Belgium: A Vocation and a Voice

What happens when you realise that your passions, talents, faith, and studies are all intertwined, forming an integrated path on which God is leading you? You find your vocation.  

Like Leonie did. 

She’s an arts and humanities student at the University of Antwerp and member of Ichtus, the Dutch-speaking IFES movement in Belgium. Over the last two years, she’s followed her calling by spearheading a campaign about sexual harassment, forming an arts collective, and becoming “campus poet”.  

“From wolf whistling and verbal abuse to being followed, I regularly face sexual harassment. All around me, I hear stories from female friends who feel fundamentally unsafe.” 

So, Leonie has twice run a project to raise awareness and call for change. 

As part of this, she gathered testimonies, composed poems, and wrote a short reflection. These were linked to QR codes that Ichtus students helped distribute around the neighbourhood. A few weeks later, they offered a sharing event as part of Ichtus’ “City Week” (a period of focused outreach). 

“Stories were shared among non-believing and believing students, including Christians from very different church backgrounds. It was an evening that I felt was truly accessible to all. 

“Last year, a student who’d been attending a demonstration for Palestine came in. She said that it was such a relief to see such injustices being addressed. We’re still in touch.” 

Leonie is also finding her prophetic voice as “Campus Poet”: 

“Every month I get to write about campus life: from big issues like sustainability and underprivilege, to stories of students and neighbourhood residents. I try to approach it all from a place of faith.” 

But Leonie hasn’t always felt this way. In 2022, she attended Formacion, IFES Europe’s gathering for student leaders. And it was in the Engaging the University sessions that she discovered her vocation. 

“For me, it was the first time I viewed my field of study as something God had called me to. It was a breath of fresh air. As a Christian arts and humanities student, I used to feel quite isolated – not quite at home in church nor on my university benches.  

“But I saw that this is precisely where my calling lies. As a word artist and poet, I’m able to find a way around the barrier of church language and still spread the gospel.”  

In recent months, she’s teamed up with fellow creatives to form an interdisciplinary arts collective called Kruisbestuiving – “Cross-pollination”. The name reflects Christ’s cross (“central to all we do and create”) and the fruitfulness that flows from cross-connections in the arts.  

Currently, the collective encompasses music, photography, poetry, and costume design. In coming weeks, they plan to include other disciplines and breathe new life into a disused church building in Mechelen.