The Pilgrims' Church~

On New Years Eve we went to visit the church where the Pilgrims worshiped before setting out for the New World. They came to Holland for freedom to worship and found a home in Leiden. And Leiden has not forgotten them, as the plaque below attests.

You'll notice Andrew is not in the picture; we left him sleeping in the van under Aunt Carole's watchful eye. :-)



The Pilgrims had an 11 year stop over in Leiden but it wasn't all they hoped for. After they became concerned with the morals that their children were picking up, they decided to leave for the New World.

The first plaque is in honor of John Robinson who pastored this church. The second one lists the family members who died in Leiden--notice how many young children.


Notice this cool bridge. We were amazed at the unique bridges that Dutch have built. Even the small canal bridges like this one in Leiden were made beautifully.

Funny Cheese

Stephen and Joy (Jim's brother and sister-in-law) bought some cheese for our New Years festivities in Holland.

When they asked about the cheese on the left, the store employees could not translate what type (or flavor) of cheese it was. After asking an elderly woman in the store, they were told with confidence, that is was "poison ivy" cheese. Curious, they bought the cheese anyway and discovered that in actuality it was "Nettles" that flavored this cheese. Similar to poison ivy, but the sting doesn't last as long!

Actually, it was quite good! (With no sting at all~~) And we've since noticed that nettles are used in other foods here, too. Anyone interested?

The Beach at Schreveningen

Holland has some beautiful coastline. We thought we would check out the North Sea and so headed to Schreveningen, just minutes from where we were staying in Wassenaar. The wind was very strong, and the kite here in the background was flying at a furious pace~


Although it was quite blustery, we had a good time playing and digging!


And walking on the beach,



Joining in with the "locals"

Enjoying the boardwalk with its many attractions,

And a beautiful sunset~

Amstelveen & Badhoevedorp

This is a special blog for Mom and Dad Johnston.


We went to their old home in Amstelveen and took some pictures just for them, and gave their grandchildren a chance to see where Nana and Papa Johnston spent many happy years serving at Tyndale Seminary.


A beautiful view of the canal right outside Voor de Poort 24.

Here Jim is telling the children about when you lived there.



The back of your place, with the big fence they put up after you left. Jim told the kids how you recognized all the people and dogs that walked by every morning as you sat by the kitchen window.


Mom and Dad, we missed you so much looking around your old stomping grounds! It was a beautiful day and all we needed was you both here to give us the real tour.


On to your department store, Vroom & Dreesman! (The girls were eager to spend their 'Euros' that they got for Christmas from you!)


We thought we should take a picture of where you would often get coffee and a little 'treat!'


And who could resist taking a picture of grandchildren for you near the flower stand in the Plein?



A couple days later it was on to Tyndale Seminary...


Jim was overwhelmed by how wonderful the new changes are--it is continuing to become everything you dreamed it would be 22 years ago. What a joy to see how your investment of 15 years has kept growing!

The center Atrium has been transformed into a beautiful, well lit and up to date library.


The back corner has been turned into a fine cafeteria. We were there during lunch time, and we wanted to sit down...


Mom, did you notice you can see the library through the windows in the back? That will give you a feel for how it is laid out. And also notice Ariel sitting at the first table...

Here are two pictures of a room in the new dormitory building.




All that was missing there at Tyndale was you two. But, of course, your spirit never really left...


Here we are in Dad's old office as Uncle Jeff plays with his nieces and nephew.


We love you Nana and Papa!

Corrie Ten Boom's house

The day after we arrived in the Netherlands we drove up to picturesque Haarlem, a town about 15 minutes west of Amsterdam.

We were excited to show our girls Corrie ten Boom's house/museum, after having read to them a little about this Godly woman who had done so much to help the Jews during WW2, and who also had been a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp.

Before we saw her home, we took in a few sights~The market square was very quaint and pretty~



Central to the square is the beautiful "Grote Kerk" or St.-Bavokerk which is the largest church in Haarlem.


Here we are outside the Corrie ten Boom house/museum. The FIRST day we went for the tour, we waited 3 and 1/2 hours for the next English tour. Unfortunately we didn't change our clocks forward, and missed the tour by an hour. Jim and I couldn't believe we had BOTH forgotten! (Especially outside a watch shop) So, the next day, we returned for the tour~


We were ushered into the home above the watch shop (which is no longer owned by the ten Boom family, by the way) where we sat to hear the history of what happened during WWII and after with the ten Boom family.


