During fifty long years on the road, OM has had its share of accidents. Men and women were injured on some of those long cross-country and cross-continent travels.--A handful of OMers even died. The real miracle is that so many out of those millions of rugged miles were crossed without mishap. And much of that was due to the hard-working—and largely unsung—mechanics of Zaventem, Belgium.

Edwin Braker joined OM as a 25-year-old in 1967. “I was trained in steel construction and machinery engineering, not specifically as a mechanic,” he points out, “but that gave me an advantage in surviving in India!” Edwin spent six years in the subcontinent, where truck teams were an important part of the ministry. Sometimes he spent up to a month at a time on the road in stressful conditions. Once, driving someone to the airport in Bombay during a crisis with Bangladesh he failed to hear an air raid siren. Bricks came through the truck’s windscreen and smashed the radiator. But Edwin walked away totally unhurt, and his passenger was safely delivered to the airport on a policeman’s motorcycle!

At OM’s European base in Zaventem, Edwin found himself appointed the mission’s premier mechanic. Most of the summer teams needed transport and in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s that meant buying old vehicles and totally rebuilding them. Every year two trucks were also sent out to India, complete with spare used parts. “We had more than 100 vehicles at one point, including seventy-two vans and two buses. Sometimes we had twenty people helping in the garage, not all of them actual mechanics.”

Training men how to give automotive first-aid was part of the challenge. “Of course, to really get thorough training in mechanics it takes four years, not six months! Our aim in the 70’s was to train mechanics for ‘India conditions’—so they could handle things when they got to the field. These days you can’t get by with improvisation like we did!”

Edwin himself was an expert at creative repairs. During a three-day convoy from Egypt to Sudan to deliver a transit, he was forced to repair a clutch in the desert under the broiling sun. Throughout European summer campaigns, Zaventem’s mechanical medics were called onto the roads at all hours to administer emergency aid to broken down vehicles.

In addition to supplying mechanics and wheels for Eastern Europe, India, the Middle East and the ships, the Belgian staff handled the necessary paperwork and insurance. But in the 1980’s the fleet hit a major roadblock. OM’s vehicles had been operating under Dutch registration since the Sixties because they were only used during the summer outside Belgium. Belgian Customs had earlier given a verbal agreement to this arrangement. “But then a Dutch-plated car got picked up going into Germany,” recalls Edwin. “The car was confiscated and customs officials came to Zaventem, sealed the gate, and went through everything. We had to pay a fine and go through the process of re-registering all sixty or seventy vehicles in Belgium, paying import duties. We also had to grapple with a big change in transport administration!”

OM’s famous “overland” trips from Belgium to the Middle East and India stopped after Ayatollah Khomeni took over Iran and travel became too dangerous. The de-centralization of Love Europe campaigns and rising cost of fuel also had a direct affect on the vehicle fleet. While Edwin continued as OM Belgium’s field leader Steve Stuck took over the garage for several years before it was decided that ministry should come to a stop.

“It’s the end of an era,” acknowledges Edwin. “There is very little maintenance done within OM now, although a few offices like Germany have garages. But I think that’s a sensible way to go, with the changes in technology. There are also fewer team vehicles; a lot of teams use public transport and more OMers own private cars.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE: REBUILDING ZAVENTEM
Today the large garages of OM Zaventem with truck, body and machine shops that used to bustle with activity from early morning to late at night, now stand mostly silent. Five vans and several cars remain for use by OM Belgium, and they are sometimes rented by other mission groups or pastors. But much of the space is like a museum of old engines, spare body parts, tools and tyres that, says Edwin, will have to go. Other areas are reserved for storage. One can still find 50-year-old bicycles that are in good repair and used for conferences; even a stack of wooden bed laths used at the old Leuven Bible School conferences!

OM Zaventem as a separate entity to OM Belgium came officially to an end in 2005, the same year that Jan and Melinda Wisse agreed to take over Belgian field leadership. Jan’s team now numbers about 26, including part-time workers. Annual Teen Street and “Hope Brussels” outreaches are two of their key ministries, tied into encouraging the small evangelistic churches around the country. This year, Jan is hoping to set up a Global Action programme that will partner with such churches.

Meanwhile, the century-old former paper mill that was so crucial to OM’s expansion in Europe is slowly but surely undergoing a dramatic transformation. In the 1990’s, after it ceased functioning as the mission’s Central Accounting Office, some of the building was converted into conference facilities. Since the property is located only minutes from Belgium’s international airport, ZavCentre has provided a welcome central venue for OM’s smaller training events and meetings. As the need for more space became apparent, more rooms were converted for guests. At the same time OM Belgium’s operations continued to grow to the point where ZavCentre is almost unable to host them. A large part of the garage has therefore been rebuilt to provide ten new offices and two small meeting rooms.

ZavCentre Manager Al Meyer, who joined the Zaventem team as a young mechanic back in ’79, says the plan is to eventually have twenty bedrooms, half of them en suite, which can expand to accommodate from two to four people each if necessary. The building already offers a 140-seat conference room (currently being used on Sundays by a local church), a half dozen smaller meeting rooms and dining room.

