Rhineland Project

Yesterday, I had to head back to Brussels after spending some wonderful days at the "Rhineland Project", the medical-missionary short-term school I had mentioned in my previous blog. This project is taking place in a huge mansion house (a former boarding school, but now an apartment house), situated in a beautiful small town in the Westerwald region of Germany (about one hour from Cologne). In fact, it's only about half an hour away from the place where our camp meeting was held, so I could actually have gone there directly from there! We had lovely weather most of the time, and I wish it had been like this at camp meeting as well.

The project is such a blessing. The initiative and realization of it has been done by a brother who normally works as an architect. Jens attended Meet Ministry in Tennessee a while back, and ever since he is applying what he has learned by organizing all kinds of projects to train new (medical) missionaries. When I shared this with a friend in the US, she said: "Dr. Jackson would be proud" (that's the leader at Meet Ministry). Indeed, the knowledge that is received in these institutions by people from various cultural backgrounds is literally being applied all over the globe. I remember when I first came to Uchee Pines, there was this young pastor from Hungary who originally wanted to stay only about three months to improve his English. Well, he ended up doing the whole 18-months training, and now he is doing a great work in his home country.

The highlight was the health expo on Sunday afternoon. We invited the whole neighborhood. Although not too many "outsider" people came, it was fun teaching the eight laws of health to the church members and as well to a few non-Adventists.

What follows are some picture impressions, but it would be too much to post all the nice ones I have. I think I will post more on Facebook.

The mansion house - we actually used only two apartments and the  ground floor

Left: Vojta from Czech Republic preaching - Right: Jens interpreting

Kitchen duty

Health Expo: "Information & Massage"

I was banned outside with my "Air" booth. Hilarious! In fact, they only asked me  two hours before it started whether I would be willing to help out...

A curious little boy from the neighborhood

How to exercise properly

James from the US - specialist in cutting trees - quite impressive how he was able to climb this huge  one

And this is how the tree looked afterwards - good job!

Morning exercise

Headed where?

Amougies

Today was my first day at work after vacation. The weekend retreat with my local church was a wonderful experience. The place we stayed at is about one hour from Brussels, and it's in the middle of nowhere - as far as this is possible in this densely populated country.

It was such a blessing, although it wasn't very well organized. The African sister who used to be in charge stepped back, and the others just didn't manage without her coordinating everything. Plus our pastor has been busy packing his container for Canada, so he couldn't really take care of things. But I took it with humour. On Sabbath, the weather was absolutely perfect. I enjoyed every minute in the sunshine. Indeed, this was a compensation for all these cool and rainy days in the last few weeks. It was a true gift of God, because today, it's cool and rainy again.

There were two special young ladies attending our retreat. Galina from Bulgaria, who only recently started working in Brussels. She is very sincere. Also one of our African young men brought a fellow student from university. Her name is Andrea and she is from Germany. She just got acquainted with the church there, and through the invitation of our brother, she first visited our church service while I was at camp meeting. I was glad that she spontaneously decided to come to the retreat, as it was a great opportunity to get to know her. She is like a sponge - in fact, I've never seen this. Being catholic by origin, she feels very comfortable with our beliefs and wants to learn as quickly as possible. I already gave her an internet link where she can order the Sabbath school quarterly, and she can't wait to read the Desire of Ages. What a blessing to finally have somebody from Germany in my church!

We will really miss Pastor Kyala, but I'm happy for him that he can begin something new in Quebec. There is a lot work to be done there as well, after all. As for the Belgian leadership, there is still no leader in sight, so maybe they will have to import somebody from somewhere!

This coming Wednesday through Sunday, I'll be off to the next adventure. I still have some annual leave, and given the fact that it's still very quiet at my work place, I decided to take advantage and visit a short-time medical missionary school, which is being held about one hour from the city of Cologne. I learned about it on our camp meeting and was intrigued by this concept. Not everybody can take a whole year off after all, and this offers an opportunity for an intense training in medical-missionary work, agriculture, True Education, etc. for those who can come during the summer school holidays. There are different speakers on various topics, and now they are also having a few health guests, so I may be even able to help out with treatments. I really look forward to it.

Belgian countryside - there are no mountains, but lots of hills

Pastor Kyala

One of my favorite "carob chips"

Attendees

More kids

Getting ready for campfire

Andrea from Germany and Leonard from Zimbabwe

The geese greeting me

Counting The Blessings

I'm in Germany with my parents and younger brother after returning back from camp meeting yesterday afternoon. It was a great blessing - to put it mildly.

As expected, the Nebbletts and their messages and songs were a highlight throughout the week. I'm especially thankful that the Lord is able to touch the hearts of the young people through them. I interpreted part of the medical seminar given by Edwin Nebblett who is an MD. The information that he gave about brain health was highly interesting and timely.

