Looking ahead

We have entered a new year, although we tend to look at things along the school year. So what does our coming year look like? That is what some o the members asked me yesterday after a wonderful worship time together. As I mentioned then, we cannot know what is coming, but we can know that God will be with us through everything that comes up. 

Here are some of the things we are looking forward to in 2024: 

We will continue holding our Games afternoons after worship on the 2nd Sundays. This has become a great time to get to know one another and to mix the generations. 

We are looking forward to various youth weekends and youth days in the year. The first one is planned for the end of January for kids 10 and older and will be held in Gent. We don’t know if any of our kids will go, but we are thankful for the various churches planning days and weekends. Basically there is some sort of youth activity somewhere in Belgium or the Netherlands each month. In April the church in Maastricht is planning another youth day like we held in the Fall of 2023. This year we hope to organize two of these days, one in the Spring and another in the Fall. 

Shirley and I are both looking forward to various seminar moments. February is the month for the Advanced Bible Study Series (ABSS) in Gemünden, Germany. Shirley might come along for the first time in a long time. We always had to leave one of us home for the dog in the past. In March, Shirley will be off with some of the ladies from Maastricht to the Ladies Retreat, also in Germany. 

Our involvement with Ardennes Bible Camp (ABK) will continue this year. The annual meeting is at the end of January. This year we are installing a new commission and planning some changes. I will be teaching at the Spring Vacation Bible Camp (VBK) in April and will lead the Benjamin Camp (8-11 year-olds) in the summer. We will also attend and help at Family Camp. The congregation in Maastricht will organize the Family Day at camp in September. 

We are also a singing congregation. We continue to meet every first Friday of the month to sing together and encourage one an other in song. Every third Wednesday Shirley and I go to the congregation in Eindhoven to sing with them. We may finally be able to set up a singing day in September with the congregation in Cologne and Liege (which we have missed for the last few years because of covid measures). And at the end of the year we want to reach out to our neighborhood and see how we can use our singing to encourage others. 

Along the way we are looking at a “Thanks Walk” on certain Saturdays throughout the year. This will be an opportunity not only to meet people in the neighborhood, but to encourage them to be thankful, as we hope that we are as well. We hope at some point in the year to maybe be blessed to travel to the US and see (and hold) our granddaughter, Sophia. We just missed meeting her in 2023 (she was born a few weeks after we passed through Indianapolis). In all of these activities and moments we will are thankful for the people in our lives, in the church, and those who help in so many ways. 

We do not really know what the year holds. No one does. We make plans and work toward doing what we hope to be able to do. We lean on God’s strength in each moment that we are given. And we are thankful for the grace and strength that He provides in each day. Keep close to Him and choose to follow Him every day. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Lambert Adolphe Quetelet

With a new year come all sorts of New Years resolutions. Often people are concerned with their health and what they look like. This means that diets or losing weight are often at the top of the list of these resolutions. Trying to figure out if you are at a healthy weight has for years come down to your “BMI” - your Body Mass Index. 

Wikipedia tells us: “BMI is defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height, and is expressed in units of kg/m2, resulting from mass in kilograms (kg) and height in metres (m).” BMI can be used as a general rule of thumb to classify people in broad groups, but its limitations have come to light through the years of its use. It is limited in predicting health when used on people of shorter stature or those with a high muscle mass. 

Amazingly, this index was devised between 1830 and 1850 by Belgian astronomer and mathematician Adolphe Quintelet. He never intended the index to be used as a medical assessment, but instead was interested in the “average man” and what would be considered as a social ideal. A decade later these ideas would be used by proponents of Eugenics. 

The modern term “body mass index” was coined in 1972 by Ancel Keys as he discussed the topic of obesity. He mentioned that the index could be used for a broad population, but not for individual studies or evaluation. In the end, Quetelet’s formula has been used to discuss obesity in populations, but is not used as much anymore to determine one’s own individual health. More nuance is needed in an individual evaluation. 

So, be resolved. Make decisions to be healthy or to take more exercise. Just don’t get lost in the larger group or broader calls for what “you” need to do. And remember to continue to put your focus own what matters most in life - knowing God and following Him every day. 

Old and New

We love getting all of the Christmas or end-of-year letters with family pictures from so many of you whether it is digital or cards and letters. Thank you!

Our year was quite a mix of various activities and feelings. We celebrated our anniversary (as we so often do, since December is too busy), welcomed visitors from supporting congregations, visited family and supporting congregations, worked with camp, youth activities and church activities, welcomed a grand baby in the middle of the year as well as a new brother in Christ at the end of the year, said goodbye to a sister in Christ and prayed for many who are struggling with their health. Let me take a few minutes to run through some of the highlights. 

