Last week, there were four schools here at Heidebeek. The “Mercy and Justice” DTS and the “School of Intercessory Prayer” (SOIP) started in January and are getting ready to go on outreach. Besides those, a DTS and a School of Evangelism had just come back fro outreach in Indonesia, Brazil, India, Nepal and England. It’s always encouraging to hear testimonies of the things God has being doing through them on outreach. Jolanda and I had the privilege of helping debrief one of the students in the School of Evangelism.

Some staff and students from the SOIP

It was full house at the Blevins’ as we hosted 16 staff and students (12 nationalities including us) from the School of Intercessory Prayer. They come from France, India, South Korea, China (her face is blurred for her safety), Togo, Cameroon, Paraguay, Germany, Australia, Holland, America, and Zimbabwe.

Connected!

Connected: YWAM Europe News and Info!

I, Rodney, recently published (by e-mail) the third edition of the e-newsletter Connected: YWAM News and Info! This is a newsletter for YWAM staff in Europe and is full of news and information about what is going on in Europe the coming seven months, eg. all the schools, workshops, outreaches and other events that will be taking place. I have received much positive feedback which is very encouraging. My hope is that this will help the staff of YWAM Europe feel more “connected” to each other and to what God is doing throughout Europe.

Rodney’s Health

I haven’t written much about this, but I would like to give a short update on my health. I have struggled with fatigue off and on for the last several years, but since last September, it has gotten to a point where I felt I needed to go to a doctor to have it checked out. Several months and several tests later, nothing alarming has been found, thankfully. They have ruled out apnea, anemia, asthma, and my blood generally looks good as well.

This is all a relief, of course, but I’m still struggling with a general fatigue. Basically, I wake up in the morning not feeling like I’ve slept, and most days, especially afternoons, I struggle at work to concentrate on what I need to do, and never-mind starting something new, because it’s usually just too overwhelming to think about.

The last few days, I have been feeling a little better, but please continue to pray for me. Jolanda has been having worse-than-usual eczema lately as well, so please keep her in your prayers as well.

This was a shorter than normal update, but we hope you enjoyed it.

As I shared in my last update (last October!), I would visit YWAM’s International Communication Network (ICN) in Colorado Springs, CO. These are people I have worked with before on various short-term projects and workshops, but now I was able to visit their offices and see where they work. The team made up of about 12-15 people.

I, and many others of us who are working with YWAM’s regional communication teams, see them as our “spiritual parents” in the area of communication since they have been so instrumental in seeing many regional communication teams come together. They have been supportive of us, both with their time and even with small financial donations from time to time.

School of Mission Communication (SMC)

While I was there, I had the honor of joining in briefly with the School of Mission Communication (SMC), a 3-month YWAM course, the ICN was running. This course was comprised of 11 students from 7 different nations (Russia, Benin, Indonesia, Nigeria, US, India and Thailand) who received training in photography, journalism, web design, video production, public speaking, writing and social media, among other subjects.

Time of intercession during the school

YWAM ICN Office

It was good to meet these men and women who are serving on the “front-lines” with YWAM in various locations and who took the time away from their respective ministries to get further training as “mission communicators”. Besides hanging out and getting to know them, I was also given an hour to share with the students about EuroCom and lead an intercession time for communication in Europe.

Budapest

There’s no easy way to communicate this, but after much prayer, discussion and tears, we felt it was right to let go of our dream of moving to Budapest for now. It was especially difficult for me, Rodney, as this was originally my dream. In releasing this, I really went through what some call the “death of a vision”.

There are several reasons we came to this conclusion, advice from others, financial reasons, etc. Any one of these wouldn’t be enough to cause us to draw this conclusion, but, all things considered, it became clear that this was the right decision.

This leaves us with many questions in our minds since I, especially, felt strongly that it was God’s will. We don’t have any answers for these questions, only hints, but we continue to trust God that He was and is leading us and guiding us.

