Bonjour les amis,
Know what time it is? It’s time to connect with you and it’s time for CONNECT ’25 – our annual, summertime, student ministry training week! We’ll get to that event shortly. But first, allow us to reconnect with you and bring you up to speed on our activities from June and July.
As mentioned in our last newsletter, we attended theSERVE Campus student conference that took place in Montréal during the first week of June. Many thanks to those of you who gave toward this trip. This was a first invitation to come and meet with other student ministry leaders who joined from across the English-speaking provinces of Canada, as well as to discover the staggering need among students in this nation’s French-speaking parts. From our conversations, we understand that the number of francophone leaders with SERVE Campus’ mission in the entire and immense Québec Province is a whopping…0! You read that correctly…zero!
SERVE Campus – Canada
But what we did see right on Montréal’s street corners in the midst of the university zones were connection tables of the Revolutionary Communist Party and the Islamic Center, both vying for the hearts, minds and spirits of the 250,000 students in Montréal alone!
What a call for us to continue praying for this region of the world, for wisdom in how we can engage in this needy field, and for laborers with whom we might be able to connect and mobilize. Why not from within our own Students for Christ- Europe network? Or someone reading this email? Let’s talk!
Touring and praying on the campus of McGill University, where some of the 250,000+ university students in Montréal attend
Finland @ Midsummer
We returned to Belgium just in time for Blair to leave for Finland where he was the invited speaker for the family camp at New Hope Church in Espoo which included a wonderful Midsummer celebration, six youth who publicly declared their faith through water baptism, several new student ministry connections (one of whom is now coming to CONNECT) and a powerful time in God’s Word and Presence!
Family Visits
In early July, Josiah joined us back home in Europe after working in the TCK program in Springfield, MO at our missions headquarters and resumed his student job here in Namur. Caleb & Claire with their three girls then joined us for a week. And in mid-July, our daughter, Evangeline along with a former college roommate and several members of their Christian dance company, Enoch Contemporary Ballet, arrived in Belgium for the second half of their missions trip where they ministered in several churches and venues as a means of redeeming the arts for God’s purposes and glory.
BeNeLux + De sight-seeing and praying on the university campus in Luxembourg
So grateful that the Johnsons and ECB overlapped for a few days so the nieces could have some Uncle Si and Auntie E time
Finally, we’d like to ask you to pray for us as we leave for CONNECT tomorrow! This strategic student ministry event is the high point of our ministry calendar. Much of what we do during the year, culminates there in divine connections and calling! We are back to our pre-Covid numbers and momentum. Logistically, this will require some maneuvering with class sizes and meal times, but the enthusiasm and energy level is propelling us forward for the future. We are thrilled to have our Guiding Group alongside this year, taking on more and more of the leadership of SFC-Europe and of the conference. God has been so good!
Please pray:
- For smooth travel. Trains to the last stop just before the conference facility will not be running due to construction. Our team has stepped up and will be providing shuttles.
- For well-functioning technology. God will still move whether or not the sound and wifi are decent and the projectors and printers work. Yet, so much of the preparation of our office staff, speakers, teachers, and worship team depends on these things.
- For health and safety for everyone, including children.
- For divine connections and cross-pollination of ministry leaders and students to be equipped, empowered and encouraged!
Praise report: In our last newsletter, we asked you to pray for us to find a vehicle that we could use during our upcoming Fall itineration. God has answered favorably through a family connection who offered the use of a car for the few months we will be in the US. Thank you for praying!
Let us know if you would like a visit, individually or in your churches, anytime from September 2025 through mid-January 2026. We look forward to reconnecting and sharing about this next season in God’s mission!
With grateful hearts,
Blair and Dina
moonrise over Montréal