The Work Begins

Some have asked, "What do you do now?" In visiting with some national friends yesterday evening, one of them (when hearing about the work of the festivals) asked, "Do you do that all of the time?"

Some would think that we have a one-push effort and that is the big thing we do. Certainly the Gent Festivals Ministries take a lot of planning, preparation and work. It is hard to describe all that encompasses. It is a major opportunity to connect and sow seeds and we do not want to miss or minimize it. It is a lot of work and a major focus of time, talent, attention and effort.

But it would be impossible to operate at that level for 365 days of the year. Why? We are not sure even a young person could keep that pace indefinitely. Plus, people are not that open to contact outside of special days. It is a rare time when people open themselves up to new things and new experiences. Defenses go down and doors open that are not available most of the rest of the year. So we go all out for those days.

It is a big deal!

But there is still work to do after the end of the festivals. The real environment for experiencing life-change happens in ongoing relationships. It is as we share life daily that God opens and invades the hearts of the people. So what are we doing now? We are trying to find ways to continue to build possible relationships that developed during the festivals ministries.

That too is a lot of work. August in Gent is still vacation month. In comparison to as full as the streets and plazas were during the Gent Festivals they are as vacant in August. During the festivals it is almost impossible to take a step without running into someone. In August you could almost drive a truck sideways through the streets and not hit anyone. But we are out trying to follow-up on the sowing of seeds.

Now is the time we try to determine the quality of the soil. During the festivals we sow seeds broadly without much effort at determining the quality of the soil. (We do keep our eyes open for obvious rapid germination) During the festivals we trust the power of the seed. Within the seed of the Gospel is the power necessary to change lives. Our job is to be sowers. We take to heart the teaching that he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly and he who sows abundantly will reap abundantly.

Now we look more at the soil and try to invest energy, time and effort in the lives that are apparently good soil (or at least demonstrate the ability for more rapid germination and cultivation). We still sow seeds but spend more time in cultivation and care.

So we drink a lot of coffee with people and spend a lot of time in trying to develop deeper relationships and have longer and more meaningful conversations. The challenge is finding the folks. Pray we will be able to connect where God is sprouting seed. That is what we are doing now. Looking for little green shoots.

Sunday 25 July

No blog yesterday. Sorry. We took the Arkansas Festival Team to Brugge for a day out and some souvenir shopping. They needed the time off and have been working hard.

It helped me (John) as I am trying to get over a bad cold that has made the ministry even harder.

Today (Sunday) was the joint, outdoor worship service hosted by several of the Evangelical Churches of Gent. There was a play about some of the evangelical history and an evangelical message. A few of the not-yet-Christians we have been meeting chose to attend but not sure how well they felt connected.

Ministry is not over. We shared cookies with security workers, police, sanitation workers and firefighters. We made arrangements with the firefighters on post at the festivals to take a box with bags of cookies back to the main station so that all the local firefighters can receive a "thank you" gift. We will be doing the same for the sanitation workers as well as the tram and bus drivers.

The festivals end Monday (actually Tuesday morning for the party-all-night crowd) but there is still much to do in making contacts and making plans for follow-up.

We will meet the Arkansas Festival Ministry Team at the hotel at 05:45 tomorrow to help them get to the train.

We are looking forward to a little more sleep and cleaning the apartment so that it does not look like a cookie vending machine exploded inside. Gotta go grocery shopping too so we can get back to a more routine eating and lifestyle.

Still more to come . . .

Friday 23 July

Well it "Belgiumed" this morning. That means it rained and in fact it was a thunderstorm with hard rain.

The party-all-night crowd thought it was fun at first. Then the lightening and cold rain. In a half hour the cold rain helped to begin wiping out the money they had spent to get drunk. Drenched and chilled us too so we quit a little early today.

John got the Georgia team to Brussels. They fly out early Saturday morning. Lucy helped the Arkansas team keep going with the ministry to the sanitation workers and then joined a partner church in their outreach for the afternoon.

Still lots to do before the end on Monday. Actually there is much to do even next week.

Will update much more in our 1 August Prayer Update.

Thursday 22 July

A quote from the "A-Team" goes, "I love it when a plan comes together."

A better one might be "I love it when God shows up and demonstrates His glory." That happened today.

Since this is a public forum, it is not the place to share details but here is the summary.

