7/07/2005 11:32:00 AM|||Joel VandenBrink|||I met this morning with a distant cousin of mine (I think like a fifth of sixth cousin), Kevin VandenBrink. We, somehow, miracously, got connected through a friend of mine who interviewed Kevin for a project for a class at Mars Hill Graduate School. Kevin is an associate pastor at Green Lake Presbyterian Church and does a lot of work with both local missions and global missions. One of his current projects and passions is working with other churches in the Green Lake neighborhood to reach the Aurora corridor (for you non-Seattle people Aurora is where prostitution and drug use is a way of life). This is a very noble cause, and could have grand implications for Seattle as a city. In September he is going to Africa for three weeks with 18 people from Green Lake Presbyterian -- they will be working with orphans of AIDs.
During our conversation, at Zoka, we saw a car with Michigan plates, a woman wearing a 'Calvin Nursing' shirt and realized that Kevin has met my sister and went to the seminary that my sister's husband's Dad (Phil Douglass) teaches at, Covenant Seminary in Saint Louis. Kevin also has a brother, Brian VandenBrink, that I met, by sheer coincidence, on my last trip to Michigan, who is also planting a church in West Michigan. What a crazy morning for random connections. God certainly has indirect routes of connecting people.
I left the conversation feeling re-energized, for one reason or another. It was good to connect with a pastor, and it was also good to connect with a fellow dutchman -- we are few and far between out here in Seattle.
Thank Kevin for shooting me the initial email -- I look forward to many meetings, and many connections yet to come.
Grace and Peace Brother
joel|||112076218498831065|||Little did I know...7/11/2005 07:30:45 AM||||||Here's another crazy connection. My name is Andy Hassler. I just graduated from Covenant Seminary in St. Louis. I don't know Kevin, but I've heard of him and I have had Phil Douglass for a couple classes. I found your blog because Mark Closson is a friend of a good high school friend of mine and I sometimes check out Mark's blog. How's that for random?7/11/2005 03:14:41 PM|||Joel VandenBrink|||If you ever come out to Seattle to visit Mark we will at least have to meet. Thanks for checking out my blog.
Joel9/21/2005 09:42:35 PM|||Anonymous|||Joel,
I'm pretty sure the Kevin and Brian you're talking about are my cousins!
-Ethan