Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

I hope you all had a very wonderful time celebrating the birth of our savior. I know we did! So thankful for the birth of Jesus. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend a couple of weeks in West,TN. Bryan had to come back and work for a few days, but we(the kids and I) stayed in McKenzie. We are trying to get in as much time as we can with our family and friends. They are such a wonderful support system and were all very thoughtful to be sure gifts they purchased for our family were things we needed and could travel with to Belgium. We got lots of stuff like luggage, gift cards, carry on luggage for both kids, children's travel DVD players, and warm clothes. The best part of being in West, TN was not the gifts it was quality time with those who are dear to us. I know how fortunate and blessed we are and we are so thankful. Throughout this whole season those who had recently lost loved ones have been in our hearts and on our minds. There are so many lonely or starving people and it breaks my heart all year round, but particularly during the holidays. I pray that those who feel hopeless and alone know that their is hope and they are not alone. We have a savior who came to us in the form of a tiny baby and who died on the cross for our sins and he is waiting for us to let him in and he loves us more than anyone living on this earth possibly could. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday and this year we had a great time celebrating with our two little ones and beginning to teach them that this season is not about Santa Clause it is about the birth of Jesus and celebrating HIM.



One of the highlights of all of our celebration was Christmas at Lifepoint. This year was terrific. Loved the music, painting, stories of waiting. Our family was featured as a story of waiting on God's timing. Click on the link to watch our adoption story.

The Wolski Story from Justin Crutchfield on Vimeo.

Bryan and I also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on December 30th. Bryan has been a blessing to me in so many ways. I am so glad God chose him to be my life partner. He is a wonder Daddy and spiritual leader for our family. I love the values he is teaching our children. Even on a day he is completely exhausted he will take time to get in the floor and play with our kids. He is so sweet to me and makes me laugh a lot. We celebrated with a steak dinner ALONE. :)

5 Years!!

He suprised me with beautiful flowers! Love him!!

We are on the fast track to Belgium now. Our list has been narrowed down to where the only thing that is holding us here is our funding. We are still needing monthly financial partners who are willing to join us in planting a church in Brussels, Belgium. Once we reach a certain level of our funding we can apply for our VISA!! I am finding there are so many things to do to prepare it is hard to stay focused on one thing for very long so I am going to have to really work on my time management throughout the rest of this process. We are planning to get our fingerprints and background checks done within the next couple of weeks. We are beginning to look at apartments online and we are still undecided as to whether we will get a furnished or unfurnished apartment. There are pros and cons to both and we know God will plant us in the right apartment and the right location.



We are also going to shed another layer or "stuff" this month. I have already gotten 1 full bag of just toys ready for Goodwill. When we moved from our condo we got rid of most of our big items and a ton of the smaller things, but as we have watched teammates move we are realizing we still have way more that we need to actually move with. I want to be sure we have clothing that is in good shape, warm clothes, some toys for the kids, and our sentimental items. Most other things can be purchased at a later time.


There are so many things to do to prepare, but we must not forget or neglect our day to day responsibilities. We need to be having a our quiet time with God everyday and drawing ourselves closer to him, we need to take care of our physical health, have family time, and care for those around us who are in need. Prayers are appreciated for us along with the two other families who are in the US with us that are moving to Belgium soon. We are all in the same boat. I am so thankful God is sending us as a team. Our teammates are awesome! I know I have said this in previous post, but it is a new year. I feel refreshed and ready to see what God has in store.

Happy New Year friends!!

Wolski kids have passports!!

We can officially leave the country as a family of 4! That excites me beyond belief. So thankful we have all of the documents now to begin our VISA application. It will be a little while before we can actually apply. We must reach a certain point in our funding before we can actually apply. We know God is in control of this so we aren't stressing. Just thankful to be to the place in the process we are at at this exact moment. Please continue to pray for the financial provisions we need in order to move and serve the people of Belgium. Hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Weekend of Celebration!

