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Welcome

Thank you for taking the time to visit our website.

We are Mark and Annemieke van Boxtel.
Together we have three children.
We look after two of them on earth, while we wait to meet our daughter up in heaven.
Joas was born on January 13^th, 2004in Harderwijk, the Netherlands.
Tim was born on June 8^th, 2006in Chelmsford, United Kingdom.
Our daughter Hannah was stillborn on June 1^st, 2009, Pontoise, France.

Since 2004 Mark works for the airline easyJet.
The first 4,5 years he flew from airport London Stansted, UK
Since March 2009 he flies from airport Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France.
And, since then, we live in France.
We and the kids speak fluent Dutch and English.
And we’re working on our French.

It’s our dream to, one day, tell about God and show His love in far away countries.
When we were selected by MAF- Netherlands in 2007 we hoped those days wouldn’t be far away. Unfortunately our journey goes differently then hoped and expected.
In the months after the death of our daughter God showed us he can use us anywhere. Far away countries are maybe for later. But for now, we’ve been asked to work alongside Greater Europe Mission, in France. To show His love, to give people Hope, to be right where we are.

We’re so enthusiastic about this new period in our life.
God gives Hope to build His Kingdom, within the borders and possibilities He has given us.
In a country we love. After a period that seemed so hopeless.

He’s a God of Hope! His Hope give us LIFE.
Will you fly with us?

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Latest News

In Faith

At the moment I’m writing a story about our process with God and life about the wish to have another baby. The following story takes place in the first month of 2012

In Faith
Joy is from a different area in the USA then the other girl was.
That means, although part of the process of getting a Visa is the same, not everything is.
And the construction we figured out was the best for the other girl doesn’t even exist in Chigago where Joy needs to go to get her Visa.

In our skype conversation we set the date on February 1st. That will be in 3- 4 weeks time.
People laught at us when they hear the date. That can never be done is their commentary.

But Joy is determent and so are we.
The next week she drives to Chigago, which is a 9 hour drive, to have the talk with the consultant at the French ambassy. While the other American girl just needed 3500 US- Dollars to come a year to France, this French Ambassy says Joy needs to proof that she has 10 000 US Dollars to come a year to France. And, although we have a notary stamped letter that we will provide for her, that doesn’t count to the ambassy.

Bummer!

But Joy and her mum really believe this is the way.
And so they go to the bank to get a loan to proof to the bank there is 10 000 dollars in her bankaccount.

After they’ve seen the proof the visa is immediately approved.
The date on the visa is the 31st of January 2012 till the 31st of January 2013.

With the wonderful help of a lovely friend who works at BA a ticket to France is bought.
And she arrives on Friday the 10th of February.

Just 4 weeks after we first heard she wanted to come and help us.

It’s raining!

At the moment I’m writing a story about our process with God and life about the wish to have another baby. The following story takes place at the end of 2011- beginning of 2012

It’s raining!

At Christmas we had a conversation with our brother in law who asked us the question if we were still looking for an au-pair.
With tears we told him that we weren't really. Not because we didn't want to have another baby anymore. Just because we had no clue where to start looking.
We said: "God literally has to drop an au -pair from the sky, otherwise we think the door is closed".

It was hard to realise. Although we had been praying for almost 2 years now it seemed like the road was blocked.

4 Days later we got a phone call. A friend of us let us know that she had been in contact with a girl who would like to come to France for a year. And she was thinking about us. Praise God!
A nanny out of the sky!

The emailing began. And in one of the email I mentioned we had lovely friends who lived here and needed an au- pair for just 3 months.
She prayed about it and wrote us back that that would suit her more.

We cried.

I had been dreaming for days about babies and how it would be.

And then the dream was shattered again.

BUT

4 Days later, we were totally surprised by another email.
This time it came from Mission Nannies. A website for Christian workers who would like to have help with their families.
Our add had been posted on that site for months, without any results.

But now there was JOY!

Because a girl called JOY had been praying for us for weeks. Had been lead to get herself a passport. And feels led to come to France to help us for a year.

How amazing is God. A girl we didn't even know existed had been praying for us!
A girl who feels she would like to come and help us!

The only thing we could do was sit quietly on the sofa. Being amazed by God.
Hoping..... praying.... wondering if this time it would go well.

Very nervous we skyped her 2 days later.... It felt like we had a job interview....
But she told us she was just as nervous as us :)

We are so looking forward to meet her.
To have her in our house
To walk this bumpy dirt- road with her. Without knowing the outcome.

And..... she would love to walk this bumping dirt-road without knowing where it goes with us!
HURRAY!

We do know it doesn't mean we are going to get another baby.
We do know it doesn't mean that everything will be fine after this.

But we do know it means that we have prayed, and God has answered. And we will trust.

When other doors are opened

At the moment I’m writing a story about our process with God and life about the wish to have another baby. The following story takes place in the last half of 2011

Bang- the door is closed.

For months we had been thinking about another baby.
A pregnancy. The wish to have another baby.
But to realize this wish there needed to be a lot of organization and preparation.
(An au- pair is needed for Annemieke to be able to be bed rested for 9 months. As the first few months of the pregnancy are critical for the baby it is highly recommended by the gynaecologist to have the au pair even before Annemieke gets pregnant. (if she would) )
We really thought we’d found the right girl.
But now….

We’re still praying for the right girl. But in that process are also slowly trying to except the fact that maybe our family is right the way it is right now. Secretly hoping for a miracle somewhere….

And God opened other doors for us. Mark started a prayer- group at the Charles de Gaulle airport to connect Christians together. It has been going once a month for a few months now and people have been really encouraged by it.

Every Thursday morning we’ve been going to the church prayers. The level of prayer has been raised in our church and results are being seen. It’s wonderful to see how God is working through the English community and how he keeps knocking on people’s hearts. We love being a part of it.

Annemieke also had the opportunity to have the Young Continental Singers over in Chantilly. It was an amazing afternoon with lots of dancing and singing but mostly where the gospel was shared in an easy direct way.

A mission trip was organized by a Texas-church to come to France. They organized English classes for French people in Chantilly and the surrounding areas. This resulted in more contacts with French women for two other GEM-colleagues and Annemieke. (As the Chantilly class was held in the afternoon only women turned up) We see each other every fortnight and try to share Jesus through the friendship.

A lot of Annemieke’s time goes into organizing the Sunday school in Church. People seem to treat church as a ‘if I have time’ thing. That means Sundays are hard to organize. Sometimes there are no kids at all. Sometimes 30 turn up.
The team tries to plant small seeds in the children’s heart and prays that they will start to grow over the years while they are being watered by the sessions. Especially the children’s worship turns out to be great.

Another thing that will be happening from January onwards is a clinic that Annemieke will start up in Chantilly in the Church Center. There seems to be a need to chat with a ‘professional’ about babies and toddlers. And on Thursday morning a ‘mothers and others’ group is being held at the church centre.
So we combined the two and Annemieke will be available from January onwards.

Or so we thought….