Planning ahead

We try to get back to the US every three years to touch base with the congregations that support us and visit family. All of these spots are spread around the US, meaning quite a time of travel. It is always nice to see everyone again, as well as see plenty of the places we also call “home”. This is why we call it a Home Assignment. The last time we were on Home Assignment was in 2023, so next year, if all goes well, we will be visiting again. 

But this trip takes a good bit of planning and figuring. Which route should we take? How do we plan the various Sundays to work out with the congregations we want to share time with? How should we divide the driving and flying time? And there are always people that we would very much like to see who simply don’t fit on the route. Are there any ways to see them anyway? 

When the boys were still at home, we always had to plan this trip in the summer, during the school vacation. But now, when we could leave whenever we want, we still have to keep our plans for our ministry here in mind. In addition, we have a new granddaughter in the mix and we want to be there for her birthday, which is in the summer vacation months. So I have been figuring, planning, checking prices and generally trying to discover the best way to travel next year. 

We are looking forward to seeing church family in Long Beach, California; Woodbury, Minnesota; Muscatine, Iowa; and Abilene, Texas. But we also hope to see church family we have met in Denver, Colorado; Noblesville, Indiana; and Omaha, Nebraska. These are the places we hope to sp[end our Sundays, although it may not be possible to hit all of them on a Sunday. We only have 8-9 weeks of travel time. 

In this time we also hope to see family in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Montana, Indiana and New York. There is a little bit of overlap between family and churches, but not much. And, as mentioned, there are still others we would like to meet up with who live in places like Tennessee or Pennsylvania or Florida - far out of the route. So we would love your prayers as we plan this time - prayers that we can find some good deals, that we will be able to get things set up, and that our visit will be encouraging to those we meet. 

If you are in any of the places we are planning to visit (mentioned here), put us on your schedule and make plans to find some time to share with us so that we can encourage one another. If you are not on the route, maybe we can meet somewhere along the way (like driving through Iowa or Wisconsin, or Chicago). These Home Assignments are only possible because of the faithfulness of our supporting congregations, brothers and sisters willing to sacrifice so that we can make this trip. Thank you for these possibilities and all the memories from previous times. 

In the meantime, I am traveling every day this week down to camp and back. It is good to see people we don't see too often, meet new people who love the Lord, and share encouragement from God's word. I will be giving the teens a lesson every day, trying to help make the messages from the Minor Prophets something that they can understand and sow into their spiritual growth. 

The beginnings of Life

Where does life begin? That is a big question discussed by all sorts of people at various times. As Christians we know that life comes from God. We are the created, He is the Creator. But not everyone accepts this view of life and the world. 

This past week we were able to take a few days off and visit a young couple who have moved down to the south of France. Pamella is our sister in Christ from Brazil. She is married to Tim, who is a wonderful young man who does not want to believe in God just yet. But he was always willing to attend Sunday services with Pamella when they lived in Maasmechelen. 

Shirley and I seldom get to celebrate our anniversary on the day itself, but knew that we wanted to visit this couple to encourage them. Since it is a 13 hour drive down, we decided to make the drive a two day journey and stop over in Dijon on the way down and on the way back. This would leave us about two and a half days oil the south with Tim and Pamella. 

We had a wonderful time in sunny but cooler climes and spent a morning in Dijon on the way back home. More importantly we were able to have some good conversations and moments together. When we got back home we had just enough time to get a little rest before the next event on the next day. 

Mike Houts is a NASA scientist who came to talk about Science and Worldview. He spoke to a full room in the church building in Antwerp about the questions we can and should have about what science really shows us and where life comes from. It reminded me of the questions Tim sometimes had. Mike asked, “Did someone choose to be an atheist? Then people must be more than simple chemical reactions. A person must have a soul if he/she can make a choice.” Intriguing questions. 

While we were down in France, we got news that a dear sister of ours was sick and at the end of her life. Leonie and George are members of the congregation in Liege and came regularly to our monthly singing or to church outings down at camp. But she has also struggled with her health as of late. By the end of the week we had heard that she had gone Home to her reward. We look forward to seeing her soon, when we also can go Home. 