Cake at the Send Off Worship Service

Tonight at Lifepoint Church we will have a worship service celebrating a family on team Belgium who will be moving very soon. We are so happy to be able to serve alongside this sweet family. They have become like a second family over the past couple of years. They were the first of our Smyrna friends to meet Jackson when we brought him home from the hospital. It is so bittersweet to see them go. We are so thankful to have more of the team there, but we will miss them until we get there. Ultimately we are excited to see God's plan unfold as they continue to be obedient and join team members already there. Once they leave that will leave 3 families remaining in the states and 3 families in Belgium. We are halfway there!! Woo Hoo!!! So much work, training, and planning has gone into this. We are all so ready to be there and function as the team God designed, but we trust his perfect timing. Please pray for the "E" family as they transition to a new culture. Please pray for their four precious daughters as they make friends and learn the language so that next school year they can attend Belgian school which is completely in French. Please pray for safe travels and for them to find an apartment quickly. If you are in the Smyrna area come and love on this sweet family with us. God is faithful and we are so happy to serve HIM!

I have added a few pictures from their special day below!
Bryanna playing with Ruby E and her friend Nathan

Ebensberger family singing Revolution

Praying over the Ebensberger Family

Why Belgium? Updated post

I originally wrote this blog two years ago and so many things have changed as we have prepared to move. I wanted to repost as a reminder as to why God would lead us to Brussels, Belgium to plant a church with 5 other families. This is a place in the beginning we literally knew nothing about other than we were suppose to go. After my trips there God completely broke my heart for the Belgian people. As I rode the metro, trams, and trains I kept looking around at all of the faces and all I could think was that I hope they know how much God loves them and wants them to love him in return. I felt the urgency to return as soon as possible to tell/show them what a real relationship with a very real God looks like. I wondered if they knew how much he could change their lives and community. I wanted them to know of the sacrifices he made for them and if they opened up to him and asked him into their heart they could be saved and spend eternity with him. Below are some of the statistics from a couple of years ago from my original post so these could have changed a bit. If you have questions please feel free to message me.

In the country of Belgium 90 percent of Belgians claim Catholicism, but almost none regularly attend any kind of religious service. In fact, less than 1 percent of the people in Belgium are practicing Christians. LESS THAN 1%. The Muslim faith is the fastest growing faith in Europe. If you have watched the news recently you probably have seen European politicians begging America to not go down the same roads they did. They see us making the same mistakes. In a trip Bryan made to England and Greece in 2005, he noticed very different fashion styles. Over the next 2 years those styles crept in to pop culture in America. What happens in Europe does not stay in Europe. It eventually gets shipped to America. This goes for fashion, politics, and religion. This post-Christian society needs to hear of God’s love so that cultural and religious exports to America are once again biblically based. While in Belgium we spoke to many Belgian nationals and all used the word "lonely" to describe what life was like in Belgium. They know something is missing and they are searching for answers. We need to be there to help them find answers. We cannot save them, but we can build a church, mentor, encourage, and love on them.


Brussels, Belgium is the heart of the European Union. People are constantly coming and going in Brussels. We NEED to reach these people to help turn Europe around. They need to understand what a personal relationship with a real God looks like.This mission cannot be accomplished alone by us and the five other families that are being sent. It will take a whole community to make this possible. If you feel like God is tugging at you to join in this ministry please contact us. Several friends have joined already and we thank you guys so much! We will keep you all regularly updated.



Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. Luke 10:2

Stuff

Lots going on this month in our home. Jackson is due to arrive anyday so we are waiting patiently. I think we are ready we have all of the essentials. I am so thankful for wonderful friends who have recently had little boys and were willing to pass on clothes and essentials. We have tried to keep our focus on B and on Belgium in the meantime.

I have been working diligently to get rid of lots of stuff that we will put in a yard sale in April or give to Goodwill. It feels so freeing to get rid of clutter and things that are collecting dust. We have turned Bryan's music room/office into a Belgium planning center. We have our Belgium maps on the wall, a huge yearly dry erase calendar(with lots of plans on it), and our personal information we send out to our partners. I like to go and open the closets and drawers now that they are clean and organized. It makes me happy(I know I am a nerd). We are planning to take our house off the market and put it up For Sale By Owner so that we can hopefully get it to move with a lower price. We are also setting aside one night per week to work on our French. This is something we are being told by teammates who are currently there that we need to continue to work on here as much as we can. They have also told us to be walking and exercising as much as we can so as soon as it warms up a bit we plan to walk every evening with the kiddos to get use to a faster pace that includes lots of walking rather than driving. I am exciting about having some quality family time at the end of the day where we focus on eachother and get some exercise.

We have another meeting with the adoption attorney tomorrow about B so hopefully we will have some good information and an idea of what that process is going to look like.

