Newsletter Jurgen & Katja Hofmann, May 2024

Enjoying

14^th of February was the day we, after three years, got to set foot on home soil again. We enjoy our stay a nice house in Oudewater, province Utrecht. The family we rent this house from has made it available especially for missionaries coming on furlough. The house is named 'Elim.' Elim was the place where the Israelites were allowed to rest just after the exodus from Egypt. Very appropriate, then. Every now and then, we are able to go to our home town near the North Sea, Den Helder.

The cawing of the seagulls, a walk through the dunes and the smell of the sea! Yes, that's how we remembered it!

Guest Speaker and Presentations

The few Sundays we were able to be in Oudewater can be counted on one hand. We have been busy giving presentations, across the country. But not just presentations. We have also been asked for sermons and livestreams on the internet. We have a page on our website where you can see where we have been invited. Would you like to invite us too? That is also possible via this page:

https://www.jurgenenkatja.nl/en/agenda/

You can watch the recordings of the presentations, sermons, and livestreams on one of our video platforms:

https://odysee.com/$/invite/@jurgenenkatja
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/jurgenenkatja/
https://www.youtube.com/user/jurgenenkatja

Exams

This month, Vanya will start her final exams. Issa too, will take an exam (English). They are well-prepared, so we are confident it will go well. After the exams in May, they are not done yet. When Dutch children go to school, they also have to take tests spread throughout the year. The marks obtained in these tests count towards the final grade. Vanya and Issa have not done these pre-exams so they have to return to the exam centre in July to take oral exams as well—for them, the combination of written and oral will be the final grade.

Nice Development

We recently received and offer from a Christian printing company in the Netherlands. After a good conversation on the phone, it became clear that they want to print the translated material and ship it to Madagascar. But, the average Dutchman will immediately think, “what will that cost?” We need not worry about that, they told us. We just need to figure out how the shipping will work best. Jurgen is now investigating how others have done this. Just shipping, as we are used to in the Netherlands, might not immediately be the most convenient or smart thing to do—there are still packages disappearing on Madagascar, or, while collecting a parcel, one is spontaneously confronted with a sky-high tax demand.

Lunch meeting 30 June

Just a date to note in your diary or on your calendar on the fridge! On Sunday the 30th of June, we hope to host a lunch meeting at our church in Den Helder, the Netherlands. During this meeting, we would like to inform you in detail about God’s work on Madagascar. We have planned this meeting after the church service. The service will end around 11:30. We expect to start the presentation around 12:00. There will be coffee, tea and soup. You only need to bring your own sandwiches. This is the meeting where we will be happy to answer your questions!

We still need some help...

We are still looking for people to help us prepare the soup and coffee/tea. But also to clean up afterwards. We would love to hear from you because, as a Dutch saying goes, many hands make light work. Please let us know via e-mail:

CONTACT@JURGENENKATJA.NL

Micro-SD

Last year on Madagascar, we started putting the audio recordings of the Bible stories on micro-SD cards. We then give those cards to trusted brothers and sisters in the villages. They often cannot read well, and so they put that card in their phone or radio and learn the stories by heart by listening to it.

Now, it would be very easy to ‘just buy’ 100 of these micro-SD cards over the internet.

But, these cards are not for free. On the other hand, many of us still have such cards lying around somewhere. Many people now have 32gb or bigger cards in their phones. That 4gb card has become too small. Too small for you? Fine for us!

If you still have a micro-SD card in the sock-drawer, your desk, kitchen cabinet, pencil case, or junk box? We would be delighted to receive them. You can send the card (in a stamped) envelope to our address for the next few months:

Titus Brandsmastraat 20, 3421CC Oudewater the Nederlands

All in All

We hope that after reading this letter, you, like us, are also looking forward to what the future holds. We can make plans but one thing we know for sure is that “what the Lord intends, happens.” (Proverbs 19:21)

We feel privileged to receive so much support in our work. Thank you for your prayers, compassion, and support!

Together with you, we want to keep trusting in the Lord! Because God is good, always! And always God i s good!

We sincerely wish you God's blessing!

Katja & Jurgen
Vanya, Issa, Abbey, Dani en Simeon Hofmann.