Better than birds

True confessions here: I can be a pretty lousy believer.

Which really is a problem because “believing” is the most important thing that believers are called to do! I’m not sure which it is: do I not believe God’s promises – or do I have trouble believing they apply to me?

Jesus wasn’t kidding when he chided his followers for failing to trust that the Father who cares for the birds and the flowers would meet their needs as well. We’re trying to remember that here in Brussels where we’re experiencing unprecedented faith challenges – many of them financial, to be honest – but are also seeing God provide in extraordinary ways.

Consider the following instances of needs met this week:
• We’ve needed a letter of invitation to Belgium in order to get our residence permits. This week we met with a leader of one of the ministries with which we’ve been corresponding and they agreed! The pastor who will be helping us is the recognized expert in Brussels on such matters.
• We have prayed for opportunities to reach employees of the European Institutions in Brussels. This week we met organizers of the European Prayer Breakfast, godly leaders who are sharing Christ by building networks of relationships and are willing to mentor us.
• We have talked about our desire to serve the needy in the community, including Muslims and refugees. This week we spent an afternoon with Hammed and Leila, Iranian refugees who have an incredible story to tell of a treacherous journey from Iran to Belgium and a miraculous journey from Islam to Christ. They’re involved in outreach to Muslims and will take me with them this Friday to help.
• We’ve felt like creative and artistic expression needed to be a part of our ministry here and we had lunch this week with a family who works with Creative Arts Europe and suggested ideas and resources.
• We’ve been interested in reaching out to university students and have also considered a café, and have talked this week with the leaders of a university ministry who have the same idea. They have also had interns working with them and are happy to share their experience with us regarding housing, permits, and other issues. We’re going to help them this week with a university outreach to new students.
• I still have a few assignments to finish for courses in my second Masters degree and needed to do some research. I found out about a seminary in Brussels and met a professor this week who gave me permission to use their library. While on campus, I met the seminary president (who is also from Norfolk!) who suggested that some of their students could help us in church planting as a part of their studies.

Amazing, huh? How many lilies and sparrows are getting that kind of attention from our Father?! He does love us, doesn’t He?!

Brussels 72:14

Having started reading Acts on August 5, one of its 72 sections a day, we are now at Day 14. The reading for today, Wednesday August 18, is Acts 6:1-7.

The other part of the “Acts 72” plan is to pray for each of these 72 days for 72 workers. Jesus sent 72 workers ahead of Him in Luke 10 and the first thing He told them to do was to “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest field!”

I’m happy to report to you that in addition to the 7 workers already present (Deals, Severs, and Daniel) there are 26 other workers committed to Brussels or on in the process of considering it! I want to tell you about them, and highlight some verses from Acts so far that I’ve found inspiring.

On the Way to 72 Workers:
• Kevin and Anne Kittrell, with children Sam, Ben, and Emma: CA team members; in Virginia raising support; hoping to join us in January.
• Stephen and Laura Doyle, with Baby Doyle on the way: CA team members; in Virginia raising support; hoping to join us in January.
• Jon Hayden, Mark Herritt, Kristen McCrillis, Dan Wogelmuth, and Leah Young: Interns: in Virginia raising support; will spend three months in Austria at a Torchbearer’s Bible School and hoping to join us in January for six months.
• One family and three singles, all in various stages of considering joining our CA team, all but one new since we started praying for 72!
• Ten people who live in Brussels with whom we’re beginning to establish relationships, four of whom we’ve met since we started praying.
• Luke and Marge Miller: occasional team members, offering on-site support when needed and available; living in Dallas, when not on short-term missions trips.

On the Way to 72 Readings:
• On freedom from sin, one of the first blessings we receive from the Gospel: “When God raised up His servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways” (Acts 3:26)
• Not as a street-corner proclamation, but in answer to the question, “So, by what power did you heal the cripple?”: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
• Wise words from Gamaliel applicable to Brussels: “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:38-39).

Lord, send workers into your harvest field – and make it so!

