It was a foretaste of heaven. Part of the New Song is, “For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 13:7).

Those gathered to remember the Lord’s death could communicate in nineteen langauges: Aramaic, Bassar, Chinese, Dutch, English, Ewe, Gallego, German, Fanti, French, Italian, Nzema, Papiamento, Polish, Portugese, Sign language for the deaf, Spanish, Turkish and Twi.

Roel De Gruyter and Roy Davison work with this congregation.

SEARCY, Ark. (BNc) – S.F. Timmerman, a pioneer in French missions, faithful and bold preacher of the gospel, loving husband, father and brother ended his difficult battle with cancer today at noon. He was 92.

Family members were together with him at the Byrd Haven nursing home at the time of his passing.

Visitation will be from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Friday at the Powell Funeral Home in Searcy. The funeral will be held at the College church on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., according to a granddaughter.

“One of our great fellow workers has passed on,” Bren White, a French-speaking missionary, wrote in an email. “We praise God for this godly man and his relentless work to spread the gospel. What a wonderful brother! What a tremendous example for us!”

“Please lift his precious family up in prayer at this time. May the God of all comfort have his mighty hand on them now,” Bren wrote.

Timmerman was a veteran missionary who inaugurated efforts in Montreal and Belgium. He and his wife Maxine arrived in Montreal in 1965 and spent 17 years there until moving to Ontario, according to the website Churches of Christ in Quebec.

Bren is a full-time missionary to the French-speaking world, based in New Market, Md., and overseen by the Castle Rock, Colo. church. He works closely with Doyle Kee and others in Operation French World in 75 countries, to get more workers trained and on to French mission field. They are starting New Testament churches in France and Quebec.

A memorial fund has been established in honor of brother Timmerman to help continue the work he initiated in the Belgian Ardennes city of Verviers. The fund will support outreach efforts in the French World Bible School program (Ecole Mondiale de la Bible).

Funds may be sent to :

Timmerman Fund
Pinson Church of Christ
P O Box 160
Pinson, TN 38336

Until he moves in a month, Don Taylor may be reached for more information at this telephone: 731-934-7281

TESTIMONIES RECEIVED

“I share this moment of sorrow with you but I however think it’s a great blessing for you to have enjoyed the presence of such noble and devout man for such a longtime. Let’s rather give thanks to God for such a blessing. Let his life be a great example for us to also try and be dedicated the way he did. Like David did, let’s rejoice and prepare ourself to go and meet him one day. In fact, he ramains my inspirer for meeting him during the French World Mission in Colorado, I was touched by all that was said about him, his sacrifice and devotion are challenges to me. As one of the pioneers in the French World with the gospel, I ask myself can I also live to expectation the way he did? What shall be said about me after sevaral years of my mission here in Senegal? I know it’s very painful losing such a great man but my heart is full of joy for I know he has made the mark and the Almighty is satisfied with his service. May he rest in perfect peace in the bossom of Lord.” –Arnold Dzah,
Ghanaian preaching in Senegal

This year the congregation in Maastricht was responsible for the program, which was on the theme ‘One in the Spirit’.

In the introductory address Ruud Verheijen stated: “We want to encourage each Christian not to avoid difficult subjects and differences of opinion. … Do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed by Christians who speak only from their own feelings or desires. Our only and correct benchmark is God’s Word.”

He quoted the passage: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-5).

Scott Raab taught a class on conflict resolution on the basis of God’s word. Although conflict is inevitable when certain people persist in teaching or doing what is wrong, Scott encouraged those present to be sure that conflicts are not caused or aggravated by unchristian attitudes and behavior, or by poor communication.

In discussion groups a list was presented of topics that cause problems in some congregations: the role of women, head-covering, music, the Lord’s supper, organized activities of the church, divorce and remarriage. Although a list of passages was given for each topic, it was not the intention to study the topics in the discussion groups, but to discuss how one should go about studying and solving such questions. Some opinions were expressed, however, that showed the urgent need for further study.

A warm meal was served at noon that had been prepared by the ladies of the Maastricht congregation.

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (BNc)-

He taught taught two classes for men at Eindhoven Feb. 16.

From 9:00-10:30 he had a Greek class for three brethren in Eindhoven. Since one of them was just starting, they spent some time on the alphabet and then studied the Greek of passages for a later general men’s study.

Roy has put the Greek alphabet on the Internet at this address both visually and in audio.

Only the alphabet is available for the present, but Roy plans to add material so that one can learn Greek just by visiting the site.

To be notified each time he adds a lesson, one can contact Roy by email.

Roy also recently preached on “They Worshiped the Dragon,” from Revelation 13. Both Dutch and English versions of the sermon are available.

