A

tosav
*

j}t

vmSN HENKI PIRST BEGAN

pren.chins

he often found it hard to decide on

the right text or topic for his sorir.on.

Later it was just as hard to cut down
dovm his

' WOWTO .
"

message
something short
enough for
one
message to
to something
short enough
for one
gathering. It was often equally hard to pick

which of the topics he felt most necessary or uplifting for

the congregation.

Often his "better half" has a similiar problem with pre

paring the news reports. Sometimes it's so hard to decide
which bit of news is the most urgent or encouraging. Then
there's the problem of how to put it into the most concise
end understandable form for each reader.

This month's

report has been another of those dilemmas. Hopefully you

will remember this matter in your prayers. V/e trust you
will truly benefit from this report as well as understpnd
what we're trying to say. Kay God translate the meaning
to bring the greatest honor to His name deep within your

yftnii 'PiVnatrV

PeperhofGtrnnt"^75
3600

Oenk

Janunry 1991 News Report

heart.

IN OUR LAST REPORT we told of 2 carloads of folks from our 4 Limburg churches going
to the inter-church BBQ organized by the Leuven church in the Ardenna campgrounds.
We feel it is now the time to report a little more about the circumstances of the
4th congregation coming into being. As you know, we began the work in the Kaas area
that moved nnd grew through the years, now owning their own gathering hall in Rekem.

About 3 years ago though not completly begun under favorable circumstances as planned,

a new group began gathering in Maasmechelen.

They had a nucleus of some "Rekem"

Christians but there have been conversions and other additions bringing growth as
they evangelize and reach out into the area. They also have their own facilities

and continue to have some contact with the Christians of Genk, but on the whole their

relation is very strained with the Rekem group.

For the most part since we began the process of shifting responsibality over to the
local leaders we have made an effort to encourage the Christians to work out their
problems with the leading of the Holy Spirit, VYe try not to interfere in their af
fairs unless they request help then do what we feel we can and should. The most
recent situtation was so serious they felt the only solution was to discommunicate

one of the brothers. He has been very unstable though has many capabilities to be
used in a mighty way in the kingdom. Henlci did all he could to discourage such ^rastic action. It ended up splitting the remaining Rekem group badly. Instead of just
disciplining one brother, several other families also left and joined together with
Alex.

They began gathering in Lanaken and in the homes of different members for Sun

day and mid-week meetings;

so the Lanaken Church of Christ cajne about.

Because of all the hurt done from the first "break-off" still not being healed and
since no real steps towards restitution have been made by the Christians, Henki

feele it is necessary to try and do something about it himself. It will take a lot
of patience and wisdom, prayer and careful work to bring these hurt and seperated
parties together.

HOW WE NEED YOUR PRAYERS these coming months to be guided aright

In all the details involved. Waiting sometimes has a healing effect. Already having
waited Henki can see some are to the place they may be ready to take steps to forgive.
It's hard for folks on both sides to take the initiative step. At least there begins
to be an attitude of "all we can do is prayl'
There had been a time they didn't even
feel it was right to pray for one another.
One of the Christians from Holland

that has not only been a personal

encouragement for us through the
years, but was invited Often to share

with Christians in Belgluin

been consulted

also

in connection with

this last problem.

Wany of you

probably remember mention of Cor and

Jets Van Ewijg (see picture) and the

Utrecht Christians sharing with us
on various occasions.

For the

Inst

few years Cor has been suffering

with hftr"t trouble
some other
ko-nith uroblemn ,

Chriatni.'^o eve

2ofWethesang
non-iSstrlInt
oon^egitiSrof
Hasselt) went for the funeral.
anft prayed toeethe?
on thrs

hour trip to and from, silently hoping this may

u.c.j

*x*ou

have been the first

restitution and complete healing among the fractured and

hurting groups with which weve been workihte. Peace within Christ's
poay Is so much more important than any wajfare among the nations eo
lats pray earnestly for peace and healing, physical and spiritual.

SATAN MAY BE DISRUPTING God's children as wl can see from the "birth of

another congregation." But it is also evident that God's spirit is at work in

in dartoess. In "The oiher World-Y/ide kingdom" report we told of

v^ious people under the influence of or e|^ controlled by the occult and spirit world

Sf
moM+v^o

""l? agreed with HeW that it is more important to Lve peace

T+
instance to insure the sale of a house or kitchen. Several
before she
shA Lfl?
n^ Henki that sheinhad
the beei^
hospital
a nervous
breakdown.
long
before
had told
talcingwith
Yoga.
She even
tried to Not
convince

him of the advantages, putting on a cassette for him to listen to. He warned her he
was certain it was a dangerous way to open ^our mind for evil spirits to take control.
She felt it would help her cope with the stress and \mcertainties of life and didn't
believe in the spirit world. Henki couldnlx convince her so said she'd have to ex
perience it herself. In the hospital she vyas surprised and disappointed that the pres
sures had broken her. How glnd she was forHonki's unexpected visit. He once again
had the opportunity to plant more of God s Iv/ord and principles in her heart and mind.
Several months passed again then Henki sawiher in December. There had been changes in

her:

God's word had been at work!

She had just had a bad month not selling any homes

when folks in real need came asking her foij help. She had a real struggle since she
had once experienced bankrupcy and hard times made her cautious. In the end she helped
those in need.

She learned first hand the itruth of God's principle in Prov. 19:17,

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and he will reward nim for what he^s done,"

To her surprise and happiness just days lator she was offered a home that provided in
her need for a home and buisness office . Her rent contract expired and this had also
been a worry burdening her.

Now she was convinced God had rewarded her for her kind

ness though she assured Henki that had not at all been her reason for helping the
folks. Henki discovered she had bben praying a lot also. For someone that didn't
believe in a personal God just a higher power as she'd been taught through Yoga, this
was remarkable I

o-

P^om her outward appearance and other thing^ of her conversation Henki could tell some

things that had been important wern't first place in her life anymore. God was at
work changing her appitites and she seems td be on the right track now. Sometimes it
is a long, slow process but when one can seei changes and share in such a transition
It's so exciting. Satan is deceiving and misleading many, but God is at work. It's

great to see people turn to believe in God .1 "And without faith it is impossible to

to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that

he rewards those who earnestly seek him." oif Hebrews 11:6 is being fulfilled in her
life. Our prayers can be that it may be complete and that soon she may be numbered
with the faithful of God's children! Also way for Henki's protection when he has to
confront Satan in this way.

WHILE TRYING TO BEST EXPLAIN the workings of God's spirit for this
report a humerous incident comes to mind.

You may wonder what

has happened to my EnglLish because of the strange phrases or

expressions used.

Ad^itedly missionaries have trouble com

municating in English' as they are forced to use the foreign

language of the counjbby where- they serve Even with dictionary

in hand we often forget how it's done in America.

On the

field the same hashing of that foreign language is going on

because of their use of mglish.

The other day I needed eggs. At the market. an older man had eggs from his chickens

80 I thought fresh egge would be better thaii from the store.

While he was packing

Instead this is what (translated) came out of this mouth of

them for me I wanted to ask if they were Inflted from his own hens and that was the
intent of my question.

mine;

"Do you have hens that lay eggs all W themselves?" And I have been pracyears!: Don't jusf feel sorry for us missionaries, laugh

with us sometimes too. Also keep us in youi] prayers because the reason for us
being here and wanting to communicate is GO 'S LOVE,. It must be understood. Thank

you again for being such a supportative cuid important part of the process in so mr>ny
ways,
Hoping you understand,

It

V
AIiI DAY LONG there's
been a delicate almost

eerie mist as i f a dome of

snow was closing off our

world from the blue sky.

Now

it*8 snowing again, adding

another inch to the 5-6 inch

layer we'd received in the last few

feys. After many long months of

drau^t in Belgium v/e had heavy

rains causing the rivers to flood

the end of the year. This was

OUnis iBaonaals

followed, after the New Year, with

Peperhofstraat ^5

several weeks of sub-zero temperatures that

have hit most of Europe as.indicated by many

news reports. It's the first time in years

3600

Genk

FEBRUARY 1991 NBWS REPORT

that there's been such cold and so much-snow in Belgiian.

We are actually

enjoying the winter-wonderland displayed in the woods and heathers of our

part of Limburg. Since we didn't have the opportimity to share news last
month about the Christmas program and other winter-seasonal activities, we
thought to send it off .your way now.

THE JOINT CHRISTMAS PROGRAM was held in Rekem this year.

special and in ways a lot different from other years.

It was really
The children of

the Rekem church (there's isn't a Sunday school in Genk now) did their
best v/ith a CSiristmas narrative. Several played piece_^ on the piano. Gaby
Kuypers also told a story'es.p^cially for the smaller ones but everyone en
joyed it as usual. Eddy VerstapiDen and a fellow music teacher , put on a
"mini concert" playing several sa?t and piano duets. Eddy's father-in-law,
Jenik Kottas gave a "magician.' s show" displaying talent not often, seen except
on such special occasions. After the refreshment jpause a small choir of the
Bopnaert's family represented the Genk church.

We sang "How Great Thou Art"

(in Dutch of course) and so we really enjoyed wonderful fellowship again

together.

IT HAD BEEN A LONG TIME since Belgian Christians had heard any news
from Dennis and Linda MessinBrs family who've been serving in South
Africa since they left Belgium. A news sheet with recent picture
was handed out at the Christmas program from them. They wrote that
they had V.B.S. in July and 7 Ozark Bible College students in August. They

had other visitors and house guests including Dennis' parents from Florida.
Though winters are mild in Johannesburg, all the children were sick and

Linda couldn't figure out why! They have also grown so much that it's hard
to believe Heidi and Sharon are talking Bible College after high school.
The whole family attended a conference in Zimbabwe and Linda was to give
one of the ladies lessons. They also told of the continued fightings
between Zulu's and Kohozo's that has been in the news lately. The son of
one of their elders v/as murdered and they are sure it's a situation that
won't be solved very quickly.
IT WAS NICE TO BE REMEMBERED with many Christmas greetings again. They
began coming early in December, and the last arrived Feb. 7th! The
largest was a poster that almost covered the v/hole wall of the
largest room of ovir Genk home. A pretty winter scene from Denmark
brought greetings and news from Marco and Ulla.

They wrote that "v/e

did get married in Scotland and everything is fine." Others came bringing
lovely and encouraging greetings from Taiwan, Drugu^, Greece and India as
well as Belgium and the U.S.A<! Thanks to everyohe who helped us
.. 4...^

feel warmly reminded

of God's love once a^ain.

