WOW, is all I can say.
It was sometime near the end of the summer in 2007 that I first began to take notice that Belgium was crossing my radar a lot. At first it seemed like a coincidence the number of times this country kept popping up and then I remembered, “I don’t believe in coincidences.” I asked the Lord, “Are you trying to get my attention?”
There have been other times when I began to recognize God was doing something different in my life and in those times I began to journal and listen. By listening I mean that I read the Word each morning with eyes that were open more to what God might be trying to reveal. I held this stirring close and didn’t reveal it to anyone at that time. I am a person that waits, seeks, listens, and looks for confirmation before talking. I don’t mean to be closed, I just process different than others.
In October of 2007, our pastor, Pat Hood called our staff team together to tell us it was time for our local body to come together to fast and pray. The last Sacred Gathering we had at LifePoint was in March of 2004 and was a pivotal point in the life of the church. God used that time of seeking to launch the church into His global mission around the world. It was an incredible time together with around nine (9) people called to vocational mission service. When Pat told us this would be coming I continued to journal and seek wisdom from God on what He was doing in my life concerning the country of Belgium.
I really didn’t know much about Belgium…waffles, chocolate, capital of the European Union, and N.A.T.O. headquarters were located in this small country in West Europe. But as to it’s actual location I had to find a map and get my bearings straight.
In March of 2008 on the Sunday the Sacred Gathering was to begin Pat asked all the ministry staff to meet in his office to pray together before the start of the evening gathering time. As we meet Pat told us he expected great things from the Lord and that we needed to be ready for what God was going to do that week. He asked each of us to put our “Yes” on the table before the Lord. Whatever the Lord wanted of us as a body we needed to be ready to obey and as leaders of the church we needed to go first. That evening I laid my “Yes” on the altar before God and said whatever went on that week and however He spoke I was saying yes.
At the end of the three (3) days of prayer and fasting as a body God once again showed us clearly as a church that we were to be about His global plan of mission. His mission had to be the life blood of the church. It was after the Sacred Gathering that I had my first meeting with Pat to talk with Him about how God was stirring in my heart about Belgium.
It was from the end of the summer in 2007 through March of 2008 that God was molding and shaping me (not that He has stopped). It was through His Word, through prayer, and through my personal study of mission training that He made my heart more soft to His working. It seemed like each week Pat was preaching something that applied directly to what God was doing in my heart and my life. The messages weren’t centered on missions necessarily, but God used what Pat was teaching to speak very clearly to keep walking and moving in the direction He was leading.
Continued Later….
Many of the people we met on our recent trip to Belgium told us that the “church” was old, cold, lifeless, dying, and didn’t matter to them. Most of the college students we spoke with had not attend a church other than for a wedding or a funeral. Church has no meaning, purpose or value to their lives. But, everyone was very open to discussing religion, God, and other faith questions.