Nr.61 ended with: “During April 1970, after having said goodbye to Marina’s family, we returned to Drayton, ON and to WBC to prepare for our moving overseas……!” (See: Musings)

I just noticed a mistake, we did not return to Ontario in April 1970, but in 1971. During September 1970 Marina and I had been in Holland for four weeks to look for an open door, but nothing had happened. Some time later we had gotten in contact with my first room mate in Bible College, Henry, and his wife Lillian who were ministering with the Bible Christian Union in Holland. They were returning to Canada for a home assignment of 6 months and they wrote and asked whether we would be willing to live in their apartment during their absence and help in their church. We felt led of the Lord to accept this and so we started getting ready to move to the Netherlands.

About one month before leaving for Europe, Marina became sick with pneumonia and X-ray’s revealed a spot on her longs. I had to go to Peterborough for a week of special meetings. The doctor wanted Marina in the hospital, but she wouldn’t leave our girls and stayed home. She was very weak and laid on the couch some of the time. People came to visit and she told them to help themselves to coffee. Was this another attack of the enemy to keep us from going? I thought so! We had many people all across Canada praying and when I returned home, I said, “Spot or no spot, we are going.” Four days before we left, X-rays showed the spot was gone, praise God! But because of her weakness, Marina was not able to be at the last Sunday service on June 6, on which day we flew to Holland. That morning the Lord gave her Isaiah 45:2-3, “‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places.” And the Lord did give us many, many precious souls in Belgium, “treasures of darkness”, who came into the Light……! (Go to Musings)

Nr.60 ended with: “And we became aware of the fact that God was sending us to Europe to do exactly that. Would that really happen? I wasn’t so sure of that the first while that we were in Belgium……! (See: richardandmarina.net)

More about that later. But now, with which Mission organization should we go? We had been praying about this and had no freedom to approach any Mission. We discovered that the Open Brethren Assemblies have some 1500 missionaries all over the world, without a Mission organization. They have Service Committees; for example, one in Toronto called Missionary Service Committee (MSC), and in the US, called Christian Missions in Many Lands (CMML). These committees serve the missionaries and the churches. They are recognized by the government and can give tax deductable receipts. They do not have authority over the missionaries, as they believe the missionaries should get their directions from the Lord. We came to believe that the Lord would have us go that way, just with Him, no organization. Later in Belgium it would become clear why this was so important. We now knew how we were to go, but we felt we were in need of three things, 1. A strong home church, 2. Co-workers and 3. Lots of Christians praying. The Lord had led us to a wonderful church which had become our spiritual home. We continued to pray that He would provide the right co-workers and we set out to seek real prayer partners.

Towards the end of October we packed up and drove West for the last time before going to Europe. We rented a small house in Herbert, Sask. and from there I visited assemblies in Sask. and Alta. I was in Edmonton for a month of evangelistic meetings, while staying with a family that would later move to Belgium and become our first co-workers. We also visited Vancouver, BC and stayed in an apartment that was especially for missionaries. The girls had a great time there and I visited quite a number of assemblies in and around Vancouver. Everywhere people promised to pray for us and for our future work in Europe. During April 1970, after having said goodbye to Marina’s family, we returned to Drayton, ON and to WBC to prepare for our moving overseas……! (Go to Musings)

 

Nr.59 ended with: “Yet at the same I was not satisfied with what was happening and something was bothering me……!” (See: richardandmarina.net)

Up till now I had mainly been involved in evangelistic meetings and home Bible studies and a number of people had become Christians. When the meetings were finished I would move on to another place, leaving the responsibility of teaching these young Christians to others. But Jesus had said that we were to make disciples, so not just Christians, but true followers of Him. And then that verse in the gospel of Matthew that burned into my heart, Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” ch.16:18b. When asked why Jesus came to earth, most people will answer, “To show us God’s love” or “To reveal God to us” or “To die for our sins” and so on. These are all true, but in Matthew Jesus says that He came to “Build his church.” What did He mean with that?

In the Old Testament God used the Jewish people as His instrument. He revealed Himself to them and they were responsible to pass that revelation on to the world. But they failed and God set them aside, at least for the time being. Then Jesus came as God’s revelation and He was the perfect revelation, He could truly say, “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father” John 14:9b. He then went to the cross and paid our debt, so as to be able to forgive us, and He rose again so as to be able to give us new life. All those who receive Him, John 1:12, are now children of God and together form the (universal) church, which is now God’s instrument. This universal church consists out of millions of local churches all over the world. We came to realize that God wanted us not just to evangelize, but to build or plant local churches, which would be God’s instruments in this sick world. What a challenge! And we became aware of the fact that God was sending us to Europe to do exactly that. Would that really happen? I wasn’t so sure of that the first while that we were in Belgium……! (See: Musings)

 

Nr.58 ended with: “The next Sunday we planned to tell the congregation about this, but driving to church that Sunday morning we had a car accident……!”

