NeboKerk (11 september 2011)

On Sunday I went to the NeboKerk again.  It was their Children Focused Sunday.  So they had special music, sang lots of younger-type songs, and had a gospel-message type sermon that was especially directed toward children, from Ephesians 1:17:  "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him."  This was part of their equivalent of a VBS program (although I didn't quite catch whether this was the conclusion or the kick-off for it).

On a related note, I am now the proud owner of a Dutch Bijbel!  I found an old, school Bible, the kind that, as appears on the name plate, were given as school prizes a long time ago.  This particular one was given to a student named Rienus van der Hulst at a Reformed Sunday school in Rotterdam on Christmas Day in 1925.  It is a little worn and the spine is held together with scotch tape but that just gives me an excuse to finally go buy some of the fabric that they have at the market, so that I can make a Bible cover.  And they have some really, really pretty fabric at pretty reasonable prices.

I got the Bible at the Blaak Markt on Tuesday out of one of the flea market type booths.  I just stopped by on my way to the Official Welcome stuff the school had for the international students and just happened to see some books and, after I had looked through the books and seen nothing I wanted, as I turned to leave, I just saw the Bible under some magazines out of the corner of my eye.  It costs 1 euro (or about $1.50) which is a pretty terrific deal as, even used, the Bibles I have seen have been over 30 euros ($50).  The one downside is that this is the good, solid, old-fashioned Statenvertalling Bijbel, which is the kind I kind of wanted anyways but is also the kind that none of the churches I have visited uses.  I will have to keep an eye out for some of the newer translations as well, I guess.  Although they will be much less historically interesting.  If you think that this Bible managed to survive not only the obliteration of Rotterdam in the war but also 86 years (almost) and ownership by a little kid, the fact that the binding is coming apart all of a sudden seems pretty minor.

By the way, for those of you looking for baby names, Rienus is an old fashioned name (or at least an old fashioned spelling) of a boy's name which means "from the sea."  Which makes all kinds of sense for a Dutch baby.  Anyways, it's a unique name--your little Rienus would probably never meet someone with the same name. . . (and also, no "J"s . . .)