Blessings

In the Bible it was no small thing. Jacob gathered his sons to tell them “what will happen to you in days to come” (Genesis 49:1). The patriarch’s blessing to Judah had Jesus in mind: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is His” (Genesis 49:10).

We have started a new collection. It’s a collection of blessings. We’re keeping track of people God has sent to bless us – and this new work – and the things they have said. These blessing confirm to us that He is working through us until the “obedience of the nations is His!”

Our collection of blessings begins with commissions:

July 24/25 at Peninsula Community Chapel: Tom Kenney and elders blessed our move to Brussels, committed their support, and challenged us as we begin not to despise “the day of small things” (Zech 4:10).

August 1 at Tabernacle Church of Norfolk: Kenny Bryant and elders sent us out as their own and commissioned us as “ambassadors” to a “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:19.20).

August 13 at the Christian Associates Staff Conference in Holland: Hud McWilliams and senior CA leaders commissioned us along with 18 others to ministry in Europe, admonishing us to “endure hardship” as we “entrust to reliable men” the Gospel of our Lord (2 Tim 2:1-3).

By God’s grace, the commissions have been confirmed by God’s people through blessings:

Zach and Amy Hardison and Jon and Rebekah Cardenas, former teammates, friends of Brussels: “We’re know God is in this and we’re praying for you.”

Marilyn, a CA leader who was the first to take us to Brussels: “Look at what God has done! Trust Him to do far more!”

Rita, the chairman of the CA board: “I will find a partner for your city.”

David, a Nigerian Christian in Brussels: “Welcome to the city, and may God favor your ways!”

Hammed, an Iranian Christian in Brussels, a convert four years ago from Islam whom we met at his church: “This is the first time I have felt moved to speak to a visitor. Please, let us help you. We will cook for you, introduce you to our friends. God will bless your work.”

And a climactic moment last Sunday in Brussels:

As a team, we attended Christian Center in Waterloo on our first Sunday in Brussels. I had spent some time with Terry, the pastor, in March and had told him we would be coming. Christian Center is a 30-year old Assemblies of God church 45 minutes outside of Brussels attended by about 500 people from 80 nationalities.
During the service there was a time to introduce visitors. To my surprise, Terry called our entire family by name and urged the congregation to welcome us to Brussels. He invited me to take the microphone and explain what God had called us here to do. He then prayed over our team and ministry and, on behalf of the church, blessed us, stating, “Lord, it’s a joy to partner with these people. Bless their ministry and give them success!”

After Stephen, Philip and others were chosen to supervise the distribution of food to Grecian widows, they were presented to the apostles, who “prayed and laid their hands on them” (Acts 6:6). They were commissioned and blessed to begin their service. The result? The next verse states: “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”

Obedient to the faith – yes, Lord, we are Yours for the obedience of the nations!

Sorry, wrong country

I am very sorry to inform all of you that we seem to have made some kind of colossal error and blundered into the wrong country. We thought we were going to Belgium, but it turns out that we are actually in Turkey.

Or at least it feels like Turkey. We moved into a new house in a new neighborhood a little farther north in the city of Brussels, in a neighborhood called Schaarbeek. Some of the businesses on the street where we live include travel agents specializing in tickets to and from Turkey, restaurants selling kebabs and Turkish pizza (I am curious about this!), and communications shops where one can make a phone call to Turkey costing only 20c a minute. There is also a mosque and an office of the Muslim Federation. Our landlords, Piere and Marie-Ange, say that they have become very familiar with the contents of the Turkish hit parade, as each business plays Turkish radio stations quite loudly.

This morning Carlton and Parker and I went to the small grocery store on the corner to buy some breakfast food—perhaps some milk and cereal, or maybe some croissants and pastries, or just plain bread. However, it seems that none of these foods are staples in the Turkish diet—at least judging by the food available. There was a lot of delicious-looking produce, many bags of rice and chickpeas, multitudes of different hot sauces (Carlton will certainly be back), cans with various vegetables that I was unable to identify in my soporific state, and red, black and brown henna for dying hair. But there was nothing that we would usually identify as breakfast food. Finally, we spotted the eggs and decided that scrambled eggs might be better than tahine for our hungry morning tummies. Just as we were paying, we did notice three boxes of chocolate cereal on a top shelf—but it was doubtful how long it had been there. They looked somewhat dust-encrusted. We stuck with the eggs.

