al Mission gian Evangelic
News from the Bel
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June - July 2016 Bimonthly newsletter Issue 60
The Belgian Evangelical Mission Bld. Lambermont, 158 1030 Brussels - Belgium
BEM Info Project 3-16: God is in control! by Kurt Maeyens
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3,16) This is one of the best-known and most often quoted verses in the Bible; it expresses the heart of our faith in Jesus Christ. In Belgium, there are millions of people who have never heard or really understood this Good News. The BEM, in partnership with the Evangelical Alliance, was encouraging Belgian churches to use the month of March to proclaim this life-changing message. Some of the ideas used included leaflet distribution, banners bearing the campaign logo, an afternoon for children, a spaghetti supper, an evangelistic campaign along with releasing balloons, a film show, an Easter concert, guest services…. many churches participated in many different ways. Some churches rediscovered the power of evangelism, they made new contacts, and some people accepted eternal life in Jesus Christ. On March 22nd, we were all shocked by the vicious terrorist attacks in Brussels. Whether it was the fear, the pain of bereavement, or just the feeling of helplessness, we were all confronted by the transience of life. Terror had struck right in the middle of our evangelistic campaign! But in spite of everything, God had everything under control. We’d been hoping that the logo with the message of John 3 v.16 would be visible everywhere, but in fact another slogan sprang up worldwide: Pray for Belgium. In the media, on the Internet, on social media, we were invited to “pray for Belgium”. Several churches made the most of the next Sunday, Easter Day, to remind people that Jesus had conquered death, that He’d given His life for us, that He is the real hope for Belgium, that Jesus is more than conqueror!
Bart, a young man from Dixmude, had many struggles with faith. He’d been brought up in a Christian family, but he didn’t know whether God existed. He’d lived through some very difficult things; he’d seen a lot of personal injustice. Where was God in all of this? For some months he’d been coming to our youth group, and now he had a young Christian girl-friend from the U.S.A. Each month he and I were looking together at a chapter in Paul’s letter to the Romans, and Bart was touched by the wonderful passage in Chapter 6 – “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him…. because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him…. The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God.” At the end of that evening, Bart came up to me and said, “Kurt, this is what I want. I want to die to myself and to sin; I want to live with God, - and not just that, but give the whole of my life to HimWho gave His life for me.”We knelt in prayer, and together we declared our faith that Jesus is the only Lord! Then on March 22nd, I received a mobile phone text message from a member of the young people’s group: “Pray for Belgium. Terrorist bombs have hit Brussels.” We soon learnt that Bart had been at Zaventem airport when the attack occurred, on his way to visit his girl-friend in America. There followed three anxious days with no further news – till the Thursday morning when we heard that he’d died: yes, Bart was one of the victims. And now Bart is with His Lord and Saviour! Please pray for the many in Belgium who still need to discover the Truth. Thank the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness. God has everything under control!
Aalst
Deinze The B.E.M. church in Deinze participated enthusiastically in the 3-16 campaign. We’d like to congratulate and also thank the organisers of this superb evangelistic effort! As early as February we organised a spaghetti supper in support of the Aktie4Kids shoebox effort (similar to the UK Christmas shoebox collections). In March we distributed almost 10,000 leaflets in and around Deinze inviting people to our Easter activities. Over the Easter weekend we distributed little bags of chocolate eggs around the town inviting passers-by to join us for the Sunday ‘Open Doors’ service. On Easter Saturday we put on ‘Young Messiah’, a modern version of Handel’s Messiah, for an audience of about 185. Finally, we wound up the campaign with an Easter breakfast and the ‘Open Doors’ service. Thank you to everyone who came and, above all, to the Lord.
Geraardsbergen
Deinze
When the 3-16 Project was announced, about 18 months ago, my immediate reaction was: “Wow! A national evangelistic campaign like this is a big challenge for us!” A little later, I said to myself, “Well, the organisers are really making things happen.” So we set to work, ideas came together, and more members of the church came to help us. A film evening, visits to a retirement home, a meditation on the evening of Good Friday, a prayer afternoon, and an ‘Open Doors’ ser-
PROJEC Zaventem
Brussels
We prepared for the campaign with a large distribution of 3-16 stickers at a Sunday service. On Wednesday March 2nd, we began with a ‘creative’ evening for ladies, including a Bible meditation on the miracle of Easter. On Saturday March 5th, a group of about 25 members and friends of the church went out distributing bottles of water and Christian literature on the streets of Zaventem. At the end of the month, we had a Bible study on John 3 v.16 and celebrated Good Friday. We had distributed almost 5,000 invitations to the town’s inhabitants. The Easter service was the high point of our campaign. We’d also organised great children’s activities in the centre in Zaventem, not just for church children and their friends, but also for two groups of refugee children.
