Health Expo

I'm thankful for the outcome of our Health Expo yesterday. It turned out a blessing for everybody involved, in spite of all the difficulties and last minute changes. It wasn't a very large crowd - about 60 people went through the stations, but this included many of the volunteers themselves (most of which had never visited a Health Expo). So there were about 30+ people visiting, including a few non-Adventists. They were all very receptive. Indeed, it was worth the effort, and it was also a blessing to see that people from so many different nationalities and tongues can work together so well. So our next goal, in principle, is having an Expo at a public venue. I really don't know how we can put this together. Well, the Lord knows and I pray that He will make it clear if it's His will!

Exercise booth

Water booth

Nutrition - what are all these grains and seeds?

Discover your health age

Blood pressure check

The massage team

I think this is what people liked most!

Measuring the pulse...

...before doing the step test

Children's programme

Spring

It's so nice to see nature's awakening again. The weather has been beautifully sunny and warm here in Brussels. In fact, it's rather unseasonable and it's going to change by the end of this week; so we have to enjoy it while it lasts. Today, I left the office already before 5 PM and took a stroll through the nearby university premises, which is my recreational area close to my home.

In the meantime, our Health Expo is getting closer. We already had the first information/training sessions and it went pretty well. There is still a lot to be organized and I'm praying for strength and guidance...

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All Things Work Together For Good

It has become warmer these days. No more frost, but lots of clouds and little sunshine. I hope these grey days won't last so much longer.

There isn't very much to share other that we are still busy preparing our Health Expo for mid-April. Yesterday at church, I had 12 more people sign up for it, which of course was encouraging. But we still don't have enough volunteers, and they have been a bit slow at the church which is collaborating with us. There are so many things to consider, and the language barrier doesn't make it easier of course.

At the same time, I also have to continue with the first preparations of our camp meeting in August. There are still some questions I can't answer at this point. Our late Thomas, the team member who passed away last year, had done so much in the past, and his input is really missing now. So I have taken over tasks I don't really feel competent with. Also the Health Expo is a first for me. However, I can't imagine that the Lord doesn't want me to do all these things, so I'm praying for His guidance, strength and wisdom. I hope things will become clearer soon.

So I'm pondering Romans 8:28, and what the Lord may want to teach me in all these challenges. Well, we are promised that all things work together for good to them that love God - this I know!

"The Father's presence encircled Christ, and nothing befell Him but that which infinite love permitted for the blessing of the world. Here was His source of comfort, and it is for us. He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ. Whatever comes to him comes from the Saviour, who surrounds him with His presence. Nothing can touch him except by the Lord's permission. All our sufferings and sorrows, all our temptations and trials, all our sadness and griefs, all our persecutions and privations, in short, all things work together for our good. All experiences and circumstances are God's workmen whereby good is brought to us."  Ministry of Healing, p. 488

Portugal

Last Sunday, I returned from Portugal where I stayed little over a week. I visited a medical-missionary project led by Kim Busl from the US and Dr. Viriato Ferreira, the responsible for health ministries at our Division. It was a very interesting experience. They have started this place about four years ago, and since last fall they have their first group of students. This OCI project is beautifully situated in the mountains a few hours north of Lisbon. There were already some stately, but rather run-down buildings when they purchased it, but lots of changes have been made and many things are still to be accomplished. They have had a few health guests already, although the lifestyle center is not finished yet. I got to teach the students a little bit about some simple home remedies. It was nice working with them, as they hadn't learned about those things yet, and so they were very receptive. I liked the mixture between practical and theoretical training. They also do health work in the community, which is very well received.

Other than teaching, I also helped with gardening. The weather was very pleasant - sunny almost all the time and around 15°C (60°F). What a contrast when I came back to cold Brussels! By now, it has even gotten colder, but at least the sun is shining.

There are some challenges ahead now, and I don't know yet how to go about some things. I'm stressed about our planned health expo in April. There are still so many organisational details to be considered and I pray for the Lord's guidance. There have been some uncertainties lately, and it was unsure whether it can take place at all this spring, but now the Lord seems to open the way. However, I still feel the main burden is on me. In addition, I also have to start thinking about the organisation of our next German camp meeting in August. With all this, the situation at work is not easy right now and I can't know how things are going to develop. So I will definitely not be bored in the coming months! I just don't feel comfortable with not having all the answers, but I know the Lord has a plan. We have been given counsel not to utter words of discouragement, so I just want to say how glad I am that we have God's Word and His promises. I like soaking them up in such times. Also the Spirit of Prophecy is an encouragement to me. Below is one of the quotes that I have been reading quite often these days. Indeed, God knows us better than we know ourselves, and He understands how to lead us.