ROBERT HAS .BEEN RETURNED to Grhana,

His status as political refueee

wasn't accepted after 3 years in Belgium.

In the mean time Christian'

originally, of the Rekem cong]pegation have been trying to adopt him.

QJhis is a very slow process and! they'd hoped to have him back "home"
with them by Christmas* Now they're hoping for a tourist visa to allov/ him

entrance to Belgium so final papers

be processed and he can legally becomc

their son. We continue to correspond with Robert and keep involved in some o
the proceedings.
[

JOHN MARK'S WIPE SONIA is not longer studying to be a nursary teacher

There were just too many pressures with the studies, intern-lesson jpreperations, long hours comutdlijig by train, and bus, along with keeping
house and so forth. The Genk ctoch recently decided to let them live
in the '^parsonage" facilities since it has been empty about a year. There
is a hvimidity problem that will need ito be taken care of. Before they can

move some other repairs and redecorating will need to be done so the date

for their.move hasn't yet been set- ijit's hoped John and Sonia can keep an

eye on the buildings and groimds as vjandelism is a growing problem in Genk.

They also hope to organize youth acti{\ ities for this area, co-ordinating it

y/ith the Leuven and other youth gathe ifings and activities.

THE DUTCH LADIES MEETINGS h8-V grown and a.dvanced in several wa.ys .
Now they are held every week, ' alternating in Genk (at Ma Boonaerts'

home) and in sister Ba.kac's home where they've been held for years.
Since the one in. Genk is held in the afternoons some other Christian

sisters are able to attend more regul^ly. We're expecting the recently re
tired principal of the School with thp Bible to come'after recuperation frotn

an operation. Maybe the best sign of| grovi/th is the active participation of

those attending. Usually each lady has shared a Scriptiire reading at the
gatherings and we ssjig and prayed together. Occasionally Mary Esther also
brought a lesson especially since the v/eekly gatherings began. , This has

developed into several of the other Igtdies trying their hand at a short

lesson.

So far they have been very "encouraging and informative. , It's v/onder-

ful to see how God's spirit certainlyi does teach and guide His children so
they can be mutually blessed.
I

WINTERTli/iE IS TRADITIONALLY GARNAVAL time. (Mardi gras) in Belgiiun

also. One evening when Henki was working late in Genk he heard an
awful comotion outside his window. There v/as cussing and course
talk do he went to see what was going on. A hot-dog stand had been

set up to cater to the Carnaval parade-goers, and drimken, boisterous

customers v/ere talking and eating. Thp contrasts of the works of darkness
and of those who v^alk in the light were obvious. "So let us put aside
the deeds of darkness and pmt on tlie axmor of light. Let us behave

d.ecently, as in the daytime, not iii orgies and drunkenness, not in

sexual imm.orality ajtid debauchery, ript in dessension and .iealousy.

Rather, clothe yourselves with the [Lord Jesus Christ, and do not
think about how to gratify the desites of the sinful nature." from Romans
13:12-14 are pointed words of Paul that warn us clearly. How wonderful to
see the world clothed in such a white |blanket of snow, reminding us that
though our sins be as scarlet the blood of Jesus will cleanse them whiter

than snow!

Once again we're moved to thankfulness to be here to share that

"snow news" and that you so faithfully uphond us in so many ways in this
task.

Yours for being whiter than snow.

.*

LET'S

GET
(CljHst

SOME OP THE WORST DAYS this

winter, during the Crocus vacation, a youth

gathering
organized to be held Feb. 9-11
in Roeselare

James and his cousin Bart de

cided to take the invitation's challenge to

"set school things aside a while" and enjoy a
weekend with God*s word. They took the train
for the .almost 4 hour trip and were glad to see
yfaitiVconaerts family
so many other teenagers had also converged
the church on Rumbeeksesteenweg. Another of
Peperhofstraat 75
those present later shared this report:
3660
'Genk
Everyone was evidentally right on time
News Report
March 1991
this year. Yeah, the youth gathering was
about to begin. Check list; scarf, pa.iamas,
Bible,, toothbrushthat should about do it. It was only to be a weekend,
but i t ' s still nice to be together 2 to 3 days.

Vl/hen Luc Huyghebaert (my uncle) annoimced the most important rule of the
gathering was "doing everything together" I had to laugh a little, real

quietly.

But when when you respect such a regulation for 48 hours, you

discover it is really quite fim and ...very instructive. Satiirday we had

the lesson called "V/hat do you think about Paul's travels? Would we ever
want to travel so far and sacrifice so much to be albe to spread the
gospel?"
That afternoon we went to a film together. Then we had a
lesson from Ruus. Actually it was a discussion about e'wangel-

ization. 0, I almost forgot!! Saturday v/e had done that also.

With a map in haiid and a stack of letters we began stuffing
mail boxes.

I t was in the form of an invitation to follow Bible

studies by mail. Today, Monday, we had a lesson:- "Reasons to

believe"by my uncle. Among other things we discussed evolution
theories.

That was also the final lesson.

After having eaten

and sung a few songs together the weekend was finished. What
a shame, because it was. really great. But, what I learned was
whenever you want a successful camp or gathering or something
like that, there's got to. be'plenty of co-operation. And that
was real obvious this weekend. The organization was really good
With all the snow and almost blizzard conditions, James'
and Bart's train was delayed some on their return trip. Yet

they enjoyed it and the type of thing they learned enough,

that they continue gathering with the youth. On several oc
casions adult Christians organize evangelization campaigns in
other towns. James and other youth also participate, glad for
the fellowship and opportunities to develope their spiritual
lives. They also enjoy other gatherings that include gamsevenings, skating and other activities together with young
people their age.
WE'RE GLAD TO BE ABLE TO REPORT some more evangelistic activit
ies this month. Henki has been seeing more of Jos Fredericks,

the card-laying fortimeteller that kept calling him Marcel#

Henki was even able to help Jos find another job and has had

several more opportvinities to discuss Scriptures with him.

V/e're .grateful for prayers on his behalf and hope you'll con-

continue as the Word is bein^ planted in

th:|.s young man's heart

Henki has also spent several

hours with 3?rans Nuyten (the "Prans from

Hplland" whose daughter wanted to know

why the offer of .jldam was accepted and not the one from
Eve.")

Prans has moved backed to Holland and is living

in Maastricht,

His wife has since left him and he's not

seen his daughters yery much which has been discoup.aging

him. He's had some other problems that he's shared v/ith
On his most recent visit Henki had another unusual opportunity to

Henki.

v/itness.

Some Turkish and Moroccan Moslims wer also sitting with them

While they were talking. The conversation turned to Jesus as the Son of
God so Henki spent the whole evening trying to prove this fact to them
from the Old and New Testaments as Sell as discussing the Koran. It's
really hard for Moslims to accept such a concept as God having a son..

Sometimes the multi-cultural situta-^ion in Belgixim and Holland only makes

witnessing more complicated. Yet \ye leave it in God's hands to use- every
seed that's planted in whatever way or whatever time to grow and bring
forth fruit though we may never be priviliged to reap them ourselves.

THAT WE DON^'T AIWAYS GET TO BE acti"lely or directly part of the conversion

or nurturing of those reached throu^ our efforts can be emphasized through

the follov/ing episode. Recently there was a wedding held in the northern
part of the province of Limburg. The young lady was a convertea Moslim

from Tiirkish background. Her name \^s Adeviya Teke and we hope you'll

especially remember her in your pr8(.yers. Tvirkish custom advocates drastic

action taken on those turning the back to the Moslim religion. Not
marrying the one who father or family arranges is a l ^ dangerous.

At their wedding her Belgian groom, Edwin Schroi.ien took the occas
ion as an opportunity to tell how he'd T3een v/on to Christ.

About three

years ago, a colleague of his had been killed while on night patrol duty.
He had attended the funeral service of this "Protestant" and that played
a role in the process that ended in him accepting Christ as Savior. The

yoomg man who had died was none other than "our" Luc Verstappen v/hose
funeral Henki held in Lanaken back in 1987- (Refresh your memory with

our News Report of Jan. 1987 "He fought the Good fight...")

When his widow,. Cathy and his mother, Mia heard this at our ladies
meeting recently, they were overjoyed that "his death hadn't been in vain."
Can you imagine their feelings at that moment?! Well, it's for something
far greater than that, that we keep on with the work here, though mis-

imderstood, tired, battered by Sat^, ....or even praised by men.

know one day we'll stand around the throne and we'll not be alone.

We

God

will say, "Well done, faithful sery^t!" Isn't that incentive for you
to keep on also when there are doubis, discouragements, uncertainties
or other trials that make you want -to feel like stopping? Keep on
when the going gets rough. God has a plan and is working it out.
the word directly or indirectly, aiid encourage one another!'
This is why we're so glad we're working together with
you for His kingdom.
together.. .now.. .and

Isn't it the best way to get

later?!

Spread

Clfdst
PREPARING AN ^TICLE for the "Horizons" mag

azine along with some other circumstances led

to us getting the following report ready.

You'll recoganize the first part when it ap
pears in a May edition on Europe .

Henki and

ffiary Esther worked on this together but since

they are mainly Henki*s thoughts this special

issue of our News ReiDort is presented as him

speaking..

We hope you'll benefit from the

insight and information included.

Hopeful

ly it v/ill answer some questions you may

9{cni fBoonnerts

OPep^hQfstraat
75
>00
GENK
jfePRIE 1991

have had. Maybe you'll learn some new

things about our mission and the field
of BelgiiAm.

NEWS REPORT

+An invisable line divides

Belgim almost where the two

kinds of lace join

"IT'S A HARD NUT TO CRACK" is a saying

this month.

on our map

This is used to

referring to any niAmber of situations,

show that North are Dutch speak

ing and South, though larger
territory, a French speaking
minority "lives. Thus is repre

on earth.

matters indicating Belgians not

talcing to change auickiy.

often heard in Belgii;im.

It can be used

but it is also a very true description

of the evangelistic scene in .Belgiiom.
It is often observed that socially Bel
gians are among the most polite people

ty .

Handshaking is their special

sented one of the national

It is said the handshake originated

in medieval times as an assurance that your right hand carried no weauon.

