Arco and Jacqeline Vanderhout
New Tribes Mission - Papua New Guinea
Arco and Jacqueline Van Der Hout and their family, are old friends to Big Woods. They worshipped and served with us a while training at New Tribes Jersey Shore. We have had the privilege of praying for and watching them as their ministry developed and their children grew. The strong point of their ministry seems to be flexibility as they have been willing to serve in a number of different capacities. Pray for continued health and strength and that there work will continue to bless others.
September 2009
Dear friends,
With a heavy heart and tears in our eyes we are writing this letter. In June we informed you that due to unexpected circumstances in our family, we made the decision to return to our home country, the Netherlands. This was a very hard decision to make. After much prayer, thinking and advice from NTM-PNG we felt it was the best for us to go home to be with our daughter Merel.
As you can understand, this decision had a great impact, not only on us as a family but also on the Lae Guest House ministry. We praise the Lord that He provided for a replacement for us. A German family made a commitment to run the Lae Guest House for at least a year.
We are so thankful that Merel still wants to live with us so we as parents can guide and direct her in her decisions and help her in different areas in her life that she struggles with. She has a full time job which she really enjoys and does well. Our prayer is that the Lord will open her eyes and soften her heart so that she will realize that she needs to turn back to Him. Please pray for her!
René is going through a big adjustment as well. He is doing a good job in school, although he is struggling with his Dutch comprehending and writing. He is following the Dutch school system now. A few weeks ago René shared his heart that he would like to finish his education in the Netherlands. He was very open and shared that he finds it hard that he moved so many times with us from one place to another. He is 15 years old now and he has moved 16 times!!
The bottom line is that we are not in the position now to return to Papua New Guinea soon. We believe that we need to support our children, to help them grow to become more mature and to assist them with their Dutch education. We all have a God given responsibility to our families and there are times when that responsibility takes a priority over our ministry.
As we look back over our time in PNG, we rejoice that many Papuans came to know the Lord. Through the various ministries we had over the last years we trust we have been a blessing to many people.
We are thankful that the Lord opened the door for a possible new ministry. New Tribes Mission the Netherlands has asked us to consider joining the team in the Netherlands. We are excited about the possibility of staying involved in reaching people for Christ and challenging people for missions. Last week we had our first interview, to see from both sides where we can match our gifts and abilities with the different needs for NTM the Netherlands. Tuesday September 29th we will have our second interview. Please pray for us, that the Lord will clearly show us what He wants us to do.
Thank you so much for all your support when we served on the field of Papua New Guinea. We would appreciate your continued support. Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer. We appreciate you all.
In His grace,
Arco, Jacqueline and René van der Hout
