Photo page 3

Photo Page 3 - Last Year at All Nations

March 2004

Other photo pages:November 2004 April 2003 (only in Dutch!) November 2002

Cambridge International Outreach — We finished the academic year 2002/2003 well - in spite of all the time we needed to spend on our wedding preparations..! The Leadership class Peter found especially fascinating in anticipation of leading the outreach team in Cambridge, while Kelly travelled ahead to Vancouver. All Nations led the second team of the whole outreach, and co-leader Kah Foon also participated in the first team. Quite a few members of the first team stayed on for the second fortnight, helping our team to settle quickly - although it always takes a little getting used to new team members... and leaders! The outrech went really well, and lots of people were interested in Jesus!!

Entrance to Harry's coffeebar

Our international outreach team

Chinese lunch in Vancouver

Weddings — This summer was the summer of weddings for us. Kelly flew to Canada in the middle of July to join in with the wedding preparations that her parents and friends had already begun. It seemed that from the moment she stepped off the plane she ate, slept and breathed wedding for five weeks until the day itself! It was a fun time, despite the odd stressful moment. Pre-wedding highlights included a mysterious 24-hour surprise that materialized from a seaplane in the form of Kelly's brother who visited her on his day off from camp and, later, being whisked away for a 'staggette day' in Bellingham with four of her longtime girlfriends. Among other things, they concocted a game to test her knowledge of Dutch with searching questions as pentalties for wrong answers! Peter arrived in Vancouver two and a half weeks before the wedding and was also immediately immersed in wedding activites as he went shopping for a suit with his fiancee and future mother-in-law — a relatively painless and successful endeavour. It was difficult to fit in the 'getting to know Vancouver' adventures that Kelly had dreamed of doing with Peter but we managed to have some touristy adventures when friends and family started arriving from overseas.

Bringing the flowers to the bride

On our way to the photo session

Melissa, Jillian, Gina and Kristin with Kelly

Kelly with bridesmaids and flowergirl

Wedding day — The wedding day dawned sunny and clear and was truly a day characterized by sunshine, both literally and figuratively. The bridal pair relaxed and enjoyed the special day — especially being surrounded by so many dear friends and family members offering their love and support. We felt truly blessed.

Pictures of our wedding day in Groningen

Pictures of our wedding day in Vancouver

Walked to the altar by Dad

Prayer of blessing at the end of the ceremony

Moved during the final song

More celebration — The only real holiday of our busy summer was our 10-day honeymoon spent in the British Columbian Gulf Islands relaxing and enjoying each other's company and the beautiful island surroundings. We enjoyed the luxury of fresh garden vegetables and wild berries and gorgeous walks in the forests and along the beach. One day we surprised some of our international family visitors with a sudden, unpredicted appearance as they travelled by — it resulted in a wonderful little family reunion. Shortly afterwards we flew off to Medicine Hat for an all-too-short visit to see friends there and to have a small reception and celebration. Before we realized it, our Canadian summer sojourn was over and we returned to The Netherlands in mid-September for more celebrations, this time with Peter's extended family and friends. The wedding day in Groningen also dawned sunny and bright and we were blessed with a second special wedding surrounded by loving family and friends. Throughout these days and weeks we realized how many people have blessed us with their friendship over the years and our hearts felt full to overflowing.

Flowergirl Isa is sharing in the joy

The marriage vows — in Dutch!

With the parents

Our life in England — As we set up our home here in England, we have been learning about God's provision in many practical ways. Firstly, when we initially began looking for an apartment we were shocked at how expensive they were... because the area is within commuting distance to London. We wondered how we were ever going to afford a place to live, or find one for that matter! And then, just before we left for the summer holiday, we were offered an apartment owned by a former student, which he rented out cheaply as his ministry to overseas students — and it was bigger than we had hoped for! Secondly, when we arrived in September we had no furniture but, to our delight, were offered all the pieces of furniture we needed from odd bits collected by the college to furnish our home. On top of that, a friend of ours offered himself and his car to help us move it all in! Thirdly, we had no transportation to college from our home but a former classmate of ours lent us his car (we called 'Smo') for the first eight weeks of term, during which time, some current, newly-married classmates of ours gave us their second car ('Arthur') to keep! So we are feeling very blessed by God's provision through the generosity of others.

