Missionaries Wanted for Belgium
Kontaktmission missionaries Matthias and Sabine Valenta, German nationals, have been working in Diksmuide, Belgium since 1997. Matthias was trained in retail business and Sabina as an elementary school teacher, but they also attended Bible college and began to look into needs in foreign lands, including in Belgium. Matthias writes, "We had the opportunity to do a 7-month internship in the German-speaking part of Belgium. During this time the spiritual need of this country first became really clear to us, and would not let go of us. We began to ask God if He would want us in Belgium, and He began opening the doors." The following is an article Matthias wrote specifically for our KMUSA newsletter, translated from German and edited for length.Belgium's Spiritual Situation
The influence of Martin Luther in the 16th century caused many people in Belgium to begin to read the Bible, and about 600 Catholic churches adopted the protestant theology at that time. But the resistance to the Reformation was great, and tens of thousands paid for their protestant faith, many by being burned at the stake. Then, at the council of Trent (1563), Protestantism was officially denounced. Many Belgian protestants left for neighboring countries, with the result that, even today, Belgium is (officially) up to 90% Catholic. Until 1962 the Bible was considered a forbidden book for regular citizens, reserved only for the consideration of the Catholic priesthood, and it was not legal to read it. For this reason alone it is not surprising that many Belgians are completely unfamiliar with the Bible. It is simply an alien book to them.
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Area: 30,518 sq.km. Population: 10,161,164 Capital: Brussels (capital of the European Union & Headquarters of NATO) Official Languages: Flemish, French, German Economy: Became a nation in 1830 as a constitutional monarchy, has a fully federal constitution since 1993. Religion: There is full freedom of religion, but official recognition is given to selected main religions. |
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| These statistics are from Operation World, 21st Century Edition, by Patrick Johnstone & Jason Mandryk |
Demographics
This small country called Belgium is very complex. There are 3 official national languages. The north is known as Flanders, and Flemish is spoken here. The Flemish account for about 57% of the population. In the south are the French-speaking Wallonen at about 35% of the population. There are also just a few German speakers in the east, as well as various groups of immigrants who live mostly in the larger cities of Brussels and Antwerp.
Brussels, the capital, is the most important city with about 1 million residents. But Brussels is also important for all of Europe and for the world, because it is the home of both NATO and the European Union (EU). Brussels is increasingly at the very heart of political and cultural development in Europe.
Why Are We Looking for Missionaries for Belgium?
As we said, the spiritual need in Belgium is staggering, with evangelicals representing just 1.1% of the population (other estimates say it's just 0.6%). Biblical faith is simply unknown to Belgians, and in many cities there is not a single evangelical church. It is very important that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the message that sets people free, is preached in this land that is so strongly influenced by Catholicism.Some of the missionaries in Belgium work completely independently. We prefer working in teams, but there are unfortunately too few workers even considering working here for us to think of creating such teams. There are also very few Belgians who are serving Jesus fulltime in their homeland, simply because there are so few Christians in the first place from which to draw.
We are specifically looking for workers to help by joining existing church planting teams, workers who are interested in and gifted for new church work and who are team players. We also offer the option of an internship with us, which would allow the opportunity to experience both Belgian culture and church work in a Belgian setting. We can also arrange internships in either of the other two language areas.