Words of Life

“Amanda, it is just so nice to have a time where we can just read the Bible, talk about it, and pray for each other. Thank you.”  It sounds simple enough, but those words were a gift of encouragement from the Lord.  It was a Wednesday night after our women’s small group.  I was feeling tired and a little discouraged. I needed to be reminded that it’s the simple disciplines—reading the Bible, talking about it, praying for each other—that are so vital to our spiritual lives. 

For the seven young women that have been coming to small group this semester, reading and discussing the Bible in a relaxed setting and praying for each other every week has been a brand new experience.  They ask questions, express their ideas and learn together how to apply the Bible to their lives. It is exciting to see them get excited about sharing God’s Word with each other.  

This small group has been a new experience for me as well.  I’ve been leading small group discussions with college students for over ten years-- in English.  This one is in French.  Even though my French is much better than it was a year ago, trying to not just keep up with but lead a Bible Study results in a headache, some frustration and serious lessons in relying on the Holy Spirit. I’m learning to trust that God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness!

Coffee Talk

One day, we posed the question, “Where is God?” and students could vote among 4 choices: 1-Church, 2-Inside us, 3-Everywhere, and 4-in Nature. Several suggested we add the choice, “Nowhere.” Pictured here is our coffee stand that we do at the Free University of Brussels.  We set up by the bus stop, offering a free cup of coffee  and the chance to converse about God.   The Free University is committed to atheistic principles, so the last 3 times I’ve done this, the police have forced us to leave, even though it’s a public sidewalk.  Please pray for a breakthrough in this spiritual stronghold.

The Next Generation

 Along with the SFC Belgium staff, this semester saw the launch of our internship program.  Our first intern is Sarah Lecerf,, top left in photo, a 2012 graduate of the University of Mons.  Aside from working full-time, Sarah gives 10-15 hours a week to outreach at her old school, discipling, and biblical studies.  She’s doing a great job!

Family News

Hi, I thought I would represent myself this month and tell you what’s up.  In the last month, I’ve been working on my singing a lot.  I easily mastered the “Itsy-Bitsy Spider”,  “The Wheels on the Bus” and I’m currently working on “Away in a Manger”.  I don’t have a girlfriend, although I never decline when the toddler girls offer me their snacks.  We have a library nearby; I like being read to by Mom and Dad, and I usually pretend not to notice when Dad skips pages.  See you next time!

 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.