I know that it is a blessing whenever Frank Fournier speaks somewhere, and that's why I suggested to invite him to our convention. However, I wouldn't have imagined that his presence with us would make such a tremendous, extraordinary, and deep impact on all people involved at our camp meeting. When he made an altar call the last evening, quite a number of young people came forward who decided to be baptized. Overall, this hour of consecration was just overwhelming. I'm sure the Lord had planned this for us, however it became obvious to me that the enemy didn't like this plan. Indeed, Frank would have had many good reasons to cancel his trip to Germany even in the last minute. It just seemed way too much for him to fly in from Sacramento directly after the ASI convention, his wife being sick on top of it - plus he missed the OCI board meeting. In addition, the German air traffic controllers threatened with strike - exactly for Monday morning last week, when he was supposed to arrive. Interestingly, this strike never happened, although they seemed very determined to defend their rights. Yes, the air traffic controllers may control the airspace, but God controls the whole universe!

It was quite challenging for us not to have Thomas with us to help with the organization and a smooth running of the meetings, but by God's grace we managed. Due to my busyness throughout the week, I haven't taken many pictures, but here are a few impressions:

Frank Fournier preaching

The Nebblett family singing

Hour of consecration Saturday night

At the end of the meetings, I decided to stay one more night in order to get some rest before moving on to the next place. So on Sunday, I was able to spend some time with the Nebblett family (who also left the place only yesterday morning), which was very blessed. I was the last one leaving the Christian recreation center, and it was such a peaceful sunny day. I wish we could have had more days like this during camp meeting time, but unfortunately, we had more rain then sunshine, and it was quite windy (just unpredictable in this part of Germany). Nevertheless, we were truly showered with God's blessings.

This was how the park in front of the building complex looked like at my departure. I should really have taken a picture of that tree on the first day of camp meeting as a comparison. When I arrived at August 7, only the leaves to the left were yellow. What an early fall!

I'm planning on driving back to Brussels already this coming Wednesday instead of Sunday. I really need to see my chiropractor, furthermore I decided to attend the yearly spiritual retreat of my church in Brussels, which is going to take place this coming weekend at a beautiful place in the countryside of Belgium. Our pastor is now definitely leaving for Canada, and this will be our last time with him.

I'm ready for another blessing, I think.

Countdown

I’m back to Brussels and I’m enjoying the sunshine – at least for a couple of days.

The funeral was very sad, yet not as dramatic as I had thought it would be. Sonja appeared to me quite strong. Of course there is still an element of shock in this whole experience, and now there are still lots of things to be organized, plus her newborn gives her a lot of distraction. This shows me again how close joyful and sorrowful events can come together in life. I pray that the Lord may give her strength, comfort and peace, especially when she will start processing everything.

Well, it was nice to spend a few days in the country, although the weather wasn’t very summery. My almost 92-year old grandmother was happy to see me. She could very well relate to Sonja’s fate – in fact, she was even younger in age when her husband fell during World War II; and she was also left alone with two little children. Nevertheless, it's definitely no easier today to cope with such a loss than it was then, although the social systems in Germany are stronger now.

There are still lots of little things to be done at work, and I’m really looking forward to vacation now. But only six days left, and I will be headed to Germany again. I’ll write more after camp meeting.

Saddened and Distressed

I think these two adjectives best describe my experience this week (more about the saddening part in a minute).

July is usually a very busy month in our offices. A lot of things have to get done before the "Summer Hole" in August (at least this is what we would say in German). In particular, I have been quite busy with a rather complicated procedure, which has to be adopted before the end of this week. The thing is that I have a hard time working with one of my deputy heads of unit, who is the manager of this particular case. She has this Southern European temper, and she just yells at me (or at whoever else working under her) whenever she is stressed out. She is not a mean person at all, but she just can't control the volume of her voice. What especially bothers me is the fact that she apparently doesn't like people to be proactive. Today, I took an initiative that she disliked, and again, I got yelled at (although I had done nothing wrong in that sense). Now I better ask her before I do anything on my own, or she will be angry again. I really don't like being restricted in such a way, and of course it's very hard to deal with this kind of temper-outbursts in a Christian manner. I don't know if I have reacted as I should have, but I pray that the Lord will guide me in this matter.

So I'm definitely ready for vacation now - and thank God it's very close! A week from Monday, our annual "hoffnung weltweit" (hope worldwide) camp meeting will start. It promises to be a blessed experience again. This year, our speakers will be the Nebblett family, Frank Fournier from Eden Valley, and Alberto Treiyer, a theologian from North Carolina. I look forward to the seminars and to the whole experience, which is certainly one of the high points of the year.

However, this year our camp meeting is unfortunately overshadowed by a very sad event. It is not even 3 months ago when Thomas, one of our team members, was diagnosed with a malignant non-hodgkins lymphoma in his throat. Thomas used to be our treasurer and his wife Sonja the clerk of our ministry. In 2009, after their first child was born, they decided to resign from their offices, yet still remained involved in the ministry work (that's why I was asked to take over Sonja's office). When Thomas found out about his disease, he decided to go the non-conventional way and found a naturopathic doctor to help him treating this. He also got a lot of support from his father-in-law, who knows about natural healing methods, and who also gave him some fever treatments. When it became evident that the tumor wouldn't shrink properly, they decided to have surgery done. This took place at the end of June and it was successful. Things apparently started going better for him, although he was still weak. Ten days ago, Alberto and his wife Patricia from our team visited them and an anointing service was held in their home. We were all prayerful and very confident that the Lord would heal him. Last Saturday though, he had to be admitted to the hospital again. He was in very bad shape and the doctors didn't think that he would survive the night. On Sunday morning, Thomas passed away - only four days after the birth of their second child. Of course, this came like a shock to all of us. Nobody would have ever expected such a sudden demise. I feel so sorry for Sonja and the rest of the family. Of course it's also very hard on Thomas' parents. How do you comfort somebody who has to go through such an experience? I think there are no words that can take away this pain. I just pray that the peace of our Lord and Saviour may surround them in this difficult time. It shows me again that there is absolutely nothing here on earth we can take for granted. Things may happen in our lives that we may never fully understand, yet the Lord is still in control, and there is nothing that He doesn't allow for a reason.

