Quickly Now

A friend told me recently that I need to write a record of everything that happened on every day, otherwise I'll quickly forget. Don't worry, I won't do that here. But before I forget, here's Post 1 of 2 about Leiden and Amsterdam.

I went with a group to visit Leiden, a university town north of Rotterdam and south of Amsterdam. When we arrived in Leiden Centraal and stepped into the streets, I thought we'd stumbled onto a movie-set. As if the buildings were all facades somewhere in Hollywood and we were in a movie about European espionage. The town is beautiful, a great day trip if you're staying in Amsterdam. In Leiden, the Agape staff serve the Netherlands' oldest university. Before we got to campus they treated us to dutch apple pie and coffee at De Bruin Boon (The Brown Bean).

Throughout our trip I've been impressed by the way God provides for his people. Christians feed, house and clothe each other. I use to think "depending on God for everything" meant never asking for anything and politely refusing any gifts offered to you. What a foolish thought! Thanks to the hospitality and care of people who loved us before they ever saw us, we experienced the providence of our great God in abundance.

At the university, I partnered with staff member Einke. After several rejections, she and I found a man named Joshua in one of the cafe areas of Leiden University. We talked for over an hour, beginning with a series of questions from a survey about religious/spiritual beliefs. Joshua really wanted to know about the experiences that believers of different faiths have. Einke and I shared our testimonies, in Dutch and then English. He didn't make a decision about Jesus with us, but I believe this conversation helped him to know God better by getting to know more about the real lives of Christians.

- Peter

Everyone's so Tan!!!

So yesterday was our first day back to class. Walking around campus everyone is super tan and all relaxed. I really stuck out because I am still pale and super jet lagged. I felt like a zombie all day yesterday, I guess 4 hours of sleep in 48 hours will do that to a person. However, my sleepiness didn’t hinder my continued processing. I realized I don’t just stick out because I didn’t spend a week on the beach in the sun but because I didn’t spend a week on the beach in the sun. I spent my spring break on an intense spiritual journey. I came back with a deeper understanding of my own faith, a stronger relationship with Jesus and better equipped to share the gospel to believers and non-believers. 

                The biggest thing I learned about Dutch culture was how spiritually thirsty people are. Conversation after conversation of “I don’t believe in God”, “I don’t know what happens after I die”, “I don’t know what my purpose in life is” and “I don’t really care” had me convinced students were spiritually dead. I was struggling with this term “spiritually dead.”  The thought of being able to lose your spirit or the possibility of becoming “spiritually dead” is a scary thought. But as the week continued, I started to recap and analyze my encounters.  The students’ curiosity and interest started to surface. Even though they were saying “I don’t care,” they often asked about my thoughts and my beliefs. They mentioned how much the enjoyed the survey or soularium and made comments like “this made my lunch break so much more interesting.”  I started to realize they didn’t know how to care.

In one conversation Erin and I had the two girls, at the Hogeschool Tuesday afternoon, mentioned how much they were learning about each other through our questions.  Although they were close friends, they’d never discussed simple spiritual questions like “Is there a God?”, “Does He exist?”, and “What do you believe?”  I changed my mind, the Dutch students weren’t spiritually dead, and they were spiritually dormant.  (Disclaimer: Here starts my scientific thinking, try to stay with me) It’s not like the Dutch don’t have a spirit, it’s just that their spirit isn’t active. If something sparked it their spirit could become alive or active again. They’ve developed spiritual atrophy. Just like with muscle or brain – the use it or lose it idea. Because of the Dutch culture the spirit is not stimulated. There is no workout-so to speak- no stretching, activity, challenging or development taking place. Without regular stimulation from society, friends, family, school etc., like we experience, it is hard to create regular spiritual activity on your own. This is where so many students start to drop of the “Believer” wagon.

                Throughout the week my focus of sharing the Gospel shifted to spiritually stimulating the people I talked with. I had this idea that sharing the Gospel took place in one conversation because in the US sharing the Gospel is usually with people who have some religious background, some kind of spiritual activity. But I learned sharing the Gospel, in some cases, might need to be a process. Approaching students in love and genuine interest in their lives helped create a smooth transition into a starting a spiritual discussion. Of course I shared the gospel through bits and pieces of my testimony during our conversation but just getting students thinking about general questions or trying to pin point what they really believe became the starting point. I pray that God would use our conversations over the past week as a way to continue to tug on the hearts of the students. I pray that students start to think about what they believe and start searching for the truth, Jesus!

