Thursday, December 30, 2010

In memory and honor of Ken Holtvluwer d. Dec. 24, 2010

Back 18 or 19 years ago when I was a church planter I began receiving periodically small handwritten, photocopied notes from Ken and June Holtvluwer. It became clear that they obtained from the Christian Reformed Church the names and addresses of all world and home missionaries and sent this photocopied notes to us all. Ken and June are truly very special people. I, like other church planters, reached out to many people to pray for us in that ministry. They are the only ones who did not know me personally and reached out to me, as they did many others. AL board member Tom Bratt still remembers a Christmas card he received when he first came on staff with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee from these people whom he had never met. What a delight to get their notes!

About that time the church I planted received a donated building, purchased land, moved it and needed to refurbish it to become our worship and ministry center. A tip came to me that Ken provided through a third party. The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee had retires called Disaster Response Volunteers who would travel for weeks and months to areas of the U.S. hit by natural disaster. We had gone for a year without any significant natural disaster and the agency was looking for ways to give these people opportunities to serve in the meantime. The tip from Ken was to contact them about the possibility of these Disaster Response volunteers refurbishing our building. I made that contact and those volunteers did refurbish that building over a period of roughly nine months.

On their notes, Ken and June put out a general offer to take any missionary out for breakfast when they were in the Grand Rapids area. I took them up on the offer to meet them and thank them for that tip. I do not know how many others took them up on their offer, but those who did not missed out on something very special. What wonderful times were all those breakfasts first near their business and then later near their retirement home.

I was always tickled to see Ken and June’s joviality. I loved the ways he teased the waitresses and they both got a laugh out of it. I can imagine Ken now having immensely jovial times in unhindered communion with Christ. I hope that as I age my joviality can come close to Ken and June’s.

Ken and June built a thriving lumber and home-décor family business over the years, in spite of a number of setbacks. To see their ability to laugh even during the last 6 years which have been extremely difficult for construction related businesses in Michigan, gives me the courage to persevere even through tough days.

We had some things in common, including a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ and having moved buildings in our lives. Ken and June had moved two buildings in their history.

I admired June and Ken’s faithfulness in prayer. And then to learn that they had shown as much and more love than they showed to little-ole-me to tremendous organizations and institutions like Kuyper College and Mission India. And then that Ken and June would believe so much in what I was and am doing that they gave financial gifts at key times. They both always remembered my wife’s and kids' names. After years of trying, they got the founder of Mission India to have breakfast with us to discuss the possibility of Mission India to use AL, something they greatly wanted to see (this did not come to pass since AL materials are written to a much higher conceptual level than Mission India's "customers" can handle). The fact that June took the time on Ken’s last day on this earth to send Ascending Leaders and me an encouraging note about Ken’s impending passing, overwhelmed me. To be in their circle of influence has been an honor and blessing.

Ken’s was a life exceptionally well lived. He finished very well. I thank God for privileging me to be able to share a very small part of it with Ken and June.We can thank God as well that Ken and June have believed in the mission of Ascending Leaders.

You can read more about Ken’s life at: http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/12/post_56.html

Friday, December 10, 2010

Group Hug

This blog entry is from AL team member Don Watt. Among a variety of roles Don has blessed the team with, he is the core author of "Dream Teams: People" and is the provider of all the discussion questions for each session in the books. Don also is our team member who took the content from our popular "Charting Your Course" seminars, did further research and put it all into excellent book form. We are all excited that the new "Charting Your Course" book written to be experienced in groups of three is now taking pre-orders and will soon be shipped.

From Don:

We had just finished saying good-bye to our son’s family when one of our granddaughters ran back in, threw her arms around us and shouted, “group hug.” For the next few minutes she and her sister pretended to leave and then rushed back in for another hug. Eventually their parents had to put an end to the “group hug” epidemic. Ann and I savored the warmth of their silly spontaneity for a long while after they left.

Notice the opening verses of 1 John:

From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in—we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we’re telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. – 1 John 1:1-2 The Message

John saw firsthand the God of the universe (Jesus) laugh at lunch, cry over hurts, clean fish, touch the untouchable (lepers) and hug children. Although in John’s day, many hoped for the Messiah, probably no one ever expected that God Himself would show up. And certainly none expected to have Him over for dinner.

Christianity is “relationship rich.” I have been reading a book titled "Kingdom Living." It was written by a committee of “experts/practitioners” in the field of discipleship. They wrestled with understanding the core essentials for spiritual growth. Eventually they came up with seven process and three theological essentials.

Interestingly, the second essential they present is the need for “communities of grace.” Most of us know that spiritual growth is a product of God’s work in us. We relate to the “me and God” language of Psalm 23. But in reality, spiritual growth happens in a “me, others and God community.” The Ascending Leaders learning process of individual study, small-group reflection and especially triad application is designed to encourage the community needed for spiritual growth.

This Christmas as you experience the wonderful tradition of giving and receiving gifts, you might be thankful for the gift of grace in your small group or triad. Think about this: the others in your triad are gifts from God to you and you are God’s gift to them. The wonderful acceptance, love, encouragement and sharing of others doing life with you is essential to your and their growth. You have our permission for a triad “group hug.”

Have a wonderful Christmas.