13 Years on the Mission Field

I can hardly believe that today is 13 years since we arrived on Dutch soil as missionaries to the people of Holland. I was 7-years old. Being that young I didn’t fully grasp that the preparations taking place around me--the flurry of activity, the packing of our belongings--meant we were really leaving everything I had ever known. I still remember the day I arrived home from our church’s Christian school and found men from our church loading the huge container in our driveway with all of our furniture and boxes of our things. I still remember what dress I was wearing (that’s a girl for you, ha). I remember finding Mom and Oma sitting on the living room floor tenderly packing our old Dutch clock. All this was new and exciting to me; I didn’t realize that life, as I knew it, was about to change forever.

November 7, 1995.

It was decided that our grandparents (my dad’s family) would fly with us to Holland. It was their homeland (my dad was born in Holland and lived there until he was 12-years-old; my mom’s father is also Dutch). Everyone in our home church, Southeast Bible Baptist, came to say good bye to us at the airport. I was excited, a little overwhelmed, and suddenly feeling a new emotion--fear. I was beginning to understand that my family and I were leaving. We were going to some country far away, and I wouldn’t see those I loved for a very long time. My best friend/cousin Jason and I hugged each other long and hard. Hot tears streaked our cheeks and our faces were red and swollen from crying so hard. Saying goodbye to Jason, my lifelong buddy, was the hardest thing I had ever done. Goodbye. In the next 13 years that would become a word familiar to each one of us. The sorrow of parting wouldn’t get much easier, but the intense ache would lessen with time, and God’s grace would be sufficient to carry us through.

I remember the first time we stepped foot in our new house. Dad had gone ahead months earlier to rent a house and do some work to make it livable for us. Thanks to my dad’s aunt and uncle, we had some lawn furniture and cots; the container full of our belongings was on a ship and wouldn’t arrive for several weeks. I remember how bare the house seemed. It echoed. There were no curtains in the windows; three potted house plants sat on the kitchen windowsill, shielding us from the prying eyes of neighbors and mothers who walked past our house to bring their children to school. I remember hiding behind one of the plants and curiously peeking at people. They looked just like I did, but they spoke a language that sounded strange to my ears. I remember one day Lydia heard a little girl crying outside. She went and told my dad, who asked what the little girl was saying. Lydia shrugged and replied, “I don’t know. She was crying in Dutch.” =)

Our first night in Holland we walked through the dark night and fog as thick as pea soup to a nearby snack bar to buy our dinner. Already I was realizing that this country was so different from America. We were starting a 13-year-long journey through the unknown, battling culture shock, homesickness, and loneliness.

Our container arrived on November 23rd, which was Lydia’s birthday as well as Thanksgiving Day. Mom introduced my dad’s aunt and uncle to the traditional pumpkin pie. A miracle happened that day. We only had a limited time to unload our things before the container would be hauled away. We knew virtually nobody in this foreign country. My dad was the only one strong enough to lift heavy furniture. Who would help us? We knelt down together on the living room floor and prayed. The answer to our prayers arrived when a group of men from the Salvation Army volunteered to unload our belongings--our only link to home. God came through for us!!! That was the first of many miracles God would do to show His love to the Huussen family and prove to us that we were in the very center of His perfect will. As we sat down that night to the Thanksgiving meal Mom had prepared, we were grateful to be together as a family, though our hearts ached with homesickness. That first holiday away from family and friends was hard…and harder on Mom than the rest of us. Every “first” was hard, but it would slowly get easier.

During those first few months we worked hard to get our house in order. Our only means of transportation was the bus, since we didn’t have a car, and there was nobody to baby-sit us children, so we went everywhere Mom and Dad did. I remember riding buses so packed with people that there was standing room only, and at times it felt like the bus was going to tip. Poor Mom had her hands full watching over three young children while carrying groceries and window shades and other bulky house supplies. I honestly don’t know how my parents managed it. Only by God’s grace!

Our days were filled with activity as we worked on the house, but Sunday was our day of rest. It was Sunday that homesickness hit the hardest. There was no church we could go to, and there were no Christians to fellowship with. For all we knew we were the only Christians in all of Holland. We felt totally isolated. Our Sundays consisted of dressing in our Sunday best, Daddy would play the guitar while we sang hymns, and we would listen to preaching tapes. That was our Sunday service. Silent tears of homesickness coursed Mom’s cheeks and dripped into the sudsy dishwater as she washed dishes and remembered what Sundays used to be like.

