Connections

This past weekend was Family Day down at camp. In the past this day was planned at the end of Family Camp, but it became clear that it could be better organized on a different day in order to really focus on getting people together. One congregation in Belgium usually organizes the day and people from around the congregations in Belgium and the Netherlands come to share the day together. This year the day was organized by both Roeselare and Brugge. 

The nice thing about this day is that we all have the possibility to see people we do not see very regularly. In our situation it was also a time to say goodbye to some people we may not see again, since we are moving. It was exciting to see that at least a third of the people there were from the congregation in Maastricht. It is exciting to see the connections that exist between the members of the various congregations and to see new ones forming. 

These connections between brothers and sisters in Christ are so important. In Maastricht we hold a special contribution every 3rd month or so, giving to any need we are aware of. This past month we gave to the church in Colombia who are recovering from a devastating earthquake. But we are able to give because of a sister in Maastricht who is from Ecuador. Her family has connections with the church in Colombia. And so we are all connected to one another and the church there can help those in need. 

Just last week we held our singing day with the church in Cologne and met new people from that city/country. This is something we have been doing for years. We are so thankful for the possibilities to nmeet new Christians from near and far. On this day we met some new brothers from Ukraine who are living in Cologne. But we also re-connected with brothers and sisters from Cologne who we have know since 1991 when we first arrived. 

Connections come in all sorts. As a sign went up on our window that the house had been sold, many of the people that pass by our house every day - walking the dog, walking with the kids, jogging - stopped to talk with us and see if we were really leaving. Some of them are parents of kids that went to school with our kids. Some are just our neighbors. Some just smile and stop to talk when I am out front pulling weeds. The ones who know us stop for longer and wonder about our next steps and the passing of time. 

It amazes us that this passing of time can also be helpful for some. As we plan to get rid of things in our house - which is necessary in getting ready for the move - we are thankful that there are people who can use some of the things in our house. We love helping a young couple and being part of the stepping stone in their young life together. And their parents know others who can also use furniture and more. So the connections help others to move into a new season of their life as we are moving into a new season in ours. 

Our house will soon seem to be regressing to the time when we first arrived. We are moving from moment to moment of saying goodbye to people we know. Our days now are taken up with figuring out what we can keep and what needs to go (and how to get rid of it). We keep running across old memories. But we are thankful for all the connections we have had through the years and are even building as we move forward. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Lucca Brughmans

His name probably doesn’t mean a thing to you, yet. And if you do not follow soccer, it may never really hit your radar, unless the World Cup comes to your city. Lucca, follows a line of many that starts in Genk, just down the road from us. Genk is the local professional soccer club and it is known especially for one thing - training goalies. 

Perhaps you have heard of Thibaut Courtois. He is the goalie at Real Madrid, one of the best teams in the world. But before he went to Real Madrid he played for Atletico Madrid, making quite a name for himself. And before he was in Madrid he played for Genk. He started when he was younger than 18 and moved on as one of the youngest goalies in the game. 

There have been others, who you may or may not recognize by name: Sinan Bolat, Logan Bailly or Koen Casteels. They all started their time with Genk and moved on to internationally known clubs where they have made their name. And now it is Lucca’s turn. Yesterday was the end of the transfer season and Lucca was sold to Liverpool for an amazing amount. 

For the moment he will remain playing at Genk, but soon, if all goes well, he will make the move to Liverpool. There he may enter history as one of the many amazing Belgian goalkeepers: Thibaut Courteous, Jean-Marie Pfaff, Michel Preudhomme, Logan Bailly or several others. 

Lucca Brughman, who is only 18, was sold for a record sum of 35 million euro. He will keep playing for Genk until at least January, but is looking forward to his new adventure in England. In the meantime, Genk supporters are wondering who the next big goalkeeper will be. 

Wild Wonderful Wednesday

Somehow, probably because of camp weeks, we have shifted our normal schedule of Wednesdays. In August we missed a Whodunit Wednesday. Rather than keep the skip in and retain the shift, I have decided to add a Wild Wonderful Wednesday here, which usually only shows up on a 5th Wednesday. 

Today we are going to take a bicycle ride. I do not take my bike as often as I could. We live on a canal with a bike path. I can bike to Veldwezelt (and do often on a Thursday morning when going to the Bible study with Ruud) in just about 25 minutes.  I barely need to ride along or cross a busy road and have bike path the whole way. I can also get into Maastricht, reaching our church building in about 35 minutes and also riding the whole way on separated bike path. But I usually only bike if the car is broken. 

If I were to bike, I would look at taking one of the many routes around our house. We are on the edge of a National Park and the bike paths crisscross our area, taking bikers through woods, along canals and rivers and into amazing areas of natural beauty. That is what I want to do today. So come along for the ride (even if it is in your imagination). 

From our house we can bike south along the canal, keeping the canal on the left. We cross left over our lock and turn right so that we can bike along “our” castle before returning to the canal, crossing over the bridge and continuing to the South. We bike past several WWII bunkers and then past the second lock on this canal which takes us to the Albert Canal. The larger boats ride this canal and we will turn right, up a hill along the side of the paper factory. 

We have a short section of busier road, but there is a separated bicycle path, so no worries. Crossing the bridge first, we ride down to the edge of the canal, now the Albert Canal, keeping it on our right. On the right the little town of Gellik rises above us, with its church pointing to the sky on top of the hill.  We pass under two bridges and follow the road up to the 3rd bridge to cross the canal.

We are now following a bicycle trail, well marked throughout this area. We can plan out the direction we wish to go by linking the connection numbers. We pass into the national park and are met by heather fields and quiet woods before passing through some little village homes on our way to more woods. Much of the bike path used to be railroad or local farm paths turned into well-maintained bicycle paths. 

Once we cross a main road we can stop at “The Four Lords” - a stone marking the point where four lordships met. This point was also used in the 15th century for judgements, so it is also known as the gallows. Just outside our house are where two of the castles, two of the lordships, were situated: Pietersheim and Rekem. 

Biking further we pass by the military domain on the left and come to “Biking through the Heather”, a special bicycle path which carries us through the outstretched fields of heather called the “Mechelse Heide”. At the right time of year the heather blooms purple and stretches out all around. You can see a bit more of what it is like with this video.

As we arrive in the town of As, we can stop for a bite to eat and something to drink at the Station in As. We can even play a short round of disc golf at one of the few courses in Belgium. The normal bike path would continue from here, making a nice loop. But we are going to head the other direction, back towards the river. As we ride we come out by the old mines and the hills made from the diggings. This has become a thrilling tourist attraction where you can ride over the water among the hills. You can see more of that here.

As we follow the bike path to the entrance of the park, we arrive at a shopping center  called Maasmechelen Village. Outlet shops, specialty stores and a cinema are all built around the former mine buildings, including several of the elevators still standing tall. Since we are on the canal here, we will follow it South. This is one of the longest straitest stretches of canal. Technically, if you had a camera good enough, you could see from near our house (at the castle in Rekem) to this point in Maasmechelen, meeting no obstructions. 

As we bike back home, we will pass an old windmill which has been turned into a restaurant and B&B before we reach the castle in Rekem. The last section takes us past a new cafe which has been built in what long ago was a bridge house - the home of the man who would open the bridge across the canal. 

And so we have see woods, fields of heather, special landmarks, lakes and hills in one bike ride. And this is just one of the many rides around where we live at the moment. This is one of the things we will miss.