I realize this blog is all over the place, but that is our life this month. It is a little crazy but I wouldn't have it any other way. When I start feeling weak or anxious I lean on my savior and he is my strength. I can read my Bible or have some quiet time and feel better so quickly. I know the battles I feel that we are fighting are really not ours to fight and I am so thankful for a loving Father who is holding us tightly in these uncertain moments.

Thank you God for blessing me so much even when I am so undeserving!

Happy New Year!!!

Well it is officially 2011. It is a huge year in our household as we will prepare to move across the ocean to take light to a spiritually dark area. We began this process in May of 2009 and what an experience it has been so far. We are so blessed to have experienced and learned the many things we have thus far. There is still so much to be done and to prepare for. We just celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary on December 30th and God blessed me with such an amazing man to share my life with me. We have spent most New Years Day packing up our Christmas decor for a final time in the States and planning our final months here. It is crazy how emotionally attached you can become to stuff. We have heard this from friends but as I begin to pack away Christmas ornaments a little part of my heart was sad. Do not get me wrong I am so thankful God has chosen to send us and we are happy to go, but I would not be human if I wasn't a little sad about certain things. We are preparing to shed another layer during the month of January and sell and discard lots of stuff in our home. If you come by to visit you should see a big difference soon lots of stuff is leaving soon.

The sale of our home is going slower than planned so we have come up with a game plan and timeline for this process as well. If we have to rent we will but this is a last resort so please pray for the sale of our home before May 1st.

For those of you who do not know we have temporary custody of a precious 18 month old(B). We got her in July when she was only 12 months old and we are working to adopt, but only God knows the outcome. Yes it is a risk but if we were unwilling to invest and love on others because we were scared of getting hurt we could miss out on some of the best moments in life. We know that God's plans and timing are much better than our own. We know he has a divine plan in our lives and in this precious girls life and we will praise him no matter the outcome. Our prayer all along for children is that God would bring the children that he had planned for us all along into our home. In September we were contacted by another birthmom who was 5 and 1/2 months pregnant with a baby boy. She wanted us to adopt her child. After talking with her and prayer and trying to figure out if we could handle all of the responsibilites we realized that God doesn't give us more than we can handle and he had obviously opened this door for a reason. The ultimate reason may not be for us to adopt her baby but we are willing to walk through the open door and step out in faith. Baby boy is due January 24th but our BM is showing some signs of pre term labor. We plan to name him Jackson Christopher. We have to have both adoptions finalized before we can apply for our visa so prayers are appreciated in this area too. :)

Some people I am sure think we must be crazy with two adoptions going on and moving to a foreign country all in one year. I say we have crazy love for a God who is more faithful than we could ever imagine he sacrificed everything for my sins. My happiness revolves around commiting my life to him. Don't get me wrong we have moments like any normal person does where we are concerned or anxious but we find peace in knowing that these are not our battles and God is in complete control. If you let him he will blow you away. When I was a little girl I had an idea of how I wanted my life to be and my life is nothing like I had planned for myself, but there is nothing like feeling like you are walking in God's will.

This year my resolution is to be bold and intentional about everything. I know I have so much to learn about our savior, and I want to draw myself closer to him and grow my relationship with him. I feel like such an infant in my walk with God, but I do know one big thing and that is that I trust him with every ounce of me and I want to live a radical life for him.

Wishing your family a happy and healthy new year!!!
Souhaitant votre famille, une bonne et heureuse année nouvelle!

Cassi


James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Proverbs 31:8-9
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.

Matthew 28:16-20 (New International Version, ©2010)
The Great Commission
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Currently in Belgium

Cassi and I are currently in Belgium. We flew in to Brussels leaving Saturday and arriving Sunday, March 21. We have had some long days, long walks, confusing conversations in French, good food, fellowship with others, and so much more. The details will come in the near future once we return to the US; land of the free appendectomy now, I presume. :) Sorry I was not there for that vote. It did make national news though. Even this morning, Tuesday, it was still on the French news stations. At least I got to miss most of the media blitz on it though.

There is a great deal of low hanging fruit here. We just need people to harvest it. We need weak people. Very, very weak people. If you are with me, then you understand why.

Peace, au revoir, a biento, ciao!

