Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Catching up. A few weeks ago we flew out of Congo. Our destination was Missouri for our son's wedding, but since we had to have a layover in Belgium anyway, and we had not had a vacation in a long time, we extended our layover to a couple of days so that we could see a bit of Belgium.

I was completely enchanted with Belgium. It was my first experience in any part of Europe. I like old things, and there are lots of old things there. I like chocolate. Belgium does chocolate very well. We saw chocolatiers everywhere and I would have liked to visit all of them. 

We only had two days, so the first day we took a train (my first train ride!) to Brussels Central and spent the day doing a walking tour of the older part of town. All of the streets here were narrow, winding, and cobble-stoned. The buildings were ancient and bold, yet charming. A strange mix of gargoyles and window boxes, towers and ivy. 

For day two we rented a car and drove to the city of Brugges. It was cold and rainy and we REALLY appreciated the lunch and hot drinks we bought in the little cafes. I loved touring the old buildings and churches. One church, St. Salvator's, dates to the 12th century and contains breathtaking art pieces. 

I also fell in love with the canals in Brugges. 

In spite of temps in the forties and almost constant rain, we had a wonderful time and would have stayed longer if we could have. 

A Series of Unusual Events

This week and next, we have a series of unusual events - all of which are cool, cool beans! Yes, cool enough to say it twice.

Unusual event number one? The bad guys lost and the good guys have prevailed! I wrote about Jill Lowery and the ministry at the Mitendi Center some time ago, and their efforts to stop certain people who were stealing their land and then selling it piecemeal to other people. After a battle that took years and had to go through the courts, the ministry has won and gets to keep their land! This was very obviously orchestrated by God and nothing short of a miracle. Jill gave me permission to post her words and photos as an update since so many of you have been praying about this situation.

Here is what Jill posted: "The Mitendi Wall is happening, people!!! After too many interruptions, the crew has already completed half the wall along the back property limit! Please pray that they can finish without further harassment. I'm so grateful to all of you for your prayers and support! Love you!!!"  

"These sweet ladies are the heart of the Mitendi program. They've fought long and hard to make this happen."

If you don't know what I am talking about, here are links to my posts about Mitendi: Finding Hope in Mitendi and Prayers Needed. 




Second unusual event? Tadah! I made a dress! That hasn't happend in 13 years. And it showed. I had to rip out some seams and redo stuff. I found this lovely fabric here in Kinshasa last year.

And I had one little fat quarter of brown batik which I love and wanted to use as an accent. I decided to make the waist band, belt and hem band out of it. But I didn't have enough. So I improvised and sewed the middle portion of the belt with a plain brown. 

I also had to use the plain brown on the backside of the hemband. I figured it would be on the inside of the skirt and the belt would be hidden inside the waistband and no one would ever see my little improvisations. Except, you just did.





It's hot and only having power for a few hours each day made me want to rush, so there are plenty of mistakes. But I tried on four shirts at Wal-mart last summer off the same rack and every single one had major sewing flaws front and center so I couldn't even buy one. I figure my dress looks at least as good as that. 

Unusual events three and four? Our first-born is about to get married! Since we had to fly to the states anyway, and we have to go through Brussels to do it, we scheduled a two day layover and are taking a mini-vacation! We haven't had power for over two days now and don't expect to get it for several more days. Someone dug up our power line and stole three meters! So we are cleaning out the fridge and freezer in the morning and flying away tomorrow evening! Electricity, here we come!

Please keep praying for the Mitendi Center and for Jill. The wall still has a long way to go and it will take some time to get all the illegal squatters off the land.