Friday

It is finshed!

While the significance of this phrase is much more meaningful in the context of Jesus saying this the cross, we also said it on Friday. The necessary work on the church has been done for our trip here and Eddie says it "is very, very good" with a satisfied smile. Friday's work was mainly cleaning up (not just the work site, but th church interior, into which we dragged a lot of dust and dirt, and Megan also cleaned out the baptismal), storing stuff in the renovated shed, clearing out debris from the work areas, and a last minute project to provide better drainage for the driveway next to the church. This also contributed to Eddie's satisfaction with the work done as this last-minute effort fulfilled his promises of what he would do for the tenant who rents a room above the church.

So, what does the end result look like? Here are some good before and after photos!

Street view of Diepenbeek church building

Driveway area as we got started working.

The finished driveway area



Erin & Sheri painting the back walkway wall

Finished back walkway area painted and cleaned out

Back side wall before work

Back side wall done - the top isn't painted because Eddy

rebuilt that part of the wall and it has to 'set' for a couple

weeks before it can be properly repainted

The rear wall of the church buiding before

The rear wall after

I don't have a real 'before' shot of the shed,

it was packed with stuff. But this is after emptying

and during roof removal

This is the shed all cleaned out

The back yard first day of work

The back yard when we finished

Friday afternoon, most of the folks went to Genk to do some shopping and to reconnect with a man there that Milt has been witnessing to for years. Stein (I'm guessing at spelling, it's pronounced Stain) is 31 years old and just had a serious heart attack this past year. Just before we left Milt went to him and said he just couldn't help but think about this heart attack and what would have happened to him if he had died. Stein exclaimed, "I knew you were going to say that!" At least he is clear on the issue! Heis still not ready to put his trust in Christ, but promised to continue reading what he and Milt write back and forth and to continue thinking about it. More of a surprise was when Stein's girlfriend suddenly opened up to Val right before we left. The conversation had been pretty light, but as our departure time approached she suddenly went deep in conversation. Please be praying for her!

Milt & Stein (sp?)

Shopping for chocolate

Lot's of chocolate was procured in order to ensure our bags would be full for the ride home. We've got a 50lb limit on the bags, so we are all looking through our things to see what we can leave behind, and how we can repack to make it all work.

That evening, we had a wonderful dinner together as an entire team at Ivan and Vivianne's house. Other than the quick lunches at the church, this was the first time our entire team was able to be together for a dinner meal, around one table, and it was nice to relax and enjoy a great dinner together.

After dinner, there were two bible studies: Milt to conclude his two-part series on Marriage and Relationships at the Diepenbeek church, and Scott to teach a lesson from Mark 6 on How to Serve with Super Powers in a small church group in Zutendaal. Both seemed to hit home in the right way and serve our brothers and sisters here n Belgium well. The people here are hungry for the word. The Word of God is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work, which God prepared in advance for us to do to! (2 Tim 3:16-17 an Eph 2:10b)

Sheri shares soulariam witnessing tool with Zutendaal church

Zutendaal church

The church at Zutendaal is a small group of believers (15-ish) in a town that is spiritually not too unlike the rest of Belgium. One difference is that the town is a site of an alleged miraculous appearance of Mary (the mother of Jesus, not just some recent fortuitously-named woman). This seems to be a pretty important thing in Zutendaal where folks will make what I can best describe as religious pilgramages to the site where this appearance was supposed to have happened, but in spite of the rigor of the pilgramage, it has no spiritual significance - at least no positive one. Those here in Zutendaal who claim to be Catholic are just Catholic as the rest of Belgium for the most part: by name only.

The Zutendaal church was started essentially through the brave and visionary actions of two folks there who have been going door-to-door to spread the gospel for the last several years. It is amazing to see God working and bringing together a wonderful group of believers to shine aganst the darkness of their community and country!