Planning ahead

We try to get back to the US every three years to touch base with the congregations that support us and visit family. All of these spots are spread around the US, meaning quite a time of travel. It is always nice to see everyone again, as well as see plenty of the places we also call “home”. This is why we call it a Home Assignment. The last time we were on Home Assignment was in 2023, so next year, if all goes well, we will be visiting again. 

But this trip takes a good bit of planning and figuring. Which route should we take? How do we plan the various Sundays to work out with the congregations we want to share time with? How should we divide the driving and flying time? And there are always people that we would very much like to see who simply don’t fit on the route. Are there any ways to see them anyway? 

When the boys were still at home, we always had to plan this trip in the summer, during the school vacation. But now, when we could leave whenever we want, we still have to keep our plans for our ministry here in mind. In addition, we have a new granddaughter in the mix and we want to be there for her birthday, which is in the summer vacation months. So I have been figuring, planning, checking prices and generally trying to discover the best way to travel next year. 

We are looking forward to seeing church family in Long Beach, California; Woodbury, Minnesota; Muscatine, Iowa; and Abilene, Texas. But we also hope to see church family we have met in Denver, Colorado; Noblesville, Indiana; and Omaha, Nebraska. These are the places we hope to sp[end our Sundays, although it may not be possible to hit all of them on a Sunday. We only have 8-9 weeks of travel time. 

In this time we also hope to see family in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Montana, Indiana and New York. There is a little bit of overlap between family and churches, but not much. And, as mentioned, there are still others we would like to meet up with who live in places like Tennessee or Pennsylvania or Florida - far out of the route. So we would love your prayers as we plan this time - prayers that we can find some good deals, that we will be able to get things set up, and that our visit will be encouraging to those we meet. 

If you are in any of the places we are planning to visit (mentioned here), put us on your schedule and make plans to find some time to share with us so that we can encourage one another. If you are not on the route, maybe we can meet somewhere along the way (like driving through Iowa or Wisconsin, or Chicago). These Home Assignments are only possible because of the faithfulness of our supporting congregations, brothers and sisters willing to sacrifice so that we can make this trip. Thank you for these possibilities and all the memories from previous times. 

In the meantime, I am traveling every day this week down to camp and back. It is good to see people we don't see too often, meet new people who love the Lord, and share encouragement from God's word. I will be giving the teens a lesson every day, trying to help make the messages from the Minor Prophets something that they can understand and sow into their spiritual growth. 

Where Oh Where Wednesday: Roads

Having just returned last Wednesday from New York to Belgium I thought it appropriate to mention in this ‘where’ a ‘who’ who makes some of our travels possible. The roads which take us to so many places are everywhere - except in some places - have a link to Belgium.

When we were in Texas, we noticed that the roads and highways are constructed of concrete slabs. And in some other areas we visited in the Midwest, the roads were simply compacted dirt. But in most places, in the US and all over Europe, roads are made of asphalt. 

The Germans are very proud that their highways are extremely well-cared for. They have to take a lot of very fast-driving cars. The Dutch have quite a few kilometers of highway for such a small country, and they are also well-maintained. In Eastern Europe, it used to be that roads were horrible, making a trip of 7 hours into a trip that could take 14 hours because the asphalt was not well-maintained. 

Belgium had one of the first modern highways and has an extreme amount of road for the size of the country. But every Belgian will let you know that there is plenty to complain about when it comes to roads. The asphalt is often pockmarked. Cities are required to place a sign if there is a pothole. But they are not required to fix it. If you see a sign and hit a pothole which damages your car, the insurance will not pay. There was a sign, after all. 

All of this to say that asphalt was first done by a Belgian - Edward de Smedt - in 1870 when he laid a stretch of road in Battery Park and 5th Avenue in New York City. So whether you are driving in Minnesota, Michigan, Maryland, Maine or Malta, whether the road takes you from New York to Connecticut or from The Netherlands to Belgium, it is most likely an asphalt road, originally created by a Belgian (in the US). 

Planes, lanes and automobiles (Home Assignment 2023)

When the clock struck 5am I (uncharacteristically) jumped out of bed and announced, “Time to get up!” The trip was beginning, after several days of trying to make sure that everything was going to be okay at the house, that everything we needed was packed and that we weren’t forgetting anything essential. Now it would all begin. Brother Alexander from the Maastricht church was picking us up in an hour and would take us to the airport. 