Looking back, I would be lying to say that those first years were easy. Fact is, they were hard. Because we were from the States, and especially because people knew we were Christians, we endured ridicule or were totally ignored by our neighbors. Playing in our backyard, the neighborhood children would throw stones at us and steal our toys. (Thank God for Papa, who put up a fence around our yard!) Mom grew used to having no close friends to confide in and go shopping with. I remember one night when I quietly walked into the bathroom as Mom was shaking a sheet out of the bathroom window. Outside I heard the laughter of one of our neighbors as she came home from spending time with one of her girlfriends. Instinctively I knew the stab of loneliness Mom was feeling. She turned around, and we just looked at each other. We didn’t need words to express our hearts. I hugged her, and I think we both cried some. I remember many times when Mom would sit me down on her lap and we would cry together. Our mutual homesickness drew us to each other. One blessing that came from our move to Holland is that our family was thrown together. There was nobody else. We only had each other. I thank God for this! Today I can say that the members of my family are my best friends. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

One of my favorite songs is “I Could Not Do Without Thee,” and one line that always speaks to my heart says, “Weakness will be power if leaning hard on Thee.” Many times in our lives God has to take us out of our comfort zone and bring us to the end of ourselves and our human resources so that we can experience the supernatural power of God’s strength--a source that is never depleted. Throughout these 13 years we have been forced by difficult circumstances to lean hard on God. When the government was threatening us because my parents chose to home school, God intervened miraculously. The Lord woke up my dad during the night and told him what to write. He sent the letter off, and we have never heard about it since. Our neighbor lady, who happened to work in the education department, informed my dad that the woman who was giving us problems about home schooling went insane and lost her job. Don’t stand in God’s way!!! It’s a dangerous place to be!

There are so many stories I could tell you about God’s wonderful provision and protection for our family. Now, 13 years, two churches, and countless converted souls later, I can say we have learned a lot, and mostly just by plunging in and doing what needed to be done. Of course we have made mistakes along the way, but we serve a gracious and merciful God. For that I am thankful!

To think God has chosen our family to serve the people of Holland. What an honor and a privilege it is! Sure, living on the mission field is a struggle, but for every trial we have faced, God has given us unlimited blessings and an outpouring of grace to get us through. Never pity a missionary! Living in the center of God’s will is the very best place to be!!! If I could rewind my life back to 13 years ago and start over, I would have to say that I’d do it all again!!!

I want to share a poem I wrote several months back. I think it goes well with this post.

God has blessed me with many friends so dear.
Most live far away, while others are very near.
Across the great expanse of the Atlantic Ocean,
Distance cannot quench my heart’s deep emotion.

I’ve a special love for each person in my heart,
Even though we find ourselves living apart.
The years pass us by and much older we grow;
Many things have changed, but this I still know:

God works all these things together for good,
Even though at times I have not understood--
The loneliness, the longing that goes unfulfilled,
While the work of the Lord we are trying to build.

The sacrifice of my desires I am willing to make;
I know the highest goals of the ministry are at stake.
This country, spiritually desolate, for laborers does cry;
These people, so precious to God, we cannot deny!

We’re in it for the long haul, and that gives me a thrill.
For the Gospel of Jesus Christ we’ll stand steadfast still.
Though some would persuade us that we should go home,
The choice isn’t ours to make; it’s up to God alone.

I know that it’s hard on our friends and family, too.
We know the pain, for we suffer as they do.
But we have a blessed assurance of reunion one day;
Separation and tears will never factor in, nor dismay.

Glorious day of redemption, I see it drawing nearer!
I feel His peace within my soul as Heaven grows still clearer.
We’ll be together forever in that wondrous Home on high.
And sorrows we once experienced, to them we’ll wave good-bye.

We’ll rejoice for all eternity as the faithful and obedient.
What sometimes seemed like fruitless effort was oh so expedient!
The sacrifices we made on earth will suddenly seem so small,
As God’s praise is poured upon us because we answered the call.

And if God should ask of you today,
“Would you go to a land so far away?
Would you your will to Mine bend?”
What would you answer Him, my friend?

