Generations

Last week we were able to talk to Sean, who called because in Belgium it was Father’s Day. Yesterday it was Father’s Day in the Netherlands and the US. In the video call with Sean, something happened that happens more and more: Scott tried to check something on the computer. He has to do this looking over his glasses. And he has trouble figuring things out and finding things on ‘modern technology’. 

Last week we were gathered with various congregations from around Belgium and the Netherlands on the 2nd day of Pentecost. This was held in The Hague, which is easy enough to find. But we all planned a day in the park, which was harder to find. At one point there were several calls coming in from some of the group who could not find their way. Scott was trying to help in the phone call, but was hampered by ‘modern technology’. His younger sister in Christ said over the phone, “Scott, find someone under 18 and ask them.”

And that is how it worked. The younger generation is much more savvy with everything that everyone seems to be using these days. It is Andrey, a young 20-something, who knows how to help those who want to print at the building from their phone. It is the young people who understand how to get something put up on the church Instagram. It is not that all of the older folks aren’t keeping up, but it is certainly that Scott struggles with some of those realities. 

Thankfully, God has put us in a family and we can all help one another. The day at the park finally worked out as we all met at the beach to witness new life in Christ. Everyone was able to get pictures and videos because of the technology. And this was all shared with members from around the country in seconds. We are thankful for how this can all be used to glorify God and help one another. 

At the end of this month we get to celebrate our granddaughter. One of the things she uses is a sort of speaker onto which she can place a little doll. But this doll has a memory chip filled with certain sounds which can then be played off on the speaker. We can send our sounds (our voices reading to her, singing to her, speaking to her) which she can then listen to when she wishes. Not something we would have thought even imaginable, but so thankful that it exists and we can use it. 

Sweet sisters

We are part of a fairly diverse family of God in Maastricht. I have always been so thankful for the hearts of everyone who is here, their willingness to help one another and intentionally be family for each other. This is especially evident in the sisters of the congregation. 

This past weekend several of our ladies went to the Ladies Retreat which is organized every year in Germany for English-speaking ladies or those who which to attend (there are other German-speaking or French-speaking retreats for ladies as well). It is encouraging to see how some of our ladies attend and encourage one another. 

Some of our ladies do not go to these sort of events, mostly because they cannot handle the travel or the sleeping accommodations. But others because of the situations at home (young children, unbelieving husbands, work schedules). The ladies who go and the ladies who stay both encourage one another, sharing about the weekend, supporting one another. 

This family encouragement continues throughout the year. Some of the ladies meet every Friday morning for a Bible study together. Some of the ladies take time on a Sunday to visit our sister who cannot attend and care for her. Others keep connected via social media or an old-fashioned telephone call. Some even write cards and letters. We have grandma’s, wives, working women, students, single women and daughters - all of them daughters of the King. 

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage the older women in the church top help the younger women in the church. Just as with the men, we know that we all can learn from each other. Older members can catch the excitement and energy of younger members. Younger members can learn from the experience and wisdom of older members. This is what I see happening and it is exciting. 

Recently we have had a woman from the neighborhood visiting. She comes for a Bible study on Tuesday, but on Sunday she comes to worship, even as she is discovering what it means to follow Jesus. She sits in the row where several of our ladies sit together and they have wrapped her in their arms. During the coffee yesterday it was great to see sisters connecting with her and encouraging her. 

This coming weekend the ladies have planned a Ladies Day for the neighborhood. They want others to know this great love that God has for us. Please pray for this effort and their continued desire to share the love of Jesus with all of those around them.  

(Photo of the Ladies Day organized by Maastricht sisters November 2023)

Maintenance

This past weekend was the end of our Fall camps, a special religious holiday in Belgium and a day to get things ready at camp for the coming winter. Although Halloween is not really a holiday here, All Saints Day is. This is the day that many visit the graves of their loved ones. It is one of the biggest days for florists as everyone is getting flowers (mostly chrysanthemums) to put on the graves. It is a time to remember, to put family first, sewn into society and the social calendar of the year.

Down at camp it is a time for maintenance. We have to get the buildings ready to go into the winter, never knowing how bitter the winter might be. It is time to clean off the leaves from the roofs, clear off the driveway, and prep the buildings inside. This weekend we also had a hill of dirt to move from one place to another. The field had begun to settle after the flooding a few years back, so it was time to set things to rights again. This was especially important around some metal lids in the field which give us access to our septic system. We do not want any kids falling in or hitting their heads on these metal lids. 

