Jim, Luke, Ben and I have been in Belgium for about six weeks.We have worshipped with members of our new church on several occasions.We served Communion in Dutch on World Communion Sunday (with our cheat-sheet note cards in hand).Our unofficial guide and official friend Alfons helped us translate what we wanted to say in the service and listened to us practice a week in advance.

We have entered a comfort zone with going to our language school in Gent, our sons' elementary school, the grocery store, and the local version of the discount department store.We have learned a few short sentences and questions we can use in conversations with people we meet:Who are you?Where are you from?I am Debbie.I come from America…

Our task for the first year of our work here is to immerse ourselves in the language and the culture.This task and our responsibilities as parents came together perfectly when a memo arrived home from school in Luke's backpack a couple of weeks ago.(It's very humbling not to be able to read notes that are sent home from your child's school.)I identified on the memo all the Dutch words I knew.That was about ten of 100.Then I went to Jaclin, a kind woman in our church who has children in the same school district as mine.I asked her what the memo was about.She explained that the parents organization from the school district was sponsoring a Tweedehandsbeur—a second-hand sale.They were asking people to bring items for consignment and for volunteers to prepare the items for sale and to actually work on the sale day.

Now, what a perfect opportunity for newly-commissioned missionaries.We have great expertise in getting rid of used stuff!Not knowing the local language would be the only obstacle to our full participation.Jim became the designated parental participant.He would go on Saturday and move tables and heavy items while I stayed home with the kids.When the big day arrived Jim had a great time meeting fellow parents who welcomed his halting efforts at speaking their language.Most of them spoke English well, so they were able to carry on conversations as they unloaded boxes of used toys and baby paraphernalia and lined up strollers and car seats.The people invited Jim to go back on Sunday, so this time I went and he kept Luke and Ben.

I guess all Tweedehandsbeur have the same feel no matter in what culture they are found.There was a line outside the entrance 45 minutes before the sale was to begin.I thought of the mob of people that crowded into our garage at 7:15 am on that cool May morning in Ohio, 45 minutes before the published starting time for our moving sale.The doors opened, and people rushed in to get the best item at the best price.I was assigned to the baby buggy area.Maybe the volunteer coordinator knew that the Dutch and English words for buggy are the same—"buggy".A school classroom, adjacent to a larger display area, had been converted into a baby buggy showroom stocked with 85 used buggies.We had every make and model!Have you ever seen a buggy with a built-in foot warmer?

I helped my customers as best I could.Neither my limited Dutch nor my lack of an engineering degree was very helpful in figuring out how to fold up those buggies. At one point, in desperation, I asked for help from a man who looked like he had probably worn one of those pocket protectors filled with mechanical pencils that engineers use at some point in his life.He folded that buggy in 15 seconds flat!No pun intended.

The best part of the day was watching the people.I watched a young couple in heavy winter coats test drive a well-cushioned green buggy around the display area.They walked away from the buggy clutching each other's hands and biting their lips as if to say, "What have we gotten ourselves into with this pregnancy?"I saw more than one woman pick up one of those disposable diaper gadgets known in the States as "Diaper Genies" and say "What do you do with this?"I watched a little girl as she ran from the door straight to the most brightly painted bicycle on display and jumped on before she turned to tell her parents that this bike was the one she wanted to take home.

This huge sale of used stuff felt familiar and warm.The blankets on the tables smelled like my blankets did when I opened the cardboard boxes in which they had been stored all summer and then shipped across the Atlantic.The car seats bore the stains of juice like Luke and Ben once spilled.The hard plastic tubs reminded me of the warm water and wiggly, wet babies our tub once held.

The used stuff sale brought me God's reassurance.In some ways, people in Belgium are a lot like people in the US.I saw in the faces of the young couple and those women the same emotions Jim and I felt when we were expecting our children.I recognized my sons' excitement in the little girl who came to buy a bike.I struggled right along with the folks who couldn't figure out how to fold their perspective new buggies.God is at work in the love of parents for children…new parents who anticipate the birth of a baby and parents who work together to provide resources for their children's schools.

So, we pray that as we learn Dutch and develop relationships with people here we will begin to understand how best to help these people, whom God is already using, to identify God as the source of all love.When we are able to do this, we and our Belgian friends will be bringing glory to God in this part of the world.We thank you for your prayers and for your financial support through the World Mission Offering.These gifts from you make this ministry possible.