Missions and Outreach

THE RAAB FAMILY

the Raabs, working in Belgium and the Netherlands:

Scott’s church in the Netherlands is grateful to be meeting face-to-face again. They’re thankful for the technology that has made online church possible but happy to be together in person. They’ve done a good job looking out for each other during the pandemic, especially some without computer skills and some who don’t speak Dutch.

Scott says that people who might never have considered God have been confronted with difficult times and have found their way to God’s family because of the Internet. One day he had an email and a video call with a student who was struggling through the dark days. She had found the Bible she had as a child and began wondering who this God is and why she felt she really needed to find out. She’s been reading the gospel of Mark and wanted to know if she could contact Scott with her questions.

Scott and Shirley continue to meet individually and in small groups with their members and with many non-Christians. And Scott is part of a new international group that is working together to reach out to teens all over Europe. In June the group will meet together in the Netherlands. In previous meetings in Eastern Europe and in Italy there have been over 60 young people present.

In family news, Scott writes that Stephan and Natalie are doing well in Indianapolis, where Stephan has a new job. And Sean and Jill are doing well in New York, happy to have a place of their own after sharing apartments with others for a while.

For more information about the Raabs, see https://ravenraab.blogspot.com/.

FRIENDSPEAK

Weekly a group of retired teachers from our church Long Beach Church of Christ gather together to teach the English language to non English speakers. This service is free and for all ages. It is a conversational English language learning group offered several days during the week. We meet in homes and at church at the times depending on the need. We welcome community members and volunteers in hopes that it will give those attending greater opportunities and lead them to know the love of the Lord.