weekly updated blog & prayer requests
May 17th 2012
Brother Sansigithan, contactperson for Asia, expects soon to be able to send money for shipping of a laptop which he will receive from me including a lot of software and some videos. About 3 months ago I requested the immigration office in the Netherlands to accept Local Body of Christ to be on a list which allows me to invite people from abroad to come and minister in the Netherlands. The minister of foreign affairs who deals with hasn't come with an answer yet so we are still waiting for that.
I have several personal goals which I will use to promote Local Body of Christ worldwide in the media. These are:
1. becoming a worldclass classical guitarist (I have studied at college of music in the past but the teachers advised me to keep it as a hobby instead of for professional performing. I believe the Lord will make it a reality though.
2. Getting first in Worldclass mode with realistic damage without cheating in the PC rally game Richard Burrns which is a hardcore game. It's very realistic and very difficult to master. I have uploaded my progress to my Youtube account MrTheomatics. (Here a link to the last video in the chain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13vS5NakS5I). I am already second overall and very close to getting first. It took me 7 years to get to this level which is shown in the video. It's the most easy goal to realize of all the 4 goals mentioned in this list but
3. Becoming multimillionaire through an online business with a yearly income of 6 million dollars.
4. Becoming a professional tennis player with an ATP ranking even if it would the lowest ATP ranking. This(the lowest ATP ranking or higher) is actually the hardest goal of all to reach as I played tennis from age 11 but not on a club. Only against the wall and only once a year on a tennis court. Since 4 years (I was 33 back then) I am member of a tennisclub and taking tennis lessons and I am progressing according to plan. Before I turn 50 I expect to have an ATP ranking.
Please pray for brother Sansigithan that he will soon receive the laptop and that it will be a blessing for him and the ministry. Please pray that Local Body of Christ will be accepted to receive foreigners for missionary work. Please pray that these 4 goals as above stated will become a reality before I turn 50. The scope of this ministry requires me as the founder to inspire many people and to be open in whom I am in order for the message of Local Body of Christ to be accepted all over the world.
May 5th 2012
Brother Odeke, the contactperson for Africa has been in touch with both brother Tekle, Ethiopia and the contactperson for Ghana, brother Isaac Kwarteng. It was both by email and telephone. It still is a challenge to be in regular contact. Please pray that they will be able to stay in regular contact.
Brother Abel, who is the contactperson for Lira, a city in Northern Uganda has organized a couple of meetings by now with people from a certain neighbourhood called Senior Quarters within that city. The meetings were beautiful and this is encouraging news. Praise the Lord for this development. Please pray that the line of communication (contactperson city to contactperson country to contactperson continent back to me as the leader) will go smoothly. It is still a big challenge.
We have opened a bank account for Stichting Local Body of Christ by now. Both the account number and the KVK number (the number at which this Foundation is registered in the Netherlands) will be put on the website on the page Contact Us.
April 20th 2012
Last week I prepared an Excel file which the leaders for the continents can use for providing updates. I am waiting for the first time to receive a report with the layout as I provided in the Excel file.
Brother Haseeb from Save Pakistan Ministries invited me to come and minister in Pakistan.
Give praise for this invitation to Pakistan and pray that the leaders will be able to use the Excel file and will be able to update weekly on what is happening in their continent for Local Body of Christ.
April 14th 2012
On December 29th 2011 the Stichting (Foundation) Local Body of Christ has come into existence. It's now an official recognized Foundation. Praise the Lord.
In February I have been to Uganda to speak on a conference, speak on a regional radio station and to minister to a Christian vocational school. About 60 new co-workers have joined the ministry in Uganda. The leadershipstructure has been put more into place and there is now also a contactperson for the city Lira in Uganda.
In Kenia I had a fruitful meeting with brother Paul who is leading the ministry in Kenia.
Both in Uganda and in Kenia we have discussed a good number of things including a strategy on how to deal with doctrinal controversies in the Church.
Brother Isaac Kwarteng has received a minilaptop and he expects soon to have internet access on it and to grow the ministry into a couple of other cities in Ghana.
Brother James Odeke in Uganda has received a minilaptop and a smartphone which he can put to good use for the ministry.