P.S. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them! =)

Over The Weekend

I haven’t been writing much lately. Bad me. =) A lot of little things have been happening that don’t seem worth writing about all by themselves, so I decided to write a long journal entry combining different events of the last several days that I want to share with you. Hope you don’t find it too dull. =)


Sunday, June 1, 2008

I woke up feeling ill. I don’t think I’ve been getting enough sleep lately, and my body is run down from my allergies. I really did not want to go to church. I tidied my room, then made Mom and myself an egg for breakfast. Falling on my knees by my bed, I begged God to strengthen me. “Cheer my heart, Lord,” I prayed. He did. Suddenly I felt eager to serve Him.
What a dreary, humid day it was today! It was freezing in the building, not that that’s anything new. I don’t think the people at the school we rent believe in heating. My fingers were so stiff from the cold that I could barely move them as I attempted to play for the song service. I wonder if they have mittens thin enough that I could use for playing the piano. Ha, ha! Wouldn’t that be an interesting sight? =)
We had two visitors in church today. They seemed to like it; hopefully they come back.
Dad preached a step-on-toe message. His main verse came from 1 Chronicles 9, about the set office of each temple administrator. Each person had a job to fulfill. Dad used Mischa, our deacon, as an example of one who has a dozen jobs to do in the church while most everyone else just warms a seat. I just don’t understand that. I guess it’s because I was raised to serve in church. It’s as natural as breathing to me. I don’t comprehend people’s lack of love for God, and, therefore, their lack of desire to DO something in the ministry of the Lord. While Jesus taught us by example to serve, many Christians only enjoy the treatment of being served. Christianity these days is sadly lacking!
Then Dad preached about children and how they ought to be in church on Sunday, not at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Ouch! Dad talked about how Lydia has spent so much time cleaning and preparing the nursery room for use. When people don’t bother showing up for services, there are no children to make use of the work Lydia has invested. The same thing goes for the children’s Sunday school class. Steven and Mom spend their precious time preparing the lesson, choosing and laying out the flannel graph, and cleaning the classroom. It’s all a waste (humanly speaking) when folks don’t bring their children to church. It’s discouraging. Thankfully we lay up rewards for ourselves in Heaven for this unused spending of our energies. If we did what we do for the people alone, I think we would have quit the ministry the first day we started. I’m glad God appreciates what people do not.
Then Dad preached about singing and how we ought to really sing, not just mouth the words.
All in all, we heard what you could call “kinder garden preaching” today. It was good…and needful.
Shelby informed us that Pauline (I mentioned her recent salvation in an earlier post) has been enthusiastically sharing her newfound faith with her mother and classmates. I would like to ask you to pray for Pauline; her boyfriend has threatened to kill her because she got saved. A baby lamb has been born into the fold, and the wolves are on the prowl. Please pray for Pauline’s protection. God is able!


Saturday, May 31, 2008

I woke up at 4:28 a.m. My nose was running (I have hay fever. It’s nasty--all the symptoms of a cold, in addition to itchy eyes and throat, and countless sneezing attacks. Miserable!) so I went to the bathroom to get a tissue. It was already somewhat light outside. During the summer it stays light until about 11 p.m. or so, and it gets light again as early as 4:00 a.m. The first bird was already chirping. He sounded awfully alone out there. He eventually stopped; I guess he finally concluded that all self-respecting birds ought to still be sleeping at such an early hour. =)
Throughout the day I practiced the songs for church tomorrow, did some garden work and handiwork, cleaned the kitchen several times, wrote emails, posted some things on my blog, etc., etc., etc.
Mom and Dad left for their dinner date at 4:00 p.m. The three of us kids ate cheese soufflés for dinner and watched a “Daniel Boone.” Dad read to us before bed.


Friday, May 30, 2008

Family Night: We ordered snack bar food for dinner. Dad and Josiah picked up while the three of us girls made a salad and green beans to go with the meal. Yum! The guys cleaned up dinner since it was Friday (we have what is called “Boy Night” on Mondays and Fridays, when the guys have to clean up dinner).
Then we drove to Bussum and got ice cream from the health food store. Yummy again! =)
We went home and watched the next “The Way of the Master” session. Dad likes to preview them before we show it at church.
Dad read some more of our book to us, called Bless God and Take Courage, The Judson History and Legacy. What a great book! It really gets one thinking. We missionaries have it so easy compared to what those before us endured. I can hardly comprehend the trials and sorrow. The Judsons’ first baby was stillborn. Their second baby died when he was 8 months old. Living in a strange land, surrounded by foreigners, with only each other to love and comfort, baby Roger was the joy of Adoniram and Anne’s lonely lives. Certainly a tearjerker.
I worked on my cross-stitch as Dad read. I’m almost finished! It’s so cute!
Then we watched a “Father Knows Best” about keeping your word and the consequences of making a promise and then having to follow through with it. Ha, ha! It was funny, but had a good moral.
We were just sitting around talking, when Josiah devised what I call “The Tired Test.” He says you have to close your eyes half-way (down to little slits). If you’re tired, your eyes will close all the way. If you still have enough energy to be awake, your eyes will pop back open. I tried the test, and sure enough, my eyes closed. Mom’s did too. Ironically, Josiah’s eyes popped back open. Hmm…doesn’t that just figure… Ha, ha!

