The beginning
Het is het jaar 2011. Ewald bereidt zijn masterthesis voor ter afronding van zijn studie aan de TU Delft, en Lianne verdiept zich in de laatste Bio Farmaceutische wetenswaardigheden. Nog even, en het ?gewone’ leven gaat van start. Gewoon werken. Gewoon geld verdienen. Gewoon mee met de stroom van iedereen en alledag. Gewoon…. té gewoon. Hoewel… voor heel veel mensen is onze toekomst helemaal niet zo gewoon. We hebben het goed, er wacht ons veel geld, waarschijnlijk een goede gezondheid en anders wel een goede gezondheidszorg. Zo gewoon voor ons, zo ongewoon voor het merendeel van de wereldbevolking. Dat raakt ons.
So we go, young and passionate. We visit several organisations. One sais just go while you are young. The other sais: you are to young and without work experience, wait a bit before going. Finally the GZB1 advises us a middle way: work parttime, get your experience and study parttime some theology. And thats what we do.
Christmass 2012. Lianne is studying again. An educational master this time. Ewald works as IT manager and studies Practical Theology. We have moved to an previously abondend building. The coming years we will live together with 2 other families and several singles to share our lives with the neigborhood.
Sequel
February 2015. We enjoy living in community Taste!2. The chats we have with the neighbors we share our lives with. The jobs we have as IT manager and chemistry teacher. And we try to save money for our family extension: we are on the waiting list to adopt from Slowakia. We expect a waiting time of a few more years. But then we see this urgent call for parents to adopt from Nigeria, and we swap. 4 months later we are on a plane, desitnation Lagos, Nigeria. Completely unprepared for a different culture. But, after 4 beautiful, intense, sometimes difficult month we are home with our daughter Imole.
March 2018. Ewald has finished his second studies, he is working as a project manager now. Lianne switched schools and works closer to Delft now. Imole goes to elementary school. Everything is going as it should. But then our adventure genes start itching again. We want to share our lives and talents where they are needed most.
We talk again with the GZB. They give us a realistic view on the situation: we cannot go into mission as we have started a second adoption procedure. So we have to wait another 4 years or cancel the adoption. We have to decide, but we can’t.
But then, after just two weeks, the adoption organization gives us a call: they had to cancel our procedure.
Ok that is a clear message. Time to go! But with Imole in mind, we search for an organization which works in teams. So that Imole has kids to play with from her own culture. And there SIM shows up.
Whats next
Januari 2019. SIM comes up with two possible countries to serve: Thailand and Nigeria. After weeks of praying and talking we still don’t know which country to go to. But a skype call to both countries makes clear that we are called for Nigeria. A field trip to Jos, Nigeria makes it even more clear: that’s the place we need to go to. While being there for the first time, it feels like home. A place most people don’t want to visit. A place where there is an urgent need for teachers and IT skilled people. We really feel called to Nigeria, to put in to practice what we have learned at home.