Author: Henry J. de Jong
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Nikolaikirche
Read More: NikolaikircheNicholai Church in Leipzig was the beating heart of East Germany’s Monday demonstrations that led to the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 some 36 years ago
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The Hanseatic League
Read More: The Hanseatic LeagueIt’s a stretch to think of my grandfathers as being in league with Europe’s Hanseatic cities. They were both people of the land — one a farmer to the core and the other a land reclaimer. But they stem from people who lived close to the Hanseatic sea routes or their connecting waterways, in an…
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Keep in the Castle
Read More: Keep in the CastleBuild walls to keep out the bad and you have a small garden of Eden — ‘paradeisos’, literally, an enclosed park. Castles and their compounds, cities with walls and even humble homes are meant to be places of peace and well being, protecting us from threatening forces. They are not aggressive by nature (though they…
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Father Feito
Read More: Father FeitoIt is indisputable that I have north Netherlands Catholic roots. I can trace many family lines back to the sixteenth century (almost all in the same neck of the woods), and thus, by extrapolation, to undocumented ancestors in the fifteenth century. It’s safe to say then that my people, and their culture, were largely Reformed…
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Covenant
Read More: CovenantHenry and Wendy de Jong moved into the Niagara Peninsula in April, 1984, joining Trinity CRC, where Henry’s parents, Herman and Stiny, were members. Their first child, Michael was born that September, to be followed by Jovita (1986) and Laura (1991). The three children all went through Calvin and Beacon schools. Michael went on to…
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Vennekerk 2023
Read More: Vennekerk 2023This is the story of our van der Laan reunion worship service, the summer of 2023, in the now abandoned Vennekerk, the church where my parents came of age.
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Vennekerk 2023 NL
Read More: Vennekerk 2023 NLDit is het verhaal van onze van der Laan reüniedienst, de zomer van 2023, in de Vennekerk, de kerk waar mijn ouders volwassen werden.
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Another Good Friday
Read More: Another Good FridayHerman de Jong’s prose story of “A Good Friday” has been with me for as long as he’s been gone — twenty-one years now. I wish I had known it before then, just as I wish I could have talked to him about it.
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Nog een Goede Vrijdag
Read More: Nog een Goede VrijdagHerman de Jong’s prozaverhaal “Een Goede Vrijdag” is me bijgebleven zolang hij er niet meer is – eenentwintig jaar nu. Ik wou dat ik het eerder had geweten, net zoals ik wou dat ik er met hem over had kunnen praten.
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Welcome to Middledom
Read More: Welcome to MiddledomI’ve committed to buckling down for a while to translate and reissue the collected works of Herman de Jong in an accessible format and adding in what family histories I have.