June Events

This past month has been quite eventful indeed.

Yesterday, I returned from a weekend trip to the city of Aachen in Western Germany. My friends Tanja and Ilja were there to do video recordings for the local church. They had organized a series of meetings with Lewis Walton, an Adventist lawyer and author of several books (like "Omega 2", which is probably the best-known in our church). He spoke about endtime prophecy, and I found it very interesting and relevant.

The weekend before, my parents and grandmother came to visit me in Brussels. This was quite special to me, as my (almost 90 year old) grandmother had never been here (at least not in the past 20 years), and thus she finally got to see how I'm living here. They arrived already on Thursday, and we spent the whole Friday in Bruges. It's a quaint little place indeed; it's only a bit crowded at this time of the year. We did a lot of walking throughout this little city and both my grandma and my dad did very well.

Other than that, we are busy with the preparations for our German camp meeting, which will take place from August 11-17. I'm praying for guidance for all the organizational and logistical issues that still need to be worked out.

What follows are a few impressions of Bruges:

picturesque

At the monastery

boat ride in the canal

Chariot ride 

My parents and grandmother

Changes

I've spent this past week with my folks in Germany. After having visited the last time about six months ago, there have been changes, big and small.

The most unexpected one is the fact that my father has been diagnosed with a debilitating disease which has slowed him down considerably. Back in April, his health condition was quite acute, but he is doing much better now. My mother is taking care of him very well and I hope and pray that things will further improve.

As usual, there have also been changes in my home city. They have been working for several years already on the tunneling of the tram system on the main shopping street. It's a huge project, which became necessary as the number of trams going through the city centre increased considerably over the years. Thus, there have been big construction areas all over. I couldn't recognize the market square anymore, which is right in the heart of the city. This is how it used to look like:

As you can see, there is a pyramid in the middle, but now you can't recognize it anymore:

It's obviously an enormous project, but let's see how it's going to look like when it's done.

Anyway, I've enjoyed the greener setting around my parents' home and the fact that there are more birds singing here. I also went with my parents and grandmother to the Rose Society Garden in Baden-Baden (Black Forest). Although it isn't peak season yet, there were many beautiful roses already:

A rather unusual color for a rose

Two different colors in one bush

Nice gates

We also saw a heron

On Monday, I'll be headed back to Brussels. So let's see what the coming month will bring...

Lively Weekend

This past weekend was a lively one indeed. Sonja, a friend from the German ministry team, decided to visit me together with her two small children, Arnold (5) and Katharina (2). Sonja's husband passed away in the summer of 2011 following a short battle with cancer. It ws only a few days after the birth of Katharina. Of course this was a tragic loss, and raising children as a single mother must be quite a challenging task. How to answer every one of Arnold's questions? How to react if one of them throws a tantrum? It certainly takes a village to raise a child!

Anyway, we had a fun time overall, and even though we didn't have a stroller for the little one, we did get to see some sights in the city as well as some of the surroundings where I live. It was a bit challenging at church though, as the children couldn't really relate to all these people who didn't speak their language, but the time spent on different playgrounds and frolicking around at my home certainly made up for this experience.

Now I'm thankful for our Easter break. I'll be off still until Monday included. This coming weekend will be much more quiet!

With Sonja & children at the Grand Place

Katharina

Arnold

They obviously enjoyed the playground

First Signs of Spring

The weather has been beautiful lately. Today it felt almost like summer, and I really enjoyed going spending some time in the park. It feels so good after this long period with hardly any sunshine!

Yesterday, I preached for the first time at Brussels International Church. I was asked to do so for our special Women's Ministries Sabbath. I decided to give a personal testimony, entitled "Transformed in Christ". I once gave a similar talk at Uchee Pines. It was blessed, and I'm thankful for the outcome. In two weeks time, I will give another cooking class at church. I hope the turn-out will be good.

Lately, I have made plans for my next adventure. Yes, I have decided to take another leave of absence from my work! As of October, I'm going to leave Brussels for about a year, in order to fresh up my skills in medical missionary work and agriculture. So I'm planning to spend some time at Uchee Pines and Eden Valley in the first half of 2015. Before that, I'm going to help out for a few months at an orphanage project in Bolivia. In fact, I have two godchildren there :-). Thus, I'll be able to meet them and at the same time improve my Spanish. Quite exciting, isn't it? In fact, it's almost five years now that I'm back to Brussels, so I think it's time for a change. And when shall I do this if not now?