It was a challenging week with reminders of what really matters and where life really is. Life begins with God and can only continue with God. Jesus Christ makes real life possible. This is something that Leonie not only knew, it was something she regularly shared with those around her and showed in her daily life. Mike Houts presented good information that showed the truth that what we see is clearly come from God. And we continue to know how important it is to pass all of this information on to everyone who is willing to question and listen. 

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!   2 Corinthians 5:16-17

Family plans

We are excited. Last year we became grandparents. It was right after we had visited with Stephan and Natalie in Indianapolis that sweet Sophia showed up three weeks early but a few weeks too late for us to welcome her to the world. So we have been patiently waiting, enjoying every last picture that is sent our way. And now we are able to make plans to finally meet her - and see her wonderful parents, of course.

Our dates are set and we are working on getting tickets arranged. This will be a bit of a quick trip compared to our usual visits back to the US. We want to maximize our time with the family, so we will not be anywhere other than Indianapolis. We do hope to be able to see my brother and his family who also live there. We missed seeing them last year due to sickness in the family. 

So we are excited. We will be able to be present for Sophia’s first birthday. Not that she will remember any of it, but we will. This trip will be sandwiched between activities with the church here and our summer camp activities. We are organizing a youth day with the church in Maastricht in April. In May we are organizing a day for the congregation down at camp. We are both teaching directing or helping at Benjamin Camp this year as well as Family camp in August. But seeing this precious child will be the highlight of the activities we are involved in. 

We are so very thankful for congregations who make these kinds of trips possible. We look forward to meeting with the church in Indianapolis as well while we are there. And it is always so good to know that the brothers and sisters in Maastricht take such good care of one another. Our theme this year in Maastricht is about the family of God. All of these places are truly God’s family. We are thankful that we feel at home in so many families. 

You are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household.  Ephesians 2:19

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. 

Wild wonderful Wednesday

This is the first 5th Wednesday this year that I have been able to write. So we are going to do things a little bit differently. I won’t be taking you to any spots near our house. Instead I will take you far away.

When Shirley and I started our life together we had no idea of what was to be in our future, but we wanted to face it with a smile and courage. So we made even our difficult times an “adventure”. If something was an adventure, then we could handle it and enjoy it. We did not have the possibility to travel much in the beginning, so even our walks out and around became adventures. We named our feet (mine were Ralph and Fred) and asked how they had enjoyed the adventure to the muddy swamp at the edge of the field, for example. 

And through the years we have had some amazing adventures. When we had our first car, we went to help pick someone up in Forth Worth, Texas. Unfortunately, our car broke down somewhere on the highway in Fort Worth before we could get to the young man we were to pick up. We spent the next few days walking from the cheapest hotel we found near a garage we found willing to tow our car. We had just enough money. We got coffee at the McDonald’s, purchased some cheese and bananas at a little supermarket and prayed that the garage would work out a deal with us. For two days we walked back and forth between the cheap hotel, the supermarket and the garage. I can still remember the smell of the asphalt of Forth Worth. 

Then there was the visit to the hotel in San Antonio, Texas a few years later. We wanted to visit San Antonio because that is where Scott was born. As we arrived downtown in our brand new second hand little station wagon, baby Stephan in the baby seat in the back, a pick-up truck turned left through our green light and smashed our cute little car to bits. 

Everyone seemed fine. Somehow (we still do not remember how) we got to the hotel we had planned to stay at and we made an adventure of the next few days wondering how we would get back to Abilene. That was solved by a brother (Bob Gorsline) who was traveling through and was able to take us with him. We never did see the Alamo, although we were able to purchase a sombrero. Ralph and Fred had a good time. 

But our adventures were not restricted to Texas, nor were they all difficult times. Between the two Texas adventures we traveled to Europe on a survey trip to see if we would be able to do missions there. This was before Stephan arrived and we had a Eurail ticket which meant we could travel all over Europe with the train. Ralph and Fred were excited. We would often plan our trip so that we could sleep in the train, saving costs. 

We walked up the hill to the castle in Salzburg, Austria. At least, we walked a good part of the way. Shirley did not do well with the altitude, so it was slow going. But we made it. In Greece we walked through the market and up to Mars Hill, imagining what the apostle Paul saw when he had been in the same places. We ran through the narrow streets of Venice as we hurried to get back to the train station after a day visiting the canals and bridges and glassblowers. And in Bremen we walked calmly through a park, finally sitting on a bench as we waited and prayed for a lost passport and Eurail pass which finally showed up when we returned to the train station. 

