One of the most popular questions that anyone ever asks me
during these years of cross cultural ministry service is “what is it that you
do as a missionary?” Now, I have
to admit that this question was always easier to answer when I was working as a
missionary nurse in Congo (ex-Zaire) and the Central African Republic
(CAR). “I teach courses on pediatrics in our nursing school”. I help train the African nursing
students in the hospital wards. I
help run the nutrition center with my African colleague. I drive the truck when our community
health team goes out to local villages and does health and nutrition
assessments of kids ages 0-5 years old.
I help preserve the cold chain for the vaccines for our village health
clinics. I teach classes on
hygiene and nutrition, and always about Jesus, in local villages among nomadic
cattle herders.
But the question became somewhat more difficult to answer in
the past 10 years since I’ve been living in Belgium. I am the wife of the pastor of a local international
Protestant congregation. I help
run a women’s club for refugees. I
design craft projects for women who are trying to build a new home in a country
that is very different from their homeland. I work with our youth band at church.
So, maybe it would be interesting to hear what a Saturday
looked like just recently in my world…..
It started with just breakfast and a grocery store run this
morning. Every other week, our
Saturdays begin with a group of guys hanging out at our dining room table for
breakfast, Bible study and prayer.
But today it was just Steve and I at the breakfast table. Off to the grocery store by 8.10am
before it gets crazy busy with everyone who has to work during the week who
have to now buy groceries for a 4 day weekend, since November 11 is a holiday
(Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, Veteran’s Day, depending on what part of the
world you are from), which means that November 10 (Monday) becomes a bridge day
and many shops and businesses will be closed. Groceries are unpacked by 9.15am, and it’s time for my first
piano student. She’s a beginner
piano student, but already knows a lot about music. Today we’re working on timing and practicing “I want to walk
as a child of the light”, a familiar song in both her Catholic and my
Protestant traditions. When she’s
done, in walks my younger student who is preparing for her first piano recital
which is scheduled for Monday, November 10 (bridge day, so it’s a school
holiday for the kids and the evening before a day off for the parents ~
nice!) Putting the finishing
touches on her practice schedule, making sure we have all the names of the
songs she’ll be playing and her full official name which will appear on the
program, complete with her choice of which favorite color paper to print the
programs on (pink was the color of choice….can you tell I’m working with a
girl?!)
Put piano things away, time to clean the house because the
group of 10-12 young followers of Jesus who are being discipled in their mother
language (hint: it isn’t English
or Dutch!) are coming after church tomorrow! We just have to provide space and internet access so that
they can sing their praise songs and worship in their mother language. Though we won’t be participating in
their meetings, other than welcoming them into our home, I am so excited about
welcoming these new friends into our space. May they find it a place of welcome ~ and a clean bathroom!
While I’m cleaning house in preparation for tomorrow, there
are other preparations going on in the office. Steve is meeting with the AIPC intern, while Felix is
running the bulletin and announcements for tomorrow’s worship. There is music to get ready for the
worship team, and children’s church lessons and photocopies to make. Add to
that the sign up lists and gift bags have to be coordinated as the church
enters into that magical time of the year when we prepare gift bags for
“Sinterklaas”, that all important holiday that is celebrated here in Belgium on
6 December, when kids receive gifts for being good boys and girls (no gifts are
given on Christmas Day, since all is taken care of by Sinterklaas in early
December). It’s beginning to look
a lot like Sinterklaas is what we sing in our world here!
Next week is the
first Christmas market of the season, and it's time to check in with my
artist in residence (a friend who has been trained as an artist in her
homeland and we are trying to support her artwork here). A short phone
call confirms that she's having a great week, has got a lot of her
glass work already painted and ready to go for next week's market. We
talked prices and where we will meet together so that I can help her get
to the venue where the market happens. And she checks up on the
progress of our other "project" that we're working on: a typing
project. She had translated her bachelor of arts degree from her
homeland into English, and needed help with typing it into a format
acceptable to present for translation into the Dutch language so that it
can be recognized here in Belgium. She doesn't have time to try to
type in English, as she is taking full time Dutch classes and preparing
for mid term exams. Since I know how exhausting it is to type an
important document in a foreign language (trust me, typing in French always
challenges me and my ability to remember which accents and special
squiggly lines are located where on my French keyboard which is really
my English keyboard!), I've offered to type up her translation. English
is, after all, not only my mother/first language but also, at the
moment, it happens to be my favorite language! Typing is completed this
afternoon, and a quick hit of the "send" button as an attached file
makes for one happy camper in my friend's home in a neighboring town.
At the end of the day, we often crawl into bed exhausted but
thankful for God’s abundant grace and provision throughout the day. And then it will begin all over
again tomorrow….
And
that’s what I do! I hope that I have been faithful to God's call on my
life to serve my brother and sister, to love all with the love of
Christ, and to acknowledge His abundant care and provision in our life
and ministries. What do you do?
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| All of this happening in this amazing place called Antwerp, Belgium ~ life is good! |