Last Easter I have been to Berlin, Germany to do pioneer ministry in order to start Local Body of Christ in Germany and to find a contactperson for both Germany and Europe. It was a rough trip. I had €20 for the whole trip which lasted from Thursday to Monday. I hitchhiked from Almere, Netherlands to Berlin, Germany and back. I didn't have a place to stay other than staying in McDonalds which was open until 06:00 and to stay in a shopping centre which was open during the night and to stay at the airport. Before I went I called for 4 hours in order to get in touch with several Churches. In Berlin I gave 500 businesscards for Local Body of Christ to a sister in the Lord who promised to give it to her pastor who will keep it until there will be a contactperson for Local Body of Christ in Germany. I visited several Churches in Berlin and did some door-to-door ministry in order to get in touch with Christians. To my surprise I didn't find any Christians at all after having visited about 50 homes.
As a result of this trip we are now in touch with 2 Churches in Berlin area. It remains to be seen what this will mean for the growth of this ministry in Germany.
At home I have fast internet, a landline and 3 mobile phone subscriptions. This means that calling abroad is now easy and relatively cheap. As a result of the availability of these communication tools I will spend several hours/month on international telephone calls in order to give training to the contactpersons for Asia and Africa and to have fellowship with them and to discuss everything related to this ministry.
In Uganda, brother Richard Kirunda has become an apostle to me to whom I will be accountable and whom I can ask for advise. This is alongside brother Pastor Sunday in the Netherlands who is my mentor.
Give praise for the visit to Uganda and Kenia and give thanks for all that has been done there. Give thanks for the visit to Berlin and please pray that Local Body of Christ will get 2 contactpersons in Berlin, Germany one for Germany and another one for Europe.
Give praise for my mentor and my apostle and please pray that I will keep the Lord Jesus close to my heart in all that I do. Please pray for all the co-workers and leaders in the ministry.
December 2nd 2011
It is either laziness or lack of time or lack of vision to update the blog regularly but I believe it is lack of time that causes this delay of so many months.
The registration of the ministry is nearing completion. Please pray for good communication between me brother Joep, the founder and the contactpersons for Asia and Africa, brother Sansigithan and brother Odeke respectively. Brother Odeke has a laptop but not easy access to internet. Maybe it is only a problem of money. If that's so than I can help.
As for brother Sansigithan it is probably a combination of lack of his own laptop and miscommunication.
I have confirmed that I will come to the conference in Uganda in February where I will speak on the ministry of Local Body of Christ including its vision and method. There will also be workshops been done. It is to be expected to be a major breakthrough for this ministry. The purpose was (and still is) to see a vibrant ministry be up and running in Uganda but for communication problems this still hasn't happened. There are several co-workers who want to be involved in this ministry who all live in Uganda.
Praise the Lord for the meetings which happen in Chennai India and 2 others in Kumasi Ghana.
June 25th 2011
My excuse to everybody for the typing mistake that was on the previous blog. Only today I realized that I had put February 28th 2010 as the date of that blog instead of 2011. It has been corrected now.
The ministry has grown that large that I didn't bother to update this blog as I was so busy with all the new developments. As one of the reasons for this website is to inform Christians worldwide about this ministry I didn't mind the delay in the update of this blog. The wonderful reason for that was that the ministry has spread to several new countries and several of the new co-workers have been instrumental to additional growth of this ministry. Praise the Lord.
However I felt the need to inform every interested person and those who come 'per chance' on this website about what is happening so I have taken the time now to put this message together.
The ministry of Local Body of Christ has now representatives in Africa, Asia and Europe.
Africa: Ghana, Ethiopia, Mali, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa with a pastor from Sudan who lives in Kenya and a contact which still needs to be contacted in Nigeria. The co-worker in Mali sees opportunity to spread this ministry in some surrounding countries of Mali too.
Asia: India, Philippines and Oman. I also received an email from a pastor from Pakistan but it is still not clear whether this email was meant to be received by me or not. This uncertainty will be cleared in the future I believe. The brother from Oman is a bit halfway between 'interested person' and 'co-worker' but that has more to do with the challenges a closed Muslim country as Oman gives the ministry than it has to do with himself.
Europe: apart from myself now also another co-worker in the Netherlands. Praise the Lord. He lives in The Hague whereas I live in Almere.
United Kingdom in London has also a co-worker by now.
That's on top of the Christian family whom I got to know through the international cycle trip I did for the ministry at the start of the ministry two years ago. They live in the far north-west of Scotland, UK. They fell more in the category of interested Christians than that I considered them to be co-workers. That may change in the near future.
Prayer requests: Please pray for wisdom in the leadership. I have already given responsibility to other people and have appointed a contactperson for the whole of Africa and another for the whole of Asia. For several countries where Local Body of Christ is represented I have appointed a contactperson for that country. This responsibility has been accepted so far by a co-worker in Uganda, Mali, Kenya and Ghana all of them in Africa.
