today was great!!

once again it is really late here.

today was an AWESOME DAY!!! wow :) for the past week ive wanted to write about how much i like it here. besides the cold weather, which i know is just as bad in VA, everything is great. ive been able to make some really cool friends.

life has been up and down. i guess without that it wouldnt be such an adventure. as much as i think about the things that have recently occurred i continue to think about my purpose here in belgium. i thank god every day for what He has done for me. He has put me here and everything is happening because of Him. i dont know what the future holds for me and that is very scary...especially for those of you who know me well...i like to have a plan, a schedule, a vision. not for just the week, but the month, the year and so on. anyhooo im still learning to put my faith in Him because if he takes care of the birds how can He not take care of us? PLUS He has plans to makes us prosperous and successful.

so...the valley sucks, but you cant be on the mountain till youve passed through the valley.

pic worked!!!! wahhooo...its of some girls at the fall camp :) love it!!!!!!!

hugs and kisses

march for Sadia

this is a link to a page that was made in memory of Sadia whom I lived with at the Murrus for 2 weeks and who was killed by her brother on October 24th, 2007.

It's in French. There is an organized march planned for tomorrow in Charleroi.

http://sadia12.skyrock.com/

frontline internet campus

man! fronline internet campus IS SOOOOOOOO COOL!

i am so thankful for it. belgium is great and all, but i wish people would really take advantage and realize how precious worship and church is in the US. we are very lucky there and often dont realize it. it is VERY dead here.

it was amazing to feel like i was there! and all along ive been telling my friends how much i miss worship, hearing a good sermon, the fellowship. i definitely felt i had it last night. i REALLY felt connected.

its neat to be a part of the internet campus, but the coolest part is that it makes me more passionate for the people here in belgium. oh they are missing so much. the only way they can get it is if we bring it to them! ITS INCREDIBLE!! i dont know how to explain it. i am excited about going to frontline in person on the 2nd of december!..you dont even know!!! :) :) :)
..............................
today i didnt have my meeting with malia :( but she was able to spend time with the boys.

so i went to school. then had a supplemental french time with some women in my french class. then came home and rested. now doing bills and working on some stuff.

will be going to the gym soon. things are a little less stressful for the moment, but i still have to memorize my verses, finish reading my books, and respond to what i have read.

picture upload thing not working. ..OF COURSE.
BELGIUM REPRESENT!!!

today

club was fun last night
we had 15 kids for dinner at 6:30 and then we had club at 7:30. we played games, sang, then talked about being pro-active. one of the 7 highly effective habits for teens.

today i went to Mezi's house. i am going to spend an hour a week speaking, playing, and teaching her son english. he is really cute. after that i came home and just loafed around. i loved it. man did i need a day to do nothing! now im on the computer chatting with some kids.

tomorrow i plan on going to church, coming home to have lunch, then cleaning after the bazarre from Friday, and reading. im sure ill do my french homework late in the evening.

i had a great talk on msn with emilie! her dad doesnt want her to come to JV because we arent catholic and he thinks she needs to do the catholic stuff. she said she doesnt go to church because her parents dont go...they dont believe.. and the catholic church is boring. (anyhoo it was a good talk)

20 more days until i go home!

thanks for msgs

thanks everyone...
for your emails and messages. it means a lot to me to receive your thoughts, concerns, and encouragement.

i was washing the dishes on tuesday night at the murrus and thought of when sadia and i would do the dishes together...things are still weird, but definitely getting better. her body was being sent to pakistan for burial. (the spookiest part is: they sent her body in the wedding dress that had been bought for her to wear)

also still feeling weird about katelynn and duane. please pray for a MIRACLE! we serve a BIG God. he can do BIG things.

only two ppl :(

its really late here. today was such a productive day! i love when i REALLY get things done and can check them off. yes i had a good day because i worked hard, got a lot done, and best of all love my job.

i think when you absolutely enjoy what you are doing and know that youre truly making an impact that is just right where you need to be. woot woot!