Currently Packing for Belgium

Cassi and I are getting ready to leave for Belgium in about 12 hours. We will meet with a handful of missionaries, church organizations, random people, and lovely people Cassi has met before. Be in thought and prayer. We will try to update as we go along.

Recently, we just welcomed another brother blogger to the site. My brother Jeff and his wife Bobbi are planting a church in CO. Sweet.

Prayer Needed

Cassi and I leave with some of Team Belgium from LifePoint in 13 days. We will be there for one week. It will be a cool time because we will get to spend some time with people there that we have been talking with. There are ministers, lay people, and just plain old people. I personally am approaching this trip with great anticipation. My prayers are focused. My mind is focused. I hope to have some opportunity to help while I am there.

Our group had a session with the UpStream Collective recently. They had great insight. They gave us a lot to chew on.

Thankfully, work is going pretty good for both Cassi and I. Thanks for your prayers for both of us.

These are exciting times in the Wolski house.

So much has been happening

So much has been going on as of late. There is no way I will remember it all. Cassi and I are both enrolled in classes. I am finishing my last 3 hours of my degree. Cassi is finishing up a class on New Testament. We have a roommate again. Lauren was a bridesmaid in our wedding. She has been helping around the house. We have needed to change some doorknobs, paint, clean, etc. It has been a huge chore.

We are in French classes every week at church with a sweet teacher Marie-Claire. Claire moved to Bellbuckle, TN 32 years ago from France. She is a great teacher. French is HARD. Our ears are not used to hearing all the sounds. We also meet with the Belgium team every week. This week they are at our house. We are studying what other faiths believe including other denominations.

I have a new job. I am not playing music full-time anymore. I work at Dell as a sales rep. Some of you know that I used to do this. It has been a blessing so far. It was necessary to increase our income now to continue to pay down debt. Dell is a integral part of our Belgium plan right now. Cassi is still working at Bethel, only now they are Bethel University, not Bethel College. The school continues to grow.

Cassi and I head to Brussels, Belgium in one month. We are going to connect with some missionaries and friends there. This will be my first trip there, and Cassi's second trip. This week long trip with other Lifepoint Belgium team members will be invaluable. This trip includes a meeting with a church staff over there. That will be exciting.

Next week we are meeting with our financial planner again. This will be a "nuts and bolts" type meeting. It will help to decide when we actually head to Brussels. We should have a written plan for our debt plan.

Cassi had her first meeting with a reproductive endocrinologist last week. The doctor was very encouraging. We start some testing and possible surgeries soon.

We are still raising support for our move. LifePoint's research says that we need to raise $4900 per month to live there. It is pretty expensive to live there. That is a lot of money. This has made us trust God so much more. We cannot do all of this ourselves. We are forced to rely on Him. That is a cool place to be.

4 References in 3 Days are Enough to be Uncomfortable

Lately we have gotten a little behind on telling you what is going on in our lives. I will do a quick recap here and we will hopefully have a number of posts over the next week that are more in depth on what is going on in and around our journey.

The last few days Cassi and I have purchased a "For Sale By Owner" sign, which was suggested by our financial counselor. We have been moving some stuff in to storage that will subsequently be sold, thrown out, given away, loaned out, stored, or packed to go to Belgium. Paint has been purchased for touch up and the thought process of staging this house for sale has begun. We are "peeling back another layer" of what is keeping us from being mobile. Our dog has gone to stay with other family members as research shows it is easier to sell a house with no pets.

What has been a short-circuit in my brain as of late is the reference from 4 others about me being a pastor. 2 people have said that they would want me to be their pastor. 2 people have said that I "look" like a pastor. One of these people was a complete stranger that said I looked just like her pastor. We were not talking about religion in any of these cases already. These people brought it up out of the blue. If I can be honest, I am uncomfortable with being recognized as a pastor or someone having the desire of me pastoring them. I hold pastoral care on such a high regard that I don't feel I have the knowledge or skill set (yet) to be one. I do, however, trust that God sometimes uses someone seemingly unqualified to bring glory to himself. If that is the case here and I am called to be a pastor (which makes me sick to think about) I would have to fall on my face daily and ask God for guidance on what and how to do that. Maybe that is the point.

I am just an imperfect man. Totally incapable of anything extraordinary on my own ability. Why would God choose someone like that? Well, the bible is full of stories like that. More than likely I will be writing about some of these people over the next week or so. I think Abraham might be my first victim. Although if I write about him it will probably have a bit more of a twist.