Give praise for what the Lord has already done and give praise that this ministry is growing so fast in the least developed and economically poorest of all continents in the world, which is Africa. Spiritually Christianity has a large influence in many countries throughout Africa and it is a blessing that this ministry has grown this fast of all places in Africa and keeps on growing fast.
February 28th 2011
It has been too long for those who you who have come in to see whether there was an update to the blog. For those of you who noticed that it is advertised as a bi-weekly blog and that the last blog dated from December 16th 2010 you may have wondered what have happened to this ministry.
I feel sorry for all of you whom I have left in uncertainty. The Lord is leading Local Body of Christ's ministry in a way which to me just emphasizes how beautiful it is to know the Lord Jesus and to live for Him. Nothing else can compare to that.
It is time to open up to some of the things which have been going on but which haven't been talked about in this blog and which have only partly been talked about in the section 'About Us'.
1. The vision of this ministry is to see a Local Church being set up in each and every neighbourhood in the entire world. Not only that as it also seeks to come to a loving and mature Bride which is ready to marry her Husband the Lord Jesus. This vision is as large as it can get and that's the way I like it. Why settle for less? It's not about me in any way. It's about the Lord Jesus getting what He wants, which is a beautiful Bride, the Body of Christ. This is all to the honour of our Father in heaven.
This vision is that big that it cannot be achieved by one person. That's true with many visions but even more so with this one. I am willing to do whatever it takes for this vision to be fulfilled. Why? Because of my love for the Lord Jesus. If it all will work out and I believe it will, I will be in the centre of much attention. However I am not seeking fame or seeking to be rich for the sake of that. It will be the by-product of this ministry but if I can choose to be with the Lord in heaven right now, there isn't anything which would hold me back except the knowledge that the Lord has a task for me and that it will be beneficial to many if I stay here to live out that task.
2. The Church is divided worldwide over too many things. Unconditional love is the most important thing both directed to the Lord and to humans, especially brothers and sisters in order to achieve a visible Christian unity. It's not the only thing though. However everything else springs from that base.
3. If anybody wants to know what the full vision of Local Body of Christ entails I will send this person a very long email which talks about this in detail. It's very personal too and it's talking too about sensitive issues. However that's part and parcel of this ministry. In order to achieve the goal of this ministry one cannot hide from that which needs to be confronted. So whoever wants to get a copy of this email, he/she can let me know and I will send it to him/her. I put my trust in you when I send this to you. I hope it will benefit you spiritually and that you can be a blessing to those whom the Lord Jesus has given you.
4. Last but not least...
The Local Body of Christ ministry has now representatives in the Philippines, Ghana, India and Ethiopia. The contacts with India has been there for a time already. The contact in the Philippines had finally received the email explaining the vision of Local Body of Christ in detail. This is about 2 1/2 months ago. He hadn't been able to respond earlier but his response was encouraging.
The pastor and head of a mission organization in Ghana wanted to establish Local Body of Christ in Ghana but because of several circumstances it didn't work out until very recently. Now we are definitely heading towards the start of this ministry in Ghana.
About a month ago a pastor with a housechurch network in Ethiopia (in one city/town if I am not mistaken) has gotten in touch with us too. Translation of the website into Amharic is about to start and the ministry will find its way in Ethiopia too.
A brother from Oman I was brought in contact with. He is an expatriate from Chennai, India and will be able to visit the Local Body of Christ in Chennai somewhere this year as he visits Chennai every year. Right now we haven't talked in detail about opportunities for the ministry of Local Body of Christ in Oman but the challenge is in my heart especially because Oman has one of the lowest figures of indigenous Christians in any country in the world. According to Operation World 1997 edition there were about 20 native Christians in this Middle East country. There are however many expatriate Christians in this country.
A pastor from Pakistan also got in touch with Local Body of Christ but it is still not clear whether that was intentional. According to the content it was but according to the emailaddress not. It wasn't sent to
info@localbodyofchrist.com but to two emailaddresses with a Dutch name in it. He hasn't gotten back in touch with me so I don't know what is happening.
Please pray for all those new openings for ministry of Local Body of Christ in various parts of the world and subsequent cultures. Please pray for me, Joep de Kraker as founder of this ministry and please pray for the brothers and sisters in Chennai, India that they will stay focused on the Lord in whatever they do.
December 16th 2010
The business cards have arrived in India. 1500 in total. Yet another person got saved which is such a joy. There is now a team in India consisting of four persons.