Belgium has been overrun by so many other nations that perhaps Belgians
nave learned to want such assurance

THOUGH THEY RiAY BE POUND to be polite they are hard to get to know, maybe

also because of the centuries of foreign occupation. Many of the former

social and religious customs are beginning to break down, but Belgians are
also known for taking to change hard and slow. Local uprisings and unrest

on the national scene attest to this. (+) With the Roman invasion of the
days of Caesar, the Catholic religion was brought to
the territory Icnown as Belgium# This is deeply rooted
in the political, social and educational thought of
most Belgians. It's said in Belgiiim, "The State said

to the chm-ch, 'You keep them dimb and we'll keep them
poor.'"

Maybe in a way they even feel exploited by

their own government and religion.

THIS IS THE KIND of information gleaned from history

books and tourist guides. They are just a few things
to help paint the picture showing that when (foreign)
missionaries come with a "new gospel" they are going
to meet with resistance.

A statue of Ambiorix

who bravely resisted

Roman invasion along

with other Belgian '

periences confirm this.

Our own every day ex

But making the nut even__

harder to crack is the^ melting-pot effect that

;prisoners of war and migrant workers have brought

to parts of Belgium.

This is what we as Christians

tribes that were fi- .

nally overthrown is proudly disjplayed .in longeren.

about this at a. very young age

Belgian children learn

are confronted with in the area of Limburg where the Lord brought us to'
serve,
Trying to turn hearts to a living, intimate relation with God and
Hi.s son Jesus Christ is strange, new, and different from the Roman Catholic
teachings, only complicating the situation.

RETURNING TO BELGIUM with ray wife and son I was taught 4 years in Bible

College in the States.

It was explained: This is the calling program, you

spend so many hours on this, and do that,.o

we*d done in the States.

we tried to stuff tracts in mail boxes.

tried so nsny things.

I tried knocking on doors like

Knocked 'til my hands were blue.

If it doesn't v/ork out, what do you do?

down? No. You're going to have to try some other angle.

a Bible College, training people to make specialists of
them.

In the beginning

It didn*t do very much good.

Not .iust once but several times.

missionaries working in Belgium,

V/e

Just sit

You try to start

With different

Soon we were to dis-

cover here in Europe, even though I was a European it

Tft

^^

just doesn't work out like in the States. It took

eight years and only winning about 13 to Christ to

U'-w ' ^

finally discover what "worked" in our area.

is another story.

^r;

But that

T"
?

IN THE MEANTIME with the small congregation God let us

help start, I also tried to have a typical one-man
ministry. I did the calling and visitation, I preached
the Sunday sermon and taught the mid-week Bible study, picking up most of

the members, marrymg and biirying them, counseling and acting as social
worker and all the rest,

I was a

jack-of-all trades cramming 20 years of

work in 10, if I were to count all the hours,

(Something else almost all

the books say about Belgians is reference to their zeal to work ajid gusto

with v;hich they tackle their ,iob!)

In the gatherings I did everything

pray, preach, lead the service, have the communion meditation and pass out

the emblems.

The people were eating, eating, eating and were starving while

they were, eating.

THEN WE WERE HAVING a study on what the first Christians did when they
gathered. V/e came to the passage in I Corinthians and suddenly it hit me,
I was doing the wrong thing.
I began to see that maybe Paul meant here
it's not MY JOB ONLY to work in the church, but the whole church's. I was
afraid I v^as going to be without a job if I had to advocate and put v;hat I
was studying to practice. Yet it was a challenge, so we slowly started encoiiraging the men to pray, to read a Scripture, to TDarticiioate in various
ways .
Soon we did without the "sermon" to make time
for this spontaneous learning-sharing time trying
to impliment this passage: "What then shall we
brothers?

V/hen you come together, every-

^ hymn, or a word of instruction,

a revelation, a tongue or an interpreta-

tion. All of these must be done for the

strengthening of the church."

Before long

different ones even ventured more than ,iust

to read the .Scripture but gave a comment of

explanationthen a lesson, and so it grew.

I even came to the place where I.discovered this one-man ministry was total
ly wrong. I don't think it is Biblical at all because it BLOCKS the working
of the Spirit of God, I began to see there were so many people gifted in
the church. They had also received the gift of God's spirit but they
could not use it because of the "paid man" doing it all.
By giving them
the o-pportunity to express themselves and be lead of God they began to see
in w. -t way they were gifted. So emergeo teachers, evangelists, and pas
tors within the group.
The group grew and split so that now there are

3 congregations all standing on their own without the one-man paid minister
system. We have influenced other congregations that are also applying this
in their gatherings as,well.

IT'S NOT THAT THERE havn*t been problems. ',Vhere

destroy. There are still problemsthat will take

lots of work and patience to get solved. Now
that I am freed from the traditional church min-

istry, I can move more freely amon^?; the congre-

these problems.

Now I*m trying to see what God's

^leading will be in finding the rieht method and

IN THE MEANTIME, we hope to begin w?orking with the

"mother congregation" in Genk where the one-man ministry

is still ingrained in the system.

Mavbe v/e'll even be

allowed to see the necessary changes made in our life-time, maybe not. But
we try to go back to the Biblical way of every organ functioning for the

good of the whole body. Then v/e should once again see growth as intended
by God's spirit and we trust there will also be niimerical growth as well.

YOU|LL HAVE TO AGREE it's no easy field in Belgivun to bring the message of
Christ. Finding the way to reach folks for Christ is one problem; convinc

ing Christians to continually search the Scriptures to be guided and direct

ed, even in more new ways is another. .Teaching and waiting, hot)ing and
warning have all gone into the efforts in our work in Belgim. "it's a hard

nut to crack?

"vVell, we're working with the hearts of peoT)le end God's love

will woo and win them to His kingdom in the futwe as it has the past.
SO MANY PEOPLE LIKE TO have control of things. In a way. that was how it
was the first years of my mission ministry. I was afraid if I kept on
teaching so many changes, I'll soon be without a job..,_.giid what are .people

in^the States going to think?

"You're not doing ajiything more if you're

noi. prea.ching and rtmning the church." In the beginning j'^ou TDreach and
teach so you can send reports with,all the facts and figures to the sup
porters back home.

to stay here.

T0_ SERVE GOD.

this is
think I
"Sorry,
finally

Otherwise we're going to loose our finances to be s.ble

But, no, that's not the purpose to all our working.

IT IS
If the churches in the States want to sup-oort us or not,

my job as a Chrif^tian. If they agree, that's good, but if they

need to do more of this, or that, like in the States maybe, I say,
no!" my is this? Because my obligation is not to churches, but
to God. I know,the Christians (not only in the States, but also

here) don't always know what is necessary or best .. .but God does and He is
in control.

IF SOIvlEOKE iTOULD ADVISE me, "You should do this, or that.,,'* I'd say, "Come
and look first at the need, then we can talk about it.

It's hard to talk

from the other side of the globe about how it's supposed to be done."
is what I consider my ,iob.

the U.S. expect.

This

I don't know if it is what the Christians in

Maybe they expect something different but this is what I

think I should do, what I'm convinced God has lead me to do, I feel ob
ligated to continue in this manner.

BESIDES LIKING TO HAVE CONTROL, some may be afraid others

with us? Do we have a monopoly on God's word? Of course

not! His promise is that not even the gates of hell will

.|\
\

will believe and teach something wrong.

Is God only working

prevail against His church. If the "native Christians"

do or teach som.ething wrong when the missionary is not

present, God will even make it clear to them by His

spirit that is living in them like in us.

'

iVe don't

have to be afraid or over protective but pray and

shift responsibality to where it belongs.

BUT THERE IS ANOTHER ASPECT to our ministry also.

It has to do with the treatment of the Catholic

church of the people in Belgium creating a euecial

God lead us into this ministry.

; ^.. j'. ^

vVe rfealize now looking

back over the years He knew the need| the situation and the
resoxirces and used us. We cannot coiiipare the work of a preacher^^

or the: situation here with what is usually taken for granted as the
system that has developed and is successful in the States. It is so
=very different. The kind of work that we do is not only preaching.
We, try to help the jpeople also. In the past the Catholic church
has^always been so to speak, preachink the gospelbeing involved
in their spiritual ministry, the ritukls, ceremonies, holding
S
mass, etc. But they do not really do anything to be with the
people and help them. There isn*t personal involvement nor is
a personal relation with God taught.

to through
do more.trying
Not just
preach
to them,
show them
that It
the what
wordwe,try
is alive
to help
people.
For but
example,
(we've
?? similar!
situations
andjifover
to know
it need
.just and
isn'tgoes
the to iihe
Catholic
way" around
here at over
least)
someone
is in

priest he doesn't take the tme to talk with them or do things like
counseling. They would simply be sent to some government^agency
or private organization t<^ provide their needs.

SO, to most of the people jwho come our way, we could say, "We'll

preach to you the gospel, then you go yoxir way." It's like qay-

-trouble, we'll pray for you and God blessVou.

of people in our home as house guests and helped others in simi
lar ways in the years we've lived here. Because of it we have suffered
Good-bye."

This has become our ministry and we've had all kinds

many losses, financial and in many otjlier ways, we"have been spent and our
^d sacrificed. |people have been dishonest and taken
adv^tage of our kindness and meeknesi. The church folks have also
sutfered many of the same things as W^'ve involved them on many
occasions. ^Sometimes people have spoken evil of all these efforts."^
But as I Pet. 2:19, 20b, 21 says; "Pqr it is. commendable if a man ^
be^s up under the_pain of unjust suffering because he is con^
suffer for doing good and you endure it,.

co^endable before God. To t:^is you were called, because

^ist suffered for you, leaving you jan example, that you should
follow his steps." At least they could see: We stand behind what
r help Jthem in the gospel.
talking abouiI the gospel but we are trying
to
' q
w

a 9 to 5 calling prograin, with suit and tie, knocking on doors.

^
someone
neededlooking
to talk,
the lawyer, trying
to fish o^t legal
matters;
withdriving
some

Derieved.

^ home,
as well
aa y|^.siting
the aick,
the house-botmd
It means
dropping
everything
to counsel
someone
in the middleor

j . Of the night at their home when karital problems arise, or putting uti
k
someone persecuted for their faith when they've been kicked out of
their home or wandering the Streets. Oxir evangelizing ministry
or calling program isn't q.4ite the same as many in the States.
We teach folks, help them^ as we can, keeping our home open
lAi A

A A

A^^

1a a

i:

and let God take care of the rest.

churches grow and the Christ-

T+ ^?sJ^'''
? re8ulted^brlng-4orth,fruits,
othersarecanbeing
see the
results
of these J^'
contacts
and axe convinced that people
reached

glory

i!

througl^ our lives.