Our church has a heart for evangelism. So it was natural for us to want to be involved in a joint campaign along with so many other churches The Project 3-16 website gave us the opportunity of publicising our Guest service held with a visiting evangelist. His sermon on John chapter 3 touched hearts and sev-
Ghent
Oudenaarde
Zaventem
A team of m issionaries committed to
g
Limbur
Geraardsbergen
vice for Easter - it was such an encouragement to be able to welcome more than 30 visitors, some coming for the first time! Hearts were touched and we had good discussions. In short, a month of hard work proved to be fruitful… and that’s not all! It seems that some of us have caught the bug: Project 3-16 was only the beginning; now we’re getting ready for more!
The Geraardsbergen church distributed 15,000 tracts as well as 6,000 of the leaflets created especially for the 3-16 campaign. Several neighbours responded positively to these but then none of them actually came to the Easter celebrations. We had a very good service but were sad that none of those invited came. I also tried hanging a big banner nearby over the Brussels-Ghent motorway. When I went to take it down at 6pm, it had disappeared – into a vehicle with flashing blue lights…
Ypres
CT 3-16
Oudenaarde
Ganshoren eral responded to the call of Christ. At Easter more people than usual came along. This kind of evangelistic effort builds unity: we can encourage other churches and we, in our turn, are encouraged to keep sharing the Gospel. Now it’s up to us to continue making Jesus Christ known - each in our own locality.
Gistel
The 3-16 project has perhaps not seen the same level of participation among French-speaking churches, but what a great idea – to unite behind one logo and one Internet site for Easter! After a successful Easter guest service, we very much hope that such initiatives will be repeated and developed further for unity and mutual encouragement. Working together, let’s shine forth the message of the Resurrection of Christ and live it out in our lives!
Support
Oudenaarde
evangelism in
Belgium
Please contribute financially to the different evangelistic evants throughout Belgium. Send a cheque to: The Belgian Evangelical Mission See info on the back
Hoogstraten
Belgium o building Christ’s Church in
Summary of the preceding chapters
Every second month a new episode of the Nortons’ saga on www.b-e-m.org
The Nortons had assumed that their stay at the front would be of unlimited duration and had perused their authorization only superficially. It eventually turned out they were authorised to stay for only two days. They both gave themselves to prayer.
Excerpt from Edith Norton’s journal Mr. And Mrs. Norton wrote a letter to a Captain T. He called to see them just before the expiration of their time limit. Learning that they desired a prolongation of their visit and also to have an audience with Queen Elisabeth, he graciously, even if a bit skeptically, set about obtaining this request. And God saw to it, this is reverently meant, that he succeeded. Just as the Nortons awaited the military car, with their luggage packed, an orderly arrived from the Royal villa to say that the Queen would receive them at six o’clock that evening. Issuing from the Hotel, on the grounds of this royal summons, they commandeered a motor car which soon deposited them at the door of the unassuming seaside villa which was Royal headquarters. They soon found themselves in the presence of the Queen, a charming figure, who with the simple graciousness of trained and instinctive nobility, quickly put them at their ease. After an exchange of courtesies out from Mr. Nortons pocket came a New Testament, and he remarked: “Your Majesty, this is the little book we give your soldiers.” Queen Elisabeth’s heart was touched, asked if she could keep this copy and said: “I’ll see what I can do to obtain the prolongation you desire, do not leave the hotel until you hear from me”. Returning to the hotel a messenger speedily arrived to say that G.Q.G. had accorded a ten days ‘prolongation de séjour’, their prayer was answered. To be continued...
JOB OFFERS French-speaking Belgium
Dutch-speaking Belgium
► two managers for Camp Limauges
► volunteer (M/F): automation system management for the Flemish bookshops
► co-worker (M/F) for La Courte Echelle, our children’s department ► church-planters/pastors
Belgian Evangelical Mission
► coordinator (M/F) for the Flemish Bible exhibition ► church-planters/pastors
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Belgian Evangelical Mission - UK Enterprise number: 0410.278.623 Bld. Lambermont, 158 - 1030 Brussels
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