Please pray for the letter to the pastor in the Phillippines to be finished shortly. I intend to send it at latest by Sunday. It's a letter explaining the vision of Local Body of Christ in detail. The pastor asked me for this so in order to pray informed. Please pray for the brothers and sisters in Chennai, India that they have good meetings and can do fruitful ministry for Local Body of Christ.
November 29th 2010
The business cards which were sent to India didn't arrive for one or another reason. They have been resent and again it seems that they haven't arrived. Hopefully through contact with the courier the problem will get resolved.
The translation of the website into tamil goes steadily which is very nice.
Those whom I sent a letter with a stamped letter in it, didn't reply in giving their emailadress. I have waited for about 2 weeks now. From now on I will start organizing meetings through email in the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord, Almere, Netherlands.
Please pray that I find the time to finish the letter to the pastor in the Phillippines. It's a long letter with prayerpoints for the full vision of Local Body of Christ. Pray that the two persons who got converted through this ministry will grow into mature Christians. Please pray that the problem with the business cards will get resolved.
November 15th 2010
Finally I have sent letters to those in the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord, Almere, Netherlands in order to get their emailaddresses. I put a stamped envelope inside the letter and the letters are stamped with the Local Body of Christ stamp. This looks nice and is beneficial for the communication. I will wait some time and then I will get on with preparing various kinds of meetings in this neighbourhood informing everybody through email.
My co-worker in India will start translating parts of the website into Tamil.
The pastor in the Phillippines asked for prayerpoints and I am presently busy already for some weeks preparing an extensive email in which all facets of this ministry and its vision is encompassed.
Please pray for the continuation of this ministry in the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord. Please pray that the business cards will arrive at the home of my co-worker in India. The last delivery went somehow wrong and Vistaprint has resent the 1500 business cards. Please pray that the letter which I prepare for the pastor in the Phillippines will be clear. It's about the ultimate goal of this ministry and how to achieve that through various means. The challenges are huge but the Lord is with us so we believe. It's all about the Bride who is preparing herself for her husband, the Lord Jesus Christ.
October 31th 2010
Some days ago I ordered too 5000 English business cards for a huge discount and I have a big stamp now so that whenever letters are sent, that they can be quickly stamped with Local Body of Christ.
My co-worker in India has brought two people to the Lord which is a very joyful event. These people are the first to become Christians through the ministry of Local Body of Christ and they are very important to this ministry as they don't have the baggage other Christians have. They get introduced from the start with the vision that every Christian within a neighbourhood form together the Local Church.
From the Phillippines special news too. A pastor's family is praying for the ministry and apart from the prayer from me and my co-worker is this the first clear regular prayer support since the start of this ministry. Other people have either prayed for it in the past at a prayer meeting or on an individual base. However this pastor's family's prayer is a committed kind of prayer which is a blessing to the ministry.
Also they are the first to actually give an invitation to Local Body of Christ for ministry in their area.
Please pray that the vision of Local Body of Christ will be supported by a workable strategy. As Local Body of Christ grows, administrative issues and communication problems are likely to grow too. So a hierarchical system will need to be set up to make sure that the vision for a Local Body of Christ in each neighbourhood will stay alive. At the same time it is very important that the Local Churches are fully independent and will make decisions on a consensus base. Registration as an official mission/church ministry organization is something which will be adventageous for Local Body of Christ but initially expensive. Please pray for wise exploitation of financial resources. E.g. ministry in the Phillippines or registration are both useful ways but they need to be in God's manner and God's time.
October 19th 2010
The book is finished which I read for the Bible study I am doing with the local person. I will spend time to look at the different viewpoints and the intention is to get back in touch with that person shortly after that.
I have ordered 5000 Dutch business cards for a very good price. That's a lot for one person. I am very glad about that.
I have ordered 1500 English business cards for my co-worker in India which will arrive at his home in 3 weeks time. After that he will start doing ministry in the area around VOC street (which is basically the same name as the street in which I presently live), Puzhal, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Meanwhile I have asked my co-worker for advise and help with the content of my website, which may be prove to be a challenging thing. Part of the problem is the Tamil script itself which cannot be used on a normal keyboard in Chennai. I am waiting for feedback about a website which remappes the keyboard so that one can write Tamil while being online. An update of my website into Tamil is likewise planned.
Today I prepared a Bible quiz consisting of about 50 questions most of which deal with controversial issues. It will be used for both gaining prayer support from a larger pool of Christians (mainly Bible students) and for raising awareness in the Body of Christ about controversial issues which presently divides the Body of Christ worldwide while it is God's will that we are united in Him.