HOWEVER!!! im a little discouraged. seems like on 2 people are going to be on my prayer team :(

end of oct. beginning of nov.

well this week is all saints week and the kids have off of school. i was hoping to get back on track with all the work that has been piling up. since my parents were here and i didnt have internet things have been on hold. now everything is back on track except when my computer decided to croak again! grrrr. Dennis i need you ;)

for now i can deal with it, but i hope that everything can be fixed while im at home. what do you think dennis? will you spare a couple hours to give my computer a check up?

last weekend was camp and it was GREAT! however there were many people who were sick. yup, so i got sick too. this week hasnt been so bad...just lots of tissues everywhere, lots of tea, cough drops, etc. you know how it goes.

lee corder also came last thursday with rick beckwith. it was a good time of sharing about the ministry and some visions for the future.

ill be studying today, tomorrow, and sunday for my BIG french exam on monday. it will be 3.5 hrs of what we have learned since september. doesnt sound like a long time but when you learn like 2 or 3 things a day it is A L O T!

Priscillas birthday is on Sunday so ill be going to the murrus house for her birthday lunch. she will be 14!! she is getting so old :) the lunch will be a sit-down lunch with both roselie's family and sergio's family. that means like 40 some people!

fall camp TODAY! prayer requests

going to fall camp today
pray that it will go smoothly. For the leaders, the clubs, the activities, the traveling to and from, the cooks, the preparations, for changed lives, for kids to see Christ.

Other prayer needs:

• For peace, forgiveness, wisdom, and comfort for our team after the death of Sadia.
• For Duane, Elizabeth's brother whom we recently has cancer.
• For the Moore family. As well as Uncle Paul, Aunt Robin, Sarah, and Kellie as they deal with Katelynn's death on Wednesday. She is also part of my extended family.
• The small study that we are having on Thursdays: "arpijei" (we are keeping it small to get things going)- The girls are very excited! I think we have established good ground work and trust. They have expressed to me how comfortable they are with sharing with one another. Pray that this time is a time of really digging into the Word and learning how to seek after the Lord.
• Clubs- that it is animated, fun, interesting, and that it is about God and not about numbers or putting on a show. Pray that the kids feel welcome and will invite their friends. Also, that they will be encouraged by what Sergio will be presenting.
  

news on sadia

recent news...posting what i sent out to you all.

was going to send a normal update. this is more important. thanks for your prayers.

somber and still awake,

jessica

________

Dearest friends and family,

Oh, how precious is a life. Today has been a day of mixed emotions. I received news of the death of a friend of the Murrus. She was a 20 year old Muslim girl that went to high school with Sarah, the Murrus oldest daughter. She had some family problems as she resisted her arranged marriage. She wanted to live her life as she wished. Sadia was striving to work in the law field. To escape from her family she was staying at a women’s shelter in Brussels and commuting to Charleroi where she took classes.

This June Sadia lived with the Murrus for 2 weeks where I spent quite a bit of time with her. We had some good discussions on the difference between being Christian and being Muslim. During this time both she and I were studying. She was studying for her exams and I was preparing my YL papers. Sadia was very energetic, fun, caring, and full of life. We would message each other on MSN to arrange a time to go downstairs and have lunch together. For our breaks from our work we would arrange to play JungleSpeed with Priscilla and Anthony. Sadia was very proactive. After finishing her exams she talked about finding a job and finding a place to live. It was most imperative she stay away from her family who were searching for her.

For two weeks, Sadia would wake up; put on a ball cap and a long jacket to disguise herself, and Sergio would drive her to school to take her exam. Often they saw her brother outside of her school. Luckily, as far as we know, he never saw her. After her exams, Sadia returned to the women’s shelter where she could only stay for a few more weeks. That time seemed to be good for her as she found a new school and a different city to be in. We talked over MSN a couple times. The last time we talked she wanted to invite the Murrus and I over for dinner at her new place.

Sadia really cared for the Murrus and definitely recognized everything they had done for her. She told me several times how thankful she was for them. They helped her a lot, and not just this time.

When we were talking about moving I had thought about her being my roommate. I know we would get along so well, however I was afraid of her family situation and how that would affect me. I never brought it up, but I did think it would be cool.

On Monday, Sadia was shot at two times by her own brother. She was in critical condition in intensive care. Early afternoon today she passed away. It is my understanding that they would rather see her dead than to dishonor the family.

