Day 3: Church and Cultural Experiences

Police Story as promised from yesterday, we have the scoop from Jeb:
"Nathan and I were stopped by police on our nightly walk around the village.  The man spoke to me in Flemish and I said 'we only speak English.' Thankful they both spoke English.  They thought we looked suspicious since there is a horse attacker still at large.  Thankfully Nathan had his wallet to prove we were Americans.  They didn't understand why we would travel all this way to visit this village.  We told them we were staying with friends. They were friendly and wished us a good evening."

We had a wonderful worship time at the Evengelical Church of Diepenbeek (they like to sing a lot!).  Jeb was recruited last minute for drums and did so well, the praise team asked him back for later during the week.  Even the church in Diepenbeek is becoming multicultural; we met two women from the Philippines as well as families from Iran and the Netherlands. 

Milt preaching Psalm 73 with Hans translating.

Jeb in the praise band.

After the service, our team began prepping the church building for tomorrow's beach-themed VBS "Fun in the Son."   Our spiritual theme for the week is discovering who Jesus is, and tomorrow the children will be learning that Jesus is King.

Donating oxygen to VBS

In the afternoon, our group split for some sightseeing: 
Milt, Val, Nathan, and Jeb visited Tongeren, one of the oldest cities in Belgium.  Some highlights were the Basilica and ancient Roman walls.  They also got to fellowship with two couples from the church for lunch and ice cream later.

Vivianne's steak & fritz

Doors are smaller here!

Coffee break in Tongeren

Milt in Tongeren

Can you find Valerie at the Basilica?

Jeannine drove Sheri and Stephanie an hour to Monschau (which means "look at the mountain") in Germany. The views on the way in were gorgeous! We strolled through the village, took a tour of Jeannine's vacation rental house, and indulged in German waffles with ice cream.  We also found a park & played on the see-saw. Today provided several opportunities for us to have deep conversations and pray together. Willy, Jeannine's husband didn't come with us, but spent the day painting. He is very gifted artist.

Overlooking Monschau

Main street

See-saws are still legal here!

Willy painting

Praise: We are currently expecting 15-20 kids for the VBS program!!
Prayer: Please pray for more opportunities to encourage, challenge, and partner with the church during this week.  Please pray for continued unity within our team and as we merge with the Belgian team as well.

Stephanie & Sheri