Category: Updates

There I was, on my once in a lifetime DTS outreach.
I loved the lecture phase, but I wanted to go and do the real thing.
I wanted miracles, conversions, people giving their lives to Jesus, baptisms, everything.

But I was in for a surprise…

My first shock:
Miracles and conversions are not tasks you can accomplish.
I am a Dutchie, so I am very task oriented. I was ready to go to work and get things done. But somehow, in Gods Kingdom, it doesn’t always work that way. I was confused.

My second shock:
Why did God ask me to speak in churches, go to Christian teenage small groups? These people were already Christians, why didn’t he send me to the ones that didn’t know him yet? Why did he want me to work on the base moving stuff around, improving the Wi-Fi, set up a tent for a conference, cook for our team? Where were my victories, where were the people I was supposed to save?

I got stuck in this mindset. Did I do something wrong? Was I really in a relationship with God and was I obedient enough? Did I miss the point?

In the churches we were in we got to share about being a missionary, but in a broader perspective. It says in Matthew 28: Go and make disciples of all the nations. Interesting fact; even when you are at home you are in a nation! So being a missionary isn’t just for adventurous people who love to travel. Missionaries are not the weird people who sell everything and go somewhere new. We are all missionaries.

Then I realized: the people I get to talk to already know God, but they are here to stay. I leave in a couple of weeks… Telling people about Jesus often needs a relationship. If we get to encourage the people who are here to stay and they are able to build relationships with their neighbors, their colleagues or the lady they see every day behind the cash register in the supermarket, then I am part of a miracle. Let’s call it a long-term miracle.

That is why it is so important that we have the opportunity to share our testimonies with the Christians in Barbados.

So, my outreach is and isn’t about miracles and conversions. It isn’t because I might not see any conversions myself. It isn’t because I might not see any miracles, healings or unexpected things myself.

But it is after all. Every time I go out and do what the Lord is asking me to do, I am part of His great work. I might be laying the foundations for a strong house of faith and not even be aware of it. I might be empowering other laborers and not even know what the power of my words is. God is the project manager, I want to trust that He is using me, even if I don’t see it.

And, to be honest, it is an amazing miracle that God brought me here and uses me as an essential part of His plan!

Hanneke

Hi Everyone!

We have news!

Sorry we can’t Skype each and every one of you personally…

To get right into the news: our family is preparing to do mission work in Aruba.

During the lecture fase of our DTS God told both of us, individually, that He wants us to go there and start a YWAM base over there. From that base we will be ministering to families and women in difficult situations. A big assignment, but we trust the Lord in this and we believe that He will provide.

As a result of this we will not be returning tot he Nethelrlands in June this year because we are going to do a secondary school (SOMD, school of ministry development) in Orlando. We plan on returning to the Netherlands to sell our house in November after which we will go back to Orlando to get a team together and do further preparations. We expect to move to Aruba in the spring or summer of 2020.

Aruba is a part of the Caribbean, located just off the coast of Venezuela. It is also a separate country within the kingdom of the Netherlands. Look it up on Wikipedia if you want more information. There are a lot of fatherless families on Aruba, and there are big issues with human trafficking and alcohol and drug abuse. Venezuela is currently in an economic crisis so a lot of people are coming to Aruba to escape that crisis and look for a job. This usually doesn’t turn out for the better, though.

This is quite a decision, not just for us, but for all of you as well, so it’s a big deal for us to tell you this. When we left the Netherlands in January we had no idea of any of this, but we said that we were open to go where God told us to go. And he told us, miraculously. We are aware of the huge impact this will have on our family, but we also feel strongly that we can handle this with the four of us. The boys are doing really well here, and God is definitely using them in the mission activities that we do here. It is such a blessing to see that!

So, that’s it for now. We love to hear / see / read your responses to this news.

For now, love form the four of us.

Erik & Hanneke
Ryan, Kai