Please pray for my co-worker that he will be able to do useful ministry for the Local Body of Christ and that I will be able to train him well in all aspects of this ministry. Please give praise to the Lord for the fact that the Local Body of Christ doesn't consist any more by one person but consists of two persons already for a couple of weeks!
October 6th 2010
Some time ago I ordered a Bible study book which I largely have read through. The time is coming near that I will get back to the local person I am doing Bible study with and to continue our Bible study about the topic he raised. His viewpoint is an extremely minority one. Through my preparation I came across two main viewpoints. I am at a loss presently to make up my mind by means of Bible study. However in my spirit I believe the general held position by most Christians to be the right one. However I cannot back it up presently with a clear cut Bible study. The other main viewpoint is actually quite convincing and backed up by thorough Bible study.
Please pray that the Lord will guide me in the conversation I have with this local person who wants to help the ministry given that we agree on the matter at hand. Please pray that I may prepare myself well.
September 26th 2010
Further talks with the pastor of a newly started church in Almere confirmed that we work together. Achiever's International Christian Centre and Local Body of Christ work together. Though we have different visions we still have found a way to be respectful of the vision of the other and to help one another. That's in itself also a beautiful sign of the unity of the Church. It was also confirmed that he is my mentor and that I am accountable in my ministry to him when it comes to church planting.
A young man who is both pastor and evangelist from India has joined the ministry which is another reason to praise the Lord for. For a couple of weeks we already have daily contact. This may change due to circumstances on his side. By any means he is committed to the ministry and will pray for it and wants to help the ministry. He has come up with some good advise. These include adding prayer requests to the weekly blog and to set up a Bible quiz in order to get a larger pool of Christians who are willing to pray for this ministry. The Bible quiz simultanuously provides a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness about difficult interpretative issues which presently divides the Body of Christ worldwide.
I have started to get the emailaddresses of all interested Christians within the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord (Almere, Netherlands). Once I have all of them (unless it takes too long) I will start to organize several meetings through group emails. I simularly will start to raise up a Local Church within this neighbourhood.
Please pray that I may proceed with wisdom and commitment. Please pray for both the Ghanese pastor and the Indian pastor and the role they want to play in this ministry. Please pray that the partnership between Achiever's International Christian Centre and Local Body of Christ may prove to be very fruitful for both ministries.
September 15th 2010
Only been doing lots of Bible study and spending time in prayer. However that's a worthwhile pursuit of time. As a result I have ordered a book which deals with arguments against what I believe is the right interpretation. It seems to be a book with quality arguments and therefore I didn't hesitate to buy it. The Internet has aided me too in several sites which were dealing with both sides of the argument at hand with the person which I am doing Bible study with. I will take my time and when I am well prepared I will get back to him again.
The time in prayer has resulted in some answers. Through the prayer I realized that I really need somebody within each neighbourhood who is willing to be a contact person for the Christians within the neighbourhood. I visited somebody and we did some brainstorming and he came with some good advise. I have also asked him to consider if he would be willing to be the contact person for his neighbourhood which is Almere-Buiten Centre (Almere, Netherlands). He will discuss this with his pastor and with his wife and will pray about it.
I also came to realize that I will need email addresses of those interested. It will be a lot easier to inform the Christians in a neighbourhood as a group and to come with dates for the meetings. Also telephone numbers will come in handy because you can set up a chain call. Whenever there is something urgent it can be arranged that one person calls one or two other persons and each of them calls another one or two persons until everybody has been reached.
It seems that I also have received an answer as to what responsibility I should take in concern to raising up a Local Church within the neighbourhood. I have been asked by a local pastor of a Church which has started only a few months ago to work together with him. He believes me to be the right person to take this responsibility. This gives me the necessary mentor to which I can be accountable. Otherwise I would have been a self-qualified church planter which can be a very unwise thing. We will have further talks about this and I pray about it with the Lord Jesus.
September 5th 2010
The prayer meeting was a blessing. It was held at the home of somebody out of the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord (Almere, Netherlands). 1 other person came and I was present to in order to facilitate the meeting. We have talked for some time thus getting to know each other better. Through this a prayer subject arose for which we have both given thanks and praise as well as that we prayed for it. The same subject was cause for praise in the life of the one and was cause for a prayer request for the other.
A second prayer meeting has been organized but nobody turned up. It was just the host and me.
So three times I have organized something for the Christians within this neighbourhood of which only 1 was a success. I have spend considerable time in prayer to ask the Lord about the next step. I feel a bit miserable. I belief I have to choose from basically four options.