This past weekend we met up with our Chinese professor friend who is hosting her mother in the coming weeks. They told of the trips they will take to Paris, Rome, Venice and Munich. It reminded us of the journeys and adventures we have had. Life is exciting if you can make it an adventure. And oh the stories you have when all is said and done!

Where have you been? Where are you going? What adventures have you experienced? What adventures await you? Ralph and Fred still enjoy everything I throw at them. Walk with joy and courage. Walk with God and it will be great.  

An eventful day

Some days just stay etched in your mind. I remember hearing from people who could remember everything that happened on the day Pearl Harbor was bombed. I remember watching the first landing on the moon and know exactly where I was when the Challenger blew up. In the Netherlands people remember where they were when they heard about the Bijlmer catastrophe (plane flying into a block of flats) or when the fireworks blew away a whole neighborhood in Enschede. In Belgium people remember the time hearing of Dutroux (a man who kidnapped and killed young girls) or the gas pipeline explosion near Ath. 

Some things just stick in your mind, become part of the tapestry of history of a place. That is what this date is for many in the world. September 11 brought some major changes in the world which are still reverberating today. We stood watching the news on the television repeating, “What? What? Oh no!” The boys were not quite sure what was happening and why we were so upset. It seemed at that moment that the world was falling apart. 

And yet, that was a very eventful time for us in general. When we first came to Belgium it was to work with the church in Maastricht, the Netherlands. We lived for a year in Antwerp, Belgium to get into the language and still be able to be with a congregation before we would start things with a new team in Maastricht. 

We were able to get a permit to stay in the country which was renewed every year. When we looked into how we would work things with the team, it was easier to stay living in Belgium rather than move into the Netherlands.  So we found a place to live, close by the border, and continued renewing our permit. This worked well for us and at one point we were able to get a 5 year card, instead of renewing every year. 

But coming up on 2000 the government decided that they needed to change things concerning foreigners in the country. It was not a problem to be working for a company, but religious workers were not going to be allowed to stay any more. We were informed that we would need to leave the country. 

Around this same time, the opportunity to become a Belgian opened up. Both the US and Belgium technically allow dual citizenship and the more we looked into it, the better it looked. The process to become Belgian was fairly simple. We wanted to be sure that we would still be able to get back to the US if needed, so only Scott went through the process. We heard the good news right around September 11 in 2001. 

Now it would be possible to stay in the country and continue our work with the church in Maastricht and churches in Belgium. As with the apostle Paul, we would now be able to use both nationalities, both citizenships. We would now be able to move freely within the European Union and preach the gospel. This was a real blessing that we could not have foreseen. And it came at a time when we wondered what was happening with the world. 

Clearly, God has a different perspective on what is happening in the world. We have good friends all around the globe who experience things others may never even hear about. Have you heard of the struggles in Sudan? Of the elections in Kenya? Of the hurricane that basically wiped much of St. Maarten away? Of the tsunami in Indonesia? And so much more (including a war in Ukraine). Or most recently, the earthquake that has killed thousands in Morocco? It may seem like the world is ending. It may look like there is no way forward. It may feel like God has forgotten. But we know that this is not true. We have seen so many times before (look at all the times in the Old Testament) that God has been faithful. He knows what is going on. He can use even this time for His glory. 

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.  Psalm 42:5, 11; 43:5

Through the storm (Home Assignment 2023 Nebraska)

When I was young I remember a film my dad showed. It was a movie film, a super eight, perhaps, but he had taken it with a film camera and showed it to us with a film projector. You know, the kind that you used to see in school with two reels of film whirring as the light flickered the pictures out onto a blank wall or a roll-up screen. My dad made movies of several things when we were young. 

This one showed a back yard, the area and some big clouds as the cameraman moved around and panned the area. Dad explained that this was taken in the eye of a hurricane - the moment where one finds oneself in the calm of the storm, the middle of the hurricane enclosed by the whirling, blowing, swirling winds all around. I guess we experienced this when I was still quite young. 

