\305l

mimrmm
Jl-'ac

Chris

ARKIMESS
DECEiMBER IS ALWAYS SUCH A DARK,

^>>w\

dreary month weatherwise here in Belgium.

Praise be to God for several happenings

that helped it become a memorable month

filled with the joy and light of His

'

0ivLu,iK,K. Mum

** JANUARY
1989
JANUARY 1989

* NEWS
NEWS REPORT
REPORT

peace and presence for us Boonaerts.

It
got off to a good start with a visit from
Henki's sister Kina and her husband Sam from Peachtree City, Georgia.
had come with their four children the summer of

Kina

'87 but i t had been several

years since we'd seen Sam. They stayed with Henki's mother but we were all
able to visit several times and most of the family members (including
grandchildren with their girl or boy friends 1) got to-

IE

:'

gether for an early "Christmas family dinner" in a

!'r
1'

local restaurant. Their 8 day stay came to far to

quick an end and it took 3 cars to see them off at the
Brussels airport since Ben and his family also went

ji

1
wmm
^ ..u. --

along.

They were about the only ones of the Boonaerts

clan that hadn't made a trip to the States to visit

j!

Kina and the family, so Ben and

Josien, Jessica and Esther booked

passage back with them.

intresting to hear their assessment

It will be POSTKOETS Restaurant

of Christmas and

New Year holidays in the States and all their other

impressions,
{Sam and Kina had a package of goodies
from the Peachtree City church that is also one of
our supporting churches, which made their coming
special to us in another wayl)

v/ v

WE SURELY HAVE GOTTE>r SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL Christmas cards

with lovely verses, warm greetings, letters and encouragement from friends
and family the world over. The first arrived the beginning of December
and we've received them into the New Year.

We have them displayed on one

wall in the living room so share our enjoyment with visitors and add to
the collection as they arrive.
Our first
(mailed) Christmas'package
arrived the 4th of Jan.

so we're having an afterglow of the Christmas

spirit in a very material way as well,

kindness

as we experience the practical

of senders.

SOMETIME.IN THE EARLY FALL Mieke told us

Theres^

that her friend Marie

who had so many Mary-idols, had gotten rid of them and was to

be immersed soon,
our visit.)

(See "Our Garden of Eden" October 1987 News Report about

I t turned out the immersion service was to be held in the

Genk church of Christ baptistry.

Mary Theres had moved to Maasmechelen
soon after Mieke and Mary Esther had visited her.
She came in contact
with Christians in the area that have home-church gatherings so they had
no immersion facilities and requested the use of the 3enk building. Marie

Theres came up to Mary Esther right away, clad in her baptistry robe and

in a humble, contrite manner greeted her with, "Me and my big

mouthl"

referring tp the strong words she'd lashed out

at us when we visited her that "NOONE will EVER take

those (idols) away from me." Great is the power of

God to change hardened and confused hearts. We just
stood there rejoicing and praising that power a few
.

minutes.
It was a privilege to witness her short
testimony and iI[^1lersion along with her teeange

daughter and several others also putting off their

old lives to put on Christ. What better way to end the month than seeing
the power of light coming into darkness once again1
OF COURSE DECEMBER WOULDN'T BE 'COMPLETE without some sort of

special Christmas dinner and celebrations.

We invited Chris and Prody

of Antwerp to have dinner at our home since we didn't have reliable

transportation to dirve to their homeias last year.
They were to bring
most of the dinner at their insistence, so we had some anxious moments

when they didn't arrive until long aftbr mealtime 1

In the end we

thoroughly enjoyed the turkey and trimitiings, dessert and drinks together.
They returned for the evening gatherinp with the Antwerp congregation
where they have been attending more regularly since the birth of their son,
Little Dennis is just over a year oldii so it was cosy family fellowship
having a little toddler along with our own teenage boys who stayed home
this year for Christmas, and Sonia was here as well.
I I

THE TRADITIONAL "SECOND CHRISTMAS DAY" feast was held in the Rekem

building with folks from several congregations present.