We have often spoken of how quickly Islam is growing in Europe, but it is interesting to actually be in a Muslim neighborhood. Of course, it is obvious that there are varying levels of strictness as evidenced by the clothing of the women, some of whom dress like Europeans and others who wear full robes and headscarves. It is also interesting to speculate how God might use us—or others we reach, or others who work alongside us—to reach these people. It certainly invites each walk to the tram to be a prayer walk!

Shannon

Brussels 3, Holland 2

So far, we’ve spent three nights in Brussels and the last two nights in Holland. We’re attending the Christian Associates staff conference, where we have been warmly welcomed into this family of church planters.

You would like it here. We are a mix of Americans and Europeans whose hearts are set on seeing God glorified in the cities of Europe. We are asking questions of more experienced church planters, such as “what did you do in your first year and what would you do differently if you had it to do over again?” We also spend a lot of time in worship.

I’ve been thinking about worship recently. In July, I shared with both Tabernacle Church of Norfolk and Peninsula Community Chapel that I believe worship is the best motivation for missions. Missions motivated by spiritual need puts the focus on the lost. Missions motivated by Christian responsibility puts the focus on ourselves. But missions motivated by worship puts the focus where it should be – on God.

John Piper writes in Let the Nations be Glad: “Missions is not the highest priority of the church, worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man.”

The more I think about it, the more I feel like we do our best worshipping at sporting events. Not that we’re worshipping God, but I wonder what we can learn about worshipping God from what happens when we go all out and cheer for our favorite team.

One of my most exciting sports moments was a July 25, 1978 baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers. I’m an Orioles fan, and when I found out my parents were planning to take my sister and me on a cross-country trip to New Mexico that summer, I asked which cities we would be passing through and when. As I compared this information with the Orioles schedule, I found that Baltimore would be playing the Texas Rangers in Arlington on the very day we would be driving through town.

We got tickets and sat out in center field, surrounded by what I remember to be a stadium-full of large, drunk, bare-chested Texan men with big hats. The O’s were headed towards a disappointing fourth place that year, but they did have a lot of great players: Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray, Ken Singleton, Lee May – and the hero of the day, Doug DeCinses.

The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a two-run homer by Ken Singleton. The Rangers answered with two of their own in the bottom of the second and one in the third to go ahead, 3-2. The O’s evened the score on a solo shot by our man Doug DeCinses, but the Rangers responded in the bottom of the fourth to set the stage for a moment I’ll never forget.

The score was 4-3 Rangers at the start of the fifth inning. With one out, Rich Dauer doubled to left field. Eddie Murray and Ken Singleton both walked to load the bases. Third baseman Doug DeCinses came to bat. I was on my feet. One out, top of the fifth, one run down and the bases loaded. I couldn’t care less what the bad-tempered foul-breathed Texans around me were thinking.

First pitch was a ball. Second pitch, swing and a miss. But the third pitch took off his bat like a shot! It was headed straight towards center field. The outfielder was stepping back, back – it was a home run! A grand slam!

I was clapping and cheering and jumping up and down – until I looked around and realized I was not among friends. Not many shared my enthusiasm. The Orioles held on to win the game, 7-6, and I was one of the few fans that left the ballpark with a smile on my face.

Cheering for the Orioles in Arlington reminds me of worship. My main motivation in cheering was not to convert Texans to the Orioles. Neither was it to discharge my responsibility as an Orioles fan. Instead, I wanted to celebrate my favorite team. I wanted to enjoy them and see them win. I didn’t think they needed me or that they weren’t more likely to win because I cheered for them, but I did it because I wanted to. I believed in them and I wanted to be a part of their victory.

