Where oh Where Wednesday: Verviers

On the way down to Bible camp in the Ardennes, we pass through the city of Verviers, traveling a bridge which spans the edge of the city and gives a view into the valley in which the city has spread out. Verviers is an old industrial city of Wallonia, the French-speaking area of Belgium, but it is much older than the Industrial Revolution which made it important. 

Although Roman coins have been found in the area of the city, it is known that people lived here even in pre-history. In the 7th century an abbey was Stavelot and the whole area belonged to the bishopric of Liege (which we also drive past on the way to camp). Later the area was known for its industrial activity, especially textiles. This was because the water from the high fens had a low calcium content and was perfect for washing wool. 

With the advent of the Industrial Revolution Verviers became even more important. British industrialist William Cockerill brought machines which turned Verviers, together with Bradford in England, into the “Wool Capitol of the World”. Although the wall has long gone, the water remains and Verviers is also known as the city of water (Spa water and Chaudfontaine are both in the area). 

More recently the area made the news due to the “water bomb” that hit in the summer of 2021. The heavy rain I a very short time flooded the area, wiping some parts of various villages completely away. The damage has still not been completely restored in all areas and people will for a long time remember that summer. We also remember that summer as the floods hit our Bible camp, forcing us to hold our camp weeks in other locations. 

One of the first times I visited Verviers was to visit the church there. This congregation still has a link with Freed-Hardeman University. When I talk about the Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS) held in Germany every year, it is a program that originally began with the church in Verviers. Every once in a while we get to see members from the congregation at camp activities. When I was a young man in Haarlem, the Netherlands, I biked to camp, passing through Verviers on the long journey (my knees still remember the trip). These days we still regularly pick up kids traveling by train to camp via the train station in Verviers (see the photo). 

Blessing in adversity

"Consider it pure joy when trials come your way and troubles seem to stay (around you). Consider it pure joy, my brothers, for your faith." 

(Paraphrased from James 1:2 for the song Consider it joy from Listen Up!). 

The last two months have brought all sorts of learning moments and challenges to help us grow. God is always good and has stood by us in every way. That is what is so wonderful to see happening. And it is what we need to remember when we are in the midst of adversity. You are not alone. With God’s help, you will overcome. 
Looking toward the summer, we were not sure that our summer Bible camps would be able to take place, due to corona restrictions and rules. We had three weeks of youth camps planned, teams formed and ready, lessons prepared and campers registered before we truly knew if camp would be allowed or if campers from other countries (remember that we have campers from The Netherlands and Belgium) would be allowed to attend. And then, just as we heard that we had a green light, the rains hit hard. 
I was so thankful for the questions and comments and prayers from so many who contacted us to know how we were doing. It was clear that the news from Belgium had reached other parts of the world as well. Almost twice the amount of rain that we usually receive for the whole summer was dumped on Belgium (a naturally wet country) in less than two days! 
Some of our families from Maastricht were down at camp for a family vacation when it was happening and had to quickly evacuate, even leaving things behind as our little camp creek became a raging river running through the middle of our campground. We saw pictures in the news of places we go every summer with our kids from camp, now inundated with water, buildings collapsing into the river. 
Within a few days the rain had stopped and we could asses the damage at our camp. Water had run into parts of our building about 1 meter high, bringing all sorts of sludge. Our driveway stones were strewn all over our playing field, along with the broken glass from some windows we had been saving. All sorts of tools and trash from houses and properties further up river were strewn about the field and creek. But our buildings had stood - except for the wooden shed that housed all of our tools. That was washed completely away. 
We had to act quickly and make some decisions. The very next week would be our first week of camp - for the older teens. Could we have them come and help clean up? What about the week following when we would have 30 kids (8-11 year-olds) coming? Would it be safe? Clean? Even allowed by the government? 
The last question was answered for us: no youth camps were allowed in the city limits of Jalhay (where our camp is situated) until the end of the month of July. So we knew that we would have to find other accommodation for the first two weeks of camp and hope to be able to clean camp up in those weeks if we were to host the third week back at camp. 

A desperate scramble began to find places, realizing that we would not be the only group looking for a place to hold a youth activity. The scouts typically hold their camps just down the road from our camp. They, too, were looking for other accommodation. Thankfully, the scramble led to some good options. The older youth found a location in Malmedy (still in the Ardennes) and the Benjamins (8-11 year-olds) found a place in the middle of Belgium. 
Shirley and I were with the Benjamins. This was a summer to help train as well as host the youngest group. Shirley was assisting Tonia in the kitchen instead of leading the kitchen. This would give Tonia the chance to see what it was like to cook for this type of group. Scott was training two assistent camp leaders so that they would have the opportunity to learn what it was to be a camp leader. At the same time, this was one of the biggest group of kids we had had at Benjamin Camp for many years - but now it would be in a different location. 
Head on over to our pictures to get an idea of what our location looked like and how the week went. As God always does, He surprised us with some wonderful moments and some new challenges. Where we would have been able to let our kids roam a bit free at our own camp, this new location meant that we were all packed into a compact little area - along with lots of animals. But it was a great week with some wonderful lessons. 
The Saturday that Benjamin Camp ended, Scott took Shirley and Chester home to recover, took a quick shower, and headed down to our own camp for Teen Camp - the first group to meet together at camp since the flooding. 
This was only possible because groups of volunteers had been very busy in the intervening two weeks to get everything ready. People from the French-speaking churches in the area (who also had to deal with the flooding in their own area), members from the church in Cologne, and folks from all over Belgium came to clean, pick up rubbish (and we are not talking paper, but pieces of machinery and more) and clean some more. When we got to camp, we had a camp that was clean and usable in every way. What a blessing!
The Teen week was also a time to give others a chance to grow in leading. Scott was able to simply be teacher, presenting lessons on the parables of Jesus, because there was a great team of leaders caring for the campers and the specifics of the week. You can see the group and what the week looked like right here. 
Although we had planned to also visit Family Camp the following week, Scott had to admit that he had gotten a year older and couldn’t handle another week of camp. We did make it down for two days of lessons and short visits with the families that were able to spend the week together being blessed by God's word and presence at camp. 

In these months we also welcomed visitors at services in Maastricht. Scott taught at 3am (his time) for a series in Colorado and led a funeral service for the man he has been a carer for for the last 7 years. It was just days later that the city where this service was held was also inundated in the floods. 

Difficult times always come with moments of care and comfort. The rain reminds us how good it is to see the sun. In the coming weeks and months, we will try to remember this as we continue to try to navigate the uncertainties of corona rules (will they close the border again?), opportunities to get together, struggles that have become acute because of the long year and a half of corona. We look forward to meeting again with brothers to help look into becoming leaders. We hope to be able to meet again internationally to sing together. And we are so thankful that God has His family in so many places. We all need to hang on, hang on tight to the vine, and know that God is almighty. 

Thank you for your prayers for us. We pray that you, too have been blessed by the adversity you have faced and are facing in the coming days. We cannot face it without our King. Don’t do it alone. Know that we are a body together in Christ. 

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.