Update from Bergen 2 team

June 6th, 2008

To those that we love,

Concerning Jen Parisi, Grace Urane, Justin Long, and Myself.

Things have gone as they could have expectedly gone... unexpected.
Unexpected in who we met.
Unexpected in where we stayed.
Unexpected on who would get on whose nerves first.
Unexpected in how we would relate.
Unexpected, because God is involved, and he keeps us on our toes.

The morning we left Amsterdam, we sat in on a church service. The church was described as charismatic by those who had referred it to us, and I pondered what that could possibly mean in a context such as Amsterdam.
It was charismatic, alright.
And, it was incredible.

After walking a labyrinth of hallways in the old building we had been lead into, we stepped into the small room where they held their worship gatherings. There was a courtyard whose doors opened up to the room, where children danced with purple flags, and adequate zeal, to the tunes of our worship. The children were the best way to describe that congregation of whites, blacks, teens, and Grandmothers. They held to their faces, lacking in lines of cigarette smoke and sun damage, a freshness and freedom unknown, or at least long forgotten, to much of the city. Probably half of the two hour service consisted of contemporary songs lifting up the name of the Lord - refreshing to say the least - and concluding with a translated dutch message that has stayed with us since. People worshiped with honest passion and reminded us that the church is not dead in Europe, and all places, certainly not Amsterdam.

None of us really knew what to expect of Brussels. It was in many rights a city of surprises. Our arrival was hailed in by deserted streets littered with rubbish, and a hike across the whole of the town to our hostel, which actually turned out to be a hotel. Although we didn't know what to expect of the city, as the location of the European Union, we did expect a bit more sophistication or "quaintness," but... lets just say its not the place to have your honeymoon. Anyway, we show up at our hostel and find that meeting people might be hard, as everyone is segregated to their own separate room. Furthermore, if we can't get to know anyone, its hard to share the gospel. Needless to say, God knew what he was doing.
With nothing to do, we walked to get dinner, hoping to meet some people on the way... We never met anyone. On the way back from realizing that our budget hardly allowed four people to get a cup of soup each, Grace lead us to a point that overlooked the whole city. By the time we had finished with the view, two guys with backpacks were standing next to us.
One of them had a Canadian flag stitched to his bag.
Yup... they were traveling.
As it turns out, they were two brothers from Canada, Jewish (only in the cultural sense, but very well versed), highly intelligent, and extremely friendly. We got along great. Aaron, the older of the two, is studying law and going into his second year of graduate school, and Jonathan is going into his second year undergrad studying philosophy (what do you know, I'm studying that as well).
With these two men, we went into the wee hours of the night dialogging about Sumerian law, the Code of Hammurabi (thank you Dr. Walton), Torah Law, reason, Judaism, and Jesus, and spent the following day traveling Brussels with them, sharing the gospel in great depth and honesty, and learning a whole lot about our Northern neighbors. It was truly an incredible experience - our words were not our own - and it became extremely clear that Wheaton had prepared us more than we ever expected to stand toe-to-toe alongside two very smart and worldly people, and say, "yes, we have learned that... and seen this... and in it all, this Jesus makes sense."
As they left for another city, we said goodbye, handing them C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity," and Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz," all the while feeling that we had really connected.
They were the first to whom we shared the Gospel.

In those first four days, we met numerous people, from Finland, Australia, Missouri, and other lands, and shared the gospel with almost all of them. A thing of great thanksgiving is that our team has been consistently forward about this message that gives us undying hope, and pray that that would continue.

It would be impossible to share with you all in brevity the things that have made these days memorable...eating at McDonald's (the euro menu fits surprisingly well into our budget), stepping off a train onto German soil and having a business man ask us if he could help without our even asking (it turns out that 1)we did needed the help because, unbeknownst to us, we were actually a 2 hour walk from our final destination 2)we would have attempted that walk if it had not been for him, and 3) he was a Christian), and finding that one of my fellow travelers is carrying a loufa and he is not a woman.

I will end with one final story. Kellie is a traveler from London who we met in our final day in Brussels. She is blatantly a spiritual seeker, and after dinner and a couple hours of conversation, has decided to travel with us to Berlin. PLEASE pray that she might be touched in this time beyond conversation, and come to know the Lord.
She is incredible and we have loved every minute of her accent, stories, and honesty.

For us...
Pray for our team dynamics - in a sense, the honeymoon is over and we are beginning to understand how each person ticks. In this humility is key.
Pray for rejuvenation.
And pray that God is glorified, and that people come to know Jesus.

In Peace and Love,
Jeff Smith