As we reflect on the many ways God has blessed us in 2008, immediately our thoughts turn to you and phrases like these: “Couldn’t do it without you!”, “We’ve got awesome partners!”, “The commitment of our team is inspiring!” We are so grateful for the encouragement you bring to our lives. Thank you!

In this holiday season we’re asking God to enable you, more than ever before, to portray the meaning of having the indwelling Spirit of Jesus. What a thought; what a responsibility; this is our joy!

Here is Josiah, 21 months old, singing his favorites…

The bike race was a success! Thank you for praying. We had opportunities to plant seeds of the Gospel into students’ lives, water seeds that had been planted in earlier years, mobilize Christian students to share their faith openly and serve others in Christ’s name. The weather was beautiful and even though our first bike broke after only six rounds in the race, God sent two young guys to our aid with a replacement bike. A few hours later they had remounted the decorated structure on the new bike and we were rolling again with our traveling Jesus message. We will now be praying and following up on the personal contacts we made during this event. Thanks again for supporting this outreach in prayer.

Want to see more bikes? Click here!

During a recent prayer walk with other pastors and Christian leaders on the campus where we live at Louvain-la-Neuve, we were once again reminded of the innate desire of mankind to belong. We encountered the yearly phenomenon call “the baptism.” This is the “thing to do” among new students in which they are initiated into affinity groups through a hazing process that can include any number of humiliating acts all for the sake of being able to be counted a member of the group. (see photo) Acceptance is a very strong human need. This is especially true of the young person who has been touched deeply by the brokenness of the world in which we live and who may equally yearn for community. We believe our responsibility as Christians is to provide open faith communities through which those around us may find acceptance in Jesus and a sense of family in our midst.

The annual 24-hour bike race of Louvain-la-Neuve is tomorrow. The campus population will increase by about 40,000 or more, and it is known as the second-largest “beer event” in Europe. That little statistic will give you an idea of the atmosphere we’ll be dealing with as the sun goes down. What a great opportunity to be a Light in the darkness!

SFC students, along with students from other Christian groups, have been working hard getting this year’s bike ready, and as always, it it sure to make an impression. The theme is borrowed from a popular soft drink and will use the slogan, “Obey your thirst” to bring people into conversation about their spiritual thirst.

Here are some ways you can pray:

1. The weather! we woke up to a rainy Tuesday and hope that it clears up before the start of the race at 1 pm on Wednesday.

2. The team of riders and helpers - that there would be enough help to set up the tent and keep the bike going, and that everyone will be safe and protected. Also pray that this will be a positive experience for them as they step out of their comfort zone and take a stand for God in front of their peers.

3. For the people who will pass by our tent - that the Holy Spirit would speak to them, that spiritual seeds would be planted, watered and harvested - especially that last part. Pray that we would see lives changed!

4. For anything else that comes to mind.

Thank you for standing with us. We couldn’t do this without God and your prayers. We will be sure to update with pictures soon!

After a recent break-in at the building where our SFC-Louvain-la-Neuve group has been meeting, the group’s use of that location has been problematic. Please pray for SFC at this university to find a new place to gather; the need is urgent.

Also, rejoice with us for two students who recently made a commitment to follow Christ at the SFC group in Liège. Please pray that they would grow in their faith.

Thank you very much for taking the time to pray for us and the needs listed here. We appreciate you!

One of the most crucial and difficult “must-do” tasks in university ministry involves counteracting the natural outflow of students as they matriculate through their academic programs and into the marketplace. This reality is not conducive to a continuity of ministry so the need for regular, consistent training tops the list that preoccupies our thoughts for trans-generational ministry. Our annual Europe-wide summer training conference is one way in which this mountain is climbed. Another way is our SFC-Belgium leadership weekend. In early September, about 25 student leaders from all four SFC-Belgium groups met together to pray, strategize and make concrete plans to effectively reach out to students on their campuses.

This fall, as the new school year gets under way, we’re already hearing echoes of how students are employing the methodologies they learned during the summer conference and the weekend retreat. For us, this brings the interior smile and warm feeling that accompanies a trans-generational model of ministry and in which we say to ourselves, “These students have had their ‘Aha!’ moment in realizing what it takes to perpetuate ongoing growth and development.”

We met Ying at the Students for Christ training conference this summer. She’s living and studying in the Netherlands and speaks of being a Christian only for the last few years. Originally from China and embarking on a journey with Jesus that was triggered by a conversation with a Chinese Christian who shared Christ with her at the university, Ying arrived in the Netherlands and began growing in her new found faith. She yearned for a good study Bible and even asked another Chinese believer where she might find one, only to be told that they were difficult to obtain and very costly. Yet God, who hears the prayers of our hearts even before they are pronounced, was working behind the scenes. Blair had received 3 Chinese study Bibles (Fire Bibles) a few years back and prayed that God would direct him to the persons destined to have them. Rummaging through his material during the training conference, the Holy Spirit prompted him to ask Ying, the only Chinese person attending, if she had a Chinese study Bible. You guessed it. Ying, astonished by the circumstances through which God “tracked her down” received a desire of her heart, and Blair, elated by the Holy Spirit’s precision and impeccable timing, had the great joy of blessing a relatively new believer with a priceless gift.