The world is watching

attitude has anaffect that has brought fruits to His

most may never be l^nown to u? to be able to "report

knows and will brin^ fruits in His own timing to His

'^2Jf
facet inthat
ithe Catholic
affected o^ life and ministry
Belgium.
Things way
are ofsothinking
dishonesthas
and
deceitful that the government takes ili for granted folks lie and cheat.

It took us a while even to realize they didn't think

_ f]

and act under the same "Christian influence" as we!

But we found, out, for example: filing tax forms...

especially of self-employed. They are certain you
never file everything honestly so automatically
charge for what they figure you have witheld.
Belgium you are GUILTY until proven INNOCENT.

In
The

true Christian attitude and action is just unknown

to them. They cannot believe some can literally,

truthfully report something, or v^ork volenteerly,
for example. Because of past dishonesty, all now
have to suffer inclufiin^ the innocent.

THE REASON I HAD TO FIND some job was to suppliment

the insufficient mission support from other Christ-

i^s. Living on gifts I was automatically considered "self-employed" put

ting us into a category demanding higher payments for social-security,

hoRpitalization and health insurance, etc. On the other hand v/e were dis
qualified from various compensations received by other v^orkers such as
children's premium, vacation money, year-end bonus, etc. This brouf^ht our
funds into a defecit.

TRYING TO SET UP some kind of small "self-em.ployed" Job to suppliment our

U.S. gifts also took some fimding until it became "self-supporting." It
became a viscious circle with continued devalua.tion of the dollar anc de
creasing support of the States-side Christians due to their inflation, unem.ployment problems, and misunderstanding of our situation. This simply

t Again the result of the dishonesty and system in Belgium. They

contributed further to our monthly defecit.

THEN I y/ENT TO FIND OUT about the possibility of unemployment if bad got
to v/orse I was informed that as self-employed I had to wait three years
after regristration before payments would be received on which to live.

reason: self-employed always have extra funds stashed away

illegally or in a foreign bank. The terra in Belgium when the
government tried to get compsjiies to expose or retvirn funds

to Belgian banks was' "white-washing" their "black money."

We were forced into a situation that knocked the breath out

of us. It leaves us almost completly improtected, as sup

port decreases to a point we can hardly live on it, leave
alone "run the mission buisness" on a full-time basis.

WHEN

YOU'^RE YOUNG, you don't think about retirement needs.

Often you're mis-informed or ill-informed. You figure social security

will be sufficient, and God will provide but you don't think about the
details. After all you're spending all your time an'^ effort evangelizing,
nurturing. .but...getting "a day older" and e. bit wiser maybe, I began
thinking, "Ye^, I've been working 20 years but we don't have anything to
fall back on if something v/ere to hf=5ppen."

Upon investigation I discovered that as selfemployed, the Belgian social

security is about $120.00 monthly.

I realized, "This won't work.

It's

so low it would hardly pay rent, les-ve alone provide for two on which to
live." As if our situation vvasn't frustrating enough we came to the rude
awakening:

it was taken for granted that self-employed

ha.ve savings and investments on v/hich to live when

^yWgr~~~/ V"
mission work

reaching retirement age. Obviously with our giftsincome we've never been able to invest in any kind

of supplimentary pension fimd.

This contributed

fact that I felt I needed to work som.e

more to provide for these future needs. That left

some less time to spend on what is usually considered

YOU B^iCrlKKING TO GET the _picture?

Well, the last straw came when the

Genk tax office decided to tax our gifts.

Officially NO gifts can be

taxed but they applied a twisted interpertation of the fact that we "live"
on the gifts so they must be considered income- They are able to demand

taxes anf^^ of course continu-

try and to d something about it ourselves^^ We

^^SSBaESlHHLIi^Hi 1 could have pleaded with U,S. churches: "Send

more money to pay our taxes," but I didn^t feel
right to do that and thought I needed to work it out for myself. I aicn't

feel obligated to bother the U.S. chizrches with the problem. Besides I
wasn*t sure they would linderstand if we tried to explain the situation.
Could they even help because of their own changing, imcertain financial
scene? We tried to keep quiet about it, after mentioning the problem and
tried to work it out ourselves . We have already paid some back and current
taxes going into debt and being forced to live on a less-than-minimi;im
budget. Almost all time for any structured fulltime mission work has
disappeared.

SOMETIMES IT SEEMS LIKE a hopeless situation. Possibly nov/

you have a better idea of how it is in Catholic Belgium.

MMIAAN

It|s not at all that we try to degrade the religion, but

t^is.;is' how it is here in what is sometimes called a

"Christian country." Of course they have many good q;ual
ities and many Catholic priests and nuns especially, sa
crifice much for their faith,and humanity. ,"Father Damiaan" left his fatherland Belgium at age 19 and lived
among lepers in the Hawaiian islands doing much to help

these people even internations,lly,

JUST LIVING HERE IN THE DARKNESS of deceit, our light shines

V"?/^
41
i
(''I

'

M
V

forJesus. Sometimes our light almost gets snuffed out just

trying
live here!
othersituation.
missionaries
who lawyer
are having?
"to go toto court
because V/eofknow
the tax
Their
is
horrified at the inconsist?ncy of information given to various

missionaries coming to Belgium and that gifts are taxed in this

way.

If they win the case it may make it better for other rais-

sionaries .. .if not.. .v/ho knows!?

IN ALL THIS WE'VE COME to realize something else.

Though I had earthly

reasons for going to work to help supply our material needs it would seem

God has had His hand in this also. That shouldn't

Phil. 1:12 "Now I want you to know, brothers, that
has really served to advance the gospel" that Paul
He is the one who is in control all along anyhow.

be surprising, though!
what has happened to me
penned when in prison

Somehow it almost seems

apply to me being bound to a job to suppliment income. It is of course

different, yet I ha.ve definitely made contacts I'd never otherwise have
been able to make. Many doors have been opened that we never dreamed ofo

The gospel seed has been scattered. We just hope you will continue to
stand behind us as we try to continue. We feel obligated to keep on as
we are though it may be using different methods than expected or preferred
by others. We are doing our best and what we feel is God's leading for us.
If you choose to continue to help finance our work, great and thank you.
If not, you are still our co-workers because we are all members of the body
of Christ and we love you.

tiVITHAL THIS IN MIND there's one last thingwe'd, like to 7

share.

Sometimes it takes all we have just to keep our

lights shiningour faith strong, in such ooressive and over

whelming darkness and lawlesness.

we need your support in every form.

Dear brothers and sisters,

Help provide the

"electricity" that's needed for us to keep"shining.

Don't

let it turn into "static" somewhere along the way or we'll

become useless. Hopefully this "extra edition" along with

our monthly reports will continually bring maximum understanding of our
situation, keep you better informed to pray and be encouraged in YOUR
spiritual lives. In this way we try to send along some fuel to keep YOUR
lights shining 'til Jesus comes.

Please kee-o this and re-read it several

times as you get other news and try to understand: work in Belgium is hard
and we work with handicaps and defecits but there is a sniritual need in

Belgium.

That's why we're dedicated to serving in Belgium for Christ.

DID YOU KNOW hazelnut's and almonds are used a lot in Belgian cooking?
Don't be surprised though if you don't see much peanutbutter here. It's
not very popular here but you can find it in stores in Holland nuite

readily, ftlaybe you'd like to try the follovving recipe sometime, Belgians
are also great chocolate lovers. One of their favorites is something
similiar to frosting, but it's prepared especially for sx)reading on bread.
Add a paste from grinding hazelnuts or almonds and you'll have something
very typically Belgian. Or try some coconutor ,iust use it plain on your
next

sandwich for

breakfast!

Chocolate

Bread

Melt together in a pan

and mix

I 3/4 c. margarine

II oz. milik chocolate squares

11 oz. unsweetened

Mix and add to the

melted mixture

1 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/8 c. milk
2 eggs

Pour into .jar and keep refrigerated until use.

room temperature.

chocolate

Best to siDread at

2(9o
PARTLY BECAUSE

of the Gulf War,

wrnmiii.

the Jewish nation

has been in the news
appreciated the letter

a lot lately. We really

included in the May 1991 HORIZONS magazine by
Mrs. Coral Mings.* It suFely gave some insights

and news that warm the heart and encourage more

prayer and concern for the Jewish people.

So

often one may have stereotyped ideas or maybe even

prejudices for a certain race. Let's not forget

these poeple and the fact that Christ came to be

their MESSIAH as well as ours.

RECENTLY WE READ this about Antwerp: Concentrated

in and around Antwerp, the diamond industry re

QunU 'Avnrtcf

mains one of Belgium's greatest specalised sectors

despite competition from foreign diamond^cutting

works both new and old.

It has a number of

Peperhofstraat
Genk, Belgiuro

JVhE 1991

'

NEWS REPORT

skilled workers capable of making the entire

range of products in demand, from the gem stones to every kind of diamond

tool. An industry in the manufacture of instruments and tools for the cutters

has been built up that has acquired for Belgium a world-wide reputation for
the very highly specalised range of instruments she is able to supply.
HENKI WAS WALKING down the Vesting Street in Antwerp where one diamond dealer
arter the other has his store. So many of them are Jews as they are among the
shrewedest buisness men in the world and many have settl-ed in Antwerp. Henki
stood outside the store windows and the thought went through his mind,
These guys are always going forth doing their buisness, making deals with their
customers. That seems to be all that fills their.lives. I wonder if they really
'chosen people' but if you talk with them they
just want to do buisness. For the rest they don't want to mix
with you or talk other subjects."
Before that, when helping Gerard soon after Luce Verstappen's death in '87 I had also met several Jews. At the
time I'd witnessed, encouraging an active faith'in the

living God.

Since that time especially, the Jews have been

a burden on my heart.and I long to be able to win some of

'Israel Trust In Cod"
billboards were erected

in Israel during
the Gulf War.

God's chosen people to the Messiah.

There is one young Jew I met over a year

ago during the time I was learning the ropes
of realtry.

I can't remember how we first

met, but it must have been quite 'coinciden

tal" asking directions for an address.
One thing lead to another and in time a

friendship has built up.

I try to visit

him as often as I can when I'm in Antwerp.

On this particular day in May I went
again to visit my Jewish friend.

He

didn't converse long about buisness

ithis time, but closed the shop door
'almost right away. He said he wasn't
satisfied with himself on two counts.
Of course I was curious to know what

he meant by that.

He said, "In the

first place I feel like I'm bound,

I don't feel free at all.

note next page, please.

I'm so

restless."

