.jpg)
Page 1 (0004.jpg)
Bellflower, Calif. 90706 ~~Dear Grace~~ Dear Family: August, 1983 ~~Dear sons and daughters and other family:~~
The great month of August is here. I call it great because_ if the Lord wills and I live, this is the month when I hope_ to celebrate_ my 80th birthday. That means that I will have_ lived through 80 eventful and wonderful years of history. In 1903 the Wright brothers were sprouting their wings, the automobile was beginning to develop with Henry Ford. When I was born the doctor came_ four miles by horse and buggy and since_ my folks had no phone yet, I wonder how he was called. In 1914 we had our first car and I learned_ to drive. In 1929 I traveled by airplane from Grand Rapids to Milwaukee and was the first Chris tian Reformed minister, I was told, to keep a preaching appointment by airplane, of course I was only a student at that time.
I lived_ through several wars; World-war I and II, The Korean war, The war with Vietnam. Thankfully only one relative was killed or injured during those wars, & of our family only Woody saw active duty. Also during this time we had the great flu epidemic_ during the Ist World War and later there was the_ great depression of the '30s.
And during all those years the Lord led me_ most wonderfully. He placed me in a good Christian home with parents who made_ sure that I would know God and his love. They were faithful members of the church. When I was born they had me baptized in The Reformed Church of Friesland where they were members at that time. When I was five years old a group of families founded the_ First Christian Reformed Church of Randolph._ It was located about 1 and ½ mile west of our place, but by road it was atleast 4 miles. We often walked to church through the fields. The sermons were all preached in the Dutch language and I don't think I heard a sermon in the American language until I was about 15 years old, but we always attended both services when possible.
When I was about 5 or 6 years old I was enrolled in the public school near home, but before long a group of parents establish_d a Christian school and from that time on all my education was God centered and based on the Bible_ and I can never thank God enough for this. When I was 14 years old I graduated from the 8th grade and was the first graduate_ of that school. Then I went to Calvin and Grundy College and ~~the~~ Calvin Seminary, until I graduated from Seminary in 1930. Then began more than 50 blessed years in the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To God be all the praise. I am still preaching. Last Sunday we were in Long Beach twice and if the Lord wills we will be in Bethany for one or two services on September 25.
Well this was not intended to be an autobiography, but I guess it is the tendency of_ old people to reminis_ce so forgive me.
Page 2 (0005.jpg)
LIFE ON TWIN OAK FARM by GRANDPA
Once granpa was a boy like you but I lived on a farm four miles from the town of Randolph, Wisconsin. The farm had many big trees, hickory and oak trees and my father was cutting down trees all the time to clear the land for crops and when I was about 15 years old all the trees were gone except two big oak trees which are still standing and for which our farm was named. "The Twin Oak Farm." Some day when you visit Randolph, Wisconsin you will no doubt see them.
When I was a little boy there were two houses and a shed on the farm. My grandfather and grandmother lived in the old house behind the new house which my father, your great grandfather, Sam Kok, built when he married Reka Vander Galien, my mother. Great Uncle Henry still lives in that house. In the house I was born and so were all my brothers and sisters. One little brother and baby sister died there. I lived there until I left home to attend school at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The farm was a wonderful place. We had cows, horses, chickens, ducks rabbits, goats and pigs. For pets we had dogs and cats. We raised many kinds of crops: corn, rye, wheat, oats, barley, peas, cabbage, hay and all kinds of vegtables. When the grain was ready in the fall we cut it with a binder drawn by horses. It tied grain in bundles and these were set up in the field in what we called shocks. Every year there were thousands of shocks. Then when the grain was ripe and dry we would come with horses and wagons to pick it up and put it in big stacks. The stacks looked like upside down ice cream cones higher than the trees you see near your house. Later on the threshing machine would come. It was pulled by big engines which burned coal and gave out big clouds of smoke. It had a very loud whistle which could be heard for many miles. It was sounded by pulling a rope and we kids loved to sound that whistle. After the threshing machine had been placed between two stacks of grain the farmers would get on top of the stacks to pitch to bundles into the machine.
The threshing machine was sometimes called a separater because it separated the grain from the straw. The straw was blown out of a blower to form a big straw stack. The grain came out of a pipe and was caught in big bags which were carried into the grainery where it was stored until it was ground up for feed for the animals.
On threshing days all neighbors would work together and my mother and neighbor ladies would make a big dinner with lots of meat, homemade bread and pies. It was like a big feast and we kids thought it was a great time.
After threshing was finished my mother and the hired girl would empty our bed mattresses and fill them up with new straw that we called straw sacks. That night we would have to climb in bed and lay on the straw sack. It was fun and smelled good.
Now how would you like to live on a farm like that?
Page 3 (0006.jpg)
but the Lord poured it out faster than we could for all of us are richer than we were 10 years ago.."
First Bellfl. grew very fast within a couple years we had to double the seating capacity of the church, but from the very first meeting the church was filled to capacity many Sunday mornings some 50 children sat on the platform with me.
We were having two services a sunday, but we soon learned that there was need for more American language services so we introduced a second morning service and I had to preach three times a sunday which I did for more than 10 yeers and the church filled up every time.