"Our God is an ever-present help in every time of need. He is perfectly acquainted with the most secret thoughts of our heart, with all the intents and purposes of our souls. When we are in perplexity, even before we open to Him our distress, He is making arrangements for our deliverance. Our sorrow is not unnoticed. He always knows much better than we do, just what is necessary for the good of His children, and He leads us as we would choose to be led if we could discern our own hearts and see our necessities and perils, as God sees them. But finite beings seldom know themselves, They do not understand their own weakness. ... God knows them  better than they know themselves, and He understands how to lead them. (Our High Calling, p. 316)

Two of the main buildings - the one behind is run-down and
will be demolished and rebuilt

Cafeteria and housing

Repairing the stairs

Gardening

Beautiful sunsets 

Coimbra - university town about an hour away from the project

Be Strong and Very Courageous

I can't take a whole lot of time to blog these days, but I just wanted to give a little update.

I made it safely back to Brussels this past Tuesday. When I left Germany in the morning, the sun was shining brightly, but as I came closer to Luxembourg, the weather became more and more rainy and windy. Thank God I arrived home during a relatively dry spot. I had to unload the car after all, since I always take advantage and buy a lot of things in Germany that I get better and cheaper there than in Belgium.

The three days that I spent at this prophecy seminar were interesting, yet the schedule was very intense. Thus, it was hard to absorb everything (all the more I was still feeling a bit exhausted from the previous weeks). However, the two speakers from the US made the importance of the topic very clear. The New Year's retreat was also a nice change, although I wished the atmosphere had been more spiritual. It was a very mixed group of people from very different backgrounds (also some non-Adventists), but it was nice to see some old acquaintances again and I had some good conversations. So from this point of view it was worthwhile having been there.

The week at work was rather calm, especially since our head of unit was still on vacation. But from tomorrow on, everything will resume back to normal I guess. In view of the year ahead, I have to admit that I have felt rather challenged lately, as I don't really know how to accomplish everything related to my work, the church as well as the ministry in Germany. There is so much to be done, and I've been praying for the Lord's clear guidance in everything. Yesterday afternoon at church, our first Elder gave a bible study on the subject of success. I really like the verses in chapter 1 of the book of Joshua that he quoted. Have you realized that God actually commanded Joshua three times to be strong and courageous? It's found in verses 6,7 and 9. Indeed, He has promised to be with us and not to fail nor forsake us! (verse 5)

"I want to work for God every hour of my life, and every moment; and then I want to crowd in all the work I can consistent with the amount of strength he gives me." (RH January 4, 1887)

Well, I better go back and finish my cooking projects for today!

I haven't posted a picture of my spinach yet. It keeps growing,
since the weather hasn't been really wintery

Relaxation At Last

I'm in Germany since Friday, and I'm so glad to be here. I had a train ticket for Thursday already, but circumstances beyond my control have led me to change my planning.

Last Wednesday, we received the following message from our Human Resources Manager:

"The public sector will be on strike tomorrow, Thursday, 22 December...there will be no public transport (including train, metro, bus, tram, flights). Belgian schools will be affected. In addition, the main entry roads to Brussels might be blocked by garbage trucks..."

Ok, wonderful. That the trade unions in my adopted home country like to strike (or do these "action days" - or "Journées d'Action" as they call it in French) is nothing new, but if they do it two days before Christmas, it's exceptionnally damaging (that's why they planned it that way of course). My first thought was: "Thank God I'm booked on Deutsche Bahn (German railways); they will get me out of Belgium." However, it's not that easy. They have to use the infrastructure of the Brussels raiway station after all. So they promised a bus service between Brussels and the city of Aachen. However, I anticipated chaos with this kind of arrangement, so I decided to cancel my train ticket and rent a car instead - the best decision I could have taken. I stayed in Brussels on Thursday, relaxed, and did my preparations for the journey. Friday morning, I left with a Fiat 500 (one of those tiny little cars they would laugh at you if you would drive them in the US), and safely arrived in the early evening. No problems whatsoever on the road; it only took me longer than expected, since I decided to take more breaks.

