View this email in your browser Newsletter and grumblings, December 2025 ‘Looking backers’, or ‘retrospectors’; I envy people who can remember events and occasions down to the smallest details and can even tell you how these impacted their lives. Often I wonder whether I am to superficial, as it is clear that my retrospective ability and capacity is rather low. Albania? No, I had never been there. However, a colleague thought otherwise and assured me that I had indeed been there. He had picked me up from the airport so you could say that he had the right to speak. It took weeks before the penny dropped; I had indeed been there for five days. I guess most relatively normal people can remember which countries they have visited. To aid my lack of retrospective ability and memory I keep a daily journal when travelling. I’ll share a few snippets from that journal beneath. “Dad, do you want to celebrate your 65th birthday?” my daughter asked. I had to think about that and thought that it actually might be good to circle that dot on my life’s journey with some color. I do like parties but I'm not the most celebratory person. The main motivation for saying yes? Both my parents did not reach the age of 65. It is therefore quite special to me and my heart is filled with gratitude. Snippet from my travel journal Sunday, October 19 Left early (7:15) for Bayview Family Church in Toronto which is a two-hour drive. Swung by Gord and Ruth Abraham to pick up some painkillers, a chat and a coffee. Arrived at Bayview about an hour before the service started to catch up with the pastor and church staff. This feels like family. The warm welcome and familiarity after 25 years of relationship with this church is a given. I am not considered a guest speaker but a friend of the church. Feels good. Spoke on prayer: How much is the anything that Jesus promises his disciples if they ask in his name. Was taken out for lunch. About 14 members, younger and older decided to join. Was a good party. When you research the countless explanations about Jesus' statement that we (can) get everything from God, if we just ask for it in His name (John 14), it conjures up the image of God as a slot machine; if you keep throwing coins in it long enough, you will one day hit the jackpot. This pagan idea has comfortably settled in the Christian (especially evangelical) lingo and is integral part of the Christian lingo: "If more people would pray, fast, proclaim, believe more; then God will, or better has to deliver because He promised it and He doesn’t lie”. This easily takes on grotesque practices. On a website about prayer I read in answer to the question 'How should we pray': Pray specifically.... If you pray for a bicycle, for example, say what color, which brand and with how many gears. When you receive the bicycle, you also know for sure that it comes from God and you can give Him the glory for  it."   Most believers make serious attempts to connect the words from heaven with their life’s in the here and now with all the drama, comedy, ups and downs, victories and defeats. This is a dynamic endeavor that needs to allow for mystery, amazement and awe, paradox, belief and disbelief. The human tendency to limit the words of God to just one interpretation shows an almost morbid arrogance. The Jewish sages state that the Torah has 70 faces. Man does himself, God and his Word a dramatic disservice if only one face is seen. When you ring our doorbell and the door doesn't open within ten seconds, chances are that Martha is in her small studio three floors up. Tirelessly painting, sketching and experimenting with techniques, always full of ideas and inspiration. Every now and again she jumps out of bed in the middle of the night. Up she goes; taking an ideas she has been brooding on and transferring it to canvas, paper, wood or what not. Snippet from my travel journal Friday, October 24 Had a very painful night.. Sciatica came back with a vengeance! It seems that lying down is more challenging and painful than walking or sitting. Anyway, made it through the night and got up at 5:30; enough is enough. Read some Jonathan Sacks and watched a couple of his talks on the Jonathan Sacks website. Very enlightening to get his take on the Old Testament, especially the Torah. It triggers a new and fresh desire to study the OT and helps me to see the red thread that is weaved throughout the OT. Farmers Market on Friday in Port Colborne so I knew my friends from the JW’s would be there. And they were. They recognised me immediately from earlier visits and we had a constructive exchange of ideas, questions and what not. I asked them what motivates them to do this week after week, year after year. One of them answered: the love for God and the love for people; and of course, Mathhew 29:18. They invited me to join a Saturday service in the Kingdom Hall. I am not sure yet but wouldn’t mind checking it out for once.  The increasing 'virtualization' of our work does not sit well with me personally. More and more, training, meetings, coaching and mentoring takes place from my office. Technology is great, but I miss actually coming together in a real space. It results in a growing sense of distance from our organization’s mission and the various teams I am part of, even to the point of feeling indifferent about the whole shebang. Not good. The regular curry and roti evenings at our house make up for a lot and compensate for the lack of engaging with people in a space other than the virtual. It's so encouraging to listen to each other's stories; names become persons! Looking back at the past year. Grateful for each other, the children and grandchildren. Also, for the loyal (financial) support from many of our friends. I still find it challenging and humbling to live off the generosity of others. Each year remains a challenge to see enough resources coming in. However, 38 years of experiencing God’s provision, a cautious look ahead gives us confidence that it will be fine. This year I have been reading more of the works of some rabbis (e.g. Heschel, Sacks, Visotsky). Their insights, interpretations and philosophies are truly inspirational. I want to share these few words on friendship from Jonathan Sacks:   It is part of the intellectual history of the West and the fact that from quite early on, Christianity became more Hellenistic than Hebraic, that people came to think that the main purpose of religion is to convey information (about the origin of the universe, miracles, life after death, and so on). Hence the conflict between religion and science, revelation and reason, faith and demonstration. These are false dichotomies.   Judaism has foundational beliefs, to be sure, but it is fundamentally about something else altogether. For us, faith is the redemption of solitude. It is about relationships – between us and God, us and our family, us and our neighbours, us and our people, us and humankind. Judaism is not about the lonely soul. It is about the bonds that bind us to one another and to the Author of all. It is, in the highest sense, about friendship. Wishing all our friends a great Christmas. May God grace you with the strength and determination to hold on to your faith. Jan & Martha Contact & Donations   Jan en Martha den Ouden West-Sidelinge 270, NL 3042CX  Rotterdam Tel: +31105115979 or +3164272705 Email: jandenouden@om.org marthadenouden@gmail.com Paypal: paypalme/jandenouden   Financial gifts will reach us through your national OM office. Please consider becoming a financial partner. 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