"In what way," I probed deeper, "In what way do you feel bound?"
^

"

My friend indicated there seemed to be something missing in the Synag

ogue fellowship.

He admitted maybe it was just an idea he had, but

it left him dissatisfied.

ft

The second thing upsetting him was that

he wasn't married.

Now, you've got to realize, just about two weeks before that, Jan (our
diabetic friend we've written about often) had also apporached us
about a similiar problem. He'd heard about a group of singles that

gathered about every two weeks. Not being an outgoing person Jan asked me to accomp
any him the first time to the meeting. I had gone along to find that it was a fine
group of Christians, the group having been started a few years ago by a couple who'd
experienced similiar lonliness. They knew the need and mininster now to others with
this lack in their lives. Cathy Verstappen (Luc's widow) has also found friendship
and security with the group. I was able to tell this now to this Jewish man. After
a few minutes thinking about it he said, "That's really nice. There with the Christ
ians... it's not like that with us.

That's what's missing in our fellowship.

not a single one that cares about another.

There's

I need to have more Henk's from Genk

around me with that kind of attitude."

I further encouraged him to pray about his restlesness and ask God to show him the
way. Then the first Psalm flashed into my mind and I mentioned it. At this thevyoung
man went to the back of the store and brought his Hebrew Bible saying something about,

"That's my grandfather's Psalm."

He began translating directly from the Hebrew into

Dutch as he had done on several other occasions.

After discussing it for a while he

said, "Normally I have to give other people comfort, but this time you have comforted

me!"

I think there must be something working in his life.

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT if Henki didn't have to spend so m^ch time working to

suppliment support from the States so he could spend more time with folks
like this? Please join us around our Father's throne concerning this matter
and others mentioned in this report.

We are so dependant on the prayers and

support of you all, realizing that "without' Jesus we can do nothing!"

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN for your care and concern as

we

struggle together to

make the Messiah known to Jew and Gentile alike.'

There were so many good articles in that May 1991 issue of

HORIZONS that we hope you will be able to acquire a copy and read it

carefully. So many pertinant things by Dr. Patricia Bonner about

returning to the States for "furlough!" Of course some that don't
t us at all, too!! We're in the process of trying to plan for
furlough soon, so maybe it will help us all out in some of

he preperations for that.

-Thoughts shared by folks in France

could have been about Belgium, so similiar are the situations

in Catholic and industralized countries.

We hope you can

benefit from insight in that field and understand ours is so

very similiar.
-Then that "Need Extra Support?" article
on page 11. CAN WE ENCOURAGE YOU to consider seriously the
offer there to hlep us in our long-lasting financial short

age??

Pray about it and r-e-m-e-m-b-e-r

us please.

-Of course we hope you benefit greatly from the two

articles we submitted. Maybe ideas ficm that Horizons
issue and our past news reports can be used for V.B.S.

or camp mission emphesis or the like. Some extra one

time support gathered to send for the work in Belgium
would be great. God bless you as you consider
all these points.

a 0^1
L E B R A r

HIS

rt^-Clinst
!i/'

Pf 0^ "rt-lp.J'
.

Htnki ^ignzd up /:hli iatt

_.. Tsstuxstion of antiques" t^on

returning from the class one evening he reviewed his les

son over a cup of-coffee-in a local restaurant.

A friend '

of Henki's youngest brother came and joined him. Wadjou '

(with his girl friend) wanted to know about Henki's jazz

band playing days since Wadjou remembered Henki and his

once famous group. Since Henki couldn't really remember .

much about it anymore, Wadjou then wanted to know what he
doing now-days? Hfe'd heard Henki had become a "doming'

the Dutch title for preacher.

ficnti Awkwu

Pepertxrfstr. 75

3600. Oenfc Beig.

Henki'was i/n7eriitely d)le to

show them from, the Scriptures that a "domineering figure" L5!E . '

Report

doesn't fit the structure of the church Jesus'built and

explained the intended work of evangelists, teachers and shepherds in the church ending with

the fact that Henki considered his job that of a teacher.

Herki
in to
no encourage
uncertain them
termstohebelieve
didn't through
believe Moses
in alland
that,the
soother
hMd. bear
with_ i-Lthe existance of
God know
trying

proRhets._I tried from all angles to prove that God existed before we could start about
Oesus," Henki explained when telling about it. Oust recently someone died
rather suddenly that Henki thought Wadjou may have known about.

Henki used

this to point out how short and uncertain life really is and that got the
. , ,
girl friend's Interest. They discussed the difference between the spiritual
and physical world. But NO, Wadjou didn't believe in all that either. "The ground in and it's

1^ believe that? Then

he asked,
f'Now you've
really got to tell me truthfully, Henki
do you ?
really
Do you
really believe
in re-incarnation?"_ "Absolutely not,, that's a completly different matter," Henki assured this young man.
But there.are other alternatives, so from'the angle of the spirit world and that life is
popiDle jithout human bodies, Henki once again began to try and convince them about the ex
istence of God. He told them about a spiritist who's son had been Wadjou's Kharati teacher.

Some of the tough guys of a gang Henki used to run with had experiences with this man and a
moving table and other things that convinced them of the spirit world. Henki cautioned them

I mnot tellim you to go there, but it existsi Because God says not to go there we must

Obey. Surely He wouldn't warn us about something being dangerous that doesn't even exist?"
brought them to the fact that Wadjou had been to a fortune teller six times and

everything said had been true. The girl admitted, when Henki pressed a bit farther, that not
everything the fortune teller had told others had always been true, so again Henki was able
to show them proof of the falsehood.

He assured them that that couldn't'be from God since HE

alwap tells the truth and not sometimes, or part of the truth. He always tells the truth for
God is TRUTH.

discussed the different kinds of bodies given the fish, birds and
othw beings, each adopted to their realm of existance and how we'll receive a ressurect-

ed body that's adapted to the realm we're to go to. Henki pointed out some things about
the difference between force and spirit showing that when it is goal-oriented it requires
u2 I 7 had just hadindicates
personalityfornotthejust
power.
So they cameofback
to the and
lessons
Henki
and hovj searching
truth
and authenticity
paintings
artists is similiar to one's search for the truth in the Scriptures. You can't just take
^*^1 * K
but it'sto best
it yourself.
had beenScriptures,
one reasonand
TOnki
had gone to word,
the States,
findtooutinvestigate
about the validity
of theThat
Christian
things
like excitement
that, he told
them. upWadjou
said he also
to know
more aoout^ it and left Henki
showing
to look
Oohn 20:30-31
that wanted
would give
him
miracles and wonders were done by Jesus. Henki had also seemingly generated
matters more deeply and they said they'd have to get together again
y
y
y
sometime, under,better conditions than in a restaurant.
While all this was going on, some people moved away from near their tatdf
evidentally being disturbed by their discussion. Another man whom both Henki and
Wadjou know came in and though he didn't join them; Henki noticed had listened

quietly to a lot of what they'd said. Henki remembered his wife died not long ago
leaving him with small children.

You never know what will come of all

the seed that has been planted. Sometimes you expect great things from

one "garden" only to discover growth where you'd not really planned or
. expected any. And, like with Jesus' parable, often the wicked one comes

and sows weeds that overcome the young, tender plants. We hope you'll join

with us in praying for fruitful growth.in hearts where the seed has been

planted so glory can be given Him and increase to honor His kingdom.

J'-

ALL THESE HAPPENINGS and some other chance meetings with acquaintances
as well as experiences at the antique restoration class have encouraged Henki
to press on with a project he bagan this aunmer. He has begun revisions on
the Jule Miller Bible study slides that we*d used with so much success and

fruit in the church-planting and nurturing days in the I-taas river area. He
finally found the booklets with the narration and pictures of each slide in
the study, that has been packed for our move last November. Now he*s reading
through them and considering the best changes that need to be made to make
them more effective in our area and meet the needs of those we've come in con

tact with recently. In the Old Testament section he hopes to add more about
the prophecies about Christ and emphasize the exlstance of God We*ve discovered
the Importance, first-hand in many practical situations, of the truth of Heb. 11:6

that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to
Him imjst believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him!"
For the New Testament portion Henki finds it important to add much more emphesis on
the life and diety of Christ. He also plans to make 10 lessons from it
combining it
with the lessons about the manuscripts and how the Bible came into eKlstance, thus also
emphasising the Holy Scriptures.

So far Henki has plastered the room in the basement of his-work space that he plans

to set apart for this preperatlon. .Some work lias also been done to level the floor, but
there's still lots to be done.

Electricity still needs to be run and installed for maximun

usefulness; and a door hung. .It is a basement facility under an apartment building in Genk,.
so the sounds of cars and shoppers, etc. must also be insulated out, so that is another major
jc^ and expense anticipated. It will take plenty of planning and preperation, but these are
Henki's present plans to keep him busy the next few months. We hope you'll not only keep
these matters in your prayers, but the folks who can eventually be reached
through such a tool, PfO you'll open your pocket-books. We encourage special
projects to be organized to help fund some of our expenses in getting the

recording and new slides taken ar*j all that will be included in this big

project.- Folks from several other congregations have also indicated their

desire to use such studies, so we feel the project is actually pressing so we

hope you will respond genersouly.
SIWCE WE'RE CHAWGIMG TO BT-MOWTHIK

REPORTS

because of the rise in postage, we want to

close this report telling about some of our sufiimer activities.

SISTER BAKAC (several slides of her in our new set) in whose home the ladies gathered
every two weeks for their study left our area May 9th. Her health had gottien so bad her
dokter and daughter didn't feel it advisable for her to continue living alone. It was an

awful day saying goodby's, and her home has sirtce been sold so memories will have to suffice,

of the spiritual blessings that generated from her strong Christian influence from that place
Christians from this area have made the 2 1/2 hour trip to visit her on different occasions

this suimer.

She had exploritory cancer surgery in Sept. but she is beyond help so is back

with her daughter's family.

The latest we've heard is that the Lord has answered our prayers

that she^s not in much pain, but her heart is really with the Christians in the Maas area!

Ladles gatherings continue to be held one week In the Maas area and one week in &nk.
group continues to grow in nurrtiers, spiritual maturity, end through a bond of love.

The

MIOIAEL AND CARKEN KURYLAK of the Rekem congregation had been without child

ren the first 10 years of their marriage.