1. To continue the same way as I have done up till now and to keep organizing meetings. The Lord will show the next step as I will organize those meetings.
2. To find a person who can take some responsibility so to ensure continuity of what has been achieved up till now within this neighbourhood.
3. To finish the ministry in this neighbourhood and to do the same ministry in other neighbourhoods.
4. To stop altogether with this ministry of the Local Body of Christ.
I believe the Lord wants a combination of the first three options. By the end of September I would like to start doing similar things in other neighbourhoods. In case I have an answer about what the Lord wants me to do for those who would like to have a Church in the neighbourhood, I will spend more time doing ministry within this neighbourhood. As my slogan is: Every Christian within your locality is together the Local Church, it is my heart desire to see a Local Body of Christ come to fruition within the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord (Almere, Netherlands).
I have gotten back to the person with whom I was doing Bible study. He has started to ask questions about my purpose of bringing up certain matters. This is disconcerting to me as I hope that the end of our Bible study will be agreement about what the Bible says about a certain matter. Also I want to analyze the process which leads to that conclusion. Too often people start to accuse one another of being dishonest or reasoning in circles and the end result is that both persons keep their own conviction and end the Bible study. His desire from the start has been to have a dialogue instead of a discussion. A discussion disrupts that what the other shares. I agreed to his ideal about a dialogue. Up till now our Bible study has mainly been of the format that he had specific things to share with me. I just followed his train of thoughts and whenever I had questions I put them forward. To him this is dialogue. I cannot say that I totally disagree with him on this. However to me it is a teaching session in which he is the teacher and I the pupil. I am not entirely sure if this contradicts a dialogue or that the way we do this teaching session can be seen as dialogue as well. This last time however I had specific things to share with him. That would make me the teacher and he the pupil. This is however contrary to his purpose as he is part of a belief system which most Christians would consider a Christian sect. From his point of view I am not a Christian as far as he can see from the outside. Apart from that he expressed concern about my motives of sharing these things with him and he also said that he had lots of other things to do and that we didn't really make progress as we had already sticked to one subject for some time. My reply to that comment would be that I have given him a lot of time to share certain things with me and that it would be fair to allow me also quite some time to share certain things with him.
I have emailed him about this update of our Bible study. If he would disagree with something I would try to come up with a combined statement. By now I have conferred with him about this and the text can stay as it is.
August 27th 2010
The first meeting was organised in the local park. The weather was beautiful. This meeting was for the Christians in the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord (Almere, Netherlands). I let everybody know who had indicated the park to be their place of preference or at least it to be an option. The intention was to organise one happening for different interests like prayermeeting, shared meals etc. That made for a list of 11 people. 3 of those promised to come. 3 of those said they couldn't come of which 1 said that it would probably never fit in the schedule of that person due to activities from the Church that person is part of. 1 backed off altogether. That's more or less the same situation as the person who said that it would never fit in that person's schedule. The only difference is that the first person will be informed directly about ongoing activities while the last one will only know what is happening by going to this website. Both persons wished me all the best with the Local Body of Christ. 2 of them said they would maybe come. The last 4 ones I sent a letter.
The result: After waiting for half an hour nobody had turned up. I went home. 45 minutes after I left I got a telephone call from 1 of the 3 who had promised to come. That person couldn't find it. So I should have communicated more clearly about both the starting time and the end time.
Next time better we agreed with no hard feelings whatsoever. The other 2 who had promised to come had very good reasons for not being able to come.
Of the other 8 people who were informed 1 let me know by SMS that that person was unable to come. I appreciated to be informed about that.
Presently I am organising a prayer meeting at somebody's home for those who were interested in a prayer meeting at somebody's home. More about that later.
Some news about the 2 persons who want to help me in this ministry.
With one of them I did Bible study. This has come to a temporarily standstill as I will do private Bible study on the matter he shared. I will get back to him as soon as I am ready for it. We both look forward to that moment.
And last but not least: I got positive news from the pastor from Ghana. This means that this ministry of the Local Body of Christ will become truly worldwide with both a presence in the Western World as a presence in the Third World. The implications of this are high and go far beyond the preliminary international ministry what has been done up till now in Belgium, Wales, England and Scotland. This is something to praise the Lord for.
August 20th 2010
By now there are only 2 persons left to ask their preference in regard to the place of fellowship. However after repeated visits I didn't find them at home. So I decided to call for the first meeting. More about that later.
