Contents
Wayfaring StrangersWe're well on the way with our third major move in our lives. It reminds us of the words of the old Christian song "Wayfaring stranger": I am a poor wayfaring stranger Click for full lyrics, or watch a beautiful rendition here. We can relate to the writer of Hebrews, who talks about some of the believers through history, saying, And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth (Heb 11:13(b) BSB). Paul also writes that 'our citizenship is in heaven' (Phil 3:20). Praise the Lord that we do not need to apply for visas for heaven!! Relocation Contrasts Over 22 YearsIt feels like there couldn't be any greater contrast between our various relocations over the last 20 years! Read on ...
We lived in Mozambique from 2000 to 2010, ministering amongst a Muslim people group. By the grace of God we saw some putting their faith in Jesus. We translated Bible teachings into their language, and did audio recordings of those lessons as well as the New Testament. These audio recordings on little solar players are still doing the rounds - may much more fruit come from hearing God's Word in their own language. Then God called us to Asia. From 2011 to 2022 we lived in Malaysia, where we were involved with missionary training and leadership of our organization. We were the course leaders of the Africa Nations course and were both on the development team of this course. Hendrik also served on various leadership groups, especially the International Leadership Team for many years. Then in October, 2015 God called us to focus solely on training missionaries online. We started Didasko Academy (www.dasko.org), that provides free missionary training for everyone, everywhere. In October 2019 God gave us the green light to move to the USA, where our daughter and family live. This makes total sense because our ministry is fully online. Being based In the US will help us to expand Didasko's profile by intentionally looking for opportunities for more collaboration with other missions organizations. After a gruelling 2 year process, we finally received 'Parental visas' for the US in January 2022, because we are parents of a US citizen (our daughter). Weird fact - when we arrived, we each got an "Alien number"! Some fun with "Language learning" in the USANow that we have reached the USA, we have begin with our language learning. What? you might say, I thought they spoke English there! Well they do, but many words here are different from what we're used to. Because we have to do our learner's license tests soon (yes, at age 62), we have to know all about transport. The left side of the road is now the wrong side, and right side is ... well right! The centre (I mean center) lines of the roads are yellow, not white. White lines indicate road shoulders. For cars (errr ... automobiles) you have to remember to get in on the left side if you want to drive. The hood is the bonnet, trunk = boot, the pavement is where the cars drive (don't tell the kids to stay on the pavement!), the sidewalk is where people walk (!). We also have to start thinking in terms of miles per hour (mph) and miles per gallon (mpg), how many feet you have to keep between your car and a bicycle, and how many yards you have to be from the car ahead at 55 mph! Don't try to put petrol in your car, you can only use gas - which is a fluid, by the way. You can turn right at a red robot (oops, I meant traffic light) if there is no oncoming traffic. Remember, they'll be coming down their right side of the road, not the left! And you keep your documentation in the cubby hole (oops, I mean glove compartment). Food is also different. A hamburger can be what we call a 'patty', or it can be what we call a 'hamburger' too! "Chilli" probably contains no chilli and isn't even spicy - it's ground meat (delicious). Biscuits here look like (South African) scones, but are salty and often eaten with a meat sauce. Pancakes are like our crumpets. Milk we buy by the gallon or by "quarts." There is no such thing as 8.3 pounds either, but rather "eight and one-third pound." At McDonalds they look at you strangely if you ask for chips - you need to say "fries". South African chips are called crisps here! Our jelly is jello here, whereas jelly is jam. Jesus is called Jesus here!!! One thing we do not have to learn ... Thankfully, the people of Ohio are very friendly and welcoming to wayfaring strangers. A Warm Welcome by Muhammad!
Launching Didasko's Latest Course: Fruitful Practices
We have just launched the Fruitful Practices course, in collaboration with the Vision 5.9 network (click here for more information: edu.dasko.org/courses/course-v1:Didasko+K050-Fruitful-Practice+2022/about). This course is about the results of a multi-agency collaborative research project stretching over many years, among hundreds of field workers working among Muslims. We are very excited about this course, as it should be an invaluable resource for missionaries no matter to whom they minister to. Great TestimonyWe recently got a very complimentary email from an experienced retired missionary to Indonesia, who has a doctorate in missions. He said this: Prayer Requests1. Please pray for Henry's US documentation to arrive. Betsy's arrived already a week ago. Without this crucial documentation we can do basically nothing! 2. Once we have our documentation, we can open a bank account transfer our money here. Then we can get cell phone contracts, do our driving licence tests and buy a car. We would love to get our own place too some day. Bets often said she would love a small house under a big tree. In the mean time, we are grateful that we can stay with our daughter and family! 3. Since it is more expensive to live here than in Malaysia, we need to raise more support. So we'll be seeing people to ask them to partner with us financially. Please pray for divine appointments and favour. 4. Pray for us that we will settle well. May the Lord bless you and keep you!With much love,Hendrik and Betsy |
APRIL 2022
The Lord was good to us (as always!), because immigration was fast and friendly. We didn't quite know where to go for our connecting flight, so a friendly airline official approached us to help. When we asked him where we should go, he replied: "Are you guys from South Africa?" - he recognized our accents. We immediately recognized his too, and told him we'd just arrived and were coming to settle near our daughter. He said "Welcome to America, my name is Muhammad and I'm from Kimberley!" Quite an unexpected and pleasant surprise for us. Especially because we'd spent the last 22 years hearing the Muslim call to prayer every day. But we really enjoyed his company for a few minutes!