Breaking Bread in Barcelona

The Spirit gives many gifts. 

One of the gifts our brothers and sisters in Barcelona seem to have is hospitality. 

We had not even been in the city for one day when we were invited to Sunday dinner with grandmother, mother and father, two adult children and their spouses. 

It was an extraordinary blessing to us. 

We can share photos of the meal. We cannot capture the fellowship and warmth which fed us even more.

First course:  fresh fruit.

Second course:  salads and bread

Potato salad with green beans and olives, locally known as "Russian Salad"Mushroom croquettes

Tuna and egg salad with halved boiled egg on top.

Mushroom croquettes

Main course:  salted cod 

   (de-salted) in creole sauce 

   over rice

Dessert:  Panettono (Italian specialty), 

   chocolate bonbons, coffee or tea,

   blessings and warm farewells . . . .

Share the Warmth

It's that time of year again. Last week Keith turned on the heat in our house. It was easy to do--he just adjusted the thermostat. We have a stable income and a contract with the local energy company. The heat came on.
For some reason, it didn't come on in our church last Sunday. They even had the energy company take a look at it, but we ended up keeping our coats on during the service.
Our brothers and sisters in the Romany village of Vulcanesti often do that during the colder months, as you can see in this photo from the women's Wednesday night meeting this past week. There is finally some sort of heat in the church, so the building can be used in the colder months, but it is not toasty warm in there.
Heating in general is more of an issue in the village. When I saw that this week's collection in our Dutch church was designated for Romany work in Moldova, I asked Pastor Petru Ciochina what the funds should go towards.

He suggested two things:

Living in the Romany village of Vulcanesti becomes increasingly difficult, especially in the cold period of the year (6 months). In the Republic of Moldova most people heat houses with firewood. But this has become very expensive, even for those who have financial possibilities. We are talking about the poor: elders, widows and families with many children.

In order to be able to heat the stoves, women with power walk a distance of 4 km in one direction (total 8 km) to collect wood from the forest. Some who have the opportunity to have a stroller is their joy, but for other women they carry up to 40 kg of wood. Carrying 30-40 kg 4 km behind is a huge pain. We need help to help with fire wood 15-20 families: elderly, widowed, families with many children.

2. In the local church recently began the work with women.They need many things necessary for their lives.
- Relationship with God
- Prayer time (some sisters have difficulty praying in public, and this because of the context in which they grew up)
- Learning Bible verses
- Raising children and their involvement in school
- Relationship with their husbands.
- And many other problems.
The wife of the pastor of the local church, Olesea Ciochina, took on the responsibility of helping these women eager for such a fellowship. But this requires support.Transport, some important needs of the women group (medicines, food, etc.).

If you feel led to move to Moldova for 2-5 years to work towards a sustainable solution to this heating problem, let us know! If you feel led to contribute in some other way, feel free to add to the collection through the Baptist Church in Arnhem-Centrum (baptisten-arnhem.nl) or These ladies will not be the only ones who thank you for sharing the warmth. through our programming fund .
These ladies will not be the only ones who thank you for sharing the warmth.

Thinking of James 2:15,
Mary & Keith.

Thanksgiving in September

When do you celebrate Thanksgiving?

On the fourth Thursday in November (U.S.A.)?
On the second Monday in October (Canada)?
Or on a Sunday in September?

That's when our brothers and sisters in Moldova gather to thank God for the harvest.

This year in the Romany village of Vulcanesti, they thanked God for three whole hours!

And then they had a feast and celebrated some more!
The pastor and his wife went home after two hours; they don't know how long the rest of the people stayed, singing and communing with each other.

A few years ago a couple of friends and I had the privilege to be there over Thanksgiving. (That's what this photo is from.)

No matter when--or how--you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope your hearts are as generous and grateful as our brothers and sisters in Moldova.

Keith (no longer) in Curacao: Recorded, Reviewed, Returned!

This is us, praying a prayer of praise and thanksgiving once every one of the 260 chapters in the New Testament had been recorded, reviewed, corrected, and approved. (Whew!)





This is Keith, some days earlier, recording the very last line of the New Testament.

This is Keith, a number of days later, glad to have been in Curacao but now glad to be back home in the Netherlands (where the weather is much cooler!). 

Also grateful for the entire recording team in Curacao, the folks at Faith Comes By Hearing,  and for the prayer support which made that recording possible. God is good!

Keith in Curacao: Women at Work

There are so few roles for women speakers in the New Testament that our partners at the Antillean Bible Society added two. 

One woman, a biologist by profession, came after work to record the chapter headings for the entire New Testament. In Papiamentu-speaking culture, the grandmothers are the storytellers, so this seemed particularly appropriate to the local recording team. 

Another woman read the book of Hebrews. She did an excellent job with what can be a difficult book. "Some people will understand that passage for the first time," one of the proof-listeners noted after one recording session. Thank God that many more people will hear and understand His Word.

Keith in Curacao: 100%!!!

One of the proof-listeners

The lady is smiling. The butterfly is smiling. We are smiling. This morning we finished the recording phase of the New Testament in Papiamentu!

Smiles from proof-listeners, readers, and recording team!

Now just to listen and approve each of the chapters in that New Testament!

Keith in Curacao: Listening to Ensure Hearing

The volunteers in the foreground here are proof-listening. They read along as we record to make sure a) the reader says exactly what is in the printed Bible; b) the reader says it correctly; c) there aren't any mistakes in the printed text.* They sometimes do this for two hours at a stretch. Tedious? Many do not think so.
"This is a great job, you know," one proof-listener told me after a two-hour session of Revelations. "It fills you every time. You read and you read. It fills you."
Thank God for proof-listeners, and thank God that His Word has impact, even in through a task like this.


*Proof-listeners find one in every New Testament recording project. So far, they've found a missing word and a switch in an apostle's name.