To the friends and family back home reading our thoughts and feelings as we reflect on our experience you might get the impression that there is no hope.  But for those of us who were out talking and sharing we can see that the harvest is plenty. Students in Rotterdam, Leiden, Utrecht and all over just need someone to start the conversation. It is so comforting and encouraging to know that our mission doesn’t end with us leaving. To know that there is a strong, focused team dedicated to reaching students and following up with the ones we spoke to makes our hard work all the more worthwhile. They will be in my prayers and I hope yours.

Thank you for all your support both financially and prayerfully. With such a strong community at home supporting us, we were able to experience, learn and grow in ways unexpected. God showed up big on this trip!!

~Jessica

               

Dear Body - You're Back in Michigan

Hey Everyone!

Well, Spring Break 2011 is over. We've been home for 3 whole days ... but my body thinks it is still in the Netherlands. Sleeping is a struggle, and I'm hungry at weird times, but it is good to be home. Let's rewind to last Thursday ...

The group I was in went to Leiden on Thursday to talk with students there. We got a tour of the city, ate lunch with the Leiden staff and then headed to campus! I paired up with Kelsey and we had a couple frustrating conversations with people who simply didn't care about anything. Our last conversation of the day, we met a girl who was a Christ-follower! God is SO good. We were able to get her contact info and hopefully connect her with Agape since she didn't know many (if any) Christians on campus. It was so encouraging to end the week with a good conversation with a Dutch believer. That night we had an American party and it was great to have our team of 14 reunited again, and to be able to hang out with the Dutch staff and students one last time before heading home. Lots of funny pictures were taken and we even played a "Speed Dating" game. It was a great last night in Rotterdam. Friday morning we headed to Rotterdam Centraal - this is where we had coffee with the Dutch staff, debriefed the week, said our goodbyes and caught a train to Amsterdam. It was a sad morning but it was good, too - remembering all the great times from the week!

Friday and Saturday were spent in Amsterdam. As beautiful as the buildings and canals were, I hated being there. It is such a dark city - everything from billboards and posters to the gifts in souvenir shops revolved around sex and drugs. It was draining to constantly be trying to avoid it - and it wasn't even possible as people walked past every few minutes smoking marijuana on the street. The people of Amsterdam - residents and tourists alike - need the love of God, too. I had to keep reminding myself of that so that I didn't allow my dislike for the city to ruin my time there. That being said, there were a few things I loved! Our friend Hannah, who is an intern with Cru in France this year, joined us for our time in Amsterdam. It was great seeing her after almost 6 months and being able to catch up on life (even though 3 people in a bed wasn't so great haha). Also, sightseeing was a blast! We went to the Anne Frank Huis, on a canal tour, and to the Van Gogh Museum. I think I walked about 7 miles over the course of the 2 days, but seeing the beauty of the architecture and canals was totally worth it! My camera definitely got a workout! Sunday morning, after almost dying in a Dutch taxi (I think Curtis said we hit 150 km/h which is over 90 mph), we flew out. Travel went smoothly and we arrived in GR a little after 8:30pm. It was a LONG day.

Now that we're home, I'm still processing a lot about this trip. What did I learn? What did God do in me? What did he do through me? What does this trip mean for my future? I don't have all of the answers, but I have figured out a few things. First of all, I know that God allowed me to realize more fully just how much the world needs to hear about Him. I also came to the realization that I am perfectly capable of being a messenger. God does the hard work - I just have to be willing to go! I learned what it meant to truly rely on God. Here at home, life is so routine that I easily go through the motions of school, friendships, etc without any trouble. But overseas, being so far out of my comfort zone, I had to rely on God for patience, courage, energy, safety and peace. It was an awesome week learning how to do so. My future? Well, I still want to be a physical therapist. And I still am planning on going to PT school in the fall of 2012. But who knows? My plans of having a nice, relaxing spring break next year may just be getting tossed out - I hope and pray I will be able to go back to the Netherlands next year.