Missions is like cheering for God on the road. We stand up in the stadium of the lost and cheer for Jesus because He’s worth it. We know that there are many around us who are not cheering and we desperately want them to, but our desire for them cannot be greater than our desire for Him. We’re not cheering because primarily because He told us to, but because there is no one and nothing of greater beauty and worth.

As we worship, we see Jesus more clearly. We see who He is, who we are, and what He wants us to do. The better the worship, the better the witness - which is especially important when you’re cheering for God on the road.

Acts 72

It’s our first day in Brussels!

In John 4:35, Jesus challenged his disciples in Samaria: “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest!” (John 4:35)

Luke 10 tells what Jesus did after explaining to the crowds the cost of following him. “After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Luke 10:2)

Everywhere Jesus looks in Brussels he sees a harvest. In the streets, on the metro, at the Grand Place and the European Commission. The fields are ripe and the workers are few.

Jesus appointed seventy-two people in addition to the disciples and sent them ahead of him to places he was going to go. Their ministry was to prepare the way for his coming. We believe Jesus has planned an entrance into Brussels like history has never seen. Our role, with others, is to prepare the way.

To those appointed the first thing he said was not “Go!” but “Pray!” and not “Pray that you’ll be effective!” but “Pray for more workers!” Lord, send more workers to Brussels!

Would you pray for 72 days for 72 workers?

If today – Thursday, August 5 – is Day 1, 72 days take us to Friday, October 15. To help us pray, I would like to invite you to read the book of Acts with us. As a family, we’re going to read Acts with our team, and there are 72 sections in the book (in my Bible anyway!). I will post to our website the chapter and verses for each day. Today’s reading is Acts 1:1-11.

Among other things the Lord will lay on our hearts, this must be our prayer: “Lord, the harvest in Brussels is ripe. You are the Lord of the harvest. Send us 72 workers!”

We already have 7 workers, including the Deal family and Steve and Mary Elizabeth Severs, arriving from California on Saturday. I’d like to tell you about worker number 7, whom we just met yesterday.

Daniel is British, and has worked at the European Commission for ten years. He speaks four languages and is an accomplished musician. He knows many of the Christian leaders in Brussels and has led worship in several Brussels churches. Daniel has many friends that he calls “pre-Christian,” including Pierre, who, at 6’11’’ is the tallest of 22,000 European Commission employees.

Daniel is currently the worship leader at a Belgian church and has asked his pastor’s permission to help us for two or three months in order to see if this is the ministry that he has been praying for and working towards for many years. Daniel met us at the airport and we are staying at his house now in an apartment he rents out. We will move out in a few days so the Severs can move in. They’ll stay here for August, at least. We get to stay with Pierre!

Be praying as well for our workers in the U.S. who are raising support to join us as soon as possible. The Kittrell family and the Doyle family hope to be here in January to join five interns, expecting to arrive about the same time.

Again, your mission, should you choose to accept it is this: read one of the 72 sections of the book of Acts each day from now until October 15 and pray daily for 72 workers. 7 down, 65 to go!

In transit

Shannon and I looked at each other across the aisle on the plane as we prepared for takeoff: “Hey, this is familiar. We’ve been here before.”

12 years ago we left America to move to Europe as missionaries for the first time. Our children were not quite 3 and not quite 1 and our destination was Geneva. Just like this trip, we flew out of JFK in New York.

Yes, we’ve been here before – but with a few notable differences.

1992: We left our Newport News house after 10pm and made a last stops at Chip and Peggy Watson’s house and Burger King. We were driving to Washington, D.C., where we would meet my mother and sister in a hotel room in order to get to Dulles early the next morning for our flight.

We’re not sure what it was – we blamed the Whopper – but Shannon became violently sick. She threw up all the way to D.C. We were met by my family at the hotel and fell into bed at 2am.

We had to wake up just a few hours later to get to the airport in time. Brittany and I had been in the same bed and she hadn’t slept even one minute. She did, however, drink one of my sisters’ contact lenses.

Somehow, my mother walked us all the way to our plane, handing us gifts along the way. Our final goodbye hugs were in seats 23A, B, and C. Try that one today!

