Nr.111 ended with: “And there was much more to be done, too much to mention. But where was all the money going to come from……?” (See richardandmarina.net).

Yes, looking back now, I still wonder, where did all the money come from? Because we worked with volunteers, the labor was free, except for meals, coffee and extras, but all the materials, cement, paint for both outside and inside, ceiling material, electrical materials, water and sewage materials, etc. etc. had to be bought. And the money came, some from young believers, some from our co-workers, but most came from Canada as our support went up without us asking for any funds, absolutely amazing and proof that God was in this, we give Him all the glory!

On Sunday mornings Marina and I and our daughters would drive to Beerse, a 45 minute drive, to be there for the morning meeting. We would start with an open session of singing and announcements, after which the children would go to their Sunday school classes. Marina was responsible for this as Marjorie did not know the Dutch language yet, but she would also help. The adults would celebrate the Lord’s Supper and have a message. Then we would drive home and get ready for the Bible study in our house in the evening. After a while we started with a once a month Sunday evening meeting at which we celebrated the Lord’s Supper as in Beerse.

On the first such a meeting a doctor from Peer attended, he was a fine Catholic man but not a born again Christian. I will call him Phillip and his wife, who could not attend due to being very pregnant, Ingrid. Because I knew he was not a real child of God yet, I really explained the meaning of the Lord’s Table and who could take part. Phillip got the message and let the bread and cup pass. I had met Phillip and Ingrid some time ago in the fall of 1974. They came to the home of Martin and Lydie Symons, our future Flemish full-time workers. Martin had been asking them for some time to meet with me, but they were hesitant. Now, however, they were ready to come, but they brought two Catholic priests along……..! (Go to Musings).

 

Nr.110 ended with: “……but now we thanked God over and over again for having sent us here and being part of this wonderful work and this was only the beginning……..!” (See richardandmarina.net).

We’re into 1975 now and we have moved from the mill in Beerse to our house in Koersel, province of Limburg in east Belgium. Next to this province is another province called Limburg, but it is part of the Netherlands. I went to high school there in the city of Heerlen and it is from that city that I immigrated to Canada in 1958. So here we are and there is excitement in the air for at least four reasons: 1. More people are coming to the Lord, especially in Limburg, while the Bible studies keep growing. 2. The large hall at the mill in Beerse is being worked on, but it will take a long time to get it ready for all the baptisms that are going to take place there. Remember the words: “The place will throng with people”? (See nr.96) 3. The amazing provisions from the Lord for the work at the mill. 4. Two couples coming into the work, Martin and Marjorie Luesink moved into the mill and in June Henk and Beryl Gelling would join us in Limburg.

Living in Koersel now, I was able to give more attention to the young believers and Bible studies there. But I also continued to go to Beerse a couple times a week for Bible studies and to help with the work at the mill. Saturdays were especially busy as a number of young believers would help with the renovations. The large hall had been used to keep chickens in, so one can imagine what it looked like! We had to put in sewer pipes, water pipes, drainage pipes, toilets, and a cement floor. The walls had to be redone and a new ceiling put up. A large baptism tank was built with bricks which the owner of the mill, who had a brick factory, donated, for which we were very thankful. We also had to put up light fixtures and other things. And there was much more to be done, too much to mention. But where was all the money going to come from……? (Go to Musings).

Nr.109 ended with: “Soon we would be in Limburg, trusting the Lord to start our third church……!” (See richardandmarina.net).

Yes, a third church and we had only been in Belgium three years. The church in Antwerp was doing well and so was the much smaller one in Beerse. We sensed the moving of God’s Spirit. We did not have to do any evangelism, like going from door to door or holding campaigns. I would begin a home Bible study with a small group. People were totally ignorant of the Bible as none of them had ever had one and they were so surprised at what they found. They would look at me with their eyes, and sometimes also their mouths (:-) wide open as I told them that I was sure that I would go to heaven when I died. They had never heard anyone say that before. And of course, they would question me about that, “are you better than we are?” Or, “have you done so many good works?”

