April 25 - Frankfurt to Brussels

Friday
Both Verle and I had trouble getting to sleep last night, but we slept soundly later and were amazed when we woke up about 9:15 a.m. (Frankfurt time) to find the plane cabin full of chatting people and bright sun coming in the windows. We had a good breakfast on the plane and watched a bit of Holland and Germany through the clouds as we came in to land.
We walked within the airport to the train station and validated our Benelux/Germany Eurail pass at the train station. The ICE train left about two hours later for Brussels. As in 2001, Europeans were very helpful when we weren't sure where to go. We could only see about half of the ride to Brussels, because the train was often underground or the sides of the roadway were built up. The countryside that we did see was so green, and the European building style was enjoyable. We rode part of the way with Paul and Chris from Brazil. They are studying in Germany. Their insight into the politics of their country and ours was interesting. They are traveling to many parts of Europe. They shared a chocolate bar with us.




Catching the tram to Dan and Carrie Ritzmans was our first challenge and we had to do it twice. Dan had given us great and detailed instructions, but although we found the right ramp, we forgot to check the number on the front of the tram, and we ended up downtown. We had to ask at a computer shop to find out how to get back to North Station. We successfully reached Dan and Carrie’s home, and only had to walk three or four blocks carrying our backpacks.
Carrie had a wonderful three course meal for us -- deep fried cheese balls, salad, and wonderful whole wheat bread, a casserole, and a strawberry/pudding pie for dessert -- plus wonderful Belgian chocolates!. Everything tasted wonderful and her table was so pretty with colorful dishes.



It was very interesting learning about their work with the Iranians in Brussels. They had 25 at Bible study this week. Dan sees God doing a wonderful work in the Iranians. Many have dreams about Jesus and even dream Bible verses that they’ve never heard. They know Islam is not meeting their needs. The Inmans make unreasonable rules and change them on a whim. The Iranians are very open to the teachings of Jesus, and worship meaningfully and wholeheartedly. Their wholehearted, however, tends to promote arguments and problems between the Iranians. They, by their own admission, do not tend to forgive a sin committed against them. This leads to their field of friends becoming narrower and narrower. Faith in Christ is changing this for them. They have a house guest, Ron Frost, a single man, from the Portland area, who also joined us for supper. In his connection with Multnomah, he is a traveling supporter and encourager for missionaries in various parts of the world.
Dan gave us ideas for visiting Brussels tomorrow and took us to a lodging place for traveling missionaries run by Barry & Coreen De Vaal from South Africa. We are staying here for 30 Euros, including breakfast.