Tables had been

set up in the largest room, decked with simple centerpieces,

sandwiches and cakes for the refreshment pause time.

The children of the Rekem Sunday school^ did a fine

job depicting the Nativity story with i;he guidance

of the teachers who helped them prepare

singing group of the Rekem church also

praised God with some special music,

'

some songs composed by one of the grou^.

The fellowship, congregational singing,|

worship and praise together ended aroui^d 6pm

with the children receiving a small sac^ of
goodies. So all in all, you can see why we
felt December was a memorable month and we

hope yours was also spent in much light and joyl

//

90^1

REMEMBER 6ENK
Ma^

Wi.ws dtporh

In 1937 there was in Genk, a Hinali indiintrlal town, a "fJchool wK.h the Bible" begun,
similar to a Christian day school with kindergarten aiul eJeinenfHry classes. ,It

began with 1 teacher and but 20 students a tneger beginning for what has. grown to be
4:hia school yejti:.^36^4 students and over 20 teachersi

Right from the start children

of "gastarbeiders^* (people from other countries that eume to work in Belgium during
and after the war) huve leun uducated Hiere. Presently 9 nntlon1ities are repre
sented beside Bclgluu, uu ihlldian couw from Swlt^erlnin!, (}reert, Italy, Morocco,

Holland, Spain, Turkuy and evun the U.S.A. I

So It was tii tlino lliat children of the

Hollander, HendrJck lluoiiiiuiLu also aLLended and Henkl'ft I)hI pv'H helped drive a bus
in those days.

'

THE MONTH OF SEPTI^MJUiK IS Al WAYS

eapoiilally d

..

of jiU'HHUii* ah parents are allow-

ed to change their irhlhlu'ii trom one HohooJ t(i niluthni iiiM t I Ocl Ist. Unlike in
the U.S. tills is u fiutujiim t he iielglai) goveiiiFtmnf nllnwn Itw olt I Kcns & it can cause
some pretty stresslul miMiieiii H for all hcIiooIh,
HohI: rh!ftH'n wnlk or go by bike to
school, are driven by thylr parents, or maku ime of I hi' pulj,llc Ijiih service as our
James.

The School-wlth-the- Bible however has 6 hnsRCR(ilrtvimi on n volunteer basis

by the teacheVS'^io' average" iO-12 hours a week over & above thojr other responsibilities) that transport ahoul 80% of the atudciits coming frtun n little over a 10 mile
radius of the school.
a

THE SALARIES OF THE TEACHEHS & PERSONNEL are pnid by thn guveniimMit & the school receives some supplimenta for study materials etc. btit thore Is olways a defecit since
it is a .'private scliool," T!e purchase, upkeep & ruimltiR of thi' fv busses is one of

the major expenses, donated towards by the fanilliea of I lie chi Uium riding. In 1982

the school also had to bo renovated & several new facllltloH aiJded. It was expanded
to become one of the most modern grade schools of Genk to Includc 15 classes, the
dining room, gym & playground, part of which ia covercd since there is so much rain
in Belgium. An Evagellcal churcli adjacent the school helps towards the expenses, &
one classroom is evun J.ii that biiilding alncc* the scliool has already outgrown the new

facilities. EspeciuUy gifts from supportura In Holland mnko the financial running
of the school poanlhie, Peruonnul involved witii the ncftool do tholr work with joyfulness remembering that "all that is done tiut o love Cor Jeans shall always keep
its value" as the words of a Dutch song atatef it so well. It Is considered a pri- v*
vilege to be involved in Hia service since mo?t of t.h* lini-hprB (Including Henki's

sister Eva) are^punersed believers in Jesus "Christ though rominR from several "Evan-y
gelical Protestant'* backgrouftila'."

