Yet another month has come and gone. The days, weeks and months just seem to keep on flying by faster and faster. It reminds me of what the Bible says in Ephesians 5:15, 16, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
I am becoming more and more convinced that one of the worst sins is not fulfilling the calling God has placed upon us.
More about that later…
The “Merry month of May” has begun and Spring is fully underway here
in Holland.? Flowers are blooming everywhere and the trees are hung
decoratively once again with blossoms.
A fall and a scareLast Tuesday morning Lisa gave us quite a scare. She climbed up our
steep stairs (more like a ladder) that lead up to our second floor all
by herself, and just as she was almost to the top, she fell.? She
started crying and Jolanda was there immediately to pick her up.? We
started looking her over for outward sings of injury and when we
noticed that she seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness, we
decided to take her to the doctor.
In the car on the way over she threw up several times (a sure sign of a concussion).? When we finally got in to see the doctor, he looked her over and concluded that she probably had a slight concussion.? He advised us to let her sleep as much as she wanted, but to be sure and wake her up every two hours to ensure that there was no internal bleeding.? That meant that we also had to wake her every two hours in the night, which meant that we didn’t get much sleep Tuesday night.?We are thankful to report, though, that she doesn’t seem to have any lasintg effects.? Tuesday and Wednesday, she grabbed her head and back several times saying, “owie”.? She even pointed to the stairs several times throughout the course of the day, frowning, with an emphatic “owie”.?Youth AlphaA few weeks ago, I (Rodney) was privileged to speak about the Holy Spirit at a Youth Alpha day. In the morning, I spoke for a half hour on who the Holy Spirit is and what He does. In the afternoon, I spoke on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and we had a ministry time afterwards.?Not all of the groups were ready for a ministry time yet, so their leaders took them into a separate room to discuss the subject some more. I stayed with a group of about 7 participants and we prayed for each other one by one.?The feedback was positive, and I hope that they learned a lot. I know that several participants were touched by the Spirit during the worship and ministry times.{mospagebreak}Call2WorshipThis month, I (Rodney) will be taking a two-week course called Call2Worship. The course is focused on young worship leaders and musicians and I hope that this will be a step in the right direction to start doing more teaching myself on worship.?Some of the topics of the seminar include: spiritual warfare, worship as a lifestyle, David, song-writing, etc. I’m really excited about this and am looking forward to the course. I will be doing it with seven other students only four of which are Dutch, so the course will definitely have an international flavor.?Jolanda’s WorkJolanda has agreed to take on a couple of responsibilities within the Staff Care and Development (SCAD) team. She will be taking over the task of facilitating connecting new staff with hosts among the current staff and connecting staff with mentors. She will also be taking on the ministry of visiting staff who have been sick for an extended period (longer than a week).?She is looking forward to these new duties, but also feeling a bit of trepidation about how she is going to combine this with being a mother. Besides these activities, she is still involved weekly with Member Care, praying for missionaries on the field and making birthday cards to encourage them.?WebsitesWe maintain several blogs, the newest of which is The Donkey’s Mouth. I started this out at our normal website, but have now switched over so that the blog has is own website. The address is www.blevins.nl/donkeysmouth. This is a collection of posts about life, science, current events and thoughts from the Bible.Please check it out, feel free to leave comments on posts, and if you want you can subscribe to the blog by entering your e-mail address. You will then receive a short e-mail every-time I update the page, which usually happens once a day on average. Another way to keep informed is by subscribing to the rss feed.?Thank you once again for reading our update. We appreciate your involvement in our ministry and lives.?Blessings,Rodney, Jolanda and Lisa
It is now possible to add your comments at the end of certain articles.? Please feel free to respond to the articles you read here.
Dear Family and Friends,
As the last vestiges of Winter’s chill are almost completely left behind,
the temperatures begin to rise, the flowers begin to bloom; we can say
- if not without some hesitation – that Spring has sprung!
We have a lot of news this time, so let’s get to it.
Our house
Now that the weather is turning a little warmer and sunnier, Lisa has
been playing outside a lot more. Right outside her front door is a
veritable paradise of toys, sandboxes and playground equipment not
to mention all the other little boys and girls she has to play with.
She would stay outside all day if we let her.
We are thoroughly enjoying being here in this house, and consider ourselves
extremely blessed to have this place.
Our Work
As we promised last time, we can tell you a little more about some of
the areas that we have been asked to work in. We have been invited
to join to different teams. I say different teams, but they are closely
connected.
One of those teams is the Staff Care and Development team (SCAD) which
is involved in many different areas at Heidebeek including organizing
the small groups, which are required for new staff members to be a part
of, biweekly meetings where a special speaker addresses the staff, connecting
staff people with a mentor, etc.
The other team we have been invited to join is the Pastoral Team, which
is actually a part of the SCAD (it’s the “C”). The Pastoral
team is made up of people who offer a listening ear to staff who are
in need of some moral support, or who are in an emotional or spiritual
crisis.
We have not definitely committed to either of these, but having met
with the SCAD team already, we definitely see possibilities for us. Some
of our ministry might include organizing small groups, lining up speakers
to speak to the staff, giving input (teaching) to the staff on various
subjects and visiting staff who have been sick for a long time.
Jolanda’s Mother
Jo’s Mom just finished her first two weeks of chemotherapy. The chemo
is a new from which is in pill form and she can take it at home. She
had very little side effects, but she’s glad she has a week break.
She felt if she had gone for another week, she would have had more.
