Nr.60 ended with: “And we became aware of the fact that God was sending us to Europe to do exactly that. Would that really happen? I wasn’t so sure of that the first while that we were in Belgium……! (See: richardandmarina.net)

More about that later. But now, with which Mission organization should we go? We had been praying about this and had no freedom to approach any Mission. We discovered that the Open Brethren Assemblies have some 1500 missionaries all over the world, without a Mission organization. They have Service Committees; for example, one in Toronto called Missionary Service Committee (MSC), and in the US, called Christian Missions in Many Lands (CMML). These committees serve the missionaries and the churches. They are recognized by the government and can give tax deductable receipts. They do not have authority over the missionaries, as they believe the missionaries should get their directions from the Lord. We came to believe that the Lord would have us go that way, just with Him, no organization. Later in Belgium it would become clear why this was so important. We now knew how we were to go, but we felt we were in need of three things, 1. A strong home church, 2. Co-workers and 3. Lots of Christians praying. The Lord had led us to a wonderful church which had become our spiritual home. We continued to pray that He would provide the right co-workers and we set out to seek real prayer partners.

Towards the end of October we packed up and drove West for the last time before going to Europe. We rented a small house in Herbert, Sask. and from there I visited assemblies in Sask. and Alta. I was in Edmonton for a month of evangelistic meetings, while staying with a family that would later move to Belgium and become our first co-workers. We also visited Vancouver, BC and stayed in an apartment that was especially for missionaries. The girls had a great time there and I visited quite a number of assemblies in and around Vancouver. Everywhere people promised to pray for us and for our future work in Europe. During April 1970, after having said goodbye to Marina’s family, we returned to Drayton, ON and to WBC to prepare for our moving overseas……! (Go to Musings)