Life in Community

Originally posted May 6, 2006

LIFE IN COMMUNITY
The hands and feet of Jesus
Kathy’s reflections



As I reflect on the last twelve months of our lives (actually I should start back about 24 months), I am struck by the ways in which God works through His people for His people.

Two years ago our journey to Holland began with our own small group in Minnesota. They sensed God’s desire and Kevin’s desire, for Kevin to be ministering as a lead pastor in some capacity. They sought the Lord together with us for many months.

After the job was offered and our decision was made, about the end of June of 2005, the hard work of making a transition to another country began. All of us living in homes in the USA know what it is like to move from a home one has lived in for several years. It isn’t an easy task. Add to that, the task of storing 4/5 of our things, deciding what essentials to bring to Holland, finding places to store things, finding people to give things away to, finding renters, getting the house ready to be rented, etc. and we had no small feat to be accomplished in two short months!

We were amazed as dozens of people come forward, offering their help. Scraping and painting, pulling weeds, cleaning, and packing. In retrospect I think we were a little nuts to try and do it all in two months. But, God provided, through His people, and we made it. I will never forget one of my dear friends from WHC asking me to give her the dirtiest area in the house to clean. When I objected, she just said “Doesn’t Jesus want into our messes?” Pat was Jesus to me that day as she took on the task of cleaning the old cement walled, furnace style basement and transforming it.

We were almost giddy towards the end of the packing job, giving TV’s and furniture away and being able to bless others.

God provided us with the most awesome renters in the world. If they had not been obedient to God’s call in their lives, to sell their home and begin renting, without knowing any details, I don’t know what kind of situation we would have with the house today.

After many parties, nights around the campfire, and tearful goodbye’s the five of us boarded a plane for the Netherlands. Sounds nuts! I felt like we were this package that had been carefully and lovingly bundled up and sent on its way.

Then on the other end of the journey we were met with another community, again being the hands and feet of Jesus. We were greeted at the airport with a huge painted sign, saying WELCOME, complete with windmills and cows. We were taken to Lisa and Charlie’s home, who have since become our family here in Holland. Five weary and somewhat and shell-shocked people came in through the doors, and each was met with their individualized warm welcome. We each had welcome signs on our bedroom doors. Lisa had done research to find out our individual interests and made sure to include those on our signs. We immediately found a safe haven in their home. I have called Lisa my own personal angel over and over again. She just always knows what the emotional needs are for all of us – and she is right there with the answer.

Lisa and Charlie have become Aunt and Uncle to our 3 kids, and remain Aunt and Uncle to even Kari who was only here for 3 months, and to Kristi who was here for 5 months. They will remain Aunt and Uncle for a lifetime. They are family to us, and when we just need a place to let our hair down and be ourselves, we know where to go.

When one moves to a new country, the logistics are incredible. Herbert has been there from the first day, solving problems – and he still solves them today. He filed all our paperwork for Kevin’s work permit, our residency permits and our rental agreement. He comes and picks us up whenever we need an appointment with the Alien Police or the municipality. He spent hours getting our wireless internet connected. He solved a big problem with our driver’s licenses and car insurance just last week. I’m not sure what one does moving to a foreign land without a Herbert. Herbert and his wife Caroline are our neighbors and friends as well, which lasts longer than all the paperwork!

Walter put together an amazing crew of folks who helped us do everything we needed to move into our home. We’ve written about this before, but moving in Europe is like moving into new construction – minus the flooring and light fixtures and wiring, and still needing paint. After six weeks of hard work the place was ready to move into, and then came the Ikea furniture assembly. Imagine an entire house full of assembled furniture! No small task. Kari assembled almost all our furniture, single handedly.

Mariel saved the day for Kenny. She turned his room into a Lord of the Rings room – and turned his mourning (over moving from Lisa and Charlie’s) into dancing (over an extreme makeover in his new room).

We have been loved and welcomed with open arms by the entire church body here in Holland, and our community from home (Minnesota home), still surrounds us with prayers, support, email, slow mail, and even visits! We love our community in Minnesota just as much today, probably more actually, than we did the day we left.

When Kristi started her DTS with YWAM, one of the girls still needed money for her visa. As the kids were praying for her, one of the leaders said to the team; “When you pray, be prepared to be a part of the answer”. And they were.

We have been blessed abundantly, and are thankful for each one who has played a part in God's answers to our prayers.