CALVARY COURIER

In This Issue:

Council News

Words of Thanks

Mission Feature

Youth Internship from

Annaliese Admiraal

Young at Heart

Birthday Calendar

October 2021

Council News

Consistory President Joel Verhoef chaired the meeting in the absence of Council President, Steve Ver Meer.

Devotional thoughts were shared from a book, “Something You Never Forget…” Stories related to the Verhoef family during WWII in the Neth-erlands. Praise and concern items were mentioned, followed by a pray-er for God’s blessing on the meeting at hand and the Holy Spirit’s guid-ance for Calvary Church in general.

Pastor Brad reviewed a list of Healthy Church questions for discussion, centering on the Mission, Vision, and Goals of Calvary Church in terms of how the congregation and its leadership sees our church and how they live out their faith.

1.Does our congregation have a clear sense of the church's mis-sion and a compelling vision for its future? 2.Do we periodically assess all areas of our church’s effectiveness based on our mission, vision, and goals? 3.Are we willing to sacrifice, change, take risks, even suffer for the sake of the gospel?

Discussion summary: It’s wonderful to experience the church communi-ty and fellowship opportunities return as we look to rebound from Covid-19. The ideas and resources we need to cope and succeed may very likely look different than before. An interesting comparison was made of the church’s mission, vision, and goals as being closely related to that of a Christian family: 1) Make God the center of it all; 2) Apply our gifts for the benefit of all; 3) Share our stories of how God is working in our lives; 4) Create opportunities to serve God by serving each other; 5) Advocate--help others address particular needs, and transform--become more of who we already are in Christ Jesus.

District elder and deacon teams are urged to reach out to all members concerning post-Covid health and spiritual health and church attend-ance. Several teams reported they divided the list and contacts are be-ing made.

Processes for 2022 budget considerations and nominations for elders and deacons are being worked on in preparation for the Annual meet-ing of the Congregation, scheduled for November 8, 2021.

The Vos family gives glory to

God for the many cards and

acts of kindness, and comfort,

and compassion in the loss of

Erma. Your kindness to our

members and worldwide

friends in need are greatly ap-

preciated.

-Sincerely the Vos Family

Thank YOU!

Thank You for being part of Lake View’s camping ministry this past summer by vol-

unteering. Volunteers drive Angel Tree Children to camp, help in the camp kitchen,

serve as camp nurse, drive the camp bus, fix fishing poles, mow and maintain the

trails, help with building projects, and so much more. Volunteers are a huge blessing

to this ministry and camp could not happen without you! Thanks for using Calvary’s

church bus to bring Angel Tree Campers to camp again this summer!

-”Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth”

Lakeview Camp

Annaliese Admiraal

PMW Youth Reflection

"This summer one of our college students, Annaliese Admiraal, had the unique opportunity of returning as Calvary's summer worship

intern as well as being able to serve alongside Pastor Nate in youth ministry opportunities. Between our Vacation Bible School, our church wor-

ship services, and our youth ministry service trips, Annaliese spent well over 160hrs hours learning and serving in ministry. We express our grati-

tude and joy for her servant heartedness and thank her for all the work she did for us this summer. Below we wish to share her own words re-

flecting on her summer experience. Annaliese is currently entering her second year at Calvin University."

The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to learn and grow with the leaders at Calvary Christian Reformed Church.

Throughout the summer, I worked alongside Pastor Nate Klingenberg and Cindy Gritters as a dual youth and worship intern. Both

roles required me to explore the components of what it means to be a leader in the church. This reflection will expound on my ex-

perience as a youth intern including Vacation Bible School, Chicago, and Serve at Home.

During Vacation Bible School, I filled in the role of music coordinator and skit helper. This position entailed organizing the

music schedule for each day, preparing the songs for playback, learning the lyrics and motions, and communicating with other leaders

involved in the process. The first few weeks of the position was slightly overwhelming. I was unfamiliar with some of the tasks and the

load appeared too great for me to handle. Once I began tackling the checklist, it was not as intimidating as I thought. The week itself

was busy but the amount of work I put into preparing for VBS was rewarding. God blessed me with the opportunity to lead fifth grad-

ers in worship.

While working at West Side Christian School in Chicago, I found myself growing closer to God and the teenagers. Each pass-

ing moment was an opportunity for me to display patience, energy, and a positive attitude or PEPA. The term honestly represented

how I needed to appear as a leader. Though there were several times I was frustrated and tired, I persevered to fulfill my leadership

position. I had to step away from the situation and ask myself whether I was representing a character of God or not. However, the

most challenging part of the Chicago trip was trying to find the line between leader and student. Since I had recently graduated, it was

difficult to remove myself from the position of a youth group member. I was no longer just along for the ride, but I was held account-

able for acting like a leader and taking charge.