After a long dry period, it had rained that morning. There must have been some oil or something else that had made the road slippery, for all at once as I was passing a car ahead of us, our car swerved around and slid backwards into a shallow ditch ending up against a farmer’s wire fence. It was an absolute miracle that we had not hit another vehicle or horse and buggy as we were in Mennonite country with lots of buggy’s on the road. And there were cars going both ways, yet we missed them all and no one was hurt. We got out of the car and saw that a back tire had blown and was flat, that had made us swerve. The car was not damaged except for scratches from the fence. People helped us push the car back on the road; we changed tires and went on to church, where I requested to sing the hymn, “A thousand, a thousand thanksgivings.” Strange that this happened on the morning that we were going to announce our plans to go as missionaries to Europe. Was it another attempt of the enemy to try to stop us? The Bible teaches that we are in a spiritual battle, even as the Lord Jesus Himself was attacked by Satan before He began His ministry.

I had been holding evangelistic meetings in different places, including the, if I may say so, “famous Moorefield meetings” with hundreds of people attending. Even now, more than 40 years later I still meet people who talk about these meetings. Children also came along and Marina would take them aside in a separate room and play her accordion, sing with them and teach them Bible stories. A number of people and children accepted the Lord and quite a number received assurance of salvation, it was a great time of blessing and a moving of the Holy Spirit, a foretaste of what later would happen in Belgium. Yet at the same I was not satisfied with what was happening and something was bothering me……! (See: Musings)

Nr.57 ended with: “But after four weeks we returned to Canada a bit discouraged as nothing had opened up. We were starting to wonder whether we were on the right track……..!”

After returning home and enjoying being together with our little girls again, Marina and I began to pray like never before. We were so sure we were to go to Europe and yet nothing had opened up, had we been so wrong? We had worked with the Native people in northern Sask. and wondered now whether the Lord wanted us there. So several times a day Marina and I would kneel down at our couch and pray asking the Lord for directions.

On a Thursday evening, after coming home from a meeting I said to Marina, “We can’t go on like this; we need to know what to do.” So I took a sheet of paper and drew a line in the middle from top to bottom and started to list on the left side reasons for staying in Canada and on the right side why we should go to Europe. When I was finished I had 3 points in the left column and 23 in the right. I looked at Marina and said, “What are we praying for, look at this, it is as clear as can be.” The final decision was made; we were now going to start working towards leaving for Europe.

I then asked for a meeting with the elders of WBC. Marina and I had decided that if one of them was not in agreement with us going, that we would not go, but wait for further directions. When I met with the elders and told about our desire and decision, some of them smiled. For a moment I thought they were laughing with me. They must have noticed the look on my face and explained that they smiled because they had been waiting for us to come to them, as they had felt for quite some time already that we were to go to Europe. And they were all in agreement! Praise the Lord. The next Sunday we planned to tell the congregation about this, but driving to church that Sunday morning we had a car accident……! (Go to Musings)

Nr.55 ended with: “At the same time we were starting to sense God’s leading in regards to going to Europe as missionaries. Things were starting to shape up and Holland and Belgium were coming closer……..!”

We thoroughly enjoyed fellowshipping at WBC. A Brethren Assembly is a bit different from other churches; I’m not saying it is better, but different. In fact there were three things that really touched my heart and with which I was in total agreement. 1. I believe that the Bible teaches that there should be a plurality of leaders or elders in every local church, not just one man. Pastors are often perceived to be a special group of people, on a higher level than the laity, like priests in the Roman Catholic Church and like priests in the O.T. Don’t get me wrong, I am not judging pastors and I thank God for every godly man who has felt called to pastor, but I never felt at ease being THE pastor of a church.

2. I believe the Bible teaches that all N.T. believers are priests. Most evangelical churches believe this but do not really put it into practice.

3. I believe that we ought to follow the example of the early Christians and have communion, or “breaking of bread” every Sunday morning. I found these three in practice at WBC and I rejoiced. I had always felt that the closer we stayed to the early church, as found in the N.T. the better. This conviction would later bring real blessing in Belgium. I realized that the Lord was showing us things and preparing us for our future ministry in Europe.

In the mean time we continued on with an evangelistic and preaching ministry. The elders of WBC “commended” us to full-time work of the Lord, which meant that they would support us as the Lord provided and that other assemblies were notified of this and would also support us from time to time. We continued to trust the Lord for all our needs and did not make those needs known. We had enough to live on but nothing extra and so when our three little girls asked for tricycles, we prayed. A few days later we received a phone call ……! (Go to Musings)

 

Nr.54 ended with: “Some people from Wallenstein Bible Chapel, an Open Brethren Assembly attended. Of course, at that time we did not know what an important part this assembly would have in our future….!”

