Sister Nel

Today our sister, Nel, turns 84. Yesterday the congregation did our traditional thing, but with a twist. Usually when someone in the church has had a birthday, we put them in the middle of the circle of us around them, pray for them and sing “Happy Birthday” to them. We want everyone to know not only how important they are, but how we all are blessed by them in this wonderful family of God. 

Usually we wait until the Sunday after the person’s birthday. Often there is more than one person in the circle, since several might have had a birthday in the previous week. For Nel we made an exception and sang o the Sunday before her birthday. And since Nel could not be with us where we meet together, we went to her, which is just around the corner of our building. 

In Spring this year I brought Nel to the hospital because of intense abdominal pain. After some examinations and scans and such she received the news that she had an inoperable tumor on her liver. She was sent home with the words that she was ‘terminal’. The doctor had even had the conversation about a “completed life” which is now typical in the Netherlands. IN other words, did she want to be euthanized. 

Nel made very clear to everyone in the doctor’s office (another specialist and a nurse as well as the doctor) that God is good and whether she were to die today or tomorrow or months or years from now, her life was in God’s hands. She was not going to presume to play God over her own life. 

So Nel has been waiting since the Spring to go Home to her Heavenly Father. But it has taken much longer than she had expected. She is still living on her own at home, cooking most of her meals and even doing some of her own cleaning. A nurse comes every day to check on her and clean her. Another helper comes once a week to clean in the house. And Nel wonders when she will get to go Home. 

In the meantime, she has been able to mend to a point a break with her daughter and has been able to regularly see her daughter and granddaughters. She is so grateful for these moments. She had never thought she would even make it to this birthday. But here she is. And there we were, gathered around her door to pray for her and sing to her and let her know how much wee love her. 

Of course we love her more than just this day. Several sisters visit her every week, taking her soup, reading with her in the Bible (one of her favorite activities), doing some cleaning or just talking. I see her every Tuesday to get her shopping done and take out her trash. And we all call or let her know how much we love her. 

One of these days in the future we will get a call and Nel will not be here anymore. She will have gone Home. But for now, we can still enjoy her in our lives. And we are so thankful that we got this time to be together with her again. 

Visiting with the family

Yesterday the congregation in Maastricht organized the yearly Family Day held down at camp. This has always been a day for the various congregations together from around Belgium or the Netherlands for a day of fellowship and encouragement. Each year a different congregation organizes the day. 

We were thankful to be able to put this day together and it was exciting to see all of the members doing their part. Shirley coördinated the food - we provided lunch for everyone that came as well as coffee, tea and drinks with cookies and cake for during the lesson time. Several of the ladies helped her throughout the day. Our youth teaching couple, Paul and Deysi too care of the young kids during the lesson - which was presented by our Ukrainian brother, Alexander. And two of our brothers took care of the singing (Mario and Paul) while I presented a quiz on the lessons that had been offered in the 4 camp weeks this summer.

The great thing about a day like this is that people come from all over who we don’t usually get to see. This year almost all of the congregation from Den Dolder in the Netherlands took the time to come to the day. This meant that some of them had to come earlier to stay in accommodation nearby instead of driving down for the day. But there were also several from Ghent and the Belgian coast, which is a good 2.5 or 3 hour drive across Belgium. But this is the kind of day people do not want to miss. 

For some it was the first time to visit camp. One of our sisters brought a friend with her. Since they were early, he got to help set things up with me - putting all the chairs out, sweeping the leaves away, moving tables outside. But that is the feeling on this day - everyone is willing to help and simply enjoys being together. 

We were really thankful that the weather blessed us as well. Several years back we moved this day from the end of Family Camp (in August) to the 2nd weekend in September. Although September can have some truly beautiful days, it is also a time for plenty of rain. We had a dry day, although it was a bit cool. That didn’t stop the kids from getting out to play on the basketball court or take advantage of the swings hanging in the trees. 

One of the special moments of the day was a time to pray together. We split up into various groups, including a group of women together, in order to pray for our world, the church, our local congregations, brothers and sisters around the world and much more. It was good to see the various groups and also a group of kids that Paul Brazle organized together to pray together as well. It is never too early to learn about talking to our wonderful Father. 

The day ended officially at 4pm after a nice walk in the woods, but some continued on with the yearly evaluation and planning meeting for camp. This was also well-attended and helped start things off for the camp weeks in 2025. Camp has grown from 4 full weeks and 2 weekends to 6 full weeks and 3 weekends, as well as various days and mid-weeks organized by the various congregations around the countries. We are thankful that God has made it possible for us to use this facility and that there are so many brothers and sisters willing to help and encourage one another. 

(You can find some pictures of the day here.)