Then we went upstairs to see the place where this Godly family hid Jews (and young Dutch men who would have been gathered off the street and sent for forced labor in Germany)~


The ten Boom family constructed this fake wall in one bedroom using bricks they had slowly gathered, carrying them secretly into the shop in grandfather clock cases. Soldiers were aware that many were hiding Jews, and so in a suspicious house they would tap looking for fake walls. Solid bricks would not ring hollow and give away the hiding place.

Notice the trap door at the bottom of this cupboard. When a secret alarm bell was rung down in the shop, those sheltered upstairs would flip over their mattresses if they were sleeping (so the bed would not feel warm--a dead giveaway), rush to this hiding place, pull open the door at the bottom, squeeze through, and put several boxes in front of the trap door and close it from the other side.


Notice how little room is actually in this space~


They were betrayed by a Dutch friend. When the German police came, those the Ten Booms were sheltering made it safely to the hiding place; Corrie, Betsy and her father were arrested, though, because the police found extra ration cards for their "guests" in a secret cubbyhole behind the baseboards on the stairs (when you see this small cubbyhole, you realize how thorough the search was of their home).

But the hiding place was not found and 6 people stayed there for two days while the German police tried to starve them out. It must have been agonizing--absolute silence, complete darkness, no facilities to speak of, and no room to move--two could sit while four were standing.

Finally the German police gave the case to the local Dutch police. A sympathetic Dutch policeman turned a blind eye while the two Dutch young men escaped over the rooftops to neighbors houses and the Jews escaped through the streets. Corrie received the news in prison of their escape in a letter from her sister Nollie, who cleverly wrote her a secret message under the stamp on the envelope reading, "All the watches in your closet are safe."

There is such a beautiful testimony of God's grace in the lives of the ten Boom's (and others who were in connection with them.) I can't do this family justice by trying to share their whole story with you. And what we've told you here is just the tip of the iceberg!

If you get a chance, read the "Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom, if you haven't already. You will not be disappointed!

Going to Holland

For the next few days I would love to share with you a few of the highlights of our trip to the Netherlands over New Years. We went to spend time with Jim's sister and her family (Carole & Jeff Seume, Peter, David, Mark, Christina and Caroline) with Jim's oldest sister (Bevie & Marcol Demaurex) and two of their three daughters and their families (niece Laurelle & Stefane with their kids Effie and Augustin; and niece Nikki & Caryl), and also with one of Jim's brothers, Stephen and his wife Joy.

What a mouthful! We had a wonderful time, and being with family was by far the highlight.

In order to get to Holland from England we drove down to Dover and took a ferry to Dunkerque, France.


The port of Dover--and southern England--sits on a foundation of chalk. Cliffs stand above the beaches for miles and the most famous are the White Cliffs of Dover.


Below is a picture from the boat of Dover Castle. For 900 years English troops were held here to protect the coast from invasion. I wish it were not so foggy, for this castle is a stunning sight from any angle you look at it.


This two hour ferry ride was a great way to break up this day long trip. The ferry had a nice area for the kids to play in and we had fun playing "Qwitch" and "War" (card games) together as a family too.

Here are a few pictures Jim took of the children looking about the boat:




Before we arrived we needed to gear up for driving back on the right side of the road.

A little known fact (at least for me): In order to drive a right-hand drive car in continental Europe, you have to buy special headlight "stickers" that redirect the beam of your headlights to the right-side of the road instead of the left. Headlights are designed to shine not only straight ahead but on the shoulder as well; while the shoulder in England is on the left, oncoming traffic is on the left in the rest of Europe. So our English headlights would blind drivers coming the other way on the Continent.

So we bought a pair of special stickers, opened them up, and realized, our car already had them on -- no wonder our headlights weren't working as well as we thought they should have! We never would have thought to check this out.

After we got off the boat we headed North through Beligium where we stopped for dinner at a little local place called "Pizza Hut." Once again I was reminded of how different Europe is from America. We had forgotten about paying to use the bathroom so as we all piled out of the car, we had a frantic few moments. We hadn't changed money yet, but fortunately we had a few Euro coins with us! Well, you pay many places here it seems. With four children, we should have had a line item in our budget for bathroom breaks.

We did make it safely to Carole's house before too late, and how happy we were to arrive!

We're Back!

We just returned from Holland last night and look forward to giving you a full up-date soon! Look for more tomorrow~