Travel:

Since our anniversary is in December, which is a very busy month, we tend to celebrate in January when things have settled down. We started out 2023 with a few days away in the city of Den Bosch and were blessed with some snow. 

In May and June we of course traveled throughout the US visiting church family and family. We hit all of our usual stops, but were also blessed this time to visit upstate New York, Connecticut and Chicago. We stopped through Sioux City, Iowa and the area of Graham, Texas as well. Thank you so much to all of you who put us up and put up with us. 

Later in the year we had a few French-speaking stops. We visited a concert of an acapella group we have known for some time in Lille, France. The week after we celebrated the 60th anniversary of our brother and sister in Christ from Liege, Belgium. We are so very thankful for the possibility to travel, to be mobile. When our car needed some much needed repairs near the end of the year, the congregation in Maastricht stepped up and helped us with those costs. 

Hello and goodbye:

A year is often full of hello’s and goodbye’s of all kinds. As we traveled, we were thankful to see friends and meet new people. But we also said goodbye in a more permanent way to people in our lives. We celebrated a sister’s life in Eindhoven as she went Home to her reward. Scott lost a nephew and brother in this year and Shirley lost a brother. 

But there were also hello’s in the year. We welcomed our first granddaughter, Sophia Ruby halfway through the year. At the end of December we welcomed Erik in new birth to a life in Christ. Many of you also lost loved ones and welcomed new ones. We are so thankful for family to share these difficult and wonderful; moments with. 

Active:

A whole year of activities is difficult to summarize. You can find a lot of the activities that we were involved in by checking out our pictures here. You can always find this site through the link on the blog: ravenraab.blogspot.com. 

Shirley went to the Ladies Retreat in March and the ladies of Maastricht organized a Ladies Day in November. These are times to bring together sisters from all around Europe or from the Netherlands and Belgium. It is so good to know that we are part of an amazing body of Christ. 

We welcomed two visits from our supporting congregations. Raymond Blasingame came from the 11th and Willis congregation in Abilene, Texas, stopping through on his around-the-world trip. Later we welcomed Jared Hawley from the Woodbury congregation in Minnesota. This was all before we were also able to visit so many on our own trip to the US. We are so thankful for so many who are so faithful in reaching out everywhere in the world with the gospel. 

Ardennen Bible Camp is a big part of what we do here. We spent a day down at camp as a congregation, meeting with our French-speaking brethren from Liege as well. We directed and taught at Teen camp and Family camp as well as helping with VBK (Vacation Bible Kamp) in the Fall. 

Our church family made good use of plenty of times to get together and encourage one another. We had a bbq at our place, organized a youth day for youth from around Belgium and the Netherlands, took a team to the COPA Benelux and had fun together every 2nd Sunday playing games. It is wonderful to share such a fellowship with this group of people who are so excited about helping one another grow in faith and love. 

Festive times were also part of our activities in the year. We helped with and attended a wedding, shared Thanksmas and Christmas and ended the year with an evening together to usher in the New Year in the Lord. We are thankful that God can use us in so many different ways and that this means that we get to see so many parts of the family of Christ. 

(This was New Year's Eve and a group of us went to our sister, Nel, to sing to her so that she was included in the festivities). 

On the Family Side:

We were of course very excited to be able to see family this year! Our last visit had been in 2019. Technology is great and we are very thankful for being able to see the people we get to talk to, but it doesn’t beat a hug. So being able to see and hug our family members was especially nice. 

Since we have returned from our trip plenty has happened as well. Stephan and Natalie welcomed Sophia Ruby to their family on June 29. We look forward to the day that we will be able to hold her  in our arms and really see her face. They are adjusting to life as parents and doing well in their work and family life. We are thankful that they are near Natalie’s family. 

Sean and Jill have very much adapted to life in the Big Apple. It was exciting when we visited to be able to see the places they experience every day. Sean has been working at a local school as assistant coach and, most recently, pre-kindergarten teacher. This is in addition to his continuing work with his music. Jill manages an upscale vintage clothing store and continues to use her photography and filming skills. 

Some of the biggest changes in our family life include losing family members. As mentioned, Scott’s nephew passed away. He was a young father waiting on the arrival of a second son. Since then his young son has arrived and we pray for his wife and sons as they miss him. Shirley’s brother, Roger passed away unexpectedly, as did Scott’s brother, Marc. We are thankful, once again, for family of all sorts who are there to care. 

As you look back on your year, consider how God has blessed you. Look at what you are thankful for and state it, to yourself and others. A new year has come, but as several have mentioned to me recently that is only a date on a calendar. We only really have the day we are living in. God is giving us time now to live. We pray that we will fill in those minutes with a life that will glorify Him and help others. We are so very thankful for this abundant life in Jesus Christ. 

