Athens Update #2

Friday January 30, 2003

Greetings from Athens!

A fair bit has happened since my last letter a couple of weeks ago. I’ve had the opportunity to take part in many aspects of the ministry here, get to know both the staff, and some of the refugees better, and do some more sightseeing.

During one of the drop-in times, I had the opportunity to work with the children here. Briare, a young Albanian boy comes here quite often. His father is a blind man who sells cigarettes on street corners to make some money. His mother is mentally ill, and generally not in his life at all. The result is a young boy who is quite a handful – I guess that’s the only way he know to get attention. While there are children like this back home, Briare is a refugee who doesn’t have the same services and safety net available to him that we’ve grown used to. Please pray for him, and the many other children like him.

I’ve also been kept busy teaching an English class, helping in the kitchen, playing backgammon with refugees, cleaning up tables, etc. I’ve also gotten to have some great talks with some of the refugees, staff, and volunteers here. It’s been exciting to see the diversity of the body of believers, and how we are all able to work together so well.

Another exciting opportunity I’ve had here is in building relationships with other short term people that have come through the ministry. Sky was here for just over a week. He’s been traveling through Europe for several months, visiting a number of missionaries as he explores his future in ministry. I had the opportunity to have a number of great discussions with him about missions, ministry, life, and things he could be doing in the future. These sorts of talks are things that always excite me, and something I’d love to be able to do a lot more of.

I’ve also had the opportunity to do some more sightseeing here. A couple of weeks ago, I got to visit ancient Corinth. The top right picture is one of me at the Bema Seat where Paul was brought in Acts 18:12. Seeing sights that are referred to in the bible has been pretty exciting – it helps to make those passages come more alive for me. I also had a chance to see more of the ruins in Athens, including the marketplace near Mars Hill. In that area, there are ruins of many temples, shrines, places of worship, etc. to many gods, just like Paul mentioned when he spoke to the philosophers and leaders there.

I’ve also included several other pictures of my time in Corinth. One is a picture of the bathhouse in Corinth. Also, above the main city of Corinth, is Acrocorinth, the more secure part of the city at the top of the mountain. There, we were able to explore the ruins of what looks like a military fortress. Being quite a high point, it also provided an amazing view.

As you might expect, this time away has also been quite a learning time for both Grace and I as we have to deal with being apart for an extended period of time. I’m excited to say that the relationship continues to deepen as a result. It’s been tough at times, but good too. Before leaving on this trip, we had wondered what would happen between us. Distance like this can be a real acid-test of a relationship. Sometimes, people forget about each other, while other times, they really miss each other. Both reactions say a lot about their real feelings for each other. It has been exciting to see my feelings for Grace grow as a result of my time away. Would you be praying for the two of us? Our relationship is getting quite serious. Please be praying that God would continue to teach us lots during this time, and that we would continue to seek His guidance in where He would have this relationship go.

Thanks so much for your prayer, encouragement and support during this time, as I grow, and seek God’s continued direction in my life. Praise Him for what He’s doing, and continue to pray that it would become clear where He wants me next.

For His glory,
Steve.

Hello from Athens!

Friday January 16, 2003

Greetings Friends!

I’ve been in Athens for almost a week now. I hear people have been starting to wonder how things have been going. What has Steve been up to?

Well I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy. I arrived this past Sunday afternoon. Monday is the day off for the missionaries here, so I had the opportunity to get a tour of the city, and see some of the historic sites. I’ve included a few pictures here, including Mars Hill, where Paul spoke to a meeting of the Areopagus in Acts 17. It was basically a large rock that people could sit on and talk. It’s been kept essentially the way it was, aside from a plaque with Acts 17 written on it in Greek.

Tuesday and Thursday of this week, I had the opportunity to go into the Athens Refugee Center (ARC) that International Teams started 13 years ago. It’s a drop-in center for Refugees that are passing through, or hoping to settle in Athens. Currently, the refugees are primarily from Sudan, Somalia, Iraq (both Iraqis and Kurds), Iran, and Afghanistan.

At the ARC, we hand out food to around 400 people, have space for them to sit and talk, play games, and watch the Jesus video. The video is usually playing in one of the languages represented by the people that come in.

I’ve had the opportunity to sit with several of the men, and play Backgammon, or some other similar game, and talk. It’s been interesting to see the different variants of the game, including ones where the rules seem to change mid-game. Communication with refugees can be a challenge at times, as there’s generally quite a language barrier. So far, the guys I’ve sat with are able to speak a bit of English, but generally not very much. To be able to sit and play a game has been quite helpful, in that it gives me an opportunity to begin building a relationship with the person I’m playing with, time to struggle through simple communication, and try to show Christ’s love.

The team here also runs another ministry they call “The Nest”. It’s a house they open up to refugee families and single men who are seekers or new believers. They have space for 30 people to live for up to a year, and while they’re there, they have bible studies, and various other discipleship opportunities. I had the opportunity to have supper there with a bunch of the people one evening. We had an Iranian meal of rice, and some sort of vegetable and meat sauce we put over the rice. It was quite nice.

