Meet the Vaverka Family By Ryan Hoekstra

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1 January-February Pella II Newsletter January 1, 2017 Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me. Mark 9:37 In this issue, we meet the Vaverka family and see what Pella II did during Thanksgiving and December. Meet the Vaverka Family By Ryan Hoekstra She attended Dordt College and graduated with a music degree. While there, she participated in choir, bands and ensembles. Although she has played nearly every instrument, she played bass clarinet while at Dordt. She also took all the required education courses to be a music teacher; all she needs is a teaching certificate. After graduation, she moved back home, helping her dad farm and holding a couple of other jobs for 2 years. Then her sister Jeanetta called, saying that Pine Rest was looking for a part-time support staff person. So she moved to Pella and lived with Luke and Jeanetta until She is now the Support Staff Supervisor at Pine Rest. She appreciates the opportunity her position provides to work with different people, including clients and her co-workers. I had the opportunity to sit down recently and catch up with Jacob, Regina and Aiden Vaverka. If you haven t met them, it s probably because they re a fast-moving family. It seems that once they met, the dates and times of important events have gone very quickly. Their faces may be familiar though; they ve been attending worship for about three years. Regina (Groenendyk) grew up on a farm in Downs, Kansas. Her dad is a farmer, and her mom is a teacher. She is the youngest of three siblings; Jeanetta (Nieuwsma) is the oldest, followed by Ben. However, her parents provided foster care, so there were often more than three kids in the house! Jacob grew up in Pella and attended community schools. He has one older sister. His dad works at Pella Corporation, and his mom has retired from teaching. He is a Central College graduate, with a degree in Computer Science. While at Central, he interned in Vermeer s Information Technology department. After his internship, Vermeer hired him in May, 2008 as a full-time employee, and he is now a Database Administrator. He very much enjoys learning new skills and appreciates the ever changing environment of business databases the systems that keep track of all the details and data. Jacob and Regina met on a blind date in July, Jeanetta set them up. Luke knew Jacob from work, and so they schemed to get Jacob to call and ask Regina out. Since he was working nights at Vermeer at the -1-

2 time, they went to El Charro during his lunch break. To hear them tell it, there was a little concern that it might go poorly, so Jacob had a built-in excuse just in case, I have to get back to work. That didn t happen. Instead, they continued to see each other regularly, and less than a year later in March, 2014 they got engaged. They claim their wedding took about two weeks to plan. In October, 2014, Jacob and Regina got married in a pasture at Regina s parents farm. Their biggest fear in getting married was whether their pets would get along without taking each other out. Abby is Jacob s dog, a big and enthusiastic Black Lab/Weimaraner mix. Ted is Regina s pitch black cat. For the most part, the animals get along. But when Ted starts messing with the Christmas tree, Abby gets a little upset. In December, 2015, they were blessed with a baby boy. Aiden is a very active, brighteyed, and happy baby boy. And by the time you read this, he will have turned one year old. He loves to smile and jabber, and has even started to pick up some words if you re paying attention and know what to listen for! Aiden was baptized in Pella II, and shortly thereafter (April, 2016) Regina became a member. Jacob s membership transfer was finalized in May. Regina was a member of the RRR team a few years ago, and has used her musical gifts in choir, ensembles and solos for worship. She intends to return to choir after this first year of motherly busy-ness! Jacob enjoyed being part of the PET build day this year. They love to travel. In the past year Aiden has been to Arizona, California, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois (Chicago), Minnesota, Missouri, and New Mexico. Yosemite National Park s Half Dome is in the background of their family photo and their favorite vacation spot. They like to find new places to eat, and they love hunting in Kansas. Just a few weeks ago, Jacob got his first deer there. Regina didn t mention her trophies. If she could have a dream vacation, it would be going on safari in Africa, but not to hunt. Jacob enjoys golf, and is a beginning woodworker. Regina loves music, crafting, cooking and baking. They re members of Pella II because Regina started attending with the Nieuwsmas, and Jacob started coming to Pella II because Regina was here. It s where they started. They particularly appreciate and enjoy Pastor Tom; the messages that he brings really resonate with them. For Regina, music is a part of her life, and a big part of worship. Barbara s skills and talents, and all she s done to encourage our congregation to use their God-given musical talents, are an important reason why we re blessed to have the Vaverkas as part of the Pella II family! Thanksgiving Event and Dinner By Danielle De Ruiter Each year, Grace Fellowship holds a Thanksgiving event with dinner on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. -2-