More importantly, a day like this down at camp is a time to talk during the coffee breaks and lunch breaks. There were only 6 of us down there, but it was a good group that worked hard. Two of the 6 men were the young sons of one of our camp leaders. They did quite a bit of the work digging out the dirt, shoveling it into wheelbarrows and letting the wheelbarrows be wheeled to where they were to be dumped. In the end we all went home satisfied and dirty, knowing that camp was ready for the coming months. 

Back in Maastricht yesterday was the first Sunday of the month and was a good day to be back together with Christian family. Some have been off on holiday (it was a school holiday break in Belgium) and others were finally back after a short period of typical Fall colds. One of our Ukrainians heard this past weekend that his father was killed in a battle in the East. This young man has been with us for the last two years and so has not seen his father for the last three years. Death never seems to be expected, even in war. 

Amazing love

As children of God we are witnesses daily to an amazing grace and amazing love of our loving Father. It is exciting to see how this works out among the household of God as well, each of us members of this body of Christ. The last few weeks and this past weekend have been very good examples of this reality. 

This past weekend was a day down at camp for the congregation of Maastricht. Everybody who could make it, planned to get down to camp. This meant that some would offer their car to bring others. Some would take care of coffee and tea when we got there. Our Ukrainian brother, Alexander, had spent the last weeks gathering Bible questions that we would discuss - and he would lead the discussion. All of us brought our hearts for one another and for the Lord. 

Although the weather reports had given rain (not unusual for this time of year in Belgium), everything stayed dry and we even finished the day with beautiful sunshine and warm weather. It was a day of real fellowship: singing to the Lord together, sharing thoughts from the Word of God, helping one another, playing basketball or frisbee or simply having some good conversations. This is a family that truly cares for one another. On Sunday we held our monthly potluck and people stayed again, including a few visitors for the day. 

In the past weeks we have also felt how strong God’s family is all over. On May 5 Shirley got a message that her sister had been taken to hospital in Omaha, Nebraska and probably would not make it through the night. But she did. In the following days and weeks, it has been an up and down struggle with a body that has had top deal with a lot in the last years. 

In these weeks, we asked for prayers and our brothers and sisters around the world have been praying. Sometimes being far away, we feel we can do nothing. But we all can pray. And that is far from nothing. We are so thankful for all who have been praying and continue to pray. Mary (Shirley’s sister) has recovered enough to be able to be operated and moved to a critical care facility where we pray that she can really recover. 

In the meantime, Shirley ahs made plans to fly to Omaha to help and be with her sister. Sisters here have offered to help with costs. Sisters in Omaha have offered to pick Shirley up on Sundays so that she can worship with this wonderful family into which God has placed us.  

Shirley will be in Omaha fro May 27 through June 10, arriving back here on the 11th just in time to get here bag ready to leave again on June 17 for our visit to our new granddaughter. That visit will also be a great meeting of family as we will also get to see Sean and Jill, together with Stephan and Natalie. The last time we were all together was in 2018. 

All of these moments are only possible because of God’s grace and His wonderful family. Thank you for your prayers and support. Thank you for your faithfulness in His family. Isn’t it wonderful to experience in so many ways, every day, this amazing love and wonderful grace! 

(The picture is of our day down at camp. We are missing three others who had already had to leave). 

Family!

As we prepare to head off for two months, we are reminded again of the things that are so important and real in our lives. The apostle Peter said to Jesus, “We have left all we had to follow you!” Jesus replied, “No one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of Godwill fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

People here are almost flabbergasted when we mention that we will be gone for two months – until we explain where we will go and who we will see. Then it is often surprise that we are welcomed in so many placesby people we don’t even know. And truly, it is wonderful to know that we have family all over the world. And while we are very much looking forward to hugging on our boys’ necks, seeing our daughters-in-lawagainand seeing our blood relatives, we are also so thankful that we will be able to see brothers and sisters in Christ whomwe have not seen for quite a while and meet new parts of the family all over the US.

But before we get to see everyone on that side of the water, we have been spending time with our family here. As I wrote earlier this year, blessings come in all sorts of packages, including painful ones. It has been beautiful to see how we as a family in Maastricht can help one another when a member loses a loved one, when a dreaded diagnosis is given, or when a daily reality of living with a spouse antagonistic to faith hits again. We are here for one another. 

We have also been spending these last couple weeks trying to take care of everything that needs to keep going while we are gone. We will jump into a week of camp three days after we arrive back in Belgium, so lessons and plans need to be in place already. We want to make the most of relationships with people we have been talking to about God’s love, so we have spent time around the table in conversations. And the grass finally needs to be mowed and the weeds on the driveway pulled. 

