Robert en Elizabeth van Essen-Zondag Goudenregenstraat 100 2565GA Den Haag Telefoon/fax 070-3451051 29 december 2002 Dear friends, For five years we have anticipated our great journey: Australia (World Conference Order of St Luke) and Nw Zealand. When we left the congregation in Utrecht we received a gift of 1360 Euro's as a contribution. Maarten took us to the airport (Schiphol) the 23 rd of September and was waiting for us when we returned with an empty purse and worn out, but very content, at the first of November. How was Australia? Above all things it was vast! The Great Ocean Road is such a succession of breathtaking views that one might become short of breath. In a word, we came back with many pictures and much more stories. But first we show you around in our circle of children and grandchildren: Martyria and Jan Pieter (Almere) were blessed this year. Jan Pieter, apart from his job in IT, is very busy in a ministry among youth of the local uniting church. Martyria is busy raising the kids and invests a lot of time in the Order of St. Luke the Physician and in her ministry as elder of the uniting church. Calvin (5) is in group 2 of primary school now and Amy (9) likes it at school very much too. When a cycle track was build, they even showed up in the local television program. Lisa and Richard (Landsmeer) are at ease at last. De livingroom is enlarged with a glass annex and the result is beautiful. Reno (2) is a splendid little fellow who really has discovered the magic of language. He is communicating all the time! Lisa still works in the primary school several days a week and Richard (he became forty!) still finds fulfilment in his IT job. Stephen and Bianca (Amsterdam) saw their wish fulfilled. They moved to another house. It is really pretty with a real small tower on top, where the children can play safely in the playground in front of it. Stephen does a course this year in programming. Iris (7) and Amber (5) go to a bibleclub of the Dutch Reformed Church and they like the stories very much. Eva (3) got her eye-correction surgery and she looks fine now. Pepijn (2) fell from the table last spring and broke his collarbone (what Granny can do, I can too!) and when you receive this letter he is - hopefully - recovering from chicken-pox. Maarten (Amsterdam) lives at his own again, for Christa and he decided to part ways. He found a temporary place to live, where Elize (3) stays with him a week-end every two weeks. Sometimes they come to the Hague and then she makes grandpa and grandma very happy with the songs and poems she already can recite. Anna (Amsterdam) still lives in her temporary apartment: she hopes to find a place this year where she can really settle down. It was quite an event when we - the proud parents - could be at the diploma presentation of her course, where she finished her studies as ‘Verzorgende' (health care worker). She studied for three years and did so while she has a busy job as a trained mother's help. Robert van Essen I used the period of Lent to take my bearings in my parish-neighborhood. In this way I gathered to make a policy note with our deacons: how do we want to be involved in our area? For this reason I visited the Hope 21 conference in Boedapest in October, where I took part in the ‘cities' consultation. Very stimulating! I became a member of the board of OZ100, an ecumenical community (with 35 years of experience) in the inner city - red light area - of Amsterdam. In Casa Materna (Naples) the situation became more and more worrying this year. I was four times in Naples to meet with the director and committee members. In November the Methodist/Waldensian church decided that the school must close in June 2003. But I hear rumors that the closing shall be postponed for at least one year. We shall see... Because of a reorganisation within the uniting church in the Netherlands, the Missionary and Deaconal Council was abolished. Less meetings for me, but I think that the church should not cut at these areas where we need every peace of wisdom in these troubled times. In Utrecht I contined teaching a the theological course for lay-people. My subject: What is the responsibility of the church in a globalizing world. In my own congregation I gave a course on ‘Christology' and one on ‘Symbols en rituals'. It was nice to see the group grow every time we met. Last Autumn I started a group for young people - 20 to 30 years - about spirituality. We read and discuss Richard Forster's ‘The celebration of discipline'. The last week of August I pastored a group of senior-citizens from Loosduinen in the province of Drenthe (northern part of the Netherlands). In September there was an retreat in a monastery near Utrecht with my fellow-ministers of the Hague South-West. And then there was the worldconference of the Order of St Luke the Physician in Melbourne. We flew together with our 84-years old friend Annie Heukels, former secretary of the Dutch Order. Five inspiring days at Melbourne University, with lectures and workshops. In Doncaster we met the Dutch family Sonneveld, related to one of our parishoners in the Hague. They provided a warm welcome and we walked through the rainwood with them. With a hired car we drove to Adelaide: via the Twelve Apostles, Wharnambool, The Grampians (magnificent mountains) and the Barossa Valley (wine and a German heritage). Thanks to a fall of Annie Heukels we also learned that the healthcare in Australia is of good quality, but we did not see any flying doctors. Back to Melbourne by train and then a three and a half hour flight to Auckland. In Austalia and in Nw Zealand we went to church every Sunday, ranging from very charismatic Anglican to conservative Lutheran. The same variety as in the Nw Zealand landscape: hot geysers in Rotarua and plain (Dutch) meadows with ditches north of Tauranga. In Tauranga we stayed for more than a week with Els (a niece of Betsie) and Albert Schuitema. They took us to many places of interest. Betsie van Essen-Zondag The year of 2001 ended with the aftermath of my fall from the stairs at the railway station. Probably it is my age, for despite the daily half a litre of buttermilk and every sunbeam possible, it took until August before my collarbone was completely healed. This did not mean that I was not able to do anything. As soon as possible I started to catalogue my many patches and to see what I could use for the objects I wanted to make. Because of the conference in Australia, I had promised to make a banner. Rob told me what at least should be shown and then I could start thinking. The process ended with a nice Escher-like (Dutch artist) design in blue and white, including a (blue organza) Dutch tulip. It was nice to be able to do it and I finished it in time before the conference. You probably remember that Richard and Lida ran a lot of marathons and every time they received a T-shirt with the name (and symbol) of that marathon. Lisa did not like to throw them away - not wearing them anymore) - so from Boston she took the idea home to make a bedspread. I puzzled to make all these T-shirts into one design, but enjoyed it very much. Two days before we embarked for Australia I could give the quilt to Lisa. This year I was ailing regulary with my heart-rhythm and needed three times a treatment to get it normal. I was glad that everything was okay before we left and until now I feel fine. This year I did not accomplish much walking the pilgrimsway and water painting, but it is at the top of my list for the new year. I did some walking in the Hague: every Wednesday morning they organise a midweek-walk of 10 km in the surroundings. In this way I have seen a lot of the green side of our town. The Hague is a beautiful town, so I know by experience. Many greetings from us and God's blessing for the year 2003. It is a blessing for us to know you and to be united in prayer and love.