“To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Studying with hiccups

Our second year at All Nations we were able to move into to our new home. It was a bit of a false start because they were still working on it. But we are very glad that the children now have their own bedroom and they can play in the garden. When classes started, almost all members of the childminder’s family took turns getting Covid so it was a nice busy mess here at home. Afterwards, the stomach flu came to visit us for another week. As you know, that one never comes in convenient times. 🙂 Fortunately, we all recovered well and were able to complete our first deadlines.

Very serious business

Onze hoofdbezigheid is natuurlijk studeren. Vandaar dat we u terug een overzicht willen geven van de door ons gOur main activity is obviously studying. Therefore, we would like to give you an overview of the courses we took from September on:

Jesse

Johannine literature

This module is a detailed study of the Gospel of John, 1, 2, 3 John and Revelation. In addition to exegesis, context and theological, historical and literary themes are considered. Possible practical missiological implications are discussed.

Church Planting and Discipleship

The focus is on establishing and developing churches and training disciples in different cultural and religious contexts. It includes different strategies and working methods for these different backgrounds as well as critically evaluating them for our own future serving country.

Katrien

Mission Reflection and Integration

In this course the focus is on the further development of reflective and research skills.

Theological Mission Foundation

The overall aim of this module is to deepen knowledge of the theological issues behind the development of contemporary missionary thought and praxis.

Anthropological Mission Foundation 

This module provides a theoretical basis from social and cultural anthropology. In doing so, we develop a better understanding of other cultures and it helps us to become more sensitive to the different nuances within other, often complex, cultural situations.

Welcome to the Church

In the meantime, we celebrated Christmas at school, as well as with our growth group. It’s a really nice group this year where we can be ourselves and also open our house too. Totally us! This year we again prayed to find a nice church to go to this school year. That’s how we ended up in Potters Bar Baptist Church. We were warmly welcomed, the preaching is good and the children feel very much at home. Meanwhile, Jesse has been asked to help with teaching and preaching every now and then; Katrien has been given permission from the church elders to do her Practical Research there. Please pray with us that we can be a blessing to them.

Double Trouble

Hannah grows fast and is blossoming. Her English is fantastic and her pronunciation is hilarious at times. We notice that it has really become her first language. We also see that she is really developing as a big sister to Judah, who gladly accepts any help. Our young man turned 2 in November. He enjoyed all the attention and gifts, but especially the cake.

Christmas(break)

This year we are again trying to go home for Christmas. The plan is to arrive on December 17th and be back on January 3rd. Our program is packed: from catching up with friends and family in Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as appointments with churches and pastors, also in both countries. We still hope that everything can continue as normal. Will you pray with us? If you would like to speak to us personally during our Easter leave, it might be helpful to contact us already. We will be in the area from March 25th to April 10th.

We love to make time for you!

Prayer and Praise

We praise the Lord

  • For a nice and educational first term of school.
  • For the good health of our family.
  • For the support of prayer partners, sponsors and all practical helpers over the past year.

Please pray 

  • For a good holiday time and the start of the second term.
  • For a new fundraiser for our HST.
  • Enough funds to be sent to Thailand after our studies.

We are so grateful for your prayers and financial support!
Thank you!

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