Wow! Our spring has own by.

We apologize that we have not kept the newsletters coming to you on a regular basis. We hope that many of you have been able stay up to date with us following us on Facebook and our b l o g . Because t h i s edition is so late we have had a hard time keeping it s h o r t . Please enjoy our Special Edition newsletter with more pictures and news than ever before. Our prayer is that your spring has been blessed with moments to enjoy and to learn just as ours has. What follows are a list of the highlights of how God has blessed and challenged our spring and summer months as we work in Belgium pointing ourselves and others to God. * Advances Bible Study Series (ABSS) - I (Luk) was invited in February to come and speak on being a peacemaker like Christ in Gemnden, Germany for a week of study and upbuilding visits. * Weekly Bible Studies - I have continued the weekly studies with Herman focusing on First

Corinthians, the times with Zakia are mainly focused on prayer, and visits with Chris focused on nding contentment. The Ghent church came together on Tuesday evenings to focus on applying the lessons found in the shortest New Testament books. * Boys Yo u t h Rally The teen g u y s retreat w a s hosted in D e u r n e, Belgium. I got to org anize and teach (and play) at the 7th annual v i d e o g a m e weekend which looked at who the winners and losers of the Bible are. Our theme verse came out of Nehemiah: "It is the God of Heaven that will give us success." We talked about being people who reect honesty, compassion, humility, and hope for the future. * Preaching - I enjoy sharing the preaching opportunities in Ghent, as well as going once a month to Brugge to preach and encourage the church family there. We want to go be an encouragement to these churches but end up

feeling more encouraged ourselves by the time spent with these groups. * The 2012 European Ladies Retreat - Holly drove a carload of ladies from Belgium to Germany to enjoy this uplifting time of study and relaxation. The theme was To the Praise of His Glory, and they loved the 4 days of study, relaxation, and just fun fellowship! * Language Learning - Even though I grew up in Flanders i felt the need to improve my Flemish writing and speaking skills. I enjoyed a Monday and Wednesday evening class which challenged me to learn, and I made s o m e g o o d friends at the same t i m e . H o l l y continues to rene h e r lan guage skills as we visit with neighbors or when we go to v i s i t people. * The Swiss football tournament - After missing it last year, it was a treat to go fellowship with Christians from around Europe at a soccer tournament in Thayngen, Switzerland. I enjoyed getting the opportunity to lead a multi-lingual singing and devotional time! An added bonus was that our Belgian pro league team won the championship. I was playing for the fun league, so I cant take any credit. * Lets Start Talking - A 6 week campaign to Ghent sharing the story of Christ with people by way of English conversation classes was a hit this summer. We had 25 students with a whole range of

nationalities. Cameron, Larry, Kellan and Dylan from York College did a great job connecting, teaching, and sharing with these new friends. Pray for a good follow up in September, and continued studies. This project took some special preparation as we had to look for a place for them to s t a y, f o r them to have their classes, and it was our job to get the word out. We a r e thankful the time put into t h i s project was more than worth the effort. * Remodeling - Our home is a project in remodeling that we are doing in phases, every Friday Luk tries to get some work done as well as during some of t h e vacation. T h i s spring we were able to insulate a n d drywall the boys room, and install beams to strengthen the upstairs oor. It is great to

see the progress, and we are very thankful for the help we have been getting from Caleb, Daniel and many others. * Bible Camp Preparations - For the past 3 years we have been fundraising and getting through paperwork to allow for a remodeling of our mess hall. This spring the rst building happened. A new driveway, a new two s t o r y building, and a at t e n e d eld were all a part of the plan. The building structure w a s placed by a company, b u t members from the churches here in Belgium as well as from the States came to help put the siding up, install electrical and plumbing. There is still a lot to be done, but it will be a great facility to use this summer. * Hosting - One of Hollys gifts is hospitality and she has been passing it out full blast the past few months. We have had the opportunity to give our friend Daniel a place to stay as well as Luks sisters family, Kristina, Caleb, Aletheia, and Jedidiah (who was recently born in Ghent), Luks mother Jill, and our friend Vanessa and her two daughters. * Vacation - Rome, Italy was a treat to experience as we got to stay and visit with our good friends Bill and DeeDee Bundy. We drove down with Paul and Carol, and Jesse Brazle and took in all the sights. Luk decided to skip out on some of the sightseeing and got very sick, but was healthy again by the time we traveled up to Pisa on our way home. We are so

thankful for rest and visits due to the Bundys hospitality. * Ladies Bible study - Holly has been getting together on Wednesdays with ladies from church to talk, pray and study from the Pentateuch together. These are times of blessing and recharging the batteries of the soul. * Worship - Church services at our home on Sunday afternoons are still going wonderfully. We regularly have 18 people here and just love t h e worship t i m e t o g e t h e r. Holly will q u i t e o f t e n provide a m e a l afterwards so the fellowship c a n continue. We have enjoyed having lots of visitors come through in the past months. The kids really look forward to the kids class time during the sermon and Gideon enjoys bringing his friend Timo, our neighbor, every week as well. * June Youth Weekend - At the beginning of June we were blessed with a group of 12 teens to get together to enjoy some fun and games as well as discuss the perceived tension between science and faith. We had great discussions and were able to encourage the teens in their faith. Special thanks to Sue, Miranda and Derrick for their help. * Food - As a church, we have been able to help several families in Ghent with food packets this past spring, which has helped us get in touch with more people in the neighborhood. Holly has rolled up her sleeves countless times preparing food for

church, fellowship days, camps, and for random visitors that come into our home. What an opportunity to serve. * Yo u n g Friends At the beginning of July a y o u t h g r o u p from Ohio invaded G h e n t with an English speaking project that helps t e e n s practice their English. The added bonus is that my parents were chaperones on that trip so it was a treat to see them. Daily classes and parties with 5 Muslim students challenged both the teens from the US as well as the teens from Belgium to talk about what faith means to them. We enjoyed getting to know some of the young people from our neighborhood through this project and look forward to future opportunities to meet. * Research - Reading through books like The Peacemaker by Ken Sande and starting a book about how to relate to Muslims as a Christian called, Cross and Crescent by Colin Chapman, have given a lot of challenging ideas to implement, and great insight into specic situations in our context. * Kids - Gideon and Isaak are growing boys who enjoy wrestling together, playing with water guns, and riding their bikes. Gideon will go to second

grade after the summer and Isaak will go on to his second year of kindergarten. They are excited about the adventures they will have at Bible Camp this summer. Things coming up to keep in your prayers: * This coming weekend we will host an English camp at the Bible camp facility. Pray that the young people will be challenged to grow, and that we can get everything ready in time to host the campers. We will go down and prepare the camp, cleaning things up, and setting up sleeping places tomorrow. * Starting on the 14th of July I will be directing, and Holly will be cooking for Jongerenkamp (Young Peoples camp 15yrs. and older) Pray that we can be good leaders, patient, and encouraging in all we say and do. I have been invited to teach some of the lessons around the topic of Revelation during family camp the second week of August. Pray as I prepare the lessons for that time of fellowship a n d learning. * Keep praying for the contacts we have made this spring and summer through advertising, visiting with neighbors, meeting people through Lets Start Talking that we can continue to keep in touch and that the follow up will be effective.