Our travel agent had not left us enough time to make our connection in New York, we realized as we landed. We would have to run. But this would be difficult. Shannon was still feeling very weak. Parker wasn’t walking yet. We had a lot of carry-on bags.

Picture this: we are racing down the corridors of JFK airport. Shannon is being pushed in a wheelchair. Two-year old Brittany is pushing Parker in a stroller. And I am opulently adorned with 8 carry-ons.

We had to cut in front of dozens of unsympathetic travelers in order to be the last ones on our flight. The airline had given our seats away, so we were spread all over the plane. Brittany was in the smoking section. We managed to swap seats to move closer together, but some passengers refused to move, so Shannon and Parker were still several rows behind Brittany and I. Until Shannon passed out, that is.

Shannon’s last prayer was this: “Lord, please help Carlton turn around RIGHT NOW!” Which I did, just in time to see her faint. It was exactly like the safety demonstration: the oxygen mask dropped and they put the strap around her head and the mask over her nose and mouth. You would have been amazed how quickly people changed their minds about switching seats.

It turns out Shannon had a stomach bug, which we all got during our first week in Europe. But we were staying with Shannon’s parents in England, who took good care of us. We left the stomach bug with them.

2004: We left Dick and Verna McCrillis’ house in Norfolk around 8am with our interns, Kristen McCrillis and Jon Hayden. We stopped to pick up Kenny, Theresa, and Daniel Bryant on the way to the airport.

We were met by dozens of good friends, many of whom we have only gotten to know during the last two years. We prayed together and re-committed ourselves to each other. We imagined our friends at the airport to be representative of many others whose hearts are with us.

We received gifts as we left. One friend said “Here, hold this for me” and handed us money for expenses along the way. The tickets we were holding in our hands had been free, which meant we would be flying stand-by all the way – but we made every flight.

Our first stop was Atlanta, where we enjoyed beautiful concourse E, complete with Starbucks, comfortable seating, and a food court. Tempting fate, our kids ate lunch at Burger King.

Our next stop was JFK. But this time we had four hours between flights. And rather than racing through the airport, we got to spend time with Marcus, Kitty, and Sarah Hulse, friends from Geneva who now live in New Jersey. They drove up to see us and prayed with us before we left.

And that’s what Shannon and I were thinking about on the plane when we realized we had been here before. Except this time no one was sick and we were all seated together – in business class! We had been upgraded and were traveling in style. The seats didn’t matter, though – what mattered was the contrast.

We are giving God thanks for His extravagant blessings, which include stories of traveling mercies and friends with whom we can share them.

An act of worship

Tuesday morning: time to leave the U.S. for Brussels. Late night last minute details were followed by early morning moments of panic: where’s my shirt? did we pack the battery charger? are you sure our bags aren’t too heavy?

Jon Hayden, one of our interns, loaded the van in a driving rain – four suitcases and four trunks, 545 pounds in all. Ask him if the bags were too heavy. Hurricane Alex notwithstanding, we headed for the airport.

We were greeted by fifty friends from four supporting churches. This was the hard part. Would our friendships survive the separation of time and distance? Warm embraces, moistened eyes, honest declarations of true affection, promises to keep in touch, and a time of prayer.

And then there’s my mother. She’s really struggling. Someone needs to buy her house soon. Doctors are trying to figure out what’s wrong. She’s sending her grandkids to Europe – again.

A card from Scotty and Ivonne Hill reminded me that Jesus cared about his mother from the cross. Jesus entrusted her care to John; I felt like we were entrusting my mother to the community of friends that God has gathered around us. As we turned to walk away, we saw Julie and Laura Doyle a safe distance away: waiting, ready to receive my mom and help shoulder her hurts.

Why do we do all this? Because God calls us? For the lost in Brussels? No, not primarily. It’s an act of worship. God is so great that He’s worth our highest sacrifice. Our trip, our move, inconveniences, heartaches, sacrifices we’re all making, the pain of separation for us and others: all things we hold up to God as if to say, “Here, you can have this, because You’re worth so much more.”

Lord, receive this trip, this move, our lives as an act of worship.