This past week we had a unique opportunity to bring Janie Wead, one of our co-workers, to Amsterdam to teach the students about church planting. She has worked in our office for the past year under Michael McNamee and has planted over 60 spanish speaking churches throughout the US, Mexico and Spain. We love her and it was great to give the students a chance to hear her heart and passion for people to know the love of God.
She shared a lot of her personal experience and told a lot of great stories. The cool thing for me was thinking about where these students could be in 5 years. Right now they are on a journey of seeking God, knowing him in a deeper way and finding the dreams he has placed inside of them and called them to. In 5 years they could be planting a new church that will be the hope of their city. Europe desperately needs more passionate young people who will do as Janie talked about, become intentional in reaching out. We need to be more aware of the opportunities we face each day to show who God is to the environment around us. So it was amazing to see the excitement that came from these intensive classes on church planting. One of the students said to me that she had never considered planting a church before, but that this got her excited. It's amazing to see as we plant these seeds in the students how God will nurture those to raise up new leaders for this continent.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
The Fall and Friends.
Fall in Brussels means the weather is going to be rainy! A few weeks ago the colors of fall were really starting to get beautiful but it didn´t take long for typical Belgian weather to start taking leaves off the trees. On Sunday we decided that if the weather presented sun we were going to make it to a park and enjoy autumn at it´s finest... all while throwing an American football :) Our friends Julia and Mike joined us as Hannah and I took Abe to the Abbaye de la Cambre.
I think what was most enjoyable about being at the park was just sharing a moment with friends. It´s not often Hannah and I get to stop and enjoy the moments around us like we were able too on Sunday. This Abbey is just in the middle of the city but located in a valley so the outside sounds are easily drowned out. There were many people out walking around the Abbey and many would stop to look at Mike and I. I guess the American football and the loud energetic noises from two guys running in a quiet Abbey might of drawn the response :) There was even a time someone was walking their dog and they let their dog go to come play with us. There´s something about Europe that we just love. Having Abe there was great! Belgium is home to every man and women owning dogs so seeing a cat at the park was a unique sight! Many dogs enjoyed a stare with Abe but unfortunately, Abe never really cared about them. Abe was always consumed with the new smells and fresh grass to eat!
For the past month Hannah and I have had a guest staying with us. In the pictures you will see Julia Duthie. Julia lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. If you were to ask Julia about her home town, home church and family you will find out very shortly she lives in the best city in the world, has the best church in the world and the greatest family. Julia´s family has been long time friends of Michael McNamee, our boss, and we have had the opprtunity to work with their church as they are starting a Master´s Commission program in Aberdeen in the coming year. Hannah and I have been having such a great time having her stay with us. It´s doesn´t take long before you just adopt her into your family, even though she isn´t the biggest fan of our Abe. By the way... Abe who has a serious crush on Julia :)
I think what was most enjoyable about being at the park was just sharing a moment with friends. It´s not often Hannah and I get to stop and enjoy the moments around us like we were able too on Sunday. This Abbey is just in the middle of the city but located in a valley so the outside sounds are easily drowned out. There were many people out walking around the Abbey and many would stop to look at Mike and I. I guess the American football and the loud energetic noises from two guys running in a quiet Abbey might of drawn the response :) There was even a time someone was walking their dog and they let their dog go to come play with us. There´s something about Europe that we just love. Having Abe there was great! Belgium is home to every man and women owning dogs so seeing a cat at the park was a unique sight! Many dogs enjoyed a stare with Abe but unfortunately, Abe never really cared about them. Abe was always consumed with the new smells and fresh grass to eat!
For the past month Hannah and I have had a guest staying with us. In the pictures you will see Julia Duthie. Julia lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. If you were to ask Julia about her home town, home church and family you will find out very shortly she lives in the best city in the world, has the best church in the world and the greatest family. Julia´s family has been long time friends of Michael McNamee, our boss, and we have had the opprtunity to work with their church as they are starting a Master´s Commission program in Aberdeen in the coming year. Hannah and I have been having such a great time having her stay with us. It´s doesn´t take long before you just adopt her into your family, even though she isn´t the biggest fan of our Abe. By the way... Abe who has a serious crush on Julia :)
Typical Week
The Friday Update... on Tuesday :)
I was thinking that perhaps it would be nice to share a little about the past week. While this isn´t the week schedule every week, I would say that our schedules are starting to move this quickly all around for us. It´s easy for us to just get caught into the flow of the week that we easily overlook all the things we are doing. And if we are moving too quickly it´s easy to forget the details of what we enjoy so much... :) For those who dont´get to walk life out with us everyday, I hope you will get a bit of an idea of what our lives are like here in Brussels.
Just a two weeks ago, both Hannah and I were in Vienna, Austria in our annual MCE Director´s Retreat. During that time we always have a MCE Board meeting in which we discuss upcoming events and give updates on what´s been going on in the MCE head office here to the rest of the board. One of the focuses that was address this last time was the upcoming MCE Conference in March that will be held in Amsterdam this year. The talks lead to the MCE website. Every year we try to bring new focuses to the site to make it more effective in reaching new students and informing leaders what MCE is about. One of my jobs was to work on the new look and get the website updated. On Monday, I sat down with in my media office and began working...
I was thinking that perhaps it would be nice to share a little about the past week. While this isn´t the week schedule every week, I would say that our schedules are starting to move this quickly all around for us. It´s easy for us to just get caught into the flow of the week that we easily overlook all the things we are doing. And if we are moving too quickly it´s easy to forget the details of what we enjoy so much... :) For those who dont´get to walk life out with us everyday, I hope you will get a bit of an idea of what our lives are like here in Brussels.
Just a two weeks ago, both Hannah and I were in Vienna, Austria in our annual MCE Director´s Retreat. During that time we always have a MCE Board meeting in which we discuss upcoming events and give updates on what´s been going on in the MCE head office here to the rest of the board. One of the focuses that was address this last time was the upcoming MCE Conference in March that will be held in Amsterdam this year. The talks lead to the MCE website. Every year we try to bring new focuses to the site to make it more effective in reaching new students and informing leaders what MCE is about. One of my jobs was to work on the new look and get the website updated. On Monday, I sat down with in my media office and began working...
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