Jo's Journey - March 2010

Everthing is New!
After months of preparation, I have arrived. I moved into my own place a week ago, so I
am still in the settling in stage: finding everything, both inside and outside the apartment! Even the most
basic things seem like big jobs these days; for example, going to the super market. Everything is in a
language I do not understand and trying to figure it all out is a job in its self.
My New Work
Belgium is a land of complexities. With large catholic church
buildings that are empty on the inside and small churches with mainly
foreigners looking after things, not Belgians.
One are of concentration for us is La Havre (translated as The
Haven). I will be working with this ministry in Brussels. At the moment
there are lots of barriers with language, I trust that in these first few
months as I start to learn the language that I will be helpful and a blessing
to the people around me here in Brussels. The part of Brussels I am in is
called the Moroll which historically is a poor area and is still today.
Every other Saturday there is a street kids club where we sing songs, play
games, do a craft, and have a story. I have been there twice now and each
time there has been about 12 kids there both times. In the summer when
the nicer weather comes there will probably be 40-50 kids at the club.
Please pray for men to come regularly to help out with the kids, as most of
us who come now are ladies.

Every Thursday I start my day by heading to a large
supermarket to sort through the food about to expire or are
expired, and foods with damaged packages. I sort through it
all and decide what is good and what is not. We take it to
across the city and sort it. The food bank we work with gets
food from a few supermarkets and the EU. As we get ready,
the people who come to this food bank have a seat down the
hall to wait for us to start giving out the food. We begin each
time with a song, bible passage and prayer before we start
taking them through the line one by one with a volunteer. It is
sad to see how many people are in such need of so many
things. Please pray that we can really reach these people
though both practical and spiritual ways
My New Home
On March 3rd I moved into my apartment in Brussels. It is a small
studio apartment, with a bed that rolls into a cupboard. It is on the top floor
so I have 4 flights of stairs to climb each time I go up, which means 60 stairs
(I counted!). The landlord has been very gracious and has given me a table, 2
chairs, the bed, and a pillow and bedding to go with it!. I have been so
blessed in what I have seen God supply for my apartment. Many times when
I started thinking of what I needed, people would just have it or give it to me
before I even asked. I have been blessed by God's provision through their
kindness!