And oh, the joy of then explaining the gospel and telling them that I was no better than anyone else, that I was as big a sinner as they were, but that Jesus died and paid for my sin on the cross and called out “It is finished”, it is paid for, the work is done. And that God said that if we acknowledge our sins and turn to Him and accept what Jesus has done, we will be saved. Again, what a joy to see the startling expression on their faces, they could hardly believe this, but some did quite soon and experienced the new birth and of course, couldn’t keep quiet about this. Their walk and talk changed which, of course, drew the attention of others, who became curious and sometimes came along to the next study. It was just wonderful to experience the moving of God’s Spirit. We had not really wanted to go to Belgium, Marina had her eyes on Africa and I didn’t want to go back to crowded Europe, but now we thanked God over and over again for having sent us here and being part of this wonderful work and this was only the beginning……..! (Go to Musings).

Nr.108 ended with: “And now, what did the Lord have in store for us next…….? (See richardandmarina.net).

Before we left Canada, we had made one more very important visit. We went to see Henk and Beryl Gelling in Clinton. They had visited us the beginning of 1974 in Antwerp and we had talked and prayed about the possibility of them joining us in the work in Belgium. However, once they were back on the farm, doubts set in and questions as to whether they could be useful in Belgium and, was this really God’s will for them and how could they know? All along Beryl felt they should go, but Henk had doubts. When we visited them this time, we had a good conversation and in the words of Henk “you told me to get serious with God.” After talking and praying together they decided to come over in the summer of 1975, if the Lord continued to lead that way. And that is what happened, more about that later.

Han and Heleen Stolk, a young couple from Holland, stayed with our children while we were in Canada. Heleen helped organize the first youth weekend on my uncle and aunt’s farm in eastern Holland after our move from Canada. She was very much involved in all the youth weekends that followed and she also stayed with us for several months during the first part of 1974. She would often go along to Beerse to babysit a young boy of a single mother who wanted to attend the Bible study. It didn’t take long before she was saved. Han and Heleen were married that summer, I even led the wedding service.

After we returned from our brief time in Canada, I continued with the Bible studies in Beerse and in Limburg where people were coming to the Lord continually and the need to start a church became urgent. When going to Limburg I would often go during the day and work on the house we had rented in Koersel. Every room needed wall papering, painting and new carpets. There was a lot of work but I had help from some of the new Christians. Soon we would be in a Limburg, trusting the Lord to start our third church……! (Go to Musings).

Nr.107 ended with: “But what to do now, we had a lot of places to go but no car………?!” (See richardandmarina.net).

After the meeting Ollie Shantz phoned and told us that he had another car for us and that he would be driving through the night to get it to us by morning. The following day we took my dentures to be repaired and shortly after we were home, Ollie arrived with a brand new Ford Crown Victoria; it had only 6 miles on it when he picked it up, it was a real beauty! After some coffee we took Ollie to the airport and that same morning he flew home again, dear brother! After lunch we picked up my dentures and started out further West. That night I was to speak in a church in Thunderbay, about 700 km from where we were. We had phoned the night before and cancelled the meeting as we would not be able to be there on time. The next evening I was to speak in Winnipeg, province of Manitoba, about 1300 km from where we were. Thunderbay was a little over half way.

We drove as far as we could that day, had a short night in a motel and drove on to Winnipeg where we had a wonderful meeting. What a joy to be able to tell folk about what God was doing in Belgium. The next day we drove almost 800 km to Marina’s parents in the province Saskatchewan; it was wonderful to see them again after 3½ years. We stayed there a few days while visiting friends and relatives. We held meetings in Regina, Saskatoon and Moose Jaw, and also in Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary in the province of Alberta. What a blessing to find so many folk praying for us, so encouraging! From there back to Marina’s parents and a few days later back to Ontario, almost 3.000 km, driving through the US, which was faster. We had a last visit with our home church and friends there, after which we flew back to Belgium, glad to be home again with our children, who were so happy to see us. And now, what did the Lord have in store for us next…….? (Go to Musings)

Nr.106 ended with: “But as we were nearing the city, driving 80 km an hour, a car from a side road to the right ran a stop sign and there was a terrible crash……..…..!” (See richardandmarina.net).

