More about Amsterdam

Well, I promised to give more details from our trip to Amsterdam now that I've returned home and have a little more time to spare. Overall, my fourth trip to Amsterdam was a fantastic experience. Each trip seems to have its own unique experiences, qualities and characteristics. This year is no different - in fact this was perhaps the most unique trip so far! Our team consisted of only 5 people (2 staff and 3 students) which added a cool dynamic of being small, manageable, and intimate. I really felt more like I was on a mission trip with a few friends - rather than the leader/manager of a large group. In this way, I was able to really have my own mission trip again (very similar to my first overseas trip to Italy). Here is a run through of some of the key events of our trip organized chronologically.


Wednesday
Leave the parking lot in front of my apartment at about 11:00am to begin a long day of traveling. We arrived in Amsterdam around 8:00am on Thursday morning (which felt more like 2:00am EST). It was much more difficult than I expected to leave Lindsay. My parents committed to staying in contact with her while I was hoping that Skype would work out ok for me to call her from Amsterdam.

Thursday
Greeted by the Beebe's and Eric Asp at Schipol airport in Amsterdam. Nicole was stopped by customs (her biggest fear in life) while Jake and Andrew's luggage remained in Washington DC. We didn't even have an address to give the baggage claim people for shipping the suitcases when they came in. After getting settled into the upper room of the Zolder, we met in the cafe' for a Pannenkoeken breakfast (Dutch pancakes). This was a cool addition to the short-term trip this year. It was fun to see several Zolder people again and be welcomed by everyone. Next we tried to stay awake for the orientation by Lee and Patricia (who did a wonderful job by the way). Finally, we walked around the city for a couple of hours. Everyone was exhausted by this time and ready for bed. Yet - good attitudes all around.
















City street near Central Station in Amsterdam


Friday
Among other activities, we walked around in pairs to pray and possibly talk to people in the tourist areas. We met up to experience the World Press Photo Tour in the Oude Kerk (old church) at the edge of the red light district. Strange to see this 400 year old magnificent cathedral now turned into a museum and surrounded by the infamous red light district of Amsterdam. Anyway, the photo exhibit was extremely powerful. One of the images, in particular, made me cry. I won't post it here, but it was a collection of photos depicting the mourning of a family at the death of a US soldier in Iraq. The most gripping image was of the soldier's young widowed wife standing beside his casket with her pregnant stomach. I suppose the images that match our life situations are the ones that affect us the most.
Also on Friday, we met Eric's home group at Central Station to take a train to Nijmegen - the oldest city in the Netherlands and about a 90 minute train ride from Amsterdam.
















Train to Nijmegen - Eric, Gerard, and me


Saturday
Spent the day in Nijmegen with Eric's home group. Eric, Nicole, Geert Jan (Matt knows how to pronounce this name best), and myself visited one of the key Christian leaders in the city at his home. Our goal was to ask him a little about the churches in Nijmegen and explain the Zolder to him in an attempt to determine the need for a new church in the city. The response was an overwhelming yes as the churches that do exist in this city are only reaching a very small percentage of the population. For the rest of the afternoon, Eric, Matt and I spent time walking along the river talking with people about spiritual things and about the need for a church. Overall, the conversations were encouraging. Our final conversation stuck out most to me. Three women were sitting on the ground near one of the parks talking. We approached them with our spiritual questionnaire and they welcomed the conversation. After we finished asking the set questions, they wanted to continue to ask us questions about God and Christianity. We answered as many of their questions as we could - sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with them and praying for them as we left. It was cool to experience this with Matt and Eric.

Sunday
Our extended team (the five of us, plus 7 from Eric's home group) attended an old Catholic church in Nijmegen. The service was translated into English so the Americans sat at the very front and to the side. As a whole, this "mission trip within a mission trip" was a new and exciting experience for me. It was cool to spend so much time with Dutch people from the Zolder. It was funny to watch our team learn to pronounce the difficult sounds of the Dutch language (especially difficult to pronounce are: Geert Jan, Gerard, and Nijmegen). When we returned Sunday night to Amsterdam we attended both services of the Zolder50 and served in whatever ways we could (greeting, dish washing, child care, etc.) Also that night we hung out with a guy named Neil who lives in a "squat" in Amsterdam and believes God answers his questions by giving him either a heads or tails on the coin in his pocket. We tried to listen to him and share about our experiences with God.

















Walking the streets of Nijmegen. Our extended team.



Monday
We split into pairs - Matt & Jake, Nicole and Andrew (me and myself) went to Museum Plein to talk with people about spiritual things. It's a rare experience for me to go out by myself to talk with strangers (especially in downtown Amsterdam). I enjoyed the experience and talked with several people. Unfortunately, the people I conversed with were far from God - hungry for spirituality, but far from God. One couple was actually studying the ancient religion of Shamanism. I was reminded of the intense need for the Zolder50 church in Amsterdam.

Tuesday
Martijn shared his story with us for the morning devotional. His humility and honesty really impacted our team. His struggle with drug addiction opened our hearts to him, and we invited him to join us at other points during the week so we could encourage him and be encouraged by him.
















