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THE DEN HARTOG TIMES Spring 2014 The Den Hartogs Go to Colombia Dear friends and supporters, Thank you. Thank you for the time that you have spent praying for us, the general encour- agement you give us. We probably don’t say it often enough: it’s because of you, who love us and care for us, that we are able to take the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). When we traveled to Bogotá at the end of January, it was an act of faith. We hoped that God would pro- vide a way for us to minister to at least a dozen pastoral couples in the area, but it was hardly a sure thing. We did not know how many pas- toral couples would be avail- able. However, we did trust that God would provide, and that He had guided us to Bogotá for such a time as this. He did not let us down. Pastor Hector Pardo, one of our longtime friends, Amelia’s family pastor for over forty years, a leader in the city, and the pastor of a thriving evangelical church, was our primary contact with the pastors in Bogotá. It was a longtime habit of his to hold a weekly Wednesday morning breakfast in which he would share with them, and they would pray togeth- er. Hector did a great thing. He gave that time to us. Rather than just allowing us to pass out brochures he shared that our children were proof that our ministry is effective, and asked the pastors whether they would be okay with dedicating those Wednesday mornings for the next three months (February through April) to our ministry. One by one, the majority of them agreed. And the turnout has been amazing. The dozen families we hoped for became 17 families represented by one or both parents. Even though we did not offer a full-sized breakfast there was an incredible response from those parents. Several times 40 or more people showed up. Through this success, we have felt the approval from God in this situation. Our faith has been affirmed. And though we are still seeking God on what we will do next, we know His plan is perfect. Den Hartog family, Diaz family, and Pastor Victor in Barranquilla, Colombia in January of 2014

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TTHHEE DDEENN HHAARRTTOOGG TTIIMMEESSSSpprriinngg 22001144

The Den Hartogs Go to ColombiaDear friends and supporters,

Thank you. Thank you for the time

that you have spent prayingfor us, the general encour-agement you give us. Weprobably don’t say it oftenenough: it’s because of you,who love us and care for us,that we are able to take theGospel “to the ends of theearth” (Acts 1:8).

When we traveled toBogotá at the end of January,it was an act of faith. Wehoped that God would pro-vide a way for us to ministerto at least a dozen pastoralcouples in the area, but itwas hardly a sure thing. Wedid not know how many pas-toral couples would be avail-able.

However, we did trust thatGod would provide, and that

He had guided us to Bogotáfor such a time as this. Hedid not let us down.

Pastor Hector Pardo, oneof our longtime friends,Amelia’s family pastor forover forty years, a leader inthe city, and the pastor of athriving evangelical church,was our primary contact withthe pastors in Bogotá. It wasa longtime habit of his tohold a weekly Wednesdaymorning breakfast in whichhe would share with them,and they would pray togeth-er. Hector did a great thing.He gave that time to us.Rather than just allowing usto pass out brochures heshared that our childrenwere proof that our ministryis effective, and asked thepastors whether they wouldbe okay with dedicating

those Wednesday morningsfor the next three months(February through April) toour ministry. One by one,the majority of them agreed.

And the turnout has beenamazing. The dozen familieswe hoped for became 17families represented by oneor both parents. Even thoughwe did not offer a full-sizedbreakfast there was anincredible response fromthose parents. Several times40 or more people showedup.

Through this success, wehave felt the approval fromGod in this situation. Ourfaith has been affirmed. Andthough we are still seekingGod on what we will do next,we know His plan is perfect.

Den Hartog family, Diaz family, and Pastor Victor in Barranquilla, Colombia in January of 2014

We returned to the Statesfor about ten days in March.While that would seem like apitstop on the racetrack ofour lives in Colombia, the

truth is that it's merelyexchanging one racetrack foranother. Home holds tasksand work and mail piledhigh. This meant that the

majority of the time was verybusy.