Because the side road was sort of hidden, we did not see the car coming until he was pretty well in front of us. I slammed on the brakes as we hit him right in the middle, causing him to roll over a number of times, ending up on its side across the road in the bushes. We sat somewhere in the middle of the road a bit dazed, still shocked at what had just happened, but most surprised that we were not really hurt. Marina had nothing! I broke my top dentures by hitting the steering wheel with my mouth, and also hitting the left side of my chest, which later showed some blue spots, but no broken bones at all. It was absolutely amazing! The policemen shook their heads in utter disbelief. Imagine hitting a car at that speed and not having safety belts on, they were not in use then yet in most cars. Marina should have been thrown against the dashboard, but inexplicably, she hadn’t been. Was there an angel between her and the dash?

It took some time to free the young driver, the only one in the other car. He was very seriously hurt and was in the hospital for a very long time. We never found out why he drove onto our highway at great speed. The police called the people we were going to stay with and they came to get us. Our car was a total wreck and completely written off. I called Ollie Shantz, one of the men who had rented the car for us, the other being Edgar Martin, and told him what had happened. I glued the two pieces of my dentures together and still preached that evening, but there was a crack between my front teeth and as I spoke, the skin of my top lip would get squeezed and it really hurt, but the Lord gave grace and we had a wonderful meeting. But what to do now, we had just started our trip and now, no car………?! (Go to Musings)

Nr.105 ended with: “It was just perfect; we could hardly have found a better place. But then we heard who the owner was whom we had to see…….!” (See richardandmarina.net).

To our great surprise we were told that the owner was a prostitute in Antwerp who ran the “Blue Room.” I had to go and see her, but I didn’t want to go alone; just imagine some young Christian seeing me going into that place! :-), so I asked my co-worker to go along. We had a very nice conversation and there was no problem renting the house. In fact, she promised to come to the official opening, which she did some months later. She came with one of “her men” and even brought a large plant as a gift. I’m just fast forwarding a bit now. We had a wonderful opening service and I really preached the gospel, clear and plain. Someone sitting in front of her heard the man say to her, “Quite the change, from a whorehouse to a church.” The woman’s brother lived close by and anytime there was something, we would go to him, we had a good relationship.

We sought the Lord for guidance and decided to move the beginning of 1975 during the Christmas holidays. Martin Luesink, my best man, and his wife Marjorie were working with OM in Belgium and after much prayer decided to move into the mill in Beerse and take over the work there from us. Realizing that once we had moved to Koersel, it would be difficult to go on furlough, Marina and I decided to make a flying 5 week trip to Canada to visit our home church and other churches and friends who had been supporting us, plus Marina’s relatives. We had a number of meetings in churches in southern Ontario. Two wonderful men of our home church rented a car for us to drive West and stop in at churches along the way. The first was in Sault Ste Marie, about 740 km from where we were. A meeting was planned for the evening. But as we were nearing the city, driving 80 km an hour, a car from a side road to the right ran a stop sign and there was a terrible crash……..…..! (Go to Musings).

Nr.104 ended with: “And then, sometime later, we received a phone call……!” (See richardandmarina.net).

Our three daughters were attending a Catholic school in Beerse and went there on the bikes we had bought them and with which they were so happy. Their teachers were nuns. Our youngest one, Rini (Renee) was 6 years old and came home one day a bit upset because the nun had told her that babies should be baptized, and Rini hadn’t been. I told her to take her Bible to school and ask her teacher to show her where it says that babies should be baptized. She came home that afternoon with a smile on her face saying, “The nun couldn’t find it in the Bible.” Sometime later she came home saying the nun had told her that children who were six years old should do their first communion. Again I told her to take her Bible to the teacher. When she came home I asked her about it, and again she told us that the nun had not been able to find it in the Bible. It was a good lesson for our young daughter.