(BNc)- The book by T.W. Brents, The Gospel Plan Of Salvation, has been added to The Old Paths Archive.

In this standard work, first published in 1874, brother Brents gives a thorough and scholarly treatment of God’s plan for the salvation of man.

It contains a powerful refutation of Calvinistic errors with regard to predestination, election, reprobation, foreknowledge and hereditary depravity. The establishment and identity of the church are treated.

And matters relating to the new birth — such as faith, repentance, confession and baptism — are discussed thoroughly.

Brother Brents goes to the Scriptures to substantiate each point and to refute common errors.

All preachers, Bible class teachers and Christians who want to have a clear understanding of the Word would greatly benefit from reading this book. Although scholarly, it is written in an easy-to-read style.

FLANDERS, BELGIUM (WGN)- We work regularly with the congregation that meets at Burcht, Belgium, which is across the river from Antwerp. There is also a congregation at Deurne, which is a suburb on the other side of Antwerp.

The Antwerp metropolitan area has a population of 1.2 million.

The Burcht congregation has a regular attendance of about 14. We have non-Christian visitors most Sundays. Since the congregation consists of people from other countries, we conduct our services in English. The other congregation in the city worships in Dutch.

Gorgina Yankee, a daughter of one of the families in the congregation, was baptized the first part of the year.

From January to March we placed want-ads 12 times in 250,000 copies of an advertising paper in the area offering a Bible correspondence course. There were about 80 registrations. Ads were also placed on certain Internet sites. The cost of all these ads was about $600, which I paid personally so as not to burden the small congregation. The congregation pays the rent of its meeting place and all regular expenses.

In the Spring we invited brother Roel DeGruyter to start helping our congregation. He is a Dutch brother who attended the two-year course at the British Bible School in Corby, England. After his study there he did an internship of a few years with a congregation in Scotland. Roel is a capable young brother who speaks Dutch, English and German fluently. He is an effective preacher and Bible teacher.

The Burcht congregation contributes about $150 per month toward his support. He is also helping the Deurne congregation (the other congregation in the Antwerp area) this year while the missionary who usually works there is away to the States for a year.

The Burcht congregation meets on Sunday afternoons. Our Bible study is at 3 p.m. and worship is at 4 p.m. This enables me to preach at other places as a guest speaker on Sunday mornings.

Eindhoven, Holland

I teach the Bible class and preach at Eindhoven the second Sunday of each month. This is a congregation of about 50 that meets in a building they have purchased themselves. They do not have a full-time worker. Various men in the congregation help with teaching and preaching. I baptized the first couple in that area more than 25 years ago.

Eindhoven is a city in southern Holland, about an hour and a quarter drive north from where we live. The Eindhoven metropolitan area has a population of 750,000.

Brussels, Belgium

I preach for the English-language congregation in Brussels the forth Sunday of each month. This is a congregation of about 50 members made up mostly of people who are originally from other countries and who use English as their language of communication. (As is true with most large cities in the world, a significant percentage of the population originally came from some other country.) The Brussels metropolitan area has a population of 2.3 million.

Den Dolder, Holland

About once every two months I preach for the congregation at Den Dolder, Holland. This is about a two-and-a-half hour drive from where we live. This is a small congregation of about 10 members. It is in the Utrecht metropolitan area which has a population of 560,000.

Internet Evangelism

I publish about 20 web sites in various languages (English, Dutch, French, German and Russian). The one that gets the most traffic is The Old Paths Archive.

During the last year there has been an average of 958 visitors to the Archive each day. There has been a total of 349,670 visits to the site during the last year and 629,625 web pages were consulted. Many of those who consult the Archive are non-Christians and they are from many different countries throughout the world.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Our work is only possible because of the faithful support of various brethren and congregations in the US, Canada and Europe. The Lord will bless you for your dedication to proclaiming the good news to all nations.

Your brother in Christ,
Roy Davison

Strathmore has mailed about 200 copies to all parts of the world. About half of those requesting them are non-Christians.

The DVDs have been sent to Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, England, Ethiopia, Fiji, Germany, Greece, Guyana, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Malawi, Mexico, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Nigeria, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, USA and Zambia.

“This is a wonderful medium God has given us to preach the gospel in the whole world,” Roy wrote in an email Nov. 19.

Those who would like to receive the free DVD may request one here.

The same material can also be viewed online by someone with a multimedia computer at this address.

Roy serves as an evangelist in Belgium. He earns a portion of his support as a freelance Dutch-English translator. He has served in Europe since 1963 and publishes about 20 websites, among them the Old Paths Archives.