WE CAN HARDLY IMACLNE SOMEONE I'URl'OSELY choosfng to go a wrong wny, but usually
everyone would be convinced that the udnrntion they chuoHo lor their children, for

example is the besl. There nro. parents who in this choice of schools & religion feel
they should leave lljuir children "neutral" so they can choose later if they want to

\become a Christian oi noti iaii't It a ahame that all too oftne those brought up

' ^without the knowledge of the Lord Jesus will usually continue to live without Kim &

^ finally die without Mlm? That's why It Is so ijnportant tiiat children right from
their earliest years can l'inn of Christ. TIiIh is enpeclally the case with the
children that come from uu-Chclotlan fnmilles like the Moslem Turkish & Moroccan

children. It Is indeed a blessing & unusual npportvinlty to !>o allowed to Influence

"these children in the S<^hool-with-the-Dible. Often Moslom parenta-send their chil- \

dren to another school only to return them again ~to the School-wlth-the~Bl,J?le be- J
cause of the loving care & high calibor of education they receivc, ITbt only is a

'class of "Bible History" given very dnv in oach class, but most teachers impart
/ Christian emphasis & mornlM In all the teachingt The discipline ft other aspects are

i handled in a Chriyllun

Special feasts & activities are Included to stress

Christ & life with lilm. '|h c|iiarterly magazine prepared for parents of the students

suRPortera. A frlpuda o tti*t-t.*hocrl alw-has-wr^vagenaETc"

lia^fFT"

THAI THE TRAINING RECEIVED IN THE School-with-che-Blble is important can also be

seen from a letter received by the school in February from a stutlont Michel
Satarotski in Russia. He wrote in part that he ended his Sunday school in 1952 at
y the Evangelistic church receiving a Dutch Bible. In 1955 he returned to Russia but
' every year he reads his copy of the Bihle through no aa noi to f<u-get his Dutch.

His Hlster Anna &brother Jo attended Ihw Schi.o 1-wl th-Jho-lUhle and they remember

the l.liristmas feasts in the preacher's home. Many of the younn ciWldren attending

various churches in the area are also Immersod who have ouci* al tended this school.

IT IS WITH THIS SCHOOL THAT MARY ESTHElt has begun doing Hdiw' viihmteer adminlstra-

tive work in the office. The "headmistress" doesn't anywhi'ra near have enough hours
. in a day to accompliHh all needed doing in such a busIlhijT school. No secretary has
been able to be hired, so beside Mary Esther's help (usually on Mondays), Cathy
.jj^Verstappen (whose husband died in Jan '87 of a bullet wound) Is In the office on
Fridays to help count thu money &keep fimincial records. So many forms have to be
filled out, filed &mailed, etc. in keeping with governmiMit regulations. Lists have

to be made of children riding the busses, the work Btahm nf tl>o fathers &so many
other things that Luke hours of work to prepare. While wi' wimp at 111 living in the
Maas-river area Henkl often wished a Hchool-with-the-Bible could be started there.

Now we are more

Ivoly Involved with the school...and we've come right when there

are plans unfolding lo hi-gln another school to the ncj^th of.Gunkl We feel it is a

wonderful opportunity to hind God's thlldrutj together and reach out in evangelistic

efforts so-anticlixjte more Involvement with the achoolboard and committee to help

/ behind us withnext
It is.everything
the Lord's elsel7{
will. Won't you stand(
ymir_SA;Juio|-wUh-the-Bihle
prayers, encouragementif and..
Yours for Fd'jcatlor. '-.hat is Chrictian,

HAVE YOU EVER LIVED SO CLOSE TO THE STREET, that when a car drives by curtains in ^

an open window flutter? We do here in Opglabbeek, but that's soon going to change -

we think. Neighbors across the street from us have several kinds of birds that we

can hear chirping and calling; others down one door run a flower shop; another
across the street has a beauty store, and another next door has such a beautiful

garden while another has a samll grocery store. Yet another neighbor has a tavern
that can be a roudy place on weekends and holidays! But that's going to change also
i t would seem.

