Help us make the move!

Dear friends!

Thank you for taking the time to visit this page and reading this letter. We so appreciate you!

You have seen and read our updates and by now you know we have found our new home! We are so so grateful and it has helped in the midst of a season of closure, and at times even grief, to also open up more to new beginnings. It's been an intense journey in all honestly, but we decided to embrace all the emotions that come with it and wrestle through the questions that have come up on the way. More than a practical ‘to do’ on the list of all the things that come with moving a family to another country, finding a house is a heart and spiritual matter of building home.

Luan, our 12 year old, asked us if we ever found a home this far in advance before we would move? We had a good laugh out of it, because he seems to have gotten used to last minute moves and surprises. 6 weeks ahead of the moving date, with no plan B, felt for us about time haha. His faith was apparently bigger then ours and could have stretched it a few more weeks :)

Over the years, especially the last 6 in Italy, our kids (and us I'd like to think as well), have become pretty flexible and creative I would say when it comes to moving and making home. It’s been quite the ride and God has always been good to us. We’ve never lacked. There has always been food on the table and a roof over our heads. We have grown incredibly close as a family through it all and have some crazy stories to tell of Gods provision, both materially as well as the provision that comes in the abundance of never-ending grace when the journey was more challenging than we had hoped. And we would do it all over again. This move feels like just another story that we are writing as a family. And we feel rich because of it.

Our prayer for this next season ahead of us when we leave Italy, has been to really find a house that we can grow our roots in and settle. A safe place of stability and rest. And even though the journey has been interesting to say the least to find a house from a distance, during a very overheated housing market, God has seen our hearts and blessed us above and beyond.

On August 2nd we are the owners of our very own home in THE NETHERLANDS.

The contract is signed and the downpayment is about to be paid. It is truly a miracle and we are humbled that this is made possible with the help of so many people. The trust and generosity and expertise of close friends and family have really made this a team effort and feels like a warm blanket. We have been blessed with people who have tirelessly walked around neighbourhoods, measured out floor plans, given us loans, done viewings for us, and so on. Because of after almost 20 years of living of support we had no bank to go to. We are grateful that over the years we have been able to save up ourselves as well, and that part of the purchase of this new house can also come from our own money. We believe in good stewardship - for now, but also for the future of our family, and to able to have this construction being made possible for us is an incredible answer to prayer.

So here we are… moving into a house that already starts to feel like a home, even though this happened all from a distance and we’ve never actually walked though its hallways before signing for it. By now we were able to go see it on a spontaneous visit of 4 days to NL, which you can read about in our last newsletter, in case you missed it.

We recognise God's guidance in the timing of it all coming together and we are full of excitement and anticipation that we are stepping into the right home that God has for us. At times it's been a decision of the mind and our heart had to follow later. Other moments it was the other way around. Even between Reinier and myself, we've had to really lean on each other, to keep moving forward during the different steps of the process. It's amazing how God makes a team out of a husband and wife.

As you’ve read in our latest updates (if not you can go here …) expanding on the process of our next steps, we also heard back from almost all our supporters that they will be financially supporting us through this season of change until January 2025. This is an incredible blessing as this will continue to help us to pay for our day to day living cost, while we have the time to settle and create a different stream of income.

People ask us how we are going to be moving, but the truth is that, when it comes to our own household items, we have not a lot to bring back. Over the years we have made it work, with thrift finds and all the things that came with the 4 different houses we stayed in in these last 6 years. So, since there is not a whole lot to load into a van, it makes the move a lot easier :) However, that does mean we need to buy a lot of things once we turn the key in the lock of our new place on August 2nd, because the house will be empty.

In these last 4 weeks before moving, we hope to make one last big push on giving ourselves a soft landing and to have a budget available to furnish and equip our house. The reason we find this important to invest into is not simply only because of a practical need, although it is very nice to have a couch to sit on, but even more so, because we believe in the holy devotion of building in a home in a way that represents the kingdom of God in its very best way. A place of peace and belonging that creates a welcome for our family and others. We truly are convinced one of the most simple and powerful tools we have been given to share Jesus with others is giving them a place at our kitchen table and a hangout night on our couch. Connection and belonging is the heart of the home we want to continue to build and believe points ultimately to the heart of our Heavenly Father.

We believe in this, and so we are excited to invite you into what we see as our last push for fundraising as we close off our living by support for the last almost 2 decades. We are sending this to you because you have been part of our journey in our 18+ years in YWAM as fulltime missionaries living off support, and would honestly consider it such a privilege if you would be able to literally help us build this new home for our next season. (Also we wanted to extend this especially to our international friends. For the loans of our house we were able / and had to get that all from our Dutch network…)

And so we’ve created this list with a budget to make this a concrete as possible.

They are big amounts and we are aware that we live in a time where we see many needs around us. We feel privileged about the life we get to live and have gotten to make so many people a part of the life and journey that we have been called to live. We trust God and know His care for us. So please look at this as an invitation to consider and if you feel lead to give we pray it will be with a heart of joy.

Bed + mattress Rianne & Reinier € 1200.—

Kitchen ware (plates, cups, pans etc) € 1000.—

Beds + mattresses Zeph en Luan € 600.—

5 bikes € 2500.— (Zeph got one for his birthday :)

Couch and seats € 2000.—

Kitchen table and 8 chairs € 2300.—

Bookshelves € 700.—

Desks for the kids € 1000.—

Wardrobes € 1500.—

Moving van + gas € 2200.—

Total : 15,000.—

Would you prayerfully consider helping us make the move?

You can pick one of these items listed above, or give a general amount - anything is welcome and much, much appreciated!

Thank you for your love and support throughout the years! We are so grateful we have been able to pioneer and build such an amazing YWAM community, with God’s blessing and your support, and we look forward to keep building together.

—Rianne & Reinier, Noélani, Loïs, Luan and Zeph