boerenroem::blog

New website

2007-08-28T09:12:00.000+02:00

It is finished: a completely renewed website at www.boerenroem.nl! I have spent half of the holidays to do it, but finally it is done. For a long time already I wanted a 'webspace' that would integrate the blog, pictures and video and have some extra features that blogspot does not provide; i.e., all newsletters are nicely archived and accessible. Wordpress seemed to be able to do most of that. As you will see, the look-and-feel are much alike this site, so I think you'll feel at home quite soon.
Hope to 'see' you there. Let me know what you think of it!

As of today, this weblog has moved to www.boerenroem.nl - update your bookmarks and rss feeds!

Korea, missionaries and martyrdom

2007-08-24T14:40:00.000+02:00

Right after the Campus Mission conference in South-Korea early July, the dramatic events with the Korean missionaries/aid workers in Afghanistan started. As I have been sharing my experiences and the wider stories of Korea since my visit here and there, I was especially intrigued by these developments. Today I read an interesting article in the 'Dutch Daily', where a German missiologist confirms my thoughts that these events are not just coincidental. The father of one of the martyrs, a high politician, was so touched by the love and care in the christian community that he found Jesus himself.
I still think even beyond these effects on Koreans. It would not surprise me to hear some day that these missionaries have had an impact on the Taliban who held them hostage. This could be God's way of getting to the hearts of them!

Boy, oh boy

2007-08-19T00:45:00.000+02:00

... it has been a while since I posted an update here, but hey - it is holiday time! Or at least, it was for me. I have been off for four weeks, enjoying holidays with family and friends and doing all sorts of things that we have not found time for in previous months.

One of the things I did was refurnish my study. After Annemieke left in July, I gained back this little space in our house, and I am enjoying it thoroughly. We turned it into a very nice place, and I had three posters made of the kids (sized 50x70 cm each) for on the wall. Looks really fancy. See Flickr for the other pictures.
Anyway. It's late at night and I have to finish my sermon for tomorrow. Come back soon for more spectacular updates!

Sara sings

2007-07-20T10:23:00.000+02:00

Sara was in the mood yesterday: she sang for almost an hour while playing in the inflatable pool in our backyard. Transcript: "Kendra, Rosa, Sara are girls; Joran and Johan are boys; Johan is naughty because he bullies Mandy-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y-y, Ma-a-a-a-a-ndy-y-y-y-y-y-y-y"
Watch and enjoy!

Yes, I'm back but busy

2007-07-11T17:39:00.000+02:00

Tryin' to catch up with everything after the trips I've made. Korea was a wonderful experience, not only because of the masses in the conference (almost 20.000!), but also because of the specific Korean touch. Prayer and worship are really special over there!

Check www.cm2007.net to see some of the meetings yourself, for example Andy Atkins' speech.

Sharing hearts in the Swiss Mountains

2007-06-26T23:32:00.000+02:00

An successful experiment: this video was uploaded directly from my mobile phone! (I think it is kind of costly, I will find out at the end of the month :-)). It shows the place I was last week, together with the colleagues from Western Europe. Not too bad, as you can see... Stories to follow.

Birthday presents

2007-06-18T17:51:00.000+02:00

A special birthday, and an evenly special present. I've been traveling all day to arrive at the beautiful chalet in Findeln, Switzerland to celebrate my birthday with cake and wine in the company of 10 international friends. But the most original present is to be given later this week by Mira: a revision of our piano! Like a car, a piano needs an update every now and then, but it is a costly thing. Mira has been saving for it since months... and I'm really looking forward to it!

World Missions

2007-06-17T14:37:00.000+02:00

This weekend I have been preparing my upcoming trips to Switzerland and Korea, and because of that I'm all into world missions right now. Tomorrow I leave for the Swiss Mountains, to 'share hearts' with my colleagues from 12 different nations. We will be in a mountain lodge at 2.000 m. altitude, close to Zermatt, for 5 days. After extremely tiresome weeks (mostly stress I put on myself...) I am really looking forward to it.

