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.

“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."

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

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

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

Why Belgium?

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.

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 four other families that are being sent. It will take a host of families stateside 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.

We had our second small group meeting yesterday and I cannot fully express how excited I am about the team God has assembled for us to work with during this mission. It is truly a group of Christ followers driven to make God famous in Europe.

I want to ask all of you reading this to pray for us in the coming weeks. I and 6 other Team members will be flying to Brussels, Belgium later this month. Please pray for God to guide our steps while we are there and please pray that the Belgian people will have open hearts and minds. This is mainly a vision trip to scout out possible areas to plant the church, meet with and possibly witness to some college students, look at potential places for us to live, and plan plan plan.

When we first started feeling like God was calling us to the country of Belgium I could not wrap my brain around it all. With everyday that passes the urge to get over there and start working for Him is more overwhelming. I now know why God is assembling this team he is making it clear to us the need for Christianity in all of Europe. This is something we are very passionate about! If you have any questions please feel free to ask. We have had about a million questions ourselves since starting this process in early May. If we cannot answer them we will get the answer. I am attaching a video that shows part of the importance of having a presence and sharing God's word to a lost country. They deserve to feel the love a church family can provide, and we are stepping up to the plate. Please take a few minutes and watch the video. It blew my mind.

Au revior.

Cassi Wolski

Brussels Update 4: Find a partner

Today was great. Our first small group meeting with Team Brussels happened today. Twenty of us convened at the Goen's. Our pastor, Pat Hood, stopped by to give the LifePoint vision. You know, "straight from the horse's mouth." We had our first worship session with the Ebensberger's at the helm. Fittingly, our first song was How Great is Our God sung in French.

Also, we now have been given the green light to start finding our ministry partners. The team is pretty much firmed up and we are to be contacting people to partner with us to make this mission a reality. Cassi and I have already heard from a handful of you that want to partner with us. We want to thank you so much for that. We will be contacting you soon to work out the details of what that looks like.

Our first official ministry partners are Jon and Joy Wolski. Jon works as a web developer for a national ministry and had some great ideas in our brainstorm meeting tonight. They are going to help us integrate the technology part of what we do. It is said that the number one reason that ministry partners quit giving support is for lack of information on what is going on in the ministry. We talked about ways to keep people plugged in and to have transparency on what we are doing. We will be trying out new ideas to implement soon. We will also probably go to a dedicated domain for the mission work. This particular blog will most likely have a new URL in the near future.

Cassi's next blog will be on why we are going to Belgium specifically and what needs to be accomplished there.

Things are happening. Hop on board and hang on.

Peace.

P.S. I hijacked the picture from Women of Grace. They own it, not me.

Brussels Update #3

Cassi and I are still plugging away at our list of things to do. She is leaving for Belgium in less than a month from now. She will be gone for 9 days on a trip to see where we are going to be and some of what to expect.

We have had to get some pictures done for a prayer card through our church. We have been coming up with strategies on how to get our debts paid. We are looking at ideas that include golf scrambles, yard sales, concerts, and a few other ideas. Cassi is the one that has most of the ideas right now. We have some support raising that we are starting. We are contacting potential sponsors in this journey. As missionaries it takes quite a bit of support from home to make it happen. If you feel like you would like to see if there is a way to help us along the way feel free to contact us.

There are many areas that we need help. We are not just looking for someone to open up a wallet to help us. We need strategic partners to help with things from the web, to stuffing envelopes, to donating items for a yard sale, to sponsors, to prayer partners. If you have a skill that you feel you would like to invest in an international church plant let us know.

Next week Cassi and I meet with a financial advisor to come up with a plan of how to attack this debt. Be praying for us to have the resources needed and the wisdom to find a solution.

This week we start meeting in our small group. This Sunday is the first meeting of many where we are going to really get to know our ministry partners that are going over seas with us. This is very exciting for Cassi and me.

Peace

Two Heads are Better than One

Most of you all who read this blog are expecting to hear from my sweet husband Bryan. Incase you don't know who I am, I am Cassi Wolski, his better half. Just kidding! Since we have started the process of becoming vocational missionaries in a church planting team with our church (LifePoint Church) we have decided to share this blog to keep our friends updated. We will let you know which one of us is doing the posting to keep the confusion to a minimum. :)

During the process one of the things the church has asked us to participate in is a Strengths Finder test. We were given a book "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Tom Rath. It is pretty neat to learn your strengths and focus on improving those areas rather than focusing on your weaknesses. Here are the results. I look forward to blogging more in the future.

Bryan Wolski
Connectedness - People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Positivity - People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Belief - People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

Developer - People who are especially talented in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

Includer - People who are especially talented in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Cassi Wolski

Includer - People who are especially talented in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Responsibility - People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Positivity - People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Woo - People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Communication - People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Brussels Update 2: The Money Obstacle

The process of actually going over seas to be a full-time missionary has many steps. These steps are actually hurdles, and if you can't get over them, you can't go, essentially. The next immediate step for Cassi and me is a financial planning one and has 2 main parts.

One is raising support just as any missionary would have to do. Brussels is about the same cost of living as Manhattan, so it is very expensive. We have a meeting on June 13 to start this process and come up with a plan. There will be much more on this as it comes.

The second part is getting out of debt. This is the actual next step that Cassi and I are working on a plan. We have been in contact with a financial planner and will be setting up an initial meeting shortly. If you could see our financial picture you will realize what a literal miracle it will be for us to be debt free by 2011. I have been a professional musician for some time and that has a way of damaging your finances. :-)

For us and others who are or have struggled financially there are some great things in our manual (Bible). I keep 2 passages bookmarked with a dollar bill as a reminder.

Psalm 50:10-11
10"For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11"I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. 12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains."

Haggai 2:7-8
7 'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 8 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts.

Wow God owns everything? Everything is His? He can allocate it where He wants then. Now you have to believe that if God ordains something he has the power to orchestrate it too. There is hope! Don't let money keep you from your saying "YES" to a calling.

Peace

Brussels Update 1

Busy weekend. We have visited with a lot of family. That has kept us away from the computers since our meeting we had with our church.

Big news though. We have been selected for our churches LifePoint Brussels team. There is still a year and a half of training, support raising, education, paying off debt, and much more. This will probably be the toughest thing that Cassi and I attack. Please pray for us through this process. We will be blogging about the process as we go.