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.