Its official now! We’re married and this is our first combined newsletter. For those who have been receiving Alette’s updates, we hope you’ll enjoy it.
Since the
last newsletter, we have taken some extra time to get settled and ask the Lord what this season of our lives is about. This was really needed after all the expected and unexpected changes in the past year. Not in the least, the fact that we are staying in The Netherlands for at least another year instead of moving to Congo, as we shared in our previous newsletter.
We believe He has clearly answered and spoken to us about the coming period. You can read more about that below, as well as get caught up on what has happened in the past three months. Enjoy reading!
Shalom,
Johan & Alette
The Wedding
Getting married is definitely no small thing! Months of preparations preceded the day. We were blessed to have Alette’s family over from Norway and the U.S, as well as friends from about eight other countries. And because of the webstream many more could follow the wedding service online.
We were so moved as we made our vows to each other before the Lord in your presence. We experienced His pleasure over us and over the testimony of His good leadership in our lives. How good it is to wait for the Lord to fulfill His promises in His time! We continue to reflect on the beauty of that day. The weather was incredible! The morning with friends and family was heart warming, as was the reception time, in which, we got to greet so many people whom we love. Then followed a dinner and prophecy time that was better than we had hoped. Truly a day to cherish!
As Alette said, apart from your funeral it is probably the only time in your life that you have (almost) all the people you love in one location. We wished we could have extended that fellowship with a week or more, but we will have to wait until the coming Kingdom for that! Thanks so much to everyone who came, watched, prayed, and gave or in other ways added to this start of our lives together!
Life in Amersfoort
Right after our short honeymoon in a lovely hotel and spa we moved to Amersfoort, a beautiful city about an hour from Amsterdam with an 800 year old city center. We were met by a warm spiritual family that welcomed us with open arms! We are part of the team of the local house of prayer ‘GA’, ‘Gebedshuis Amersfoort’, as well as a church that truly is hungry for the Lord. After having been here for two months, we feel settled for the first time in years.
In the first month, when we were just getting settled, we still were not sure though what this season is all about. There were so many options. We decided to set October apart as a month to inquire of the Lord, and to serve in the house of prayer every day of the week that it is open, before making any decisions. In addition, we thought it would be wise to start looking for jobs and try out if that door would open or not.
Recommissioning
Towards the end of October our hearts started to come alive again, more than we had felt in a long time, as we spent extensive time in prayer, worship, intercession and reading the Bible, as well as daily fellowship with others. Especially for Johan, the past four years of studying and being outside of a praying community had often felt like a dry wilderness.
As the month progressed the desire was reawakened to give our lives first to minister before the Lord and to be set apart, just like the whole tribe of the Levites was set apart for that purpose. We feel called to watch and see what He is doing in the land. We want to be a part of what He is doing here in the Netherlands, and to come alongside others in the prayer movement and help strengthen what he is birthing. There is such a need for prayer and worship to arise in the land to see especially the youth come to know God. Prayer brings forth Gods purposes and breaks down the plans of the enemy. By the end of October, we were fully convinced concerning the Lord’s direction: that we are called to be in the House of Prayer, while continuing in our studies. Right as that happened we received responses from the places where we had applied for jobs, saying that they had nothing for us, which we took as another confirmation.
At the end of the month we were blessed to host a team from IHOP-KC, led by one of the leaders, Kirk Bennett. They prayed and prophesied exactly these same things over us in a very specific way. When they left we knew beyond a doubt that the Lord had spoken over us regarding this season.
In short, we have been re-called and recommissioned for the next period to dedicate ourselves:
- T
o spending much time with the Lord, to minister before Him in and outside the house of prayer.
- To build our marriage,
- To live and serve in the Netherlands by watching what the Lord is doing, walking alongside Him, and serving where He wants us to, especially in prayer and in supporting the prayer movement in the Netherlands.
- To continue our studies as preparation for the future assignments He has in mind for us after this season.
GA, Gebedshuis Amersfoort, just got its first prayer room. We pray and worship about 20 hours per week as a team, while preparing both ourselves as a team and the building for its official opening somewhere in the Spring of 2015. Together we are also involved in prayer initiatives in the church, such as twelve hour times of worship on a Saturday, or Sunday evening times of worship and prayer where we simply wait on the Lord to encounter Him. It is so great to see that something is stirring in this church. We also support other events in the prayer movement that are happening across the nation, such as assisting in worship. Since our house is a place to host people that are involved in prayer initiatives, we regularly get to serve others that way as well by hosting them and supporting what they are doing.
Raising additional funds
Now that we know our calling for the coming period we need to raise some additional funds in order to continue to be able to give ourselves to this calling. Over the past year we have both lived from Johan’s support, as well as watched the Lord provide over and over thousands of dollars in additional funds to help us through the months. But we have a real need for an increase in monthly support, especially now that Alette is back in ministry as well. We therefore want to connect with more people in the coming months to invite them to enable us to do this.
We ask you to pray for us! We believe that He will fund for what He is calling us to in this season, but it is still a challenge of faith sometimes. Also, if you would like to support us financially, please let us know. We would love to get in contact with you about it and share more about what is on our hearts.
Forerunner update
The children in Orissa and Myanmar are still growing and going to school. David and Cornelia from Myanmar, who got married in February, are now expecting their first child. They are currently living with her parents, but hope to be able to find a place of their own. The boarding building is not suitable for the couple, as many of the children that they have taken in live there, as well as some students. Additionally, the building is used for youth meetings and other events. David asked us to pray for them.
In following newsletters we hope to give more attention to what is happening in each place.
Johan & Alette