The first information I got after a quick shower was that our flight had been delayed by 2 hours. So that meant we didn’t really have to hurry, except that we were going to get stuck in Brussels traffic if we left much later. It meant that we would have plenty of time to sit in the airport in Brussels, but I was taking a book, so no problem. 

It also meant that we would be late to pick up the car I had reserved in Newark. I tried to call to see if we could let them know and adapt the reservation, but you know how ‘help’ desks are these days. After typing in several 1’s and 2’s to let them know what I needed, a friendly voice announced that they could not help me with that. 

I figured we would just have to see what would come. We knew that we would be likely to have all sorts of hiccups along the way, and God would help us deal with all of them. These types of things are good moments to re focus us on God and His good care of us through everything. 

We left the house a bit later than planned, thinking we had time, and got a little stuck in traffic to Brussels, but nothing terrible. We said goodby to Alexander, made it through all of the lines in the airport and sat down to wait for our flight. I was thankful for. Good book and that we had decided to travel with only hand luggage. It made the lines much easier and would mean that we needn’t stop at baggage claim on the other end. 

Although the space on the flight - which left even later - was minimal, that is not something I need to tell any of you. I=f anyone has flown in the last years, they know how seats have gotten narrower, closer together and more upright. But we survived without any trouble and were glad to be standing, finally, in front of the car rental counter and hearing that there were no worries with our rental. 

Our little warrior car for this section - a little Nissan Kicks (a kind of ’SUV’ if something this small can be called that) did a good job on the hills and highways getting us out of New Jersey and into New York. We had brought our gps, so finding the way was not a problem. And the scenery was beautiful. 

Often people think of New York as New York City. But New Jersey and New York is also beautiful rolling hills, much like the Ardennes. New Jersey is “The Garden State” and was wearing its name proudly, even on the highway. Green trees covered thick outcroppings of granite rock as the highway meandered between what I later saw were parks and swamps and rivers and lakes. 

When we finally made it to our first destination for the day - our hotel in Newburgh, New York - and were able to contact my Aunt Betty and pan for the next day, we headed out to get something to eat. A Denny’s just down the road welcomed us as it began to rain in the darkening evening. 

When we returned to the hotel we went to bed at what for us was an unbelievably early hour - 9 pm. But it was all our bodies could take at the moment and tomorrow was a new day. It would be a day for visits with family, drives through beautiful countryside and celebrating a birthday. That is the next story. 

As soon as we get a chance we will get some pictures up here.

Vacation or business?

That is what they ask you at the customs counter. That is what they ask in questionnaires about travel. That is what some people ask when you tell them you are a planning a trip. Most people are shocked to hear that we will be gone for 8 weeks. “That’s quite a long vacation!” And to be honest, this trip is a very interesting mix of emotions, activities and purposes. 

We used to call it “furlough”. That is what a soldier took when he would head home for a bit after being on tour. In Dutch, the word “verlof” comes from the same root, but means vacation. In more recent years we have titled our trip “Home Assignment”, but perhaps it is not any clearer in that sense. 

We work as evangelists in Belgium and the Netherlands. We are financially supported by various congregations and individuals throughout the United States (as well as a few in Europe). It has been our desire to get back to the US every three years to visit with these congregations - to talk about what we have been doing, hear about how God is blessing those congregations, and renew the bonds that tie us together. 

Since we only go every three years and travel is not cheap, we combine this trip with seeing our family. In the earlier years that meant Scott’s family and Shirley’s family. Now it includes seeing our sons and daughters-in-love (and their families). But the congregations we visit and the families are not in the same cities, or States. So it means a lot of traveling and a good bit of puzzling to work out when we go where and how long we can be anywhere. 

The last time we were on this trip was in 2019. Our planned return would have been in 2022, but travel restrictions made that difficult. Although we took a short health visit to Shirley’s family in November, we had to delay our trip until this year. But now the puzzle is coming together and we look forward to the amazing mix that is a Home Assignment this May-June. 

In 8 weeks we will travel to 16 different cities in 9 different States, worship with 9 different congregations and see a good portion of our supporters and family while doing it - though not all. We will get on an airplane 7 times, rent a car 3 times and will be blessed to borrow a car in 2 other areas (one for 23 days!) while we drive roughly 3000 miles. 

While we will stay in at least 4 hotels in this time, we will mostly be blessed to stay with family and friends along the way. We hope that if you are not along our route (and we know that many of you are not), perhaps we can call or email while we are in your area. We are so thankful for the relationships that we have because of being family in Christ. 