Interesting things have happened. 2 persons have expressed their desire to help me in this ministry. One lives locally and we have started to do Biblestudy. He wants to help me as long as I don't ask him anything which goes against his beliefs. Very reasonable of course. That what I have asked him to do was OK with him. However we both agreed to do Bible study and to take the next step from there. More about that later.
Then there is another person. He is from Ghana and he is a fulltime minister and is involved in a mission organization. We have communicated a couple of times via email and presently he has received a detailed layout of this ministry and summary of what has been done. I have asked him to pray about it and see if he can agree to it in principle. His desire is to set up the Local Body of Christ in Ghana. So that's a special situation. I am currently waiting for his reply.
A last notice. I have visited the quarter Almere-Buiten centrum (Almere, Netherlands) once in order to get in touch with Christians. That resulted in a couple of beautiful encounters. I got to know about a starting Church at a certain couple's home within the neighbourhood.
August 10th 2010
Last week I continued to search out from the remaining 8 persons what place of fellowship they preferred. As people are often not at home it is difficult to come round at the right moment. Sometimes I make an appointment as to when I will visit somebody but even that is no guarantee that it will work out fine. So it is laborious work. I am down to 4 people whom I still need to confer with about the meeting place.
As I was free from work from Saturday August 7th afternoon 13:00 until Tuesday August 10th evening 18:30 I decided to continue contacting Christians in other neighbourhoods as well. By Monday 20:15 I had gone once through the whole of the neighbourhood Indische Buurt and Sieradenbuurt both in Almere, Netherlands.
Last week of July 2010
The last two/three weeks I spent in going through the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord (Almere, Netherlands) many times in order to find those who weren't at home the first time. After that I spent some time in contemplation and prayer in order to decide what was going to be the next step. Last week I wrote a letter in which I let every Christian know what was the result of the previous letter. 10 categories of interest were provided for in that previous letter. The result was:
1. A total of 9 Christians allowed all other Christians within their neighbourhood to receive their address.
2. 15 Christians would like to get the address of all the other Christians within their neighbourhood.
3. 10 would like to meet Christians and would contact them themselves.
4. 6 would like to receive help in contacting the other Christians.
5. 8 were interested in prayer meetings.
6. 9 were interested in singing hymns and other spiritual songs together
7. 9 were interested in Bible study.
8. 10 were interested in shared meals.
9. 8 were interested to get involved in Christian service together with other Christians out of their own neighbourhood.
10. 14 were interested in being Church together with the other Christians within their own neighbourhood.
I handed down the addresses of those 9 Christians to those interested to receive the addresses (15 in total).
I requested all who had filled in option 1, 2 and/or 3 to contact those who liked to receive help in contacting other Christians. (in so far these Christians allowed to give their address to others). I will also help them to get in touch with other Christians by introducing them to other ones.
Those who were interested in prayer meetings, worship, Bible study, shared meals and/or Christian service I am right now finding out what kind of meeting place they prefer. I think primarily of three options:
1. a meeting hall of the local community centre
2. at somebody's home. If interested I also ask them if their own home would be open for that.
3. when the weather is fine in the local park.
When I have inventarised that, I will start to organize meetings for those categories.
Those who liked to be Church in their own neighbourhood, the Local Church or the Local Body of Christ, those I asked for patience. I don't see myself as an apostle or pastor or vicar. I will get in touch with Church planting ministries like DAWN (
http://www.dawnministries.org) which stands for Discipling A Whole Nation. Also I will get in touch with the House Church movement and with Church planting ministries in the Netherlands. Together with them and times of prayer I will decide to what extent I personally will be involved in seeing a Church come to fruition within both that neighbourhood and successive neighbourhoods.
early July 2010
In the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord (Almere, Netherlands) I found about 114 Christians. I wrote those interested a letter and posted those letters also at the addresses which weren't at home or those with whom it was unclear whether they were Christians or not. I only went once through the neighbourhood in order to find Christians. In this letter Christians could indicate in which manner they would like to be in touch with other Christians in their neighbourhood. I got 30 positive replies to my letter.