Anyway, I spontaneously decided to travel to Germany on Thursday afternoon, in order to attend the funeral on Friday. It will take place about 5 hours up north from my home town, but since I have family (of my father's side) living very close, I decided to visit them over the weekend. It will be a 6 1/2 hours train ride from Brussels. Please join me in prayer for Thomas' family.

Busy

Lately, it has been rather fast-paced for me at work. About two weeks ago, it was particularly stressful. Things went crazy in one of our cases, and the assistant in charge was out of office. So they had to draw on every resource possible, and one evening, I even got home only after 8 PM. Since the end of last week, the workload has become lighter again, but this is only the peace before the next storm. Now another one of my colleagues is on leave, and we will have to replace her with two huge tasks. Bottom line: I really look forward to my vacation in August!

I've been praying for the leadership of our church in Belgium. At the beginning of June, there were elections for the next 4-year term of the Conference officers. The Pastor of our English-speaking church, who is also the Conference President, didn't want to continue in his office, but they absolutely didn't manage to find a successor. Each eligible person declined. In the meantime, our Pastor also accepted a call to Quebec. So in principle, him and his family will leave Belgium in the fall. However, a replacement for him is still to be found, as well as somebody who could become the new pastor in our church. But who shall take over these tasks? I think our church in Belgium is facing a big challenge, and I've been praying that the Lord may establish a leadership according to His will. I'm sure He has a plan for this little country, nonetheless this appears to be a very difficult time.

I keep receiving not-so-good news from the US. While I was staying at Uchee Pines, we had a lovely elderly couple helping out for a while. Dr. Jackie worked as a physician and her husband Duane helped on the farm and with maintenance, until they decided to finally retire. I just learned that he died from cancer last week. I'm sorry for Dr. Jackie. I'm also very concerned about Dr. Strachan, the psychiatrist at Uchee Pines. Back in February, him and his wife Lou Ann were in an automobile accident on icy road conditions in Oregon. Lou Ann didn't get a scratch, but he was severely injured with complicated neck fractures, which left him paralized. The last thing I heard is that he is finally home in California, but is still in critical condition. He still needs a ventilator to help him breathe, and he is very weak. Nobody knows if he will ever fully recover from this injury. I've been praying a lot for him. He was such a blessing at Uchee Pines, and now it looks like he will never be able to do this work again. I really don't know why the Lord allowed this to happen. But He who does all things well, He knows.

I recently came across a very beautiful song. It's about how the Lord comes through to us in our trials. Click here if you would like to listen to it - it's definitely worth 5 minutes of your time!

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

EU News

Last year in March, I wrote about the conference I attended at the EU Parliament on the work-free Sunday movement, which was supposed to be the kick-off meeting to relaunch the debate on Sunday protection in Europe. This initiative was spear-headed by a few MEP's, and some very influential people were there, like László Andor, the Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs. It was his Directorate-General, which launched a consultation within the Commission about the review of the so-called Working Time Directive at the end of last year. These interservice-consultations always have to take place before any new legislation can be voted on the level of the Parliament and the Council. It means that a working paper is sent to all other relevant Directorate-Generals within the Commission and they have to give their input. It was also sent to our service, and although our unit wasn't supposed to prepare the reply, it accidently found its way into our functional mailbox. That's how I became aware of it. I couldn't write about it here at that time, as it was still a working paper. But in the meantime, I found out that the "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and Committee of the Regions reviewing the Working Time Directive)" has been published. As I had expected, nothing has changed in the assessment of the Sunday issue. Point 5.1 says:

"The question of whether weekly rest should normally be taken on a Sunday, rather than on another day of the week, is very complex, raising issues about the effect on health and safety and work-life balance, as well as issues of a social, religious and educational nature. However, it does not necessarily follow that this is an appropriate matter for legislation at EU level: in view of the other issues which arise, the principle of subsidiarity appears applicable."

Very interesting. For those who don't know, subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled at the lowest possible level of an institutional hierarchy. So the EU shall only decide on matters which are better decided on EU level than at the level of the indiviual Member States, and other matters shall be left to each Member State to decide. Now, according to this statement, the question whether Sunday should become officially a work-free day, should be decided on the level of each indiviual country belonging to the EU. So it seems that we are still far away from a EU legislation on this issue. Of course things could still change, as the new Working Time Directive hasn't been finalised and voted on.