If you are in the area, please let us know so that we can see you and spend some time together, even if it is only a cup of coffee somewhere. That is what makes a trip like this so amazing and different. Is it a vacation? We get to see a lot of people that we haven’t seen in at least 4 years. We get to hug on family and enjoy wonderful meals and conversations with family in Christ. We even get to see some places in the US that other people will never get to see. We get to travel. 

This is what our schedule looks like: 

We will land in New York City on April 26 and drive the next day to upstate New York to visit Scott’s mom on her 85th birthday. The Saturday after will be a drive down to church family ion Connecticut (family from in the Netherlands who are living in the US!). We are looking forward to being able to worship with them on Sunday before flying out the next day to Minnesota. 

We will spend a week in Minnesota with our wonderful church family at Woodbury before driving out for a Midwest loop hitting Omaha, Nebraska (Shirley’s family), church family in Muscatine, Iowa, our son Stephan (and his wife Natalie) and Scott’s brother in Indianapolis, Indiana, good friends in Chicago and returning to Minneapolis. This section is mostly possible because of generous hearts in the church at Woodbury loaning us a car for the whole trip (as they have done in the past as well). We look forward to worshipping with the church in Minnesota, Iowa and Indiana. 

After the Midwest loop we will fly down to Texas on May 25 hoping to visit with several supporters and worship with the congregation where we began our life as a married couple, 11th and Willis in Abilene. On May 31 we will fly on to Denver where we will visit Scott’s family in Colorado Springs and church family in Denver, worshipping in both cities on the same Sunday. 

We fly to California on June 7 and spend time with our supporting congregation in Long Beach as well as visiting family in San Diego. This leg of the trip is again made much easier by the use of a car from members of the church in Long Beach (which they have done on many trips in the past). We are also put up in all of these cities by members of the congregations we are visiting. What an amazing love and giving that make this type of trip possible!

Our last leg will begin on June 14 when we fly back to New York City, this time to spend some time with our son Sean and his wife Jill. We will worship in Manhattan for our last Sunday in the US before flying back after a total of 8 weeks exactly. We arrive in Belgium before the end of the month ready to jump into activities in June and Bible camp weeks in July and August. 

Along this trip we will have had some good vacation time - mostly because so many of you want to insure that we have some time to rest, knowing what all the traveling can mean. We will also have opportunities to tell about our work, preach, teach and visit. This is work, but it is good. We are so thankful that God can and does use us wherever we are or go. We want to be an encouragement wherever we are. 

Vacation or business? Yes. We travel in May-June if the Lord wills and because His family makes it possible. We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. Thank you for your help in making this possible!

Travel in uncertain times

These days people are traveling for all sorts of reasons. Many are thankful that they can finally travel after corona rules shut down travel for so long. Some are happy to be able to see children or grandchildren. On the other hand, many are traveling because they feel they must - to escape poverty or war or danger. 

We usually plan to travel every three years. We plan a “Home Assignment” where we travel for about two months in the US to all of our supporting congregations and our family in the various States we find them. Our family members are not in the States where our supporting congregations are. This means a lot of traveling. 

Our last time making this trip was in 2019, a year before corona rules reared their ugly head. That would normally mean that we would travel again in 2022, this year. Considering that many of the rules are only now being changed or dropped, we have been waiting to see what might be possible before planning anything. And then gas prices started going up. 

At this point, we know that we will not be able to come when we might first have planned - from mid-May to begin July as we have in years past. It is simply too close now to try to plan and get everything ready. So we had started looking at coming in the Fall instead. It is a lot easier for us to travel from an empty nest. But as we look at the options, we are still very uncertain. 

So we just want to let you know that we MIGHT see you in August, September or October if things work out well. We would travel from mid-August through the first week of October. Nothing is set. 

We are looking at different ways of traveling as well. Usually our trip included 8-10 flights. As anyone who has flown can tell you, it is not necessarily the flight that is tiring or time-consuming, but getting to and from the plane. So we have considered making a driving loop along many of our midwest stops. This would mean some extra costs for a rental car. And of course, with gas prices, this might end up being worse than flying. 

We understand that we are very blessed to even consider traveling for these reasons and we are thankful that it might be possible. Please do keep us in your prayers as we try to figure out if this would be wise and how then to plan it. We would love to see you in person again.