Winter Light

As usual, time flies by when you are not looking. And suddenly we are in the second month of a new year, having rushed through the last days of a decade (or do we still have one more year?). Although, to be honest, we did not really rush through December. We especially did our best to enjoy the few days we had with a Christmas visit from Sean and Jill. They could only spend a few days with us, but it was so good to enjoy meals together, laugh at some game times and just be able to hug on them before they headed back to the Big Apple. 

The end of December was a beautiful segue into the new year with Winterkamp in the Ardennes. In a weekend of winter sun, a intimate group of young people examined the powerful reality of silence - being quiet so that we can hear God and being silent so that He can do His work. It was a needed reminder of how mighty God is and how wonderful it is that He wants us to walk with Him. 

And suddenly, we were walking into a new year, a new decade (unless we have another year). But as always, this means simply taking one day at a time and giving that day to our King of kings. After a month of special get-togethers and activities, we returned to our ‘normal’ schedule of studies and days of service. As we have mentioned before, our week is never really quite ‘normal’, but it is an exciting flexible challenge where we are confronted with questions: What do you believe? What keeps you going? How do you serve? Who is on your team? 

I want to pay some attention to some of those questions in the coming days here as I find time. But for now, we are preparing for a Spring concert with Harding University chorus and looking at how we can help members from one of our supporting churches (Muscatine) serve while visiting us here and in Ghent. 

In the meantime, the crocuses have popped their heads out, down in the yard under the walnut tree. It froze this morning, after several weeks of warm weather, so we will hope they survive. Sunday is supposed to bring a storm (and many of you have already experienced challenging weather). But we walk in the light, as Jesus mentioned to His disciples. There is plenty to do. Thank you for your support and encouragement of us here, and thank you for your faithfulness in serving Him where you are. 
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

There are a few pictures up about our end-of-year activities (and some of Chester) if you are interested. 

La La La and Who’s who?

One year ends, another begins, and life keeps moving on. We might have to learn how to make our fingers write (or type) that new number, but a lot of what we do remains the same. Our desire and task is to live daily in the will of God – especially in the little things.

A lot of what we are doing has to do with language, singing and relationships. At the end of 2016 we were invited by the congregation in Eindhoven to come for their monthly singing and help out with learning new songs. So now we get to meet with Christians from Liége, Maastricht and (soon) Hasselt on the first Wednesday of each month and then again with the members from Eindhoven on the third Wednesday. Learning new songs, enjoying singing together and encouraging one another is an amazing blessing for which we are so thankful.

We are also looking forward to Harding Chorus travelling in Europe. Besides hitting Germany France and the UK they will stop by Maastricht for two days and a concert. We have put together a program with local choirs as well as with the group Scott leads, called LAUS. We hope to not only touch hearts with the songs we sing and through the hearts of the singers, but also to let the neighborhood better know who we are as followers of Jesus. Think about us in your prayer time working up to May 16 and thereafter as well.

Multiple languages is simply a reality in Europe, and as more people arrive from various areas of the world looking for a safe place to live, we want to make the most of this opportunity to let people know who Jesus is. Last year we helped translate a basic book from Let’s Start Talking designed for beginning speakers. The plan was to use these with refugees.

Although we have not been able to begin this yet in Maastricht, in Eindhoven they have a group of refugees as well as a group of internationals looking to learn Dutch better. This means that we are looking at how best to get the normal FriendSpeak materials in Dutch as well. In Maastricht we are watching closely and praying about how best we can do this here. Would you pray with and for us?

Prayer is such a strength. It is in prayer that our relationships become clear. Every Wednsday morning at 7am Jan C. and Scott are together to pray for one another, fo r families, the church, the world and so much more. Brothers and sisters in Long Beach and Woodbury continue to encourage us as well as we take time together praying. What a blessing to know that we are a family and that God is in control. God’s design is glorious!

So we continue with our weekly activities. We meet five times a week with various groups to see what God is telling us in His word. Some of these are Christians and we are encouraging one another to live for Him. Others are those who are seeking God, but don’t always know where to look for what He really desires. Still others are simply trying to figure out how to get along in the relationships they have. We want to keep trying to be an example and a guide in these relationships.

As we look forward to the rest of 2017, we are excited about how God will use us. We just finished looking at 2016 at Ardennen Bible Camp and were excited by how much camp is being used not only for our summer activities, but also throughout the year by various congregations. We were thrilled recently by the news from our brothers and sisters in Long Beach who shared a gracious gift of $6000 to help make a needed renovation of our kitchen possible! This year we are planned to help out with at least two weeks of camp in the summer.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24