News from the Belgian Evangelical Mission
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October-November 2015 Bimonthly newsletter Issue 56 The Belgian Evangelical Mission Bld. Lambermont, 158, 1030 Brussels Belgium
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Can we still pray the Lord’s Prayer? by Luc Salsac What’s this? Am I calling into question the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples? Certainly not! My question doesn’t concern the prayer itself, but rather I’m focussing on us, those of us who pray this prayer from time to time. As you’re well aware – our society is becoming more and more individualistic and self-centred. It’s ‘every man for himself’. Unfortunately it’s no longer unusual to hear on the media that someone has been found dead in their flat, with no-one realising what had happened! What clearer demonstration of the reality of our lack of interest in other people? In more than twenty years of ministry I’ve seen something similar happening within the church. The world’s way of thinking seems to be gaining ground. The church, instead of having an impact on the world, seems to be more and more impacted by the world. It seems to me that the church is looking increasingly like a collection of individuals, where each person is looking out first for what suits them, in the style most appropriate for them. Shouldn’t we rather be a community of believers sharing their lives, and living in Christian fellowship (- a word which comes from the Greek koinonia, which may also be translated ‘sharing, mutual benefit, solidarity, joint participation, or helping each other)? Surely we in the church should be concerned for the good of others, both inside and outside our walls? Recently, I’ve been struck by the words of most of our songs – many are written in the first person singular ‘I’, and very few with ‘we’. Of course, we need to have a personal response to God and bring Him our praise as individuals, but the church
is surely the place where we should be living this out together. I shouldn’t only be praising Him because others around me are doing it, but because I share the same faith with these people, the same desire to meet with God with them. But if things continue on like this, might we soon find ourseves praying ‘My Father Who is in Heaven’ instead of ‘Our Father Who is in heaven.’…? We want our mission church plants and churches to be becoming not just groups of individuals but more and more, communities where real Christian fellowship is lived out. Camp Limauges is another place where this notion of fellowship and community can be learnt and modelled. Of course, this is a big challenge in today’s world, but it’s also a vital response to the loneliness and growing depersonalisation all around us. May we rediscover the meaning of ‘we’ and learn to put aside the ‘I’, so that we might live for ‘Him’ from Whom we have received everything. May God transform our hearts deep down so that we might, together, see ‘His Kingdom come,’ ‘His Will be done’, and all this ‘on earth as it is in heaven’. (Matthew 6 v.10) May we be transformed by His Spirit to live according to the criteria of the Kingdom of God and not according to the culture around us. May our churches reflect the reality of the fellowship, the communion, that exists in God Himself.
Gérald & Bernadette blessing others as they work
... and you ?
At first sight, Gerard and Bernadette seem to be just an ordinary Belgian-French couple. With five children and three grandchildren, keen on touring in a camper van, film buffs – the kind of people who have a well-ordered life – ordinary working hours, weekends busy in the garden or entertaining the family. How wrong you would be!
Of course, a camp like Limauges depends on much more than the dedication of two people. Several volunteers help on an occasional basis, and almost a hundred people come to lend a hand during the annual Work Day, but this doesn’t cover the daily requirements.
And what if we could include you in the equation?
It was in 2008 that Gerald, who had been a carpenter, became a student at the Belgian Bible Institute in Brussels. During a conference, the Corneilles heard about the possibility of joining the Mission as the new managers of the Limauges camp. After many discussions with mission leaders and much prayer, they took up the challenge in July 2009.
There are two possibilities -
As already mentioned – not for them sitting back and putting their feet up – and normal office hours just don’t apply! Being camp managers means being available to work at any hour, - weekends, Bank holidays, and school holidays included. It also means being faced with a very long ‘to do’ list, much of which is urgent – and which goes on getting longer and longer... But, while they’re making sure the premises continue to be welcoming and functional, taking care of the bookings, and supervising the building sites, Gerald and Bernadette are being a blessing to so many people! Thanks to their hard work, thousands of people are able to benefit from the increasingly modern infrastructure at Limauges during camps for children, young people or churches, and during spiritual retreats every year.
2) why not consider joining the team of camp managers yourself ? (see the following job offer).
1) think about organising or joining a work team to travel to Belgium and spend some time at the Camp helping with practical jobs. Could you join some Christian friends to make up a team, or might your church take up the challenge? If anyone has a relevant specialist training, please let us know!
And remember that whatever you might be called to do, in giving your time and your energy, you will be being a blessing to so many people! And there is also something we can all do – pray that these needs will be met!
A team of m issionaries committed to
WANTED Two managers
for Camp Limauges
The Belgian Evangelical Mission is looking for two managers (two couples or two single people) for Camp Limauges – needed as from now. >> POST Situated in French-speaking Belgium, Camp Limauges is a holiday and retreat centre. All those who attend, whatever their age, have the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus Christ, to strengthen their faith and to meet up with other Christians from different parts of the country. The job of the managers is to ensure the smooth running of the Camp on a daily basis. >> TASKS The managers are members of the Belgian Evangelical Mission and are also members of the management committee of Camp Limauges. On the basis of a full-time contract of employment, they work as a team in the following spheres: • Management and planning • Reception • Maintenance of the premises and work of renovation The timetable is determined by the use of the Camp, which means weekends and public holidays. >> PROFILE You are a committed Christian, perhaps have even had Bible training, and you wish to serve the Lord in a ministry that combines relationships, management and practical work. French is your first language or you speak it fluently. Knowledge of Dutch or English would be a plus. Your training in one (or several) specialist areas will enable you to undertake specific tasks (e.g. building, plumbing, electrics). You find it easy to get on with people, you are dynamic, and you are capable of working in an organised manner while showing initiative. Children’s work and young people’s work are among your interests and you would like to develop this. You are ready to work at weekends and during public holidays. >> CONTACT US Interested? Please send your CV and covering letter to the following address: information@b-e-m.org
Belgium o building Christ’s Church in
Every second month there will be a new episode of the Nortons’ saga on www.b-e-m.org
Summary of the preceding chapters At the outbreak of World War 1, Ralph and Edith Norton, an American missionary couple, had remained in London. They visited soldiers and took them through the Scriptures, guiding them to repentance, teaching them to pray and to share their faith. On July 20th 1915, God called Ralph and Edith to concentrate their efforts on the Belgian soldiers.
Mrs. Norton’s part soon came to assume a major significance. It was the mothering of these forlorn soldiers, a privilege at once joyous and natural to her heart. These soldiers, many of them Flemish peasants lads, knew that this was no ordinary ‘Grande dame’ but someone with a heart of love, created they could not know why or how, unless that mysterious quality had something in common with the Book that was being put in their hands. So it came that it was very easy to direct the thought of these men to the Great Lover of their souls, the Lord Jesus Christ, and how eagerly they seized upon this knowledge. With utter simplicity they accepted the truths taught them and they would write back from the front to tell their faithful friends of their new found Savior that He stood by them in the trenches and that now they had no more fear of death and no longer were overcome by the ‘cafard’ (black depression) that formerly weighed them down. The answers to these letters became a laborious process, even if it were a work of love. Some days Mrs. Norton would write fifty in her own hand, and her health began to give way under the burden. But how could one refrain when confronted by those touching epistlers?
Support Camp Limauges Since the 1930s, the Camp of Limauges has offered the inhabitants of Belgium, young and not so young, the opportunity of meeting Jesus Christ and building up their faith. Could you support this ministry financially?
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To be continued...
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