August sees the centenary of the start of WW I. Andrew and Sandra Rome take us back to one of its most famous locations
‘In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row’
So wrote Canadian army medic John McCrae nearly 100 years ago and over the next four years many thousands will visit those same Flanders fields to commemorate the events of the Great War. But how many will visit a lively, outward-looking evangelical church which has grown up there since McCrae made his sacrifice?
First stop behind the front line
Visitors will flock to Ieper (Ypres) and its daily Last Post ceremony at the famous Menin Gate. Many will also visit nearby Poperinge. Poperinge was the first place behind the front line where soldiers could feel reasonably safe from enemy fire.
Thus it was here that the Revd ‘Tubby’ Clayton ran Talbot House: a community centre for all ranks of servicemen and where rank counted for nothing. From Talbot House grew the international Christian service organisation TocH, which still works today and can be found represented in many towns across our country. Talbot House is now a museum dedicated to Clayton and TocH, and is well worth a visit in its own right. It is staffed by UK volunteers, offers simple accommodation and ‘proper’ English cups of tea!
But for most visitors the high point, literally and metaphorically, is the attic chapel where Clayton would conduct services for those about to go to the front line, many of whom would not return. In recent years this chapel has been visited by famous veterans, such as Arthur Halestrap and Harry Patch. Nearby on Poperinge’s handsome market square is the meeting place of Poperinge Evangelical Church.
Church planting in Belgium
In the years after the Great War, evangelists from the Netherlands, and some from the UK, began to work together to plant churches in the Flemish-speaking areas of Belgium. Poperinge’s church is one of those church plants flourishing today. Others include one in the centre of Brugge, which has good links with the Poperinge congregation. Over nearly a century of existence churches are bound to experience ups and downs, and Poperinge is no different. Like many churches in Belgium they are now experiencing challenges not of their own making. Abuse scandals have hit the Roman Catholic church worldwide, but in Belgium they were particularly damaging because of the strong influence of Catholicism in the political life of this previously devout nation. The corruption and crimes which came to light in the 1990s during the time of Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene have made Belgians cynical about all Christianity, not just Romanism, so making the work of evangelical churches much more difficult. For Poperinge there is the added problem that as their young people go to university in the big cities and then on to jobs, they are drawn into large urban congregations which see growth at the expense of those in rural Flanders.
Despite these challenges however, our experience while worshipping with the congregation was that they are moving forward and experiencing blessing. That it is an outward looking congregation was demonstrated for us by the fact that one of the ladies in the church had recently returned from an international women’s conference held in London. The service was of course conducted in Flemish, though we were welcomed in English at the beginning. A young man offered to interpret the sermon for us, which he did by sitting between us and translating the preacher’s words as he spoke. Brought up in a non-Christian home, this young man had come to faith through the witness of contemporaries who belonged to the congregation. English is widely understood in this area of Flanders, but his particular skill came from time spent in the Belgian Air Force where NATO staff work is routinely conducted in English. We had similar help when we attended the evangelical church in Brugge on a previous visit to Belgium.
Sharing testimonies
The service was informal and involved quite a lot of chorus singing – the words might have been Flemish but the tunes were sometimes recognisable. So we joined in as best we could, though our attempts at the Flemish version of ‘All over the world the Spirit is moving’ were not entirely successful – we did much better on the one verse sung in English! A significant part of the meeting was given over to sharing recent experiences and one testimony was particularly encouraging. A young single mother had been wondering how she would manage the little money she had to see her and her children through to the end of the month. She had laid the matter before the Lord and that day her (non-Christian) employer had unexpectedly offered to pay her a substantial amount in advance. In this she saw the providence of God, rejoiced, and encouraged the whole congregation.
Going on with Jesus
This young lady had a number of children and was in a ‘financial mess’ when before one Christmas she saw a notice advertising a free meal event for disadvantaged people, which was organised by the Church’s Abba (Father) group. She had not been at the meal very long when it dawned on her that there was no connection with the Swedish super-group, as she had supposed and hoped! However, she stayed, thanked the church and went off. Some time later she contacted one of the elders – could she have a Bible? Well of course she could. Nothing was heard from her for a while, then she made contact again. She had been reading her Bible – could she come to the church’s Bible study? Well of course she could. Soon after beginning regular attendance she had been saved and now, despite the challenges of her life, is going on with Jesus.
If you find yourself in the area then do visit this warm-hearted congregation. They are happy to converse over tea and coffee after the meeting – we found their English to be much better than our Flemish! As a visitor you will be a most welcome encouragement to them, and heartily welcomed by them.