Christmas with family was a blast. In fact, I think it was one of the most harmonious Christmas evenings I've spent with my folks. We were a rather small group, since my older brother and his wife were visiting with her family. So it was my parents, younger brother, aunt, uncle, cousin and grandmother. We played and sung as ususal, and I was asked to share a couple of hymns. One of them my mother even knew from the Lutheran hymnal, and so she joined me with her tenor voice. It was lovely.

Yesterday, we continued at my grandmother's house with our traditional Christmas lunch. Today, there will be yet another family event, as we are going to visit my younger brother in his new apartment and then go for lunch to my parent's house again (since he doesn't have enough seating at his place).

From Tuesday, I'm going to attend a prophecy seminar at one of the retreat centres of our church near Stuttgart. It's a one-week seminar, however I will only be able to stay there through Friday, as I have already registerd at this New Year's retreat in Bad Kissingen. But I would like to go to both events, and so I have to make concessions. I'm really glad that I have the car now, as it would be really difficult without. So I'm looking forward to these last few days of 2011.

Night Shift

It's after 1 AM and I'm sitting in my living room. Of course this is not a time when I'm usually up and running, however I woke up after midnight. I really don't know what happened - whether it was a dream or maybe I was just lying on my left arm, but I started panicking because I thought I couldn't move one of my fingers anymore. Strange.

So I got up and took the opportunity to call a friend in Tennessee. It was nice talking to her for a little while, and I'm feeling better now. However, I'm still not sleepy enough to go back to bed, so I thought I might as well continue with my ramblings.

So where were we, ah yes: the church service. Communion was very blessed. Our new Pastor preached one of the best sermons I've ever listened at such an occasion. One of the main messages was that we can overcome sin. For most of my fellow church members, this is a rather new thought, and thus the "Amens" were only far and few in between. Nevertheless, I'm really happy that we have a Pastor who is into Present Truth.

In the afternoon, we had a special children's Christmas program. I didn't stay through the end, but I was impressed how well they had prepared everything. All of the little ones were dressed in white garments, and some even had angel's wings on them. I think they really liked their outfits! They sang a few songs, and maybe later on they opened some gifts (at least I saw that they had prepared some wrapped items for them).

But I was not feeling too well. The week had been a bit exhausting, and so I felt I had to take it slower now. I spent the rest of the afternoon partly outside, and partly at home, just recuperating. In the evening, it started raining again, later on mixed with a bit snow. At about 7 or 8 PM, I took a long walk at one of the side streets in my quarter. It was very wet, but nice. Those streets are really quiet, and I like Belgian architecture.

On Sunday afternoon, the sun came out nicely, and I even went outside two times. The first time, I did my usual "round" on the nearby University premises; and the second time I walked to Woluwé Park, which is about 15 minutes away. I saw a group of geese eating some grains or bread crumbs somebody had dropped for them. It was such a cute picture, but unfortunately I hadn't brought my camera along. In the evening, very thick snowflakes came down. It was a nice picture and I'm curious how it's going to look like in the morning.

Anyway, I will try to calm down now a bit more. Maybe I'll feel sleepy enough to go back to bed at some point!

The angels/princesses are getting ready to perform

Just before marching in

Cuties

They sang very nicely

Pastor Lucian preaching

Turbulences

I know I haven't blogged for a while - wasn't really up to it. More about that in a moment.

It's already mid-December and we haven't had any minus degrees yet (I'm talking about 32 F or lower). In fact, November was said to be the warmest one since the beginning of weather recordings. However, it has been raining a lot lately, and these dark clouds tend to really annoy me. As a surprise, it suddenly started snowing last night. The first snow this winter! However, in the morning, rain fell on top of it, and by now almost everything is gone. At any rate, I've been trying to catch every ray of sunlight possible - which can get rather tricky here!

The last few days at work are coming up (in fact, for some of my colleagues the end-of-the year break has already begun), and I'm going to leave for Germany on Thursday morning. I really look forward to this time off. I'm going to spend the Christmas days with my family, and for New Year's I'm going to attend a retreat in a German spa called Bad Kissingen. It's a very nice area in northern Bavaria, and this retreat is organized by a group of young adults of different churches. I just received the list of participants and figured out that I'm going to see some old acquaintances there. People I have gotten to know at seminars or other meetings in Germany at some point, some of which I have only recently seen on Facebook; so it will be neat to see them again in person.