So nice to see the trees blooming

Even the forget-me-nots are already blooming

Happenings

I'm back from the US now for about two weeks, and in a sense life has been back to normal. However, there have been quite a few happenings within this short time frame.

Last weekend, we had Dr. Gerhard Padderatz speaking at our church. He is currently the President of ASI Germany and he is also one of the editors of a magazine published by the Conference to which my home church belongs. His idea was to come to Brussels to get material for an article about Seventh-Day-Adventists working for the EU institutions - and I was supposed to be the chief witness. So I showed him around a bit at the Commission and introduced him to some of my SDA colleagues. Since he is an excellent speaker on end-time events, I invited him to give a short seminar at our church at this occasion. It was very well received. In fact, he is one of those speakers I could listen to for hours and never get tired.

Last Tuesday, I attended another conference of the European Sunday Alliance. I had reported on the last event back in 2010 (see my blog). Again, the representatives of different stakeholders came together to launch another pledge for a work-free Sunday in Europe. And again, they brought good arguments forward in favour of Sunday as a universal day of rest. It was interesting how tenaciously all these people from a variety of backgrounds (religious and non-religious) took a stand on this initiative. From a political standpoint, it still doesn't look at all that a work-free Sunday will be implemented on EU level any time soon, but it's interesting how some individual member states have been pushing forward legislative action in this regard. And in the end you don't know how these people will eventually be able to take an influence on the political decision making. Again, I came to the conclusion that we have to get ready for more difficult times, and that we need to keep praying for religious freedom.

Yesterday, I joined the majority of our task force on a mission to the Belgian livestock market. Since we are dealing with the food sector, this trip proved to be an excellent opportunity to get to know this particular sector. It was indeed interesting to see how they do trade with these animals and how they breed them. However, in a way it was also saddening to see what kind of life they have. If I hadn't been vegetarian already, I think I would be from now on!

Some ponies

One next to the other....

This one got sold, but didn't really want to follow its new owner

Sticks they use to test the quality of the meat and to push them around

One of the best bulls in the insemination center

This is the lab were they do artificial insemination

On a cattle farm

Little calves separated from their mommies

GYC and Florida

The GYC conference was a blessing. On 31 December, I flew down with Franklin, who also works at Ann-Marie's ministry in Arkansas, as well as another young men from her church. Franklin organized for us to stay that night with a nice family who attended some of their health programmes in the past.

Although this time I can't really say that there was one particular seminar or meeting that was outstanding to me, the overall experience was good. The atmosphere was very spiritual as usual, and it was nice to see again many people both from the US and from Europe. The convention facilities were very good, although I had to cross the street each time from the hotel I stayed in order to attend the meetings. Of course I've also enjoyed the warmer temperatures; however we have had two rather cold days since I'm here. On Friday it went down to about 10°C (60°F), and it was exactly the day we went on outreach. But the sun was shining so it wasn't a problem.

Since the conference ended, I've been staying with the same family, as they kindly offered to host me for a few more days. However, I've been spending the days with my friend Rosalina who also lives in the Orlando area. Her family was staying at the same ministry in Hawaii while I was helping out there in 2009. They are currently transitioning houses, so I couldn't stay with them. Yesterday, we went to Daytona beach, and this time, the temperatures even went down to 8°C and it was very windy. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the trip.

So tomorrow, I'll be headed home. I don't really look forward to a five hour layover in Philiadelphia and another one in London, but I hope everything will go smoothly!

Finally I was able to donate my German Käthe Kruse doll to 3ABN
 - with Camille Gilley

Mark Finley lecturing

There were over 6000 participants

Outreach experience...

Downtown Orlando

Legoland at Downtown Disney

With Mickie and Minnie

Impressive lego animals

At Daytona Beach

The birds were a bit scary!

