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