Unbeknown to John, Lucy prayed this morning that this would be the day we would connect with people who could become a group here. John has been praying that we would be present and aware where God has created divine appointments.

Today God answered prayer as only He can. During the morning coffee outreach, John encountered one of the service industry people with whom we have been connecting. We will call him Harry (Not his real name) Harry asked John if he would be at their usual meeting place at noon. John told him that was not the plan for today but that we would be meeting them tomorrow. Harry told John that Harry's wife was coming to meet him for lunch and that Harry had told his wife he wanted her to meet his American friend.

Even John (suffering from a cold, being pretty exhausted and not always spiritually aware) could tell this was a divine appointment. So John rearranged his schedule to make the appointment. Remember that God often asks us to adjust our plans to meet His.

To make a long story short, John did meet with Harry and his wife. It was a divine appointment (even Harry and his wife agree) and they agreed to meet soon to talk about how God can be a part of our lives even in the tough times.

It was a God moment and obvious (even to those who do not follow God) that He was working here.

THIS is what the coffee and cookies are all about!

More to come.

Wednesday 21 July

July 21 is the national day here in Belgium (sort of like July 4 in America). Lots of places are closed so that means there were more people free to attend the festivals. It also meant there were less people available to work in the Coffee Outreach.

A quick guess/estimate indicated there were twice as many people who were at the location of the Party-All-Night area. Not only was the number greater but more people were less in control. As the festivals progress, the participants have less sleep and the alcohol poisoning increases. All that means people have less ability to be self-disciplined and self-controlled. That means the security guards and police have more to do.

In spite of that and the threat of rain, we had some great opportunities to engage people in conversation and tell them how God can change their lives. Overall, our teams felt more comfortable and had better opportunities to share. A couple of team members gained real insight into the magnitude and depth of the lostness and challenge here.

Today was also day 2 of the ministry to the sanitation workers. With this group the practice is to touch the same people, multiple times in the week as opposed to the other group where we are trying to touch as many as possible once per week.

The familiarity helped and many were glad to see us and waiting for us. The relationships and opportunities are growing. A local partnering church provided brownies and that was a big hit.

We also spread out across the city to touch smaller groups of other service industry workers. We had teams in four places simultaneously. God provided enough laborers for the harvest to do this effectively.

The festival participants are not the only ones growing more weary by the day. Long days with little rest in the warm weather takes its toll on those ministering as well. Both volunteer teams are being troopers and pressing through. The overall willingness to "do what it takes" helps us continue to implement the strategy of the ministry activities.

Pray for protection (spiritual and physical) as well as health and strength. There are still several days of ministry ahead.

Hot

That word describes a lot of today.

Temperature wise it is quite warm. Officially this is the warmest first half of the year since they have been keeping records. Certainly it is not blazing hot (or as hot as it is in America). But being on your feet doing ministry from 6:30AM until 2:30PM with only one short sit-down break takes the toll. Having non AC means trams, buses and buildings are hot. It means the bedrooms are none too cool in the evenings so sleeping is a challenge. Fortunately our volunteer teams have AC at their hotel.

Hot also describes some of the great opportunities we are getting to share about God. At team meetings people excitedly share "God Stories" about how He opened up opportunities to tell His story and how the volunteers are being obedient to step into the situation. I had the opportunity to share the Good News three times today with people who were open and capable of making a decision for eternity.  Accounts like that flow every time we get together.

Hot also describes the opposition. One does not have to be very spiritually aware to see how the enemy intervenes to try to stop the effective spread of the good news. Attacks come in many forms (for instance I have not been successful a fighting off a sapping cold and the Second Festivals Ministry Team missed their flight and spent a long day flying.

Thanks for the prayers. Step them up. It is hot here.

A Long Day

Flexibility is the key. It was today. It seemed like little went as planned. Certainly there were challenges but also great opportunities.

Missed flights, missed connections,  partners not understanding the process were just a few of the challenges.

But in all that we had some amazing conversations. Some went very far and to the heart of the Gospel.

Pray for obedience and insight for tomorrow.

Day One Ministry

Sunday is a day of rest but also a day of connecting. With 1.5 million opportunities in only 10 days it is impossible to let a day or moment slip by without being intentional in reflecting the King.

We were joined by three nationals and another American as our Georgia Festivals Ministry Team did ministry to tram and bus company workers. (Well we did have connections outside of that community - When God opens hearts and opportunities we are obedient to follow).