Our appartent block

Our living room - window side

Our living room - door side

Living in Ware — Our home is a two-bedroom flat on the ground floor of a block of flats in a quiet residential area of the town of Ware. We have enjoyed setting up our 'nest' together even though it is only for ten months... From home, we can walk to the High Street (town centre) in 20 minutes, and, in a bit less time, to our church. Ware is quite an old town so there are many historical buildings for Kelly, as a 'New World' girl, to get excited about. There are also many walking trails in the surrounding area which we can easily access from home, so we have enjoyed many afternoons enjoying in the English countryside. Our ten-year-old Rover Metro has so far been a faithful transporter of people, groceries and luggage since we acquired him in November. In contrast to our usual tastes, 'Arthur' is quite a posh (!) -though very small- car, complete with electric windows, wood-panel strips, and leather seats — a bit chilly in winter though! It tickles our fancy that we of vinyl and cloth seated cars and manual windows should end up with such an item!

Arthur in action

Driveway to All Nations

Students' initiative: Asian night at All Nations

Term 1 (Autumn 2003) — This term was one of big adjustments on all fronts — new home, new routine (living out and not at college), new people (about 120!), new BA class (for Kelly, with the absence of her own classmates of two-years), and new bed-mate! It was definitely a term of discovery for us both as we learned to live together and to explore these many newnesses in our lives — Kelly still is getting accustomed to responding to her new surname! Peter is studying full-time, completing the final year of his BA. His coursework in this first term included New Testament Christology, Old Testament Theology, Jeremiah, and Theology of Mission, all of which he found stimulating in some way. Kelly is studying part-time this year, finishing work that she was unable to complete last year due to her fatigue. This term she accomplished a half-module on the prophets Haggai, Zechariah&Malachi as well as a Christology paper, keeping her on target for finishing her BA in July. She continued to struggle with her fatigue although it seems to be slowly improving with time.

'Our' log cabin in Zweden

Nice and crisp outside!

The Lövstaholm hikers

Christmas vacation 2003/2004 — ... A thoroughly European experience. We had two weeks in Groningen (with a day-trip to Amsterdam) catching up with ourselves and sleep, meeting friends and family members and generally getting into holiday mode. Just before Christmas, we travelled up to Sweden by car and 'ferry' — an 11 deck 'cruise-ship' complete with fancy buffets, a 'library', a shopping area, a cinema and lots of sleeping cabins! Notable features of Sweden were the silence in the sparsely populated countryside, our friendly neighbours, and the candles in the window of every home. Some of the highlights were walking on frozen lakes, hiking freely in the forests, Christmas eve with the family and a 7 am candle-lit church service on Christmas morning! The short Northern days left us lots of time for playing games, hanging out together, and reading — Peter had an exam to prepare..! Kelly was particularly pleased that by the end of four weeks of Dutch immersion she could go out into Groningen and run some errands in Dutch all by herself — and get what she intended!!

Term 2 (Spring 2004) — We have now enjoyed the first five weeks of term and have realized that the year is already half over! We have added new activities to our schedule: Peter enjoys Monday evenings with the guys watching 'real world' movies while Kelly meets with the girls to chat, work on craft projects and pray. She also has made a new pair of trousers in a sewing class and has joined in with a dance project that will be presenting a piece at the Laban Centre for Dance in London in a couple of weeks. Particular events of this term: Peter preached a sermon for the very first time, Kelly led an interactive seminar, we celebrated a friend's wedding in Germany, and have started hosting friends for dinner in our home, which we very much enjoy. The daffodils are starting to come out in the woods and while the yellow carpet grows, we are devoting time to our essays..!

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