As we drove down to Omaha from Minnesota we enjoyed the typical midwest scenery of rolling hills, farms with silos and interesting looking tractors on the roads. We stopped in Sioux City to get a picture with a house of friends we will not be able to see in Texas because they are moving to Iowa - but not until we passed by and before we get to Texas. So we will not see them. But we got to see their new house before they did. 

The radio told us that there were some storm brewing in the area, but we got in to Omaha under clear skies and dropped in to Shirley’s sister, Mary. The next few days were spent enjoying family time, trying to get some health appointments and doing our best to see if we could get together with other parts of the family. Shirley has one sister and two brothers still living. Her eldest brother was undergoing surgery on his neck, so we weren’t able to meet with him. 

And one of our major concerns was to see how we could help Mary. And although it ended up being a very long day for her, we were able to get her to the hospital for some tests. This made clear that the worst fears were unfounded and also gave some idea on how to progress in treatment. In the meantime, we were spoiled by Mary and Junior at their home with food and snacks galore and especially good time together. 

Later in the week we drove out to Valley, Nebraska, west of Omaha, where Shirley’s brother, Roger, lives. A Dairy Queen at the crossroads is about the only thing out that way, so we took time there to enjoy a good talk and a chocolate mint sundae made with an almost evil green sauce poured over chocolate soft-serve ice cream. We left as more news of tornadoes sounded over the radio, but we got back into town without any problems. 

That evening we were able to attend The Lion King, put on by our great-niece and her elementary school. She was Pumba and did an amazing job singing (Hakuna Mattata). As we left the school we noted the rainbow sitting atop one of the buildings in downtown Omaha, letting us know that the storm, for that day, had passed. 

The day before we left the storm finally hit, but not in the city. Our nephew and his family went out and took pictures, reminding me of the movie my dad had made. Thankfully they, as we so many years ago, made it through the storm. 

One morning I was went early to a local park and threw the discs I had been able to pack with me. On Wednesday we said our goodbyes and drove off in our borrowed chariot (thanks again Mark and Angela) to head on to our next stop in Iowa. As we drove the radio once again let us know that tornadoes were in the area, but that is the next story. You can see our pictures from this stop here. 

True North (Home Assignment 2023 - Minnesota)

More than 20 years ago I first learned about discgolf from some guys in Minnesota. We were stopping to visit with our supporting congregation and these two guys asked if me and the boys wanted to go disc golfing. We had never been, but it sounded like fun. (You can see some pictures of another time here) 

When you throw a disc, you try to throw it with enough speed and power to go as far as needed, but you also do your best to get it to go where you want it. I enjoyed trying that out again for a few days while we were here at our 2nd stop, once again in Minnesota. It is always a challenge to get the disc to fly true, but that is the fun of the challenge. And doing it with others makes it even more fun. 

I was able to walk a course close to where we were staying with two strangers the first morning I went out. The second morning I was able to go, I went alone. The last morning was once again with the brother who originally introduced me to the sport, Kent Davidson, so many years ago. It was a bit rainy and was a fair course, but the time together and the conversation helped make it what it has always been for me - a great time to refocus and think about flying true. 

That is what we are doing when we stop in to ‘our’ congregations. These congregations have been financially supporting us for quite a few years. It is because they are willing to send funds that we are able to be where we are to tell others about the good news of Jesus Christ. When we stop in, it means we share a lot of meals - sometimes with older members we already know, sometimes meeting new members. Breakfast, lunch and dinner all take a turn being the time to share a good conversation. 

This trip has brought us to an El Salvadoran restaurant (have you ever tried pupusa’s?), a few potluck meals and a sports cafe for pork chops and fried fish. Shirley had a breakfast meeting with the ladies where she shared some thoughts and got to spend time with lots of the women of the congregation. Scott went to two breakfasts (one at 6am!) to renew friendships and meet some new members. 

And in between there were some vacation moments as well. Besides the discgolf mornings that Scott enjoyed, both Scott and Shirley were treated to a visit to the Arboretum - a collaboration with the University of Minnesota in rolling fields where all sorts of trees and flowers grew. Unfortunately we were just a bit early to see most of the trees and plants blooming, but it was still a beautiful day in what will be an even more beautiful spot in just a few weeks. 

