THE JOURNEY

After preaching at Crossroads Amsterdam (see previous post) we spent the day with Phil Graf and kids. Phil and Laina have just moved to Amsterdam to start a new CAI-project called X-Village. They have bought a huge house that needs lots of work, but also has lots of potential. I am hoping to go over there and help out. Here is a small picture gallery of Phil and the new X-Village place!

We spent the afternoon at the Vondelpark downtown Amsterdam, which is such a colorful place. Lots of X-Village people were there, but I want to tell you about one lady especially. Her name is Shauna Snow. She has just moved to Amsterdam with five kids! Her husband died 2,5 years ago in a car-accident, when they had only just adopted the three middle kids of the five from Russia.

I am so impressed and even more inspired. Talking to her felt a little bit like talking to Gladys Aylward or Florence Nightingale; missionary ladies who became heros because they wouldn’t let the circumstances discourage them.

I asked Shauna why she embarked on this adventure. Her answer was: Ï want to teach my kids to live—not just to exist!” Blew me away. [pictured: on right, Shauna, with Laina Graff]

DREAM BIG in Amsterdam

Yesterday I spoke at Crossroads Amsterdam. The subject was ‘Step into your world: dream big.” Several people asked for the Powerpoint [Download 20050828_dream_big.ppt]. I also saw that the recording of the message is alreay online if you want to have a listen.

The question I started with was ‘what is your dream?’ and then I switched to ‘what is Jesus’ dream? From there I talked about the renewal of creation, which is my favourite topic of the last few months. I am very grateful for insights that have been brought to me by people like Andrew Perriman of OpensourceTheology, and NT-scholar and bishop of Durham Nt Wright.

Great party!

Went to a great party last nite. Friends of ours from Crossroads Rotterdam had a combined Birthday celebrattion: they all turned 30! Here is a small picture gallery of the party. Simplydelish, Sophie’s catering business, catered the event, which was a success.

A Job and a Prayer

Today I presented a proposal to the boys school to volounteer teach a cooking class to the kids one afternoon a week. The head mistress was very enthusiastic as am I. I hope to combine hygiene with food prep, cooking, reading a recipe, working with ovens, healthy eating, adventurous eating...tasting new things, setting a table, presenting food attractively!!! I guess that seems like alot. I will create my own curriculum as I go along. Should be fun!

My prayer and longing for this year is to develop some unchurched friendships. I am sometimes so sick of existing just for the church and for christians (can I say that??) When you come to a city, to a job with only christian colleagues and everyone has their network of friends and family, its tough. There are few connecting points and people seem not to be interested. This is something for which I pray and have cried over.... and am serious about. I think God has just given me a little encouragment recently with some developing relationships. For the fun and the freshness and for the journeying IN or OUT of faith.

Sophie

Eric Liddell - Olympic winner and missionary

Remember the movie 'Chariots of Fire?' It features the Scottish runner who refused to run the 100 meters at the 1928 Olympics, because they were on Sunday. Instead he ran the 300 meters--which he won. He later became a missionary to China.

He was recently honored in China. Here's a great article on Eric Liddell and his work in China.

Poverty in Holland?

Came across this article about poverty in Holland. Shocking. I must admit I had no idea it was this bad. Now - if there was a church that would get involved... Anybody know of a church that could do something? Oh, wait... I think I know one...

Here's a quote: "The most recent preliminary figures from the government's Bureau for Social and Cultural Planning indicate that at least 11% of the Dutch population, or between 700,000 and 800,000 households, lived in poverty in 2004, after the figure had declined steadily in the late 1990s to a low of 10.1% in 2000."

Identity of the piano man is known

What a dissapointment. The identity of 'the Piano Man' is known, and it seems it was all a ploy... [BBC news|Telegraaf].

The story was great. The Police found him back in April on the beach of Sheerness, Kent, England, dressed in a suit that was soaking wet. He didn't talk, and all the labels had been removed from his suit. He was brought to a hospital, where he still refused to talk. When he was given a pen and paper to write something, he made a drawing of a piano. The hospital-staff brought him to a piano, where he proceeded to give a rather amazing piano recital.

Everybody was trying to guess the identity of the mysterious Piano Man. Calls came from all over Europe. For a brief Thursday everybody even thought the man was Dutch. Then he was supposed to be Italian, then Norwegian, then whatever. But nothing turned out to be correct.

NEED YOUR INPUT

I am part of a small theological Thinktank called the Thinklings. We gather twice a year to think about a subject that has to do with church planting and leadership, amd we think about that subject from a theological and biblical angle. Each of us presents a paper which is then discussed. I alway post my paper on 'The Journey.'

In November we will gather again. Our subject is 'downward mobility.' I want to invite your ideas and response. What do you think I should study? Personally, I feel drawn to the idea of writing about the life and work of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Here is our subject-question: What will it mean for communities of faith to demonstrate Jesus' priority for "the least of these" (Mt.25:45) in the emerging and urban culture of Europe? Another way to approach the issue would be to raise two further questions. Is there a biblical bias toward the poor and marginalized? If so, what does it mean for communities of faith in the emerging and urban culture of Europe?

Explanation:
The emerging culture is demanding that faith be validated in socially active ways in the interest of biblical justice. Prioritizing the needs of marginalized people incurs questions of how power and wealth are understood and distributed. Answers to these questions may urge missional communities toward aggressive downward mobility (rather than upward) in terms of ministry focus, lifestyle, attitudes and teaching. In this session of Thinklings we want to wrestle with what all this means for church-planting across Europe.

Sailing to Sail

Hans, a member of Crossroads Rotterdam, loves sailing. He has a nice yaught, and I have asked a few times if one day I could come along and sail on the North sea. Last week he invited me to join him and two others on a trip to SAIL05, an event with lots of amazing tallships that takes place in Amsterdam every five years. I said yes.

We left from Zeeland on Thursday at 20:00. There was no wind, and the sea was as flat as a mirror. I made photographs of a serene sunset. At around 4 AM we were near Katwijk when there was enough wind to Sail. We arrived at IJmuiden where we picked up our fourth crewmember, and sailed to Amsterdam.

SAIL05 was a fantastic event. The daytime pictures in my gallery were taken the first time we sailed through, which was fun. The second time we sailed through was in the evening, and it was absolute mayhem: a regular party on the shore and on the water. Small and large boats were side-by-side. It was great.

After the fireworks (which was great, we motored back to IJmuiden. Once we reached open sea we found there was not much wind, but the sea was tempestuous. Two hours later, around 4 AM the wind came. Pretty soon it was windforce 6 Beaufort. We raised the sails and sailed back down to Zeeland, which took us 11 hours. The waves were 1,65 meters on average, and our little sailboat went up and down. I wish I had taken pictures At one point there was another sailboat next to us, and she went up and down as she was being tossed about. It looked great, and I realized our boat was doing much the same. I should have taken pictures, but the water was everywhere. And also I felt pretty lousy. Yep – I had finally become sea-sick…

The trip was totally exhilirating -  and totally exhausting. I slept much more than Hans and the other two crewmembers, who were both over 60. Yet I utterly and totally crashed when I came home.

BROTER ROGER OF TAIZE STABBED TO DEATH

Just discovered on Steve Jones' blog that brother Roger, the 90-year old founder of the Taizé community was stabbed to death yesterday. For many people Taizé became a place of spiritual awakening. Read more here.