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!

Will we see you?

From May 14 - July 9 we will be traveling in the US, visiting congregations and family. We would really like to see you if that is possible. Check out the places we will be and let us know if we can get together.

May 15 - 18 in Omaha, NE

May 18 - 23 in Muscatine, IA
We are looking at the possibility of a Singing Workshop at this stop.

May 23 - June 2 in Minneapolis (and area)

June 3 - 10 in Colorado, first in Colorado Springs and from the 7th in Denver.
The Miller Street congregation (in Wheatridge) is hosting a Singing Workshop with us on June 8!

June 11- 17 in Abilene, TX
We will be mobile, so let us know if we can get together. We stay the night of the 17th in Dallas if you would like to meet.

June 18 - 23 in Indianapolis, IN

June 23 - July 4 in Long Beach, CA and area

July 5 - 9 in New York City

We look forward to seeing old friends and building new relationships. We are so thankful that God is making this possible through your generosity!

On Assignment - at home in California

I recently read a very good article stating some things that for us were very obvious, but for many are obviously not very clear. You can read the article here. What Dale mentioned spurred me on to take a moment to let you see what it is that we are doing on this trip. I know that when we explain to our neighbors and some others that we are going to be gone for two months they are astonished that we would take such a long vacation. 

Home Assignment (I used to call it 'furlough') is a blessed mixture of encouragement and encouraging – or at least that is how we see it and what we desire it to be. We want desperately, not only to have time to get to know new people in the congregations supporting us, but to re-establish ties with those we already know and have been missing, to use any time we have at a congregation to encourage and help, and to learn new things while we are in the US. Along the way we also get to see our family. And there are so many people who so much want to be a blessing to us, to give us a time of refreshing and rest.

As you have read, our Home assignment every three years covers quite a bit of territory – usually at least 6 states and 9 cities, visiting at least 8 different congregations. We basically have 4 supporting congregations: Long Beach, 11th & Willis in Abilene, Texas, Woodbury in Minnesota, and Muscatine in Iowa. Our family, however is in neither of the four states those congregations are in. So we are blessed (and it truly is also a blessing) with the possibility for lots of travel – usually a combination of air travel and road travel.

We are now about halfway through our travels. We started this time in Long Beach, California where we were blessed by being able to take part almost right away in ‘First Fridays’. The local businesses spend the evening showing themselves along the boulevard, getting people to come inside, doing something special to let the community know who they are. The congregation in Long Beach understood that they, too, could let people know that they are a presence in the neighborhood. So they pass out water along with information about the church. They are the face of the congregation on that evening and we were able to share this with them.

Our visits are often a micture of food and conversation. This way we get to meet members and catch up on what is happening in our lives or get to know each other. Thankfully, members often invite others along so that we all share this time. In Long Beach Scott preached and answered questions at a meeting of the elders and deacons (reporting on how things are going in Maastricht) and Scott and Shirley were able to sit in the Sunday morning Bible study as well as a mid-week study. We were able to take part in a prayer evening that is regularly organized by the church. This group regularly prays for us and keeps abreast of our needs - what a blessing! And Shirley headed off for a weekend to a Ladies Retreat in the mountains.

Along with these moments of sharing we also were simply part of our host family in Long Beach, the Jablonski’s. Scott went with the family to daughter Zoey’s volleyball game (they were in the play-offs vying for State).  Shirley knew that she needed to find her dress for the wedding at the end of our travels, so Wanda Martin took her shopping – and they found a dress! More shopping time would follow, since shoes are also needed. Walks in the park, making lunch together or taking an afternoon to see local sights were also among the encouraging moments before we moved on.

These are times of blessing and giving that always astonish us - even though they should not. We have learned about giving and how much God blesses, from people like these. The congregation got together to bless us in a special way financially before we left, but they had already lent us their cars, hosted us in their homes and fed us bodily and spiritually. 