In March Shirley enjoyed the ladies retreat in Germany. Scott held another singing workshop, this time in Eindhoven where Scott and Shirley go every third Wednesday for singing. We enjoyed several Monday evening studies with brothers and sisters as well as several other Wednesday studies at our home. 

These are the kinds of things we also look forward to in our travels in the coming months. Scott will offer a song workshop in Muscatine and Denver, will share thoughts and views on Bible camps and missions and will, together with Shirley, talk about how God has brought us this far and how He wants to use all of us. We look forward to seeing you in the US. Please let us know if we can hook up when we are in your neck of the woods. Family is very important to us. 

Serve

The washing of the feet by Ghislaine Howard

Years ago when I met RW he told me: “We should not be talking to people about God. Everybody has their own picture of who God is and it just gets confusing. We need to focus on Jesus!” We had met when he first attended our ‘Wiser on the Way” course learning how to read the Bible. After the three day course he asked to continue reading together. We have been reading together ever since. 

Along the way, he had some other things to say that have stuck with me. One of them was that the most important thing one can do is to serve. That is my view of being a follower of Jesus as well, so it hit home. At the time, my colleague, Ruud, and I were caring for our dear sister in Christ, Willemien, as she entered the last days of her life here on earth. She left here to wait for us there at the beginning of April. But I often thought of that idea brought up by RW – serve. 

As RW has gotten older, he too has needed help. This past year, after Willemien passed away, it was as if we were given another opportunity to care once again. RW was diagnosed with Alzheimer and we, together with his girlfriend (who is 87), cared for him as he waited for a nursing home to take him in. His health steadily deteriorated and I found myself spending more and more time serving and less and less time being able to talk with him as we did in the past about God’s word. 

At the very beginning of this new year, he finally heard that there is a place for him in the nursing home that was his first choice. So now he has moved. I will do my best to empty his rental house of 40 years of life and living – in a month. But that will mean that he and I can perhaps return to a relationship of talking to one another and learning from one another. 

This year has been a year of caring. We are nowhere near our parents (Shirley’s parents have both passed away, Scott’s live in New York and Florida) but this is a season of life that comes with these challenges and blessings. I pray that we will never forget to be servants. That, after all, is exactly what Jesus showed us and told us to be. And He is the one we want to resemble and follow. 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

I wanna be like you!

Good examples are indispensable for growth. When you are learning things, watching someone do it right, and having them teach you, is the best way of assimilating what you want to learn.

This past week was Missions Emphasis Week at South 11th and Willis church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. This congregation has been ‘doing’ missions for the 65 years they have been at this address. I don’t know about all of those years, but I can remember all of the examples we saw.

We arrived in Abilene on a Saturday and attended Willis the next morning. That Sunday we were asked out to lunch by at least two couples (if not more). We were taken on a driving tour of some nice areas of Abilene before being taken to a lovely meal. And it wasn’t even because we were such a wonderful new married couple (we had been married that very day before). It’s just how the family at Willis is.

When we arrived, the congregation had already supported a mission effort in the Northeast for a longer period. They were already active in missions in Africa and with the deaf. And they took care of their members and their neighborhood. They had young members who had done short-term evangelism in New Guinea, Africa, and Europe – and they continued to support them.

What does it teach you when you see a congregation set their budget in such a way as to make sure that they can continue supporting missions all over the world? And they are not picky. What I mean is – it is easy for a congregation to get focused on one area of the world. It makes a bit of sense, since the congregation can then gain a deeper knowledge of that area of the world. But Willis has always had a principle of supporting the person. They support their own members who are called to serve – no matter where they are called to serve.

I remember seeing funds raised in a special contribution – because it was needed. Above and beyond the budget. This could be for a chair for those sitting with a loved one through the night, for clothes for those who had less, or a missions need. When there was a need – voiced by any of the members to the family – all looked for a way to help.

In our own situation we were offered a place to stay, had a car loan co-signed (we didn’t have any relatives to help), and found jobs because of these family members who continually focus on the heart of Christ. I don’t know how many of these brothers and sisters specifically thought about their example, but they indisputably formed us through their example.

When one of the members started a Bible study in the neighborhood he asked for any members who wanted to join them in the effort – but he was quite clear: only come if you are willing to be active in sharing your faith. “If you aren’t telling people about Jesus now and here, what makes you think you will do it anywhere else?” That was a good question.