God blessed and answered prayers with

TWINS on July 121 Kevin and Eveline were 2 months premature and had to be taken
C-section, but are now safe and healthy at home. Michael and Carmen had been able
to finish building their new home and move in shortly before the twins were born.

wunesse^l^
^with flvlnn^iire
bPhain

tlu lLT

Solwasterschool.
but wasHealso
glad
passed

"ext grade (praise God and thanks for prayers on his

his eaml^rto ride to school

OOW MARK AND SONIA were able to get moved to their new apartment home at the Genk
chruch facilities. Their new address, since Ouly 21st is WINTERSLAGSTRAAT 266 BOX 1,
3600 GE^6<, BELGIUM. They were able to participate in a special meeting at the campgrounds
this fall, organized for young couples, as well as took in part of the familyweek at camp this summer. They're working on organizing a "youth weekend"
to be held in Genk in December; so that's going to be a big "first time
event" for them and the Genk Christians alike!

BEN, Henkl's youngest brother, and his faiHy returned to Belgium after
almost two years in the States. They kept their arrival a surprise and
just in time for their youngest sister Efi's wedding the following Friday,

July l2th. Henki officiated at the wedding. Efi had gone_through the pain of an

unfaithful husband and divorce so we rejoice she's found a Christian partner.

Ben realized he couldn't run from his problems and responsibalities and took the advice of
the Peachtree City (Georgia) brethern to .take steps towards restitution. How wonderful
that God continues to work'in and on hearts of believers and non-believers alike.

Ben's

family is fixing the upstairs facilities of the Genk church "parsonage" so will be
"Box 2" as nei^bors for Oohn and Sonia sometime this winter, OV. Their return has been a
boost to the Genk church's fellowship, as may well be imagined, but their sister Kina and
family is again left alone in the States. She and the children plan to be in Belgium for
Susanna's wedding in November. She is the third daughter in the Boonaerts family, (Her
son Bart often Joins Oames for the outh activities, and daughter Petra also attended camp
this year.

Susanne also had the misfortune of an unfaithful husband so had to rear her

children alone.)

^ROBERT, the first refugee from Ghana that was in our home, was able to return to Belglijn

'

with a tourist visa. Alex and Hendrika Voorjans are in the process of adopting him, but

that is a long drawn out porcess. The latest word is that he is under Belgian law, but his
court case frir adoption has been postponed. He wants so badly to get a Job and become
active in the-church here in Genk, so won't-you Join us in praying for these
desires of his heart, and that the adoption will be finalized soon?

K PETER AW3 CATHY IGNATIUS stopped for a short, sweet visit on their way
^from the States back to India.on July 27th. They took greetings and a

quick letter from us to Mary Esther's parents, now working in Madras and
with the David Rees Leprosy Hospital so they see eachother regularly. It

was such a blessing to catch up some on activities of the area where we helped serve for
6 months back in '83.

^^It was a special treat to spend some time with DAVID SHELTON of I.D.E.S. on his way
to Africa and back to the States. Unfortunately,' and we still don't know how it

happened, the long planned meeting with folks from a supporting congregation in Arizona
didn't happen. We'd SO looked foward to it and had made several preperations. The slide
program announced with the brochure as our last news report are the fruits of that effort.

We're always so blessed with such visits, planned or not, and hope you'll always make an
effort to include one with us if you're ever in Europe. The bond of love and fellowship
in Christ is to sweet to be missed, and we need eachother, don't you think!?
ON SEPT, 27th Henki had'to make a trip to the police station in Genk to
report the theft of our car. They didn't give him much hope of ever
seeing it again, telling of a band stealing on weekends to dismantle
vehicles, taking them to once "iron curtain" countries before they
could be found. With all the drugs, theft and vandelism in Genk, Henki
began making other transportation arrangements first thing Monday. When
at the police station, to get papers for another car on Oct. 8 he was
called into another office.

Our car had been found and we got it back

safe and sound-! Only, an old polardid camera and a box with some papers and towels were
missing. It had been drivena lot so the fuel tank was completly empty and there wasn't a
drop of oil in it anv more, and it had been smoked in

heavilv.

God has been unbelievato..

gracious in protecting us and returning our badly needed transportation so quickly!

THE LAHAK^N congregation have-five-converts since their beginning Just over a year ago.
On oct 5th, four of these were immersed in the Genk building with great rejoicing. There

are some definate steps being taken towards healing and restoring the hurt end division tha^
resulted fron\ various problems. It's a continual wonder to see how God can use our human
blunders and weaknesses yet to bring glory to His name and kingdom. It brings to mind
Romans 2:4, "Do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience,
not realizing God's kindness leads you toward repentance?" We are compelled to respond, NO,
we rejoice in His kindness over and over; and gladly share all this news with you brethern
as proof!

May we never forget His kindness every morning, and show true thankfulness to Him and

eachother as well.

We are grateful for your ev6ry act of kindness and support

in the continuing work for His vineyard here in Belgiun.

Trustify to report more next month,

'iO

n-r^

If.:

Li 1^sm k^l ' 11 n

"THaeotiaut ^Anx^iiiut
CHURCHES OF CHRIST

OR

CHRISTIAN CHURCHES

WM. STANLEY BOUCHARD. EX. 01. 5065 WHIMSICAL DR. 80&17

C. G. LILLIE. CO-OIR. & OFFICE 2589 EAST PIKES PEAK #U-108, COLORADO SPRINGS. CO 80909

PHONE (719) 597.1258

PHONE (719) 634-1937

OCTOBER 1991

STAFF

WM. STANLEY BOUCHARD

Executive Director
CHLOTIELDE Q. LILLIE

Co-Director, Treas.
SHIRLEY RIGOR

Dear fellow church planter:

We praise God for your interest and support for
this ministry of planting New Testament church.e.s _ln _
the Rocky Mountain region.
The area just West of the Airport in Colorado
Springs has a population of from 60,000 to 80,000 res

idents.

Office Mgr.

Many of those people have no church afficia-^

tion whatsoever,.

We have used direct mail, 21,000

brochures, door to door calling, and prominant news- ,

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OR. E. RICHARD CRABTREE
Chairman

SHIRLEY RIGOR

Secretary
RICHARD TIFFT

FLORENTINO SAVALA
CHARLES PONCELOW

KING COLE
HELEN MAXEY
GERALDINE SPELLMAN
GENE GIBSON

paper advertising to reach out to those people. We /

have experienced some success with 45 additions over/
the first several months of our existence.
^.
We ask you to pray for us as we develope our
plans for reaching out with the Gospel of our Lord.
When we are in a position to secure land in District 2
we will have access to school buildings in the area.
One building in particular is right in the middle of
our target area and has a beautiful auditorium, with
a theater arrangement and confortable seats.

When we

qualify to rent that facility by having a building

site in the District, we plan to use a telephone sur
vey to reach additional prospects.

Four of our young military families have already

been transferred to Alaska, Germany and Hawaii. We
have a world-wide outreach already.
We are very interested in the works at Falcon &

Sterlingand ask youjto join us in prayer that the " ~

Lord of harvest will provide just theikind of workers

they need to reach out with the Gospel of Christ.

May God bless you for your concern,

Stanley Bouchard for R.M.C.M.

WM
Jfm:

.flChnst

V'*-!!"'.''
HOW MANY TIMES HASN'T Henki been heard to ask

something like, "I wonder why I keep running

into people like that?"

He was referring to

drug users, unemployed,

jail-birds"

"

and the

like; those who are often called the down

trodden, the down-and-out, outcasts, or skum

of society. It may be more piesant to be

drawn to the rich, able to enjoy their fancy

food and furniture, or associate with those

ytenJb

tt,

'Boonacm^^j^

t_ j? a.

j. 5?^

Peperhofstraat 75
75
. ^eperhofstraat
3600
Genk

APRIIt 1QQl
APRIH: 1991
APKliJ.
lyyi

NEV/S
PT^POPT
NEV/S EFFORT
REPORT
JNhWb

who've got-it-made financially..intellectually.

socially.,..
MAYBE THE ANSWER lies

in what

Jesus said for those who accused Him of

"receiving sinful men" and being a "friend of sinners."

Several passages
are recorded by Divinely inspired writers, but we bring attention now
to Luke 5:27-32

and

Luke 7:33-34:

The Calling ofLevi

33For John the Baptist came

neither eating bread nor drink

this, Jesus went out

and saw a tax collector by the
name of Levi sitting at his tax
booth. "Follow me," Jesus said
to him, 28and Levi got up, left.

ing wine, and you say, 'He has a

demon.' ^The Son of Man carne

eating and drinking, and you

say, 'Here is a glutton and a

everything and followed him.

29Then Levi held a great ban
quet for Jesus at his house, and
a large crowd of tax collectors
and others were eating with

drunkard, a friend of tax collec

tors and "sinners."' ^^But wis-

them. 30But the Pharisees and

the teachers of the law who be

longed to their sect complained

to his disciples, "Why do you

eatand
eat and drinkwith
drink with tax
tax collectors
collectors
and'sinners'?"
and 'sinners'?"

THROURH MANY CIRCUP-'ISTANCES, to numerous

to relate in any detail, through the

3!]esus
It isis
3']esus answered
answered them,'
them, "It

last few years often having a chain-

a doc
not the healthy who need adoc-

reaction, Henki has become a friend,

tor, but the sick.

helper
and li|tener-to-troubles and
lamentations of many such unloved and

have not

come to
to call
call the
the righteous,
righteous, but
come
bu!
sinners
sinners to repentance."

unlovely people.

Some we've mentioned

in previous reports (so v;e repeat their

names so you'll continue to intreat on

their behalf), some are Christians, some still need to yield to His

kingship, some we've lost contact with wMlle some he

sees most regularly.

and privacy v/e won't

situations, but v/ill
and names of Henki's
praying for them and
and concern before

In order to protect their pride

go into details of
share some general
contacts.
You can
bringing them with
Father's

Sst

their
information
.join us in
compassion

throne.

WILL YOU BE PRAYING for those with the follov/ing or

similiar problems:

-obsession to gambling, drug users, alcohol and

substance abuse

-(ex)-prisoners, criminals, suicidal

-divorcee or with marital or relationship problems

-bankrupcy, unemployment, shiftless

-binrdened with depression, financial needs, fears, insecurity and

incapability, frustrations
-refugees, aliens, foreigners, the lonely

ASK FOR GOD'S GUIDANCE and help for Several folks v;e don't even know (or
remember) the names of while you also keep these before the throne of
grace by name:
-

men

Jean . Pierre
Gianni
At i l i a
Gabriel

Mark
Pino

Jan ( 2 x)

Alexander

Jos
Frans
Theo

Hassin

Robert ( 2 x)

Horst

Evan

Jean Paul

Harry

Mano

Laurent

Georgie

Gule
Gerard
Guido

Guy
Chris
Bernard
Willem
Peter

women

Irene
Bess
Illianne
Yvonne

Philomen
Aurelia

Sofie

Magda

Dulce

Doris
Antoinette

Katsula

In^eja

Martha

Cor
Leo

WHILE IN .PRAYER REftlEMBER Henki also that he

may be active in sharing his faith scj) that

he will have full \mderstanding of every

good thing v/e have in Christ. (Philemon 6)

Pray also "that whenever he opens his mouthhe may be given words to fearlessly make known

the mystery of the gospel as he should."