During Serve at Home, I had similar difficulties. However, this time, I had experience from Chicago and a basic knowledge of

how to lead a group of teenagers. Though I was a leader in Chicago, I felt less influential at Serve at Home. Since I was not the only

other leader with Pastor Nate, I struggled to see myself in an authoritative position. My ranking was lower than it was before. As a

result, I put myself in a middle position where I was not a student, but I was not high in command. This response helped me learn to

not back down from leadership. Looking back, I can see that my reaction was to back away for others (older than me) to lead. In-

stead, I need to be confident in my leadership abilities that God has given me.

This summer has taught me a lot about leadership in youth ministry. My experience has helped me draw closer to God and

His will for my life. I am so grateful for the opportunity Calvary CRC gave me to partner with the worship committee and the youth

ministry. I took away so much knowledge that I will continue to grow and foster throughout my life. Thank you for all you have done

for me.

A Heartfelt thank you to all

who came to help celebrate

my 90th birthday, and also for

the many lovely cards and mes-

sages I received. I thank God

for these 90 years he has given

me and trust Him for the fu-

ture. My latest CT scan

showed no cancer. Praise God!

-Lillian Nikkel

Thank YOU!

Iowa offered a variety of adventures to enjoy as some members of

the Calvary Young At Heart group and their friends traveled to North-

west Iowa August 31 & September 1, 2021. YAH welcomed our friends,

John & Mary Ellen Butler from Pella, Gary & Elaine Davison from Illinois,

Howard and Marilyn Vander Griend from Sully. Those participating

from YAH were: Ivan Mulder, Lee Zondervan, Roger Jansen, Evelyn Ro-

zendaal, Regina Gritters, Ken & Dottie Monsma, Laverne & Linda Roose,

Harold & Twyla Van Wyk, Don & Lucille Van Wyk, Howard & Cathy

Vroom and Jim and Christy Van Zee.

After leaving Calvary at 7:00 AM on Tuesday morning, we ventured

to Algona, Iowa, to the Algona POW Museum. Many people do not real-

ize that during WWII, Algona, Iowa was the site of a base camp for pris-

oners-of-war. The camp was the “home” for 10,000 German prisoners

from April of 1944 to February of 1946. The value of the work done in the four state area was estimated at $3,506,000.00. Only God

could orchestrate the chain of events that took place to have POW Eduard Kaib and five of his friends create the sacred designs of the

Algona Nativity Scene. Kaib and his friends worked many long hours to create the nativity scene. There are sixty-five one-half life-size

figures, made of concrete over wire and wooden frames, with many of them finished in hand carving of plaster. The scene is enjoyed

each December by many Iowans and people from surrounding states. From Algona we ventured a short distance to West Bend, Iowa, to

The Shrine of the Grotto of the Redemption. The Grotto of the Redemption is the largest man-made grotto of the world. Father Paul

Dobberstein started the construction of the Grotto in 1912. He labored 42 years, winter and summer, setting ornamental rock and

gems into concrete. The Grotto covers one city block and contains the largest collection of precious stones and gems found in one lo-

cation – petrified wood, stalactite and stalagmite, malachite, jasper, quartz crystals and many more. That evening we were overnight in

Sioux Center, Iowa, where we also enjoyed a tour of part of the Dordt University Campus. While at Dordt, we were able to see the six

foot by eight foot 1200-pound stained-glass chandelier that was donated by Lauren and Barb Oschner. Barb is the daughter of Audrey

Veldhouse from Calvary. The art work has been named “LIJA” after the Oschsners’ parents; Leo, Irene, Jay and Audrey.

On Wednesday morning we visited the Dykstra Dairy that supplies most of the milk for Blue Bunny Ice Cream in LeMars, Iowa. Eric

Van Wyk manager, and son of Don & Lucille Van Wyk, gave us a morning tour of the dairy farm, the calf farm, and we also saw the silage

-cutting operation at a nearby dairy. The dairy milks over 3000 cows per day, with an average milking time of twelve minutes per cow.

We quickly learned that the dairy operation is much different than when we grew up, as we learned about cow computer chips, genetics,

and much more. After lunch at the LeMars Pizza Ranch, we started our way back home stopping first to see The Barns in Marcus, Iowa.

The Barns is a personal antique farm equipment collection of JR Pearson. Among some of the things to see is one of the first wagons

made by the Buerkens Manufacturing Company in Pella. There is also a horse drawn hearse that JR and a friend built themselves.

Other adventures included being called “kids” when a highway patrol stopped us and encouraged us to slow down. This made us feel

really young. Later we were reminded of our age when we had to go back to pick up a purse that was left in a restaurant. Today’s YAH

adventures create tomorrow’s memories.

YAH Adventures in Northwest Iowa

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