Each day we were able to travel to these meetings and then come ‘home’ to our hosts’ home. Members have loaned us their car for this week and the whole trip we will take driving through the midwest. Our hosts, the Sullivans, have hosted us before in the past and it was great to be with them again. These people are all willing to share what they have to make our visit pleasant and effective at the same time. It is wonderful to experience this family. 

On Sunday we worshipped together, shared about our work with the class (which we had also done on Wednesday with the youth) and shared one last potluck meal together. Our visit here has been a time of sharing, growth, relaxing and remembering. It is a bit like a game of discgolf: we do our best to make things fly true and enjoy the time along the way sharing with one another. 

You can see some of our pictures from Minnesota here before we move on to our next stop (in Omaha, Nebraska with Shirley’s family).

Planes, lanes and automobiles (Home Assignment 2023)

When the clock struck 5am I (uncharacteristically) jumped out of bed and announced, “Time to get up!” The trip was beginning, after several days of trying to make sure that everything was going to be okay at the house, that everything we needed was packed and that we weren’t forgetting anything essential. Now it would all begin. Brother Alexander from the Maastricht church was picking us up in an hour and would take us to the airport. 

The first information I got after a quick shower was that our flight had been delayed by 2 hours. So that meant we didn’t really have to hurry, except that we were going to get stuck in Brussels traffic if we left much later. It meant that we would have plenty of time to sit in the airport in Brussels, but I was taking a book, so no problem. 

It also meant that we would be late to pick up the car I had reserved in Newark. I tried to call to see if we could let them know and adapt the reservation, but you know how ‘help’ desks are these days. After typing in several 1’s and 2’s to let them know what I needed, a friendly voice announced that they could not help me with that. 

I figured we would just have to see what would come. We knew that we would be likely to have all sorts of hiccups along the way, and God would help us deal with all of them. These types of things are good moments to re focus us on God and His good care of us through everything. 

We left the house a bit later than planned, thinking we had time, and got a little stuck in traffic to Brussels, but nothing terrible. We said goodby to Alexander, made it through all of the lines in the airport and sat down to wait for our flight. I was thankful for. Good book and that we had decided to travel with only hand luggage. It made the lines much easier and would mean that we needn’t stop at baggage claim on the other end. 

Although the space on the flight - which left even later - was minimal, that is not something I need to tell any of you. I=f anyone has flown in the last years, they know how seats have gotten narrower, closer together and more upright. But we survived without any trouble and were glad to be standing, finally, in front of the car rental counter and hearing that there were no worries with our rental. 

Our little warrior car for this section - a little Nissan Kicks (a kind of ’SUV’ if something this small can be called that) did a good job on the hills and highways getting us out of New Jersey and into New York. We had brought our gps, so finding the way was not a problem. And the scenery was beautiful. 

Often people think of New York as New York City. But New Jersey and New York is also beautiful rolling hills, much like the Ardennes. New Jersey is “The Garden State” and was wearing its name proudly, even on the highway. Green trees covered thick outcroppings of granite rock as the highway meandered between what I later saw were parks and swamps and rivers and lakes. 

When we finally made it to our first destination for the day - our hotel in Newburgh, New York - and were able to contact my Aunt Betty and pan for the next day, we headed out to get something to eat. A Denny’s just down the road welcomed us as it began to rain in the darkening evening. 

When we returned to the hotel we went to bed at what for us was an unbelievably early hour - 9 pm. But it was all our bodies could take at the moment and tomorrow was a new day. It would be a day for visits with family, drives through beautiful countryside and celebrating a birthday. That is the next story. 

As soon as we get a chance we will get some pictures up here.

Where Oh Where Wednesday: New York

This morning we headed out at 6am on our two month Home Assignment. As you are reading this we may already be in New York. We will do our best to keep you updated on our travels, but may miss some of our normal days, posting instead on a Thursday or even on a Tuesday. 

Just a quick review - here is our schedule for the time that we are in the US. We will be switching between church visits and family visits as we move around the country. 

