When Mishell first visited us, we asked which language she spoke.
You see, she came with Philip and Susanne. Philip is from Togo, but he has lived quite a while in Germany and speaks German in addition to English. His wife Susanne is Aramean, but is born and raised i Germany, so speaks German. But she also speaks English. They have two children who speak German, but who are now learning French, since Philip and Susanne have moved to Belgium and settled in the French-speaking city of Liege.
Mishell is in French class with Susanne. She was looking for a church to attend and "happened" to be in class with Susanne, who just "happened" to know of a church where they attended. So Mishell came along on the 30-40 minute drive (a long drive for people here) Sunday morning. Mishell speaks English (and French now, of course). We were intrigued how she got to Belgium and learned that she had married a Belgian - an Italian Belgian.
You see, the area where we live is coal mining country. Back when the mines were open, there were a lot of guest workers, in Belgium and the Netherlands. in the area where we live that meant Italians, Turks, Greeks and Poles. The same has been true in Liege. So there is a rather large group of Italian-speaking, French-speaking Liegeois. And one of them is Mishell's new husband. They have been married just short of two years.
We were also interested in Mishell's faith. She obviously loved the Lord, since she was searching for a place to worship, was willing to go to the trouble of a longer ride, and do this with a family she was only just getting to know. It was also obvious in talking with her that she knew her Bible and saw the importance of not only reading the Bible but putting it into practice in her daily life. What an encouragement! It turns out (and I still want to learn the rest of the story) that she came to faith in Hong Kong and was baptized in the sea! But now she is our French-speaking, Italo-Belgian, Philipino sister in Maastricht.
Where we come from is much less important than where we are going.
hello Scott and fam!
ReplyDeleteLong time no see! I havent checked your blog in a while...and if you've checked mine you probably havent seen it updated in a while. After Derrick and I got married I started a new blog which I havent really been updating until now that we are in Japan. Somehow in the States I let my busy life get in the way of keeping in touch with people. Now that I'm in Japan I am trying to get back in touch with people. I really miss you guys and really appreciate your blog. Blogs like yours make me really miss Belgium a lot, but I'm really happy to be able to see how things are going.
Love and miss you all!
Randa
WOW!!! What an excellent point.
ReplyDelete"Where we come from is much less important than where we are going."
Scott, thank you for reminding us of the destination.