During fifty long years on the road, OM has had its share of accidents. Men and women were injured on some of those long cross-country and cross-continent travels.--A handful of OMers even died. The real miracle is that so many out of those millions of rugged miles were crossed without mishap. And much of that was due to the hard-working—and largely unsung—mechanics of Zaventem, Belgium.

Edwin Braker joined OM as a 25-year-old in 1967. “I was trained in steel construction and machinery engineering, not specifically as a mechanic,” he points out, “but that gave me an advantage in surviving in India!” Edwin spent six years in the subcontinent, where truck teams were an important part of the ministry. Sometimes he spent up to a month at a time on the road in stressful conditions. Once, driving someone to the airport in Bombay during a crisis with Bangladesh he failed to hear an air raid siren. Bricks came through the truck’s windscreen and smashed the radiator. But Edwin walked away totally unhurt, and his passenger was safely delivered to the airport on a policeman’s motorcycle!

At OM’s European base in Zaventem, Edwin found himself appointed the mission’s premier mechanic. Most of the summer teams needed transport and in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s that meant buying old vehicles and totally rebuilding them. Every year two trucks were also sent out to India, complete with spare used parts. “We had more than 100 vehicles at one point, including seventy-two vans and two buses. Sometimes we had twenty people helping in the garage, not all of them actual mechanics.”

Training men how to give automotive first-aid was part of the challenge. “Of course, to really get thorough training in mechanics it takes four years, not six months! Our aim in the 70’s was to train mechanics for ‘India conditions’—so they could handle things when they got to the field. These days you can’t get by with improvisation like we did!”

Edwin himself was an expert at creative repairs. During a three-day convoy from Egypt to Sudan to deliver a transit, he was forced to repair a clutch in the desert under the broiling sun. Throughout European summer campaigns, Zaventem’s mechanical medics were called onto the roads at all hours to administer emergency aid to broken down vehicles.

In addition to supplying mechanics and wheels for Eastern Europe, India, the Middle East and the ships, the Belgian staff handled the necessary paperwork and insurance. But in the 1980’s the fleet hit a major roadblock. OM’s vehicles had been operating under Dutch registration since the Sixties because they were only used during the summer outside Belgium. Belgian Customs had earlier given a verbal agreement to this arrangement. “But then a Dutch-plated car got picked up going into Germany,” recalls Edwin. “The car was confiscated and customs officials came to Zaventem, sealed the gate, and went through everything. We had to pay a fine and go through the process of re-registering all sixty or seventy vehicles in Belgium, paying import duties. We also had to grapple with a big change in transport administration!”

OM’s famous “overland” trips from Belgium to the Middle East and India stopped after Ayatollah Khomeni took over Iran and travel became too dangerous. The de-centralization of Love Europe campaigns and rising cost of fuel also had a direct affect on the vehicle fleet. While Edwin continued as OM Belgium’s field leader Steve Stuck took over the garage for several years before it was decided that ministry should come to a stop.

“It’s the end of an era,” acknowledges Edwin. “There is very little maintenance done within OM now, although a few offices like Germany have garages. But I think that’s a sensible way to go, with the changes in technology. There are also fewer team vehicles; a lot of teams use public transport and more OMers own private cars.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE: REBUILDING ZAVENTEM
Today the large garages of OM Zaventem with truck, body and machine shops that used to bustle with activity from early morning to late at night, now stand mostly silent. Five vans and several cars remain for use by OM Belgium, and they are sometimes rented by other mission groups or pastors. But much of the space is like a museum of old engines, spare body parts, tools and tyres that, says Edwin, will have to go. Other areas are reserved for storage. One can still find 50-year-old bicycles that are in good repair and used for conferences; even a stack of wooden bed laths used at the old Leuven Bible School conferences!

OM Zaventem as a separate entity to OM Belgium came officially to an end in 2005, the same year that Jan and Melinda Wisse agreed to take over Belgian field leadership. Jan’s team now numbers about 26, including part-time workers. Annual Teen Street and “Hope Brussels” outreaches are two of their key ministries, tied into encouraging the small evangelistic churches around the country. This year, Jan is hoping to set up a Global Action programme that will partner with such churches.

Meanwhile, the century-old former paper mill that was so crucial to OM’s expansion in Europe is slowly but surely undergoing a dramatic transformation. In the 1990’s, after it ceased functioning as the mission’s Central Accounting Office, some of the building was converted into conference facilities. Since the property is located only minutes from Belgium’s international airport, ZavCentre has provided a welcome central venue for OM’s smaller training events and meetings. As the need for more space became apparent, more rooms were converted for guests. At the same time OM Belgium’s operations continued to grow to the point where ZavCentre is almost unable to host them. A large part of the garage has therefore been rebuilt to provide ten new offices and two small meeting rooms.

ZavCentre Manager Al Meyer, who joined the Zaventem team as a young mechanic back in ’79, says the plan is to eventually have twenty bedrooms, half of them en suite, which can expand to accommodate from two to four people each if necessary. The building already offers a 140-seat conference room (currently being used on Sundays by a local church), a half dozen smaller meeting rooms and dining room.