I share this with you because this is REAL! I lived with Sadia. Sergio was like the father she was lacking. She knew exactly what the Murrus do as their career. She cared for them and they cared for her. I didn’t think this would affect me as much as it has. So often we don’t realize how precious our lives are. We MUST share The Truth! The time is NOW!

Please pray for healing, forgiveness, wisdom, and peace.
Love from a broken hearted team,

Jessica
(photograph of Sadia and Sarah at Priscilla's voice recital)

whats up..move, RPJ, club, family

i FINALLY moved! yup thats right. i have my own place! all though my stuff is there, im not sleeping there yet. it still feels like just a building. i feel alone there. pray that i can make it my home soon!

mom is coming on saturday...hopefully dad too!!! pray that they have a good trip here. also that it stops raining.

for my house...things are ok so far, but it is hard to fit everything that i need in my budget. i need to buy things for the house but will have to wait for another several months. the stuff that i have now i have managed to get second hand from an xpats site here. thats basically an online yardsale. all great deals.

tomorrow ill be getting together with the girls of "aRPiJei." that is what they decided to call it. pretty cool. anyway, we are going to start our actual study. will keep you posted. please pray for rebecca and perrine. that they will grow from our time together, from what we are studying, and from their application of what we learn.

club is on friday at my place!! pray that it goes well and that the kids will see Christ in us and what we are doing. pray that the night is only about the Lord and not anything else.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS AND PRAYING!

last weekend

what do you know blogger was being stupid and not letting me upload pics. so i waited until today!

ok back to last weekend. i woke up at 5:15 to leave the house by 6:10. walked down the gravel road(huge rocks that kinda hurt your feet) to the train station to catch the train. took two trains and arrived at the airport at 7:45. my goal was to try to get on the 8:50 flight to munich. once i got to the ticket counter the woman said i would have to buy another ticket if i wanted to get on the earlier flight!!! ahhh so i checked in and waited for my flight at 11:10. we were supposed to start boarding at 10:40. all in all my flight was delayed and we didnt leave the gate until 12:00.

while all this is happening barbara (YL Area Director in Spain) and Anna (intern in spain) were waiting for me. i was supposed to meet them at 12:30. they were so kind to wait for me.

after taking two trains and having someone pick us up from the train station (luckily we didnt have to take a taxi) we arrived at the training. it was great to be with everyone.

now i have some assignments to do on top of everything else that is going on here. good assignments of course!

the pic is of my new haircut :) ill be letting it grow out again.

KIDS!!!!

ahh im pooped right now. should have been in bed an hour ago. just a quick not to say how excited i am today about seeing kids.

i was walking in town near my new house with someone and i saw timothee! he is one of our club kids. he fell at school and twisted his ankle so he is walking with crutches. before that i saw joseph (another club kid) at the house im moving in to.

THEN i was walking back home (to where i am now) and passed by one of the schools. it was just on the way and it was not planned at all. so i saw clementine, said hello, and met her two friends (amelie and virginie). we had a little convo and then we said good bye. while walking again i saw perrine! we said hello and made plans to see each other tomorrow. so tomorrow perrine and rebecca are coming over to have lunch, chat about our bible study, and to study for school.

i just think it is so cool how i saw 4 kids today!!!!!!! and this was not planned! God is so good :)

anyway it was a fiasco of day, not to mention this weekend. ill write more tomorrow while the girls are studying.

j is out...

prayer requests

hello!

leaving tomorrow at 6 to walk to the train station to catch the train to the airport. hoping to arrive at the airport at 7:30. my original flight leaves at 11:10 however i am going to try to get on the 8:50 flight.

either way ill be in munich at 10:10 or 12:30 where i will meet ana and barbara. boy am i thankful we are going together. we have to catch the train in munich to starnberg which is over an hour trip. then we have to take a taxi from the train station to where our conference/training is. uhhhh what a long day it will be.

please pray for:

• safe travels to and from
• no travel anxiety
• smooth transitioning between modes of transportation
• safety in general
• a good training overall
• that i get some type of sleep
• that i can get my presentation squared away
• that the presentation will go well and will be well received (for saturday at the leaders weekend)
• when i get back i can catch up on all my email and homework.

club tomorrow- pray for a fun time, a good turn out, and for changed lives

i got my hair cut!! woot woot.... 5 euros. he he he yes thats right. it was either that or wait until december when i get home cause im not paying what it costs here to get a hair cut. RI- DICULOUS!

also, TOMORROW is our first club! yahhhhhooo. ill share what happens on saturday.