14 Christians showed an interest for a Local Church in their neighbourhood which made me very glad and was a big encouragement. The other 17 had a variety of other interests. Though less than the ideal of a true expression of the unity of the Local Body of Christ, it is still beautiful to see that Christians would like to be in touch with other Christians in their own neighbourhood. I am right now in the process of determining what will be the next step. The reply I received to this letter is confirmation to me that this ministry is worth my time and energy. All glory to Jesus. I hope to continue with this ministry for the rest of my life and I hope other Christians will join this ministry. The world is too big a place to go door-to-door all by myself!
first part of 2010
The neighbourhood in which I live is called Oostvaardersbuurt (Almere, Netherlands) and I went door-to-door throughout the whole neighbourhood. There are about 2500-3000 homes and I found 320 Christians. I had nice conversations with several of them. In order to find all of them, I went several times (about 6 times) throughout the neighbourhood to find those who weren't at home at earlier times. I have all the addresses on file and will start sooner or later to do follow up. I also went door-to-door in the neighbourhood Stedenwijk-Noord (Almere, Netherlands). This was close to my work location and was a lot smaller.
December 2009
This month I started to contact the Christians within a radius of 50 metres around my home (Laan der VOC 170, Almere, Netherlands). I found about 20 Christian homes and I ended up being in touch with 3 of them.
September 2009
My cycle trip for the unity of the Church finally took me to Stornoway, which is the main town on Lewis, Hebrides in Scotland. It is far away in the North-West and lies 3 hours out of the mainland. It's a town with many Churches and many Christians. I took the time to meet with every pastor and talk about Church unity. I was helped out by a friendly couple with whom I became friends. During the three weeks I stayed in Stornoway I went also to the island archipel St Kilda. (a video link is provided on the
Gallery page). Although I had planned to go on to Ireland and France I decided to go back to the Netherlands because of finances and a changed vision. The end of my trip got media coverage as well. This time in a island magazine.
about 10 days later in August 2009
Alston is British highest market town. I'ts in the Pennines, which is a rough hilly part of the country. I went door-to-door and arranged a meeting that same evening. 1 couple pledged to come. Another 6 were interested in coming but didn't show up. Another 2 people said they would have liked to come but weren't able to come. The meeting place was a central place in the centre of this little town in the open air! The plan was to go to a pub or somebody's home once everybody had arrived. Only the couple who had pledged to come showed up and I was invited to their home. We had a beautiful evening together. A home Church does exist in this little charming town and I met with some of them. This was very uplifting. Another person I will still get in touch with. He is heavily involved in Church unity.
August 2009
My bicyle trip took me to a village called Newbridge upon Wye in Wales. I went door-to-door covering the whole village. This took me about one full day. As it was still a quite small village, many people already knew each other and so there was no need to make them aware of each other. In a town like Nieuwpoort, Belgium this was a useful thing but not in this village. So I ended up in talking with everybody about the unity of the Church which was a nice thing to do. It was very pleasant to have an English business card with me to hand out to all the Christians I met. The local vicar was an inspiring person to me. He had Christians from several backgrounds in his chapel mainly because there wasn't another Church in the village where he lived. So they went to the Anglican Church instead.
He agreed to the notion that Church unity cannot be reached through top-down methods but only through talking to one person at a time.
July/August 2009
In Nieuwpoort Belgium I arrived by bicycle and a bike-car filled with camping gear, business cards of the Local Body of Christ, a tennis racket,tennis shoes and my concert guitar. I planned to go on a trip through Belgium, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France in order to get a good experience in how this ministry was going to be received in a diversity of cultures. In Nieuwpoort I stayed 10 days (some photo's are on the
Gallery page). I mapped out a small part of this town and went door-to-door in order to find the Christians and connect them with one another. I met a Christian artist who invited me in his home and had some other fine conversations at the door. In the end I let the Christians know through a small letter what was done and the end result was that I had given awareness to 3 Christian families about each other. Before this action they didn't know about each other even though they lived in the same neighbourhood. But that's exactly what this ministry is about. Bringing Christians in contact with one another who live in the same neighbourhood and let them be the Local Body of Christ. Admittedly I didn't do anything else other than making them aware of each other. Nevertheless I counted this as my first success. The encouragement was that 1 of those Christian families was indeed very thankful about this action and I was going to be prayed for in their prayer meeting.
July 2009
My passion for the unity of the Church took shape through this new created website. I happily found out that this website is on the top of Google when presented with the search terms 'local body of christ'.
It took about 2 weeks of full-time work to create this website using Vistaprint's services. News got around about this website and an impending cycle trip, about which I was interviewed. It was published in a Dutch regional newspaper.
Somewhere in 2007/2008
It had been on my mind already for some time to connect with the Christians who live in my neighbourhood and to help them get in touch with one another. The idea of going door-to-door seemed a bit daunting but finally I decided to do a test. I went through one long street going door-to-door to find out where Christians where living. A street of 170 even and 170 uneven numbers took about 3 hours to go through once and the end result was that I had found a decent number of Christians.