Come fly with me

In just 10 days we will be off to travel the US for two months, visiting many of you along the way. We look forward to seeing many of you, spending time with you, being encouraged and encouraging you with how God is blessing us each day. Here is a quick run-down of what our travels will look like. Until the last leg of the trip we will be traveling without Sean, who is of course in the middle of a semester at university in Brussels.

Use the map in the picture as a link to the numbers if you are like me and like a visual reference.

1. We fly on November 1 from Dusseldorf to Los Angeles and spend the next week and a bit with church family in Long Beach, California.

2. From Long Beach we fly to Denver, Colorado on November 12.

3. We will be in Denver at the beginning anf end of the week (Monday, Tuesday and Friday), down in Colorado Springs on Wednesday and Thursday visiting family and church family in both cities. It has been a while since we have seen Colorado at this time of year!

4. We fly from Denver to Dallas on November 17 and will spend the next 10 days in Abilene and the Dallas area. We will be at the S. 11th & Willis congregation in Abilene.

5. We fly from Dallas to Minneapolis (over Denver!) on the 27th of November. We look forward to several wonderful days with church family at the Woodbury congregation. Wondering if we will also be blessed (?) with snow at that point in our trip. The last time we were in Minneapolis at this time of year holds some wonderful sledding memories.

6. On December 8 we will start the driving section of our trip. Please keep this section in your prayers as we would like to enjoy it and remain safe. We will first drive from Minneapolis to Omaha, Nebraska to visit family. We will be able to celebrate Shirley’s birthday with her family.

7. That same day we will carry on from Omaha across Iowa to Muscatine to visit with the loving congregation there. We expect some interesting weather along the way and look forward to seeing everyon again in Muscatine.

8. December 17 will see us driving from Muscatine to Curtice, Ohio. It is here that we will first meet our future daughter-in-law in person and finally be able to hug our son, Stephan. We look forward to meeting the White’s and helping to get things ready for the wedding on December 22. On December 20 we will pick up Sean and his friend, Wouter, and Wouter’s dad, Marc, from the airport in Detroit as they arrive in time for the wedding.

9. The Sunday afternoon after the wedding (while Stephan and Natalie are winging to Europe), we drive over to Indianapolis to spend Christmas with Scott’s family (the brother we don’t get to see as often).

10. From Indianapolis we drive with a full car to Chicago to spend an evening and morning with Jimmy and Amy Schellekens before flying back home.

11. We depart Chicago on December 28 and arrive in Dusseldorf on December 29.

Thank you to all who are making this trip possible, as always. We only are able to visit because of your faithfulness and generosity. We are looking forward to sharing time with you and your families. Let us know if you are in the neighborhood and we can get together! We would love to see you!

July/August Newsletter

LIGHT in the Lowlands
Reaching out to the people of Belgium and the Netherlands

July/August 2007
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:10-11

Dear brothers and sisters, family and friends,
Wow - what a wild and wonderful summer! It was great to be able to see so many of you and to get to know so many new people as well. God continues to surprise and bless us.


Furlough tales
Many of you have been able to follow our travels around the States from the blog, so I will not go into detail on everything. I simply want to highlight a few things from each stop - things we learned or experienced while there. We flew or drove through 8 states and visited 12 cities in the 8 weeks we were traveling. We are so grateful that we were able to not only visit our church family, but were also able to spend some good time with relatives. This was only possible because so many of you were willing to sacrifice, risk letting us drive your cars and keep us in your homes. Thank you!

In Minnesota and Wisconsin we were touched by an eldership and church family that was concerned about wanting to be sure that we had the chance to rest and be built up. What wonderful hearts - from just making meals to playing discgolf.

In Iowa we were blessed to help with the VBS, so Scott was Elijah and Jesus, Shirley was Mary and Salome, Sean was Lazarus (which sounds really weird in Dutch!) and Stephan helped conduct the kids each evening. While in Iowa we also drove over to visit Scott’s brother and family in Indiana - meeting our nephews/cousins for only the second time. It was great to get to know them a bit better.

In Omaha, Nebraska, we spent some wonderful time with Shirley’s family. We have been praying for her sister’s family and it was good to see how God is working there. Our nephew is serious in sharing his faith and growing further. We were also able to visit a congregation where Shirley had been baptized so many years before. The links that God makes in peoples lives are so wonderful to see!

