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. 

Working together

This past weekend we heard that the congregation we attended from the first Sunday of our married life has decided to merge with another congregation in the city. South 11th and Willis church of Christ has been one of our supporting congregations for most of the time that we have been here in Europe. And they were a shaping force in our Christian lives, being a very mission-minded congregation from the beginning. 

We are so thankful for the time that we had with all of the members there (and the contact we will continue to have). And we are thankful for the other congregations that are part of the web of support that God has placed around us. This past month when we visited Stephan and Natalie to meet Sophia and celebrate her birthday, we made it a point to visit the Green Valley congregation who we had visited in the past when we were in Indianapolis. It is always encouraging to share the love of God with our brothers and sisters around the world. This time Scott was able to preach one Sunday and teach on another. 

One of the things we talked about while in Indianapolis visiting with Green Valley was how to help missionaries on the field and what the relationship between missionary and supporting church can look like. We mentioned how encouraged we were when our supporting congregation in Long Beach, California shared that they are always praying for us. While we of course need funds, it is the spiritual support that we feel immensely . 

We have enjoyed this kind of support and family from the congregation in Muscatine, Iowa as well. We have been hoping for years that Rudy and Pam Schellekens might even visit and use the time to reach out in the Netherlands. Rudy and Pam both worked in Rotterdam and The Hague in the past and are also a major influence on our lives serving God wherever we go. 

Our relationship with the Woodbury congregation in Woodbury, Minnesota (a suburb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul) started many years back and has continued throughout our time here in the Netherlands and Belgium. We actually began with a congregation which later merged with the congregation that - together - became Woodbury. We try to follow the goings on every week by keeping up with the weekly bulletin and even sitting in online once in awhile on the men’s breakfast. 

These relationships have taught us and the members in Maastricht about how we are all a family of God, working together wherever we are. The church in Maastricht also shares with us financially and spiritually. Most recently, when they understood that we were losing some financial support due to changes in the US, they raised their level of financial help. This was something we also were thankful for in Abilene, Texas when we picked up a new family in the Oldham Lane church of Christ. 

Besides all of these congregations, we also have various individual donors who not only send us funds, but more importantly keep in contact in various ways, supporting us spiritually. We are a family, working together. As we are preparing for a week of Bible Camp (we are directing the week for the youngest kids), we are thankful for a team made up of members from 3 different Dutch congregations, serving kids from all over Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Realizing that God works through community, through a body, using the talents and resources of many to help even more come to life in Him - this is immensely encouraging. We are thankful for a mighty God who can use us all in so many ways to do His will, wherever we are. 

(Photo of a Sunday evening class in Muscatine, Iowa last year)