Welp, this has quickly turned into a small novel - so I should stop writing now. To sum it all up, this was an incredible, life-changing trip. I'm excited to see how God will move in the Netherlands and back here at Grand Valley. Team, it was a great week - we better all hang out again - SOON. I miss our head counts to 14 and being the loud, obnoxious mob walking down the street together! People reading this - thanks so much for your prayers over the past couple weeks. They were felt and are much appreciated. Even though we are back stateside, continue to pray for the staff in the Netherlands, and for the students as well. Pray for courage, boldness and perseverance as they work to reach the Netherlands for Christ!

Doei! (Pronounced Dew-ey ... a Dutch "slang" word for goodbye :))
-Erin

2 Timothy 4:1-8

And the sharing doesn't stop in Europe!

Well, yes. we are home safe and sound! 
So much has happened, as most of you have read.  I honestly thought while this trip was going on that I would be blogging every single night, but I haven't said anything about the trip until now! Partly because I knew I was going to say so much so I kept putting it off, hoping I didn't write a whole book for ya'll!


Anywho, in a summary:
The Netherlands trip definitely exceeded my expectations. I had the opportunity to share my faith and my spiritual journey to three groups of girls and it all went very well. I still am in shock how different it is there. They really push individualism and think that anyone is fine believing whatever... even if someone believed that tables and chairs could dance, that would be fine. (An actual example as well- "truth is relative").  Very interesting thoughts and concepts.


Here are some interesting facts that I can just recall quickly:
I did not realize how many paths you need to cross to get to the other side of the street! With trams, metros, buses, vehicles, bike paths, walk paths.. man I'm glad I'm alive! I'm pretty sure I was grabbed by the arm at least 4 times this trip as a tram was coming, since they travel right through the city and I was just so tourist-y and staring at some more buildings and canals in awe. 


Another big thing was that the majority of women have babies in the comfort of their own home, along with no pain killers or epidural whatsoever!  So, if I ever do live there I decided I will just have a visit back to the USA and time it exactly right to visit my parents then :)


Last weird thing: No one knows what ranch is.. so don't order it or you'll get a weird look and they will say, "wanch??" every time.


There really is so much to say about this trip. I hope that you all can enjoy all the pictures you will soon see and hear all the stories of how we really saw God work in our lives.  The Dutch staff was incredible and were overflowing us with food and gifts.  I can truly see how there is such a desperate need for Jesus not only in America, but definitely Europe as well.  It makes me want to go back now, as God calls us to make disciples of all nations, and bring all to a knowledge of the One Truth. Mind boggling..still.


With that said and still trying to keep this short, thank you SO MUCH for ALL your support, prayers, and thoughts!!! I hope that this trip can impact you just as it has to us and we can share all our memories with you.  :) :) :)


(and hopefully some of us may go back very soon to work with Agape!) hip hip, horrayyy!!

<3 Erica

The Team is in Amsterdam

Just wanted to report that the 14 students and staff are now in Amsterdam.

They will be acting like tourists for the day... traveling along the canals, visiting the Anne Frank Huis, admiring the presence of the medieval downtown, royal palaces, grand churches, and colonial warehouses while soaking in the atmosphere that is uniquely Amsterdam.

Their hotel (although it has its "interesting features" - especially the 'layout' of each room) unfortunately has no internet -- so we likely won't hear from them until the return to the US.

They will be traveling tomorrow (Sunday), in Chicago at 2:08pm, and returning to Grand Rapids Airport at 8:25pm (however, their bodies will think it's 2:25am).