3 Approximately 40 youth attended from the Wednesday night program. There were only two who came alone without their family. We paired them up with a couple from our congregation, so they didn't feel out of place. This event is one of two times that family attendance is high. The other event is in March for our Pinewood Derby Races. This year, we had 12 stations available to youth/families to complete. Each station had a short activity to complete, with Bible verses to go with each station. Each station corresponded to a letter and theme to spell the word THANKSGIVING. The 12 stations were: (T)rials, (H)oly Spirit, (A)ll Things, (N)ews [Good News], (K)ingdom, (S)alvation, (G)race, (I)nstruction, (V)ictory, (I)nheritance, (N)ame of Jesus, and (G)ift. So, for example, at the station of TRIALS, the activity was... What is one trial you are experiencing now that you need help with? Take a minute and write out a prayer to God, describing it and asking for help. OR What is one trial you have recently experienced? Write a letter to God, describing 1-2 things you learned from it. There were some BEAUTIFUL letters written. Our dinner included: turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, corn, pumpkin pie, assorted fruit pie, lemonade, and water. I'm not sure on how many pounds of turkey were available, since it was provided by many different people! We concluded the evening with a picture video of all of the years that we've been having the Wednesday night youth program. One neat moment came when Bev De Vries told 12 youth if they changed their radio stations from to 99.9, she would say their name on the radio. The next Wednesday that we met, almost all of those youth were quick to talk about hearing their name...and she played a song for them! I am SO grateful for ALL of the help from Pella 2! Many members helped with this event by providing food, kitchen help, and clean-up; your Cadets and youth/leaders manned stations (other members of your church manned stations as well); decorating tables/stage; fellowshipping/talking with youth and their parents; Jim Gosselink brought 4 tables from your church; Brenda Hugen helped with communication with your church, and Troy Hugen generously gave his time to take family pictures. He provided each family with one picture free of charge! -3-

4 A Note of Thanks from Barbara Boertje DeVries you who pray that God receives the glory in our efforts. Thank you to all of you who have been such an encouragement to my husband Jeff and me as I have been privileged to serve as your Worship Coordinator the last 15 months. Your friendship and love have been such a blessing to both of us! Dear Pella II Family, I am reflecting on what a joyful month December has been at Pella II - the meaningful Community Choir & Orchestra worship service that so many of you were involved in at First Reformed Church, as well as Pella II s beautiful Candlelight Service. As I write this, I am looking forward to the children leading our January 8 morning worship service; unfortunately, we had to cancel the caroling after our evening service on December 18. And soon Christmas will be here. Throughout this season we have continued to be blessed by the leadership and preaching of Pastor Tom. I am amazed at the musical as well as nonmusical talents humbly offered in worship by so many of you, and am grateful for all of As we soon embark on a new year, let s pray and thank God for our church family and our leaders, and ask the Holy Spirit to continue to guide discussions and decisions that will have an impact on Pella II and the world around us. May God be glorified in all we think, say, and do! Christmas Service By Troy Hugen Pella II, it appears we certainly know how to present a Christmas Celebration. If there is a more musical church for its size than Pella II I want to visit it. Great work tonight by the choir, our two praise bands, a handful of soloists and Barbara leading the troops. And of course, the accompanists without them there is no music. The video is at 4,400+ views and climbing. We are seeing how much the music of Pella II is a blessing to thousands. God is great! Pella II Newsletter invites your contribution. Drop a note in the Newsletter box in the church library or contact one of our editors. Joel Vander Molen joelvan@vmtweb.com Ryan Hoekstra hoekstrateam@iowatelecom.net Ruth Van Hal secretary@pella2crc.org

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