Tomorrow, there will be a conference of the "European Sunday Alliance" here in Brussels. They are going to discuss the review of the Working Time Directive, and similar to the conference in March, they have invited some experts and stakeholders who will give their input on the advantages of a work-free Sunday. I only found out about this event today, otherwise I would have considered attending this conference. I have no idea what impact this initiative could still have on the ongoing legislative process in this matter, but I have the feeling that at this point, we are still far away from an EU Sunday legislation. But why are things not going forward?

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to watch on 3ABN part of the ASI Europe convention, which was held in Konstanz, Germany. Ted Wilson was invited as a speaker and I really appreciated what he shared. One thing he said struck me: "We call ourselves Adventists, but why are we still here?" Good question. The blunt answer is that we haven't done our homework yet. There is still so much to do for Jesus to come back. Lately, I have been asking the Lord more earnestly that He may show me how He wants to use me in His work. I pray that He may reveal Himself to you and me in this matter, so that we can soon accomplish the work which God has committed to us.

I hope I can give an update on this issue in due time.

"We as a people have not accomplished the work which God has committed to us. We are not ready for the issue to which the enforcement of the Sunday law will bring us. It is our duty, as we see the signs of approaching peril, to arouse to action. Let none sit in calm expectation of the evil, comforting themselves with the belief that this work must go on because prophecy has foretold it, and that the Lord will shelter his people. We are not doing the will of God if we sit in quietude, doing nothing to preserve liberty of conscience. Fervent, effectual prayer should be ascending to heaven that this calamity may be deferred until we can accomplish the work which has so long been neglected. Let there be more earnest prayer; and then let us work in harmony with our prayers."--Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 713, 714.

In Germany

I'm in Germany since last Friday visiting friends and family. As always, it's nice getting a break, especially at this time of the year. Yesterday, I went to Stuttgart (about an hour from here) with a friend from my home church. We visited mutual friends there. Sylvia is German and used to be in our church (in fact, she became acquainted with the message there), and her husband Marlon is originally from Tobago. They have a little boy, almost two years old. We had a nice time together and time went by way too fast. Needless to say that I'm very thankful for still having friends in my home country I can connect with.

Tomorrow, I'm going to attend a funeral of a dear old man from church. I really liked Brother Erwin and always enjoyed visiting him at the nursing home where he spent the last few years of his life. I had hoped to be still able to see him, but he passed away the week before I came. But I'm glad for him that he can rest in Jesus now. Ninety-seven is a high age after all, and especially the last time was very rough for him.

So I'm keeping myself busy. This coming weekend, we will have a board meeting of our German ministry, about two hours from here. Then on Monday, I'm going to head back to Brussels.

I really enjoyed last week's Sabbath school lesson. Isn't it beautiful how righteousness by faith is depicted in the third chapter of Zechariah? I like the EGW quote below. Indeed, He will not forsake us - if we look and believe on Him!

"Joshua, standing before the angel of the Lord with defiled garments, represents those whose religious life has been faulty, who have been overcome by Satan's temptations, and are unworthy of God's favor. Today human beings stand before God with defiled garments. All their righteousness is "as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). Satan uses against them his masterly accusing power, pointing to their imperfections as evidence of their weakness. He points scornfully at the mistakes of those who claim to be doing God service. They have been deceived by him, and he begs for permission to destroy them.
     But they trust in Christ, and Christ will not forsake them. He came to this world to take away their sins, and to impute to them His righteousness. He declares that through faith in His name they may receive forgiveness, and perfect Christlike characters. They have confessed their sins to Him, and have asked for pardon, and Christ declares that because they look to and believe on Him, He will give them power to become sons of God.
     Their characters are defective, but because they have not trusted in their own merits and excused their sins, because they have asked for forgiveness through the merits of Christ, the Lord receives them, and rebukes Satan. Because they have humbled themselves, confessing their sins, He refuses to listen to the enemy's accusations. He has abundantly pardoned the penitent ones, and will carry forward in them His work of redeeming love if they will continue to believe in Him and to trust Him."
     --Letter 173, Aug. 5, 1903

Double Birthday

Today, I didn't have to go to work, as it is "Schuman Day", which marks the birth of the European Union. It was on 9 May 1950 when then-French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman made a governmental proposal to create a new form of organization of states in Europe. This is how it all began, and of course there were many steps along the way until the EU would become what it is right now. And of course, we can see the fulfillment of prophecy in all these developments.

Anyway, it seems that I'm predestined to work for this institution, as today is also my birthday. I've never spent it all by myself in Brussels, so I thought I would do something special. I took the train to Aachen in Germany this morning and enjoyed the day there. There is a nice thermal bath, which was very relaxing. I also got to do some shopping. They have some interesting fountains and sculptures there, as you can see below.

So this has been a nice long weekend, but alas, tomorrow I have to go back to work!

Stenshult

Yesterday, I made it back from Sweden. It was really nice getting to know this place and the people there. The seminar with Pastor Mayer was very blessed and the message timely. He is also very pleasant to be around with. Compared to other institutions I've been to, it's a very small place. There are only three full-time staff members and currently, they have only one student, a young man from Africa.