Martijn


We also spent time working at The Cleft (a YWAM ministry in the red light district. This was a powerful time of ministry in the "gutter". Will (one of the YWAM staff) and I walked through the streets of the red light district praying for the prostitutes in the windows, for the men searching for the right prostitute, for the drug dealers we interacted with, for those buying drugs in front of our eyes, for the street ladies(illegal prostitutes on the street who are usually addicted to hard drugs), and for the homeless. I've never been in an environment like this in my life - yet I felt safe and in the center of God's protection. Again, I was reminded of the intense need for the Zolder50 church in Amsterdam. The rest of our team stayed on a bridge in this district praying, talking with people, and even leading worship - Andrew had a guitar. This attracted many curious eyes and opened the door for some conversations. I believe this day influenced our team in a powerful way.

Wednesday
Free Day!
Van Gogh Museum, Rijks Museum, Marseille House (photo museum), Shopping in the outdoor markets, bike riding, Hard Rock Cafe', Canal Boat Tour. No rest for the weary!

Thursday
Matt and I helped babysit Olivia and Elliot Asp while Jake, Andrew and Nicole watched Ned and Katie's baby. I got to go to Elliot's school with him in the morning. I was amazed that the teacher spoke Dutch only and Elliot understood everything. Eric and I broke away in the afternoon to rent a green car and find perhaps the only disc golf course in all of the Netherlands. It was a rough afternoon for me as Eric beat me and as I lost my favorite disc in the water. It was good to be with Eric. Each year, the Bowling Green mission team has the unique opportunity to encourage the full-time missionaries who come from BG. Plus, I just miss my friend.
















Eric and I at an overgrown disc golf hole



















Me mourning the loss of the stratus in front of its watery grave.


Friday
The only ugly day of our trip - cold, windy, and rainy. I was bummed at first, but realized that God knows what He's doing. It was our last day to go out into the city to invite people to the Zolder and discuss spiritual things. I had lunch with Mark Beebe and enjoyed catching up with him a little. Our team had a closing pizza party and reflection time. I was encouraged by what God was teaching each of them - also by the nice words from the staff at the Zolder. We said most of our goodbyes at the Soul Gathering (the Zolder's version of leadership community and Souled Out combined).

Saturday
The long trek home. It was so great to see Lindsay again. I think her belly grew a little in the 10 days I was gone. Little Slack is kicking much more now - I felt him kick twice on the day I got back (I still think it's a "him"). We're still trying to catch up and tell each other about all that happened while I was gone.

Thanks so much to those of you praying for us. Much of what we learned is still being processed, but overall it was a very successful trip. This is definitely one of my favorite things to do. Feel free to post any comments or questions.

A few pictures from our mission trip

Here are a few pics from early in the trip. I haven't uploaded the others yet, but hope to do so soon. Everything's going great so far. Unfortunately, I brought the only computer so after talking with Lindsay on Skype and giving the team an opportunity to send e-mails, I have very little time for blogging. I hope to give a short summary of each day when I get back to BG. A few highlights include singing and leading worship in the red light district while walking through and praying for the men looking for prostitutes, the drug dealers, and the ministries in the area. The team is doing well and each person seems to be growing quite a bit on the trip. The baby above is Aleca (not sure of the correct spelling) - Lee and Diane Dubois' 3-week old baby girl. It was good practice for me to hold such a young baby. We don't have much time left here, but God has really done big things on our trip. I hope to update more soon. Thanks for your prayers!

If you're bored, Elliot Asp blogged about me earlier today: elliot-says.blogspot.com 

Amsterdam Day 4

I've had less time to get on the Internet than I expected over here. I'm still hoping to give a more detailed update and some pictures soon. We are fully recovered from the jet lag and the time is really flying by - way to fast. Our team traveled to a nearby city - Nijmegen (Matt Mcclure is still having trouble pronouncing this one). We teamed up with Eric Asp's home group to "spy" on the city as a potential future church plant for Zolder 50. It was a brand new experience for me, and it went really well. Today I saw Alex from last year. He seems to be doing very well and also seemed really happy to see me. I hope to talk with him more about his experiences over the past year with God.

Now we are back in Amsterdam with only 5 days left! I really hope to get some quality time talking with people in the city this week. Our weather has been perfect so far - sunny and low 70's each day (very rare for Holland).

As I said, I hope to post some pictures soon. Thanks for all of your comments. Feel free to post your favorite memories of past trips (if you've been here).

Back in Amsterdam

Our team of 5 made it safely to Amsterdam this morning. It truly is great to be back on my 4th mission trip here. The reunion with the Beebe's and Eric Asp at the airport was especially nice. Our trip was fairly eventful as our connecting flight was delayed an hour. We barely made it to the overseas flight in D.C. and some of our luggage didn't quite make it. Jake and Andrew are without suitcases for now. The guy at the airport desk promised that the luggage will be delivered within the next day. To top it all off, one of the cans of pop in Matt's suitcase exploded and he was dripping root beer from Schipol airport all the way to De Krakeling. Fortunately, the damage was minimal and Eric only lost one can of his precious A&W. I enjoyed talking with Lindsay over Skype when I arrived. That technology still amazes me! I hope to update periodically while over here and upload some pictures if I get time.

Week 20

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. This is definitely worthy of a posting. Lindsay and I had our 20 week appointment with the midwife on Friday (for those of you who haven't heard the news yet, you can check out how we surprised my parents here - www.slacksurprise.blogspot.com).

Everything looks and measures normal. Linda, the ultrasound lady, is the only person on earth who knows the gender of our baby - sort of a weird feeling. It was tough not to find out, but we're determined. I swear that I can see "something" in this picture, but Lindsay and Linda disagree. You be the judge. We were so thankful for a healthy pregnancy so far. Lindsay is feeling better - still tired, but not as sick.