-Dennis Leskowski, Stateside Trip Coordinator

Utrecht is the BOMB DIGGITY

As promised earlier, here is a longer post of what I have been experiencing here in Rotterdam. It's sad that tomorrow is our last day of planned sharing time on campus. Today, half of us traveled to the city of Utrecht. We met up with some new Dutch staff and went to the campus in the city. We got some food and then met some Dutch Christian students involved with the Agape movement in Utrecht. Dave, Brittany, and myself were led in an Action Group by Sabine (a Dutch Christian student). The Action Group here is a little different than at GV. Essentially there is a 30 min. Bible study on some focused topic, an hour of sharing, and then 30 min. of reflection and shared learning. Our Bible study was on developing and sharing your personal testimony. I've done this many times before, but it was good to think about how I could make my testimony relevant to a post-Christian culture. I went sharing with a Dutch student, Anita. She had only shared on a campus a couple of times. And she had never used Soularium before. It was a great experience sharing with another student in a country half-way across the World. We talked to a student named Daphney. She enjoyed the Soularium pictures, but saw no reason to believe in God. I was very diligent to keep going deeper, asking her more complex questions about who she thought Jesus was. Unfortunately, her response was typical of the post-Christian culture: that "following Jesus is good for you, but I want to be atheist." It's frustrating to hear this during every conversation. This culture and their post-modern attitude toward the gospel has shown me that I still have a lot to learn concerning ministry and evangelism.

After sharing we went on a tour of Utrecht. The city is a typical European city with lots of old buildings and unique architechture. Utrecht has a large canal that runs through the middle of it. What amazed me the most was the amount of bicycles that were present in the city. There were literally thousands of students riding their bikes to and fro the city.

Finally, we ended up at the house of four Dutch Christian students involved in Agape. It was an "Open Huis" (open house); essentially, this is a time where Christians and Non-Christians gather to eat, play games, and talk about spiritual things. We had this really good Dutch meal of mashed potatoes with carrots and bacon. I really enjoyed myself tonight! Myself, Dave, Brittany, Erica, Spencer and the Dutch students played the game signs for a while. It was great to hang out, laugh, and enjoy each other's company.


Tomorrow we travel to Amsterdam to be annoying tourists for a few days. I'm looking forward to enjoying the city and seeing all of the cool architecture and history. On Saturday morning we'll visit the Anne Frank House. That is going to be great to see! I am going to miss Rotterdam and all of the students and staff we met very much. But, I am looking forward to seeing all that Amsterdam has to offer.

Please pray for safe travel and that God would continue to work in the hearts of the students we talked throughout the week. Thank you.

--Curtis. 

Ahoy from Holland!

So this week has been so amazing in so many ways and I’m learning so much about the culture, how to communicate the gospel to such  a spiritually complacent attitude and about my own faith journey that I haven’t had time to fully process it all. I don’t have time to even think about one experience before the next one starts. The first day we started our day off as a team examining God’s desire for us to reach the world, every nation and every tongue. And when we were discussing why our team is here and how we can reach the world my mind set was how can we reach this part of the world, this country, this group of people? But God was thinking bigger. As the day went on the number of conversation we have with people from many other countries, around the world. God really proved to me that he is bigger than my humanly tendency to limit his power.  Instead on talking to solely Dutch students we collectively had conversations with multiple people from other countries around the world. It seems like Rotterdam is stepping stone for international students to get their degree and then move on to the next chapter of their life somewhere else. And to be able to share with people who will go out to parts of the world I will never have the opportunity to visit is awesome.

 To be honest, today I was feeling drained. Drained physically from the lack of sleep and my body is still confused about or resisting the time change. I’m drained emotionally and spiritually from being challenged and stretched by God, by the staff and by the students I’ve talked to over the past few days. I think today was the day I had to really rely on God to get me through my tiredness and through my desire to want to just relax. In the conversation I had it was him taking through me. Had I tried to produce a positive spiritual conversation on my own strength I would’ve failed. However, this morning I was aware of my sluggishness and asked God to work through me, even more so today. And although today I faced more rejection than I had all week I was able to have a conversation and positive discussion about God and purpose for life. God provided a girl with similar interests to mine and I was able to have a good conversation to reenergize me and stimulate my spirit to get over the hurdle of my physical weakness.

