Category: Updates

Praise the Lord we are in Aruba!!! Thank you so much for all your prayers! After an exhausting but beautiful trip of 35 hours we have arrived in our new home. We’ve had a journey of 20 months with 18 transitions. In this journey we did the possible to follow Jesus and God did so many times the impossible. We are so grateful for His guidance and grace! Now the settling down can begin. 

At the same time we are fully aware that the above also was preparation for what is yet to come. The work is just starting. God has a plan for Aruba. And He asks us to start working with families. We are so thankful that we are allowed to partner with Him to see His plan for Aruba fulfilled. In the upcoming weeks we hope to settle down in our new home. In the meantime we will re-apply for Erik’s work permit and try to find our own car so that we can stop renting one. This will be a time of reflection, worship and prayer, and we hope also a time of getting some rest. 

We want to thank God for:

• a safe journey
• feet on the ground in Aruba
• Him going before us all the time
• a home in Aruba

Please pray with us for:

• a good time of settling down as a family
• God opening doors to get the work permit approved
• God opening doors to start the ministries
• God providing in the practical needs that we have, such as a car and finances

Again, thank you so much for partnering with us and praying for us!

Hi,

We would like to tell you that we (finally :-)) know when we are leaving the Netherlands and what the plans are for the coming months.

Dates	Location
3/13 – 5/5	Aruba
5/5 – 5/18	Conference in the Dominican Republic
5/18 – 8/18	Barbados
8/18 – 4 years	Aruba

Wednesday, the 13^thof March at 13.35 we leave the Netherlands and fly to Aruba. We will be there for about 7 weeks in which we will get to know the island, establish some contacts and apply for a work-permit / visa.

On the 5^thof May we will fly to the Dominican Republic for the YWAM Caribbean conference. This is an awesome opportunity for us to meet people and see if there are possibilities for working together. The conference is two weeks and immediately after we will fly to Barbados.

Our DTS outreach was also on Barbados, so we have been there before and we fell in love with the island. On Barbados we will work with the YWAM team for three months, actively participate in the activities they are organizing during that time and learn more about working on a YWAM base. We will also prepare more for going to Aruba long time while we are there. We cannot stay for more than 3 months, so we will leave on the 18^thof august at the latest to fly to Aruba and hopefully stay there for at least four years.

We have some awesome stories that accompany this decision. One of those I would like to share with you. On Tuesday I (Hanneke) read something in my bible. It was Ruth 3:18 and it said: She (Naomi) replied, “Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.” (ESV) That same night we got a call from Bill Landis, the director of YWAM Barbados. Together we could conclude that the plan you just read about is indeed the plan that God has for us. Everything seemed to fit all at once, where at first there were a lot of obstacles. So indeed, the matter was settled that day! How awesome!

We are looking forward to starting our work in Aruba, but we are also aware that we will need a lot of prayer. That is why we want to start a whatsapp group with people who want to fight with us as prayer warriors. It will be a group in which only we can post, so no spam… J

If you want to work with us like this, please send us an email at info@justtoletyouknow.worldwith your name and phone number and we will add you to the group. 

And of course we will keep posting updates on our website!

Blessing to you all in your own mission fields!

Erik, Hanneke, Ryan, Kai