In Colorado Scott was able to have fun at Kamp Koinonia as well as present a lesson and sing some old songs with good old friends. But family is the most important thing when we come through this way. We celebrated Scott’s birthday, together with his younger brother, talked about his mom’s upcoming move and deepened the already tight bonds in Christ. It was hard to leave, knowing that there was still so much we wanted to be able to do.

California brought us new family. We stayed with a family which didn’t know us and vice-versa, but which has taken a special place in our hearts. With Kerry and Marisol Jablonski we worked together, shared, talked and learned. It was thrilling to see how God can make such a difference in relationships - something we know, but were able to experience once again.

In Texas we were once again overwhelmed with the love of a congregation wanting to give us an opportunity to recharge our batteries. Abilene always brings a sense of ‘coming home’ when we pass through. It was great to see the boys hook right in to the youth activities as well.

Meanwhile back at the ranch ...
This was one of the first times that we didn’t really leave our work in Belgium and the Netherlands behind. With internet everywhere (or almost) we were able to keep up on how things were going. This also meant that some of our work could follow us around the US as well.

It is exciting to see and realize (and be reminded) that God can use more people than just us. Sometimes we think quite highly of ourselves, but God shows us that He is the one in charge. In July the summer camp weeks went great, with some really good groups meeting. Once again we had several visitors to these weeks from outside the church - young people who were touched by the gospel and other young people who want to know God.

There were also some concerns and difficulties, but our brothers and sisters have the same mighty Father as we do. It has been good to come back and hear how they dealt in a spiritual way with these difficult moments. When we left at the end of June, there was no one to organize the usual Family Day at the end of camp. But this too was taken care of - the young church in Ghent took it on themselves to organize the day. Although the weather didn’t always cooperate, it was a great time to be challenged.

We always see September as the beginning of the year and we are excited about what is on our path this year. As we look back at the summer and see how richly God blesses us, we know that He will continue to strengthen us through the task before us.

PRAYER WARRIORS
Please keep the following in your prayers.
- Give thanks for our safe trip in the summer and all the wonderful meetings we had with God’s family.
- Please keep our families in your prayers as we are away from them and want to help in so many ways.
- Praise and thank God for the summer camp weeks - there were several young people from outside the church who experienced God here.
- Pray for Listen Up! and their upcoming concert in Haarlem - this will be for a largely non-Christian audience.
- Pray for Mr. W. and LJ as we try to get back to our studies. Also for upcoming plans for classes and outreach.

ON THE FAMILY SIDE . . .
Our summer furlough trips are always a bit of a blur - so much happening in so many places! We were so glad to be able to see so many people. We only wish that we could be in more places and in each place longer, but then we would have to hang around in the States for much more than a summer. And we were missing all of our family here as the summer came to a close. What a wonderful dilemma - to have so much family that you want to be everywhere!
Our traveling went basically without too much trouble. We had a bit of a hiccup on the way over (“What do you mean, we’re on ‘standby’ - I bought those tickets months ago!”), but arrived safely and with all of our luggage. Here are a few of the things that hit us as we traveled around the country and visited family and friends.

Sean was thrilled to be able to play soccer in so many places. Most of the places he was able to play it was with girls teams. This gave him a different respect for girls. In Iowa and Texas he trained with some pretty good girls teams. He was glad to be able to play. And in the meantime he bought shoes - cool shoes, soccer shoes that cost way more in Europe, shoes that he chose.

Stephan had a good time meeting new friends and seeing old friends. He seems to be able to get along no matter where he goes. And he still loves being with his family as well! But this trip was different since we were also looking at the future. Hearing college recruiters tell you about there school and what you can do there, what it will be like - it all brings the future awfully close, awfully quickly (or was that just the parents’ reaction?)