Then, next week, I will fly out to Busan, Korea for the Campus Mission 2007 conference. That will be a major event with some 20.000 students and staff from around the world. The vision is to initiate a movement that will bring the gospel to the remaining 6.000 campuses that have no active christian influence so far. People like George Verwer and our own Andy Atkins will be keynote speakers.
As I searched the web yesterday for some background info on Korea, I found some interesting stuff. After the United States, Korea is the largest sending nation of missionaries around the world. 3 of the 10 largest churches are found over there. In 1974 a huge missions conference was held (Explo 74), and it was so influential they even made stamps of it! (No kidding: see it here).

But the thing I am most excited about now has not to do with Korea but with Mongolia. It is exactly 6 years ago that we started our 5-month DTS with Youth with a Mission. In October 2001 we visited Mongolia with the DTS Outreach. We have since then always kept a connection to Mongolia, as we support a Campus Crusade staff member there, a lady that we stayed during our visit. Coincidentally (or not), now Rahel (who we know from Switzerland) is living with her.
Anyway. We went to Erdenet and to a small town called Kharhorun, the former capital city. In both places we got to know Mongolian worship. There was one famous song they sang all over the place, which was truly heart moving. I remember one night in Erdenet when we were invited to the worship rehearsal. There was a crowd packed in a small room, and when they started singing it was like heaven... can't describe it any other way. I had never heard a thing like that, and never heard it afterwards. Later, in Kharhorun, the worship leader gave me the text and chords, and I tried to make something out of it - which was quite hard (see picture right :-)).
To make a long story short: with world missions on my mind, knowing that I'm going to meet some Mongolians in Korea, I recalled this worship experience. And while taking my guitar, I did another Google search for 'popular Mongolian worship song', and to my utter surprise I found the song - in mp3! I copied it, so listen and enjoy. It is a little different from what I remember, but it sure is the song. In the second half you can experience a little bit what I experienced live some 6 years ago... Enjoy!

EO's Youth Day

2007-06-09T15:15:00.000+02:00

We were invited to the annual EO Youth Day in Arnhem. Some 34.000 young christians from around The Netherlands gathered to celebrate, worship and be inspired. We had a great time, since it was already some years ago that we were young enough to visit the event. Now, in a different capacity, we had the privilege to be 'upstairs' with some guests, have a drink and a lunch and sit in the event when we felt like. The day's theme was 'Dream Bigger'. In the morning the speaker had a good message, and in the afternoon Mira enjoyed Group1 Crew - a band we had never heard of before.
Yes, we're getting old...

Watch while Mira enjoys the band...

Hope21 networking

2007-06-01T21:39:00.000+02:00

Had an interesting day in Haarlem at a networking day organised by the Evangelical Alliance and Hoop21. Our colleague Hans Luttik hosted the day. I am truly impressed with the way things are developing in Haarlem. Churches are working together, trying to seize opportunities to make a positive difference in the city. In the morning I joined the workshop with Jos Douma, pastor of the Fonteinkerk and rather well known because of his 'Passion for preaching'. We talked about the challenges of being church in the city, and the changes it requires to be truly relevant and outgoing.
In the afternoon I met up with Jeff Fountain, director of YWAM Europe. I read his book 'Living as people of hope' during our Mallorca conference, and it inspired me a lot. We talked about vision for Europe and how this affects local efforts. Jeff writes a 'weekly word', make sure you get a subscription of you want to stay up to date with European wide developments. All together an inspiring day.

50 Days

2007-05-27T22:33:00.000+02:00

Back in the old days ("B.C."), Pentecost was the celebration of the Giving of the Law. An interesting fact, if you take into account that there was not much to celebrate when the Law was actually given. Because of inobedience and ignorance, 3.000 people died after Moses had come down with the 10 commandments in stone.
No, I'd rather have the new days ("A.D."), where Pentecost is the celebration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. On the day that happened (about 1974 years ago) 3.000 people came to life!

