Hello everyone! We are so thankful for you taking the time to read
this update. This one is a super exciting one! There is so much to
share and go through. We have been really busy over the past
months and hopefully the updates will explain why! God is really
having an impact on the people of Antwerp and here is the latest
snippet of what we are doing in the city with the church we are
leading and its growing congregation.
Firstly, we recently took some of our leadership team to London
for the Alpha Leadership Conference, which was inspiring and
helped us grow as a team. The 13 attendees loved it and are
eager to return next year. The conference reinforced our mission
to impact our local community in Antwerp, encouraged us to
dream big, and highlighted the need to increase our leadership
team to disciple our growing congregation effectively and
sustainably.
Secondly, Lighthouse Fellowship helped spearhead a unity series with 2 other
international churches in the city. It was a huge
success, and everyone is looking forward to doing
something again next year. The joint worship night saw
hundreds of people coming together in praise and
thanksgiving. Sometimes being a Christian in Belgium
can feel like Elijah when he cried out to God saying I’m
alone here, and it’s so encouraging to see God at work
in many congregations and people’s lives.
Thirdly, we would love to share our latest project: A fair proportion
of our congregation lives outside the city of Antwerp. One group in
particular, live in the neighboring villages and towns to the west of
Antwerp. Since our congregation is expanding, it seems good to
us to plant a church in that direction. We will start with a house
church meeting once a month and build from there. We have a
core launch team of 7 meeting together to prepare. There is a big
need for healthy Bible-believing churches in Belgium, in both cities
and towns alike. Hopefully, this is one of many for the future as we
see the need to plant and help other churches grow as part of our
vision of building the kingdom here in Antwerp.
We have been using a local theatre for the past few years.
However, we really need a venue we can settle in, so that we
can expand the work we are doing. We have spent a lot of time
and effort building bridges with other denominations, as
historically the tensions between protestants and Catholics
have been notoriously bad here. This means that we may be
able to share a building with another church or take over an
unused church. Sadly, both options require special permission from the local Bishop,
who has not been very keen.
We are in the final stages of this process. Please pray that
he will look favourably on us and grant us the necessary
permission, so we can take the next step for the church into a
permanent venue.
Lighthouse has a cafe in the centre of Antwerp, which is
proving popular. The venue acts as another meeting point for
study groups, and we also have services and live stream from there.
Finally, we got a house! On June 19 th we will be able to sign the deed and get our
keys! We plan to move on 22 nd June, so we only have a few days to sort everything
out. It’s felt like a long process for us, but it’s gone very quickly in comparison to
others around us. God has given us favour! We will make a video as well and share
it with you and our plans for it! The ground floor will be used as an outreach space in
the centre of our local community. In particular, Rianne has been befriending many
families at the school gate, so it will be great to have a space we can invite them
into. This is going to really expand what we as a family are doing as missionaries to
this community.
Last and not least, our children are doing well. We just
celebrated Elissia’s 7 th birthday at the end of April! As you
will see from the photos, it was a multicultural affair! Many of
Elissia’s muslim friends are open to coming over for parties
and to play, which is a huge step for them. We are seeing
still increased connection in our local school and to the
families. It’s a slow process but they are opening up to us.
We also found out recently that our expected baby will be a
little boy! We are excited to have 2 girls and 2 boys. He is growing well and healthy
and the pregnancy has been very smooth so far. With the move to our house soon
we are preparing the growth of our family to a family of 6! The girls are very excited
about the new house as we really have outgrown our small flat. Also to have enough
space to have friends over.
In closing, we want to say a massive thank you to everyone who supports us. It is
because of you, we can do what we do. St Johns play such a huge part in providing
for our ministry. We wouldn’t be where we are today without it.
Lots of thanks and blessings from Belgium, The Adams Family
Prayer points
House & the move
Kids health and well being.
Callum & Rianne’s health. It’s been a battle on our health this past months.
Next school year and chances for more open doors with assemblies and being able to speak into the school and relationships with other parents.
Bishop granting the special permissions we need have access to catholic buildings and works with the local parishes.
That our new church plant will start well and have a good dynamic and culture.
For our church. It’s been 1 year since we took on the church and things are beginning to go forward with momentum. Lots of new faces that they can integrate into the church family.