and leading. 

(Here are some more pictures of the training day at camp.)

A song in our heart

This month has been full of singing, as I mentioned last week. We have been in Haarlem, Eindhoven and Cologne for a time of teaching singing and singing in fellowship. And we enjoyed a Family Day at camp singing together with brothers and sisters from the Netherlands and Belgium. God has made us to sing. He has given us the song in our hearts, filling us with His joy. 

I have always been a singer. My family used to sing Christmas carols in the home. My dad got us into singing Barbershop when we were young, and I sang in the choir when I was in the Catholic Church and during my school years. So singing is natural for me. But not everyone can “feel” the harmonies or has experience with music. As a matter of fact, many in the church here in Europe have never had to sing with music notation. 

So that is one of the things that I try to pass on to congregations when we learn. What is a fermata? What does “mp” mean? How in the world can I make sense of all those chicken scratches on the page of that thick book? And where is my lyric? We spend time learning a bit, but not stressing too much. The most important thing, after all, is that we understand the words we are singing and truly mean them. 

We spend time singing songs we know and love, but which are a challenge. “Greatest Commands” is a favorite of many people, but is a challenge if you are not use to keeping your own part (soprano, alto, tenor or bass) and keeping time as well. Simply ;earning to count can help a lot. And then learning about dynamics in a song can help the words really dig deeper into our hearts and minds. We talk about enunciation, breathing and ending sentences with full words - “God” instead of “Gaww”. 

It is exciting to see brothers and sisters asking questions, struggling with new concepts and wanting to sing with their hearts to the Lord. We are thankful that God has put us in a situation where we can assists others to sing with their hearts and learn new songs at the same time. We also continue recording songs - mostly in Dutch - so that congregations can hear what a song sounds like and learn songs together. You can find our recordings (many also organized by our colleague Luk Brazle in Ghent) right here. 

Take time to put a song in your heart this week. Take time to sing together, paying attention to the words that you sing. Thank God and praise Him for the song He puts in our hearts every day. 

(Photo of the group this past Saturday in Haarlem)