Category: Blog

Sometimes you have networking appointments that you know are good to go to, but you just don’t feel like going. This week I had such an appointment. I didn’t feel like it at all and dreaded the more than two hours of conversation. But I also knew it was good to go. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, but I just knew. And so I gathered up my courage and went. 

The appointment went well. We sat and made small talk for a while, but secretly I still sighed, “Lord, why?” There were plenty of other tasks waiting for me and I wanted to move on, not sit still on a bench for two hours, sipping otherwise delicious coffee.

I felt the pressure of tasks of administration, finances and giving an update to the supporters waiting for me. I had been putting them off for some time because I was busy with the Bible Summer School, Counseling and all kinds of other ministry activities. Running behind myself with everything that had to be done, I had not had time for quiet time for a number of days. I felt guilty about it, wanted to really sit down and think about it, but subconsciously kept in mind what still had to be done.

Back on that bench, my coffee cup was empty. The waiter, a nice young guy of 19, passed by. My companion ordered a new cup of coffee for us and asked him if we could pray for him. “Yes, please!” was his enthusiastic response. “Let me help these customers and I will come back.”

As we waited for his return, I realized that in all my business I had become focused on what I had to do in the “normal” world. As a result, I was mainly focused on myself and thought less about what God wanted to do for the people around me. 

Our waiter returned. He said that he was raised Catholic, but had not been going to church for years. He had been reading the Bible for a while and realized that he wanted to belong to God. I asked him if he had ever consciously asked God if he could belong to Him. The answer was ‘no, not consciously.’ He indicated that he realized that Jesus was his Savior and would really like to have a relationship with Jesus. After some explanation, we prayed together and he gave his life to the Lord on the spot. How special is that! While I didn’t feel like it and was distracted by my own business, our Father brought this young man into His kingdom anyway. What a blessing that, despite my behavior, He continued with the real work. And what a mercy that while He saved this guy He also tapped me on the shoulder. As if He wanted to say: ‘even when you are not focussed, I know what I am doing.’

Photo by jose alfonso sierra on Unsplash

When we lived in Florida, we were sometimes surprised at how quickly American Christians could tie the knot. American culture really differs from Dutch culture in this respect, and also dating time looks really different in America than in the Netherlands. The courtship period in the Netherlands can easily last a few years and in many cases varies from pleasantly casual to intentional. But if you choose to date in Christian America, in many cases it is very intentional. Perhaps that is also the reason that dating sometimes only lasts six months before getting engaged and married, even for young people. And yet I see a deep heart connection in many of these American couples that apparently can also arise in a short time.

Even in normal relationships it is sometimes a mystery to me how this happens. That direct heart connection that can sometimes exist with someone I meet. You see each other for the first time and you immediately know: this is good. We encountered friends in different countries in this way, but now also in Aruba. Friends isn’t even the right word. Actually, I have no words for such a relationship. It feels deep and loving, as if you have known each other for years, even though that is not the case at all. When you think about it, it’s quite bizarre that this is possible. 

However, I did notice something. Every time this happens to us, God is working on a beautiful part of His plan; we have to provide a training, or something must be organized at very short notice. We have no idea how to shape this in the short term. But God arranges it perfectly every time and brings the right people with the same heart attitude into our path. Sometimes it is only for a short time, but often for longer. I think it’s beautiful and I enjoy it very much, but I don’t understand it at all. Incomparable how He does that, that God of ours. A complete mystery.

Not too long ago we were invited to a wedding in Aruba for the first time. The bridal couple had followed the Marriage Course that we organized. After the course ended, we received the invitation and I must honestly say that I was not expecting that, but I felt very honored. 

I had attended a wedding in Uganda before, but it remains special to be a wedding guest in another country. All kinds of questions came up in advance. What clothes do I wear and are there any expectations about that? Are there customs that I should take into account? What is normal to give as a present? 

Wedding parties especially are the parties where culture is expressed. Is there dancing or not? Are you also expected to stay for dinner or not? In one culture you are either a day guest, an evening guest, or you are only expected to go to the reception. In another culture you go to a wedding or you are in the wedding. In a third culture, everything is for everyone and it is inappropriate not to participate in everything, including the evening dance. In some countries you can only marry before the law, in some countries you marry in the church, sometimes it doesn’t matter and sometimes you cannot get married if you cannot demonstrate that you have a certain nationality. There are all kinds of variants thinkable in this regard.

When I think of all those variants, I immediately wonder what the big wedding will look like. Will it be full of ceremony? Or is the emphasis on meeting everyone we haven’t seen for so long? Will there only be focus on the meal, or also on the dance? I’m very curious. We know that we are allowed to wear white clothes, but I am also curious about the taste of the wine we drink. I hope it will happen soon.

