From the July-September 2007 Issue
Five loaves and two fishes
Andre and Marianne Rentmeister
SionAt the end of this summer we celebrate our thirty years of marriage, thirty years of witness in the Valais, and André’s sixtieth birthday in June. It’s an opportunity for him to take stock of sixty years marked by God’s providence; divine providence often hidden, misunderstood, and which provoked more questions than answers. With the passing years that providence has revealed the fullness of God’s patience, wisdom, majesty, holiness, and also his tenderness towards him.
Preparation (1947–1977)
Psalm 139:15-17
Born in Belgium in a very Catholic family, from my early childhood I had the desire to serve God, and I soon became an altar-boy in the parish of my village. When the priest saw that I was a religious child he befriended me and taught me the ‘fear of God’ and the solemnity of religious worship. This was before Vatican II.
Much later, after my adolescence had been severely disturbed by a family crisis which was also religious, I spent a long time in a spiritual desert. I was marked by the ‘fear of God’ which I had found in childhood and this kept me from plunging into worldly lusts and succumbing to the attraction of various religious movements. I did become involved in these – wholeheartedly and zealously – but each time I met the same frustration of not finding a real answer to my fear of God and desire to honour him.
It was when I was almost 16 that I experienced God’s grace and pardon. Surrounded by nature in a clearing in the forest I knew the miracle of the new birth and could say that God had converted me. That conversion in the countryside sounded rather strange and doubtful to my Arminian Christian friends who wondered how I could be converted so easily after resisting for so long the numerous appeals of great evangelists. Once again I found myself marginalised. Then another family drama began, which marked my youth for several years. I owe my survival to that innate fear of God which encouraged me to persevere; to be like that boy who wanted to give to the Lord his ‘five loaves and two fishes’ even though the disciples rejected him; to be ‘a donkey in the Master’s service’.
Bible colporteur
Providentially God brought me in contact with a Swiss mission – a mobile Bible exhibition – and a missionary ready to listen. From then on my free days and holidays were spent helping this elderly missionary with his hard daily work of setting up the Expo-Bible in public places and then dismantling it. Soon I reduced my professional work to the legal minimum in order to give daily help to this missionary who wanted to guide me into future service. This Christian, without a word to me, published different articles with photos of the Expo-Bible in Switzerland with an appeal for prayer for ‘his Belgian co-worker’.
Later, when on holiday in Switzerland and visiting a church as a tourist, some Christians recognised me as ‘the Belgian co-worker’ of the missionary for whom they were praying. They knew all about me and welcomed me as an answer to their prayers. There in Switzerland I began to manage an evangelical kiosk situated a few kilometres from the Valais which I had been told was closed and hostile to the Gospel. So I then enlisted as a Bible colporteur in the Valais and discovered the true spiritual state of this canton which the Reformation did not manage to reach. Although the Valais canton is known worldwide touristically as ‘the holiday kingdom’ I found it the most Catholic in Switzerland; a mission-field in the heart of Switzerland; a canton untouched by the Reformation and which has remained a fortress of Romanism which I have called since then ‘the Helvetic Samaria’.
While doing colportage in a village I met another colporteur, a pastor on holiday and a Belgian – like myself. The contrast between the beautiful creation and the spiritual poverty had pricked his conscience and he was giving one day each week of his holidays to witnessing. That meeting moved me to take up the challenge of this Catholic canton, spiritually a kingdom of darkness so neglected by Swiss Christians. A few months later I had to leave that canton but the challenge remained on my heart. The Lord was already preparing my way.
It would be another long tale to tell how a Belgian met in Israel a German-speaking Swiss, Marianne his future wife, so that quite legally he finally returned to the Valais which was so close to his heart; and how, being now married and without the means to spend more time in the Master’s service, we met an English pastor, holidaying with his family in the Valais, who became our ‘Barnabas’ and introduced us to EMF.
One thing is certain; the Lord’s ways are not our ways. What a privilege it is to trust him to sweep away the difficulties step by step. For eight years God had been training me through the spiritual fellowship in various activities, in different organisations, in other countries. In all this he was preparing me to return to the Valais in response to his call to that region which had been on my heart for years.
Response (1977–2007)
Psalm 119:75; 86:15
For thirty years now God has renewed us so that we can continue firmly in this ministry, often discreet and painful, in this stony ground. Renewed us in order to resist the wind and waves of religious compromise, without diluting the Gospel in order to make it more acceptable to a larger number. Thirty years of grace in which we have seen God’s faithfulness renewed in a rich variety of ways in all aspects of our life. Throughout these thirty years we have lost some very precious friends who were with us from the beginning. Some have already entered their heavenly home, but others have abandoned the faith through love of this present world, or pursuit of an ecumenical utopia, or enticed by the crowd.
During these thirty years we have often sown with tears and been ambushed by discouragement, but each time the Lord has strengthened us and enabled our witness to shine in all the canton and to lay the foundations of an assembly in Sion. That assembly is indeed weak, but precious in God’s sight! It is God who builds his church, even in the Valais, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against her… What assurance for the future… for eternity!
Three or four years ago, after increasingly large difficulties, we at last saw the work progress in Sion to the extent that, after 24 years, André ceased doing the market work (three times a week) in order to devote himself to the work of the assembly. The year 2006 was a particularly blessed one. We had two baptismal services when six people told of their commitment to the Lord. We also had three children presented to the Lord and a young couple united in marriage when, with a very moving testimony which revealed their seriousness, they committed themselves to walk with God. 2006 was also the year of the return to the Lord – and to the church – of a ‘prodigal’. What a privilege to be there to witness real repentance and a moving testimony. On that occasion our many tears were transformed into songs of joy. At the end of 2006 we repeated for the seventeenth consecutive year our evangelistic effort offering a biblical calendar to every household in the Valais – 75,000 homes. We also had a stall at Sion’s Christmas market which, according to our information, is the only market which has refused ‘Father Christmas’ and left the door open for the true story of Christmas. That exclusion of ‘Father Christmas’ in preference for the true Gospel story has made our witness easier there.
So far 2007 has been marked by several painful trials which are difficult to understand after the blessings experienced all through 2006. Nevertheless, these trials have convinced us that we must prepare the younger generation to grow and mature in the faith so that they can carry on the work. That is a real challenge because the rising generation has difficulty in sanctifying the Lord’s Day by a regular presence at the services. This lack of commitment is obvious at the mid-week meeting and in the lack of financial support for the work. We are still dependent on external support – including that from EMF – and we long that the church would learn to accept its responsibilities as privileges and an indication of its maturity.
The assembly is still fragile, even though at different times in the year our meeting-place (50 seats) is too small. For several years we have been glad to welcome at our service retired Christians who are holidaying in the Valais, or have a holiday home here. They bring a fragrance of God’s grace and of mature Christians who have stood firm in the trials of life. For a number of years we have also developed brotherly relationships with churches which share our convictions. This autumn we shall join together to hold the first session of the ‘Bible College’ – theological and practical preparation for men who are called to occupy positions of responsibility in their church.
We can face the future with confidence even though our strength begins to diminish and our health begins to decline. Often Marianne suffers from migraine and lumbar pains which seriously limit her activity. In addition to a few small health problems, André had a more serious malaise this winter. Since then he has recovered but remains fragile. He is counting on the Lord’s help to fulfil his responsibilities calmly and confidently. What a privilege to have been able to bring to the Lord our ‘five loaves and two fishes’ which he has blessed and multiplied and will continue to multiply!