6:19)

(Eph.

And, pray that God' may open a door for His

message as Henki proclaims the mystery of Christ in

us, the hope of glory!. (Col. 4:3; 1:27)

WHY DOES HENKI KEEP RUNNING into people-like "that?" Maybe God sent them
to us because He knov/s we can empathize.. .having v/alked the same road (in

some of the previously mentioned needs at leasti!) making us more capable

to point the way to the WAY. It also gives us the opDortimity to ful
fill Paul's exhortation in Rom 12:16, "Do not be proud, but be willing

to associate v/ith people of lov/ position.

Do not be conceited."

In so

doing, we also find ourselves in good company, for we know among others

Paul and Jeremiah, Hosea and Jesus were personally acquainted with such
^jriefs and troubles. We can also join our desires for the sa-lvation of

the lost and upbuild the brethern as^/e agree

to anproach the Father

who v/ill provide according to the promise in Matt. 18: 19-20'.

Maybe it

also helps keep us more conscious ofiour pvm sin and need for the clean-

sinrg~TOood of Christ. This has been; the case lately also: we've been
especially aware of ovoc sin and drawn to the need of Jesus' blood for
ourselves.

May this ever be what motivates and spurs us all on our way:

to be kept near to the cross of the Friend of Sinners!

a os'f
uMlmi

CELEBRATE

HIS
^

mur,

(Cl)t-ist

:<?,i flM ' U N

Hznkyc 4Zgne,d up th.i6 {^all

^o take some courses in the restoration of antiques.

Upon

returning from the class one evening he reviewed his les

son over a cup of-coffee in a local restaurant.

A friend

of Henki's youngest brother came and joined him. Wadjou

(with his girl friend) wanted to know about Henki's jazz

mm

band playing days since Wadjou remembered Henki and his

once famous group. Since Henki couldn't really remember

much about it anymore, Wadjou then wanted to know what he
was doing now-days? He'd heard Henki had become a "domine"

the Dutch title for preacher.

Henki' was iirtiBdiately able to

show them from.the Scriptures that a "domineerina"ficure" *

yfcnii 'Bcottoerts

^5S

Peperhofetr. 75

3600. Genk Belg.

4.

i.

*" Oct. 1991 News Report ^

doesn't fit the structure of the church Jesus built and

explained the intended work of evangelists, teachers and shepherds in the church ending witlT
the fact that Henki considered his job that of a teacher.

4.U the
4.U existance of God trying
in to
no encourage
uncertain them
termstohebelieve
didn't through
believe Moses
in alland
that,the
so other
htertd be^
with

Jesus," Henki
angles
to provewhen
thattelling
God existed
we recently
could start
about
explained
about before
it. Just
someonedied

pther suddenly that Henki thought Wadjou may have known about. Henki used
this to point out how short and uncertain life reaUy is and that got the ~
. ,
friend's interest. They discussed the difference between the spiritual
and 46*physical
world. But
NO, Wadjou didn't believe in all that either. "The ground in and-it's
finished! he was certain. Then he asked, "Now you've really got to tell me truthfully, Henki

do you really believe that? Do you really believe in re-incarnation?"

"Absolutely not, that's a completly different matter," Henki assured this young man.
popible without human bodies, Henki once again began to try and convince them about the ex

But there are other alternatives, so from-the angle of the spirit world and that life is

istance of God. He told them about a spiritist who's son had been Wadjou's Kharati teacher.
Some of the tough guys of a gang Henki used to run with had experiences with this man and a
moving table and other things that convinced them of the spirit world. Henki cautioned them

I mnot telling you to go there, but it exists! Because God says not to go there we must

Obey. Surely ne wouldn't warn us about something being dangerous that doesn't even exist?"
That brought them to the fact that Wadjou had been to a fortune teller six times and

everything said had been true. The girl admitted, when Henki pressed a bit farther, that not
everything the fortune teller had told others had always been true, so again Henki was able
to show them proof of the falsehood.

He assured them that that couldn't be from God since HE

always tells the truth and not sometimes, or part of the truth. He always tells the truth for
God is TRUTH.

4.K u
different
of bodies
given
the receive
fish, birds
and
each discussed
adopted to the
their
realm ofkinds
existance
and how
we'll
a ressurect^
ed body that's adapted to the realm we're to go to. Henki pointed out some things about 5C
the difference between force and spirit showing that when it is goal-oriented it requires %
intelligence and indicates personality not just power. So they came back to the lessons ^
Henki had just had and how searching for the truth and authenticity of paintings and
^
artists IS similiar to one's search for the truth in the Scriptures. You can't just take ^
another person's word, but it's best to investigate it yourself. That had been one reason
Henki had gone to the States, to find out about the validity of the Christian Scriptures, and

t I it and left Henki

things
like excitement
that, he told
them. up Wadjou
said he that
also would
wantedgive
to know_
more about
showing
to look
John 20:30-31
him~
miracles and wonders were done by Jesus. Henki had also seemingly generated
^ better conditions
matters than
more indeeply
and they said they'd have to get together again
sometime, under
a restaurant.

t While al this was going on, some people moved away r om near tneir tat

evidentally being disturbed by their discussion. Another man whom both Henki an
Wadjou know came in and though he didn't join them, Henki noticed had listened

ijuietly to a lot of what they'd said. Henki remembered his wife died not long ag
leaving him with small children. You never know what will
the seed that has been planted.

Sometimes you expei

^e "garden" only to discover growth where you'd not

:ted any. And, like with Jesus' parable, often the
and sows weeds that overcome the young, tender plants.

We hop

with us in praying for fruitful growth in hearts where the see

planted so glory can be given Him and increase to honor His ki

all THESE happenings and some other chance meetings _w

acquaintances as well as experiences at the antique restoratic

class have encouraged Henki to press on with a project he begar
this summer. He has begun revisions on the Jule Miller Bible

study slides that we'd used with so much success and fruit
in the church-planting and nurturing days in the Maas river

in fho

area. He finally found the booklets with the narration and pictures of each slide in the
study, that had been packed for our move last November. Now he's reading through them and

considering the best changes that need to be made to make

and meet the needs of those we've come in contact with recently.

njj^g3tamen"sec1

In the Old Testament seci

he hopes to add more about the porphecies about Christ and emphasise the
We've discovered the importance, first-hand in many practical situations, of the truth of
Heb. 11:6 that "without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to
Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently
^ ^
For the New Testament portion Henki finds it important to add much more emphesis

the life and diety of Christ. He also plans to make 10 lessons from it all, combining it

with the lessons about the manuscripts and how the Bible came into existance, thus also

roc in tn. b.,nt of Ms tk sp.oe Wat h. plar

to set apart for this preperation. Some work has also been done to level the
there's still lots to be done. Electricity still needs to be run and installed for maximu
usefulness; and a door hung. It is a basement facility under an apartment building in Gen
so the sounds of cars and shoppers, etc. must also be insulated out, so that is another ma

job and expense anticipated. It will take plenty of planning and preperation, but these a
Henki's present plans to keep him busy the next few months. We hope you 11 not only keep
these matters in your prayers, but the folks who can eventually be reached
through such a tool, WD you'll open your pocket-books. We encourage speci
oroiects to be organized to help fund some of our expenses in getting the
recording and new slides taken and all that will be included in this big
orolect Folks from several other congregations have also indicated their

"Xm t^esire to use such studies, so we feel the project is actually pressing so

/W)

will respond genersouly.

SINCE WE'RE CHAWGIWG TO BI-MOWTKLi'

_
^

_
REPORTS

because of the rise in postage, we want to

j.. .!.
close this report telling about some of our summer activities.
SISTER BAKAC (several slides of her in our new set) in whose home the ladies gatherec

every two weeks for their study left our area May 9th. Her health had gotten so bad her
dokter and daughter didn't feel it advisable for her to continue living alone. It was an
awful day saying goodby's, and her home has since been sold so memories will have to suff
of the spiritual blessings that generated from her strong Christian influence from that

Christians from this area have made the 2 1/2 hour trip to visit her on different occasio
this summer. She had exploritory cancer surgery in Sept. but she is beyond help so is bat
with her daughter's family. The latest we've heard is that the Lord has

that she's not in much pain, but her. heart is really with the Christians the Maas area
Ladies gatherings continue to be held one week in the Maas area and one week in Genk. Thi
group continues to grow in numbers, spiritual maturity, and through a bon

MICHAEL AND CARMEN KURYLAK of the Rekem congregation had been without child-

ren the first 10 years of their marriage. God blessed and answered prayers with
TWINS on July 12! Kevin and Eveline were 2 months premature and had to be taken
^
C-section, but are now safe and healthy at home. Michael and Carmen had been able
to finish buildino their new home and move in shortly before the twins were born.

MOAN PALARZ(mentioned in the June report) acted as mediator.between two of his feudinn
anH^h^
rather
of lymph-gland
Bothhave
he
and
his h^'fh
brother M
Wadek (also immersed died
in the
Genk suddenly
church and
former miner cancer.
with Henki)
really taken the passing of this brother rather hard. Prayers are really necessarv for
them. Wadek had a BBQ on his farm grounds this summer and several of his neighbors were
witnessed to different Christians that were also present. Wadek along with Eddy
f
a Christian^
"concert" to
close off the fellowship,
and the childrenchurch
helpedgave
build
an eveningmusic
bonfire.
-

lui

spent Aug. 5-11 at the Christian Bible camp in Solwaster but was also alad
juL ciL Llic McdiUy zuu Uuilny his sumiiibi' vaualiuii Pruiii schuolr^Henra^
the next grade (praise God and thanks for prayers on his^
r

this VM?