During the additional days that I spent there after the weekend seminar, I got involved in the daily routine of this institution: I attended the classes, and helped out with sowing and transplanting in the gardens. Again, I was reminded that I miss country living.

The title of Pastor Mayer's seminar was "Security in an insecure world". One thing that stood out to me was how he connected Psalm 91:1 and 27:5. In Psalm 91:1, it says: "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." But where is the secret place? Psalm 27:5 says: "For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavillon: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock." The rock refers to the tables of stone, which are the ten commandments. They were kept in the Most Holy Place. So we have to go by faith into the Most Holy Place experience with Jesus. The 10 commandments are an expression of Christ's character. We need to let Jesus have control over all aspects of our lives and to give Him power over our sins.

The two main buildings on campus

Guesthousing

Pastor Hal Mayer

Sowing seeds

Off to Sweden

It has been a splendid sunny weekend in Brussels, I only couldn't spend a lot of time outdoors. Yesterday, we had a special Sabbath for the immigrant churches, i. e. all the churches that are not French- or Dutch-speaking. These are the Romanians, Hispanics, Lusophones (Portuguese-speaking), French-Africans, and our International Church. They do this every year, so that the non-Belgian church members can get in touch with each other. I don't know what our church in Belgium would do without these congregations. The membership here is already quite meager, but without the immigrants, the church would almost die out I guess.

This afternoon, we had a church board meeting, which turned out to be quite long as usual. One of the points of the agenda was the issue of immodesty in dress, especially displayed by some young females. In fact, this is quite an issue at our church, and I somehow feel sorry for the brothers who are exposed to this every week. I suppose the problem is the ignorance of the young ladies about what they can trigger in them if they dress like this. But of course it's a sensitive issue to deal with. We agreed that the Pastor will give a talk on this subject, and I really hope that the Holy Spirit will convict them. My general observation ever since I'm sitting on this board is that we talk way too much about internal problems. But I guess this will be the case until Jesus comes back. After all, the first Christian churches were not without issues either, so there is nothing new under the sun.

I'm quite excited, as I will be traveling to Sweden at the end of this week. There is a self-supporting place there called Stenshult, and they are going to have a special weekend seminar with Pastor Hal Mayer from Hartland. I've been in touch with him for a while, as he is speaking a lot about current political events, and I've been providing him with information about the things going on here in Brussels. He has been wanting to meet me, but so far, I've never been able to attend one of his seminars in Europe. So I thought this is a good opportunity to finally meet him and also to get to know this place. I'll be staying there for five days. So far, I've never really been in Sweden, I only travelled through during my last trip to Scandinavia. In fact, I really ought to visit this country; after all it's the land of my forefathers. Yes, I'm Swedish in the seventh generation. It was sometime in the Eighteen Hundreds when a woman from Sweden came to an island in north-eastern Germany together with her illegitimate son. She worked as a cook for a Duke residing on this island, and her son was the great-grandfather of my paternal grandmother. Quite a story. I wish I had time to do some genealogical research while there!

Spring is in the Air

Yes, indeed! This past winter was long and dreary enough after all, and it's great to see that nature comes to live again. Even though I don't have much nature surrounding me, I'm delighted to see each blossoming tree and budding flower around here. The sun is shining warmer and warmer and the days are getting longer. Thank you Lord it's spring again!

A sigh of relief

I gave my health presentation today and it went pretty well. There were about 20 colleagues attending. I had the impression that it was well received by most of the attendees, except one lady who didn't agree with me on some things. I found this a bit difficult to handle, but at the end it was fine. I think that there is still a lot I could improve as for my public speaking skills, but of course the best way is to get up there and talk. So I'm thankful that I had this opportunity and I'm even more grateful that I was able to share the 8 laws of health with some secular people. I think I didn't go too far as for the "trust" part - but  hopefully I gave them some food for thought. The lady from the human resources department came up to me afterwards, telling me that she was planning on starting a working group on "Health and Wellbeing", and that she wanted me to be part of it. Of course I agreed, and I hope that this will give me more opportunities as the Lord leads. My former colleague from Greece also came, even though he works in a different area of town. He sent me an e-mail afterwards, saying: "I can subscribe to 100% of what you said, the only question being how one could put them in practice! We will anyhow discuss more on Thursday..." Yes, I will have a lunch appointment with him then, so I will see!

My cooking class yesterday also went well. I even had two men attending. They always have a lot of questions, and it was pretty exhausting. But I like to do this work, and hopefully next time, I will also have some non-Adventists attending. I was actually able to establish some contacts with people outside the church who were interested, including a couple in the neighborhood, but they couldn't make it this time.

Ok, so what's next? I don't know if there is more I can do other than the things that I've been doing, but I hope the Lord will make things very clear to me. He has me here now for a reason, no doubt about that, however there is always the temptation to get somehow discouraged because my opportunities are so limited. I recently came across an interesting quote of Dr. Charles Stanley, an evangelical pastor:

‎"If God has placed you in a certain position, He will handle all the
details concerning it and your life. Your only responsibility is to obey
Him and leave the consequences to Him."

I find this very encouraging. After all, God is the one who knows all the details of our lives, and He can certainly handle them all. May He help us to obey Him and to listen to His voice today.

