All Articles For Harbach, David

Dear Members and friends of the R.F.P.A., 

Dear Members and Friends of the RFPA,  We give thanks unto our Faithful Covenant God in this the 54th year of publishing the Standard Bearer, for He has provided us the strength and an open door to publish our magazine. The following information is witness of His many blessings to us. 

Seeing our two seminary candidates receive and accept calls from our churches has been encouraging to our seminary professors, who have begun teaching five seminary students this fall. To honor this new year of instruction, Prof. H. Hoeksema spoke at the seminary convocation on “The Seminary and the Preacher,” emphasizing the purpose of the seminary to train ministers to preach God’s Word.

Now that candidates Tom Miersma and Jon Smith have passed their examinations at Classis, Jon will be heading to Edgerton immediately but Tom will have to wait awhile. When candidate d Tom Miersma received and accepted the call from our Edmonton, Alberta, Canada congregation, he had at least three months to wait before he could move up north. By the time this news is printed, he will have one and a half more months to wait. 

Rev. den Hartog, our missionary in Singapore, is visiting the Grand Rapids area for a little while. The Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Society of First Protestant Reformed Church is sponsoring a night with Rev. den Hartog and his work in Singapore, November 16, at 8 P.M. in First Church. We welcome the den Hartogs into our midst again while they are on furlough for six weeks. If you want first hand information on how Rev. Lau Chin Kwee and his family are doing, then make sure that you take the time to talk with Rev. den Hartog and his family...

When I asked the question last time, “What is the ‘Question Box’?” I was not referring to the “Question Box” that appears in this magazine. Instead, I was thinking about the “Question Box” that appears in the Katy Times. Now you ask, “What is the Katy Times?” The Katy Times is a newspaper found in Texas.

I finally received a welcome letter from Rev. T. Miersma written by his wife Jan. The letter cleared up the question about the difficulties they were having with the Canadian Consulate in Detroit. Actually there were no difficulties, as this quote will show, “To our surprise when we had the interview, on September 27, and asked about the possibility of getting such a permit (work permit), the vice consul replied, that he could write that up for us a minute, and so we could move immediately if we wanted. . . .

An excellent way to make sure that many of our people know about our publications is to display them. In early August, First Protestant Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan put up a new display rack in the hall. Their bulletin reads, “The Evangelism Committee has placed a display of RFPA publications as well as many pamphlets in this rack in order that the congregation and those who visit us have easy access to these excellent publications.” The display of books was made possible because there was someone in the church who was willing to handle the purchasing of books.

Dear Members and Friends of the RFPA,  I Corinthians 1558, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye, stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 

The intent of this article is to provide a concise account of the history of the Reformed Witness Hour and a brief look at the present work, of a select committee to seek ways of increasing the effectiveness of the radio broadcasts.