Growth 1935 70 Fam. when we left 285 plus Bethany Sermons preached 1532 Children Baptized 520 once 15 oh one Sunday Marriages 145 couples Confessions of faith 284 Classis Calif. 1935 (including all Calif, N. mex. Ari. about 7 churches) [Handwritten margin note:] Just in Bellflower
War years; about 100 men in the service I wrote each one every month no copies. One dear young man was killed in the battle of the bulge. He was clarence Nooteboom.
A terrible disaster one Sunday 5 members of one family was killed in a car accident, one little girl survived.
When we left Bellflowre all our soldiers except the casualty were home.
Oct. 46 God called us to Holland, Mich. We looked forward to a bit more relaxed life only two*
[handwritten over "tywt"]* sermons a week and no more Dutch. The parsonage was not so busy but the Lord had different plans. Kathryn became ill, but we decided to take a leisurly trip to Calif. which she enjoyed, but not long afterward she came down with severe headaches which proved to be caused by a brain tumor and befort long the Lord called her home. I struggled along for a couple years until the Lord brought Ada and me together. The parsonage because*[handwritten]*a beehive of life with 10 kids and we were happy.While in Holland I became a member of the Back to God hour committee on which served about 9 yeras. I also became chairman of the C.R. Board of Home Missions which I srrved for many year since its founding in Bellflower. I do not know when I started serving on the Calvin Bd. but I served 9 years there during the beginning of the new campus.
In 1954 we moved to Edgerton, Minn. And from there we were called to the Hanford Ca. where we served about ten happy yeras during which time we enjoyed till a grand trip to Europe and the Bible Lands as agift from the church.
When I reached retirement age I agreed to work as a home missionary i\ Class. Calif. for a couple yeras and then we moved to Bellflower and retirement. We served Bethany for a number of yeras as pastor of visitation and seved a large number of churches for short periods of time. [Handwritten note:] Also served at Home again in Artesia
Page 4 (0007.jpg)
Bellflower, California August 29, 1973
Dear Children and grandchildren. Today I became a septuagenarian, that is something like a centipede, but not exactly. It is 70 years ago today that the Lord introduced me to life on this earth and now I can look back over threescore years and ten and rejoice in the wonderful way the Lord has led me.
To begin with I am very thankful that my father and mother were sincere christians , who did their best to lead me in the way of life and to provide with a sound christian education. By their example they taught me to love , honor and obey God and to worship Him faithfully not only by attending church faithfullyk but also with personal and family devotions. It was through them that I was prepared to serve God in the ministry of the gospel in which I have now been engaged for more than 43 years.
I am also very thankful for the way in which the Lord has led me. It was always my prayer that He might direct me so that I would know and do His will and He has never let me down. I have never regretted His leading to the variouschurches I have served . Every move we made, I was sure was His will and I have never regretted going wher He led me. That does not mean that the way in which He led us was always easy, there were times when the work was difficult and discouraging. There were sorrows, anxieties, tears and disappointments and heartaches, and I failed God in many ways and sinned often, but I always found God's grace sufficient to lead me through these experiences in such away that my faith was built up and my love for Him grew stronger. One result of these experiences was that I could preach with more conviction than before. I know that God's word is true, His promises never fail, and they who trust in the Lord and follow Jesus will never be sorry. He is the truth, the Way and the life,even as He said.
It has been my privilege now to preach the gospel for more than 43 years, on September 12 it will be the 43rd anniversary of my ordination, but I started preaching about two years before that as a student. Only God knows what has been accomplished through my efforts, I sowed or preached, but He gave the increase and so to Him belongs all the praise. I trust that many have benefitted by the messages so that they were encouraged and their faith was strengthened and I hope siners were converted.
As to the future, my desire is to keep on preaching the word of God as long as the Lord will give me the ability to do it, and I would like to enjoy a few more years on earth with my.dear ones, who I love so very much and who have given me so much joy, but God's will be done. Whatever his will, I know my future is bright, because I have the Lord's promise that He will never leave me of forsake me, and that when death comes, I will move in with Him, absent from the body, but at home with the Lord. Then when Jesus comes again, I/ will join all God's people to meet Him in the air and then to live with him with my glorified body on the new earth.
My wish and prayer is that everyone of you may love the Lord and be faithful to him, so that some day you too may join the multitude which no man can count standing before the throne of God, serving Him day and night without ceasing. God bless you all with everlasting happiness , the happiness which can only be found through faith in Jesus Christ.
At our birthday dinner I read Psalms 23 and 90 and Proverbs 4, and Romans 8: from verse 28. Psalm 23 is the Psalm with which I awake nearly every morning, it gives me what I need to face the uncertainties of the day. Proverbs 4 I read because it contains the advice of a father who is deeply concerned for the eternal welbeing of his children. It has been my aim to follow its teaching and I have found it sound advice. May you too keep it in mind.
Although I wrote this letter as a personal testimony, mother joins me in our pryaers for you, and we hope you will always be faithful to the God who has been so very faithful to us. Worship Him in love.
Thanks for your birthday cards, letters and gifts.
Love [Handwritten Signature] Dad Kok
