Eric's Story

One of the students that we’ve been privileged to get to know in the last few months is Eric Sibomana.  Originally from Rwanda, he has been participating in SFC for about a year.  Here is his story:  

 “Even though  I’ve been a Christian for so long, (11 years) I had the wrong definition of the word “Christian”.  I  thought  that  being a Christian was only between me and my God. I thought that being a Christian was being baptized. I  thought that being a Christian was coming to church every Sunday. And so I’ve been coming to church from Friday to Sunday ever since I arrived in Belgium.

Something that I kept doing was doing what  other youths did in the clubs or at school. Which I knew was  wrong, but since I knew that God was a forgiving  God I could live my week like any other youth but ask forgiveness later on.

SO two things changed my Christian way of living: The first is that I came across a group called Students for Christ (SFC). There I realized that there were some Christians students  that had something  that I didn’t have. They had the zeal for God, passion for Christ and were ready to give their lives totally to God. I found that these youths weren’t perfect and had  the same challenges as every student  and every youth, but they were  determined to be better Christians.

The second thing that changed me deeply  and profoundly was the word of God. In our youth group here at Holy Trinity (his church),  we decided to start a Bible-in-a-year program and this made me discover or re-discover what  being a Christian meant. I found that  in the word Christian there’s the name “Christ”. So I realized that a Christian without Christ is not truly a Christian.  I found that being  a Christian is not  what I do but who I am.  I discovered in God’s word that while I was still a sinner Christ died for me and his grace is sufficient for me (2 Corinthians12:9)”

Eric's Baptism

 Eric read these words publicly on Easter Sunday at his church just before we baptized him (in a kiddie pool!) in front of his friends and family.  He has indeed been buried with Christ and raised again to a new life!

"The Sunshine Remedy" in concert

Thursday Nights!

The other day I overheard one of the students inviting another student to SFC.  When asked what we do, she responded, “Well, it’s different every time!”

Nothing could be more true of our last few months.  We’ve hosted a Danish economist, a Dutch/British reggae band, and a Nigerian psalmist.   We’ve discussed true romance, and the meaning of the Ascension.

One thing is the same:  the Gospel.  In all that we do, we strive to see that the Cross is presented.

Aidan Update

"When's that Tour de France thing again?"

When we arrived in Brussels (close to a year ago!), we had a little four month old baby.  Today we have a walking and talking toddler!  Aidan makes us laugh, challenges us with his curiosity, and ensures that we fall asleep the moment our heads hit the pillows.  His favorite activities are being read to, playing with spatulas and going to the park.  Yesterday he went on his first bike ride with Charles.  Every time they would stop, Aidan said, ‘More!’

The Nations Rage like the Roaring of Great Waters...

One day last December, I was busy taking a French test at about 4 in the afternoon.  Suddenly,  the school secretary came in and starting rolling down the window shutters.  She anounced, "There are demonstrations going on again tonight.  The police have told us to evacuate the neighborhood.  So please take your time, but hurry up."  Our school is located in a part of Brussels with a large Congolese population, and several hundred Congolese ex-patriots had been protesting the recent elections in Congo.  Certain thugs had taken advantage of the unrest to break shop windows and set cars on fire. So, we were asked to be careful on our way home.  Needless to say, I didn't do that well on my test.  This section is also the closest shopping area to our house, so we did our Christmas shopping there.  It made for a bizarre shopping experience to pass by riot police and SWAT vans on our way to the toy store. 


You may have heard of this on the news, but also in December, Belgium experienced a horrific shooting.  In the central square of the city, not far from where I once lived, a gunman opened fire with an AK-47 and threw grenades at the noon crowd.  5 people died and 15 were injured.  The shooter was an ex-convict who was scheduled to go back to prison. Belgium is such a peaceful place, and very few people have guns, so this incident sent shock waves across the country.

