In the meantime, our garden office/guest room is almost finished. Next week, if it is not raining too much, we hope to paint the outside white.
Holiday with Davi and Dilma
Davi has already stayed there several times, and it's really fantastic that he can roll into the shower with his wheelchair in the adapted bathroom!
It is also nice for Dilma that she now has her own room (Davi's old room) when she stays with us during the holidays and on some weekends. Previously she always slept on the couch in the living room, and this is so much nicer!
They recently came to visit us for a few weeks in August during their vacation, and we were able to do fun things together--cycle a lot, eat ice cream and go to the pancake restaurant.
Week in Zeeland
This holiday we also went back to Johan's “roots”. We spent a week in Zeeland (a province in the south of Holland) where most of Johan's brothers and sisters still live. We had exchanged homes with one of Johan's brothers for the week, and we enjoyed exploring all the beautiful places in Zeeland, which everyone always talks about, but which I had never seen before. And of course it was great to see so many brothers, sisters and family, in the open air, on a Zeeland dike, close to the sea!
So we are gradually getting used to living in the Netherlands again and are discovering many beautiful places in our own little country.
Online classes and seminars will continue in the coming months
In the meantime, teaching continues online, and more online seminars and classes are planned for the coming six months. But like so many of us, we would really like to have personal contact with our students. We miss that greatly.
Exciting journey
We have been invited to travel with a group this coming September to a country where there is a lot of suffering and trauma, especially among the children. For security reasons, I can't be clearer here and name names. But we would really appreciate it if you would pray for this too. The intention is that we will teach parents and teachers about trauma processing among children, and in this way be of help and encouragement to them. But it is still very uncertain whether this trip will be possible, or whether we will have to postpone it for a few more months.
The first Children at Risk Schools are running again
We get great reports from Brazil, where several Children at Risk schools are now running with Brazilian students on site. We were able to teach in the Belo Horizonte and Salvador schools via Zoom. There will soon be another Children at Risk school in Porto Velho, in the Amazon region, led by our good friends Andrew and Eliane, who also lead a work among poor children in Jodhpur India.
The work among children in need continues
We enjoy all the wonderful messages from students and friends who, despite the difficulties Covid brings, are doing wonderful work among children in need and their families.
A great example is the base in Belo Horizonte, with its various community centers, the Light House and the Rock House, where hundreds of poor families are helped with their basic necessities, and where the gospel is heard loud and clear. Or like the beautiful work that the House of Rescue team has re-started among the people living on the streets and in the juvenile prisons.
Or like Inacio and Mila, who were our students in the Children at Risk school in Angola in 2001. They have set up an excellent work and are able to help hundreds of children.
Or like Mario and Lika, friends of ours from Brazil, with whom we have worked together a lot. They have moved to South Africa, where they and their team help and reach out to the poorest families in the slums with the good news.
Or like Jay, a Lebanese friend, who has been working with children and their families in Beirut for many years. He helps the local population but also many Syrian refugees. In addition to food parcels and practical help, he was able to give Bible studies to many small groups, where he sees people choose to trust God and give their lives to Him.
It’s great that despite these difficult times with the Coronavirus, so many children and their families are still being helped.
Uncertain
Various Youth with a Mission locations are starting their schools “in person” again, but by now we have all learned that Covid can mix up our plans. Especially for international students, it is, of course, still super difficult to travel to another country. So the major international meetings are all still online. We are grateful this is possible, but long to meet each other face-to-face again! Cautiously, plans are being made for 2022, but the Coronavirus has behaved erratically, and we know that it is not predictable. We don’t really know if we will be able to go back to meeting physically in the near future.
A “winter” of prayer
I read a story of a missionary who worked in a mountainous region, touring mountain villages every 6 months to teach the gospel. But during a very severe winter it didn't work out; there was too much snow, so he couldn't get through. He wondered what he was still doing there as a missionary, now that he couldn't get to the people anymore and could only pray for them... But to his surprise, when spring started and he could go through the mountain passes again, there had been a revival in those villages. People had begun to seek God, had read the Bible portions he had left with them, and had come to faith! His winter of prayer had contributed to a breakthrough!
I hope, now that we as missionaries, aid workers and volunteers are unable to go to countries such as Myanmar, North Korea, Afghanistan, Haiti, South Sudan or areas such as Tigray in Ethiopia, there will be extra prayers worldwide for the people in these places. If we persevere in prayer, perhaps after this time when we can't do much more than pray for the lost in these locations, we may be surprised at what God will do through our prayers!
Will you pray with us?
Prayer Points
- Thank God with us that Johan has recovered well after the operation.
- Thank God for the opportunity to conduct online classes and seminars. Pray for the next courses and many new students.
- Pray for our planned trip in September, for God's guidance and protection.
- Give thanks for the Children at Risk schools that have already started with national students. Pray that international schools and conferences can be held again in the not-too-distant future.
- Give thanks for all those wonderful students, staff and friends who continue to work with children in need. Pray for protection, health, energy, and financial resources.
- Pray for countries like Myanmar, North Korea, Afghanistan, Haiti, South Sudan and areas like Tigray in Ethiopia, that the people there will feel an urge to seek God, and that they will find Him…