In any case, the Aruban variant was beautiful; the couple was already legally married when the blessing took place in church, including putting the rings on their hands. This was followed by a very pleasant reception with lots of cheerful people, lots of photos and lots of tasty snacks. A wonderful abundant feast. I am looking forward to experiencing more of that!

Photo by Al Elmes on Unsplash

How do you tell twelve-year-old children without a father in their lives that God is their loving Father? How do you make it clear to a boy that God’s Father’s heart is full of love, when his father denies that he is his son? Heartbreaking!

Last week I had the opportunity to teach about the Fatherheart of God in the Bible Summer School. It was the first time I taught on this subject and the target group was not too easy. But I was looking forward to it. I had received confirmation after confirmation that I could finally speak on this subject. Something I had been looking forward to for more than two years. Now the time had come!

As I stood at the front of the room, one disturbing comment after another came out of his mouth. Heavily damaged in his not so long past, parents who were separated and a father who denied him as his son. With every comment I heard his deep pain through the words of his apparent indifference. “How can this ever be straightened out,” I thought. 

Fortunately, although not very consciously, I had taken this into account when preparing my lessons. By paying attention to how earthly fathers function with mistakes and flaws and by showing in the Bible that God is really different, I hope that I have been able to plant a small seed. Fortunately, I also know that there is a spiritual father in his life who sets a good example, responds lovingly and sets clear boundaries. At the same time, I just pray that his real father will repent. But above all, I pray that God will touch his heart in such a way that this boy will inevitably grow up into a man after God’s own heart. God’s Fatherheart.

Photo by M.Hanif Project on Unsplash

We had made a mistake. In the preparation for the Bible Summer School, Hanneke and I assumed that we would have to charge the same entrance fee as last time. And we also limited the age of the prospective students to 15-20 years old. We communicated it widely and contacted more than 200 people for sponsorship. However, no one signed up for the school and we didn’t get a cent. What went wrong?
A week before the Bible Summer School, Hanneke and I did a Bible study together. We read from Micah and we both felt that God wanted to teach us something about the school. Then we read Micah 3:11: ‘You rulers make decisions based on bribes; you priests teach God’s laws only for a price; you prophets won’t prophesy unless you are paid. Yet all of you claim to depend on the Lord. “No harm can come to us,” you say, “for the Lord is here among us.”’
Of course, Hanneke and I understood that Micha wrote this in a completely different context, but we still felt immediate conviction. We had asked the target group for money to teach. People who often don’t have a cent. Although our intention was good and it was only about covering costs, this was not what God wanted.
Well, what do you do in such a situation? The flyer had already been sent. 
We chose to ask for forgiveness, create a new flyer, invite everyone who wanted to come, stop charging an entrance fee and then wait…
After one day we had covered six registrations and approximately 500 euros in costs. We started the school with 16 students, mainly young people from 12 years old. By the end of the week we had over 20 students of different ages and all costs were covered. What a wonderful blessing and what a good lesson. It just shows that our Father is the best Teacher.

Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash

Hanneke and I have now been married for over 25 years. We are grateful for this and realize all too well that we can celebrate this fact more despite our own efforts, than because of our own efforts. For years we have fought individually to be ourselves in our marriage, without realizing that we can become more ourselves by laying down our lives for each other every day. Fortunately, when we were on the brink of divorce, God turned everything around. Every day we now enjoy “our second marriage” and learn more about who we are in relation to each other.

Something we are also grateful for is that we can now be an example for so many others. We are often asked to share our testimonies including the mistakes we made and the victories we achieved. We do this in different ways, but one way that stands out for us is organizing “Couples Nights”. What a privilege to be able to use the Bible to explore with a select number of couples how we can love each other in marriage.

The last Couples Night was also special again. The theme of the evening was Love and Respect. Together with a dozen other couples, we discovered that both unconditional love and unconditional respect exist and that they are both necessary in a balanced marriage. Together we were also allowed to reflect on how God intended marriage in this world as a reflection of the great marriage that is yet to come between Jesus and His bride. Knowing this, you suddenly get a different perspective on how to interact with each other, even if you don’t understand your partner’s love language.

Hanneke and I have concluded that it is a real blessing that God has shown us that it is possible to start over, even after 15 years of marital problems. And you know what is so wonderful? If He has accomplished that in our marriage, He could do that in other marriages as well.

One of the difficult things about living on a Caribbean island is that people not only come, but also go. We really enjoy that we can regularly welcome new guests to Aruba. Sometimes they stay for a few days, sometimes for a few weeks and occasionally for a few months to a year. But few people stick around longer. Fortunately, in this regular chaos of coming and going, it is wonderful to be able to discover again and again that the seeds that people plant here remain when they leave.

