Leaving soon

Hello - it's me again! I just wanted to send you a note to let you know that I'm leaving on May 1st (next Tuesday) for the USA. God put it on my heart to spend some time caring for my mother, so my plan is to be in Minnesota at least through Christmas. That's a long time to be away from Holland, but I know it's right. I trust God (and some dear friends) to care for my things here in Holland while I'm away. So, Honey and I leave in just a few days. I'm packing, taking Honey to the vet for his papers (he doesn't need to go into quarantine or anything), and preparing my house, etc. I have a couple prayer points - please pray with me for: A Christian to rent my house for most of the time I'm gone My Dutch ID card to be ready before I go No problems checking Honey in for the flight (in cabin!) and that he'll be calm and stay in his travel bag during the 8 hour flight. That I don't forget anything! My time in the USA is primarily to spend time with my mom, but I'm also on furlough and believe it will be a time of reflection on the past 25 years in missions. I've already planned a short retreat on the North Shore in May and look forward to unwinding and being refreshed in God's presence, nature walks, etc. Later in the Summer and Fall I may take an extension course at Bethel University - just to get some fresh input. I look forward to re-connecting with family, friends, my church and my culture again! Those of you financially supporting me in missions, I'd really appreciate if you continue to support me during this "furlough" time. Please let me know if you can't. Recently many of you responded to my financial plea for help and I'm blessed to say that all my additional expenses of the beginning of 2007 (taxes, dentist, travel, insurance, etc.) have been met! Thank you! Blessings, Belinda p.s. My 25th anniversary celebration was wonderful - I'm so grateful for those of you who could celebrate with me here in Holland. I hope to have a similar celebration in Minneapolis sometime soon. The C2W in Romania was intensive and very fruitful! The Europe Worship Link conference last week in Czech Republic was a time of glorious unity and established a greater network of key leaders in worship ministries across Europe. A link to a short video of our "Festival of Worship" nite at the EWL conference can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2CsT5aOgFI My website will be updated soon with more info and pictures from these events and more.... I just don't have time to do it right now, as you can well understand.

Unity in diversity

The conference ended this afternoon and I've just said good-bye, nashledanou, au revoir to most of the participants.

We came from 10 different nations and spoke as many different languages; the oldest was 60-something and the youngest was 20. We serve in traditional and contemporary churches, as choir directors, worship leaders, teachers, hymn- and songwriters, and in worship and rock bands that span the continent of Europe.

One of my most special moments was yesterday evening when we shared communion and prayed for our nations. Giving thanks, simply, graciously, humbly for the privilege to serve Jesus and to share His body and blood. It's difficult to describe sufficiently the feeling of being joined together in spirit with such a diverse group. Heartfelt prayers in Russian, Romanian, French, Latvian...

Strangers only three days before, we loved Jesus in worship, wept in God's presence and blessed each other and the nations we serve. I feel it is only a small glimpse of what it will be like when we surround God's throne in heaven and worship Him.

Like our Moravian (Czech) forefathers in missions, I have delighted in this credo:
In essentials, unity;
in non-essentials, diversity (or liberty);
in all things, charity.

In Ostrava, Czech Republic

Here are just a couple quick pics of our Europe Worship Link conference here in the eastern Czech mountains.

It's a wonderful privilege to fellowship and network with other key and influential worship leaders around Europe.

Alexander (above) is a choir master and worship leader in the Ukraine. Each person has their own story and their own areas of ministry but we all share the same heart: to call the nations to worship God!

It is especially encouraging to have such a diverse group: diverse in liturgy and generations. Whether we praise Jesus with hymns or prophetic expressions of praise - we all love Him!

Tonight we'll have communion together.

Blessings from the east!

Belinda

Where in the world?

Hello, faithful Belinda's Blog readers...

Where in the world am I now?

I'm in the eastern part of the Czech Republic just outside the city of Ostrava.

I'm here for a Europe Worship Link conference, which gathers key worship leaders from the nations of Europe together for fellowship and networking. I'm one of the 4 organizers of this event and arrived here yesterday after taking 2 different flights from Holland (and a sprint through the Prague airport!).

All the participants should be arriving today from places like Latvia, Ukraine, Ireland, France, etc. Around 35 brothers and sisters in Christ who are involved in worship ministries and have a heart for their nations. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

I'm looking forward to see what God will do during these days and feel privileged to be a part of such a meeting.

Thanks for your interest and prayers.

More later.

Blessings, Belinda