Author: Erik de Kievit

Every Saturday I can be found in the Hub. This is a lunchroom and community center at the same time, from where many of our missionary activities are carried out. By now, more than 50 people from the street come here every Saturday for a hot meal, bread, soup and something to drink. And as much as possible we have a chat and pray for the people who come. Although I would not have thought that a few years ago, I enjoy being there for these people every Saturday and showing them something of God’s love. Not by looking for immediate conversions, but simply by being there, listening, helping and really seeing people for who they are. And because I am there every Saturday morning, I have the advantage of getting to know the people who come better.

There is Bernie^[1], an elderly man who grew up in the Bronx and who always greets me with: “My man!”. He has been living in his house in San Nicolas for years now with no real occupation and a pension that is not enough to pay the bills. It makes him very lonely and as a result he walks the streets a lot, looking for food and moments of company. I often see him several times a week, on Saturdays at the Hub and on Tuesdays at the Gospel Hall. He then gets some food and every time I see him he asks for prayer. And guests that I bring to the Hub are also regularly approached by him for a chat and for prayer.

When I sat down next to Bernie the other day and told him that I enjoyed seeing him at the Hub every time, he looked at me with amazement and a slanted smile. “You know,” he said, “the food is nice, but in the end I only come here for one thing. That you want to listen to me and then pray for me, that gives me a boost for the whole week. That is more important than the food and that is what I come for.” When I told him that it is not us who see him first, but that God really wants to see him, he nodded; “It is really special that God thinks of me, I feel that here and I am grateful for it.” I nodded and gave him a pat on the shoulder. As I stood up I heard Jesus softly say to him: “My man!”

^[1] Fictitious name
Photo by nappystudio on Unsplash

I^[1] work in a ministry with prostitutes. We organize afternoons for them with a fun activity and create a place for them where they are seen for who they are. One day, a young woman came in. She came with others that we had seen before, but she seemed very closed off. She had her arms crossed in front of her the whole time, was leaning back in a protective angle and was looking at us with caution in her eyes. She didn’t speak, and when the activity was over, she left quietly. I prayed that she would come back the next week, but I wasn’t sure that she would. Thankfully she did, and the second time was already different from the first time. She laughed a little and joined in with the activity with a more open attitude, it even showed physically that she was more at ease. When she left this time I got the ‘mandatory’ kiss on the cheek. It made me smile. After that she came every Tuesday. She opened up, told us about her struggles in the work that she does, told us about her family and her kids and about her dreams for the future. She relaxed more and more, opened up, became vulnerable. She mentioned that she was to leave in 2 weeks. (The women are only here for three months, then they have to go back due to work permits) We wanted to say goodbye to her the last meeting she would join, but there was no electricity in the city that day, so we had to cancel that meeting.

A few days after that, I saw a text in the WhatsApp group that we have with the women. She had sent us a picture with the phrase ‘I am home’ The picture was of her, with her young son. They were smiling.

I believe she has seen the love of God during a very difficult time in her life. And I believe that something changed for her because of that. This gives me hope! For her, for the other women I get to meet and for everyone in general. God can and will make a change in people’s lives for the better!! They just need to meet Him.

^[1] This blog is written by Hanneke.
Ana is a fictitious name.
Photo by Jordan Whitt on Unsplash

We have built quite a few relationships in San Nicolas. We have really invested in them. We always took the time to talk, asked specific questions about people’s situations, and took advantage of every opportunity to help. We prayed with everyone, brought their needs before God, and asked Him to guide and bless them. We brought birthday cakes and presents to birthdays. We promised little, delivered much, and had clear boundaries about what we could and could not do for people, and we stuck to those. We communicated these boundaries regularly when we were asked if we could help in specific ways. In everything we did, we focused on the relationships themselves and made every effort to really see people.

When we changed our food distribution from weekly hot meals to a monthly addition to groceries earlier this year, it meant that we would not be visiting the families as often as before. To make this transition go smoothly, we took the time to show people that we were just as faithful as before. We did not go from weekly to monthly visits all at once. In between, I visited the families extra, so that they knew that I was still thinking of them. I still make regular extra visits to San Nicolas, just to connect with people and pray. I am always welcomed with open arms, especially by the children. From the beginning of our ministry, I have worked really hard to connect with them in particular. Knowing their names, their ages, their likes and dislikes, and always taking the time to greet them and look them in the eyes, even when I am in the middle of a conversation with an adult. It is amazing to see the children smile again when we are there. 

Last Friday, I delivered the monthly food packages again. When we arrived at the home of a family with children, one of the little girls ran up to our bus, happily calling out to me, “Saturday, Saturday!” I was surprised that she called me Saturday, especially since I had told her my name before. But then I realized that I used to come over on Saturdays and that she had linked me to the day I always came to her house. What an honor to be given this beautiful nickname. I am Saturday!

Photo by Michael Mims on Unsplash.

In the past months we were gradually working towards making the switch from weekly hot meals for families to a monthly addition to the groceries. For over a year we had been in San Nicolas every Saturday to deliver food and build relationships. What an intense, but also wonderful time it had been. Now it was almost time! But something was still nagging. Although all the lights seemed to be green for this change, I still hadn’t received the confirmation I was waiting for.

Until that first delivery time. On Friday 27 January all the monthly food packages were prepared. We were allowed to deliver those packages to more than twenty families. The intention was actually to go on Saturday, but because we also had frozen chicken we decided on the spot to drive the route on Friday.

Margret^[1] lived at the very first address. This single woman has had to endure a lot in her life. She is often out and about helping others and that was also the reason why I did not expect her to be home. I got out of the bus to deliver the package to her front door and suddenly she was standing in front of me. She had come to the sound of the bus and wondered what was going on. I told her that we were delivering the monthly food package for the first time. When I said this, she almost started to cry; “I have no money left and am waiting for my pension,” she said: “I have no food left in the house at all and I did not know what to do anymore. Normally you would come on Saturday and now you are suddenly here today and with so much food. You were sent by God, thank you very much!”

There it was! There was suddenly that confirmation! For her that God sees her, looks after her and for us that we are still on the path that God has for us.

So now we continue with good courage. We get to deliver the packages monthly and that also creates more time to develop new things. Step by step!

^[1] Fictitious name.

On January 30, 2018, I was having a quiet time. After a hectic few weeks at the beginning of our Discipleship Training School (DTS), I had found time to drive to the back of the YWAM Orlando campus in our Toyota Camry. The Camry was a beat-up, but it ran and we could get around as a family, so that was enough.

As I sat there, I asked God to make it clear to me whether He had a calling for me. He did. Out of nowhere the thoughts came to me that He wanted us to go to Aruba and pioneer a YWAM base there. He also wanted us to work with families. He gave me the explicit instruction that I was not to talk about it with Hanneke. Although I found that assignment very strange, I chose to obey. I wrote everything down for myself and kept quiet about it with Hanneke. At the end of that week I asked God if I could talk about it with Hanneke. I was allowed to. Reluctantly I went to Hanneke and told her that I wanted to talk about something crazy with her. When I told her the story, it turned out that one day after me she had received the word ‘Aruba’ from God. So she was not surprised at all and I was.

A few weeks later we were on outreach in Barbados. There we had a conversation with two leaders, one of whom was also involved in the leadership of YWAM Caribbean. We told them our story and asked them if they could confirm our calling. It turned out that they could. They told us that they had been praying for ten years for a Dutch couple to come to Aruba to work with families there. 

About that same time, I asked God when I would be in Aruba. As soon as I asked that question I got the thought: “Orange above! When the king is there, you are there too.” Now, you have to know that “Orange above” (in Dutch: Oranje boven) is a saying that we use to honor the king and the kingdom of the Netherlands. So, I wrote it down and I have thought about it a lot in the past years. When we came to Aruba, the king was not there. And in the following years there was no sign that He would come to Aruba. Until the end of last year the announcement came that he would come this way. At that moment I did not really know what to do with this fact. I decided to let it go. If God wanted to make something clear to me, it would come naturally.

On January 30, 2023, exactly five years to the day after God had given me the calling to go to Aruba, the king landed in Aruba. When I told this to various pastors, they said separately: “Five is the number of God’s grace. God confirms your stay here.” It was as if God said to me: “Now you have actually landed in Aruba. You are here, this is where you need to be, and I am with you.” What a blessing and what a grace that we are allowed to be here and to help build His kingdom. To top it all off, on the same afternoon I also received the message that the application for my fifth residence permit had been approved.

With the arrival of the king, our stay here was further confirmed. Orange above, the king came. But before the king came, He had already been here for a long time. Long live the King!

Image by Marjan via Pixabay