We have a popular saying in Holland: ‘Yesterday is gone, tomorrow hasn’t come yet, and the Lord takes care of today.” In that holy state of rest, God allows us to live as children of our heavenly Father. Caring is our duty, but worrying is sin. The Lord constantly trains us to submit to Him and trust in Him. We experience this not only in our marriage and family life, but also in the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to us. God’s promises are ‘Yes’ and ‘Amen” in Christ Jesus. Time and time again He provides every need we have as a family. That humbles us and makes us grateful.
We are thankful and pleased concerning the different Bible studies that I am now able to teach in different towns, as well as the weekly preaching engagements. Right now we are doing a Bible study series on “The Power of Prayer”, “Spiritual Growth”, and on the letter to the Hebrews. This September, in one of the towns where we are ministering, we hope to start a Bible study series on the book of Romans.
As I mentioned in an earlier report, we have been involved with the planting of the Reformed Baptist Church in Urk: http://www.refbapurk.nl/. Currently this church has been in existence for 7 months, and it’s a blessing to see how this congregation is evolving. Each week more than 200 brothers and sisters meet together. There is a great hunger for the Word of God, and the mid-week prayer meetings are well attended. Right now it looks as if I will get to lead the first baptismal service there in June.
Aside from the blessings, we were also involved with intense grief. Urk is a fishing community. In January we were startled by the news that a small fishing boat from Urk sank in the English Channel between Hastings, England and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. One of the sailors was a friend of ours. This brother and his family regularly visited the Reformed Baptist Church in Urk. One of the last times that I spoke in this church, I visited him in his home before the service and he told me about how he had gotten to know the Lord Jesus. It was an awe-inspiring testimony. And about 2 weeks later we were notified of his drowning in the sea. He leaves behind a wife and seven children. It is heartbreaking. Yet we may testify, ‘We grieve…, but not as those who have no hope.” (1 Thess. 4: 13-14).
Recently I was invited to speak at a very special meeting of the Welcome Home Foundation. This foundation is dedicated to homeless people in the city of Ede. Their goal is to bring the Good News to all those who have lost courage in a broken world; widows, orphans, the poor and the weak in society, to encourage them and to give them new hope. Our whole family went to this meeting. First there was a moment of conversing with the many visitors being served a free meal. After the meal I had the privilege of speaking to the group about the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, about the power of His atoning sacrifice and death. This was a whole new audience for us and it brought home to us the love and compassion of the Lord Jesus towards people who, for many, have no value. But we know that Christ brought a message of forgiveness and hope especially towards those kinds of people. It was a very special experience and one of the highlights of these last months.
Like last year we have plans for the coming months for several evangelistic campaigns in the Netherlands. We call them tent campaigns. A large tent is set up in the middle of a village in which meetings are planned for the whole week, and the Gospel is preached to young and old. These tent campaigns are interdenominational and are very accessible to people that have nothing or little to do with church, but still want to know something more about the Bible. During the day people can walk in, ask any questions they might have, and have a cup of coffee. Biblical literature is available, and people who do not own a Bible can receive one in the tent. After a week the tent is moved to the next village. We take our children along with us to these tent campaigns, and as a result they become involved early in life with this beautiful and necessary work. In the upcoming months I will be speaking at three of these evangelistic campaigns – in the towns of Tollebeek, Oldebroek, en Waarder.
In June we have plans for a tour with a friend of mine, a brother whom the Lord has graced with musical gifts and talents. Together we’ll be traveling through the country 4 consecutive Thursday evenings (through the Dutch Bible belt). I’ll be speaking and he’ll be singing, both of us focusing on the theme “The King is Coming!”. Our hearts are burdened to awaken people spiritually so that they will come to faith and repentance on the one hand, but also so that they will be preparing themselves for the second coming of the Lord Jesus. We still need to do a lot of organizing in regards to these 4 evenings, which takes up quite a bit of time and energy, but we do love the work. We’re full of hope and expectation, and we prayerfully await what God might do during this tour.
This summer I’ve been invited to oversee the Bible studies for two weeks on two campgrounds. The one is in the northern part of the Netherlands (Groningen) and the other is further south (Zeeland). Our family spends both weeks at the campsites. I lead the Bible studies and answer to any needed pastoral care. Those weeks are always fantastic. People are relaxed and purposely pick these campsites for the Bible studies, so we have an enthusiastic crowd. We’ve been doing this for several years now, and it is always a blessing to be able to give substance to the summer vacation time in this manner.
Through this letter we want to let you know that we are extremely grateful and happy about your support, in whatever way each of you may be involved with this. You are all in our thoughts and in our hearts! We’ll honestly admit that our (family) life brings many costs along with it, but to this day there has been enough each month, and we trust that the Lord will be taking care of the future as well. But we do know that you all are His channels through which He provides for us. Thank you for being led by Him in this. To show our thanks to your support we have made the following short movie:
