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
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