Apr. 26-28 - Vist in New York with Scott’s Mom and family

Apr. 29-30 - Visit with Tornij family in CT

May 1-7 - Time with Woodbury church of Christ in MN

May 8-13 - Visiting Shirley’s family in Omaha, NE

May 13-17 - Time with Muscatine church of Christ in IA 

May 17-22 - Visiting Stephan and Natalie and Scott’s brother in Indianapolis, IN

May 23-24 - Visiting family in IL on the way back to MN

May 25-30 - Time with 3 families and 11th & Willis church in TX

May 31-June 6 - Visiting Scott’s family in CO

June 7-13 - Time with Long Beach church of Christ and family in CA

June 14-20 - Visiting with Sean and Jill in NYC

Our first stop along the way will be with Scott’s Aunt Betty. When Scott’ family first returned to the US after having lived in Germany, they moved to Colorado Springs. Around the time that he was 12-14 they traveled back to New York so that his Dad could finish up his military chapter and move on with new things. This visit was also a visit to family who were all in the East. 

Aunt Betty is Scott’s aunt on his father’s side - his dad’s sister. Scott remembers playing hide and seek in the high trees and corn fields, playing with firecrackers, shucking corn and racing buggies with lawn mower engines. This was all at Aunt Betty’s house. Now, as we were making our plans and planned on driving up to Rochester (upstate New York) to see Scott’s mom, the idea to spend the first night in Newburgh just made sense. 

Scott’s dad still had his sister’s phone number and she still loved at the same address some 50 years later. After a phone call it was arranged. Scott and Shirley will stop in Newburgh to meet and re-acquaint themselves with Aunt Betty. That is what family is about. 

After a short stop in Newburgh, we will drive on to Rochester to celebrate Scott’s mom’s birthday (along with most of The Netherlands who will be celebrating the king’s birthday - Mom was first). We are thankful to be able to make this trip and to celebrate 85 years with her. The last time she came all the way down to New York City to spend time with us and Sean and Jill, even designing special “warrior shoes” (see the story here). 

We may also get to see another of Scott’s aunts. Aunt Janet is the sister of Scott’s mom and lives in Buffalo, not that far from Rochester. If it all works out we will see her on the way to Rochester or perhaps during the visit with Scott’s Mom.

But we will do our best to get these tales out on time so that you can follow what is going on. Suffice it to say that we will see plenty of New York - the state itself at the beginning of our trip and the city at the end of our trip. Stay tuned. 

Digging in the past

Family is important. Knowing where you come from, what your background is. Knowing doesn’t mean that you are fated to be a certain way, but it always helps to put things into perspective. 

Both Shirley and Scott come from relatively large families. Scott grew up with 4 brothers and a sister (he is in the middle). Shirley grew up in a family of 8 kids, where she is one of 3 sisters. Except that she never really knew her oldest sister, Elizabeth. 

As we have visited her family in past years, her sibling group has thinned out considerably. Starting out with 5 boys and 3 girls, it had gotten to only Shirley, her sister, Mary (who we visited in November for health reasons) and her two remaining brothers. This was not counting Elizabeth, since no one seemed to have any information about her. 

Elizabeth was the oldest of the children, but left the home early on. Shirley only met her once in her life. So it has always been a desire to find out what we could about this sister. As technology has gotten more robust and there are things like DNA tests, we have had some new tools. This past week we finally got the test results back from a DNA kit that Shirley had sent in. We were hoping to perhaps get some matches which would lead us to more information about Shirley’s sister. It might also give some interesting information about her ethnic background. 

As we sat with the information, we started digging deep into records and files online. We both enjoy reading and watching detective stories and this was right up our alley. All we had about Elizabeth was her name. We knew approximately when she was born, but not with certainty. We did not know where she was born or when, with any certainty. We didn’t know where she had lived since her 16th, when Shirley had met her. 

In the end we found out quite a lot of information. We found Shirley’s maternal grandparents (and even great-grandparents). This helped in finding Elizabeth. We had one place where Elizabeth was mentioned as “Elizabeth F. Walker”, but we had no idea what the “F” could stand for. Then we found that Shirley’s maternal grandmother was named “Faye”. Mystery solved and we could start searching further. A marriage certificate and some census information nailed down that Elizabeth must have been born in 1953. We found an Elizabeth Fay (born Walker) of about the right age and living in Missouri - not far from where we thought she might have gone to school. 