Arkansas

On Christmas Eve, I made it to Arkansas safe and sound. It was a long journey, with two stop-overs, but it all passed by uneventful. In fact, the situation at Brussels airport was quite relaxed. I think most people already flew out the weekend before.

It's been lovely to stay here with Ann-Marie and her 11-year old niece Shenae. The weather has also been great: cold yet sunny most of the time. So these days I have been basically getting over jet lag and socializing. Ann-Marie took the legal guardianship of her niece, as she is getting an education here. She is a smart little lady, with "no shy bone in her body" as her aunt puts it!

I have also found time to continue with a few writing projects and some church business. We spent Christmas day with a lovely family from church in Oklahoma. They were very hospitable. The Sabbath experience at church was also pleasant.

Today, we went to the George Washington Carver National Monument in Missouri, which is only about an hour away from Ann-Marie's place. I'm quite impressed with the life work of George Washington Carver. He was such a humble man. We visited the museum and walked in his footsteps on the surrounding trail. It was a beautiful outing.

All in all, it's been a great way to end the year. What will 2014 bring? Only the Lord knows. In any case, I'm now off to the next adventure: GYC!

"...some day I will have to leave this world. And when that day comes I want to feel that I have an excuse for having lived it. I want to feel that my life has been of some service to my fellow man" (George Washington Carver)

My friend Ann-Marie with her niece Shenae

With Ann-Marie and Shenae at the museum

The monument

Grave side of the foster parents of George Washington Carver

High Time For Another Post

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I haven't been able to keep up with blogging lately - although there have been many happenings to write about. So in order not to bore you with a loooong blog, I will have to leave some gaps now!

I've been blessed in many ways lately, and I'm full of gratitude and praise - although I've had some health struggles. About three weeks ago, I contracted a nasty cold from which I only recovered slowly. It all began when I slept with my window open one of these damp, cold nights. Unfortunately, I had left my grape seed extract at my parent's home, otherwise I might have been able to nip it in the bud. But I'm thankful it's over by now.

Nevertheless, these past few weeks have been a blessing in many aspects. Although it was hard on me again that I couldn't spend Thanksgiving in the US, I was able to do another fundraising dinner at my home. This time, only five guests were able to accept my invitation, so together with Adina (my new flatmate) and me, we were seven altogether. We had a blast; and in spite of the small number, I raised over €100 for my project in Serbia. Praise God for their generosity!

One of the weekends in November, we had Jan Carbungcal and Kraig Harnett as speakers for a special youth programme at our church. In fact, all Youth from Belgium was invited, and even some from the Netherlands came. It was so blessed to have them. Not only the Youth, but also other church members joined for the outreach activities, which took place Sabbath afternoon in Brussels city. Due to my illness, I had to refrain from joining them, but from what I heard it was a great blessing.

My flatmate has also been a blessing. Adina is originally from Romania, but she studied in Spain and had lived there before she decided to come to Brussels and try to find work here. She is a member at our French speaking church, and since she had been in rather unfavorable living conditions, I was asked if I couldn't help her out for a few months until she would find her own place. I didn't see a problem, after all I had a nice time with Larissa last year. Adina is also a pianist and for now she is making a living by giving piano lessons to children. Of course she is fluent in Spanish, and thus I'm able to freshen up my language skills. What a blessing!

I have also continued with my Dutch classes, and I still find it the easiest language I've ever learned. However, I still need to study it. The thing is that I couldn't really take much time for it lately, so it's an advantage that the pace of this particular course is rather slow (the teacher has to adapt to all the Southern European students after all, for whom it's not easy at all to learn this tongue). At one recent class, we learned the names of the different body parts. Well, everything except genitals (I guess every medical professional would have spoken up at this point!) In fact, we entered into a lengthy discussion on whether one could really say that a man has breasts. The teacher suggested that this word would rather apply to women. I should have mentioned to him that men could even get breast cancer, however I didn't know how to say this in Dutch!

Other than that, I'm eagerly preparing my trip to the US, as I'll be flying out on Tuesday. I'm going to spend one week at my friend Ann-Marie's place in Arkansas, and then I will fly down to Orlando to attend GYC. After that, I'm going to enjoy the sun in Florida for a few more days before heading back to dreary Brussels. I'm very excited of course!