What an Opportunity

Winter time is still not over here, however the sun has been shining often these past few days, and this of course makes a big difference. At work, things are going fine. The temporary arrangement with me having to be in the unit's secretariat in the afternoons is actually not that bad. My head of unit is nice to work with after all, and this also gives me more opportunity to socialize with my colleague Cristina.

I'm currently working on the so called Car Price Report. This is a compilation of the prices of the most popular car models marketed in the EU, which is published by our Directorate-General every year. Since our unit deals with this sector, it's up to us to prepare it. So I've been swamped by excel tables which have been filled out by over 20 car manufacturers. It's my task to transfer the data to our tables, add new car models and bring everything into the right format. Another colleague, who is an economist, is going to do some calculations later on and finalize the report. I was joking with him the other day, because of the fact that we are working in this sector, however we both do not even own a car! Last year, there was another colleague who was in charge of this task, and I just assisted her. Now, I'm on my own with it, which I was a bit apprehensive of, since I'm not an expert in excel. But I'm thankful that I have been able to solve every problem so far.

Last week, I received an unexpected e-mail. I had mentioned some time ago that I got to talk to a lady from our Human Resources department on giving health presentations at our DG. She was really open to it and wanted to schedule me, but the problem was that our HR manager wasn't sure whether he wanted to have any training courses offered which are not related to competition policy. I've been put on hold with this again and again, so I didn't really expect it to happen anymore. Well, it seems that he finally made up his mind, because I've now been asked to give a talk! It will take place on 21 March during lunchtime. I'm quite excited and very grateful for this opportunity, but also quite nervous of course. I'm going to give a presentation on the eight laws of health. The day before, on March 20, I had already scheduled another cooking class at my home, so I will be very busy those days! I hope and pray that everything will turn out to God's glory.

Well, I better continue preparing my presentation :-)

On the occasion of the international women's day, one of my male colleagues sent out this mimosa today to all the females in the unit. Very thoughtful, isn't it?

Seven Years Abroad

Do you sometimes have thoughts like what happened in your life x years ago at this time? I have been reminiscing lately about the amazing ways the Lord has been leading me ever since I left my home country. This month, it is exactly seven years ago that I first came to Brussels, and of course this meant a big change in my life.

After I had finished my training in 2000, I was indeed ready for an adventure - I had no intentions to stay in my home city, but none of my endeavors to go to another country (like working for the German embassies, the GC headquarters, the Euro-Africa-Division...) were fruitful. So I happened to become a temporary staff at a research center of the European Commission located in my home city, and the Lord kept me there for 3 1/2 years. In 2003, I succeeded in a staff competition in Brussels. This is an achievement envied by many people, as it means being placed on a so-called "reserve list". One has to be on such a list to be able to apply for a permanent position at the EU. The problem was that they couldn't offer me such a post in Germany at this time, so this meant I had to apply for a job at headquarters. However, I had already established my life in my home town now: I had my first own apartment, I was active at my local church, etc. Now I didn't want to leave anymore. Yes, I still wanted to go abroad sometime, but definitely not to Belgium! I was devastated. I remember coming back from my job interviews in Brussels, realizing that this relocation was inevitable. I went to bed that night and I just cried. It was indeed a difficult time, but there were indications that the Lord was leading me to go to Brussels. Thus, I not only came to accept it, but I also started looking forward to this new era in my life.

Of course, every beginning is difficult. I remember passing through a snowstorm when I drove my car to Brussels, which I found a bit scary. For the first few months, I had a furnished place in a rather shabby area of town where lots of people from Turkey and North Africa live. I don't have very pleasant memories of this. The first two weeks were the most difficult for me. I remember one day getting lost again in one of these Commission buildings. I felt like crying, but then I asked myself: "Hey, what is the problem?" I think this was some kind of a turning point. I was somehow fully adapted after this short time, and I felt like having lived in this town for quite a while already.

Being a permanent official of the EU, I was now granted the privilege of taking an unpaid leave from my job. This opened the door for my long-cherished desire to get some medical missionary training in the US. So off I went there after I had worked in Brussels for a little over two years. The Lord couldn't have orchestrated it in a better way, since I'm the only Adventist in my family, and they would have certainly decleared me insane if I had completely given up my job in order to go the States. But I could tell them that I'm only taking a prolonged leave from my work and that the door was open to go back there.

And finally, I'm still amazed how the Lord worked out my comeback to Europe. When the time of my planned return drew closer, I started to get worried about my living situation there. It had worked out that a young couple from the church in Brussels took over the lease for my apartment, but there was no guarantee that they would move out again upon my return. But "coincidentally", they happened to move exactly around the time when I came back. They had taken over most of my furniture and they even left some of their own stuff for me, so I didn't need much to get re-established. If this hadn't worked out, it would have been so much more difficult to settle back.

To sum it up, I'm really grateful about how God took care of me during these seven years. It makes me think of the quote in Life Sketches, p. 196:

"We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history."

Indeed, what shall I fear for the future?

