It’s been a long time since I (Robbert) updated this blog. The last time we lived in Denmark and now we have been back in the Netherlands for almost 2 years. When we left for Denmark, we started this blog. For those who followed us back then and are curious about what the past time has been like for us and what we’ve been up to, I just want to catch up.
“Where shall we live?”
One of the things that I found quite insecure, during the last period in Denmark, was the high cost of our house in the Netherlands. I thought: should we sell the house in the Netherlands and live smaller and cheaper? That would also cause a lot of hassle, another extra move and making a house a home again. We started looking for a rental house, but couldn’t find anything that was suitable. When I was praying about this and asking God for advice about these big decisions for me, I found that God answered: “These are big things to you, but to me they are small things. Rather worry about the big things instead: the kingdom of god“. After that answer I got some peace of mind about this. We just decided to return to our trusted home in Emmen – God would make sure we can pay the mortgage…
God provides!
One of the interesting things that happened was that at one point, when we were back for about 2 months, I was fasting and asked God ‘what now? what now? how should we fill our time‘. On day three of the fast, I checked the website of my old employer, where I had resigned before leaving for Denmark. That’s not something I normally do. I don’t really know why I visited that website.. I think I was curious if I could see changes there, for example to the things I had worked on in the past and how it would go. A while later that same day my ex-supervisor suddenly called me..! He asked ‘Would I like to do something for them again? ‘. I thought that was very coincidental! Our bank account was also pretty much empty at the time, so I thought, well, maybe this is the way God wants to answer. I decided to accept it and then worked at this company for a number of months for 2 days a week. Furthermore, I mainly worked from my office behind our house for The Last Reformation. I received compensation for this and in combination with the salary of NKL it was enough to pay the bills.
Evelyn decided to stay home and not go back to work, as our family had expanded, making the household a lot busier. In addition, she helps in the organization of our school in Voorthuizen .
When I started at my old employer again, I initially found it very nice and refreshing. But pretty soon I started to notice that the work there was no longer the same. I used to work there full-time and I went all out for what I was working on. But this time my attention was divided. My heart and interest was in the work we were doing for the Kingdom of God the rest of the week. I found that valuable, because it leads to changed lives! So I discussed it with Evelyn and with God and decided to leave again. Another step in faith, because it would cut our income in half – but I had learned that God is faithful and could again do the impossible: get by on a too low income.
And again He did not disappoint. Every month we needed extra income to make ends meet and every month something unexpected happened. Someone once handed 1500 euros to me! Or an acquaintance sent a message: ‘I’d like to give you something. What is your bank account number?’ And transferred 500 euros to that person’. This happened many more times! We also needed a bigger car due to the arrival of our 4th child… there was no money for it and what do you do then? Pray! Then someone gave most of it to us as a gift! By exchanging our current car and another gift, we were able to pay the remaining amount.
And I could go on and on for a while… we didn’t ask, or when we were short we didn’t tell anyone about it. Only God. And then God performed miracles again.
And it doesn’t stop! This has been going on for over 3 years now! We have never been in arrears and we live in a house with a mortgage that we once on 2 have concluded salaries. Evelyn and I sometimes say to each other: this is ridiculous the way we live!
Working for God.. always surprising!
All kinds of beautiful and special things have happened since we got back. This is how Laurens, our 4th son was born, 10 months ago. At the same time, there was also an emergency involving a young woman Evelyn had come into contact with. She was pregnant at the same time as Evelyn, and her baby was born a little earlier. Due to drug use during pregnancy and a ‘distressed past’, this mother was not allowed to take care of her child and the newborn baby ended up in a foster family. We wanted to help, so we quickly registered as a network foster family. As a result, we still had a baby in the house 2 weeks after Laurens was born! That was quite busy! But also grateful work to do!
A while later, the baby’s mother also moved in with us – she lived in my office, which I then temporarily moved to the nursery. This allowed the mother to receive ‘training’ in taking care of the baby from Evelyn. In the meantime, mother has returned home with her child with the consent of Safe Home.
