Declaring God's Faithfulness- March 2019

Barbara: John was born in the Netherlands and immigrated with his family to the US in 1948. His family lived in Minnesota for five years and then moved to New Jersey.

I was born in New Jersey. We met in 1964 and we were married in 1966. We became members of the Christian Reformed Church in Newton, New Jersey. John has been a deacon and elder in our former church. He also worked with the young people’s group and taught catechism to high school students. He served as president of the Christian school board. I was involved in the ladies school circle and taught Sunday school and worked with the Calvinettes (an organization of the Christian Reformed Church– similar to Girl Scouts, but with Christian emphasis).

We started farming in 1971 and farmed in New Jersey for many years. The farm we rented was being sold so we had to find a new farm. We looked at several farms in New York and found our farm in Gainesville, New York. A friend from eastern New York told us about a couple who had moved to Short Tract, New York. We visited them and introduced ourselves and told them how we found out about them. They told us about the PCA church in Wellsville.

We decided to visit one Sunday when Larry Oldacker was pastor. We came back and started attending regularly. We became members during the time when Ken Thompson was pastor.

God has blessed us with seven beautiful children, eighteen beautiful grandchildren and two great grandsons. God has brought us through many hard times in all of our years of farming. We are so thankful for the many blessings He has bestowed on us.

Editor’s Note: John and Barbara have fellowshipped with, and served this congregation for well over twenty years. John has acted as Congregational Treasurer, and currently serves as a Deacon. Barbara willingly serves in the nursery, kitchen, and anywhere that she can lend a hand!

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