Dear brothers and sisters,
We’re at the end of the year. Our thoughts automatically go back to everything that has happened and occurred. Gratitude prevails. Ultimately, everything goes back to the faithfulness of our God and Father. During this year our family regularly sang, “Great is your faithfulness, O Lord, shown to us again every morning”. In summary, this is our testimony for the year 2019.
We have sown the Word in the belief that it never returns to God empty but always does what pleases Him (Isaiah 55:11). Thanks to God’s faithfulness, we can testify that our hard and varied work during the past year has not been without fruit. We regularly heard and read testimonies from people who were touched by the Gospel either for the first time or once again. The many speaking engagements meant that we drove a huge amount of kilometers over the past year and spent plenty of gasoline. In time, we will have to switch to a different car for various reasons. We are currently working on a piggy bank for this.
Over the past year, we were on the road a lot as a family. In addition to speaking in the Netherlands, we stayed in Israel in May. During the summer months, we served in Cadzand (Holland) and in Wilderswil (Switzerland). In October we were at the conference center in Vierhouten (Holland) where I organized a Bible study weekend for the first time. We had a wonderful group and spent time studying the life of Joseph in a series of five Bible studies. Typologically we extended the lines to the Lord Jesus and ultimately to our own lives. We look back on this weekend with much gratitude. The Bible studies are now online: https://jacquesbrunt.nl/preken I have been asked to speak more often at this conference center. We responded with a ‘yes’ and planned two activities for 2020:
- 1 – 7 August (vacation-/Bible week)
- 2 – 4 October (Bibel study weekend)
It was very enriching to recently attend a pastor’s conference at Hebron Mission (Amerongen – Holland). The speaker was the American preacher John Piper. He spoke about the importance of God-glorifying preaching. I find it very constructive to be the one being taught, as it provides new insights and inspiration to persevere in the calling to which the Lord has called us. Meeting up with other brothers in the Lord also makes days such as these particularly precious.
The fall conference of HeartCry-Netherlands is now behind us. The special thing about this conference was that we, as the board, largely filled the various speaking slots. The responses from attendees show that this was highly appreciated. I myself spoke about the theme “Encouragement Does Good”, based on Rom. 1:8-12. I really enjoyed this conference and it was a privilege for the HeartCry board to actively participate in this way. The attendance was also encouraging: 1,100 people had registered for this 3-day conference.
In collaboration with a brother from Holland, I made three TV recordings for the program “Without Limits” (Television channel Family7). During these recordings, we discussed the seven letters from Revelation 2 & 3. The theme for this series was, “Jesus’ Message to the End-Time Church.” It was a new and exciting challenge for me, but both Henk and I are very grateful for the end result. It is a great open door to share the Gospel. The recordings were broadcast on December 1, 8 and 15.
Once again, many speaking engagements are planned for 2020. Also, we’ve been invited to Israel, Cadzand, Switzerland, and Vierhouten this coming year to serve others with the Word of God. We are very happy about that! I regularly have to decline an invitation to speak because of our growing family and a very full agenda. In addition, I have been nudged forward in our own congregation in Alblasserdam to become an elder. At this time we’re discussing this with the current elders as to be able to carefully consider it. Regarding the New Year, we hold on to the content of Psalm 39: 7 “And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.”
It is our prayer and desire that you remain involved with our family and ministry. Your support – in whatever form – is indispensable for being able to continue to do this work. It won’t be a surprise to you that serving in ministry has very pleasant parts to it, but it also has darker aspects. That is precisely why your support is always a great encouragement for us.
At the end of October, our little Judah was in the hospital for a few days. The cause seems to have been a combination of pseudo croup, a bacterial infection of his upper respiratory tract, and a high fever. He had a hard time breathing. It was unpleasant to experience. Fortunately, everything is going well with him now! November is the month of birthdays with us. On 11 November I (Jacques) turned 40 years old and 20 November was Levi’s birthday, turning 14. We are grateful to the Lord for His blessings and have made it a wonderful day as a family. Annette hopes to turn 40 on January 17.
Finally, we would like to encourage you with the words from Romans 13:11b “Now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.”
Please receive our warm and loving greetings,
Connected in Christ,
Jacques & Annette, Levi, Boaz, Jesse, and Juda