I haven't mentioned yet the health talk on the frontal lobe of the brain that I gave at my work place. It took place on Tuesday at lunchtime. Unfortunately, December is a very busy time in our offices. So many things still need to be finished before year-end, and also many Christmas lunches are taking place. So I had about nine people attending, however two of them left even before I finished the talk (the only two male attendees - maybe they didn't like what I shared about coffee or alcohol). Anyway, the toughest part is always the Q&A at the end, and so one of the colleagues asked me a question related to evolution. I couldn't give her a satisfying answer other then saying that I didn't believe in evolution, and that science is split here. I really felt a bit clumsy and awkward. Other than that, the presentation went pretty well. Of course there is always room for improvement. However, right after I was not encouraged at all. I thought that I had completely messed up. I also started doubting and getting anxious about our planned health work in Brussels and about many other things. The exceptionally ugly weather did the rest.

On Wednesday night however, I went to church for prayer meeting. I had been wanting to attend for a while, but I would always find a reason not to go. However, this time I had promised to meet our first Elder there to give him a hand-out on health work that he wanted to copy. We were only six people, but it was really blessed. Somehow, this cloud lifted, and ever since I've been feeling so much better - although the circumstances haven't changed at all. I cannot express how relieved, happy and encouraged I am. These are the kind of experiences that really strengthen my faith.

So if you feel down or discouraged for any reason - just hold on a little longer - there is light at the end of the tunnel!

This morning at church was also very blessed - but this may become another rambling...

"To all who are reaching out to feel the guiding hand of God, the moment of greatest discouragement is the time when divine help is nearest. They will look back with thankfulness upon the darkest part of their way.. From every temptation and every trial he will bring them forth with firmer faith and a richer experience." The Desire of Ages, p. 528

One Thing After Another

So many things have been happening lately that it's difficult for me to keep up with blogging. My Thanksgiving party last week turned out a blessing. Although a lot of my colleagues had other commitments that evening, I had eight people at my home, including some former colleagues, as well as the two other ladies from church who also work for the EU. My guests liked the vegan food (although there was no turkey), as well as the alcohol-free champaign (although some of them would surely have preferred the real thing!), and we had a nice time together. I shared a DVD about the medical-missionary project in Serbia that I have been supporting, and I also shared my personal experience related to it. The result was that I raised 165 Euros for the project (two of my colleagues even donated something the day after when I brought some left-overs to the office). So this year, Thanksgiving was really a happy event.

I'm also thankful about the outcome of my cooking class, which took place last Sunday. For this event, I also had eight people at my home, even a lady from my neighbourhood. I showed them some healthy options for sandwich spreads, and it was well received.

The next big event will be another health presentation I'm going to give at my workplace on December 13. This time, I will have the opportunity to speak on the frontal lobe of the brain. A highly interesting topic, but also quite controversial. I guess some people will not like to hear that things like coffee and alcohol impair the functioning of this part of the brain. I still have to prepare quite a bit for this. May God help me.

This coming Sunday, we are going to have our first meeting for our planned health expo next April. Valérie Dufour, associate director for health ministries at our Division, is going to take part, so that we can get this started. I'm thankful that I was able to establish contact to some of the members of our second French speaking church in Brussels. They conducted an expo back in 2008, so they already have experience with this. The two brothers I got in touch with seem to be very motivated. So I really hope that we can get this organized. It will not be easy, but I pray for the Lord's guidance.

Anyway, I'm glad it's Sabbath. There was a big strike in Belgium today. Tens of thousands of people have marched through Brussels to protest against new austerity measures brought on by Europe's financial crisis. I didn't see the demonstration, but I had to cope with the ramifications of it, as it also resulted in a partial transport strike. There was absolutely no metro and no bus going from my place, and I had to walk to and from work, which was about 40 minutes each way - and I had to walk briskly! So I really got in my exercise in today, and I think I'm going to sleep very well tonight!

Some of my Thanksgiving guests

My friends from church: Viliam from Croatia and his wife Jana from Slovenia,
who works for the European Council. To the right: Agnieszka from Poland,
who works for the Secretariat-General at the Commission

My cooking class attendees

The sandwich spreads - and a zucchini cake in the background

No Time To Blog

I've been really busy, as I have invited my co-workers for a Thanksgiving reception at my home, which is going to take place tonight. I'm very excited, as this will not only be a great opportunity to get to know some of my colleagues better, and show them that a plant-based diet can be very delicious; but I will also do some fundraising for the medical-missionary project in Serbia, which I have been supporting.

