Carnaval was originally a religious holiday.It was one last party before the rigors and deprivations of Lent, a Belgian Mardi Gras.Now, in our community, it comes in the middle of Lent.(Shall we say that it has lost its religious significance?)The festivities culminate in a parade on Sunday afternoon and an all-night ball that evening.The parade goes past our house, during the time of our worship service, which meets in our front room.Our house sits eight feet from the street.The parade is riotous, to put it quite mildly.The noise would make it impossible to finish our service.Is the parade a barrier to worship or an opportunity for outreach?Our congregation decided that the parade was an opportunity from God for outreach.It was so thoughtful of God to route it past our house!

We made sacks to distribute on the street.The sacks contained information about our church, a bookmark with a scripture, candy, and a homemade cookie.Everyone in the church took part in the preparation.

We started our service 1 ½ hours early so we would be ready when the party began.We never completed our service.The parade began, and the noise called us from worship into the street for ministry.

This is what we wrote in the folders about our church:

-We believe that everyone is loved by God.

-We believe that through worship, Bible study, friendly community, prayer,

singing, and fellowship we can experience God's love in our lives.

-We believe that Jesus can lead us to eternal life.

Then we cited two passages from John:

-You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free [John 8:32].

-I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly [John 10:10].

Among all the confetti, candy, silly outfits, and outrageous floats, we distributed sacks with a message of hope and new life.Who among us knows what God will do with these words?In a place like Belgium, we have no hope apart from what God can do through our meager witness.

Jesus was very good at celebrating.He was constantly at feasts.He was celebrating the love of God. The Belgians are very good at celebrating.Our church's prayer is that more of them will begin celebrating the love of God.This year we distributed 200 sacks.We have already agreed that next year we will distribute 1000 sacks.Who knows, maybe we'll wear some funny wigs.

We want to thank you for your support of our ministry through your prayers, cards, and contributions to United Mission and the World Mission Offering.(Does the World Mission Offering cover funny wigs?)We feel your support and concern each day as we go about daily tasks.

Here are some prayer concerns:

• A woman in our church who is recovering from surgery
• Registrations for our Dutch-language summer children's camp(Debbie and I have been promoted to co-directors this year.)
• Response to the sacks that we distributed at the parade
• The Belgian pastors' annual retreat that will be held the first week of April
• Our friend from Kyrgyzstan and her teenage son who are waiting word about their application to remain in Belgium as political refugees.

Sincerely,

Debbie, Jim, Ben, and Luke