Richard & Sandra van Dillen

Richard & Sandra van Dillen  Holland  Tiikkertje Doie’s First Birthday & Ground Hog Day 2 February 2011

                                                                   PRAISES

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER!! We want to thank each of you who have prayed for our family and ministry!

1.     1.Patrice Danielle was able to return to The King’s College because her housing costs were cut in half. An administrator talked to Richard over the telephone. The board of trustees decided to give her housing at half price for this entire school year. She is back in New York with her roommates, Mallory and Chelsea. She loves her classes and asked prayer for the salvation of Chelsea and for harmony in her apartment with her roommates all semester.

2.     2.Tikkertje Doei is turning 10 today and tomorrow (both 2 and 3 February are on her registered papers) and thanks to your prayers she has not had an epileptic seizure since 8 January. Richard put her on a ketogenic type protein diet and she was almost instantly transformed. The Meryl Streep movie “First, Do no Harm” made by Johns Hopkins Medical Center was the inspiration for this. Tikkertje is running with me, Richard, and Tijnie Leila better than ever and she acts like she is turning 5 instead of 10 today and tomorrow. She must have been born at midnight.

3.     3.Dharma (my Hindu girlfriend for the past 16 years) called and talk to me for nearly an hour this week. Once again I was able to witness about the saving grace of Christ to her. She is so superstitious she believed that it would be bad luck for her to come to Perry-David & Amber’s surprise newlywed and golden birthday party since 3 extended members of her Hindu family had recently died in Suriname. Dharma has seen Jesus miraculously answer our prayers regarding her immediate Hindu family, and yet is still spiritually enslaved to her fear of spirits and blinded from the truth.

4.     4.Soenita (Hindu neighbor and friend) is doing much better emotionally. Her Dutch boyfriend is being treated in an institution for fist fighting with a neighbor. She asked for prayer that he not be put in jail to finish the sentence. He is able to leave the institution 2 or 3 times a week in order to visit Soenita for an hour each time. She also sincerely wants to marry Ron. Ron lived with his previous girlfriend for 32 years. At age 50 Ron has never married.

5.     4.Peter Daniel injured his knee this week, but not while break dancing. Fortunately, the doctor said biking is good for his healing process. We are praising God that with biking and taking it easy (something not easy for Peter Daniel to do) his MCL should be healed within four weeks.

6.     5.We are visiting a career choice fair in Amsterdam today with Paul-Duffy. He needs wisdom on what career to study in college here in Holland since changing majors is not a freedom in Holland.

7.     6.We are required by the Dutch government to take an advanced Dutch course which is paid for by the government. My Dutch class meeting is this Friday and I begin a 5 day a week class next Monday, 7 February. Richard is still waiting to receive his letter requiring this course.

8.     7.After jogging with our doggies, Tikkertje Doei & Tijnie Leila, yesterday we saw Tante Lila’s Hindu sister, Nita. We had a wonderful opportunity to talk to her about Jesus at the park we run in. Nita said that since her grandfather was a Hindu, unlike her older sister, who became a Christian, she has to remain a Hindu. She kept saying it was not attractive to her to become a Christian like her older sister, because it would dishonor her dead Hindu relatives!

9.     8.When I visited Bea last week, I was able to share Christ with her again. She told me she didn’t know of a solution to her sin problem in Hinduism. When Bea asked me what she could do about her sins, I was able to share the gospel clearly. She is also bound to Hinduism since her family is Hindu.

10.  9.Thanks to Patrice’s suggestion to use Facebook, we were able to get back in touch with our Hindustani Muslim friends that moved from our neighborhood. We are planning to get together soon.  

 

 

                                                     PRAYER

1.     Please pray for Patrice Danielle to do well academically at King’s this semester. Pray also for her roommate situation to honor the Lord. Patrice Danielle wants to start an apartment building Bible study on Ephesians. Pray for at least 2 other interested girls to join her Bible study.

2.     Thanks again for your prayers for Tikkertje Doei. Please pray for continued seizure-free good health.

3.     Dharma believes that Hinduism is wicked and has a very dark side, but since she was born a Hindu she cannot change religions. Pray for the Lord to work within her hard heart and open her blind eyes to the love of Christ.   

4.     Although Soenita wants to marry Ron and believes that Jesus brought them together through our prayers, she still insists that all religions are true. She admits that Jesus is the most powerful of the gods, and she even gives Jesus credit for turning her life around and making her happy. However, she can’t see her need for accepting Jesus as the only true God and Savior, thereby rejecting Hinduism as truth.

5.     Please pray for a quick healing of Peter Daniel’s MCL in his knee.

6.     Pray for wisdom for Paul-Duffy in choosing a course of study in Holland. Pray as well that we can reinstate his residency permit and eventually get dual citizenship for him with a Dutch and American passport.

7.     I am so excited about my Dutch courses which start next week. Please pray for me to make some good Muslim women contacts through this advanced Dutch course. Pray Richard to get his language study letter soon. Upon completion of this course we will be offered dual citizenship. We are looking forward to not having to renew our residency permits every 5 years!

8.     Pray for Tante (aunt) Lila’s sister, Nita, and our neighbor Bea, to let go of their superstitious beliefs that converting from Hinduism to Christianity will bring bad luck, so that they can open their hearts to the love of Christ.

9.     Pray for our getting together with our Hindustani Muslim friends Ronald & Silvie. Pray we might be able to help them come to faith in Christ. Pray also for the salvation of their kids, Patrick (age 23), Ryan (age 19), and Amber (age 11).