Church in Dutch
I've just returned from church and lunch afterward. Some missionaries here took me to a church across town, where Don McCurry, the professor of the class I'm taking, was preaching this morning. He preached in English with Dutch translation, and the entire worship service, announcements, etc. was all in Dutch. It was really interesting for me (with no Dutch at all!). I only knew a few of the songs, but the ones I knew I sang under my breath in English. It was actually pretty cool to sing "every tongue, and tribe, and nation will join in the song of the Lamb" with another nation in another tongue! I like that worship song anyway, but hearing it in Dutch was unique.
Afterward, the Dutch pastor treated us to lunch at a Dutch pancake house. I had a bacon and cheese pancake (more like a crepe), but it was so filling that I couldn't finish it, and I wish I hadn't eaten as much as I did! The pastor Jan and his wife Alla are both graduates of Zion Bible Institute in Rhode Island, so we had lots of stories to share over lunch, since my parents were students there way back when. In fact quite a few Dutch pastors have gone to school at Zion; I never realized how far their student body was spread.
Please pray for our class tomorrow. A tabloid journalist found out about the courses on Islam that the Bible college here is offering, and wanting to provoke a "sensational" story, he approached some Muslim religious leaders about the classes. After a meeting between the Bible college president, the Muslim leaders, and the journalist, we have opened our class tomorrow to these Muslim leaders to sit in and view for themselves what we are presenting. They will be asking the students questions, as well, so please pray for wisdom in both our presentation and in our responses to their questions.
Afterward, the Dutch pastor treated us to lunch at a Dutch pancake house. I had a bacon and cheese pancake (more like a crepe), but it was so filling that I couldn't finish it, and I wish I hadn't eaten as much as I did! The pastor Jan and his wife Alla are both graduates of Zion Bible Institute in Rhode Island, so we had lots of stories to share over lunch, since my parents were students there way back when. In fact quite a few Dutch pastors have gone to school at Zion; I never realized how far their student body was spread.
Please pray for our class tomorrow. A tabloid journalist found out about the courses on Islam that the Bible college here is offering, and wanting to provoke a "sensational" story, he approached some Muslim religious leaders about the classes. After a meeting between the Bible college president, the Muslim leaders, and the journalist, we have opened our class tomorrow to these Muslim leaders to sit in and view for themselves what we are presenting. They will be asking the students questions, as well, so please pray for wisdom in both our presentation and in our responses to their questions.