When we started getting ready to come to the Netherlands and Belgium, Willis was right there beside us. And they have remained there all along. But in the typical fashion and example we learned from them they have continued on. Besides supporting us in Europe, this congregation continues to have efforts in Africa, with the deaf (both local and overseas) and within the refugee community locally.

That was something I learned a long time ago from this family: the job is never done and it is not always about doing big things. Sometimes it is just about taking someone home for a good lunch.

We are so thankful for this congregation and all that God continues to do through them. 

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love you have for all God’s people – the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. Colossians 1:3-5

Indy-pendence, In dependents, (In) dependence

We are not made to be alone. We start out life dependent on our parents but trying to do everything on our own as quickly as possible. We learn to walk, to eat, to tie our shoes – so much that we can do “all on our own.” But we are not on our own. We are part of a family. And further along, that family only gets bigger. We are made to be together, to be with “one another”.

One of the first things we did in Indianapolis was to get together downtown with family – Scott’s brother and his family. The ‘Indy” sign makes it possible for you to be the “I” in “Indy”. But we enjoyed being a whole group strolling along the canal, escaping the heat under the bridge, sharing conversations as we got to know each other well. We don’t see each other very often.

The airport was the scene for the first of our family moments as Natalie came to pick us up with her mom, Pauline, and sister, Hailey. Later we would also all go to pick up Sean, Wouter and Marc. And all of us invaded Jay and Pauline’s and Stephan and Natalie’s homes, but it is family.

It was such a blessing to be able to use a car, as Scott and Shirley visited other family before Sean arrived. A day to South Bend meant a great visit with Stef Bardoel at Notre Dame university. Another evening meant a visit to Mark and Beth Chenowith who have been such an encouragement to us in previous visits, sharing their home. Now we were able to share our hearts again in challenging conversations about the future and how we can be used for God. We are made to be together – we need times like these.

Before Sean and the guys arrived, we enjoyed being able to just be part of anything and everything that was happening. Scott was happy to get al sweaty helping build the new deck, Shirley spent a morning with the ladies getting nails done, we watched a bit of football along the way and we enjoyed snacks or food whenever we even thought about it, thanks to Pauline’s good care.

When “the guys” arrived (Sean, Wouter and Marc), it was just in time to watch Belgium play. Together-time is also important in moments of commiseration. And then we were able to connect again with Scott’s brother, Michael and family, for a day of fun, food and music. Although the weather had by this time turned greyer and colder (though never really cold), getting to talk and sing together always warms things up.

It is here in Indianapolis that two families meet. Scott’s brother lives here as do Stephan and Natalie and her parents. It was especially nice to see how Wouter and Marc have been taken up into this whole group of two families. This is what family means, and it will always be a time and place of beauty for those who have experienced it.

We enjoyed our dependence on one another – driving to and fro, building things together, playing games, putting more places out as Natalie’s sister and fiancé also joined us, finding fun things to do together – everything is a bit more complicated with more, but also exciting and fun. Together we filled up the days around Independence Day in Indy. The guys enjoyed playing ping-pong and Axis & Allies. We watched a few movies together, watched fireworks, tried to make s’mores on the stove (since it was now raining outside) and got a free concert from Sean.

Indepenedence Day was a day of American activities. In the morning the guys went shooting at a range. In the afternoon we enjoyed a meal together. In the evening we went bowling and then walking along a trail with lots of other people on their way to a festival and firewroks (it wasn’t yet raining). But this day was also a day of saying goodbye. The following day we would move on to our next destination. You can see the pictures of our Indy stay here. 

It will not be easy for Shirley to leave one of her little boys behind after waiting so long to see him again. We know how independent our children must be, but it is not always easy to see. We are so thankful that we were able to spend this time together. We are thankful most of all for the realisation that we are dependent and can depend on the great might and grace of our Lord – always and everywhere.

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.   1 Thessalonians 3:11-13

Keep the trash out

- thanks to Olga Zhigulina for the foto -

During our weekend of footbaal in Switzerland I was the goalie for "Holland Pro" (don't take the names too seriously). I didn't keep my goal completely clean. One or two got past me. But the only reason I was able to keep some out was because I wasn't alone. My teammates kept running back to defend, save, help.

It is so good to know in my life with Christ that I am not alone. My brothers and sisters are helping, running themselves ragged sometimes. And when they are standing in the goal, trying to keep the trash out, I am there for them as well. We are a team, a body. We dont work alone.