In the end we found an obituary and everything came together. Elizabeth had never gone far. She had lived for a bit with her maternal grandparents, had a child young and married the man she would stay with until his death in 2013. She passed away in 2020 in the small town in Missouri where she had lived for most of her life. She was 67 and died with emphysema (as did Shirley’s mother). 

It is disappointing to realize that we were too late. We do not think that we could have found her earlier without some of the tools we now have at our disposal. And we still do not know why there has never been contact with the family. That is the next step. 

Still, it is good to know a little bit about who she was: a mother with three children, lots of grandkids and even a few great-grandkids. And we have discovered that these tools may help to uncover some more about her father’s side of the family - another mystery. 

We are thankful that we can know a little bit about our families. We are even more grateful that we get to visit from time to time. Scott will get to meet his Aunt Betty after having seen her last when he was a teenager. We will both get to see our siblings and their children soon on our trip through the US. And we will of course get to see our own children. 

Family forms us in some important ways. We are especially thankful that we also will be blessed to see our Christian family across the US as we travel from congregation to congregation. This is our eternal family and has formed and is forming us still in the most important ways.

We hope to see you there!

Putting together our travel plans for May-June is quite a puzzle, but fun at the same time. We will be in quite a few places and look forward to seeing as many groups as we can, considering the time. We already know that we will not get to see all of our family (Scott’s dad and older brother), but we have also had some fun surprises. 

Back when Scott first moved to Colorado with his family, his dad needed to travel back to the East to finish hos military requirements and retire (at about 40 years-old). This was the last time that Scott saw any of his family, who mostly live on the east coast. But now that Scott and Shirley will be landing in New York and driving up to Rochester, they saw that Newburgh, New York was along the way. Scott got contacted information and it turns out that they will be able to visit his aunt who still lives in the same house Scott visited back when he was a teenager. 

If you are anywhere near where we will be, we hope that you will get in touch with us before we leave (April 26) so that we can plan some way of getting together. Maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle. Maybe we can call. Maybe you are in the same city and we don’t have your contact information any more. Drop us a comment here if you don’t have our contact information. 

We are also looking forward to meeting all sorts of new people in the congregations that support us. It has been a long 4 years since we last back and a lot can change in 4 years. It has here in Maastricht and certainly will have done where you live. So when we get to your city, your congregation - don’t be shy. We want to meet you. We may not be able to get to know you well, but we want to know who you are and thank you for your working together with us in God’s kingdom. 

Here again are the cities and states we will be visiting. We will begin in New York (and also visiting in Connecticut). We then move on to Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Woodbury congregation. They will help us on the next long leg of our trip to Omaha, Nebraska; Muscatine, Iowa; Indianapolis, Indiana and even making a quick stop in Chicago before returning to Minnesota. 

After the Midwest loop, we will fly down to Texas and drive out to Abilene, hoping to do some visiting along the way. From Texas we fly to Colorado where we will visit up and down the Front Range in Colorado Springs and Denver. By this time we will have hit our oldest son, Stephan and daughter-in-love Natalie (in Indianapolis), Shirley’s family (in Nebraska) and most of Scott’s family (in Indy and Colorado). 

We finish the trip by flying first out to California to visit our sponsoring church in Long Beach and to see some more of Scott’s family in San Diego. From LA we fly to NYC to finish up by visiting with son Sean and daughter-in-love Jill. After 8 weeks of traveling we will get back to Belgium before the end of June and just in time to have a church get-together down at Ardennen Bijbelkamp on the Saturday after our arrival. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Discoverers and travelers

I love maps. Shirley knows that if I had a choice I would decorate our walls with world maps. Old maps. Maps with all the countries. Simple geographical maps. Brown, tea-stained maps in great frames behind glass. Globes sitting on tables (maybe made into a lamp). I love maps. 

I have always loved traveling. Maybe that was because my family grew up traveling. We lived in 4 countries before I was in 3rd grade and I had already traveled in a ship, a plane, a train and a bus in that period. I always say that I was born with ‘wanderlust’ in my veins (the desire to travel). So maybe it is not strange that I love maps - and that we live in Belgium and work in the Netherlands. 