Back Home

Yesterday evening, I returned from my trip to Southern Germany where the meetings with Walter Veith were held. It was and interesting experience, and it was good to see Walter again. I got acquainted with the Veith's a number of years ago while visiting the Neumann family in South Africa. Brian Neumann is a former rock musician who is also a speaker for Amazing Discoveries. The Neumann's and the Veith's are good friends, and so we would spend a lot of time with them. Walter is certainly an interesting person to be around with.

The meetings took place in a small place called Starnberg, about an hour from Munich, beautifully situated at a lake. The focus of the presentations was on revival, so it was mainly for church members. Only the very last one on Sunday evening was on creation/evoution and thus geared to the public. I was already gone when he gave this talk, but I hope they had a lot of visitors. The revival meetings were really interesting, although I always find that he puts too much information into his presentations and thus it's a bit challenging to absorb everything. But thanks to his German origin, he didn't need interpretation; otherwise it would have really been too long. He chose several bible characters from the OT (like Nehemia, Isaiah, Ruth) and pointed out the typology depicted in the experience of each of them, which show the condition of our church today. I was impressed with so many parallels. He also talked about the current happenings and the New World Order. This was another reminder that we really need to be aware of the developments and get ready for Jesus' soon return. There were also encouraging testimonies of some young people who recently joined the church - one of them by listening to a talk of Walter Veith on YouTube.

So this trip was a nice change of my everyday life here in Brussels, all the more I probably won't have any opportunities to get away here in the next few months. I also enjoyed this picturesque lake with the Alps in the background - a beautiful scenery as you can see on the pictures below.

Some Fresh Air Please!

We are having winter smog in Brussels these days. I learned that this can always be expected when beautiful weather persists during this time of the year, especially when the wind drops. Because of the lack of movement of air and temperature, the polluted air is not diluted and gets trapped in a cold layer of air just above the ground. So this happened after we had a nice sunny interlude this past weekend. Today, they made an announcement at the metro station thanking those who have chosen to use public transport. It's really looking grey and this doesn't make me feel like going outside during my lunch break at all. I just wish I could be somewhere in the mountains! But it's only level 1 - level 2 or 3 would be worse; and they say level 2 would only occur once every 2 or 3 years. Anyway, I'm hoping for a fast improvement of these conditions.

At work, things are going to be a bit different for me in the next few months. One of my colleagues who assists in the unit secretariat has requested to work only in the mornings until the summer. Thus, I've been asked to replace her in the afternoons, since it would be too difficult for my other colleague to handle it there by herself all the time. I can't say that I'm happy with this arrangement, since I like my office and I don't appreciate having two different work areas. At least my new head of unit doesn't require us to stay long hours, so I just hope the work load will be managable.

Next week, I'll be off for a little adventure. Professor Walter Veith is going to speak in two different places in Germany, and I'm going to attend his meetings near Munich - at least part of them. Our German ministry is going to have a booth there and I will be helping with this. It's going to be an interesting trip I guess.

By the way, it would be nice getting to know those reading my blog I'm not acquainted with. I only know about two followers in Colorado for example, but there are more hits from there. And what about the ones in Germany and South America? Maybe I even know you, but it would be nice if you could drop me a note!

Like Lightning from Heaven

Winter time in Brussels is usually not very pleasant. The snow is gone, but we have had lots of clouds and rain lately, and only a few bright moments. This morning, I was able to see some blue sky, which lifted up my spirits.

It's already the second week that Maria, our new head of unit, is working with us. So far, I'm really pleased with this new situation. She is a very kind and appreciative person, and she is indeed organized. She takes care of the incoming stuff on a day-to-day basis, so no more piles! Now I only have to chase some of my case handlers for missed deadlines, but part of the reason for this is our lack of resources. I really feel for them, as most of them are overworked and have to juggle between priority cases plus all the other things that need to be done. I'm thankful that my own workload is rather light at the moment, but as I'm going to take on new tasks, this might change in the near future. But I will see - no need to worry about it right now.

Other than that, there aren't any new things happening in my life. I'm still praying about the Lord's guidance as for ministry opportunities. Now as the Amazing Facts event has been cancelled, I still somehow feel this emptiness. But maybe I should just take one day at a time and see what He has in store for me. At church, I decided to accept the office as church clerk, not exactly knowing what this task really entails. It's definitely more than I had expected, but with the Lord's help I will hopefully manage. Being in this position, I'm realizing more and more what a challenge it is to be part of a church congregation with so much diversity in cultural and educational backgrounds. But the Lord surely has a plan for His people in Brussels.

Lately, I've been reading through the gospel of John during my devotional time. The other morning, I beheld the crucifixion of Christ. I'm impressed how the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Jesus' death were exactly fulfilled. Furthermore, a quote by Ellen G. White in my study bible caught my attention:

When Christ cried, "It is finished," God's unseen hand rent the strong fabric composing the veil of the temple from top to bottom. The way into the holiest of all was made manifest. God bowed His head satisfied. Now His justice and mercy could blend. He could be just, and yet the justifier of all who should believe on Christ. He looked upon the victim expiring on the cross, and said, "It is finished. The human race shall have another trial." The redemption price was paid, and Satan fell like lightning from heaven (MS 111, 1897).  