Scott was able to go discgolfing in every city they stopped in (except Indianapolis - next time!). Most of the time he went early in the morning with Stephan. New discs were part of the luggage making its way back to Belgium. Shirley enjoyed finding garage sales (remember - we don’t have garages in Belgium, let alone garage sales). She was able to find some super deals and have a good time as well.

We saw fields and fields of corn, vast stretches of Colorado nothingness and mountains climbing to the clouds. We stayed in beautiful old homes, family homes with voices we love hearing and even a little place that seemed to be more of a resort - but was definitely a home. We were able to visit almost all of our family and even met some friends from the past who we hadn’t expected to see. We were blessed to stay with people we just met, and people we had never met before - simply because we are family in Christ.

The boys went to Universal Studios, Scott and Shirley went to Santa Monica and beautiful downtown Burbank. We were blessed with swimming pools, discgolf courses, fireworks, Bible camp activities, guitar playing, VBS and evening walks with good conversations. And we were challenged with family needs and desires. We may live far away from so many, but we are not removed. Some pain and frustration, a need for encouragement - God wants to use all of us anywhere we are. And He is able!

Thank you all for such a wonderful visit! What a wonderful family we have in Jesus Christ!

DID YOU KNOW?
Politics
In the United States people are used to the 2-party system. Politics in Europe is much more complicated.
Belgium has three different governments: Flemish, Walloon and the federal government. There are at least 5 different parties in each of the two regional governments. Then they also have to work together in the federal government.
The Dutch have at least 6 different parties making up the government (not counting the really small ones). They have had to learn to compromise.
Have you come across something typically Dutch or Belgian? What did you think of it? Let us know.

WHAT'S COMING UP?
SEPTEMBER
Listen Up! concert
OCTOBER
Listen Up! tour of Switzerland
Fall camp
Youth outreach
NOVEMBER
WoW course

THANKS!
- For all the help with this summer and your special gifts
- For so many who put us up and put up with us
- For your encouragement and care of the guys

Safe and sound

Today we received our luggage! It is fun to get everything together, open up all the bags and remember what we forgot we had brought back with us. But I am getting ahead of myself - we are home safe and sound! We made it home Saturday after a long day of flying and driving, stayed awake until about 9 p.m. and pretty much made it through Sunday as normal.

Our flight from Minnesota over Philadelphia was delayed. This meant that we barely made our transfer for the flight to Frankfurt - but we DID make it! That flight was great: pleasant service, good food (they even had metal silverware!) and long enough to get a little sleep in (although we didn't). Once in Frankfurt we saw what we had expected - our luggage had not made the transfer. Now, we had planned to be picked up by a brother in the church using our car and a trailer, knowing that we would have lots of luggage. Now the trailer wasn't necessary, but I couldn't cancel it. Still, now the airline would send all our luggage on to our house, saving us the trouble.

So our bags arrived today, mostly without any damage and containing all of our things. Which is a good thing, since we had taken quite a few of our clothes with us (or at least the important parts). In the meantime our wait for our ride from Franfurt meant that we stayed awake on Saturday, Sunday brought a wonderful homecoming with our church family in Maastricht (and Scott already started rehearsing again with Listen Up!) and we can sleep in our own beds again. God takes such good care of us! It is wonderful to live with Him. Thanks for your prayers for our trip.

Imagine that!

For the last week we have been in Abilene, Texas - temperatures in the high 90's, so you stay inside. Sean has gotten to practice with a soccer team twice, putting up with the inability to breath in order to get some soccer in. And then it started to rain! Yesterday dropped a good 5 inches (12 cm) in a few hours in this place that barely has gutters since it hardly ever rains. Suddenly the city discovers how many creeks run through the city, how many roads become rivers, and how hard it is to get from one side of town to the other. Imagine not coming to work because it rained (those of you living in Europe)!

This means that I may not get to go discgolfing today. So far we have golfed in every city we stayed in. Stephan and I went the other day here in Abilene, too, so that's okay. It has been great to be able to get out of the house, get a little exercise and see the cities we are in. We usually go quite early (to avoid the heat). Today we planned to play in a mini-tournament, but hole 13 had a water hazard and is now probably UNDER water. We'll see - the play is in the afternoon, things can clear up quite quickly in Texas.

