August-September 1999 The Sabbath Sentinel 
Dutch Sabbath-keepers to Cooperate with BSAby Mike Gassenaar We started the De Sabbat Stichting (The Sabbath Foundation) in 1996. At that time we offered a price of 10,000 guilders to anyone who could prove from the Bible that Sunday is the seventh day, or Sunday is the day of worship. Only 17 persons tried to get the prize. Nobody could. So in 1998, we offered 100,000 guilders, that is approximately $50,000, U.S. dollars. They had to write their thesis in a maximum of 750 words. Now we have 35 persons who are trying to give such a proof. An independent jury is reading the scripts and most of the contributors wrote more than a 1,000 words. As you well know, nobody can prove this thesis. The Sabbath Foundation is an independent organization from all kinds of Sabbath-keepers. In Holland we have more than 12,000 Sabbath-keepers, but only 6,000 are organized in a church, such as the Seventh-day Adventists or Baptists. We try to reach the people with our brochure, "Busy, busy, busy." [See translation below.] Until now 1,500 Sabbath-keepers are members of our foundation, which means every three months they get our magazine, "Sabbat Nieuws," which means "News About the Sabbath." We have readers in Holland, Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Letland (Latvia), Germany, Netherlands, Antilles, Canada, and France. These are people who understand the Dutch language. For all Sabbath-keepers we organize several meetings here in Holland. They last one entire day, and two half days. Further, every first Sabbath of a month we meet each other on Friday evening to have a meal together and after the meal we open the Sabbath. May God bless all of you and your work. A hearty Shalom from me, Mike Gassenaar, Secretary for De Sabbat Stichting, Postbus 31, 7300 AA Apeldoorn, Netherlands. It is really exciting to read we are the Netherlands version of your association (the BSA). We may see this as God's work all over the world, because in Belgium they will start the same foundation. We also would like to cooperate with you as much as possible. Please send us "The Sabbath Sentinel" every time it comes out. We use the "crown," the Hebrew letter Shin, the first character of the Sabbath, on our letterhead and magazine. I was born March 26, 1952 into a Seventh-day Adventist family, so I always kept the Seventh Day as my day of rest. I was baptized in 1968. I studied as an R.N. and anaesthesist. The last ten years I worked as a paramedic on the ambulance here in Apeldoorn. My lovely wife Jannie and I have two children. My biggest hobby is singing. So I always started a music group. We sing not only in our Church but most of the times in churches of Sunday-keepers. We also recorded a C.D. Unfortunately, I became sick and it was not possible for me to work anymore. In January 1998 they asked me to help the Sabbath Foundation and so I did and I liked it very much. All kinds of people are calling by phone for help. Some days ago a lady called and said, "Yes you are right we have to keep the Seventh day as the Sabbath, but please tell me how do I start keeping the Sabbath and do I have to leave my Sunday church?" All kinds of questions I have to answer, so that means I have to study and I learn every day more about the creation of the Sabbath. This is a big blessing. My illness has one good point: if I was able to work, I could not sit by the telephone for nearly 12 hours a day. They can reach me from 10:00 A.M. till 10:00 P.M. [Note: Mike's phone number in The Netherlands is (055) 542 39 77.] If you want me to write more articles about my experience with my work for The Sabbath Foundation, then I will. We will start with the translation of the BSA tract, "Roman Catholic and Protestant Confessions about Sunday." On May 24, 1999, we organized a whole day for Sabbath-keepers and others interested in the Sabbath. In the morning hours there was a study about the Creation of the Sabbath. I sang twelve songs with the Gospel group. In the afternoon, there were three workshops: (1) When does the Sabbath start? (2) Baking Sabbath-rolls, (3) The number seven in the Bible. It was a very fine day. I sold 15 books from J.N. Andrews, The History of the Sabbath, and many other books. I hope that we will work together to promote the Sabbath. [Note by Richard C. Nickels: The BSA and the Dutch Sabbath Foundation need volunteers to translate each other's literature, such as The Sabbath Sentinel, into Dutch, and Sabbat Nieuws into English. When Mike has translated "Roman Catholic and Protestant Confessions about Sunday" into Dutch, we need about $1,000 to print many copies for distribution in Holland and other Dutch-speaking areas, including Curacao in South America. This outstanding BSA tract has led many to accept the Sabbath. The Spanish version is ready to print, but we need funds to do so. Truly the harvest is abundant. Pray that the Messiah will call more laborers into His harvest!] Following is the translation of Dutch Sabbath Organization's Sabbath Tract: "Busy, busy busy"Our world is changing increasingly faster. Noticeable not only at the political and economical level, but also in our personal lives. Through advanced telecommunication equipment, we communicate without limits: twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Radio, television, computers (mobile) telephones and fax machines. With great intensity. It seems impossible to break free from it. And what is the answer of modern man when one asks how he or she is? Busy, Busy, Busy. No wonder. Even during holidays the greatest part of our time has often already been allotted. It is ever more difficult to create for yourself moments of rest. Isn't that why more and more people are having a nervous breakdown? "30,000 days"Time is really extremely costly. You can never have another go at the same day again. And all you have at your disposal during a lifetime is 30,000 days at the most. High time to consider if you really do spend them all so well. What do you gain by working more, earning more, buying still more if you don't take time to enjoy yourself, to rest, to spend time with friends? There is an old recipe to solve this kind of new-fashioned problems. It is the principle of 6 days work, the seventh day rest. The seventh day is Saturday, the Sabbath. "What to Do?"Keeping Sabbath is easy. You really give yourself 52 extra days off per year. On Friday night, when the sun has set, you allow yourself to release all your cares and obligations. The Sabbath is not a day of taboos, but a day of rest, inspiration, and friendship. The Sabbath is not for creating things but for recreation. A day giving rest and energy. Twenty-four hours a day your business life is left to rest. And you give others a chance to do the same. By making it clear to others for one day you are not available, you show respect for yourself and more than that, you interrupt the never ceasing beat the world tries to force you into. To really experience what the Sabbath is, it is good to respect the Sabbath every week. Then you get into the rhythm of six days work, one day rest. And you will realize that keeping Sabbath is a great and valuable present that doesn't cost anything but yields a lot. The Sabbath is literally a gift from heaven. "Ten Commandments"In the Bible the Ten Commandments do not fill half a page. Yet no one can deny that if everyone should stick to these ten rules of life, the world would be a better sight. One of the pillars of the Ten Commandments is the Sabbath. God gave the Sabbath to humanity as a monument of creation. An essential point of rest in life's rhythm. He did not choose a random day of the week, but named a special day. The Sabbath is therefore, a day with a special blessing resting on it. Even God rested after six days of creative labor, an event from which our week directly, descends. Do you want to know more? About the history and origin of the weekly day of rest, about the special meaning God gave to the Sabbath, about how Sunday superceded the Sabbath and about the Sabbath being a bridge between Christians and Jews? Send today the attached answering card and mail it to the Sabbath Society and receive free and without further obligation, the comprehensive brochure, "The Seventh Day, a gift from Heaven." I know that the prayers of all who wish to see the spread of God"s Way are with this effort! Welcome to our fellowship! (editor) TSS |