This is a letter to the church in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.

Dear members of the congregation,
Luke, Ephesians, James, Galatians, 1& 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 Corinthians, that summarizes what we did the last month in Kona, Hawaii. We are at a third of the nine months of intensive bibletraining and I realise I am completely in love with the Word of God.
We also have a little time for relaxation and so we went to Waipeo Valley with 15 fellow-students.

Waipeo Valley is a beautiful valley on the northside of the island. We were going to walk to the waterfalls, but ‘walk’ wasn’t really the right word. Climbing and swimming would be the right words for it. It was a very intensive climb upstream and at some points I couldn’t go on without a little help (pushing and shoving). At other points I had to be carried by my beloved husband, because otherwise I would have been swept away. When we finally got there though, it was great: beautiful waterfalls dozens of meters high, that ended in a lake where we got to swim. Then the hardest part began. We had to get back while we were extremely tired The last two kilometers we had to walk a very steep part up the mountain, which proved to be impossible for some. A pick-up truck stopped though, with people unfamiliar to us. All of us got a seat in the boot. It was beginning to rain, but we made it! When I started to write this piece, I was reminded of three things when I thought back to that trip: fighting the good fight, doing this together and the price we have to pay for it.
Paul writes in his letter to Timothy: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Paul speaks of his life’s journey and I find the hard journey we made an illustration of this: with high points and low points, falling and getting up again. The greatest thing about our own journey though, was that we did it together. By doing it together, we got further than we would have done individually and we all had a unique part in it. Some of us helped people climb the mountain very literally, others shared food, lend a towel or brought everyone else in a good mood.
When Paul writes to the congregation in Corinth, I am especially drawn to what he says about being the body of Christ: (1 Corinthians 12:12): “the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body”, concluding in 12:27-28: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is part of it. And in the church God had appointed” a place to all people.
So, dear members of the congregation, we are that body! And you are a part of that body. God has given you a place and if you are not yet sure of what that place is, I hope you will look for it. If you do know what place you have, I hope you are a healthy body part, so that we can take care of those who need it.

When Paul writes about the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge in Ephesians 3:19, he speaks of a mystery that can be discovered with all the saints, so that means with eachother! The promise is this: you can be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Faith does not revolve around ourselves, but around being aimed at eachother.
Now my last issue: how high is the price you are willing to pay: The price I paid for the walk was a few wet clothes and aching muscles for a couple of days. In Nigeria where we lived last year, we had to give up some of the freedoms we knew before and we had to deal with illnesses. Paul was tortured and stoned regularly. That still happens today in countries like China and in the Middle East. I was very much touched by the story of one of our fellow-students who comes from a country where Christians are persecuted. He has been in prison himself because of his faith and risks his life every day by being a Christian and evangelizing. He is only 20-something. So, that brings me to the question: are you willing to pay a price for your faith? What price would that be? Are you willing to pay money, donate time, are you willing to let it cost you your reputation?
You do not have to fight this good fight on your own! We have to help eachother in this. A little push, a little shove, maybe you have to be carried for a while.
Let us keep our eyes on the goal and let us share in the unbelievable love of Jesus, so that we may be filled with the measure of all the fullness of God.

God blesses you!

Jackson & Anneke Ndecheck

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