David Harbach is a teacher at Adams St. Prot. Ref. Christian School, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Pastor den Hartog writes that “Pastor Lau is teaching from the Heidelberg Catechism a group of about 14 young Christians who are preparing themselves for baptism and membership in our church. This class will be completed by the end of September . . . . The class meets in the large meeting room at Blair Road.

“We continue to have many couples aspiring to marriage and to establishing a Christian home. Presently I am giving premarriage counseling to ten young couples. There will be at least four or five marriages yet this year. . . . Usually the majority of our members attend the weddings . . . .

“During the month of June I had the privilege of teaching two Bible study groups at the Presbyterian High School . . . . A number of the members of these Bible studies attend our youth fellowship at the church . . . .

“I continue to hold a class of instruction in New Testament Greek. Three students are now attending this class.

“. . . Pastor Lau and one of our elders attended the Synod of our churches in Grand Rapids. . . . We were much encouraged by this. We are all hoping and praying that through these kinds of meetings the bond of sisterly relationships between our churches will be strengthened.

“. . . In the past months our mail box has been pretty empty. We do thank those who have written to us. It is always a source of encouragement to us to receive letters from home so keep them coming . . . .”

The Evangelism Society of Southeast Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, will sponsor a lecture to be given by Rev. R. Van Overloop, missionary in our Protestant Reformed Churches, on “The Rapture in Light of Scripture.” This speech will be held Thursday, September 25, 8 P.M., at Calvin Seminary Chapel. A question and answer period will follow the speech.

For those of you who have ordered the Standard Bearer Index, covering volumes 1-58, your bill will be sent with the index and prompt payment will be greatly appreciated. The cost of the index will be between $25-30 or even lower depending on how many people have sent in their orders. This index consists of Title, Subject, Text, Book Reviews, and is 584 pages. For those of you who did not order an index and would like yet to do so, wait no longer—order now by calling (616) 878-3417, or by mailing a post card to: Henry Kamps, 8288 Harlow, Byron Center, MI 49315.

Kalamazoo Church, Michigan, planned to hold a “Deficit Reduction Drive” at the end of September. They actually plan to hold a “Mortgage Reduction Drive” since they are well ahead of their payments; and the drive is simply so that they may liquidate their mortgage sooner.

Loveland Church, Colorado, is making seating changes in their new sanctuary for the office bearers. From now on the reserved bench for the elders will be the second from the front on the East side, and the three benches behind them will be reserved for the deacons and their families.

In Hudsonville Church, Michigan, they have an interesting way of congratulating those who make confession of faith. After the service, those who have made confession of faith follow the deacons out of the auditorium and receive congratulations from the congregation in the narthex.

The Grand Valley Advance newspaper of Jenison, Michigan printed an article by Jaikishin Mahtani in which he gave a unique personal perspective on his early life and his stay in the U.S. as the guest of our Protestant Reformed Churches. The next week the same newspaper printed a letter to the editor in which the writer commented, “. . . I have known many people who have visited India or who were born there, and they have said that idol worship is in no way connected with their religion today, except by the very ignorant.” Now aside from the fact that Jaiki never mentioned that he came from India, do those people who are not ignorant in India worship idols? And are these idols they worship the same ones worshiped in Singapore? Only our close friend Jaiki can answer these, so look for an answer to these questions in the near future.

The latest Young People’s Convention had almost 300 conventioneers. Part of the reason for an increase in the number attending can be attributed to the fact that the older young people had their own meetings and some special activities together. We can thank the Convention Planning Committee of South Holland Church, Illinois, for setting this precedent.