Dear Friends,

O magnify the Lord with us and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3

As we look back through the prayer requests from our last letter, we are amazed how the Lord has answered! We are thankful for those of you who so faithfully uphold us in prayer and support us financially. God has given us a good start here in the Netherlands, and we hope you’ll enjoy the second attachent with a picture collage of our first month.  Please note our new address in the footer.

House

For the past year and a half, we have been on a waiting list with a Dutch rental agency.  Two days before our departure, God provided a house for us on Peace Street! It met all our requirements (and even a wish or two!) and it will serve us well for our first term. We moved in on December 3^rd and are busily working on getting settled before Christmas. Rentals come with bare concrete floors and walls, and occupants must put in flooring, paint, and purchase lighting and appliances--so we have been busy! One very special blessing was that our container of belongings arrived safely on Thanksgiving Day! Our US home has seen some increased interest in recent weeks, but still no suitable buyer.

Camp

For five weeks, while our house was being prepared for occupancy, we lived in a small, furnished vacation rental on a campground. We enjoyed the last of the fall colors in the trees, and winter arrived the day after Thanksgiving with several inches of snow on the ground.

School

Peter began attending a Dutch school one week after we arrived.  He has handled the transition admirably and is learning new Dutch words every day. His favorite part is his gym class! We are thankful for a school that upholds the Bible as God’s Word and for their efforts to help Peter adjust. As a family, we had prayed specifically that God would provide a good friend for Peter at school. The answer came the very first day in the form of two (English-speaking) boys from Alaska, whose Dad works in the chaplaincy program at the nearby AFNORTH military base.

Ministry

Our first formal ministry event will be an Open House between Christmas and New Years. We plan to invite about 30 people to drop in. This will be an important time to establish trust with neighbors and develop existing relationships. There have already been a number of good informal opportunities as well. We have been able to establish a good relationship with the owners of the campground, who have promised to come to the open house. Some others we have shared the Gospel with are Mimi (a professing Roman Catholic lady who did not understand why Christ died), and Bryan (who said that he had never heard a “religious man” speak so clearly). All are open to talking again.  It has been quite easy to steer conversations toward the Gospel, as people commonly want to know why we are here. We look forward to seeing God’s Word bear fruit!

Prayer Requests

1.  Daily growth in grace through God’s Word.

2.  The sale of our house in the US.

3.  Good relationship building during our open house.

4.  Spirit-led evangelistic opportunities.

5.  Continued language acquisition for Peter and Sarah.

Serving Him Joyfully,

Theo and Sarah van Reijn