Colorado Springs

As is often the case, when God shuts one door, He opens another. After releasing the Budapest vision in September, I, Rodney, fell into what felt like a deep pit. You could say I was almost in a burn-out with very little energy and no motivation to do much of anything. But, since I had been invited months earlier to visit the ICN and the School of Mission Communication, this seemed like a good thing to do in November.

While I was there, I had good conversations with mostly Rob Abraham and Debra Buenting who are on the leadership team. The possibility that this team would be a good fit for me began to grow in my heart and we talked about what that could look like.

This would mean moving to Colorado Springs as a family. Since I have been there, I already have a good idea of how that would be, but since neither Jolanda or the kids have been there, we felt it was a good idea to go and explore the possibility.

For this reason, we are going as a family to Colorado Springs in April to visit the ICN, and another YWAM ministry there called YWAM Strategic Frontiers which is a large base similar to Heidebeek. This base has 150 staff and 100 children under the age of 18! There will be plenty of people for Jolanda to talk to and for our kids to play with if we do end up moving there.

There would be many opportunities for Jolanda to serve both at the ICN and the other YWAM base. We will be looking into what these might be as well. We will also most likely visit elementary schools to give the girls an idea of what it would be like to live and go to school there.

Interesting fact: In April, five Heidebeek families will be on outreach in three different locations!

Nieuw Heidebeek staff

New Staff Introduction Course

New Heidebeek Staff
Recently, Heidebeek welcomed six new staff members “on board”. This meant that Jolanda and her co-workers in the Personnel Department and Staff Care and Development (SCAD) were busy organizing an introduction course for these new staff. Experience has taught them that it is very important that all new staff get a good introduction to living and working at Heidebeek.

During this course (which consist of two full days and then one afternoon a week for several weeks), the new staff receive training on how to deal with change, mentoring and being mentored, fundraising, etc. The new staff also get a chance to share together about their experiences in their first few weeks here at Heidebeek.

HFT Training Day Registration

Home Front Teams Training Day

On March 10th, 350 people gathered for the “Home Front Teams” (HFT) Training Day, organized by the Dutch Missions Alliance, for teaching and encouragement. These “Home Front Teams” are teams of two to six people who have joined together for the purpose of providing practical support (prayer, help with fundraising, communication with the local church, etc.) for a particular missionary. They are typically family, friends or members of the same church. They’re kind of like a missions board who have joined together for the sole purpose of serving that particular missionary (or missionary family).

Jolanda was present to help out during the day but also to represent YWAM to the various Home Front Teams whose missionaries are working with YWAM somewhere in the world, and to answer any questions they might have. She had contact with HFTs whose missionaries are working in places like The Philippines, Cambodia, Chili, Brazil and Mozambique, just to name a few.

Church Youth Group

A few weeks ago, Heidebeek hosted a youth group from a local church for a “survival” weekend preparing them for a missions trip they will be taking next summer. They slept in makeshift tents in the woods behind our house and were given all kinds of challenges, such as hanging from trees with ropes, eating around a campfire and getting pulled out of bed in the middle of the night to go on a hike through the forest.

Saturday morning, it was time for an “international” breakfast. They were sent out in groups of five to various houses here at Heidebeek for an African, Danish, Indonesian or American breakfast, the last one served up by none other than yours truly. This was intended to help them get a “taste” of missions.

Together with our (grand-)parents*

Furlough in Arizona

As many of you may know, since we got to see you while we were there, we were on furlough in Arizona in July. We enjoyed getting to see many of you even though we would have loved to have spent more time with most.

One of the main reasons for going in July was because my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in a big way. They decided to do this on Sunday morning in church with their entire church family, and it was a great way to do it, in my opinion. We would like to thank all of you again who had a part in making the celebration service(s) so special, both by your hard work before and during, but also by your presence there. Even though it was my parents anniversary, it meant a lot to us as well.