Thanks so much for your continued prayer while I’m away. Please continue to pray:

• That I would be a blessing to the team


• That I would be able to build good relationships with the refugees I come in contact, and have opportunities to point them to Christ


• That I would be open to all God has to do in me while I’m here


• That God would continue to direct in next steps in ministry, and my relationship with Grace, and that I’d be willing to follow where He leads

Thanks again for your interest and involvement in my life. May God richly bless you.

For His glory,

Steve Van Bruwaene

Note from Neil Ostrander

Dear Friends of Steve Van Bruwaene,

I am writing you today on behalf of Steve to inform you of some major changes we're making at International Teams of Canada.  As you know, Steve has been working under the leadership of Craig Bauman who is the director of our Encounter Teams program.  After a series of meetings with Craig, we've made the decision to close down Encounter Teams. 

As you can imagine, this is a difficult decision for us.  However, there are several elements that we counted on to “feed” interns into Encounter Teams that have simply not materialized.  After much consultation we've concluded that we as an organization are just ahead-of-our-time in the development of such a program.  While we may pick up this approach sometime in the future, I need to state unequivocally that we are no longer pursuing interns for Encounter Teams.  We continue to mobilize individual interns with our teams around the world, but the Encounter Teams approach will not be pursued. 

Also, Craig and Steve's leadership is so valuable to us that we are eager to deploy them in areas where they can be more effective and leverage their personal strengths.  So, while it is difficult to let go of a dream, we are confident that God is leading us in these decisions. 

Steve has demonstrated his Godly character and his ministry skills to us and other leaders within IT. During his time in the Philippines he was able to offer practical help while learning some valuable lessons in cross-cultural ministry. Gani Sison, our East Asian director said to me; “Steve is a real hero around here! He has helped us with problems that we’ve been trying to get fixed for months!”

Steve is also heading to Athens to work with our Refugee Team there. I know they will be thrilled to have Steve’s help. I was just there with a team and I was reminded that our Athens Team needs dedicated young men like Steve. I would be excited to see Steve get “grounded” there as we will be sending a number of short-term teams to Athens this next year. Steve would then be available to join some of these teams and help them be more effective in their ministry in Athens.

While the Athens trip is “set” and we have some initial ideas about how Steve can be used in the future, we want to seek the input and advice of leaders from Steve’s home church. I expect the process to unfold during the first part of the New Year.

Can I ask you to join with me in praying for Steve? He is a quality young man with a genuine desire to serve God. He will need our encouragement during this time of transition and re-deployment.

If you have questions about International Teams Canada please do not hesitate to call Craig or me at (519) 669-8844.

Blessings to you,

Neil Ostrander

President & CEO

Important Update

Wednesday January 7, 2004

Greetings Friends!

I trust you have all had a good Christmas break.  Mine has been rather different than normal, with lots to share.

Many of you have been praying for the next Encounter Teams program – that God would raise up participants for that program, so we’d be able to have a team this summer.  Well, it seems that God has other plans, and we are again faced with not having any participants.  As a result of this, and other things we are working through as an organization, the leadership here at International Teams Canada (ITC) has decided to bring Encounter Teams to a close.  I’ve included a letter from Neil Ostrander, the President of ITC, which will give you some more info on this.

As a result of this change, I find myself in a position where I am still excited about missions and International Teams (IT), but needing to work through where I can fit now.

At the same time, there are other developments in my own life.  This past fall, I've been getting to know a nice girl at the church I'm attending here in Waterloo.   Grace and I started dating in mid-December.  This has actually been quite a surprise to me – the whole thing has been very unlike anything I had expected, or sought after, but instead something that God seems to have orchestrated.  One of many surprises for me is that she’s a single mom.  A while back, through a series of bad situations and choices, she ended up getting pregnant.  Her pregnancy and subsequent birth of Aris (her daughter) has given Grace the drive to get her life back on track with God, and she is becoming a great woman of God.

Obviously things are still fairly new, so we'll see where God takes this relationship, but it is beginning to look like another development in my life that's likely to have an impact on the process of reshaping my role in the coming months and years.

I recall a year and a half ago when I was working through where God was calling me, it became clear that He was pointing me in the direction I ended up heading this past year.  But the destination was never clear.  It was more like God was saying, “start walking in that direction.  I’ll tell you what you need to know as you go along.”  It seems Encounter Teams was not the final destination, but simply something He placed in the path for a time to help prepare me for whatever He has in store.  It will be exciting to see what He continues to do along the way.

Would you pray for all of us (leaders at ITC, Grace, myself, church leaders, etc.) as we seek God’s direction in the coming months?  We are considering several possibilities in the area of mobilization, short-term teams, local ministries, and perhaps other things as well. Please be praying that it would become clear where God would have me serve next, and that we would all get excited about it.

Long before the decision to close down Encounter Teams, I was planning to join our Athens Refugee Team for a month.  I’ll be leaving this Saturday.  Among many other things, this should be a great time to think through and even explore various possibilities for future ministry, and to learn more about myself as well.  Please be praying that I would be a real blessing to the team there, and that I would be open to all God has to teach me while I’m away.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers, especially during this time.

For His Glory,

Steve.