Johann and Louise: Training Disciples to Make Disciples in the Netherlands

Saturday, March 4, 2023 marks our first anniversary in the Netherlands!

Anniversaries can simply mark a date reminding us that time stands still for no one…or it can be an incentive and motivation for reflection.

Reflection can be negative or positive. We could look back at the struggle to sell, pack up, say goodbye, and leave southern Africa…we could look at the difficulties associated with moving to a different country with a different climate, different language, different ways of getting things done…we could look at the war in Ukraine and its tragic consequences…we could look at rising energy costs and inflation…

Or we could look at the many blessings that go along with obediently following where our Lord leads. This is what I’d like to do in this newsletter and give God all the glory for his grace and mercy that never fails.

We first met our Christ Church family back in October 2021 when we popped over from Oxford for a quick visit. We were still in the discernment process then and Heiloo was one option among several. I don’t know how to describe this properly, so suffice it for me to simply state that there was something about these followers of Jesus that warmed our hearts.

Living as Christians in one of the most secular countries in the world is not easy, especially for the younger generation. The pressure to conform is immense. And yet this was a small congregation of young families with a precious bunch of children…and they are all sold out for Jesus and love to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Scriptures. They had been without a pastor for three years, had no building of their own, were barely managing to keep their heads above water financially, and yet they were attempting to support five foreign mission ministries because they believed that was what a church should do. And they wanted someone teach them the Word…they are hungry to know God so that they can make him known. They are natural disciple-makers…even the children who love to tell their friends about what they learn during the services…it is in their DNA.

And the best of all for us was that we didn’t do this. This love for God and for people could only be the work of the Holy Spirit. For us this was just an invitation to join in what He was already doing. And so, we said yes…

The church has grown since then…we have visitors at just about every service, not just expats, but also local Dutch believers, and our children’s ministry is bursting at the seams. We have two very active Women’s Bible Studies (Colossians), an exciting Men’s Bible Study (Hebrews), and a caring mixed home group (Romans). In our regular Sunday services, I am currently preaching through the Gospel of John. Recently, a retired Dutch Reformed minister attended one of our services and he told me that such a vibrant church community is unheard of in the Netherlands today.

Yes, we are still small, but we are not where we used to be! We are planning two big events, a Men’s Day, and a Women’s Retreat. We are inviting our family and friends as well as members from other Anglican churches nearby to come and enjoy these days with us. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to move at both these events!

I am currently completing my narrative commentary on Paul and his letter to the Galatians and hope to submit it to Langham Publishing sometime this month. A US publisher asked me to submit my poetry for possible publication to raise funds for a Missionary Care Fund. Please do pray for both these possibilities as well as for our Lord to continue working through my previous publications, “Breakfast on the Beach: The Development of Simon Peter” and “For the Life of the World: The Multiplication of Simon Peter”. I have been told that folks are using these books as part of their outreach to the dechurched (I have heard of young folks returning to church after reading Breakfast) and the unchurched as well as for Bible Study purposes. Pray that this work brings glory to our Lord.

Please pray for our work here in Heiloo. Pray for our children’s ministry and for those who minister to them. Pray that the Lord will start a youth ministry at Christ Church. Teens and young adults so desperately need the Gospel. Pray for major spiritual breakthroughs in the community. We have our Lord’s promise! Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. May it be true for us in Heiloo…indeed, throughout the Netherlands!

Pray also for Louise and myself and our little doggie, Mr Pips, that the Lord will use us to shine out the love of Jesus to all we encounter.

"The great need of the hour among persons spiritually hungry is twofold: first, to know the Scriptures, apart from which no saving truth will be vouchsafed by our Lord; the second, to be enlightened by the Spirit, apart from whom the Scriptures will not be understood."
A.W. Tozer

Love, cyber-hugs, and blessings
Johann and Louise

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Johann and Louise spent two years helping to develop the St. Frumentius Seminary in Gambella, Ethiopia. They then worked in Southern Africa, serving in seven southern African countries, while continuing to work with the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa through engaging in a disciple making movement in order to grow the body of Christ. They are now serving in Heiloo, the Netherlands.

We are sent through the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, a missionary sending community, engaging in building relationships with the worldwide church to experience the broken restored, the wounded healed, the hungry fed, and the lost found through the love and power of Jesus Christ.

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