Isn't that powerful? I especially like the quote from Luke 10:18 about Satan falling from heaven like lightning. Although it didn't appear as such at the moment of crucifixion, Jesus was the winner in this battle and Satan was defeated. It's so comforting to know that our God is the One who controls our fate and destiny, and that there is nothing on this earth that can take us out of His arms. And best of all: He is interceding for us right now in the Most Holy Place. I pray that I may get to understand and embrace more fully what He has done and is still doing for His children.

Amazing Facts Cancelled

I would have never thought that this would happen. Everything seemed to be going pretty well. I had established this contact with the Hargreaves family while in the US, and the local leadership was in favor of having this evangelistic series. In September, the family was even able to come here and many church members were motivated by Lowell Hargreaves' sermons.

But then, shortly before Christmas, I received a message from Lowell telling me that our conference would have to pay the regular Amazing Facts fee of $13.000 to have them come to do the series. Originally, he had informed us that this fee could be covered by donations. However, the Hargreaves' recent campaign in the Philippines had cost three times more than expected, and thus, there was no money available to cover this.

This would have meant an almost 100% increase of our original budget, and of course this became a big issue. To keep it in a nutshell: The French speaking church finally decided to back out. As we came together to discuss this last week, it became quite clear that the money wasn't the biggest issue, but some concerns which had been there right from the beginning (and had only been put aside for the sake of not opposing) came up again. One thing was the length of the program (they would have rather had it only for 3 or 4 weeks) and also the fact that they thought Belgians wouldn't want to listen to somebody from America.

I was disappointed but relieved at the same time when I realized that it wouldn't happen. It's simply not enough if the leadership is not opposed to something. There was no enthusiasm right from the beginning, so how should they have ever motivated their church members? I think I would have collapsed under this burden. However, my pastor and conference president got to talk to Lowell Hargreaves, and it might be possible to have a tailor-made program for us sometime in the future. They had never thought about creating a special program for Western European countries at Amazing Facts, so something might be considered. But I'm reluctant now when it comes to working together with the French speaking church. Apparently not the whole leadership was so sceptical, but I would want to be really sure that this is actively supported.

Anway, I couldn't help feeling a certain emptiness. I had thought that this would be my big opportunity to serve the Lord this year, and now this has been taken away from me. However, God never makes a mistake and I would like to see it in the light of His providence. I've thought about a passage in the Ministry of Healing that I find quite fitting in this situation:

"Our plans are not always God's plans. He may see that it is best for us and for His cause to refuse our very best intentions, as He did in the case of David. But of one thing we may be assured, He will bless and use in the advancement of His cause those who sincerely devote themselves and all they have to His glory. If He sees it best not to grant their desires He will counterbalance the refusal by giving them tokens of His love and entrusting to them another service.

In His loving care and interest for us, often He who understands us better than we understand ourselves refuses to permit us selfishly to seek the gratification of our own ambition. He does not permit us to pass by the homely but sacred duties that lie next us. Often these duties afford the very training essential to prepare us for a higher work. Often our plans fail that God's plans for us may succeed.

We are never called upon to make a real sacrifice for God. Many things He asks us to yield to Him, but in doing this we are but giving up that which hinders us in the heavenward way. Even when called upon to surrender those things which in themselves are good, we may be sure that God is thus working out for us some higher good.

In the future life the mysteries that here have annoyed and disappointed us will be made plain. We shall see that our seemingly unanswered prayers and disappointed hopes have been among our greatest blessings.

We are to look upon every duty, however humble, as sacred because it is a part of God's service. Our daily prayer should be, "Lord, help me to do my best. Teach me how to do better work. Give me energy and cheerfulness. Help me to bring into my service the loving ministry of the Saviour." (Ministry of Healing, pp. 473, 474)

So I've been asking the Lord to show me how He wants to use me this year, and I'm convinced that it's not the big things that count anyway.

It has been raining today in Brussels and it's very dreary. I like the lessons given by God through nature. Just as the sun is not revealing itself right now, there might be things in our lives that are shrouded. But as surely as the sun will show it's face again, there will be clarity over the issues we are now struggling with. Indeed, our plans are not always God's plans - but His are always best!

Black Forrest Impressions

I made it back to Brussels this afternoon. Again, there was a problem with the high speed train, and I already had to change in Frankfurt. However, it turned out that another train to Brussels stopped there which took me to my destination even half an hour earlier than planned! So this turned out a blessing.

Yesterday, it was my father's 70's birthday, and as it is the custom in our family, this had to be celebrated in an appropriate manner. Thus, the extended family as well as the closest circle of friends were invited on a trip to a small town in the Black Forrest. It took us about an hour by train from my home city. We had dinner in a nice restaurant and took a walk around this picturesque place. I really like these half-timbered houses, as they are so typical for the Black Forrest.

Small alleys

The slant doors are the openings to the caves (they come in handy to fill in the coal for heating - but I doubt that they still heat these houses with coal nowadays)

The "Narrenbrunnen" (fountain of the fools)

The townhall of the city of Gengenbach

With my dad, sister-in-law and aunt (there is only water in my glass by the way!)

The surroundings

Sunset at the river

Interesting tree