More on this in the sermon I held in church today. Read it in Powerpoint or hear it at the Rafael Almere website!

The results

2007-05-24T14:09:00.000+02:00

Here are the results of the Rafael Almere 60 seconds contest! Including bonus material, worthwhile to take a look.

Good news, only good news

2007-05-20T23:20:00.000+02:00

Back after another event... this time the Rafael Almere leadership retreat. We were with some 50 people in Nunspeet for a long weekend to seek God, share vision, be trained and go out... The topic was The Great Commission, and Mira and I had the opportunity to share some (many) things around evangelism and discipleship. If you're interested: Powerpoints and some other materials are on boerenroem.nl/rafael (in Dutch). It was a great time. On Friday afternoon some of us went into Nunspeet two by two to pray for people, and some others made '60 seconds' videos like we did on the Agapè conference. Fantastic results, if I may say so... Not the least because of the help of Jeroen, who wanted to be mentioned at this blog for sharing some food with us ;-). Actually he did a superb job in staging and editing the videos. Thanks, man!

More good news on Saturday. We did not expect to have our car repaired before the end of next week and with a cost of at least 700 euro (which was already a bargain). Mira had received almost 350 euro through an offering on Tuesday, so we needed to find the other half. On Saturday afternoon I heard that the car was ready, and that we had to pay... 350 euros! This is one of those occasions that we Christians say: praise the Lord!

Good news and bad news

2007-05-14T10:01:00.000+02:00

The good news: we're back from a super-holiday in Spain. Five days of sun, beach, good food, family time etcetera. It was good to spend time with Ruben and Lydia and with Javier and Gema. For the kids the highlight was the visit to the Barcelona Zoo, with a dolphin show and horseriding. For Mira and me it was probably the dinner on Friday night in Hostal de la Plaça in Cabrils.

We returned early yesterday morning, leaving us tired for the rest of the day. Rosa and I went to the Award ceremony of the 'most failed picture of the year' ("De Misluktste Foto van 2007"), for which we were nominated with this picture. We did not win, but it was fun to go there and see all these silly pictures exhibited. We took the large scale canvas of our picture home, which was a nice price after all.

The bad news: on the way back, the car broke down. Not a bit, but really... And not only that, it turned out I did not have the road assistance service I thought I had. But fortunately we have dear friends who helped us out by taking us home and even towing the car to the mechanic. Thanks, Bart! Now we have to hope and pray things are still repairable.

Anyway. Have to get back to work...

Touching base... and off again

2007-05-07T21:49:00.000+02:00

It has been silent on this blog, and it probably will be for another while. Last week I was at Mallorca, attending the Agape Europe Leadership Forum. Yes, one of those suffering for the Lord occasions... but seriously, it was hard work. We had a two day intensive team training followed by a three day leadership forum. Great stuff altogether, but I was quite exhausted when I got home.
And tomorrow morning we're off for Spain again, this time for a spring holiday with the family. We have the opportunity to stay with Ruben and Lydia Fernandéz, our colleague National Directors from Agape Spain. The girls are really excited about flying tomorrow. Rosa asked today how many nights we will be on the plane...

And if you're bored because I'm not blogging a lot, why don't you join LinkedIn for a business & professional network or Facebook for a social network... Facebook is really hyping in Agape right now, so this is your chance to make many friends ;-)
Or: take a look at this site and start wondering why I am linking to it. (Tip: see the archives...)

Tragedy at Virginia Tech

2007-04-18T14:01:00.000+02:00

Students and staff members respond in prayer

Source: www.ccci.org

While students at Virgina Tech wait for the identity of victims to be confirmed from Monday's campus massacre, the media from around the world zooms in for a closer look.

They're seeing students praying.