Thanks for letting me air my fears honestly here. I am trying to get though this process in one piece but I am afraid metamorphosis must take place in some areas.

You Got-ta Know Your Roll

This past weekend Cassi and I were out with the Daniel Doss Band. It was great having Cassi out on this weekend. It was a youth rally for Providence Baptist Church in Pageland, SC. She helped us out first off by cooking some biscuits and making sure there was coffee for our 5 am departure from the Nashville area. Our guitar player had to leave an hour earlier to be here by 5 am. Yuck! Daniel had an hour drive to Chicago for a 6:40 am flight. Needless to say this was an EARLY morning for all of us.

The youth pastor, Brandon Smith, saw us on tour with Avalon and Michael English last year. He loved the DDB CD and thought we would be a good fit for what he wanted the event to be. The night had a local worship band named Fading Doubt. It was a four piece band led by 2 female voices and rounded out with a guitar player and a drummer. My initial reaction was that of surprise that you could have a band without a bass player. :-) Actually, the guitar player did a great job of setting his pedals to compensate for the lack of a bass player. The band was pretty good and reminded me of Evanescence. Very cool female harmonies.

After Fading Doubt, we went on to do a 40 minute praise set. This youth group was a little more familiar with our originals since Brandon was such a fan. We did a few covers also. Lately, we have been starting our set with Here I Am to Worship instead of a song that is up and in your face. It is such a cool way to set the tone for the evening. We started as a worship band and have tried to stay true to those roots.

Next, a very dynamic speaker came up. His name is Matt Pitt. His back story is pretty amazing. Six years ago this weekend he almost died from a drug overdose. That helped to trigger his transformation from a drug dealer to sold out Christ follower. His website will do a much better job of selling his story.

I will say this, I learned quite a lot about the importance of knowing your audience and message delivery. This was the first speaker I had experienced that had his own DJ. When I say speaker, it was only by title. It was more like a screamer. The DJs music was so loud that it was hard to understand about 40% of what Matt had to say. There were also slick videos that went along with the message with cool sound effects. Parts of the message were emotionally charged and, unfortunately, came across as contrived. This is not to say that Matt Pitt is not genuine, or that any part of his message was wrong. I do feel that he believes everything he said. He comes from a ministry that has up to 7,000 participants a week and is high energy. For him, this kind of presentation would be par for the course. It seemed out of place in rural South Carolina.

This along with some technical difficulties made me realize that what ever you bring to a service needs to be able to stand on its own merits and not be so heavily leveraged on presentation. When Cassi, I, and the rest of the team are in Belgium, we will not have the ability to present a message or service in such a slick manner. We need to make sure that we bring the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. I have nothing wrong with bringing your best, but you need to know your audience. Belgians are typically reserved. We need to minister to them in a way that they can "get it".

Pray for us that we can connect in a real way with with the people of Brussels.

Peace

“Until the Whole World Hears”

It has been a couple of weeks since I have blogged, but I have come to terms that this is how life is going to be for the next 12 months. I promise I will try to get better at fitting blogging into this crazy life of mine. J I am more than happy to walk this road God is leading us down. Becoming a missionary and joining a church planting team is an enormous commitment, but I couldn’t be more thankful. We have to make the most of everyday from sun up till sun down. The days of relaxation are going to have to be over for the next 12 months to give this our all. I have recently changed my ringtone (lol) to a song that really inspires me. It is on Casting Crowns’ new album and really touches me. It is actually the title of their new album and my blog it is called “Until the Whole World Hears”. Here is the chorus just to show you why it inspires me during this time.

ready yourselves
ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
ready yourselves
ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out
as the day draws near
we'll sing until the whole world hears

I am currently taking an Old Testament class in college, and it has been an amazing blessing. During this time when life is turned upside down and you are preparing to leave everyone and everything you know, it is a comforting feeling to be reminded of the sacrifices God has made for us. It makes what we feel like is a major life change seems ill in comparison to what God has sacrificed for us. I sit in class each week with 20 other students and a facilitator. I get to hear their thoughts, beliefs and hear about their relationship with the Lord if they have one, and see their eyes light up when they learn things that they did not know about our savior. I thought this is just a taste of what we will experience in an area where God is not often spoken of. To go to an area where people are not sure what to believe in and walking around with an agonizing emptiness inside, it will be amazing to see the changes in their lives when they accept Christ. Once we realize it is not about us it is about him it is an amazing feeling.