When our time in Singhampton was up we moved with our three lovely daughters, ages 1½ , 3½ and 5 to a farm house close to Drayton, as we wanted to get to know Wallenstein Bible Chapel, from now on called WBC. We had met a number of the people and elders at some of my meetings. One elder had come to me after a meeting, put his finger on my chest and commented, “You are one of us,” meaning that what I believed and taught was what they believed and taught. One of the first meetings we attended at WBC was a Sunday afternoon baptism service. The place was packed and my wife and I with our three little girls sat on the back row. A number of hymns were sung and then two of the elders came to me and said that the speaker had not come, could I preach? I told them to sing two more hymns and I would go to the back room and ask the Lord for a message. And He did, I spoke on John 6, I will never forget and the Lord gave real liberty. After that everyone knew us.

We really felt welcome and believed that this was the church God wanted us to be part off. Shortly after that, we were received into fellowship, something like membership in other churches. I continued with holding evangelistic meetings and preached at WBC at times. Marina conducted DVBS in the Drayton United Church building. During three weeks of meetings in Clinton, ON, some were saved. One of these was Beryl Gelling, wife of Henk Gelling who would become a Christian a short while later at some meetings in the USA. A brief time later they were baptized in a river, but another brother in Christ preached as I had lost my voice. They would later become our co-workers in Belgium.

At the same time we were starting to sense God’s leading in regards to going to Europe as missionaries. Things were starting to shape up and Holland and Belgium were coming closer……..! (Go to Musings)

Nr.53 ended with: “Interesting enough, through our work in Belgium there are now 5 Belgian couples and a single lady missionary in Africa, accomplishing more than I could have ever done by myself!” God’s amazing ways! And then we had an important visitor……!”

It was the field representative of the Missionary Church denomination. Somehow he had heard about me and now came asking whether I would be willing for a time to pastor two of their country churches around Singhampton, Ontario, south of Collingwood. They were waiting for a student to finish seminary in 9 months who would then pastor these churches. We prayed about this and then accepted as we still had no clear guidance in regards to our future missionary work in Europe. The denomination owned a house in Singhampton and we moved in there. We were there until June 1969 and had a wonderful time. On Sunday morning I would speak in one church and then drive to the other and preach there. On Sunday evening we had a service with the two churches together. Marina taught Sunday school and had Bible clubs.

While in Singhampton I held evangelistic meetings in several places. I was asked for a week of meetings in the Missionary church in Palmerston. Some Dutch people from Drayton attended these meetings and became Christians. One man told me that while milking the cows the next day, he just couldn’t stop singing “His name is wonderful.” He was truly converted. Another couple told me just recently that they had been at one of those meetings, when all at once, while I was preaching, the lights went out. Later we heard that a drunk driver had knocked over an electrical pole, cutting the power line. Someone brought me a flashlight and I kept on preaching. This couple had been so amazed as they were used to their ministers reading their sermons. While driving home the husband had said to his wife, either we are Christians or that man is. Later on they discovered that they were not and they accepted the Lord. It was through these Dutch folk that I held several meetings in Drayton. Some people from Wallenstein Bible Chapel, an Open Brethren Assembly attended. Of course, at that time we did not know what an important part this assembly would have in our future….! (Go to Musings)

Nr.52 ended with: “We both knew very well where the Lord wanted us, but the time wasn’t yet ready and the details not clear. So we packed up and left…….!”

But where to go? We had been in contact with friends around Harriston, the area where I had become a Christian. The farmer and his wife I had worked for had both died and his brothers were working the land, but the house was not being used. I talked to them and they told us that we could use the house rent free, which we saw as a real provision from the Lord. I did some work for them and I also did some other odd jobs like house painting to support our little family. But as mentioned above, we knew where the Lord wanted us, but we were still waiting for clear guidance as to the details. While in Bible College I had a very strong impression, the words came to me in a flash and really hit me, “The time will come that you will have Bible studies in the homes of people all over the country.” I assumed that that country would be The Netherlands as I had been quite burdened for my home country.

Marina had a similar experience while attending the Child Evangelism Institute in Holland, Michigan, USA. I’ll let her tell it in her own words, “One day a Child Evangelism missionary who worked in Belgium spoke to us students about the great need in that country. She said that for every missionary in Belgium, there were 200 in the Belgian Congo. I was really touched by that report and the need in Belgium. That night the Lord spoke to me in a dream and while He raised a judge’s hammer above me, with which I thought he was going hit me on the head, He said, “See where I want you to go, to Belgium.” This came as a real shock to me, as I had always wanted to go to Africa. However the Lord had other plans. Interesting enough, through our work in Belgium there are now 5 Belgian couples and a single lady missionaries in Africa, accomplishing more than I could have ever done by myself!” God’s amazing ways! And then we had an important visitor……! (Go to Musings)