1. Trip to Machu Picchu with Ani. Our daughter took time off to travel around South America starting in September 2017. She invite us to join her in Peru in May 2018, and we spent an amazing week hiking Incan sites, eating ceviche and guinea pig, and re-connecting with her in the spiritual journey that she is taking this year.
  2. Historic family gatherings. New Year’s Day 2018 saw Carlton and me (Shannon) on the beach in Perth, Western Australia! We were spending a warm Christmas with my sister Shelly and her family, our farthest-away family members. It was my first time back to my hometown in 15 years. Thanksgiving 2018 was also a historic occasion, as we got together both with our kids (Ani, Parker, and Parker’s wife Ashley) and our parents (my parents, David & Barbara Cross, and Carlton’s mom, Anna Deal). It was the first time we had ever gotten this whole group together for Thanksgiving—we were truly thankful!
  3. Baby Boom at The Well. We dedicated nine babies at The Well in 2018—three of which were born the same week! As a result, I initiated a new ministry called “Wee Worship” in the fall for babies/toddlers and their parents (based on my experience with Kindermusik). I also revised the curriculum for Kids Church to make it more child-creative and teacher-friendly.
  4. New Neighborhood Pastors at The Well. Paul and Rachel Verheul spent the previous four years to 2018 learning and leading in a discipleship school. Gifted worship leaders, they also work with the Brussels House of Prayer. They have agreed to be the new neighborhood pastors for The Well Schaerbeek, the area where we also live, and were commissioned in September 2018.
  5. The first Well Women’s Retreat. After starting the year leading a Women’s Retreat for Peninsula Community Chapel (Yorktown, VA) based on my book (Risk), I had the privilege of doing the same for the women of The Well in October 2018. In addition to being challenged to engage the risks God is calling them to, the women all participated in a high ropes course to embody the idea of being “roped in to the Rock.”
  6. Serve the City Brussels 100th Big Volunteer Day. Monthly volunteering days offering easy-entry opportunities for people to engage with the city are a flagship event for STC Brussels. In May 2018, we celebrated our 100th such event! The last victim of the Brussels bombing still in hospital, Karen Northshield, addressed 120 volunteers before they went out on projects, inspiring them to plant seeds of kindness and gratitude in our city.
  7. International Volunteers in Brussels. STC Brussels took steps in March 2018 toward wider influence and financial stability as they partnered with IVHQ, a leading “voluntourism” provider, to welcome volunteers from around the world.  More than 125 volunteers from China, India, USA, Malaysia, Australia and elsewhere have paid to come to Brussels for 1-6 weeks, where we provide for them housing, projects and support. The income from this, as well as a grant designed to use volunteering to train unemployed people, enabled STC Brussels to hire their first full-time staff person.
  8. A Volunteer Week for European Commission employees. This was the biggest event ever for STC Brussels! The EU Commission paid us to organize projects their employees in November 2018, and then gave them the opportunity to take a half-day to volunteer. 850 people signed up to serve all over the city: in refugee centers, elderly homes, environmental projects and much more. Our team mobilized dozens of project leaders, coordinated multiple venues, worked with many associations— and also earned income that will enable us to expand our reach further,
  9. The first retreat of the STC International Leadership Team in Lisbon. Representatives from the STC Board, Global Executive Team, and Global Operations Team met together with Carlton leading as CEO. We discussed how to best support cities starting STC, and how to move them from starting to active. To this end, Carlton has been developing coaching cohorts, and I have been helping create new city resources (e.g. a Project Catalogue).
  10. The best yet STC International Forum in Dublin. Ninety-five representatives from 25 cities assembled in Dublin to affirm their commitment to Cross the Line and share best practices, including a new resolve to combat human trafficking.   And the Dublin team hosted us in unforgettable style, with dinner in the crypt of Christ Church Cathedral, Irish music and dancing, and a visit to an ancient Irish monastery.
  11. Serve the City initiated in Kosovo. In August 2018, a first serving event took place in Pristina. This was a joint effort organized by Dritan Lajci, a Kosovar politician and friend of Carlton’s through the Prayer Breakfast movement, a visiting team from STC Chesapeake (VA, USA), and local volunteers connected with a church in Pristina. Carlton also joined them for the project, happy to see the fruit of many years of connections and investment in the Balkans.
  12. Appointment as Balkans Church Planting Coordinator. The Deals’ sending organization, Communitas, asked Carlton to help initiate and coordinate church-planting efforts in the region. This too is fruit of his long-term interest and concern for this troubled area of Europe.
  13. Significant encounters at Movement Day Africa. Carlton was invited to speak on “Reaching the Urban Poor” in August 2018 at Movement Day in Nairobi, a conference seeking to connect and equip city-based gospel movements. While there, he not only encountered people eager to start STC in Kenya, but also spent significant time with the organizers of Movement Day. As a result, he was invited to join the Movement Day team coordinating such efforts globally.
  14. Unexpected outcomes from 100 Cities Summit. Prior to Nairobi, Carlton had also been invited by Movement Day to attend the 100 Cities Summit (in Washington DC, November 2018) to represent Brussels. While there, he encountered many inspiring people leading city-wide movements among churches, and was motivated on his return to work on unity with Brussels churches. In the last month of 2018, he had significant conversations with other like-minded missional Brussels to develop closer connections, and has joined a couple of pastors’ prayer and fellowship groups.
  15. The largest European Prayer Breakfast ever in the European Parliament. “Jesus, Full of Grace and Truth”: this was the theme of the 21st EU Prayer Breakfast, attended by around 400 people, including MPs from various European parliaments. This was the culmination of a great year of MEPs (Members of European Parliament) meeting together each week for prayer and fellowship in a small group that Carlton facilitates.
  16. Meeting the leader of “Europe Shall Be Saved.” In November, Carlton attended the Latvian National Prayer Breakfast and met a Swiss Christian leader named Jean-Luc Traschel, founder of “Europe Shall Be Saved.” Jean-Luc is Europe’s leading evangelist and is forming a coalition of as many ministries in Europe as possible to reach 100 million Europeans with the Gospel. Jean-Luc and Carlton spent some time together discussing the role of National Prayer Breakfasts in this initiative and are now working together to start prayer groups in every Parliament in Europe.
  17. John Richmond appointed US Ambassador on Trafficking in Persons. John is one of our close friends, ever since he was a Tabb High School senior and a part of a weekly discipleship group Carlton led during our Youth for Christ days. In November, John received unanimous Senate confirmation to lead US efforts against human trafficking. We are also in touch with the head of anti-trafficking for the EU and the former head of anti-trafficking for the UK. Now with many high-level contacts and grass-roots initiatives, STC feels compelled to take global action. We appointed Ali Ussery, from the UK, to lead STC’s involvement in this urgent social concern.
  18. Our friends bought a castle. Prince Charles-Louis and Princess Clotilde of Merode are key people in the European Prayer Breakfast movement and good friends of ours. In November 2018, they bought a castle just outside Brussels that historically belonged to their family. We had been praying with them about this all year, and they plan to use this property as a place to host Prayer Breakfast guests and further the cause of Jesus in Brussels.