If you have been keeping up with our blog you already know that we are working in so many areas of our lives that our heads are spinning. We are meeting with ministry partners, learning French, constantly seeking God and praying, cleaning out clutter, selling unneeded items, meeting with a financial counselor, plus everyday normal life. Our biggest plan for the coming weeks is to get our house on the market by next weekend. We have been advised from our financial counselor to try the for sale by owner thing for a couple of months. If that doesn’t work then we will seek the help of a realtor. Please pray for us as there is so much to do to have the house ready.

Thinking of leaving my family is one of the hardest things I will do in my life. I have amazing Grandparents, Parents, and siblings who I will leave behind. I also have amazing in laws, nieces, and nephews who we will leave as well. This is a sacrifice we are willing to make. We have families who love us so much and we are so thankful, and we are lucky enough to have families who love the Lord so I know they will understand why we have to do this. When God is calling you to something it would be easier to look the other way and go on about your normal life, but answering that call is the right thing to do as Christ followers. My main goal is to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength and be obedient to him. I ask you to pray for our families during this time. I pray that God will give them understanding. I know they will be a constant support in our lives no matter where we are at. To our Mothers we will be home once per year and you can come visit whenever you like. J We love you all.

I was reading a team members blog and it was talking about how we started this process 7 months ago. I cannot believe how these months have flown by. I cannot believe that I have had the blessing of visiting this country to help make plans for the coming year. It is scary and exciting all rolled into one. Even though I got to spend a week there I still cannot imagine what all God has in store for when we get there. We are trusting God through it all. Please join with us in praying for the missionaries serving in Belgium now and for the people of Belgium, please pray for us along with our teammates as we work harder than ever before to answer the call.

Matthew 28:18-20 (New International Version)

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Life In the Fast Lane!!!

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it has once again been a while, but our life has been in the fast lane since I have returned from Belgium. Bryan was out on the road with Casting Crowns, and I have been swamped trying to catch up at work, help my mom move, and I am still working toward my degree. We had a family reunion last weekend which was lots of fun and Bryan is on the road with Jacobs Road this weekend.

In the midst of normal everyday life we are constantly praying, preparing, and having weekly small group meetings with Team Belgium. I have recently started a new devotional book by Beth Moore called Voices of the Faithful, and I am loving it. It is so inspirational and starts my day off right with some words of encouragement, scripture, and prayer. It is written by 300 IMB missionaries who are currently working in the field. Since we are all called to be missionaries I would recommend it to anyone even if your mission field is not overseas. In the evenings I have been reading a book called Sister Freaks by Rebecca St.James which is about women who risked it all for God. I guess you can tell what is on my mind. The truth is I am taking the advice we received from the missionaries while we were in Belgium. One thing we heard from all of the missionaries was to know how to feed yourself, and I don’t mean food I mean spiritually. When you are in an area where Christians are literally nonexistent it can be easy to get knocked down. By keeping ourselves in the word and uplifted we will be focused and ready for the constant challenges we will be facing daily. Sometimes it can be hard in the US to stay immersed in the word, but in the US we have our church(LifePoint), Christian friends, Christian radio, and tons of Christian organizations to be a part of. We have resources and support all around us. When we are an ocean away from everyone and everything we know I want be as ready as I can be so that nothing will distract me from the work I will be there (Belgium) to do. My husband constantly says you are what you eat and he is referring to spirituality as well. It really does make sense if you know how to feed yourself then you maintain a strong relationship with our Father. When I feel closest to God no other feeling can compare. I am so blessed to have grown up in an area where I can join with others and worship our Perfect God. I can’t wait to get to Belgium to share the good news. I can’t wait to start a church where hopefully everyone will feel free to worship and get involved and build that personal relationship with God and eachother that I know so many are longing for and just do not have the resources or the knowledge on how to start it.

