Belinda's Latest newsletter

June

1-7 Minneapolis for Barbarah + Kent's wedding (June 4th, reception June 5th)

15-30 Vacation

July

4-10 School of Worship seminar in Egypt

25-30 School of Event Management in Switzerland

August

22-28 School of Worship in Finland

September

15-21 Annual Staff Days and YWAM's 50th anniversary celebration (in Holland/UK)

27-Oct 1 Annual College of Arts&Sports int'l faculty meetings in L.A., USA

October

4-7 School of Worship in Ensenada, Mexico

8-10 SOW-DNA gathering in Ensenada, Mexico

Hello Friends!

Despite a very temperamental volcano I've been doing a fair bit of travelling couple months and there's more to come. One ministry trip to Ireland was cancelled because of the volcanic ash clouds, but I was able to help out at my home YWAM base in Holland for that week.

Of the very fruitful ministry weeks I've had in England, Hungary and India I'd like to share a report from the last one. This group of very young School of Worship students (age 18-22) were primarily from India but also Nepal and Bhutan. They are currently just returning from their outreach in Nepal and I've posted one of their reports below.

School of Worship outreach report from Nepal

Read what the SOW leader wrote just a few days ago; it's mind-blowing what God has done.

"The Lord has poured out His heart and His love-pain for souls - we cried out for Nepal for 4 hours non-stop last night, couldn’t stop the meeting, went on till 12 midnight. This is no hype; truly the power of God. I can’t express it with my limited words - the atmosphere was like Isaiah 6 with young and old crying for the lost was very powerful. We had more than 40 Nepalis committing their lives for missions at midnight, crying out to the Lord saying, Here I am Lord, send me!

Truly, the harvest is plenty, the workers are few. Pray that the Lord will send out more harvesters into Nepal. I talked to our SOW team this morning and said that if this continues, in 5 or10 years time the Nepalis will be everywhere! They may overtake India in terms of missions. Nepal is the highest place in all the world.The spirit of God fell on us like the rain and is going to fall on this nation and spread down to all the earth The students are overwhelmed.

The base leaders are so excited... a lot of other missionaries were also there - from U.S., Australia, Philippines, Ireland, and Canada. These missionaries have been serving here for the past 20 years as doctors, engineers, etc. Some native missionaries were also there. It was like God bringing all the churches and missionaries together for His purpose and everyone was amazed."

Another team working in Chennai, India has also seen a major move of God. Here is their report:

"Three hundred people came to the Lord in a conference we prepared for. Twenty of those people were on the verge of committing suicide and gave their lives to the Lord instead. Many people who were demon-possessed were delivered during the worship times under the power of the Holy Spirit. Fifty of these people are now being discipled in the church.

Last year this church had the same conference and they saw only one person come to the Lord. This is the first time our team has worked in this area and with this particular church."

Please continue to pray for our teams. We have seen such a major breakthrough on outreach this time that we felt it would encourage each of you.

- YWAM Beach Center, Chennai, India

My mission statement

I am called to disciple and release others in worship and

to call the nations to worship the One Sovereign Lord.

My aim is to reproduce the ministry of a worship leader and teacher by mentoring and multiplying able ministers into the harvest fields of the world.

Mentoring worship leaders based upon biblical values enables them to make their own choices in life in a manner consistent with the character and ways of God. This will have an eternal effect in the lives of those God entrusts to them to influence: families, friends, churches, society, the nations.

I believe that God wants to use my life in other's lives to spark into flame their gifts and callings and to arouse a passion in the Church to love and worship Jesus Christ. When God's people worship Him wholeheartedly, not only in church buildings but in public places, it attracts lost and hungry souls to their Creator.

I aim to reproduce other worship leaders who will "turn the tide" in their countries towards the Lord Jesus. My desire is to see these worship leaders influence worship in their nations, planting seeds of praise and reaping a harvest of thanksgiving. I believe praise and thanksgiving to Jesus prepares the way for a harvest of souls in the nations, calling all to worship God.

University of the Nations (UofN)

My focus is becoming more global instead of Holland, or regionally (Europe, Middle East and Africa). This is an adjustment but I know I'm ready and that God has equipped me for this. My responsibilities within the UofN continue to increase and I have a growing awareness of my "eldership" position within Youth With A Mission internationally.

Embracing my position as faculty for the College of Arts and Sports and supervising the continued development of our Schools of Worship internationally is an overwhelming task, but I absolutely love it. I am a networker at heart and each time I come alongside the staff of a School of Worship, I see how God can use simple gifts of encouragement with His wisdom to assist and equip.

Essentially I can describe myself as: "a trainer of trainers"

When I first entered missionary service I was happy to serve in any capacity in order to further the Great Commission. Gradually God began to open doors of increased influence and more focused responsibility as I was asked to teach the things I'd been learning about discipleship, worship, and reaching the nations. Though I still felt that I was in the process of learning about a lifestyle of worship myself and serving as a missionary in a multitude of ways, I gave thanks to God that He found me faithful enough to entrust this ministry of teaching others who are entering ministry and missions.

A Brief Biography

Belinda grew up in a non-Christian home and accepted Christ at age 15 through the ministry of the Navigators. This transformation sparked her interest in music and she taught herself guitar and began to write songs.

