We just completed another 2-week online course on working with children in need. We are always amazed that there is such great enthusiasm for taking this course online. This time we had more than fifty students. Overall, this was our sixth seminar, for which a total of 482 (!) students have registered.
Five loaves of bread and two fish
One of our leaders at the University of the Nations calls this “feeding the five thousand”.
While the Lord Jesus spent three years with a group of twelve disciples and taught them everything, there were also moments where he taught much larger groups, such as when he multiplied five loaves of bread and two fish to feed five thousand people. Likewise, we pray that the Lord God will multiply these teachings, our five loaves and two fish, and they will be a blessing to many missionaries working with children in need, often in extremely poor countries and under difficult circumstances. We are not yet at five thousand students, but we are almost at five hundred with these online courses.
Homework is fun!
“Thanks again for the great lessons on Zoom, everything was relevant, I also enjoyed the homework on the Google Classroom with all the links to videos and articles, this added a new dimension to the training.” (Student from Eastern Europe)
“The assignments and additional resources kept me sharp.” (Student from Africa)
It is always nice to see that the students, most of whom have never used Google Classroom, are enthusiastic about this platform and about their homework! And to see how user-friendly it is. But at one point I had more than six hundred emails in my inbox, because you not only see the homework and comments from all students in Classroom automatically, but also receive them as an email--an extra service from Google😊
International
This time we had students from twenty-four countries, especially many students from different countries in Africa. But countries from Asia and from Eastern and Southern Europe were also represented.
“I loved that we could interact after class in the small group sessions with students from all over the world.” (Student from Southern Europe)
“I loved how the seminar staff member led our group session, hats off!” (Student from Asia)
This time we had only five facilitators, from the Netherlands, India, and Ukraine. Normally we have more, but this time almost everyone who had participated in previous seminars was busy with other things. Fortunately, it all went well, and we were also able to have personal conversations and pray with a large number of students via WhatsApp.
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| During the course I turned 65! |
Using principles and passing them on again
“I plan to incorporate most of this teaching and material into training courses I offer at a local Bible seminar.” (Student from Africa)
“I will certainly put many of the practical tips for working with children into practice in my pastoral ministry at a local children’s hospital.” (Student from Africa)
“I'm super excited because my husband and I are moving to a new island where we can start using everything we've learned about working with children.” (Student from Asia)
“My projects are with street children and with children with war traumas, especially in the refugee camps in my region. These tools will help me a lot.” (Student from Africa)
Students who work with children in need in many different projects, countries and situations are enthusiastic about the classes. They are often students who do not have the financial means to physically travel somewhere to do a course, or students who simply would not get a visa to leave their country to study. So you see that a lot can be achieved with online seminars that could not happen any other way.
We put a lot of time into this!
It usually takes Johan and me two months of full-time preparation for each seminar, and then the 2 weeks of classes are very intensive. The week after the seminar is also quite busy, when homework must be checked, there is an evaluation meeting to conduct, all the notes must be sent to the University of the Nations and the official certificates must be sent out to each student. But when we read all the comments of the students again, we are happy and grateful that we can do this.
"It's a wealth of resources we've been given in this class." (Student from North America)
“I found the lessons very interesting and will definitely share them with my team.” (Student from Eastern Europe)
And of course, it is wonderful if they pass on our lessons to their teams and the people they work with. In this way we indirectly reach even more people and help even more children in need.
Teamwork
We are therefore incredibly grateful that you, our supporters, who stand with us with prayer and financial help, continue to make this possible. In this way, we are partnered together to ensure that many more missionaries receive short training courses about working with children. We are not doing this alone, but together.
“I found the lessons very interesting and will definitely share them with my team.” (Student from Eastern Europe)
And of course, it is wonderful if they pass on our lessons to their teams and the people they work with. In this way we indirectly reach even more people and help even more children in need.
Teamwork
We are therefore incredibly grateful that you, our supporters, who stand with us with prayer and financial help, continue to make this possible. In this way, we are partnered together to ensure that many more missionaries receive short training courses about working with children. We are not doing this alone, but together.
During the 35 years we worked in Brazil with children in need, we learned so much, and now we can share this with students online. But through all those years in Brazil, there have been people like you who read our newsletters, who believed in us and supported us. Now that our work is primarily online from our little home in Holland, you have continued with your support. Thank you very much for that!
Back to Brazil again
However, we are very excited that now, at the end of this year, we are able go back to Brazil for a period of 6 weeks. We were invited to give lectures, and we will also participate in a large national Youth with a Mission conference. Of course, we will also spend time with Michele and Romeu and the grandchildren while we’re there. In the previous letter we had asked for prayers for Michele, who had hip replacement surgery and was still in a lot of pain. We can now say that things are going much better for her, and we are thankful to God for that! Just before Christmas we hope to be home in Holland again, so that Dilma and Davi can come celebrate the holidays with us.
We want to wish everyone a merry and meaningful Christmas, as we again celebrate that the God who created heaven and earth, the great I AM, compassionate and gracious; chose to come to us as a little vulnerable child, to offer us salvation, forgiveness of our sins, and redemption! May His Spirit of peace, love, faith, grace, and hope fill you!
Kind regards and God's blessings!
Prayer Points
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| Davi is playing wheelchair basketbal here in Holland, and here the family was invited to play with them. That was quite a challenge! |
Back to Brazil again
However, we are very excited that now, at the end of this year, we are able go back to Brazil for a period of 6 weeks. We were invited to give lectures, and we will also participate in a large national Youth with a Mission conference. Of course, we will also spend time with Michele and Romeu and the grandchildren while we’re there. In the previous letter we had asked for prayers for Michele, who had hip replacement surgery and was still in a lot of pain. We can now say that things are going much better for her, and we are thankful to God for that! Just before Christmas we hope to be home in Holland again, so that Dilma and Davi can come celebrate the holidays with us.
We want to wish everyone a merry and meaningful Christmas, as we again celebrate that the God who created heaven and earth, the great I AM, compassionate and gracious; chose to come to us as a little vulnerable child, to offer us salvation, forgiveness of our sins, and redemption! May His Spirit of peace, love, faith, grace, and hope fill you!
Kind regards and God's blessings!
Prayer Points
- Thank the Lord for allowing us to successfully complete another online seminar with so many international missionary students.
- Pray that they will be able to put what they have learned into practice and, in turn, pass it on to their co-workers.
- Thank the Lord allowing us to go to Brazil again, to teach in a real classroom. We had missed it!
- Pray for this world where there is so much need; that this Christmas season will be a time when many will seek God and be able to find Him.