In the meantime we are talking about the different schools we have seen along the way. It is hard for us to imagine that Stephan will soon be gone from home. We want him to have some good opportunities and have visited a few Christian universities here in the States. As we have said goodbye to people along the way of our furlough ("See you in three years."), we realized that Stephan will not be with us the next time. Imagine that!

Southern Cal sights

Furlough stage 5 part 2

One of the things most of our supporters want for us is that we get some time to look around, do some vacation type things, chill out. This isn’t always possible – we also want to see a lot of people who we haven’t seen in so many years. But as in the other States we have visited, here in California the church family took good care of us. The boys were hooked into the youth group almost right away and had a great time. Sunday afternoon they went eating visiting, played guitar hero and were just plain goofy together. Later in the week was a youth evening at the Jablonskis. The end of our stay in California was closed off with a visit to Universal Studios with our home family (Kerry, Marisol, Zoey and Tiger). But that was just the guys – Shirley and Scott had other plans.

One of the days that the guys were off having fun, Shirley and Scott headed off to Santa Monica. That evening they would be able to visit with a wonderful church family in “beautiful donwtown Burbank”, but before getting there they decided to do some sightseeing. Scott even got stuck in an Apple store (now how could that happen, I wonder?). So we saw Warner Brothers, Disney Studios, the place where Nickleodeon and Cartoon Network are made and the Santa Monica pier (with PCH running next to it).

The last full day in California was reserved for a visit to San Diego for Scott and Shirley. Scott’s sister-in-law and nephew live just 2 hours from Long Beach, so we jumped in the car and headed down. Although we only had a few hours together, it was great to see Pricila and Matthew again. It is always good to see family and to be able to renew those bonds each time we are in the States. A great meal together (we get to eat out so much while we are here!) and some good conversation gave us a little more for the next few years (though not nearly enough!).

Thanks again to all those who made this financially possible (support, shared cars, putting us up – putting up with us, feeding us). God can do so much through so many – it is wonderful!

California Cool, part 1

Furlough stage 5

Flying in over Los Angeles, we all got that California feeling:
“Look at all those pools!”
“Did you see the ocean?”
“Okay, the 405 to the 5, or was it the 10? Traffic looks pretty good.”
We were met by David Cron with his familiar smile and welcoming heart. Then we went out to the palm trees of southern California. We were wondering what this stay would be like since we were staying with a family we had never really met before – Kerry and Marisol Jablonski and their two kids, Zoey and Tiger. But we have always been warmly welcomed by our brothers and sisters in Christ and this was no different. Isn’t it great to be part of this family!!

As we walked into the Jablonski home and through the kitchen to the back yard Sean asked, “Am I dead, cause this sure looks like heaven.” Palm trees, banana trees, a pool with waterfalls all welcomed us in. Even better, Kerry and Marisol opened their hearts as well as their home to us. We have been so blessed with the families we have stayed with at each stop – all of them truly making us feel at home while being in their home. This house and family was no different. The first evening included some time for the boys in the pool and the hot-tub, and then off for a really good nights sleep.

One of the things the church in Long Beach wanted us to be able to do while here was to relax. Naturally there were many families who wanted to see us again (and who we wanted to visit) and there were those who wanted to hear about the work, but the idea was also to get plenty of down time. Our first week was a perfect example of this. We were able to go over to the Cron’s house and eat some great home-made pizza while visiting about the work and our lives together. During the day we had plenty of time to lounge around the pool, sit in the cool pool house working on emails or go garage-saling (that sounds interesting – can you imagine a sailing a garage?).

One of the nice things about staying with the Jablonskis was that they allowed us to be part of their family whiel there. They ahd planned a wedding reception for Kerry’s brother and new bride and we were able to help set up and take part. It was a wonderful evening of family and fun (check out the hula dancers and cake pictures on the flickr site). We were so honored to be able to expereince this together with them. The boys even got to earn some extra spending money and gain some experience serving as waiters during the reception.

Which brings us to shopping. Since we were worried earlier in the trip about how many bags we could fit in the rental car, we kept purchases to a minimum – even though we usually plan on buying some things while in the States (shoes, jeans, towels are usually cheaper here). So far we had found a few things at garage sales and had crammed them into spaces in our current luggage. Butu now we could expand a bit – and we did. Sean was especially happy to find soccer shoes (football shoes) at a MUCH better price than at home, while Scott got some shorts (he had packed at the last minute and didn’t have any warm weather clothes). This would of course mean repacking with wisdom, but we were ready for that.

While here we have also spent plenty of time with the church family. Scott preached on Sunday morning and the boys headed off with the youth group Sunday afternoon and evening (check out some of those pictures as well). But we also had plenty of time swimming in the pool, visiting downtown Long Beach, getting to know the kittens in the house, and just relaxing with this church family.

Next time I will talk about the rest of the time in California (San Diego, Santa Monica, Universal studios and beautiful downtown Burbank).

Luggage swap and birthday bash (stage4, part 2)

During this leg of our trip we have had a rental car (picked up in Minneapolis and to be dropped off in Denver). This car was quite nice (air-conditioning, satellite radio etc), but the trunk was just big enough for the suitcases we had, with one sitting between the boys. But we came planning on returning with more suitcases than at the beginning. This is one opportunity to purchase some well-needed clothes and shoes for growing boys. But as long as we were using the car, we could not expand our luggage. Now we were in Colorado, however, some of that shopping could begin (although more may be done in California and Texas). So Shirley and Yumiko had a great time looking for garage sales, going to the stores and looking around.

- the flour war at Kamp Koinonia -

One of the highlights of the Colorado visit was the day up at Kamp Koinonia. Scott’s search for Jesus began many, many years ago at this camp (though not this campground). And many of the things that he now incorporates into his camp weeks in Belgium had their origin at this camp. So it was a sort of homecoming for him. He and the boys arrived in time to take part in the flour war and later that evening helped with and took part in the Jewel Hunt. In between Scott sang with his ‘brother’ Bret and reunited with the old ‘Four on the Floor’ – a quarrtet formed more than 25 years ago. Amazingly, the songs came out pretty well! What a joy to see old friends and experience new places all at the same time!

The end of our time in Colorado Springs was another highlight in this trip. Scott celebrated his birthday with almost all of the siblings (his brother Mike was still in Indiana). Scott’s brother, Marc, has a birthday a few days after Scott’s, so it was a double birthday with all of the siblings and almost all of the nieces and nephews present. Scott’s sister, Barb, hosted everyone and helped organize the whole thing. Plenty of guitar playing, reminiscing, laughing and getting to know one another. It is great to have family!



Before we left Colorado, we did a few interesting things: Scott went shooting with his brother John (John had recently bought a Romanian AK-74 and wanted to try it out), we all drove up to Denver and visited with Scott’s second family (Ron and Jean Carter and the Carter clan present) and spent some good time with Scott’s older brother Chris and his wife Lynette. It is amazing how good and filled two days can be! We were so thankful for all the time with so many people we love so dearly.


We finished up the CO leg by spending several hours in the airport in Denver with Bret. The car had to be returned by 10 and our flight left at 4 p.m., so we had plenty of time to talk about movies, books and the future. Then it was through security (shoes off, don’t forget to take the fluids out of your carry-on) and off to California!

Rocky mountain high (stage 4, part 1)

Colorado gave varying welcome messages to each of us. The first was that we should have tanked up in Nebraska! This went together with the other thought that Sean had: “Where are all the people?” After leaving Ogallala (yes, that’s a real name) and turning southwards to Colorado, there is literally nothing (okay, not literally, otherwise we couldn’t be driving, breathing, etc), just vast amounts of open country with not a house or mark of humanity in sight (other than the road we were on). So when we needed gas and a gas station finally showed up – well they could ask just about anything they wanted for gas, couldn’t they? But in the end we got to Denver, passed along the airport and drove down to Colorado Springs where Pikes Peak welcomed us.
Sean: “Now where is Pikes Peak?”
Scott: “The big one shrouded in cloud at the top over there.”
Sean: “I thought it was bigger.”
Scott: (a bit flustered, this is ‘his’ mountain) “Yeah, it’s only 14,000 feet.”
Sean: (a few minutes later) “WHICH one is it?”
Scott: “See those black mountains? Look past those to the clouds. The mountained crowned by the clouds is Pikes Peak.”
Sean: (with a sudden recognition) “Oh! Is that the peak! I thought it was one of those black mountains in front.”

