Tuesday March 23 - Early morning today. We are on our way to Waterloo to meet with leadership at the Christian Center. What an amazing meeting! We were met by two vans at the train station. Our driver was a man named Bobby who had recently moved to Belgium from Jackson,MS. He was from and Assembly of God church in MS. His message of life change and God's movement in his life was inspiring. Over lunch, a sweet potluck put together by Pastor Richard's wife Sherry, we were able to pick the minds of some staff members. Tristan, a native Belgian was very happy to hear that we felt called to reach the native french speaking Belgians. He went on to explain that there is not access to books, web sites and services in French. Most of the ministries including that of the Christian Center are focused on immigrants. The point that seemed to ring true with all the staff members was this "It doesn't matter what we bring. In our weakness God shines". Amazing the truth in that! After lunch we met for a quick time of sharing and prayer, I can not put to words what this time meant. It was so encouraging.

We hopped back on the train to Gare Central and rode the metro to Alma where we prayer walked through a university. We then rode to Stokkel. I loved this community, turns out it was Rob's favorite too. The grocery store actually had cheddar cheese, and coco crispies. So Ruthie will be ok. :)

We finished the day with a metro ride back to Gare Central and dinner at Exki - I love this place! Tonight I had carrot cilantro soup, and a huge piece of cheesecake. Yum! It's a late night and tomorrow we start early . Bon Nuit!

Monday March 22. After a quick metro ride to Gare Central and breakfast at Ibis, we are off to the Metro to meet John K at Gribaumont to prayer walk through this commune. We met Terry W there and were encouraged by his kind words. We walked through the neighborhood, stopped at a Del Haze, a grocery store that is owned by the same company that owns Food Lion. Needless to say things are much more expensive there! We walked through a park, beautiful park, saw a few people walking their dogs, even a couple of grandfathers walking babies. Because the cost of living is so high grandparents often care for young children while both parents work. It was definitely a place I could see us living as a family. Our prayer walk was followed by a trip to the bank to exchange our money and a lunch at eOleo, a wonderful little neighborhood Italian resaurante. After lunch we took a tram to the metro and rode to st Lambrechts. this is where the City Gates are. What a sight! There we met Chris K. He joined John to show us around and give some great tips. He and his wife Christine were so helpful and friendly. God has placed some amazing people in that city! At this stop we prayed outside the largest Mosque in Belgium, and also at the EU building. This exciting day was finished off with dinner, a waffle and a walk through the Grand Place at night. What a beautiful day, God is moving in this place!

Sunday Morning March 21. Fresh off the plane we head to the hotel to check in put our things up and get our day started. One train, metro ride and short walk later we are told that we can't check in until 12. It's 10:30, we are hungry and tired. After an unsuccessful attempt to put our luggage in too small lockers, the hotel staff kindly lets us lock our things in the office. Thank you Hotel Ibis! Now it's too late to get breakfast so we grab a quick bite at the Gare Central Station. My first taste of a Belgian waffle. Even now, almost three weeks later I can still remember that taste, and smell! One metro and bus ride later we arrive at the Vineyard Brussels. This is an amazing church with a terrific outreach to the immigrant population of Brussels. The music and worship were so heartfelt. To prove that God knew just what we needed, Tony Anthony of Avanti Ministry led an inspirational message of evangelism. His message was that evangelism ought to be our Supreme Priority. Our purpose is to love and glorify God. It felt so good to be sitting right there in the presence of God, in the will of God and be encouraged by Him.

Saturday March 20th 1:00pm.

We're on an earlier flight to Newark, this will give us better time to make the connecting flight to Brussels. It also made the drop off process quick and hopefully less painful for Rob and the kids. I am so excited to see what God has planned for this week! Thanking Him for the safe travel, for going before us. Praising Him for His plan for us is perfect, always!

The following is a verse from a dear friend who asked to pray for me in this journey. I love the relevance of it's words.

Isaiah 62:10
Go through, go through the gates:
prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway;
clear it of stones;
lift up a signal over the peoples.