Today our group of 14 split into two and half of us went to Utrecht and the rest stayed in Rotterdam. I was in the group that stayed in Rotterdam. Splitting up was weird, the 14 of us have been together constantly for the past 4 days and at first it I felt uncomfortable without the rest of my group. However, for the same reason the smaller group was refreshing. Tomorrow our group is traveling to Leiden to meet up with Agape staff and students on their campus to reach out to students there. I’m really excited to go spend the day there and see what God has in store for us. I appreciate the prayer support you guys at home have been offering, I ask you to keep praying. Pray for the students we’ve talked to this far that God will continue to tug at their hearts, pray that God tugs so hard on their hearts that they come to our American Party tonight, pray that he bless future conversations and pray for strength for the staff and students. The Dutch staff have be excellent hosts, offering their homes and their hospitality to such a large group has been so wonderful. Pray for those of us sharing, we are tired and worn out but pray that the Holy Spirit moves through us to reach students for Christ.

Thank you!! ~ Jessica

"You're not just weird, you're adorable!"

Hoi!

I can't believe our time in Rotterdam is pretty much over! The past three days have been challenging but awesome, exhausting yet energizing, and long - yet they are flying by. Basically, I don't even know what to feel about the past few days. There are a million thoughts flying through my head at any given moment on this trip. Our time spent at Erasmus and Hogeschool this week has been good. It has been challenging to hear such a lack of belief in the gospel, but it makes our trip all the more worthwhile. People here are lost, and it is simply our job to try to bring them the message. Where God takes it from there, we may never know, but I'm encouraged by the fact that He has a plan through it all. Today was probably my most encouraging day on campus. Peter and I had a conversation with a girl who believed in God and Jesus, and has a mother who is a Christian. She said "My mom always tells me she is praying for me, and that is good, because I am searching for answers." This was the first student I have encountered this week, through conversations on campus, that even believed Jesus was divine, and the fact that she was questioning more about faith was super encouraging.

Outside of our time on campus, we have been busy! We had a prayer and worship night at a home of some of the staff, went to dinner at a Turkish restaurant (and got lost on the way), went to a Dutch sorority (think co-ed campus organization - not your typical American sorority) and hung out with some students we met earlier in the week, and (since our group was split in 1/2 today) some of us had an "Open Huis" at Maarten and Miranda's where we hung out, ate dinner and played a game. I haven't laughed so hard in SUCH a long time. We were all a little slap-happy since we aren't sleeping well, and the tiniest things were making Jess, Kelsey and I laugh hysterically. The game we played involved picture cards from a Cru tool called Soularium, and afterwards we asked Maarten to pick out pictures that represented what he thought about us 3 girls. He was so genuinely nice to us all, but during his explanation of Kelsey he made the comment, "You're not just weird, you're adorable!" We found this to be beyond hilarious and a great night ended in laughter.

Continue to pray for us as we have our last day on campus tomorrow - half the group at Erasmus and the other half in Leiden. Pray for people willing to not only talk, but listen. Pray for joy rather than sadness as we say goodbye to the Dutch staff on Friday morning and safety as we travel to Amsterdam.

Goodnight!
-Erin

Update...

It's hard to believe that as I am writing this we only have two more days of sharing on campus. I have had many great conversations so far. Yesterday, Kelsey and I talked to three people: Nick, Jade, and Jin; we used Soularium (a set of picture cards used to facilitate a dialogue). The conversation lasted just over an hour (which is awesome)! Nick identified himself as an atheist, Jade identified herself with her boyfriend, and Jin identified himself as someone "who believes in God," but "doesn't want to follow Jesus Christ." Essentially, the conversation went back and forth between Kelsey and I answering Nick's challenging questions, to asking Jin follow up questions. We had an opportunity to share the gospel three different times throughout the conversation, even inviting all three of them to submit their lives to Christ. Sadly, none of them saw any real need to do so at the time. Please pray that the Spirit would cause them to come to saving faith.

I love Rotterdam, the Dutch culture. It is different, but very fun. I will post in more detail about this later tonight.

Doei! (goodbye)

--Curtis.

Lag Time

First, random notes:

The Dutch forced me to eat a roast beef sandwich composed primarily of bean sprouts. Tragic.

Public transportation is a fantastic idea! I want to live in a city with trams and a metro. Grand Rapids could do with 2 or three basic tram lines to replace the current Dash shuttles. Very hard to actually implement though. The cycling/walking/pub. transport lifestyle is built into the foundation of this city and its society.