“Reverend Rodney”

Of course, any report about our furlough would be incomplete without mentioning the fact that on the last Sunday there (July 31st) I got ordained as a minister with the Pentecostal Church of God (PCOG). This was a very special service and it was even more so because I got to celebrate it together with our River of Life church family. Also, thanks to everyone who helped out with the celebration meal afterwards. A special shout out to Sean McDonald who took the wonderful photos and to Lynn and Ken Greenwall who opened up their home for the celebration meal afterwards.

Reverends Rodney and Tony Blevins*

Ordination Service*

New Staff

New Staff

In September, five new staff started working here at Heidebeek. Jolanda and her co-workers from the Personnel Department and the Staff Care and Development ministry organized a two-day staff orientation seminar. This intensive seminar is required for all new staff and helps get them acquainted with Heidebeek, living in community, the staff handbook, mentorship and living by faith, among other things.

Leading worship during the staff days

A “spirited” life

In September, Heidebeek also kicked off a the new season with their yearly staff days. The theme was “Living a Spirited (Spirit-filled) live”. We were challenged by several different teachings on the different aspects of living a Spirit-filled life. The time was very intense (or at least that’s how I, Rodney, experience it) but good.

Takin’ it to the streets

Wednesday afternoon, during the Staff Days, all Heidebeek staff took the afternoon to go out into the surrounding cities and villages to evangelize. We and our kids joined a team together with two other families and went into the local village to see if we could get into contact with people on the street. We didn’t see anyone come to Christ, but we had some good conversations. Most importantly, though, we have introduced our kids to evangelism and that they also play an important role in telling other people the Good News that Jesus loves them.

Out on the street with our kids, showing people God’s love

YWAM’s International Communication Network

On November 11th, I, Rodney will fly out to Colorado Springs, Colorado for a visit to YWAM’s International Communication Network. These are my colleagues who are helping to serve YWAM’s communication needs globally. Among the many excellent ways in which they do this, they started and help oversee the regional communication team initiative, of which EuroCom is a part, they publish the GO Manual which is YWAM’s big book of all the locations and schools worldwide, and they help maintain ywam.org.

Currently, one of the things they are doing is running the School for Mission Communication (SMC). This school, on top of the many other excellent communication schools YWAM has to offer, focuses specifically on training communication staff who will go back to their bases, nations and regions to work there. They have invited me to join them, to network with the students (maybe do some recruiting for YWAM Europe), sit in on classes, hang out with the ICN staff, etc. I have made several friends in the ICN over the last few years, but this is my first time visiting their offices, so I am excited about that.

As an added blessing, since I will be there for Thanksgiving day, my parents will be coming up to be with me and we will celebrate that together.

* photos taken by Sean McDonald

YWAM Budapest

We’ve been back in The Netherlands for almost two months now, and already a little used to being back again. And did it ever take some getting used to; being back in our little house here after living in such a castle for five months!!! Ha ha!

We have both dived back in to our work here at Heidebeek, which brings mixed feelings at times. I (Rodney) am finding it a challenge to get back into the swing of life here at Heidebeek. The office in Budapest was just so quiet compared to the busyness of Heidebeek. Jolanda is getting settled back in fairly well, but she also feels ambivalent as she stays in contact with the work she started doing for YWAM Central Europe. One thing is certain, though, that having tasted working and living in Budapest, we certainly miss it!

The most frequently asked questions!

Budapest

Since we’ve been back in The Netherlands, many people hav asked us: “Will you be going back to Budapest?”

We are hoping to have everything worked out so that, sometime next year, we can take the big step of returning to Budapest. We both feel strongly that God has given us a clear “yes!” about Budapest. This has been a process that we have been in for more than a year, but having lived in Budapest and especially now that we’re back in The Netherlands, we feel the confirmation more strongly than ever.

The next question people usually ask is: “When will you be going back to Budapest?”