Tomorrow will be my last day in the office for this year, but I guess it will rather feel like going to work on a Sunday, since most of my colleagues took this day off. The Commission closes its doors between December 24 and January 2; but I will be back only on January 10. So let's see what 2014 will bring!

Part of the church family at our annual ADRA fundraising dinner

Part of my Thanksgiving dinner, nicely decorated by Adina
No, it was nobodies 28th birthday, but Thanksgiving was on the 28th"

Jan Carbungcal preaching

Kennely - the innocent look

Real joy...

Change of Blog Name

Sometimes I have contemplated how I would name my blog should I leave Brussels and continue my life somewhere else.

Today, I came to the conclusion that I should go ahead and change it now. Not that I have any plans to leave at this point; however my ministry has never been confined to Brussels only. For example, only a few months after my return from the US, I went on a mission trip to Hungary and Serbia. Then of course I'm involved in the German ministry "hoffnung weltweit e. V.", and I'm quite active there, especially when it comes to our annual summer camp meeting in the Westerwald region.

Furthermore, wherever I travel, even if it's not an official mission trip, I have opportunities to minister to people. At work, I minister to my colleagues who may then be able to pass on something I have given them (a health information, a thought, etc.) to somebody in their respective home country. Who knows? The Lord's ways are unfathomable. Only on the New Earth we will eventually grasp the whole extent of our influence in this world. How amazing this will be!

With all this in mind, I decided to call this blog from now on: "Under His Wings" - because if it weren't for this fact, I would not be alive today. I'm proud of my guardian angel, because he must have been extremely busy to protect me from the attacks of the enemy. And indeed, even if the "tempests are wild", I can still trust my Jesus; because I know He will keep me - because He has redeemed me and I am His child!

You may listen to this hymn here

Under His wings I am safely abiding

Though the night deepens and tempests are wild

Still I can trust Him, I know He will keep me

He has redeemed me, and I am His child.

Under His wings, under His wings,

Who from His love can sever?

Under His wings my soul shall abide,

Safely abide forever.

Under His wings—what a refuge in sorrow!

How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!

Often when earth has no balm for my healing,

There I find comfort, and there I am blest. 

Under His wings—oh, what precious enjoyment!

There will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;

Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;

Resting in Jesus I’m safe evermore.

Recharging Batteries

I've been thoroughly enjoying my time in Germany. The five-hour journey from Brussels was uneventful. On Sabbath, I enjoyed visiting my home church; and I even got an invite from a sister who had been wanting to have me over for lunch for years already. Until now, I would always have other commitments whenever I came for a visit, so this was a nice coincidence. She has been widowed for quite some time, and she always invites people over for Sabbath. There was another sister who came along, who is divorced and also her age (beyond 50). We had a very blessed afternoon. The only thing that I noticed is that there is a tendency of "going round in circles" when it comes to table conversations. At least I have noticed this very much among the German church members I'm close to, that they talk much more about other church members (their problems, their failures, conflicts they have with them, etc.) than about what they could do for the precious souls out there who are in need of Christ. It's a pity, because we lose so much time gossipping about other people's lives.

Yesterday, we had a nice family lunch at my parent's house. Only my older brother and my cousin couldn't make it. I tested the "Ultimate EU Quiz" with them, which I'm going to do with the students at my old school tomorrow. I realized how little the average population (academics or non-academics) knows about the history of the EU as well as the facts and figures (number of inhabitants on EU territory, where the majority of the EU-funds go to, etc.). I thought this was basic knowledge, but I think people just tend to live in a box. Of course I'm exposed to "Europe" every single day, meaning my workplace in itself is a "little Europe" already, with all these different nationalities blended together. I realize that I'm privileged in this regard. In fact, I wouldn't want to live in Germany anymore.

However, I really enjoy visiting from time to time. Today I'm going on a special treat - to the city of Baden-Baden in the Black Forest. I think I have posted before about this "Bathing Temple". But please don't think that I'm going to mingle with the male visitors - there is separate bathing today!

And finally, here is a super-cute picture that a Zambian friend from Brussels church just shared: Little Kennely with her brother Tumelo! Aren't they sweet together?