Our ‘task’ in Colorado Springs was to relax and spend time with family. Scott was going to speak up at Kamp Koinonia, but other than that there were no obligations. We settled in to the well-ordered cave at John and Yumiko Raab’s house and just sat back. John and Yumiko have a house with a lovely basement, nice and cool on the warm days. They give us the basement to ourselves – the boys in one room, the adults in the other bedroom. What a luxury! But even more is just being able to sit with everyone in the livingroom and enjoy the conversation, the laughing, the time together. No matter what happens, we know we are family.

The day after our arrival Scott went with his brother John to get John’s kids who were up at camp. Kamp Koinonia is up in the Colorado mountains just southwest of Denver (Sedalia for those who know the area). In addition to seeing the kids, Scott got to see several people he had not seen for many years (one from about 30 years ago!) and got a tour of this facility with its 140 acres. The following week Scott would come up with the boys to spend a day here at camp – that would be a treat!

One of the things we love about traveling and that we have mentioned everywhere we go is that we get to see all of our brothers and sisters in Christ in so many different places. It is so good to know and experience that as Christians we have family everywhere! A Sunday morning is such a wonderful time – even if you don’t know the people and are just meeting them. But we were coming home to this congregation. It was great to see so many who are supporting us in so many ways. Thank you Father for such a wonderful way of helping us, linking us together, making us one.

Family and hotel cool

If you have never been across Iowa, then you do not know how beautiful farmland can be. Some people find this state boring, but I have always pictured God gently forming its beautiful rolling hills with care (as opposed to the force and fun necessary for, say, the Grand Canyon). And it is also an amazing place to hear an awful lot of talk radio. Our drive across the state to Omaha, Nebraska, where Shirley’s family live was full of snacks (Lucky Charms and pretzels), talking, snoozing and waiting.

Once in Omaha (although we actually stayed across the river in Council Bluffs, Iowa), we settled into our hotel and made some phone calls. It was great to be able to call, thanks to the hospitality and forsight of the church in Muscatine who bought us a phone to use while in the States. So we made oru calls and planned the coming days with family and then settled in to hotel life. This is the one section of the trip that we stay in a hotel. This one had a fitness room, pool and was in close proximity of plenty of fast-food restaurants and stores.

Omaha, Nebraska is the largest city in Nebraska (though NOT, as Sean mentioned, the capitol). With a population of about half a million it is large, but still doesn’t feel that way. It has all sorts of cultural activities (opera, dance, music concerts, art galleries etc) and, most importantly, also has lots of discgolf courses! We played on one hot morning while Shirley was off at the mall having a good time.

The best part of this section of the trip is of course getting to see family. Shirley’s family lives in an around Omaha. Years ago, when we first lived in Abilene, Texas, Shirley’s sister, Mary and her two kids, Chris and Nikki came to live with us. This gave us a very close relationship and it is still so good to be able to spend time together. While in Omaha we also want to visit a congregation, usually on a Wednesday evening. This time we went with Mary to a congregation in North Omaha. This was the congregation where Shirley was baptized. The evening we arrived was an evening for singing, so we enjoyed the time together. Afterwards Shirley saw someone she recognized and there was a great reunion with some of the very members who had been there when she attended so many years ago. And the next day, even after we had traveled on to York, Nebraska, we received a phone call from a woman Shirley hadn’t seen in so many years but who had been influential in her life! God’s family is so good!