I love my teammates. Because of them, I go to bed smiling every night.

**********************

I've spoken with students born in China, Iraq, Africa, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Netherlands, and England. They are all Dutch (though some say they don't identify strongly with any homeland). God's young people, scattered across the world, are gathering in places like Rotterdam where education and economics meet. The only thing is, they do not yet know about God. They don't know they're wanted. Sometimes, they don't want to be wanted. For many of the students I talked to, their life is given meaning through achievement. They are unsure if a Christian god exists. If it existed, or if it was even possible, they wouldn't want it either. How could the existence of a god, or the existence of heaven or hell, affect them right now? What benefit would they receive?

It's hard to respond to these questions. So far, I've been sidestepping them. In the best cases I say "I don't know". As I experience frustration and the temptation to pout in a corner, my comfort is that the Lord is solely responsible for answering their questions and changing their hearts. The only action I can take to make this better is to pray. I pray I will be given words to say so that I may fearlessly communicate the message of God's love and Christ's death. I pray God will develop these questions further in their hearts and show himself to them soon.

I'm trying to understand that this creation is big and I am a vapor.  Pray that we (you and me) can put aside our selfishness to love all of God's people. 

- Peter W.

Is this Real Life??

As i still here in our hotel after another long and awesome day in rotterdam, i still cant believe i'm here. In a foreign country. Halfway across the world. There are times when i really don't feel like we've left the US, that we're just in a different city...but then i listen to whats going on around me and realize, yeahhh this isnt America. It's such a good reminder that there is so much more out in the world besides our little west michigan "bubble".

Today was our second day on campus. i love getting to talk to people from all over the world about culture and faith (so far ive gotten to talk to students from Brazil, Canada, Greece, Holland and multiple places in China...CRAZY!) most, if not all of the conversations ive had with people have been very challenging and i've yet to meet someone who calls themself a Christian on campus. But, i know that God is going to use these conversations to stregthen my faith and to help me work through some of my own doubts, which is so cool! The Dutch staff has been absolutely INCREDIBLE, they continue to open up their homes to our whole group and they are super helpful and fun to be around (and they cook for us too, which is a plus!)

It's crazy to think its already almost wednesday, that our time on campus is half over and we only have two days left in Rotterdam. I'm so excited for the next few days and to go to Amsterdam! I love our team and it's great to have such an awesome group here with me. Thank you all for you're continuous prayers...please keep them coming. We have two very full days coming up so pray that we are energized. Also pray that God will continue to work in and protect our hearts!

- Kelsey

"This is Holland! There is no room for stairs!"

Two complete days are over. The time here is flying by, but I'm loving every minute of it (well, yesterday was rough - running on no sleep because apparently planes and I don't get along - but other than that, I love it)! Yesterday we had the opportunity to explore the city a bit and I of course went crazy taking pictures. The city is beautiful! We ate at a Dutch pub complete with non-English menus. Ordering was an interesting experience, but the food was great! We forced ourselves to stay awake til 9pm so we could get onto a normal sleeping schedule, and it's safe to say I have never been SO excited for a 9 o'clock bedtime.

Today we went to an international church. Everyone was so welcoming and excited for us to be there. We talked with a Dutch woman for a bit about the church and her experience with it which was awesome, and then we met a girl who is a college student and her and one of her friends ended up hanging out with us for the rest of the day - eating lunch at a Dutch mall, doing a prayer walk on the Erasmus campus and then eating dinner and playing games at Maarten & Miranda's (some of the Agape staff) apartment. As we were leaving, walking down the steps I made a comment about how steep the steps are in Rotterdam and Miranda yelled down from the top - "This is Holland! There is no room for stairs!" I thought that was funny, but it's true - everything here is so smooshed together! All in all, it has been an awesome two days!

Things I'm used to: The small rooms. The bread and lots of it. Public transportation.
Things I'm still getting used to (plus 1000 more): Being stared at everywhere we go. Having no idea what is going on around you.  The lack of drinking fountains.