The weather was great and we divided into two teams with the smaller going to the train station (being the smaller exchange point) and the larger going to the major control/exchange point at "South".

Got to touch almost all of the workers as they changed shifts. Everyone had good connections and conversations. Some had deep connections and conversations and a few had significant (to the point of getting to the point) discussions. Overall it was a great beginning.

Today (Monday) is going to be even busier. Hitting the streets at 6:30AM to serve coffee or hot chocolate to the crowd that has partied all night. Then we will grab a quick breakfast before hitting the streets again to touch the sanitation workers. Another team will get thank you cookies to the tram and bus service center that was not open on Sunday. That is a new ministry this year.

Still have opportunities to touch police, fire, Red Cross and security workers. Also have to head midday to Brussels to meet the Arkansas Festivals Ministry Team. They arrive in the afternoon and will get them to Gent and settled in. Georgia Festivals Ministry Team will be going non-stop in ministry from 6:30AM until at least 3:00PM and maybe even longer. And this is just day 2.

Monday and Tuesday will be hot and sunny. Wednesday is the National Festival Day (like American 4th of July) and another ministry day. But, they are predicting thunderstorms so we will see how to adjust and continue.

What shape is Jello? Jello is fluid and takes the shape of the mold. That is ministry here. We need to be fluid and fill all the opportunities available. Not impossible with the great team we have. Great spirit, great attitude, great heart serving a Great God.

Ministry Orientation and Flanders Sings

Yesterday was the orientation to the ministry areas. Took the Georgia portion of the team on a long walk through the ministry areas and got the layout of where we will be ministering and what we will be doing.

Cannot begin the Gent Festivals Ministry without taking in the parade (always a way to preview the craziness and scratch your head wondering what people are thinking) and Flanders Sings where you stand elbow-to-elbow with thousands of your closest friends (you better be friendly being that close for that long) and sing at the top of your lungs for 36 songs.

By the way, the beer showers are free and none of our team drank even if they do smell like beer. Ministry is messy.

Today is first day of ministry to the tram and bus company. We will worship this evening with a partner church. It is about 51 degrees this morning and yesterday we were in the rain showers for a while. Monday and Tuesday is supposed to be warmer (highs in lower 90's) and Wednesday is supposed to be stormy. Never sure when you hear the weather forecast. Gotta love having a job where you can be wrong so many times and still get paid.

Monday ministry begins at 6:30AM and the Arkansas Ministry Team arrives in the afternoon. Gonna be a long day for them (and whoever else is serving here). What jet lag? They get to sleep for a few hours. By the time they are ready (body clock) it WILL be time to get up for ministry. Glad most of them are young too.

Now is the time to pray intensely for open ears and hearts. Also pray for protection and health. Long days wear on the resistance. Praying for team members to securely strap on our armor is good. It will be needed. This kind of effort does not go unnoticed.

Not the end . . . only the beginning . . .

Now it begins

Walking through town today it is hard to miss that the Gent Festivals begin tomorrow. Things are a changing and the people are coming in.

The Festivals Ministry Team from Georgia arrived this morning. Took them to the hotel to dump the luggage and ran by a sandwich shop to get a sandwich to take with us to the church to pack cookies. Between our cards and those of our partnering churches we had cards for 4,000 bags. We ran out of card before running out of bags and cookies. May never know how many bags we have but our apartment now looks like a cookie warehouse.

The Georgia team is a great group with a great attitude. They are excited about what is going to happen and wanting to be the best vessels possible for God. God wants our availability and they are certainly making themselves available.

Tomorrow (Saturday) will be the in-country orientation and festivals orientation. Lots to do to get everyone on the same page. We will not always be in the same place but need to be on the same page of ministry. We will then tour the ministry sites and get ready for the beginning. Ministry starts on Sunday and goes every day for the next week.

Sunday we will be focusing on reaching out to tram and bus personnel. Pray for us as we are actively on the streets from 5:30 to 8:30AM Eastern time.

We will do our best to give you the details of what God is doing and how you can join us in prayer.

Day -1

Back from Madrid. Plane was 1 hour late leaving but we still got out of the airport ahead of the rush hour traffic. No wrecks or construction along the way. The traffic was heavy but the trip took the same as a weekend day. Truly a God thing!