However, the main reasonfor the trip was hardly workrelated. We returned homebecause our youngest nieceon the Den Hartog side wasgetting married. This mightbe a good time to tell abouthow, almost 25 years ago,this same niece served as theflower girl to a very impor-tant wedding - ours. Gettingto see her take that leap offaith known as marriage wasa beautiful thing for us. ††

IIn January, February, andMay of 2014 more than 70parents (40 in northernColombia and 30 in Bogotá)graduated from the BlessOur Children (BOCM) pro-gram. When, after the longprocess of preparing thematerials, teaching, andprayer, we have the joy ofhearing the testimonies ofparents who have committed

to pray and share God’sWord with their families. Itis exciting to hear how He istransforming their homes inColombia ! Here are a fewtestimonies:

A lady from Barranquillashares, “Our family used tonot communicate very well;all of us had problems lis-tening. After attending the“Bless Our Children” work-

shops, my husband startedlistening to me, and I startedlistening to my son. Seeingthe change in our own lives,my son started going tochurch. Since then, throughthis program, my sonreturned to the Lord. I thankGod for the mighty work Hehas done through this min-istry in all our lives.” ††

CCeelleebbrraattiioonn ooff LLoovvee iinn tthhee SSttaatteess

GGrraadduuaattiioonnss iinn nnoorrtthheerrnn CCoolloommbbiiaa iinn 22001144

Joy and Ryan Leafgreen: the happy couple that we were ableto enjoy some time with.

Graduation in Barranquilla in January of 2014 Graduation in Cartagena in January of 2014

TTeessttiimmoonniieess CCoonnttiinnuueedd::A lady from Cartagena

shares, “The teachings thatwe’ve received (from theBOCM) have helped us topray more at home, clean

our home of things that didnot honor God, and motivat-ed us to share with ourneighbors what we havelearned. I shared with my

daughter about the familydevotional, and now she isdoing it with my grand-daughter.”

GGoodd WWoorrkkss EEvveenn WWhheenn WWee HHaavvee DDiiaarrrrhheeaa && PPaaiinn..God does not stop work-

ing. Sometimes, when we arenot feeling well, it becomesharder to see God's hand intthe midst of our situation.We want everything to benice and easy, and it rarelyis. It often comes throughstruggle. This next storyillustrates that truth.

Before the Den Hartogfamily left for Colombia onJanuary 3, Amelia was feelingsick. Though the detailsaren't pretty, they are rele-vant, so here they are.Amelia had diarrhea (possi-bly from Brazilian amebasthat were dancing “samba”inside her stomach) and lotsof pain. In fact, she was feel-ing so bad that she went to aclinic a few days before,where a good friend recom-mended that she not travelto Colombia at that time. Shecouldn't accept that. That iswhy, a few days later (onJanuary 3), she found herselfat a window seat on a five-hour flight from Newark toBogotá. We know how thatplays out. On several occa-sions she forced the two gen-tlemen between her and theaisle to stand so she could goto the bathroom. She felt

ashamed to keep doing that,and decided to sit in anempty seat close to the bath-room. While there shenoticed that a man was read-ing the Bible and takingnotes of what he was study-ing. So she asked him, “Areyou a pastor ? Are youpreparing a sermon ?”

“No”, he said. “I am a manthat is trying to cope with avery difficult situation.That’s why I’m reading theScripture. My closest brotherpassed away yesterday . . . . ., and I am going to his funer-al, which is tomorrow inSantander, Colombia.”

At that moment, sheunderstood that he wasgrieving and needed help. So,she asked him a few ques-tions, allowed him to expresshis feelings and thoughts,and thus go through thegrieving process. Then sheasked him if she could prayfor him.

“Yes, please, do it”, hesaid.

So, she prayed for him.Then an amazing thing hap-pened. Suddenly her painwas totally gone and she feltenergized. She felt so good !At that moment, she under-

stood that the Lord wantedher to pray for that man andcomfort him, and that wasthe “reason” that she hadgotten sick.

She decided to go back toher seat and share with theman sitting next to Ron andher. He had seen that Ameliahad been very sick, and nowcould see the difference onher face. So, she asked him ifshe could share that veryrecent experience with him.