For example, there was a student here who, during her outreach for the Discipleship Training School, came with me on the van to deliver food to the families. When we arrived at the door of one of the families, the eldest daughter of the family told this student that she was beautiful. The student thanked her and told this girl that she actually thought that she was beautiful. The girl visibly felt blessed with this compliment, and since then I notice that she makes more of an effort to take good care of herself. How nice to see that one compliment from a complete stranger can have such a big positive effect.

Yet, the effects are sometimes not immediately visible. Friends of ours have invested a lot in Aruban society. They have contributed in every possible way to various church communities, their work, and the volunteer work that they did. Despite their passionate efforts, they saw only a small effect over time. So much so that they finally decided to leave Aruba. For them it was a tough conclusion with major consequences, and for us it was also another tough farewell.

In such a situation the question automatically arises: does it make sense to continually commit yourself to building relationships with all those people? If everyone leaves again, what is the value of this investment? The only thing that seems to be left after another farewell is loss. But today I realized something. If I always focus on what is visible to me, is my attention really focused on the people I am dealing with? Or am I busy with the results I think I need? I think I know the answer. The great thing about saying goodbye is that apparently something has grown that is worth saying goodbye to. And so, more has been planted than I can see and I need to realize that God owns the harvest.

My friend Angelo and I regularly meet for coffee together. It is a mutual pleasure that we sometimes dread, but always look forward to. The dreading has nothing to do with Angelo, or with me. But drinking coffee in a coffee shop or at a smoothie bar along the side of the road always results in extra work. 

Every time we meet, guided by the Holy Spirit, we also meet special people. Sometimes this is just for a chat or to get acquainted, but much more often it concerns broken people who have serious problems. Then suddenly we are sitting at a picnic table praying with a complete stranger, asking Jesus to perform another miracle and make His difference in someone’s life. 

Such a meeting has an impact, not only for the people we meet, but certainly also for Angelo and for me. How is it possible that it has been happening more than twenty times now, and produces special scenes every time? We really don’t have to do anything, just meet up and have coffee together. After all these times we can only draw one conclusion. When we go for coffee, it is not just the two of us. We drink coffee with Jesus.

I have a special friend. After years of being a criminal, he radically turned to the Lord. And he is sincere in his choice, because this happened more than ten years ago and he is still faithfully serving the Lord. While this part of his story is special in itself, it becomes even more special afterwards. My friend started producing films. We are not talking about amateur material, but about real professional cinema-worthy movies. About every two years he releases one on a social theme in Aruba. It costs him everything every time, but he knows he is called to do this so he just continues with it.
Not too long ago, His film Chronic was released. A melodramatic action movie in which the Aruban intergenerational problems are depicted very directly. In this way, the fight against human trafficking, abuse, unhealthy family structures, crime and corruption are pictured and find their way into the cinema and many Aruban households. I have such deep respect for my friend, who, as a self-made missionary, points out exactly what is chronically wrong in Aruban society. Like the prophets did, he provide healthier guidelines into a society that is in need continuously.
During filming, actors come to faith every time. The production not only provides them with a valuable exercise in acting, but also preservation of life. Despite the double impact, my friend is left with debts after every movie. What a sacrifice to have nothing and continue to give everything. God sometimes uses an unconventional Samson to carry out and literally reinforce His plan. I pray for many more movies to come.

In recent weeks there seem to have been breakthroughs in a number of areas in our ministry. This made it possible for us to organize the Marriage Course together with friends of ours. We also welcomed an outreach team again and this year we are organizing a Marriage Couples Night and a Bible Summer School for the second time. These are all activities that we hoped and prayed for. What a blessing that this is possible and that the preparations seem to be going well. But to top it all off, we see that the ministry in San Nicolas, Cas di Restauracion, is growing considerably and that several churches now want to support this initiative. What first started with Mama Sandra (see blog 009), is now starting to develop as an initiative by and for the community. Something that seemed impossible in Aruba in recent years is now really happening. Organizations start to work together selflessly and what is even more special, church congregations are willing to let go of the past and humble themselves together before God.
In two meetings with pastors and leaders from different churches in San Nicolas we experienced that they really want to do what God calls us all to do; care for “the widows and orphans”. Different insights and different ecclesiastical cultures are no longer decisive for these shepherds. They want to focus on Jesus and from there commit themselves to their immediate neighbors. Not by staying within four walls and preaching about how things should be done, but by going out, rolling up their sleeves, working together and complementing each other as the body of Christ. And me? I watch, amazed at the new things happening here, impressed by the silent revolution that God is unleashing. 
When seven church congregations come together to ask forgiveness for what was, to magnify God’s name above all else and to expect a new beginning under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you can be sure that the Holy Spirit is at work. I’m in awe and looking forward to more!