Brugge

The Team at Brugge Centrum

Wednesday was the team tourist day. We had a break from the work – which somehow meant we had to get up even earlier than usual and meet up at 8:30am at Ivan and Vivianne’s house. But it was for a worthy cause… we took a day trip to Brugge!

Ok, I have to admit my ignorance, I had never even heard of Brugge (pronounced ‘brooghe’) before. I was assured it would be worth it, and that was an understatement. It is a beautifully maintained, old city with gorgeous architecture and old echoing churches filled with amazing art. And when I say amazing art, I’m talking Michelangelo.

Our faithful guides Ivan, Vivianne and Eddie drove us down into the city and we first found the pleasant surprise that the market was in full swing in the ‘centrum’ (center of town). First stop… Waffles for most of us, ribs for Don and Jim. You knew it was going to be food didn’t you?

Side note: All of us on the team had in the past teased Milt for always talking about the food in Belgium. I mean, he comes here to build up the body of Christ right? Why does food so often sneak into the conversations? Well, we have all now humbly acknowledged it was Milt’s superior understanding of the culture that caused food to so often come up. We have to admit ‘What did you have for dinner last night?’ is a frequent topic of conversation. The food is fresh - literally direct from the back garden for some – open air market for others, though they do have a good old fashioned grocery store also. And they cook a much wider variety of vegetables than I’ve had in the past, and it’s good! (You should be hearing ‘eet’s gud’ when I write ‘it’s good’ now, it’s what we’re all saying.) Scott and I had spinach soup the first night that made me want to lick the bowl. Another night was ‘witloof’ which is endive, which was served wrapped in ham covered in fresh cheese sauce and baked. Oh my goodness. And besides that, low-carb will never catch on in Belgium, and I would be appalled and go into mourning if it did. Fresh bakery bread for sandwiches every day, waffles (of course), and chocolate everything.

Our team then hit the streets in Brugge, breaking into smaller groups to wander the streets, walk through the buildings (many built 1300-1600, you know, before the first American colony was founded), and shop! We all hopped a boat for a canal tour before doing some more shopping, and then settling into some outside seats in a restaurant right on the center square for dinner. We met multiple American and British tourists through the day and shared stories of who we met from where, and then had some good conversation about our own experiences during the trip so far and the things in our past that have led to our current ministries and this mission trip.

One of the things I have seen very clearly though our trip is that God has specifically picked these people, for this mission trip, to stay with their specific host families. This was not our orchestration at all because unforeseen circumstances had our housing changing up to the last minute, and the makeup of our team shifted twice while preparing for the trip. God knew exactly what he was doing. I will be writing more about each of our hosts families soon, maybe I’ll do a better job of expressing what we are feeling then!

We're not in the US any more.

This is just some of the bikes parked by the bus station on the way into Brugge.

Dinner time at Brugge Centrum:

Scott, Sheri, Hugh, Don, Erin, Meg

Dinner Time at Brugge Centrum:

Jim, Ivan, Vivianne, Val, Milt

Our Fearless Leaders


Brugge Restaurants lining the Centrum


Window from a Church

Random Brugge Street

Random Brugge Cafe Corner

There were continuous horse drawn carriages through the streets

The boat tours through the canals

The North Sea

The Team at the North Sea

As departure time approached Eddie came to us and asked, do you want to go to the sea quickly before going home? Once we realized the north sea was only about a 15 minute drive away we were all eager to see it. Some of us even took off our shoes and stood in the surf together (some of us getting wetter pants cuffs than others when that sneak wave hit from behind) and collected a few shells.

After that it was back on the road back home. We had a 2 hour drive back – and that would be to cross from one side to the other at the widest point of Belgium. It’s hard for me as an American to imagine a country where driving from the capital city in any direction for one hour brings you to the border of the country, but that is Belgium.

Erin, Meg, Sheri & Jim get a little more wet than planned

Sunset at the North Sea

Before the surprise