I also want to thank ALL of our ministry partners. Without you this would not be happening. So thank you, thank you, and thank you! If you are or are not joining us in this ministry please know when we move to Belgium our door will always be open. You will always be welcome to come and visit and get your hands dirty with some of the mission work we will be doing there. The financial support is huge, but if Belgium is tugging at your heart you are welcome to get on the ground once we get there and help out. I also want to say a special thanks to our friends Keith and Kerri who gave us Rosetta Stone French Version, a book on Belgium, and a heating blanket that will work overseas. Since Kerri just moved back from Luxemburg she is an amazing resource. We have so many friends that are stepping up to help in many ways so just know how much we appreciate you.

As we continue to prepare we are looking at apartments online to figure out budgets, getting our house on the market, paying off debt, getting prepared spiritually, raising support, learning French, and much more. I ask that you pray for us and the rest of our team during this intense time. It is very exciting and we are trusting God to get us there. We have an amazing Team that God has put in place. Everyone brings something different to the table, and including children we have 19 people going and one more college student who will be joining us a few months after we get there for a total of 20. I am so happy to be going with such an awesome group of adults and children.

Please remember that even though so many view Belgium and Europe as a country with everything it is one of the hardest mission fields out there. There aren't as many physical needs to be met in Belgium as in some countries, but the spritual need there is endless! We have been told this by many. People are so closed off from one another that they are a tough country to get through to. Please pray for God to start working and preparing their hearts now. Please pray for the missionaries who are currently serving in Belgium. We thank all of you for your support!

Belgium Mission Trip Update#1

I am so sorry I am just now getting the chance to post a blog. We have had limited access to the internet because the wireless isn’t free unless we are at a café that has it. We have been incredibly busy and it has been amazing journey thus far. It definitely involves a huge amount of walking which is nice but tiring. We have literally fallen asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow which is another reason I am just now blogging.

Although it is so beautiful here you can definitely tell something is missing. While on public transportation (Tram, Train, or Bus) no one makes eye contact. Everyone is quiet and very guarded. Lots of people have IPODs with Earphones or are staring at their phones as a barrier. We have had a chance to speak with a couple of people none of which are true Belgian, but do live here. We Were lucky enough to have a great conversation with one lady and she told us that she believes Belgians are so guarded due to being used as a battle ground in past years. She said that most conversations are very general on the surface conversations. They typically do not invite you into their homes unless you are family or a very close friend. She said it may be a couple of years before it would be appropriate to have a conversation with a Belgian about politics or religion. We have been trying to communicate and observe as many people as we possibly can.

We landed in Brussels around 8:00am (Belgium time) after flying for nearly 9 hours. We were all exhausted, but really wanted to have a productive day. We needed to keep ourselves busy to stay awake and get acclimated to the time difference. They are seven hours ahead of us(Central Standard time). We checked into our hotel, grabbed breakfast, and started our day. We mainly just got our bearings and attended a church service. We have been using a method that consists of prayer walking, observing and connecting. We are trying to use every minute of daylight to get as much done as possible. No doubt the scenery is beautiful in some areas and you can’t help but snap a picture we have a much bigger mission in and on our minds constantly. Although we would love to spend many hours doing only mission work while we are on this trip, the fact is we also have to make time to see different areas and scout out potential areas we may need to live. We want to be in the area we feel we could really have good opportunities to connect with and meet many people and share God’s word. We want to be in his will 100 percent!

On Monday we were able to visit an area called Stockel. It was very much a suburban feel and family friendly. It was a nicer area of Brussels. We walked around most of the city and were able to view an apartment. Tuesday we went to an area called Gribaumont which personally I loved. There were a couple of great parks where meeting people would be easy. They have walking trails, exercise equipment; skate park areas with concrete hills, and lots of shady sitting areas for reading. People have dogs everywhere in Brussels. It is not uncommon to see dogs walking through the mall or any building. Lots of people are at the parks walking dogs or playing with their children. There are lots of bike riders as well. Any of these would be a great way to make friends. They have lots of mom and pop owned shops which a nice change. Wednesday we will be traveling to Namur to do more research and mission work.