At Virginia Tech, Campus Crusade for Christ is nicknamed Cru. Ten staff members serve a group of more than 500 involved students on campus.

When the shootings happened, the Cru staff members were gathered together for their weekly staff meeting.

"We had a prayer meeting Monday night for our students and the students of some other organizations," says Dave Broadwell, who has worked with Cru at Virginia Tech since 1991. "Most students are shocked and numb at this point, not sure what to think and feel. I feel the same way."

The day after the shootings, the staff members agreed to spend the day in the Cru office to pray with students and talk with them.

At noon on Wednesday, the team plans to pray with other Christian groups on the drillfield--a very central place on campus, says Broadwell.

The staff team invites the watching world to join with them in prayer, depending on God.

"Please pray that amidst it all that the Lord would be glorified, families would be comforted and students would grieve appropriately," says Broadwell. "I have a feeling no one is going to know how to move on from here.

Sidebar: Where is God in the Midst of Tragedy?

Brother Andrew's vision

2007-04-10T22:09:00.000+02:00

Found on Paul Abspoel's weblog, quoted from Brother Andrew: "If your vision doesn't scare you, then both your vision and your God are too small."

Easter 2007: matzes, dishwashers, and pirates

2007-04-09T22:30:00.000+02:00

Maybe you think (from the title) it was a very unspiritual Easter this year. Well, we did not sit down in utter devotion for three days, that's true. But we had a fantastic small group celebration on Good Friday, in which we celebrated the death of Jesus Christ - in perspective of his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
While taking Holy Communion together, we thought of the fact that Jesus established this ceremony on the last day of the Jewish feast of the Unleavened Breads. At this feast, the Jews were supposed to take out the yeast off the dough, as a symbol of the annual taking away of sin through the Atonement by the High Priest. Instead of 'stopping to spread sin', a negative and never-ending cycle, Jesus offers us to 'start spreading life' by taking part in his new covenant!

As a family we enjoyed this long weekend together. On Saturday I bought a dishwasher to replace the one that broke down (after I had repaired it a dozen times already). I found this one through the internet for 30 euro, took it home and installed it - it works perfectly, and we see it as a little gift from God that we could replace the old one so easily.

Today Rosa and Sara wanted to visit the pirate ship a little further on in Almere Buiten - a new playground for kids that has been flooded with people since it was opened. And so it was today, but they liked it a lot. Even Tomas liked it; he got up the stairs and down the slide himself, the little guy....

Movements everywhere in Latvia

2007-03-31T20:39:00.000+02:00

It is quite exciting to learn what is happening here in Latvia. At the conference, there were two Members of Parliament and the State Minister of Children and Family Affairs as guests and speakers. I was specifically impressed with the talk of Janus Smits, chairman of the Human Rights committee of the Parliament. He was very outspoken about the role of Christians in society. He literally said that our task is to reclaim and regain the institutions we have lost over the years. Afterwards he showed some of the group around the parliament building. While standing in the main room, he recited Mattew 28, the great commission, and said: ‘all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ, including this room’. How about that for an MP?

He had also interesting things to say about the current developments in society, where Christianity seems to be put in the back seat, and religion is something to be kept out of public life. We are actually protected by international law: two UN resolutions from 1981 state we are protected from discrimination on religious basis – we can exercise faith anywhere, everywhere. These resolutions were replaced by newer ones that protect religious freedom even more, mentioning three things explicitly to be banned: anti-Semitism, islamofobia, Christofobia,

It is also interesting to note that the Agapè ministry in Latvia has been able to connect to these people and many others in influential positions, relationships that developed into close friendships. It is fascinating to see they are committed to the call of God on their lives. One of the other MP’s has a dream of doing Alpha courses with the entire parliament.

Riga churches

2007-03-30T22:44:00.000+02:00

I uploaded a couple of pictures of Riga to Flickr - check them out!