The Lutrick's Visit

I woke up at 7 a.m. I heard strange popping noises last night. It sounded like a giant popcorn machine outside. I guess it was fireworks for Koninginnedag (Queen’s Day).

Today is Koninginnedag, a special day set aside to honor the royal family. Queen Beatrix and the royal family walk through the streets of a particular town, and people entertain them and give them food and flowers, etc. The whole town or city will be decorated in orange, the official color of the royal family, “House of Orange.” People all over Holland hang the Dutch flag out with a special orange piece attached to the tip of the flagpole. It is one of the only days in the year that it is legal to hang the Dutch flag. I won’t go on my patriotism spiel. All I know is that I’m glad to be an American, even if I can’t live in the States, where the American flag is proudly flown from houses, restaurants, and stores. If you’re an American you’ve got something to be proud of, for sure! =) Koninginnedag is also the only day of the year that people can legally have “garage sales.” Actually, what people usually do is just put a blanket down or set up a table and sell things from there, since many people don’t even have garages.

I’m so excited; the Lutricks are arriving today! Tomorrow our conference begins at church, and Brother Lutrick Jr. will be our guest speaker. I’m looking forward to it. I know God’s going to do some great things.

After waking up (that usually helps, ha!) I did my devotions and then checked my email. Then I ate breakfast, shook out all my bedding, and moved it into Josiah’s room. After vacuuming a little, I made my bed. Yesterday Lydia and I got our room all cleared out, since the Lutricks will be staying in there. Mom made Lyd and me an omelet to split. I got a quick shower and then helped Mom make up Mrs. Lutrick’s (my) bed.

I wanted to do some baking for our company. Mrs. Lutrick loves banana bread, so I made 3 miniature loaves. Josiah invited me to walk with him to the bottle drop while they baked. The weather has been gray and somewhat humid today, but refreshingly cool. It felt wonderful to go walking, as I was quite warm from baking. We got home and it was time for family devotions. Dad read us a Psalm, and then he prayed. He asked if we wanted to get snack bar food. After taking our orders, he left to pick it up. I hurried to make scones. They baked as we ate in the living room. The kitchen was sorta messy with all the work I was doing. After we ate I then decided to make muffins too. I can’t remember the last time I did so much baking all in one day. =) I want our guests to have yummy food to eat. Mrs. Lutrick has three little ones, so she probably doesn’t get around to baking very much. I hope we can be a blessing to them for the short two days they will be with us.

We did a lot of work around the house all afternoon. It was dinnertime when Dad said we should go ahead and eat. We weren’t sure when the Lutricks would arrive. We were just finishing dinner when they pulled in at 7 p.m. It was nice to see them again. We first met the Lutricks in Scotland in October 2007. Then we saw them again in Germany at a Christmas banquet in 2007. We were seated at the same table.

Well, we set the table again so the Lutricks could eat. I held the baby, Keana, in the meantime. She is SO cute! I love it when she smiles. Josiah and I took Justin and Jackson down the road to see the ducks and goats. They loved looking at the ducks. Unfortunately the goats were already in bed for the night. =D Then we played ball with them at the school playground by our house. That was fun for them. They needed to stretch their legs after that long trip from Germany.

We talked for a good part of the evening. Mrs. Lutrick put the boys down for the night, and then she came and ate some banana bread with us in the kitchen before bed. We had a nice talk and then headed upstairs, as it was getting late. I look forward to the conference tomorrow. It’s going to be good! =)

Beautiful Holland

These are some pictures I took with my camera as we drove to Zwolle today to pick up our renewed Visas. Praise God, we can stay in Holland for another 5 years--until 2013. That sounds so weird. I wonder if we will even be here by then…maybe the Lord will have raptured us! “I’ll be here until 2013 or 2030. Whatever You want, Lord,” I whispered, as we left the building. Anyway, I hope you enjoy some of the beauty of Holland… (double-click to see larger images)

Holland, the land of much water.

Such vibrant colors!

Look at those clouds!

Modern electricity-creating windmills.

Apache

Cows in the field.