Many of you have been asking for some time now when I'm going to be making a visit back to the States, and up until now, the answer has been, "I have no idea." This is because my residence permit expired almost a year and a half ago, and despite several trips and phone calls to the immigration office, I wasn't receiving any information on a new one. Not that this meant that Belgium was holding me hostage or anything, but without a valid residence permit, if I had left Belgium, I could very well have been denied access back.
Well, I called the immigration office again today and found out that I have been issued a new 6-month residence permit! I have an appointment on the 28th of July to take in new passport pictures and the money to pay for my new identity card. At this point, I'll be able to find out exactly when this new permit will expire. (It's possible that the six months has already started, or they may start it when they issue the new card. Hard to know already.) As soon as I know exactly when the card is going to expire, I'll be able to set some dates for a trip to the States!! Can't wait to see everyone again!!
Praise God with me over this wonderful news!! I've been living in "limbo-land" for a long time now, so having this answer is truly a blessing from God!
I know this isn't one of the promised posts where I explain one of the items on the list, but I decided this news trumped one of those posts! ;-)
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
This past year......
Here's a quick summary list of the things I've been involved in this past year. I will write separate posts for each of these giving more details.
This past year I've been involved in.........
a Let's Start Talking campaign here in Ghent plus follow-up lessons through-out the year,
young adult activities,
a Ladies' Day for Dutch speaking ladies,
the organization committee for the European Ladies Retreat,
various youth weekends (youth rallies) and other youth activities,
Bible camps,
young children's Bible School Days (Dienodag),
the organization committee for the European Singles Retreats,
Copa Benelux (a soccer tournament organized by several guys from the Ghent church),
Advanced Bible Study Series in Germany,
a ladies' Bible study here in Ghent,
various childcare opportunities for different church activities,
various Bible studies with different groups,
and other service and encouragement opportunities in Ghent and with other congregations.
The Ghent church has also just recently completed a period of evaluation. Several changes and new projects have come about through this evaluation. I'll describe this in more detail in a later post.
On a personal front, this past year has also been the year when I've started jogging/running. I've now completed two different 5K races. Another precious opportunity I had this past year was spending Christmas with a wonderful couple in Liege, Belgium. I had been planning on being home for Christmas this past year, but since that didn't work out, being able to spend Christmas with Mary and Pierre was a wonderful blessing! But again, more about that in a later post.
Let me end this post with a scripture that always come to mind when I think about all my dear friends and family:
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6
This past year I've been involved in.........
a Let's Start Talking campaign here in Ghent plus follow-up lessons through-out the year,
young adult activities,
a Ladies' Day for Dutch speaking ladies,
the organization committee for the European Ladies Retreat,
various youth weekends (youth rallies) and other youth activities,
Bible camps,
young children's Bible School Days (Dienodag),
the organization committee for the European Singles Retreats,
Copa Benelux (a soccer tournament organized by several guys from the Ghent church),
Advanced Bible Study Series in Germany,
a ladies' Bible study here in Ghent,
various childcare opportunities for different church activities,
various Bible studies with different groups,
and other service and encouragement opportunities in Ghent and with other congregations.
The Ghent church has also just recently completed a period of evaluation. Several changes and new projects have come about through this evaluation. I'll describe this in more detail in a later post.
On a personal front, this past year has also been the year when I've started jogging/running. I've now completed two different 5K races. Another precious opportunity I had this past year was spending Christmas with a wonderful couple in Liege, Belgium. I had been planning on being home for Christmas this past year, but since that didn't work out, being able to spend Christmas with Mary and Pierre was a wonderful blessing! But again, more about that in a later post.
Let me end this post with a scripture that always come to mind when I think about all my dear friends and family:
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6
Still Alive!
I'm sure many of you have been wondering if I've fallen off the face of the earth! No, I'm still here. I've just been absolutely horrible about communicating with all of you. I'm SO sorry!! Please, please forgive me for this! And I really do mean that - I truly ask for your forgiveness for being so lax in this area. It's not that I don't want to keep you informed on what's going on or that I don't know the importance of this. Writing has just always been something I've struggled with (just ask my high school English teachers!). So now I ask a favor of all of you. Will you please help me in this area? If it's been too long since you've heard from me, will you please GENTLY remind me that it's been a while since I last wrote? We all know that mission work doesn't happen without support, and while we normally think of that support being monetary, it can and also needs to come in other forms as well. Obviously, one area where I need support is with my reports. I truly do want to keep all of you informed about the work here, so I ask that you help me keep up with this. Thank you for your help and your understanding!
So, as you can see, I've created a blog. I hope to keep everyone better informed using this form of communication. With my next post, I will give you a summary list of the activities I've been involved in this past year. Then I will write separate posts giving more details about these activites. I will do my best to write several of these posts during this next week before Bible camp starts. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, I'll have you updated on my life and work here in Belgium!
So, as you can see, I've created a blog. I hope to keep everyone better informed using this form of communication. With my next post, I will give you a summary list of the activities I've been involved in this past year. Then I will write separate posts giving more details about these activites. I will do my best to write several of these posts during this next week before Bible camp starts. Hopefully, by the end of the summer, I'll have you updated on my life and work here in Belgium!
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