He said, “yes”. So sheshared it with him.

Then, he shared that hewas in love with his girlfriend, and that he was goingto get married to her.

After congratulating him,she gave him a “free” pre-marital counseling sessionfor about an hour and a half,and also shared Christ withhim. He ended up receivingChrist in his life. Praise God !

Amelia felt grateful to theLord for this opportunity toshare His love and the Gospelwith this man. Jesus Christis Lord of everything in ourlives. He has power overevery pain and He sometimesallows it in our lives. WhenHe uses our pain for good,praise His Name !

[email protected][email protected] • Donations: Christ for the City Int.,PO Box 390395, Omaha, NE 68139-0395 • (402) 592-8332

www.blessthefamilyinternational.com

Written by: John M. & Ron Den HartogEdited by: John M. Den Hartog

Bless The FamilyINTERNATIONAL

“And he sha l l turn the hear t o f the fa thers to the ch i ldren . . ” Mal 4 :6a

PPrraaiissee RReeppoorrttss::AAnnnn EE.. GGrraadduuaatteess && JJoohhnn MM.. HHaass NNeeww JJoobb..1. Praise God that

70 parents havealready graduatedthis year from theBOCM.

2. Praise God thatAnn Elizabeth gradu-ated on May 18 fromDrake University inDes Moines with a

BA in Biology .3. Praise God that

John Michael has anew job as Directorof Communications& Marketing withCFCI.

4. Thank God thatRon & Amelia havehad opportunities to

minister in severalchurches on “PassingOur Faith in God andChristian Values onto Our Children.”

In addition, theyhave given trainingin Christian counsel-ing in the “Taberna-culo de la Fe” and

the “Confraternidad”churches; it was verymuch needed andwell-received.

6. Praise God thatwe have had safetravels betweenColombia and theUSA.††

FFuueell ffoorr PPrraayyeerr1. Please pray that

the 70 parents thathave graduated thisyear will continue tobe faithful in teachingHis Word and prayingfor their children.

2. Please pray thatGod will lead Emilecioand Emma Diaz asthey contact potentialnew group leaders(Facilitators) inBarranquilla andCartagena, and trainthem to lead newgroups. Also, pleasepray that God willgive them new oppor-

tunities to teach pas-toral couples thetwelve workshops ofthe “Bless OurChildren” ministry.

3. Please pray thatGod will let us knowwhich couple He haschosen to coordinatethe “Bless Our Child-ren” ministry inBogotá.

4. Please pray forRuffo Sánchez,Amelia’s brother, whohad knee surgery onMarch 20. Please praythat his body will healquickly.

TThhaannkkss ffoorr yyoouurr pprraayyeerrssaanndd ffiinnaanncciiaall ssuuppppoorrtt ..WWe appreciate

your giving for bothour support as wellas our ministryexpenses. With allour ministry inColombia (7 of thelast 16 months )and making severaltrips there, oouurrmmiinniissttrryy aaccccoouunnttpprreesseennttllyy llaacckkssaabboouutt $$33,,660000 tocover both our pastexpenses & Ron’supcoming trip toColombia iin July.

We are trustingGod for the fundsthat we need.

God has beenimpacting manyfamilies throughyour partnershipwith us. TThhaannkkssffoorr yyoouurr ffiinnaann--cciiaall ssuuppppoorrtt.. WWeeaarree vveerryy ggrraatteeffuullffoorr iitt .. MMaayy GGooddrriicchhllyy bblleessss yyoouuaanndd yyoouurr ffaammiillyy..

To give securely online: Paste in google: https://christforthecityinternational.cloverdonations.com/missionary/and select Den Hartog from the drop down list. You have the option to set up a recurring gift here or make a one-time donation. Please be advised that online donations are assessed a processing fee.

PPlleeaassee ddeessiiggnnaatteeyyoouurr ggiivviinngg ffoorroouurr mmiinniissttrryyeexxppeennsseess ttoo::““BBlleessss tthhee FFaammiillyyIInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall””..