A special cafe in the center of Emmen
When we still lived in Denmark, a certain Louis from Emmen contacted us via the Dutch website. He had watched some videos that really appealed to him. I had made these videos during our period in Denmark. He converted and was baptized by Fabian, who was still living in our home at the time. When we returned to the Netherlands, we got in touch. He had it on his heart to open an evangelistic cafe in the center of Emmen. A few months later, the Jesus Cafe opened!
Many people have heard the gospel through this place. Some also decided to follow Jesus. One of the people is a market vendor whose stall is in front of the cafe every Friday!
Full time for God again
Throughout 2017 I worked almost full-time in my home office. Editing films, building websites, further expanding the network. Worldwide the work of The Last Reformation is growing considerably. To get an impression, click on the image below.
Making videos
Every now and then I make a testimonial video. One of those videos was Samira’s story. Samira attended Pioneer Training School and like many others she had a wonderful conversion story. This video made a big difference! It was shared 1,400 times on Facebook and nearly 2,000 comments were received. Moroccan Muslims in particular were not happy with the story and there were many, many negative reactions. The story also attracted the attention of other media and so Samira later appeared in Hour of Power and at the EO in The change .
Movie: 7 Days’ Adventure with God
In February 2017 I went with Torben and Fabian to Brazil with a special assignment: to record everything during the 7 days that the journey would last and produce a film in which the entire journey is shown as a kind of diary. The name was already fixed in advance: 7 Days’ Adventure with God . Because when you go out and spread God’s Kingdom, it’s always adventurous! We saw miracles and many lives were permanently changed by the journey. After a few months of work, we were able to release the film. We also send people worldwide a DVD for free if they want to see the film.
The film has now been translated into 33 languages and has been seen by many people on Youtube!
Click here for the movie & website.
Different trips
Since we got back I have also traveled several times!
That’s how I’m in Berlin and stayed for a few days with singer Lou Bega, known for the song ‘ mambo no. 5 ‘. He had recently been baptized and invited friends and neighbors to share the gospel. We shot here for a new movie ‘The Last Reformation: The Life’. Lou Bega (real name David) used to rely on other “gods” and things that would bring good luck (see photo). Now he saw that it only brought more misery and he and his wife decided to do a big cleaning for Jesus. Everything was put in the garden and burned up.
In addition, I have been to the United States twice: in West Palm Beach, Florida and in Sacramento, California . Neither is a punishment to go to!
Lauren born!
I mentioned it before… at 14 August 2017 Laurens was born! He is now 10 months old 🙂
And the other 3 boys: from left to right Ruben, Maarten and Thijs – eating pancakes here in the garden.
Movie: The Last Reformation: The Life
At the beginning of 2018, another film was released. Personally, I think this is the best one so far. Not only are the images a lot more beautiful than in part 1, especially the content is very complete. You see the gospel and what it does to people, you see rich and poor, successes and setbacks. You can watch this almost 2-hour documentary below.
My role in making this film was mainly the post-production: giving feedback to Lebo, the director, solving all kinds of technical problems, taking care of promotion. Furthermore, it was mainly Lebo who made the film as it is now.. beautiful! The film has already been viewed more than 150,000 times. There have also been almost 1000 screenings around the world, where the film was viewed in groups. The film has already brought many people freedom and a new hopeful life!
Jesus Center
The Jesus Hotel in Aalborg, where we used to live, is no more! In March 2018, a new center was acquired in Thisted, in the northwest of Denmark, within 2 days. This place is a lot more spacious! In the meantime I have been there 4 times, mainly to coordinate the office work.
Jesus words are reliable!
When we left Denmark, I wrote in my diary:
It’s going to be adventurous again. We are going back to the Netherlands! We just have no idea how we’re going to do that, how we’re going to live. Financially it is not possible, unless I look for a job in the Netherlands. But still.. we are going to the Netherlands! So we need a miracle and that’s why we provide again a beautiful testimony that we can share 🙂
So we are now 2 years later and God has again proven to be faithful and to answer prayers! We have done our best to focus on the Kingdom of God, through trial and error and not worrying about finances. This is what Jesus said: Therefore do not be anxious and say not, What shall we eat? or: What shall we drink? or: What shall we clothe ourselves with? For all these things the Gentiles seek. After all, Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.