As mentioned we moved on from Omaha to York. We were able to stay with some people we had met while up in Minnesota. They had stopped in at the people’s home we stayed with in Minnesota, but lived in York. They offered then to put us up for a night since we had to be in York early to show Stephan around the campus and talk about the possibility of him attending there next year. It is always so refreshing to be refreshed by the saints. These are the kind of people we want to be as well. God blesses us and teaches us at the same time!

Even better, while with the Lynn’s, we realized that there were several old friends in York who we hadn’t seen in years. Shirley and Scott first went on a campaign with 12 other students from York College (and Tom Schulz) back in 1981. Two of these students lived just around the corner from where we were now staying – so we got to reminisce and catch up on how things were going in their lives. The next day, while being shown around the campus (amazed at all the changes and constantly mentioning “When we were here . . .”), we ran into several others who we had not seen in so many years. It is great to know that we have a relationship together that transcends distance and years (that of being brothers and sisters in Christ – although the York bond is awfully strong too).

After a quick tour and information, we headed out for Colorado Springs – a 9 hour drive across Nebraska and the north corner of Colorado. Scott was able to drive 75 mph (just about 130 km/h) most of the way, we had plenty of snacks, could listen to Sequel to Adam’s cd once again (the boys love it!) and stayed awake through the unending miles of nothingness stretching away from the highway. It had been a wonderful visit full of all sorts of family in Nebraska. What a blessing!

Furlough Schedule

In just a few weeks we will be leaving our house at about 6 am to drive three hours over to Frankfurt, Germany to start our trip this summer through the USA. We are so excited about everyone we will get to see! When Jesus promised Peter that he would have family everywhere, he knew what he was talking about. And we won't even be able to visit all of you!

As you might be able to make out from the puzzle here, we will be visiting 9 different places in 7 different states - not counting the ones we just fly or drive through. We will do our very best to keep this blog updated regularly - with pictures (on the photo site) - and let you know how we are doing and how we are enjoying your company!

Here is a summary of our travel schedule:
June 29 - Leave Europe and arrive in Minneapolis/St. Paul
June 29-July 8 Together with the Woodbury church in St. Paul, MN
July 9 - Drive down to Muscatine, IA
July 9-15 Together with the church in Muscatine
July 13-14 Drive over to Indianapolis and back to visit with Scott's brother, Michael, and his family
July 16 - Drive across Iowa to Omaha, NE
July 16-19 In Omaha with Shirley's family
July 20 - Drive to Colorado Springs, stopping at York College to visit
July 20-28 In Colorado Springs with Scott's family
July 28-29 In Denver with Scott's brother, Chris, and church family in Denver
July 30 - Fly to Los Angeles
July 30-August 9 Together with the Long Beach church, including a visit to San Diego to visit Scott's sister-in-law and nephew
August 10 - Fly to Dallas and drive to Abilene, TX
August 10-19 Together with the 11th and Willis church in Abilene and including visits to LCU and ACU
August 20 - Drive to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area
August 20-22 With church family (McNeill's) in the Dallas area
August 23 - Fly to Minneapolis/St. Paul
August 24 - Fly to Frankfurt, Germany and drive back to Belgium

If you are in the area (or fairly close) let's try to get together!
As mentioned, we will not be able to see everyone we would have liked :-( Florida and Canada are a bit off this particular beaten path that we have to take, and Kansas and Oklahoma, nestled nicely in between, were just not possible in the time we have. We will miss you! Please keep up with how things are going and let us know how you are doing too.

NONE of this is possible without the love and care that so many have shown! On this end we have had to figure out how to take care of Snuffles for two months while we are gone. Several people form the church in Maastricht and even our neighbors have offered to watch the house and walk the dog. We are so blessed!

And we know that we will be welcomed in every city with open arms and genuine love (and lots of food ;-) ) wherever we stop during our trip through the States. It is so good to be a child of the King! We are looking forward to seeing you, hearing how God has been working in your lives, seeing how much taller everyone has gotten (the "kids" who aren't kids anymore!) and sharing together how good God is. Thanks for making this possible!