Her hands and mouth were getting sensitive and she was very tired.
50 days of prayer and fasting
The international leadership of YWAM has called for a season between
easter and Pentecost of extra times of fasting and prayer. The priority
in doing this is to re-align with words God has spoken in the past,
our foundational values, but also to hear Him speak new and creative
words. Asking forgiveness for areas where we have not obeyed Him, and
putting our relationships right with one another is what is meant by “re-alignment”.
If you’re interested in knowing more, you can look up the website at
www.50days.com. There you can also learn more about a new concept called
4K, which is a new framework for visualizing the unreached of the world.
This has been a long update, but we thank you for your interest and
especially for your prayers.
Blessings,
Rodney, Jolanda and Lisa Blevins
Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to another edition of the Blevins News. We have put together what we hope is an interesting and informative newsletter for you. Enjoy!
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DTS Reunion
The end of October, we had a one-day DTS reunion for the April DTS. It was good to see the students again (not everyone could come), and to hear their stories about how it is going now that they are back home again.
For some of them, it was quite clear that after the DTS, they would go home again better equipped for life back in their respective churches or at their work. Others, though, are already making plans to head to the mission field, or are already there. Maarten & Monika Brak, for instance have just arrived in Northern Italy where they will be working with YWAM as missionaries. Another family, the Bolks, is still in Holland awaiting the birth of their third child, but is busy making plans, and arranging visas for Brazil . They will be working with street kids at a YWAM base in Belo Horizonte .
It is such an encouragement to see how God is blessing these families and that He has given them a calling for missions, and a heart for Jesus. Whether they are in Holland at their workplace or in their churches, or on the mission field, they are following Him in everything they do.
National YWAM Staff Day
Saturday, October 30 th was a national staff day for YWAM Holland. It was held at the YWAM base The Port in Amsterdam , so that we could get an idea of what kinds of ministries they are involved with, and share of little of their vision for Amsterdam and the world. Besides a great time of worship, teaching and intercession, their base leader shared with us a vision they have for something called “The Tabernacle of the Nations”. They are setting this up in a building in the heart of the city at the edge of the red-light district, with a vision to have praise and worship 24/7, led each day by a different people group (Brazilians, Koreans, Africans, etc). Since practically the whole world is represented in Amsterdam , they hope to show to Amsterdam that the God we worship is not just Lord of the white people, but Lord of all races, tongues and nations. (See Rev. 7:9)
New Staff
Heidebeek is becoming more and more international! It is such a blessing to work and live alongside people from different cultures, with different customs and languages. It is a privilege to stand together with staff from different countries and work together for the Lord in Holland . The latest arrivals are from India , Egypt and Africa .
Just a little while longer…
It won’t be long before we leave “Epe House” and move into a little bungalow of our own on the base itself. We’ve already gotten the keys, and are making plans to quickly move to our new home. Even though we will miss the “gezelligheid” (Dutch word for “coziness”) of living together in community with the people here in “Epe House”, we are looking forward to finally having something of our own; our own kitchen and bathroom, for instance. Things have already been happening here at Epe House. Our neighbor, Dorien has gotten married and moved out, and Arnold has gotten married to a lovely Rwandan lady and lives in a room next to ours. As soon as we leave they will take over our two-room apartment. At the moment, we are living together here with a total of seven staff (plus Lisa), and only one bathroom.
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Furlough
It’s finally time again for furlough! Hooray! It has already been almost two years ago since we were last in the States, and especially since Lisa was born in the mean time, it has seemed like a long wait. We can’t wait to finally take Lisa to the States and show her off to family and friends. She is 15 months old and will be almost 16 months (going on 16 years) by the time we arrive.
When do We Fly?
We fly out of Amsterdam on Dec. the 13 th , and arrive the same day at 8PM in Phoenix . We will be there for 10 weeks, and will be traveling around in Arizona , California and probably Oklahoma .
Furlough or Vacation; what’s the difference?
Whenever we go on furlough, the question arises about the difference between furlough and vacation. It’s quite simple actually; vacation is time off from work that you spend at home or in another country. Furlough is a time specifically for people who live and work in a different country to come back to their own country to see family and friends again. In the case of a missionary, it is also an important time to build relationships with the home church and prayer and financial supporters.
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Rodney
As web designer, I have taken on a project for an organization called Agrinas, to develop a webpage for them. Agrinas is a Christian organization that supports several different agricultural projects in countries like Bosnia , Albania and China . In this way, I can be a part of the good work they are doing in these countries without even leaving my office in Holland.
Since a month’s time, I have a new co-worker from India . His name is Joseph Vallikavunkal and he has come to Heidebeek to work in the computer department. It is good to have another co-worker join me in the IT dept. Even though he speaks English well, I sometimes have a hard time understanding him because of his strong Indian accent.
Jolanda
Since the beginning of October, I am working in the Member Care dept. of Heidebeek. It’s Member Care’s ministry to care for missionaries that have been sent out by YWAM Holland, to help them do their work more effectively. They provide missionaries in the field encouragement, advice, prayer, pastoral care, de-briefing talks and pastoral visits. Heidebeek is still the “home base” for many missionaries that have been sent out from Holland and Member Care helps to take care of them. It is a great place to work and draw on my field experience in Bosnia . I can really identify with the feelings and experiences of missionaries on the field worldwide.
Well, that wraps up another Blevins News. Thank you once again for your prayer and support, financially and otherwise.
Blessings, The Blevins