We have had another incredible day of learning and letting the Lord refine the vision for what He wants us to do and be in Belgium, with Bruxelles (French spelling) as the beginning point.
We had breakfast with a new Bruxelles buddy, Nolan. He works with an organization named Master’s Commission. It is a discipling ministry in Europe that is affiliated with the Assembly of God. Nolan gave a good picture of what he is seeing in Bruxelles. He gave us a pretty good description of the areas of town and the lowdown on the “Frite Nazi.” We later meet him and he snapped at me just like the “Soup Nazi” did on Seinfeld.
We surveyed a few other parts of Bruxelles for potential places to live and minister. We were able to find some different types of ministries that our team members are feeling called toward for ministry opportunities once we are planted. One of those ministries works with women who have been exploited or trafficked for sexual pleasure. The other ministry we discovered works in orphan care. We believe these ministries will give our team an opportunity to be Jesus with skin on for the people of Belgium.
Later on we spent time on two university campuses in Bruxelles and talked with college students about faith and culture. We learned that students are not religious and do not think about God. Everyone will be christened and take communion but leave the church following these events. One college student told me these events are culturally driven and only done for family reasons. What an opportunity to reach college students. This young man told me that students do not attend church because it isn’t attractive to them. I asked, “What do you me?” He responded church was boring and the Bible doesn’t fit into my life today. He knew the Bible had good things but no one had taught the Bible in a relative way.
We ended our day by having dinner with a church planter who has experience in successfully planting a French speaking Belgian church. He had lots of valuable information and encouragement for our team. He is definitely someone we will continue a relationship with in the future. I am so glad the Lord has caused our paths to cross.
Thanks for all your prayers…please do not stop. Tomorrow we will begin the wrap up here with debriefing and preparation for coming home on Saturday morning. We miss our families a lot and we miss our church. God is so good to allow us the opportunity to represent you here.
