On the weekend from September 12 to 14 our church went to visit it’s partner church in Mainz, Germany.

As always we have been welcomed with open arms. The food was set and the guest families were ready waiting to pick up their guests for the weekend.

Friday night was short because we had arrived rather late then planned. One of the cars of our Church members had caught fire while on the way to Mainz. Although it wasn’t a positive experience, we can thank God that there weren’t any big accidents because of it. We hope and pray that everything will turn out alright.
Also the people from the church in Mainz have done what they could to help in this episode.

When arriving in Mainz we had great meal. Following the program was shared and the people were appointed to their guest families…. Except for the youth who stayed in the church together with the local youth.

While the adults had a city trip in Mainz on Saturday and visited the Gutenbergmuseum, the youth spend time together sleeping, eating, chilling and had a wonderful afternoon in a indoors climbing track.

The youth and the adults were invited Saturday noon by the church of Mainz at a local Thai restaurant.

During Saturday evening, while the youth spend time together, the adults had a small gathering and had the mayor of Mainz visiting for half an hour. During this small meeting testimonies and news was shared from both churches. They also took some time to pray.

Sunday? A wonderful breakfast and church service.

After the service a great buffet was waiting for us. After the meal we were blessed for the trip back home to Belgium.

Mainz: Thank you very much for the wonderful time, the warm welcome and the well filled program. Also the youth from the Evangelisch-Freikirchliche Gemeinde Mainz.

On Friday, march 14th, 2014 we welcomed our brothers and sisters from Springfield – Chelmsford, United Kingdom. The Springfield Park Baptist Church is in partnership with the Bethel Church in Lombardsijde, and every year we look forward to meeting again our “family”.

Also this years was a wonderful meeting. It was to late on Friday evening to have any program in place so we had a chat and went to sleep.

Saturday morning, breakfast and then off we went. The first thing on the program was the Talbot House in Poperinge. We would first meet more people, who came later from England, at the Poperinge parking.

The Talbot House was a wonderful experience, once you knew what it is all about. We this a recommendation to take a look at their website and even visit the place itself.

We were warmly welcomed by a guide who share the story about this wonderful house. Also we were offered a free cup of real British tee. We could enjoy the environment and each other’s company while other took care of the ambiance on the piano.

The top floor of the Talbot House is a chapel, where we took the time to reflect a little and listen to the history of the house and chapel. Wonderful to find out how many people gave their hearts to God in this place.

Later that afternoon we passed by the Menin Gate. An impressive monument were war victims are daily remembered.

And what a better way to close the day with real Belgian fries and stew.

Sunday, after a wonderful service, followed by a delicious meal it was time again to say goodbye. But we are already looking forward to meeting our British brothers and sisters again.