HQ Farewell Testimony
After spending two years at the IBLP Headquarters, the time has finally come for me to leave HQ and move on to a new chapter in my life. Both Kristina and I were asked to give our testimonies as we left, so on our last day we both had the opportunity to share how God has been working in our lives recently. (Below is the content of my testimony.)
When I came to my desk after giving my testimony, my coworkers greeted me with a farewell web page they had designed for me the night before. I liked it so much, I’ve archived the page on my web site so you all can see how blessed I am to have worked with such wonderful, creative, and supportive people!
“Say Cheese!” [Take pictures of the people in staff meeting.] Hey, thanks for posing. For a long time I’ve been wanting a picture of staff meeting, and now I’ve got one! (download the left side [1.56MB] or right side [1.93MB] images)
![left side [1.56MB]](./staffmeetingleftside.jpg){kind=link}
![right side [1.93MB]](./staffmeetingrightside.jpg){kind=link}
Well, for those of you who don’t me yet, my name is Peter Kroon. You’ve probably noticed that I really enjoy photography. As I leave Headquarters tomorrow to head up to Verity, I’d like share with you some lessons that God has been teaching me recently through photography. But before I do, I have some other “snapshots” of my two years at Headquarters that I’d like to share with you.
When I came to Headquarters two summers ago, I was asked to help out in the CharacterLink department answering tech support phone calls. I came with no experience troubleshooting computer problems over the phone, so it was definitely a learning experience for me. God continually worked on my character developing patience and self-control so that I could respond gently to customers even when they didn’t “get it.” After a while, I came to enjoy the challenge of solving customers’ problems over the phone. Each phone call was different—I never knew what to expect. Most of the time, the call would be over in about five minutes, but occasionally the call would drag on for an hour or longer. During these long tech support calls, God also showed me the value of asking key questions. One conversation in particular I can remember was with a certain lady who was having a problem that no other customer had at the time. I had already talked with her several times about the problem, but after going through all the normal fixes and the problem still not being resolved, I asked a couple pointed questions and found out that the problem didn’t start until she installed a certain program on her computer. Getting that information was the key to solving the problem! As Luke 11:9 says, “ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The Lord used this situation to remind me to diligently seek His truth.
Well, working in tech support was nice for a time, but after a year of the same routine, I was ready for a new challenge. A position opened up in the computer department maintaining the websites for IBLP. I thought that would be a good opportunity for me to learn more about computers in general and also how the Internet works, having spent so long in different aspect of the Internet. I started by helping out several days a week until I finally made the move full-time last January. One of the biggest lessons I learned during my time in the web department is attention to detail. For instance, if I’m coding a web page and neglect to close one of the HTML tags, the entire page might not display properly. Additionally, the different web browsers often display the same web page differently, so we programmers have to be persistent in debugging the problems that may arise. This is a reminder to me that God requires faithfulness in everything, including the seemingly little things; and as I am faithful in the little things, He will reward me with greater things.
Well, back to photography. This is actually my second digital camera. I got my first one this past Christmas and had it for only five months when God saw fit to have it wrecked in an accident. I was really disappointed about the loss. The next evening, as I was shooting hoops by myself next door, I asked God why He allowed my camera to be broken. He revealed to me that for the past few months my priorities had not been in line with His Word. I had been spending too much time with my camera and computer and not enough time in God’s Word. By taking my camera away from me, God taught me the important lesson of setting my affections on things above and not on things on the earth. And, in the weeks before I got my new camera, I had time to rethink and reorder my priorities.
Now that I have the new camera, the Lord has shown me the importance of being a good steward of what he has entrusted to me. He has given me a new mindset to use my camera not just for my pleasure but to also bless others.
For my nineteenth birthday two weeks ago, my sister Kristina put together a collection of blessings for me using the theme of photography. I’d like to share some of these blessings with you this morning.
Camera Body—May your body be a “living sacrifice,” pleasing unto God.
(Romans 12:1) “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Focus—May you focus on Christ.
(Hebrews 12:2) “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
Flash—May you be radiant and full of the light of Christ.
(II Corinthians 4:6) “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Memory Card—May you be filled with the Word of God.
(Colossians 3:16) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.”
On/Off Switch—May you flee from evil and pursue righteousness.
(II Timothy 2:22) “Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
Battery—May you be empowered by the Holy Spirit.
(Exodus 31:3) “And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.”
Instruction Manual—May you prosper as you meditate on the law of the Lord.
(Joshua 1:8) “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Perspective—May you see from God’s point of view.
(Jeremiah 9:23-24) “Thus saith the LORD, ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight,’ saith the LORD.”
Well, how about one more picture for good measure? Thanks!
Site Updates
My website is still under construction, but feel free to look around. My most current updates are listed below:
- Kroon Family Photo Blog
Check out the new gallery of Pictures of the Week! - Photos of the Character Inn
I’ve taken some pictures of the hotel I now live in and have created a new photo gallery from them. - Peter and Kristina are now in college going through IBLP’s Verity Education program. Find out what else is new in their lives.