 Joy Before the Angels of God”Youth is the future…” |
| A Ministry of Eindhoven Church of Christ & Madison Church of Christ. March 2020 – (#3.1) The story of Alan. I (Ivo) have to say, I have never in my life met a person more honest and open than Alan. He will share with you exactly what he thinks, when he is thinking it. To some people that might be uncomfortable at times, but he does it with such love and passion that even when he tells you something a bit awkward, you really appreciate the example he is setting because he is not trying to pretend to be something that he is not. He is showing to people what goes on inside of him without hesitation. All of this he does in a warm emotional way that immediately draws you close to him. What a joy it has been to get to know him! We met Alan for the first time in the beginning of June at a prayer night. He had been quietly standing in front of the outside-window where we were meeting, observing what we were doing. We invited him in and we talked with him and got to know him a little bit while we prayed for him. After this, it was probably another 2.5 months before we saw him again and we later learned he spent time discovering Buddhism while wrestling with all kinds of spiritual matters he wanted answers for. In September Alan returned to us and started attending the services and asking all kinds of questions about God and Jesus. He was very sincere in his search for truth and sometimes he would tell you to your face to stop talking, because he needed time to process everything he had heard. He really took his time in absorbing the Gospel and his honesty actually made it very easy to discuss things with him, because he would tell you exactly what he thought. From this moment our relationship grew closer and closer and he started attending our youth events, coming to church regularly, and attending Bible-camp. It was so wonderful to see our church family showering him with love and listening ears while ensuring he felt welcome and accepted. After some more time studying with us we kept meeting with him and inviting him over to our house. On February 26th 2020 to be exact, he was sitting in the train and he simply said to himself: “I renounce Buddhism!” You can imagine when he told us about this that we could not help but smile! It was quite funny the way he shared it with us and he called me up later that night asking to be baptized. I grabbed my Bible and after spending a good hour on the phone with him I headed to church where Gijs and I read and prayed with him before baptizing him around 10:30pm. What a precious night this was and I wish we could share with you the look in his eyes when he arose from the water! To God be the glory! “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10)  Alan (L) and Ivo van Erp (R) during a youth event The Story of Kai. Kai is a fine and spontaneous teenager with many talents. He is part of the youth and college group at the Eindhoven Church of Christ. Kai has not yet committed himself to Christ but he was asked to give a devotional lesson during this youth night where about 12 people attended. He decided to talk about being lukewarm (referring to Revelation 3:14–22). This was such an impressive and encouraging lesson. When I (Gijs) think about the first lesson I have ever given and compare it to Kai’s devotional thought, I cannot stop thinking about what a potential this person has to become a good teacher. He spoke as if he had spoken a hundred times before! Please note that he did not even ask us for any help in the preparation of this lesson, nor did he hesitate at all when asked if he wanted to speak! How exciting is it to see teenagers grow and showing their interest in the Lord while at the same time exposing hidden talents that lifted all of us up. Please continue to pray that these young people remain strong and will develop a good relationship with Christ.  Youth & College group night in Eindhoven! (Kai: black shirt, left) (Alan: far left) Sadly, the entire world has been infected by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Also in the Netherlands we see and feel the consequences of the current situation. At this moment, congregations meet in homes and we are providing live streams and ZOOM meetings to keep people connected. We are very excited about the opportunities that this time of crisis may bring. Most of the world is at home, and people spend more time on the internet. It is also a time where people are getting more open to get to know God. We see many opportunities to reach people through the website that we are developing. We are now prioritizing the development and we hope to be completely up in the air at the end of April. More information about this website will follow in the April report. For more information about World Mission Europe, Please contact us: [email protected]om [email protected] We produce email reports once a month, and also financial statements for supporters once every quarter. We hope to hear from you! |
