Update | June 2015
At long last, we have finally received clearance to officially reside and do ministry in Belgium! Praise the Lord from whom all blessings flow!!
Here’s quick recap:
After attending our Club Beyond Spring Staff Conference in Austria at the beginning of May we discovered that some disagreements about our contract had occurred, and so we were required to stay in Germany until our paperwork could be resolved. We had no time frame as to how long it would take for the contract to be fixed, and all Club Beyond activity in Brussels was at a complete standstill.
For the past month we’ve been housesitting and/or staying with Josh’s coworkers and their families in the Kaiserslautern area while helping out when possible at the Club Beyond Service Center. One of the odd jobs we accomplished was to drive a gigantic 18-foot van to the properties Club Beyond uses for middle and high school camps in Austria, where we filled the entire truck with camp supplies to shuttle them back to the Service Center. Josh discovered that he could become a trucker in another life.
Our extended time here in Deutschland allowed us to take (and pass!) the military driver’s license test for Germany, so we were able to buy a car!! It was a huge relief on us, and our budget, to finally be able to return our little Peugeot rental car. We are now the happy owners of a used 2007 BMW station wagon, which was previously loved by a very kind local German family.
And despite temporarily not being able to do ministry in Belgium, we got to cheer on the Brussels American School girls’ soccer team, who competed in the European Soccer Finals (which is held in Germany) and won second place overall! We are so excited that a few of these girls will be coming to the Club Beyond Service Project in the Czech Republic with us in a few weeks.
On a personal note, the end of May marked our first wedding anniversary, which we were incredibly blessed to be able to celebrate in Paris. One of our most cherished memories of that trip was being on top of the Eiffel Tower at exactly the same time of day that our wedding ceremony began one year ago.
Traveling to Paris was Meagan’s anniversary present, and visiting Normandy to commemorate the 71st anniversary of D-Day was Josh’s gift. We stayed in the town of Bayeux and visited Omaha Beach, the Overlord Museum, the Utah Beach Museum, Pointe-du-Hoc, and the American Military Cemetery.
What’s next:
We have a few loose ends to tie up in Germany over the next few days, mainly relating to getting our car road-worthy, including fixing the brakes and getting the car inspected in order to receive our permanent license plates. Then we will drive up to SHAPE in Mons, Belgium to in-process and go through the whole re-registration process for our car… you know, the fun stuff. THEN we will at last go up to Brussels and begin the hunt for a home while preparing for Czech Service Project at the end of June!
The Lord has taught us so much since we arrived in Europe: patience, trust, and ultimate reliance on Him. We’ve been reminded that He is our provider in every situation, and regardless of whether we have the luxuries of a hot shower, Internet, a car, and at points food or money, love for Jesus is truly the only thing that matters and sustains. We can’t wait to share the love of Christ with the community waiting for us in Brussels.
“And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’” — Acts 7:6-7 (ESV)