And then we received this phone call. It was from Leen in Limburg, the lady who had accepted the Lord the night that I was with her and her husband and their friends. She and some others knew about our thoughts of maybe moving to Limburg and now she called us and said, “Richard, you need to come, we have found a house for you.” We were very surprised as we had told the Lord that He would have to find us a place, we would not look for it ourselves. So we drove to Limburg and Leen took us to Koersel, a town not far from where she lived. She introduced us to the brother of the owner who showed us the place that was for rent. It was a large house with a big living room, good for Bible studies and behind the house a large garage and built onto that, a large hall which had been used as a sowing workshop. It was just perfect; we could hardly have found a better place. But then we heard who the owner was whom we had to see…….! (Go to Musings).

Nr.103 ended with: “But then something very strange happened…..!” (See richardandmarina.net).

Much work was being done to the mill. Two men from Operation Mobilization (OM) came to help. One of them, Martin Luesink, had been best man at our wedding. They fixed the large flat roof, and what a job it was! Two young men from Beerse dug a large hole in the hall, which would become the baptism tank and in which hundreds and hundreds of people from all over Flemish Belgium, plus a few of my family members from Holland would later be baptized. What a job that digging was, as the ground was like clay. A young Christian, who was a mason, came to build the tank. And there was much, much more to do, both inside and outside.

Work during the day and Bible studies and visitation at night. And then I had this strange experience. One night going to Limburg, driving through a wooded area, a voice came from the back of my Volkswagen bus, saying “You need to move again.” I was shocked! Whether it was a real voice or just something in my head, I’m not sure, I am very careful with these things, but it was so real that I did look back to see where this voice came from. When I got home late that night, I told my wife about this and she said she had also felt that day that we needed to move again.

But this was ridiculously, we had just moved and now again? I argued with the Lord and told Him we couldn’t do this, but the strong impression continued and wouldn’t leave us. And as the inner conviction grew, so also did the need in Limburg. The Bible studies increased, people were converted and we took quite a number to be baptized in a church in Brussels. But now, a local church needed to be planted, but who could do that? I told the Lord that we wanted to be absolutely sure He was prompting us, and that if this really was from Him, He would have to provide a house and a meeting place for us in Limburg, I would not look for anything myself.

And then, sometime later, we received a phone call……! (Go to Musings).

Nr.102 ended with: “However when the wedding and the feast were over and people went home, something very tragic happened…….!” (See richardandmarina.net).

Because the wedding took place in the mill and not in the Catholic Church, the parents and other family members of the bride did not attend, which was very sad. But the groom’s parents and his grandfather were there, the grandfather remarking how he enjoyed the service. After the wedding, when the parents drove the grandfather home, a car from a side street ran a stop sign and they crashed into it, throwing the grandfather from the back seat onto the front windshield. They were all taken to hospital were the grandfather passed away some time later. We were all heartbroken! You can well imagine how this was talked about in the town, some even suggesting that this was God’s punishment for not marrying in the RC Church, how ridiculous! We really sorrowed with the family.

However, life went on and so did our little church. We had now started meeting in the round room of the mill. We came together in a very simple way, with a table in the middle on which a loaf of bread and a cup of wine were placed. We would have a time of singing first, after which the children went to their Sunday school rooms in our house and the adults would continue with readings from scripture, singing and praying, thus worshipping the Lord. Different ones would take part and it was wonderful to see and hear these young believers. The service would end with a short message. Teaching was given in Bible studies during the week. I wonder whether the early Christians did not meet like this. We know that in many parts of the world where there is no freedom of religion, Christians still meet in this way, in attics, in basements, in the woods and other secret places. We need to be thankful for and make good use of our freedom. Jesus said “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work,” John 9:4. How we need to take these words to heart and follow His example!

But then something very strange happened…..! (Go to Musings).