In addition, I'm going to hold another cooking class at my home this coming Sunday. This time, I'm going to teach them about healthy spreads they can put on their sandwiches, which don't make them fat :-).

So hopefully soon I'll be able to share about the outcome!

This is a recent shot I took of the Berlaymont building,
the main buidling of the European Commission. The
Commissioners meet every Wednesday in this UFO shaped
silver top on the roof

My "Awww" for the day....

I received an email from a friend with some of the cutest animal pictures I've ever seen. This was really my "Awww" for the day. I hope it will be the same for you!

Baby dolphin

Baby penguin meeting a baby dolphin

A firefighter giving oxygen to a kitten

This baby owl

An embarrassed walrus

A baby hedgehog taking a bubble bath 

An otter showing you its baby 

And here comes my bible verse for the day - just came across it through a devotional reading:

Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.  (Exodus 23:20)

May the Lord give you an awesome day under His guidance and protection!

Collonges

Last weekend, I visited our school in Collonges-sous-Salève, France. This is the place were pastors are trained for our French speaking countries in Europe (e. g. France, Belgium and French Switzerland), but there is also a primary and secondary school, and they always have a bunch of American students there learning French (normally easily distinguishable by their Flip Flop shoes - yes, some of them even at this time of the year!). The school is situated in the region of the Alps, very close to Geneva. The year-end meetings of the European Division took place there from 4-8 November. This is the new name for the EUD, as it didn't make sense anymore to keep "Euro-Africa-Divsion". Due to some recent changes, there is no more African country part of the territory after all. Amongst other decisions they took, a new Secretary for Public Affairs and Religious Liberty was appointed, a Romanian named Dr. Liviu Romel Olteanu. This became necessary after the tragic death of Karel Novak this past summer. More can be found under the news on their website.

Anyway, my purpose to come there during this time was not primarily to attend these meetings, but initially to meet Dr. Ella Simmons, one of the vice presidents of the GC, who was facilitating some of the administrative meetings. It's a long story how I got in touch with her and why she offered me to talk to her, but I thought this would also be an excellent opportunity to meet some other people, like Dr. Viriato Ferreira, whom we invited to come to Brussels next spring to give some health presentations at our church. He is the director for health ministries at the EUD, together with Valérie Dufour as an associate, who was also there. We had a fruitful discussion on how we should go about with our planning. It will take place mid-April, and there is a lot to organize, especially for the health expo, which will be the main event during this weekend.

All in all, I had very positive encounters in Collonges. I mainly followed the meetings on Friday afternoon and Sabbath. From the GC, there were also Gary Krause and John Thomas who gave some interesting talks on Global Mission and the history of our church. No doubt, we are facing numerous challenges in Europe and beyond, however there are some very dedicated leaders. I especially appreciated the "prayer room" run by two young ladies, Raluca from Romania and Melissa from Canada. They are part of a group originally formed in the US within the "Revival and Reformation" program launched by the GC. A prayer room is something were people come together for united prayer in a structured, yet informal way. I found this very powerful. On Sunday, while they had their lengthy administrative meetings, I enjoyed the outdoors. It was actually the only sunny day during that weekend. The only problem was that it takes you about two hours to hike on top of this huge mountain behind campus - there is no alternative. I didn't feel like going for such a marathon (all the more I had nobody to join me), so I didn't really get into hiking, but it was ok. The fresh air and the quiet surroundings were already a treat for me.

I arrived back in Brussels Monday night and I had a busy week at work. So many things to do, catching up with pending tasks and trying to deal with new ones - plus I still have to explain quite a bit to Dana, our temporary help in the office. But she is getting there, and hopefully she will soon be able to take on some more tasks. Now I'm so thankful it is Sabbath!

Beautiful mountain scenery

You can see part of Geneva in the valley if it's not hazy

Ella Simmons giving a devotional talk

One of the school buildings on campus

Ooidonk Castle

I have no time to blog, but I don't want to withhold the beautiful pictures from you that I took yesterday.

The time with my parents here in Brussels was very short but pleasant. The only full day we had was yesterday, which was a holiday only for the EU officials, but not for the Belgian population. So we drove to Gent (about 45 minutes from here). There, we first went to IKEA, as I needed a new carpet and a lamp for my living room. Then we drove to the countryside of Flanders and visited the "Ooidonk Castle", which is an old fortress built back in 1230 to defend the city of Gent. We were not able to go inside, as this is only open to the public during the summer months, but it was so lovely just to walk around in that beautiful park.