Vovo's 90th birthday

Oh my goodness! It worked :) wahhooo.

This at Vovo Pereira's (grandfather) 90th birthday service at his church in Boca Raton, FL. I wish I could have been there. They were all up until like 2:30 in the morning! Miss my family.

these days

blogger isnt uploading pictures again! ahhhhhkkkk what the heck? i have several mini posts to put up. ill keep trying, but this is like the 3rd day in row that it is not working.

yesterday i went to cornerstone international church. it was really cool. i liked it a lot. right now it is the best international (english speaking) church that ive been to. but, i've only been to two. im still going to go to other international and french churches. i hope to find a "home" international church and a "home" french church. i haven't felt fed at any french churches yet. im pretty sure it is because of the language.

i had class today with my new teacher. it was fine but different. i like the other lady better.

next week im going to munich. itll be my first time there. i really don't like german, so i'm sure it will be difficult for me to navigate over there. christophe will be picking me up from the airport here in brussels then we will go directly to the sea-side where we will have our leaders weekend.

french class

I have French class 3 mornings a week and really like it! My commute is a 10 minute walk. I will be moving to my own place on the 1st of October. Wahoooo! Right now I am living with my new friend Adriana. Everything here has been wonderful. Even though we will be living 5 minutes walking distance from each other, I will miss our time as roomies.

forever

it has been forever! man!

so here is some info on moi.

• I'm going to be the aunt of a baby niece!! wahoo.
• I'm getting ready to take french courses in Wavre (where I'm going to live)
• school starts (for the kids) in the next couple weeks
• I'm still catching up on email...like always
• i took 4 girls to Paris with me on Thursday! it was great :) pictures to be posted in the next several days
• had a leaders meeting for the Wavre club! it went well!
• will be in my own place between the 1st of October and the 5th
• going to live with Adriana in Wavre until i move into my house!
• things are going a lot better than before
• am SO appreciative of everyones prayers. 1,000,000,000,000 thank yous! He hears us!!
• the weather sucks here, but hopefully it will get better for September
• we have a calender filled of things to do. so if someone wants to visit let me know well in advance. after my birthday would be better...thats February 9th!
• going to a birthday party tomorrow for Mathias (Roselie's youngest nephew)

gotta run for now. its been non-stop here since last week. bisous!

MERCI! mille fois

Just sent off my newsletter. I get so excited when I push the send button :)

• I check it is off my "to do" list! (just being honest)
• For real, I mean all month I have so much to tell, but don't want to bombard everyone. So I have to be selective in what I write AND hope that it is something you want to hear.
• Telling you what is going on here is keeping you informed..I mean the only reason I'm here is because you have made it possible.
• There are fantastic things happening and who wouldn't want to be involved. It is like feeding the hungry. Who wouldn't want to say they were involved?

So, with that...I'd like to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your financial support, prayers, patience, love, and commitment! THANK YOU!!!!!

I'm not all about pointing people out because I am thankful to everyone, but special thanks to Rachel who weekly, if not more, sends me a card from home :) It really means a lot!

To see pictures from camp click here: Jeunesse et Vie Summer Camp 2007

Picture: of me in the Grand Place on Belgium's National holiday (like the 4th), smiling at you saying THANK YOU! missing everyone

sticking it through

I've been going to this small group on Tuesday nights in Brussels. It's pretty cool because I only knew one person and met everyone else. Adriana, who is Romanian, invited me to this English speaking international group.

This month we were studying James. Here is ONLY one verse that I've been reflecting on.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. —James 1:2

I'd also like to thank Nilsa for sending me a devotional that was exactly what I need to read/hear. The graphic and the next two sentences are from her. I hope that you too are blessed by these words and verses.

If we embrace adversity, accepting every pain, then we will learn what we should know; our grief will turn to gain. —Sper

God chooses what we go through; we choose how we go through it.

P.S. This group in NO WAY substitutes the group I come from in the States. I like this group because we can share, discuss, and learn. It is a good place to keep me growing, though I lack the close friendship. Miss you all!