Kairos Week of Prayer and Fasting

This week is a special one for us.
It's set apart to pray and fast for Kairos and Koinonia.
Please join in!

'Fasting can be a window of God's grace. It can be a powerful way to draw near to God. It can be a way of seeking him to know his will and as a response to sin. It can be an expression of love for God and as a way to commission new mission.

It's assumed in the Scripture that you will fast.
Matthew 6:16 "and when you fast...."

Use this week to join with brothers and sisters from all around the world to fast and pray for God to work in and through us.

Pray and fast for yourselves
Pray and fast for greater holiness
Pray and fast for that you can know God more
Pray and fast for freedom from sin
Pray and fast for your outreaches
Pray and fast for labourers in the harvest
Pray and fast for resources
Pray and fast for people to work for outreaches as staff
Pray and fast for money to pay staff
Pray and fast for households
Pray and fast for men and women to say 'yes' to God
Pray and fast for more volunteers - for GAP years, for student missionaries, for people who just want to serve God

Pray and fast for more saints, missionaries and martyrs in our midst.

Spread the word, invite others'

Intercession

Good clip!

"And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the GAP before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none." (Ezekiel 22:30)

Poland!

Hi there!
Poland was class.
Great people, good schedule, beautiful nature, powerful retreat, amazing team and loads of fun!
I was struck by the generosity and hospitality of the people we met. It challenged me to take a second look at the way we receive guests...

The student retreat was located somewhere in the mountains with a beautiful sight. On saturday morning I woke up and the view from our window showed a beautiful blue sky over a frozen lake with some misty mountains in the background. STUNNING!! Best start of the day ever :)

The retreat itself went very well. Combine over 50 students from all over the place (Bielsko, Krakow, Sosnowiec, ... ) with some good teachings, prayer and fun and I guarantee a good experience.

Next to that we had a tour around Bielsko by Ania and Maciek.

Market square Bielsko-Biala

On monday we visited Szczyrk. For those who remember the kairos weekend in Poland 2008. That was in Szczyrk. So many nice memories came back :)

Here is a picture we took 4 years ago.

The only difference was the weather. This time it was cold and snowy...

And the last day we visited Krakow, where some of the students showed us around. It was good to see where they pray and meet as a group at the Dominicans (Beczka). A very beautiful city.

Also... I found my camera -thanks for your prayers :) - but only after I came back from Poland. So the only picture I have that we actually took ourselves is this one: 

our team: Maarten (Leuven) - Sam (Leuven) - Leah (Dublin) - Me (London) - Eoin (Dublin)

Dziękuję!

Next week

I'm leaving for Poland tomorrow.
The plan is to help out with the first Coffee stall in Bielsko, participate and support in their student-weekend away and get to know the Polish kairos-students a bit better.
Please pray for
- Gods presence,
- the participants
- protection
- all practicals
(and now that you're at it, pray that I might find my camera)

Half Birthday

Happy ... to ... Happy ... to ... Happy ... to... Sophie, 

Birthday ... you!

28th of February, I was quietly sitting in the front room at the Brothers house reading a book. When all of a sudden 6 people started marching in, singing the song written out above.

Apparently it was my Half Birthday.

they even used half a candle :)

Because my real birthday is in August, and because most of us will be back home in August, they surprised me exactly 6 months earlier. Very thoughtful and I felt very loved.

Thanks guys!

Also, the rice pudding they made me, reminded me of those lovely mornings at my grandma's house in de Sophoraslaan. Great memories :)
(Al miste ik wel de gouden lepels)                                    

February

February... getting closer to today!

Mid February we all went up to Dublin for the Kairos weekend. Theme: Power -from within, from on high, in common and power to proclaim -
Great opportunity to serve. Some opportunity to catch up with people. And I have to admit that in the middle of all the craziness, God found a way to have a chat with me too.
Monday I got a chance to meet up with my Godmother, who lives in Dublin. It was lovely to catch up and to see her new apartment!

After the Kairosweekend we got a few days off. This year I realised that one of the things that make me relax most are some good walks in nature. A nice park or forest is my favourite, but even a walk around Acton can do the job.
What is it that makes you regain your energy? Think about it, it's a lot more effective than to just sit around and do nothing.

I forgot to say in the January update that our schedules changed. We have a normal amount of time for sleeping now and more time for morning prayer. A very welcome change. Next to that we still have our 4 training sessions a week, time to do different jobs and more study time. (With study time I mean time to prepare some of the talks we give each other. Mostly about a book we were reading. Or time to study for the psalmscourse. )

Koinonia has gotten into second gear. Great things are happening and the students are starting to ask for deeper stuff. Time for us to start thinking about that. What a good challenge to have! ptl!

Alright, this was February.
Coming up: some short stories from the past weeks or general observations :)

January part II

I'm so far behind! It's already march and I'm still writing about january...
Do you mind if I just give you some headlines about what happened next, so that I can continue writing about everyday things again?

Mid January we had our Koinonia weekend away in Buckden Towers. The theme was 'JOY'. Joy being more than a feeling. Joy coming from ONE source. Joy being something you will not find if that is the only thing you're looking for. Joy relating to Hope.
We were around 40 people, koinonia students, foreign gappers and staff included.

After that weekend we stayed for a couple of days for the GAP retreat. All the European gappers in one castle. Thinking and praying about the future, looking forward. A lot of good things came up for me. And some great star-thoughts stayed. A time I will not quickly forget. A question came up though: How is it possible to be an active member of a community, maybe have a career, have a family, have a good prayer life, keep your friends and still be a good person with enough energy to look out for the needs of the people around you? If you have a practical and concrete answer, please let me know! You'll be a lifesaver :)

Back in London I had a nice time with Clare D. One thing that will stay with me is when we were in Westfield, by far the biggest and poshest shopping centre I have every seen, sitting on one of those leather benches, praying and reading our bibles. How often do you meet a friend you get to do that with?

However nice all these things where, January was a difficult time for me. I guess after 5 months of running from one good thing to another, at some point the energy bar starts to look red. Luckily I have some very good leaders here who took care of it very well. February onwards things started to get better and I believe I learnt a lot about managing energy levels in a responsible way. One more thing to take back home in July!