Quick note from Riga

2007-03-29T22:20:00.000+02:00

It's always nice to post from different places than home... so here is a quick update from Riga. I'm staying in a hotel in the old town, which is really nice indeed, as I can see with my own eyes. I walked around a bit this afternoon through this old town. Lots and lots of young people, places that are trendy (or wannabe-trendy, I can't really tell), beautiful architecture. The picture is not very typical but I liked the old Soviet image. (It is actually a pre-Soviet statue from 1905!).

The conference started tonight with a talk by Elaine Lloyd, an American staff lady who has been living here in Riga since 1994. Great story about discipleship - understandable, very personal and practical. I'll post some notes later. Afterwards we had dinner in town; since Elaine and her husband are the Riga experts, I thought they would take us to some fancy Latvian place, but alas. I should have known better with these 'culturally different' Americans :-)

And thanks to the unsecured wireless connection of neighbours in the hotel I could Skype from the hotelroom this afternoon for more than an hour, have an MSN chat and online prayer with Mira tonight and post this post... for free!

Adding another country to the list

2007-03-28T17:40:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow I hope to fly to Riga, Latvia, for an Agape Europe conference on 'Current Leaders'. It will be a training conference with much practical input on how to start and sustain a discipling ministry in the business community. I have never been to Latvia, although I have been meeting a number of colleagues from the Baltics very regularly. People say Riga is a beautiful city, and as we are having lunch and dinner in town every day, I am very much looking forward to it. To the conference, that is :)

It's running in the family

2007-03-27T17:27:00.000+02:00

Rosa had an art-project at school which ended last Thursday with an exhibition. Together with Fleurine she was the live artist that made this beautiful painting. It's running in the family...

Holy Ghost Mafia

2007-03-25T22:33:00.000+02:00

Yes, I feel the same about the title - it's kind of weird, but I did not come up with it myself. Yesterday night I joined my friends Robertino and Mark to a so-called 'Fire & Gold' conference with John Keating. He is an Irish prophetic teacher with 'a strong anointing' as my pentecostal brothers and sisters would call it. It certainly was a happening. Friday night, Mira had been there and she talked to John. He also prayed for her and said she should 'drag her husband to this place'. Anyway, here we went. We were late, so when we entered the place, worship was going on already. John spoke about 'the end of the church as we know it'. I guess the emergent people would have liked it - and so did I, because it was quite challenging. He also said some things about Holland and how he felt things were moving really fast since about 6 months. (The funny thing is that I have had this same feeling, but I wasn't sure if that had to do with our own moving into the current position of leadership. Good to hear confirmation of this from some independent people.) After his speech, he was going to pray for some people, but he returned to the audience and asked 'the three gentlemen in the back' (which was us) to stand up, because he had a prophetic word for us. And prophetic it was: I had just been talking to Robertino about certain things, and it was as if he had been sitting with us. Afterwards, we talked with him and he said that when we entered the room, he said to his wife: Look, it's the Holy Ghost Mafia entering! I still have to figure out what it means exactly, but at least it sounds intriguing :-).

It is exciting to see so many things are stirring, although many of it is still kind of below surface. It's even hard to lay hands on, to mention specific events or examples. But more and more I get convinced that we are indeed living in a special era. Both yesterday and today it was mentioned that we are to reap what we did not sow. And I think I should just write it down the way I feel: there is a immense outpouring of the Holy Spirit at hand. We'd better be prepared for it!

Impact in the workplace

2007-03-18T11:39:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday 350 young, well-educated christian professionals gathered in Hotel Schiphol to listen and think about Inspiring Leadership at the Impact Symposium. Since Agape is partnering in this symposium we held a workshop for which we invited Jon Horne from London. Based on three concepts living, telling & changing he discussed how to integrate christian identity into the workplace, share it with others and make a change. It was well received - too little time to do everything, but most people felt inspired. During the breaks I met some old friends such as Evert-Jan, Jozua and Evelien (who is in the middle of this picture) and many other people. Inspiring!