Insecurity
These things can cause a lot of insecurity. How do we plan for the next weeks, months, years? We are not sure. At the moment we are in the middle of the crisis, which feels like a storm with raging waves.
Heavy storm
Years ago, when we lived on the hospital ship Anastasis, we passed through some very rough seas. Once we were in a very heavy storm that lasted for days, with huge waves that pounded the ship and crashed over the bow. The creaking and groaning noises the ship produced under the heavy seas were very scary, and at times, I feared we would sink. Our two small children were rolling back and forth in their cribs but sleeping soundly. We actually had to stretch our arms to keep from rolling out of our beds…
God with us
Even so, we were able to sleep peacefully in the knowledge that Jesus was with us. We weren´t sure if we would safely reach our destination—the piercing sounds the ship made seemed to promise the contrary—but we knew that He was with us right through the storm. This is also true now in the Corona storm: He is not far away, waiting for us somewhere safely on the shore—no, He is here with us, in the boat, in the storm…
Peace, courage, perseverance, wisdom, protection, hope and joy!
There are so many questions. So many daily changes. In the meantime, we are not able to travel and lecture to groups of students in different countries. Teaching them in practical ways during outreaches to vulnerable children is not possible at the moment. But Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) said yesterday during a Zoom meeting: “Those travels are not canceled but only postponed…”
So that is the way we are processing it right now. For each one of you there will be bigger and smaller changes. We pray that in these challenging times you will be able to experience the peace, courage, perseverance, wisdom, protection, hope and joy of the Lord Jesus!
What are we doing now?
Since we couldn´t go lead the planned Children at Risk School in the Philippines, we had extra time on our hands. What to do? We were able to take a two-week online course to learn how to give online courses. The course was very inspiring and lots of fun as well.
We joined a group of more than 90 Brazilians on Zoom, using Google Classroom and a WhatsApp group. One of the things that stood out was the importance of maintaining personal contact with your students when you offer an online course through the University of the Nations (YWAM’s University). It is not enough to put a bunch of videos online. It’s also important to coach and help your students in a personal way as much as possible.
Challenge
The next challenge will be to develop a good online seminar that teaches students how to work with children at risk. Instead of traveling by plane, we´ll travel through cyberspace using our laptops in our living room. 😊 We’ll continue to give some of the key teachings we normally give during the courses. Our dream is to reach even more students than before and prepare them to work with vulnerable children, families, and communities.
Food packets
We are trying to follow the impact of the crisis as closely as possible, not just in Holland, but especially in developing countries where the effects are often very extreme. From all over the world, we are receiving reports from YWAM projects and from former students in our Children at Risk schools who work with the poorest and most vulnerable populations about how they are trying to provide food packets for the most needy families.
6800 families around the Lighthouse project need help
In Belo Horizonte many young missionaries are busy reaching out to the people in the slums. Many people lost their jobs and cannot provide daily food for their families. YWAM staff, together with local churches, are gathering donations to put in packets for the neediest families.
Prostitutes without clients
In the red-light district in Belo Horizonte, the ladies stopped being able to receive clients because of the lockdown. This created an incredible opportunity to help them, not just with food, but also with the gospel message of hope and new life in the Lord Jesus. There are now also opportunities to teach them an alternative profession.
Lord, what is it You want?
Johan and I are using this extra time to study the Bible, read books, and pray together. We struggle with the question of what the Lord desires to do in us and through us and what He wants to teach us. We are also using this time to make more calls, connect through Zoom and WhatsApp, write greeting cards, go for walks and bike rides, fix things around the house and even start a vegetable garden!
Teaching for a week in the CAR school in Belo Horizonte
On the YWAM base in Belo Horizonte, they were in the middle of the three- month lecture phase of their Children At Risk (CAR) school when the Corona crisis started. As it was only a small school with seven Brazilian students, they decided to go in quarantine together so they could finish the school. Last week we were able to teach them through Zoom.
Thanks to all!
We continue in good health and are following all the new rules about isolation and distancing properly. Our children and grandchildren are also doing fine. Dilma, who was struggling with her health, is totally healed now, and Davi feels great. For them it is a little more complicated, as visits and coming to our place for the weekend are not possible right now. But hopefully those restrictions will be lifted shortly.
We would like to thank all those who have continued to support us over the last couple of months with encouraging messages, prayers, flowers, bags of groceries and finances! We pray God’s richest blessing on your lives during these troubling times. Johan and I would like to pray for you also, so please send us your prayer points!
Much love, Johan and Jeannette
Prayer points
- Pray that in all the insecurity, people will search for God and find Him.
- Pray for consolation for those who have lost loved ones because of this virus.
- Pray for those who have lost jobs/income and may not have any savings, who suffer hunger, that they may find help.
- Gives thanks for teams worldwide from YWAM, churches and other organizations who together reach out with helping hands to the poorest in many countries and neighborhoods.
- Pray for prostitutes, not just in Belo Horizonte, but worldwide, that this crisis will be a defining moment to build a new life without exploitation and prostitution.
- Pray for the effective organization of classes and seminars, that many students around the world will be able to profit from this.
- Pray for a growing understanding for all of us, that Jesus is always with us.
- Pray that we all may have open eyes and ears for what God wants to teach us during this time.