Hit the ground (or Gent) running. Trip to get food for the team coming in on Friday. Went to two homes to pick up cookies and arranged the delivery of others for the cookie sack assembly which begins today (Friday) at 9:00AM. Hit places in Eke, Zwijnaarde and New Gent before getting back to the apartment.

So good to be able to understand and communicate more effectively. It has been a long time since we studied Spanish.

One load of clothes done and suitcases put away (they can't live out in our small apartment because the team is here for dinner tonight).

First Gent Festivals Ministry Team is in the air (as I write) and headed to Brussels. They will have a long day of travel and packing cookies.

When we look at the days ahead it is easy to feel overwhelmed with the size of the task and amount of things to do. Beginning from tired does not help. But God is a big God and able to do more than we can ever hope, dream or imagine. We do not want to dream small or only attempt the man-sized.

People are more attracted to God when they see Him at work in the present. Over the next 11 days we want to live in a way that demonstrates God's love, glory and provision. More than that, we want to give people the opportunity to connect with Him in a personal way so that they too can experience as well as see the greatness of God.

True, the size of the task seems overwhelming. But that just means the opportunities are great. Glass half empty or half full? Does not matter. What matters is God allows us to tell His story and reflect His glory. NOTHING is better than that. It is a big job and a big privilege. We are so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of what He is and wants to do.

Stay tuned. It is just beginning.

God at work

Just got word that our ministry T-shirts have been printed and are being hand-delivered to shipping. Will be shipped this afternoon. Thanks to all who have worked so hard to make this happen. God is the initiator and provider but He used some great people to design, print, and ship the shirts.

Sunday we leave for Madrid, Spain. Some have asked about our "getting away" just before the ministry begins. First of all, the temps there will be near 100 each day, not great get-away temps. Second it is our annual meeting. It is being cut short this year because of the funds but we will see colleagues we have not seen in a year. Always a great celebration and encouragement.

We come home on Thursday and go straight to work (literally). Before we can unpack we will be picking up cookies and getting last-minute supplies for the first Gent Festival Volunteer Ministry team that arrives Friday morning. We have a great plan to help with their jet lag.

Please step up the prayer for the daily ministry efforts and for us to make contact with the people God is drawing to Himself. Pray for open ears, hearts and minds.

Lots to do

The universal comment on the Gent Festivals "Intentional Acts of Kindness Cookie Outreach" seems to be about the amount of work involved.

We remember the amount of work invested last year. The preparation and distribution of 1,300 bags of specially wrapped cookies with notes of thanks took a lot of time and energy. We worked with local partners and an American team of 5 to accomplish the ministry.

In praying and planning for this year, two thoughts seemed to dominate. First, how can we touch more lives and touch them more effectively? (Here culture and capability play a part). Second, 4,000 seemed to be a number that became evident. Why 4,000? That came from our Prayer Partners.

James reminds us that we have not because we ask not, and we have not because we ask for the wrong motive. We asked our Prayer Partners to be involved because: 1) Prayer is the foundation of all we do and essential for guidance and direction; 2) The task was much bigger than we could handle; 3) God always answers prayer and almost always in ways that makes Him look good and/or advances His Kingdom; 4) The need here is overwhelming.

There are places in the world where people are hungry. Many are physically hungry because they lack the necessary daily supply of essential food. Many are also spiritually hungry because they see the utter hopelessness of their situation. They are physically and spiritually poor.

But how do you touch lives where physical poverty is minimal. Yes 20% of children live at or below the poverty level. Did I mention the "poverty level" is a number set by the government and does not mean you are homeless and have no food? Did I mention that many of these are children of immigrants that may not be here legally? (Recently three families of squatters who had illegally moved into a home were evicted by the owner of the home. In the three families there are 27 children)

But why 4,000 attempts to touch lives? It is 4,000 because that is the number of bags Prayer Partners provided. It is 4,000 because much less than 1% of the people here have no personal relationship with God. And there are 6 million Flemish with 450,000 living in our immediate area. There is lots to do because there is much need. No, not physical need.

We are reminded not to fear the threat of death that causes physical loss of life. We are to fear a death that produces eternal separation from God. Hundreds of thousands are faced with that kind of death. That means there is lots to do.

So it is not about our ability (although we do what we can and only do what we can do with appropriate quality) but about the need. And there is lots of need, thus lots to do.