Attending the University of Minnesota from 1973-1978, she competed on the women's volleyball team and graduated with a BAS in Education (Sports and Health). During her university years Belinda continued developing her musical talents, often performing in coffeebars and contributing to the worship teams in her church and Bible study groups.

In 1979 she completed a Bible School with Daystar Ministries and then made use of her teacher training in both primary and secondary school positions.

Belinda joined Youth With A Mission as a missionary in 1982, initially serving in Amsterdam with "Musicians For Missions" and later (1985 - present) serving as Worship Director at the YWAM-Heidebeek base. YWAM currently operates in more than 1000 locations in over 149 countries, with a staff of nearly 16,000.

In August 2003 she was ordained as an intinerant minister (Assemblies of God) via her sending church, Sojourn Campus Church.

Recently (2009) Belinda was invited to join the College of Arts and Sports faculty of YWAM's University of the Nations. The UofN offers training programs in over 300 locations and 110 nations and aims to combine traditional classroom learning with a discipleship atmosphere and practical mission-field experience.

Belinda's passion is to mentor and multiply worship leaders and teams in order to call the nations to worship God. With over 25 years of missions experience in Europe, Africa, America and Asia she travels extensively teaching on worship both from an inspirational as well as a practical aspect.

Together with the YWAM team, she produced a pioneering praise and worship series called "Muziek voor de Koning" ("Music for the King") in Holland. In addition to three albums of her own music, she has penned a book, "Gezocht: Aanbidders" ("Wanted: Worshippers") and continues to write articles, songs and a monthly devotional. Many of her songs of worship have been translated into Dutch and are sung in churches throughout the Netherlands.

Belinda currently serves on several praise & worship-related advisory boards and has founded a ministry course called “Call2Worship” which trains worship leaders in different cultures. The C2W course has been established in Indonesia, Rwanda, Egypt, Romania, Holland, Finland, and more to come. Belinda teaches regularly in YWAM Discipleship Training Schools and Schools of Worship as well as speaking in churches and conferences.

Thankfulness!

A few months ago I made an appeal asking for people to contribute for a newer car. I also had some valuable assistance by two brothers sorting through car ads and test driving. I'm pleased to report that I was able to purchase a 2000 Toyota Rav4 at the beginning of May. All but $2000 came in to purchase this car and someone offered an interest-free loan to complete the payment. I'm fondly calling it "Honey's Car" since that was the theme of the fund-raising.

At the right you see the car we prayed for and many of you donated towards. I'm filled with thankfulness!

Summer months of ministry

Look with me at my calendar for the coming months of ministry....

JUNE: In the USA for my sister's wedding! Barbarah and Kent will be getting married on June 4th! They've been engaged for 2 years, so it's a long-awaited celebration. I'll fly home for 7-10 days for this happy occasion and be the maid of honor - yippee! You're all welcome to the reception on June 5th at Cleary Park in Prior Lake, Minnesota.

I return to Holland on June 8th. At the end of June I'll have 2+ weeks of vacation together with my friend, Hilde, at her family cabin.

JULY: The first week of July I've been asked to teach at the School of Worship seminar in Egypt. Though I've been there several times, I cherish your prayers for effective ministry, protection and health as I minister in this Arab Republic.

The last week of July I'm teaching near Lausanne, Switzerland at a YWAM school on the topic of Spiritual battle and the Arts. This is becoming a favorite topic of mine and I love assisting students to know and take hold of their authority in Christ.

AUGUST: Another School of Worship, the first-ever SOW in Finland! You'll remember that I was in Finland last summer leading a Call2Worship course which was to prepare for this school. Looking forward to see what God will do in this country as worship for God is awakened.

School of Worship in Holland!

Just a few weeks ago our worship ministry team at my home YWAM base, Heidebeek, made the decision to have a School of Worship in April 2011.

This is a momentous decision on several fronts. We had a SOW at Heidebeek in 2002 and, though the school itself was successful in training the students, there were some major relationship problems among the staff. In many ways it felt to me as if my dream, like that of King David's - to bring the Ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6), ended in death and confusion. It's taken these many years to come to a place of restoration to re-introduce the School of Worship. Our desire is to see the SOW established as a regular school at YWAM Heidebeek.

For me personally it has been a big decision to let go of itinerant ministry for the months it will take to lead the SOW. The SOW is scheduled for April-June (lecture phase) and July-August (field outreach phase). I am very certain of God's word to me to lead this school and train SOW staff and students and I feel "pregnant" with excitement!!!

This past winter while on furlough in Minnesota I asked a handful of friends to become a "Home Front Committee" for me: rallying prayer support and giving me advice on how to interface well with church and friends when I'm home and away. One of the primary reasons I gave them is because I want to "finish well". You see, I have begun to sense that my foreign service may be coming to a close in the next 5-7 years. Though I don't personally believe in "retirement" from ministry, I do feel that I will at that point return to the USA and continue as a missionary while based at home. This news has surprised some of my friends on both sides of the ocean that I plan, as the Lord wills, to return to Minnesota and leave my beloved Holland. Of course, I could just very well "die with my boots on", so to speak, as I'm off on some ministry adventure somewhere in the world. My times are in His hands, as are yours. God has reminded us of His sovereignity lately with a volcano, halting all air travel above the busy European skies... all eyes looking skyward, marvelling at this "act of God". Maranatha: come, Lord Jesus!

Until we see His face, let us live daily in His grace.

Blessings, Belinda