This one’s a little harder to answer. First and foremost we need to increase our monthly financial support. Up until this point, the Dutch government has been our biggest supporter, in a manner of speaking. As soon as we officially leave The Netherlands as our country of residence, we will have to give up about $550 per month of social benefits that we receive from the government. Another important question is the girls’ education: will we homeschool them like we did during the trial period, should we put them in local, Hungarian school, or should we choose for the International Christian School where all of the YWAM kids are going. This last option would be the easiest and best long-term solution for our family, but that will cost about $4500 per child per year!

In other words, to be able to live in Budapest, we need to see our monthly support increase by $1400 to $2100 per month!

“Jumping into the deep end…”

We have faith that God will bring us to Budapest. How and when He will do that, is not yet completely clear. We are taking it one step at a time, being careful not to get ahead of the grace and faith He has granted us. At this time, we feel that God is asking us to start raising support before we can definitely say when we will return. This could change at some point and we ask for much prayer for wisdom that we don’t jump too soon or wait too long.

Of course, we have our share of doubts about the whole undertaking. Doubt can sometimes be good, in that it pushes us to draw closer to Jesus and rely on Him. If we felt complete confidence in ourselves, we might forget to take the time to seek Him, and that would be a big mistake. When God calls us to do something, it is often like “jumping into the deep end”, and comes with some doubt and trepidation. The question is, really, if we are going to push through the doubt onward into all that God has for us. Our answer to this is a resounding “yes!”

We covet your prayers in this and ask you to continue standing with us in prayer. Any words, scriptures, pictures or ideas you have, please let us know.

Equip Workshop in Vienna

Last week I, Rodney, attended the University of the Nations Equip workshop in Vienna, Austria. My primary purpose for going was to meet and network with communication staff working with YWAM in Europe, but I was also blessed and encouraged by the times of worship, messages and workshops that made up the busy schedule. It was also good to get to see some friends again that I hadn’t seen in a while.

Bud Speck, European comm. coordinator, Wycliffe

On Tuesday, I was also privileged to meet up with Bud Speck, the European communication coordinator for Wycliffe Bible Translators who is based in Austria. We spent some time getting to know each other and asking questions about our respective organizations and what our jobs are as communication coordinators. It was a blessing to meet up with him and we even talked about the possibility of meeting up sometime with the European communication people for Campus Crusade for Christ, and Operation Mobilisation (OM).

On Thursday, and informally througout the week, we as communicators working in Europe met up to talk about what EuroCom is and a little bit about what is going on in Europe. We discussed several issues, including what means there are for getting our news out to the different locations of YWAM Europe.

Furlough in the U.S.

In just a few days time, July 2nd, we will be flying out to Arizona, U.S.A.! The four weeks in Arizona are already filling up with activities. We will be giving a presentation in our church there in Globe on July 17th and we also want to visit with as many friends and supporters as possible. Of course, we will also be spending as much time as possible with my (Rodney’s) parents and celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary!

Thank you for the continued part you take in our ministry and our calling!

This will unfortunately be our last update from Budapest for a while, but most certainly not our last one ever. Read on to find out more.

European Leadership Forum

During the first week of March, the Central European office helped organize a forum for YWAM Europe leaders. We were pleased that more than 100 leaders participated in this event, which was held on a “Boatel” (Boat Hotel) on the Danube River. The leaders came to network, discuss and inspire around the themes of pioneering and partnership.

We heard many stories from some current pioneering works in countries such as Ireland, Czech Republic and Norway. Leaders were exhorted through the story of Caleb and Joshua from the Old Testament. Are they prepared to take on the “giants” around them in order to step into God’s promises and experience multiplication in ministries?

This forum gave leaders the opportunity to get in contact again (or for the first time) with other YWAM leaders from all over Europe, to share vision and pray with each other… working together on a strategic plan for the future of YWAM Europe.

New encounters and challenges!

During this forum, Jolanda got the opportunity to meet together with other colleagues who, like her, are working in Member Care. This meeting was very informative (as well as a blessing), to be able to hear from each other and brainstorm together about how better to fulfill their role of taking care of our own YWAM staff here in Europe. In this meeting, there were ten colleagues from Finland, Albania, Romania, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, England and Hungary.

