Life In Amsterdam

I know it's been eons since my last update, but with the amount of emails in the average inbox nowadays, I'm sure you don't mind plenty of time in between! It's a bit of a long update, but I tried to make it readable and exciting!

Life and ministry in Amsterdam is still going great. I really am in love with this city, I'm passionate about seeing God's kingdom here, and I'm becoming more and more connected and involved with the people. So the big news is that I've decided to stay here indefinitely (I had originally planned 1 year)!

Two months ago I moved out from my Grandma's place, and I'm now living on the YWAM base. It's called De Poort, which means 'The Gateway', and I have a pretty good sized room with almost everything I need. It's about a 5 minute bike ride from the Cleft, and another couple minutes to the center of the city. God is good!

Worship & Evangelism:

Since I've been here, there are two main areas of ministry God has been using me in and growing me in, and which now take up most of my time: worship & evangelism. I lead worship 3 or 4 times a week now for various ministries, and my mind is always busy with learning new songs, practicing with people and preparing. It's really something I love doing. And I love bringing it out onto the streets too! Worshipping in the red light district is so powerful and important. As we usher in the manifest presence of God, it dispells the darkness and it 'tills' peoples' hearts. When this is combined with evangelism, it makes for a powerful mix. We see lots of lives touched when we go out.

I've found that evangelism, just like worship, really needs to be a lifestyle. As I live my life here in this city, I always try to be open to talk to and display the character of Christ to those I come in contact with. From the guy siting next to me on the train, to the bank teller, or the guy selling me food. God has taught me a lot about how to talk to people, how to listen, how to discern their needs and the things holding them back. It's a foundational element to being a Christian, and I want to be living it!

So worship & evangelism is where I've found my niche so far here in YWAM Amsterdam, they are the main facets of the ministry God has led me into. Here is my new mission statement by the way: Revealing the heart of the Father through prophetic worship & evangelism in Amsterdam.

Frontier Missions Conference:

A couple months ago I had the privilege of going the the annual YWAM conference on Frontier Missions, which was held this year in Istanbul. I had quite an adventure trying to get there, as I missed 2 flights and then ended up at the wrong airport about 100 miles away from where I needed to be... at 3 in the morning. I made my way across the city through a series of divine appointments, and finally made it to the location, which was a beautiful hotel on the coast of the Sea of Marmara.

Anyway, the conference was very inspiring. It was moving to meet all these missionaries who are serving on the front lines, in some of the most dangerous places, getting persecuted and sometimes even tortured! Hearing their stories and getting to know them was very good. The seminars and corporate times were very refreshing and informative. I learned a lot during the week I was there.

Festival of the Nations:

Two weeks ago I went to the European Staff gathering, which happens approximately every four years. It was called the Festival of the Nations, and took place in a small, but very significant town in eastern Germany called Hernnhut. The town was founded by the ancient Moravians, who 275 years ago, experienced an outpouring of the Spirit which led them into the first ever 24/7 prayer movement lasting over 100 years! Out of this movement, vision was birthed for today's modern missions, and organizations like YWAM! We had the festival there to coincide with the 275th anniversary of the Moravian visitation.

The theme of the gathering was about rising to the challenges facing Europe today; things like secularism, Islam, and the new age movement. The conference challenged and provoked me in multiple areas. I was really inspired to take my calling more seriously, and to spend more time thinking critically regarding the difficulties we're facing in Amsterdam and developing new strategies/initiatives to combat them. I was especially impacted by a seminar about human trafficking, and I feel God is calling me to get more involved somehow. I don't know yet what exactly I can do, but I do know that Amsterdam is one of the biggest destinations for women sold into the international sex industry.

Prayer Requests & Needs:

-Pray for the Cleft. God is bringing us through a season of change, and change doesn't come so easily with a 28 year old ministry. Pray for wisdom, guidance, and clear direction.

-Pray for the district. This place keeps running and drawing thousands of tourists because of one main lie: that it's all a wonderful expression of humanity and personal freedom. Pray that people will see the bondage that is the reality of the district.

-Pray for me. I'm struggling a lot with finances at the moment. I just received my very first health insurance bill, and even though I just signed up, it covers all the months since I registered in the city because it's a social system that required insurance for all residents from the day they sign in. It's about 500 US dollars, and I'm not yet sure how I will pay it.

-I also could use serous prayer for my arms. It's been a continual struggle since I've been here, pain in my arms, and it makes it difficult to do two of my main jobs here: playing guitar, and fixing computers on the base! I really need healing!

Thanks for reading!

Be blessed,

SPF