Day 4: Jezus es Koneng! 

"And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Hom in swaddling cloths, laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for him in the end."  Luke 2:7

On our first day of VBS (or Kindercamp as it is called here), we had 17 children attend, several of whom were invited from the community! Nine helpers from the Belgian church joined with our team of six to run all the activities.  We were all very excited and nervous about how the day would unfold.  Luc taught the Christmas story in Flemmish emphasizing Jesus' role as king and his sovereignty over human events.  We were very thankful for Luc, his daughter Ruth, and Claire (another woman from the church) as they served as our heavily relied upon interpreters during each activity!  Recreation consisted of parachute games and crab soccer.  Both sets of games seemed to be a hit with the kids.  The snack for the day was "oysters," and for craft time, the kids decorated crowns.  Overall, the children seemed to have a fantastic time participating, and we're looking forward to a fun-filled week!

Devotion time before everyone arrives.

Luc teaching the Bible lesson.

Bible application time

Parachute game

"Oyster" cookie. Can you find the pearl?

Decorating crowns

 After lunch, Jeannine drove Sheri and Stephanie to see some castles nearby Liège.  We were able to walk around the grounds of Kasteel Rullingen which dates back to 1640.  Today was also our turn to visit Tongeren.  While we were there, two girls from Greenpeace, a global environmental organization, approached us, and we struck up a conversation.  Interestingly, one of the girls was from Diepenbeek! We explained that we were staying there with some friends from church, and she was curious as to its name and location.  Although neither of us could give very specific directions, Jeannine had the church's card with her which we were able to pass along. As we went to walk away, the other girl followed us asking if we are Protestants. We told her that we are Christians. She said she used to go to church but is not relgious now, but there is a large youth church called Revolution somewhere nearby, and she encouraged us to find out about it. It was cool to have conversations with these girls when we weren't expecting it. We realized that by being purposeful in our conversations, we are seeing more opportunities in front of us. And, sometimes the person who is interested is not the person you think it will be.

Kasteel Rullingen

Statue in Tongeren (notice the Greenpeace sign in the front)

Jeb and Nathan went with Ivan to Alden Biesen, which is a German castle in Belgium. There they met a Peruvian soldier who was eager to take a picture with two very tall Americans! During that time, Val prepared crafts and snacks for VBS for later in the week. Jeb and Nathan did their part by drinking lots of seltzer water to empty bottles for a future craft! And, Milt met with a man to encourage him in his walk with Christ. Nathan and Jeb went on another long walk and explored the area. The roosters pictured have been dubbed Nathan's nemesis. They wake him, and some of the others too, up at 5am every morning. And they crow all day long. We've begun to hear plots of fried chicken wings for the end of the week barbeque! Their house finished the day by eating dinner outside (to the sound of mooing cows and the incessant roosters) and enjoying fondue!

Alden Biesen

Jeb and Nathan with the Peruvian soldier.

Earliest form of Skype (or a museum display with audio)

Horses Jeb & Nathan came across on their walk

Evil Rooster that torments Nathan

Praise: 17 children came today! The team worked well together.

Prayer: Pray for the details of the rest of the week to come together. Pray that we would get permision to use a nearby field for recreation and the end of the week barbeque. Pray for the Belgian team to grasp what running VBS could look for them to do on their own in the future. Pray for all of us to get adequate rest.

 - Sheri & Stephanie