All ten of them work each on their own base, caring for their base staff, but as a joint team they would like to focus on Member Care for all of Europe. There are plenty of small, pioneering YWAM teams in Europe who do not get pastoral help and care but who may be in need of it. As a joint team they want to bless YWAM staff in Europe with their expertise and experience.

Central European Member Care

Jolanda and Carmelita at the office

At the beginning of our stay here in Budapest, Jolanda had several conversations with Carmelita, leader of the Central European Region, about the need for Member Care for staff in the 15 countries within this region. Carmelita is looking for someone with the knowledge and experience in this area to oversee Member Care and Jolanda has started taking on the task of Member Care (pastoral care) for this region.

YWAM Central Europe

For example, she is involved at this moment with a YWAM team in Kosovo who are just forming and working through the ins-and-outs of forming a team. Together with Carmelita, she is in contact with this team via email and Skype. YWAM Kosovo doesn’t have a base or even a national structure yet, so they still fall directly under the Central European office in Budapest.

She and Carmelita also process new staff applications that are coming in from people who want to join YWAM in this region. This is a lot of responsibility, but it’s rewarding to be involved with the work of YWAM and with the workers on the ground in countries such as Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic and so on! Most of all, though, it is good to help build God’s Kingdom in Central Europe!

Back to Heidebeek

Unfortunately our “trial period” here in Budapest has come to an end. We have to return to Holland since Lisa and Sarah are required to be back in school there on May 9th. We have mixed feelings about returning to Heidebeek, especially now that we have gotten used to the pace of work and life here.

This trial period has been very good and we feel that God is calling us to return to Budapest to work here with YWAM Central Europe. Before we can realize this, though, many practical things have to be arranged. This makes it difficult to pinpoint an exact time when we will be returning since we want to arrange everything as well as we humanly can.

For now, though, we will return to Heidebeek and pick up our work and lives there. Jolanda will move back into her pastoral role of staff (and student) care and development and is looking forward to once again being part of the training and mentoring of staff and students there. She will also still be available via Skype for the missionaries/teams on the field here in Central Europe. Rodney will continue his work for EuroCom and Central Europe like he did before.

Lisa and Sarah are also experiencing this adventure with missed feelings. Their time has come to say goodbye to kindergarten, dance classes, Sunday School and home schooling. Lisa misses the children at Heidebeek and school in The Netherlands and is looking forward to seeing them again. Sarah misses Opa and her little stroller and baby doll the most. And yet, we’re sure there are things they will miss here: newly-made friends, the shopping malls, the large house, etc. We are blessed with two girls who have adapted well to this new culture, language and environment …. They have done superbly here in Hungary.

We were also blessed to have two teachers with us during our time here. We have already written about the first teacher, Janneke, and now a little about “Miss Jedidja”. She was with us for six weeks and did a fantastic job in providing daily education to our girls. Last week, Jolanda started teaching them, but they keep telling her that “Miss Janneke” and “Miss Jedidja” did it “much better”.

Sunday evening, May 1st we will arrive back at Heidebeek!

Furlough in Arizona

This coming summer we will be going on furlough for four weeks in Arizona. As soon as Sarah and Lisa’s summer vacation begins in July, we fly off to Phoenix. This is something that the four of us, and especially Grandpa and Grandma are really looking forward to.

We want to take this time to re-connect with our “partners” (supporters), family and friends. This summer will mark 2-1/2 years since we were there in Arizona. One of the main reasons, though for going this summer is because Rodney’s parents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in July and that’s an event that just can’t be missed. We fly out on July 2nd and return on August 2nd so the girls will be well over jet-lag before they have to start back to school on August 15th.

We are thankful to God that we were able to book the tickets and if you would be interested in giving specifically for that, we would be grateful.

Thank you once again for partnering with us and reading our update. As always, if you enjoyed it, hit the “reply” button and let us know.

Isten aldja! God bless!