I cannot tell you how thankful and blessed I am to be on this trip. I will admit when I first started feeling like God was leading us towards Brussels I thought of the glamour and beauty of this place and most importantly a huge population of people that do not have a personal relationship with our Father. They are walking through life not even realizing they have a savior who is ready to step up to bat for them and do amazing work in their lives if they will just let him in. Through speaking with the British lady that I mentioned earlier we learned that a lot of people claim Catholicism through status not practice. Meaning they baptize their children because it is the popular thing to do for your friends and family not out of love and obedience.
Many people cannot fathom why we would do such a thing as to move to a foreign country with all of the beautiful historic art, rich chocolate, diamonds, and lace. The truth is they have many things, but God is not one of them. The British lady also said something that really touched me and made my desire to be here even stronger. She said that although has lived in Belgium for a while and although she was married to a Belgian, life here can be lonely. Everyone is so guarded that they are not only missing out on a relationship with God they are missing out on relationships with eachother. Our job as Christians is to love, to encourage, and to be missionaries (in your area or an area you may be called to). Most Belgians do not even acknowledge others presence. It is sad to think in such a beautiful area full of people there are many people who are walking around sad and lonely. There is so much I want to share from this trip already. I will try to post again in the next day or so depending on how busy we are and what access to internet we have. If you have questions please feel free to email me or post them on here. We are trying to learn ourselves. Please pray for Team Belgium as we continue this trip that God will use us as his hands and feet and show us his ultimate plans. We are praying for everyone at home as well. We miss you and we love you all.

Cassi

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all of the earth.
Isaiah 12:5

Tuesday in Brussels and Home Base

Cassi and the team are going on a prayer-walk today through Brussels. They also plan on surveying more of the city to find out more of where we can move and make an impact. They also plan to engage people today by starting conversations. They hope to find out about society, the community, their spirituality (as we call it in America). I hope that today will be a fruitful day there. They are 7 hours ahead of us here in the central time zone so there day is mostly over by now.

At home: This past Friday was our first meeting with LifePoint members to talk about being financial partners. That went well. Sean and Shonna Harrison, and another LifePoint couple (name withheld-I did not ask them if they cared if people new they were sponsoring us) have come on board. I have also had 2 conversations in the last two days and had interest from both of those. So, in the last five days it looks like we have gotten our first 4 monthly sponsors. God can work fast.

Please continue to pray for the team in Belgium for safety and clarity. Also, pray for me. I am putting the finishing touches on the Casting Crowns music I am learning. I leave tomorrow afternoon for a stint with them.

Peace

Belgium Trip update: breakfast and such

I talked with Cassi a few times today. We Skype'd at our small group today, so we got to see each other too. The entire team is exhausted. Cassi had a waffle for breakfast and pizza for lunch/dinner. They are most likely sleeping right now and will be up around 9 am Brussels time. That is 2 am central. This is one of many little chocolate shops around their hotel and surrounding area. Godiva is Belgian.

34,000 feet and steady

Cassi and the team going to Belgium are currently cruising at 34,000 feet above the Atlantic ocean. They have been on this leg of the flight for 5 hours and 36 minutes. Cassi snapped a few photos of the team as they loaded the plane. Unfortunately there are none of her, but here is the team. Jordan, the girl in the bottom picture, is going to be Cassi's roomate this trip.

Peace

Team Belgium Partners

We have added the blogs of the other families traveling with us to Belgium from LifePoint. You can find it in the column to the right. See what they are up too as we go along.



They are:
Kyle and Amy Goen and family
Dan and Elizabeth Christensen
David and Angie Ebensberger and family
Rob and Cynthi Law and family
and us


Peace

Belgium Update #6: Introducing...

Today the Belgium and Thailand teams were brought up in front of the church for a formal introduction. The two teams took up the front of the stage. There are quite a few of us being sent. Once the video is up of this service you can see the introductions here. There is 1 song and some baptisms. We are directly after the baptisms.

The purpose of the introductions was to let the church who is going overseas to represent LifePoint. It was also to explain that we are vocational missionaries and need support in many ways including funding. It is estimated that a married couple like Cassi and I will need to raise $4900 per month to survive. It is very expensive. Our Bangkok, Thailand counterparts will need about $1500 per month to survive. As you can see, it is very expensive to live in Brussels.

Cassi and I are very thankful of those who have already stepped up to make a commitment to partner with our ministry. For those who received a letter from us already. Please pray about your role in this. For those who have not yet been contacted, you are free to contact us if we don't get to you soon enough or at all. We have a lot on our plate and are trying to keep all the things going that we need to.

Today was another baby step. How many are left? 1500? 2000? Who knows. We keep plugging away though.

We had some great conversations with some people today who are wanting to make more of a commitment to reaching out with their faith. That is exciting! I can't really go in to much detail, but "stuff is stirring".

Peace