Keep the prayers coming as we head onto campus tomorrow! We greatly appreciate it :)
-Erin

jet lag and a bit of culture shock

well day two is done. so far the trip has been filled with experiencing new everything (food, people, language, culture...you name it!) its been fun getting to know the rest of our team and today we got to spend some time with the dutch staff who are totally awesome! im really excited to start meeting the dutch students and to spend some time on campus tomorrow, should be an awesome day. hopefully by then we will all be over our jet lag and we will be energized and ready to go!

not knowing what the rest of our time here will look like and not knowing whats going on around us is making it VERY clear that putting my full trust in God and giving the control to him is going to be huge this week...but i figure thats a good thing since He is who i need to rely on anyway :)

thank you all for your continuous support and prayers for all of us! please keep those prayers coming!!

kelsey

I am in the Netherlands.

Hello,

Today is day 2 of our trip to Holland.  Things I've seen: windmills and the color orange.  Things I haven't seen: wooden shoes.

I have felt an intense identity with Jesus throughout our time here.  It is hard to find much that reminds you of home.  A nice Coke and conversations of friends back home gives relief for the moment but Jesus is cross cultural and doesn't need a plane ticket (thankfully!).  We all got to meet more of the staff team here and I cannot wait to spend the rest of our weeks with them!!

In other news, I ate at a Surinamise restaurant with David, Jeff, and Agape staff member Raul. It was great but I'm not sure what we ate.  Rice and mystery meat something.  Who knows.

We did a walk of the university and prayed for it, which was awesome!  As well as learned some more about Dutch culture... we also got to go to an International Church and that was a wonderful experience!!  It reminds me of how God is the Ruler of the Nations!!!

Even though this culture is very, very different than the US, even though we might not understand everything that's happening, even though we may not recognize all that we are experiencing, the Dutch and I do have something in common: we all having a longing to be with our Creator, with Jesus, and I pray that despite all of those differences that Jesus can be understood and can be glorified by every person in the Netherlands.

Amen.

-Alex

Time for an update

Hey everyone,

I still can't believe that i'm over the Atlantic getting ready to go to church in the Netherlands!  I have no idea what to expect during the service, but i'm excited to experience church outside of the United States.  I trust that the Lord will be uniquely present as we worship Him this morning!

On another note, the first semi-full day in Rotterdam was fascinating to say the least.  Being exposed to different foods, norms, and language was something to take in and digest (literally haha).  So far I've really enjoyed hanging out with the team and touring the town, and I can't wait to spend time with the Dutch students.  Please pray for the students so that their eyes may be opened and their hearts may be receptive to the gospel.  I can't wait to see how God will move!  Also, please for our team as we shake the effects of jet lag and meet with the Dutch staff this afternoon.

I'll make sure to post again shortly, (in much more detail) thanks again for all of the prayer and support!

Soli Deo Gloria

- Dave  

We are here!

After a long trip by plane and train, we arrived at the Rotterdam train station and were greeted by Dutch Agape staff Maartin and Miranda who will be some of our hosts for the week.  They were a sight for tired eyes!  They brought us to the hotel.  Now we are all settling in.

Just wanted to let everyone know we got here safely.  This team was amazing to travel with.  More to come...

Jeff

P.S.  Please pray that jet lag doesn't hit our team too hard!

Well Hello There

As the title states, hello. I'm Brad Freestone, one of the pairs of eyes that will be going on the mission trip. Just a few things you should know about me before you read what I have to say about the trip.
-This is my second time over seas
-I have that nervous-but-it's-going-to-be-awesome-so-don't-worry feeling in my belly right now
-God is going to use me and the team in ways that we don't even know yet

Okay, so only two of those things are about me. That's besides the point. Regardless, I don't like the last one. If something is going on, I try and think of all of the potential things that will happen. Mind you, all of the potential ways that I think God could use our team in the Netherlands are amazing, and they excite me. However, as I have found out in the past, God doesn't do very well when you give him options. I don't know what God is going to do through our team while we are there. I don't like it. It's going to be awesome.

Continue to pray for our team while we are there. Pray for the hearts of the Dutch we encounter to be transformed. Pray that God will do an awesome work through our team.


HUP HOLLAND HUP