January had its own share of noise, as the new government was greeted by a series of strikes by the different trade unions.  We use the metro and tram a lot, so we have to keep an eye on the news to know whether the transport workers are going to show up or not. 

...and in that day people will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. 

These turbulent events were put in perspective a bit by a visit we took at the end of January to Dublin, Ireland.  We were in Ireland for a prayer weekend with other SFC campus missionaries from around Europe, and we had a chance to visit the Book of Kells museum at Trinity College.  The Book of Kells is an illuminated Gospel from the 5th century monastery at Kells, and it's quite beautiful, but I was more struck by a display of worn, leather-bound Gospels with shoulder straps. Here's the story:  from this monastery, monks traveled all over Ireland carrying these little books.  They would arrive in a village, proclaim the Gospel, and God would change the hearts of the people.  They would then copy these precious Gospel words down and leave them with the village, and go on to the next village.  This was done during a period of constant warfare and invasion.  About once every 20 years or so for 2 centuries, the church of Kells was attacked, looted, and burned by Vikings, British, and Celtic bands. Each time, the monks re-built and continued to take the Gospel across Ireland, until almost the entire land was converted.  What courage they showed!  What resilience!  Isn't it wonderful how the Gospel shines the brightest in the most difficult times? Could it be that God is allowing a shaking here in Belgium, so that  hard hearts will become soft toward  his Word? God help us to carry his Word, like those monks did, from one open heart to the next.   

Beginnings

When we arrived in Bruxelles, it was exciting to find that there was a small group of 5 to 10 students already gathering to fellowship and seek God! We launched our school year in September with a party called “TDélivré”! A great bunch of students came over to eat, dance and play games. I wish you could have seen Birger the Norwegian attempting the Cupid Shuffle. :-) One student told me afterwards, “Thank you for having this party. This is the most fun I have had in 5 years.”




Since September, we have seen 15- 20 students, most of them new believers, coming on Thursday nights to hear the word of God, pray, and have fun. These students have come from all over the world--literally from the Caribbean to China--since Brussels is an incredibly diverse city. God is building a community of believers who will honor him among the campuses in this city.

In October, we felt that it would strengthen our group to have a retreat, so we went away for a weekend to a nearby city. There was no guest speaker, we simply studied the Scriptures about the Holy Spirit, discussed them in small groups, and prayed. Oh, and we played a little basketball too. On one of the nights, we stayed in prayer for 2 1/2 hours just seeking Jesus. Afterwards, one member told of having a vision of Christ, and several others had also received a deeper experience of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. It was truly one of the best retreats I have ever attended.



“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer...They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” This is our goal--to see these verses come to pass among us. Although everything is so new and we are still learning our way, we are excited about what God is beginning already!

24h Velo
The 24h Velo is the largest student festival in Belgium. Over 20,000 students come to party all night. SFC was there with a tent to give away free crêpes, waffles, and soup, and share the Gospel.

Students could not believe that we would give things away for free. Crowds quickly gathered to get something to eat, but many stayed to converse about their lives and beliefs.






Et donc voila...
Armand is an SFC student who attends the Catholic University of Louvain medical school. At the start of the year, God put it on his heart to start a small group on his campus. He invited all of his friends, and our group “Et Donc Voila!” was born. Armand and I are the only Christians, the other students “don’t really believe” as one of them put it. Each week we discuss a topic such as “What is faith?”, “Is there a spiritual world?”, or “Is the Bible trustworthy?” Please pray for God to lead these students to him through these conversations.

Living and Learning
Since September, I (Amanda) have been attending French class twelve hours a week. It is a very humbling experience, but I’m starting to see little signs that one day (soon, hopefully) I’ll be able to really relate to students in French. Little milestones like understanding and answering a question from a fellow tram-rider are cause for celebration.




We have celebrated many of Aidan’s milestones in the past few months. Now almost 11 months old, he is crawling everywhere, babbling away and eating his fair share of food at the table. He is such a happy little boy, and he brings us so much joy.