5"^ himself a moped with-ttis-earnings to ride-to School-

-Inonf
i He also--Aug.Hielping
enjoyed a visitM^-parents
from his best
friend Rudy of the Leuven
church -ThevHenki
-spent-most^f-June
ge1r-theirH<itchen-inov^
-STd^nlamedhac^on
? retirement.
? home closer
to the Leuven church
andhome
they've
since moved
since Olick ..
has
gone into
The youth.gathered-in
their
one evening
rlcentl^^
able.to get moved to their new apartment home at the Genk "

3600

BFi rri iM' They

Th were able
addrps,
since Oulyin21st
is WINTERSLAGSTRAAT
.BOX 1,
GENK, BELGM.
to participate
a special
meeting at the266campgrounds

this fall, organized for young couples, as well as took in part of the family? summer.
They're
workinggoing
on organizing
a "youth
to ho
be hiir
held in Genk
in December;
so that's
to be a biq
"first weekend"
time
event" for them and the Genk Christians alike!

f youngest brother, and his fanily returned to Beloium after

were lust in timp Tnr

Julv 12th

HpnM

mfaithfni hnchonH

States. They kept their arrival a surprise and

i i?

wedding the following Friday,

wedding. Efi had gone_through the pain of an

Ben rPflHTori hoV

the plachtree Citv
fhaf PnH continues
4-
' Box 2''^L

fG^nrnfp?
and responsibalities and took the advice of
(Georgia)
brethern
to
take
steps
towards
How wonderful
to work in and on hearts of believers
and restitution.
non-believersTike
Ben'.;'

rejoice she's found a Christian partner.

f^ily^i

^^^^^h's^ellCwship^arS^wLrbl imSiS4d?^but^theL''Iister^W

upstairs facilities of the Genk church "parsonage" so will be

SI
cSurt case ?o?

he is unde^BLgIaf^aw, but hit

actfvp ?n fh= h
U ?
postponed. He wants so badly to get a job and hcmfte
won't will
you join
us in praying
desires of his heart, and that the adoption
be finalized
S for these
stopped for a short, sweet visit on their way

qScHettL f?^f

with thf nfw-H 2

was cM^Ih

Tenths backin''83

I"dia^on
July 27th. They took greetings and a
Esther's parents, now working in Madras and

Leprosy Hospital so they see eachother regularly. It

^tn

activities of the area where we helped serve for

SHELTON of I.D.E.S. on his wav

haooeneS
Jhf tn''
Unfortunately,
and we still
don't know howAriTnna
it
rtfSS?? k'
meeting
withto folks
supporting
didn't
happen. We'dplanned
SO looked
foward
it andfrom
hadamade
severLconareaation
oreSionsin tSp
program announced with the brochure as our last news reporHrrthffrSitfSf'thl? P?fnS

effort'tr?nc?MHp'""'-ri''^
in S^is? Islo sweet

not? anfho^e yoS'll^Lafslte

fellowship

of think!?
love anS
to sweet to be missed, and we need eachother,T^don't you

^ ON SEPT. 27th Henki had tp make a trip to the police station in Genk-to-^
report the theft of our car. They didn't give.him much hope of ever

seeing it again, telling of a band stealing on weekends to dismantle ^

vehicles, taking them to once "iron curtain" countries before they .

could be found. With all the drugs, theft and vandelism in Genk, Henki
began making other transportation arrangements first thing Monday. When
at the police station to get papers for another car on Oct. 8 he was
called into another office. Our car had been found and we got it back
safe and sound;! Only.an old polardid camera and a box with some papers and towels were
~
missing. It had been driven a lot so the fuel tank was completly empty and there wasn't a
drop of oil in it any ..more, and it .had been, smoked in heavily., .God^hajs .been unbelievably
gracious in protecting us and returning our badly needed transportation so quickly!

0^ THE LANAKEN congregation have five converts since their beginning just over a year agoT^
On oct 5th, four of these were immersed in |the Genk building with great rejoicing. There

are some "definate steps being taken towards healing and restoring the hurt and division that

resulted from various problems.

It's a coiiifinual wonder to see how God can use our human

blunders and weaknesses yet to bring glory t;o His name and kingdom.

It brings to mind

Romans 2:4, "Do you show contempt for the rij.ches of His kindness, tolerance and patience,^

not realizing God's kindness leads you towai^d repentance?" We are compelled to respond, W,

we rejoice in His kindness over and over, and gladly share all this news with you brethern

as-proof!

11

May we never forget His kindness every morning, and show true thankfulness to Him and
eachother as well. We are grateful for your every, act of kindness and support
in the continuing work for His vineyard here in Belgium.
Trusting to report more next month,

j)uraNG THii: n m

this

bi-jnonthly

report v/as bein^

Ilk* j

prepared we had
a bi/? interrut)tion that so.disrupted us and
demandefii our at
tention that i t
couldn't be fin-

ished.
Instead"
of what was pre

viously planned we
shsre the following
;Lepisode.
YOU PROBABBY REMEM-

ber us mentioning
_ Antoinette (who

stayed with us sev

%** %* \

?f(uU 'Avn<Wft<

Peperhofstmat y5
3600
Genk

+
+
+

Kov.-]Dec,. 1991 News Reiaprt

+

eral months in the

apartment that- we

before moving to Opf^labbeek and we visited with Rolands on their

India the l^^st [time) and her husband Laurent. iVe'd'hot seen
them in quite some time then one evening rather late they csme for a
visit.
Before lont-^ they let it be known thej'" had been without a home
since what they 'd been renting was sold. They'd gotten rid of most of
lived in
way from

their furniture

s.nd were "living" in a student-room in Hssselt

Because

of Antqinette' s M.S ejid the fact Laurent had STsent time in .jail, these

arrangements were not suitable. They'd been sleepin:?^ in their car aJid
were looking for someplace to live until they could find a hom.e to rent.

Since it was so la,te,-3>id it had been freezing nights, there didn't seem
f3ny other solution than to squeeze a larger-than-normal single mattress
between the cupboard and desk in the office snd bed them d.ovm for the

night.

Before Jsmes was off to school the next mornin^^, the fire-works

be^sn: they v/ere. . arguing snd intimidating eachotber pnd became so

physically brutal th^t the nei^-hbors and
Boonaerts had to call the
police E?nd intervene. This wasn't the first time tiolice had been
necessary we soon discovered, as just a week before in the shonriinf
center in Genk they'd also hpd to mediate between the cou"nle

Laurent had been to a social worker to try and get some counsel.in;? and

help,

Antoinette v'3s to /?.o the a-fternoon they were at our home.

police

contacted them and another a-BOintment wps made in our home

The

instead since Antoinette was frirhtened to ,^0 anywher with her husband.
It wasn't until a,round 7 tha.t evening v;e had some peace and semblence
of normal life again.

Police escorted Antoinette with a

social worker to take her to a "wom?ns shelter." They were

to be temporarily seperated and receive some guidance to
help dQt their marriage back to,<?,ether again, f.avbe Laurent
hadn't had enough rehabilitation after his time in jail...
or other thincs that upset his emotional make-up.

Vful v;ay. Of course they were directed to rnd confronted by

HOV/ THEY NEED JESUS in their lives in a possitive and power-

this fact in various ways v/hile they were in our home .

V/e

hope in their time of deen need they may truly senrch for
Him. In the mepintime we want to thi^ink you ail once.

ngclin for m^ilcin/^ it posil)le lor u to hr.vc n. homo here in Del<ii'jii.

It

niepnsy though our facilities ore much s"inller pnd less conducive th?>n in
Opglabbeek, we ore o.blo to minister to needs of those in clarkness nrounO
us.

At the time of yepr when so nipny are tliinking about the fact that

thnre waS no room for IIIM in the inn, we hope there IS room for Him
??nd "the lenst of these" in your hefirts .

"Since I have you in niy hef3rt...nll of you share in God's proce with
me" pre wontlcrful v/ords P.?ul shared with the Philippipns (1:7) that seem
to sirply to our relf^tion with each of you our supporters pnd ropeholders.
Praise God that we c^n feel this way about you, nnd th.*^t you
shpre possitively and practically in spre^din^^ Christ's q.ffpc'tion to
others in need. Thnnk you a^oin for your every evidence of

supuort {?nd concern, including several ^hristmos ^reetinps

that have cheered us, end other acts throughout 1991.
As a result of this scapade we h^ve some dams/^e to the
home that we're sure Laurent and Antoinette won't be

able to reimburse*

As a project su/^gestion we hope

some extr^ funds can be forthcoming to help with the

damages and some other renovations still needed on our home since
moving to Genk. The dollar hss been de-valued a^5;ain a lot this yesr fjnd

prices just keep sky-rocketing.

Any extra generosity would be /;;reatly

appreciated at this time.

ALOh'G i/ITII OTHSn Fi?AYKR RlSgUESTR you oen glean-from this letter, we ak
you to envoke God's specific direction and, blessing on some problems
end weighty decisions we have to be making the next few months in
connection v/ith furlou;ih next year and some other matters. Ple?ise be
faithful in bringing us to the throne of grace end encov.rpging us so
v/e won't succumb to the Devil's schemes but come out victorious in

Jesus.

"It hs'S been granted to us on behalf of Christ not only to

believe on Him, but nlso to suffer for Him, (Phil. 1:29 '"^nd 4:23)

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with

your spirit"

LoueMa Roller

Rt. #1.

Box 92

Burnettsvllle, IN

February 3, 1992

47926

Dear Supporters,

Melvln and I began working aa forwarding agents In Missions In 1968. The past
fourteen years have been so rewarding as we served the Lord through our work with
Your support through prayer and finances has
Henkl and Mary Esther Boonaerts.
indeed made their ministry possible. I would pray that your continued support would /
enable the Boonaerts to carry on In Belgium. The Importance of a forwarding agent Is f.very great! They must be the link between the Christians here and the missionary on
the field. Clear, timely communication and accounting are two necessary parts of a
for-wardlng agent's ministry.
Mrs. Linda Klmmel, a sister In Christ andj personal friend of Mary Esther, has

accepted the challenge of being the new forwarding agent for the Boonaerts. Her
church family has agreed to support her In this ministry. The MedaryvUle Christian
Church (Indiana) has been so very faithful and helpful - Thank-you. After March 1,
1992, please make aU the checks payable to the FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH-VICTORVILLE
and send to:

'''

Linda Klmmel

'

11090 De Anzo 115

Phelan, CA

92371

Words cannot express the thanks I give to God for you all. Your prayers, cards
and support have truly blessed me and my family. Please remember how vital you are
to this mission effort.

Keep tt up as the Lord blesses the Boonaerts In Belgium!

In His Service,

Louella Roller