WHEN WE MOVED TO OPGLABBEEK, there were many comparisons to be made to our move to
Boorsem to begin a new congregation but as we look to an anticipated move again, we
leave with hardly any comparisons! Mieke & Natasha have not been found very faith
ful to their decision to follow Christ & have backslidden, as far as we can tell,
into the world. Others we've worked with here in Opglabbeek have moved away or no
longer seem to be interested in spiritual matters either. There just isn't much to

keep us bound to this place we were led to a few years ago &He's opening doors.for
another nK>ve. We hadn't expected to settle here permanently, so had been looking for ^
something almost the whole time we've been living here.

"^THIS PAST WINTER Henki's mother asked if we wouldn't buy her home &move into the

/ rooms behind the part where she lives. We have applied for a loan, but things some. times move slowly. In the meantime we are trying to get the place ready for us to

live in. Part of it has been eii5)ty for several years, the other just over a year.
* Since Willy moved last year to live in Oo'stende, & 2 years before that Herman

station*.Ha.^aoaaerts has been left to live-

and
(Her

husband died in 1980 as most of you will remember.)

THE AREA WHERE HER HOME IS, is rather secluded & peaceful - which is good & bad!
Nice for the restfulness & nature surrounding the house; but bad for prank phone

calls, break-ins & the like. Besides, at age,70 she isn't getting younger, though
she is presently quite capable of keeping the garden, grounds & home in beautiful
^shape. None of the other children are in a position to move & live with her & it
.
would be awfully hard for her to leave her home of over 25 years. We feel this move r"^')
is the n^essary thing to do. Several have mentioned Ma seems to be more & more

"scatter brained" showing more signs of old age so we'd just feel better if some
one was living there to be with her more of the time.

THERE WILL BE SOKE ADVANTAGES for us in the move as well, as it is closer to James'
school & Henki's office. If Mary Esther continues work at the School-rwithT-the-Bible

it is also closer for these responsibilities. She has also been helping Henki with
his accounting, & will probably be in the office more once things can be set up, so
the move would be conducive for this as well. Commuting as well as the rent of the

home will be^ lots cheaper living in Genk a^t this point.
GENK IS ALSO CENTRALLY LOCATED for the work of encouraging various congregations in
the province of Limburg as well as thwn we travel to other areas in Europe since one

/of the major international highways by-passes Genk. With the closing of the coal
I mines, other industry is growing up fast so evangelistic opportunities should in
crease as new families move into the area.,

#WirH THIS MOVE', WE"LL BE RIGHT'BAC6L..WHERE.%-5TART^when we first came to work in

Belgium
years ago! Boy, have there been changes & growth since then, & we hope
with the help of God we'll be able to see more made for the advance of His Kingdom
as we once again serve from Genk. We already shared some goals for the year, but we-

don't know what God is leading us into or what the- future holds with this move. Not^
that we really ever know the future, but at times activities seem more obvious &
planned out than at others. It's not such a comfortable feeling to move not being
absolutely sure it IS God's will & when you like where you are living & where you
move to is so much smaller. We are determined though to try always to do His will
at His leading & do have many promises'to encourage us. Two especially pertinent
now are; "The Lord Himself goes before you & will be with you; He will never leave '>
you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deut 31:8, NIV
and

Jere 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to
prosper you & not to harm you; plans to give you hope & a future."

flTHE ACTUAL DATE OF OUR MOVE hasn't,been set yet. There is a Ipt^less space in the
/home in Genk so we'll have to sort things carefully to pack some for storage, &
,
just dump lots. There is a lot of renovating, re-arranging & redecorating to be done#

so it will take plenty of time & funds to coii5>lete. With the children growing older
& getting ready to "fly the coop" & anticipated care of Henki's mother we are facing
transitions. We hope you'll be praying for us in this time. Henki's mother can
always pass mail on to us if you already want to use the, new addrc^ss: Peperhofstraat
75, 3600 Genk, Belgium. We hope you'll write & maybe come visit us someday because

we know most of you...are movin' lots too!

C&\YiC