Mercator - the one who made the Mercator projection of the world, the map that most people are familiar with when thinking about world maps (and which grossly misrepresents the sizes of continents) - was a Belgian, born in Rupelmonde in the area of Antwerp. Gerardus Mercator was a geographer, cartographer and cosmographer. All of those ‘graphers’ means he put it on paper. His world map saw the light in 1569 and was used for sailors. 

And many of those sailors in those days were Dutchmen opening up the world with their sailing voyages of discovery. New Holland (later to be known as Australia), New Zealand (the original “Zeeland” is in the Netherlands), New Amsterdam (later known as New York) were all Dutch. The Dutch East India Company opened trade to Indonesia, China and India. 

The Dutch were also busy in the West, putting their stamp on South America (Surinam) and the Caribbean (Curaçao, Saint Martin, Aruba, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba) through the Dutch West India Company. This was the golden era of sailing, trade and discovery (I wrote about this here).

What is thrilling is the idea that whether we stay where we are or travel, the world is at our feet and God is everywhere. We have talked about all the cultures present in our worship services every Sunday and how we have been blessed to travel to visit and work with the church in so many places. It amazes me to see that God’s kingdom is everywhere - wherever He is King. Is He King of your life? 

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!

A flexible year

This past year was a time to be flexible and see how God could use each and every moment. We all like to plan. To know what is going to happen. But we have all learned that this is not always possible. It may not even be desirable at all times. Often it is simply good to see what is coming and be able top ‘roll with the punches’. That is what this year looked like at various times. 

In January we were still planning on getting to the US for our regular Home Assignment. We try to get back every three years. The last time was in May-July 2019. But the world changed a lot by the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020. Our plans for returning to the US in the Spring of 2022 was looking more and more unlikely as travel restrictions were still in place. So we started looking at planning a Fall trip. Since we do not travel with the boys (2016 was the last time we traveled with Sean, and that was only for part of the trip), we can choose different moments in the year. 

In spite of those plans being changed, some of our normal activities continued: weekly studies, singing evenings each month in Eindhoven and Maastricht, As the year continued, corona restrictions lightened and we were able to make more concrete plans. A lot of this had to do with our summer Bible camp weeks. This would be the first year in a while that we would be able to hold a Family Camp week and everyone was looking forward to that. 

The congregation was also experiencing quite a few changes. In March we welcomed a group of Ukrainians in the congregation and looked into how we could help in this refugee crisis (including looking at how to use camp). We suddenly had more people to care for in the congregation, but we also had to look st how to do this (including translation, housing, helping). A year on, two of these young Ukrainians are getting married in 2023 and have been a strong part of the church here. 

We were able to hold in-person events as the weather cleared up and brought sunshine. This included our yearly gathering in The Hague where we included the various Ukrainians spread across the Netherlands and Belgium. We also planned and took part in various activities in other cities, trying not only to make refugees feel welcome, but looking at how God could use us all together. 

After great summer Bible Camp weeks, we started looking seriously at our plans for going to the US in the Fall. By this time prices were rising everywhere. Travel restrictions were still not completely clear, so we made the decision to move our plans to 2023. Trying to fly and drive for 2 months visiting family and church family from the East coast to the West and all through the Midwest was proving to be a challenge. 

Still, when we saw that Shirley’s sister’s health was not doing well at all, it was important enough to plan a full week (plus travel days) to visit and see if we could help in any way. We didn’t really think or plan that much. We simply looked at what was possible, asked for guidance and help and went. We are so thankful that God has put us in a position to be able to do just that. 

The year has ended with plenty of great activities with a congregation that has grown very close through a year of dealing with change and learning to trust. We react to challenges with trust in God and being active with one another. This is what we are looking forward to in the coming year as well. 

It is not easy to consider being gone for a full two months. This means leaving people and plans behind. But we know that these plans, if they are in God’s hands, are well-cared for. We know that the church is Christ’s church. We know that God can do far more than we ever even imagine or plan. So we will try to make our plans for visiting the US in May-June 2023 as well as continuing normal activities and being ready to develop any new opportunities that God presents us with. Please keep these things in your prayers. We will update you with our possibilities in the coming months. 

God blesses us every day, each year. We are so thankful that, no matter where we are, we know that He is in control and is able to use us mightily for His will and to His glory. Thank you for walking with us this past year. We look forward to hearing from you, seeing you and working together in any way possible in this coming year.