Amsterdam Journal September 20, 2010
Johannes 3:16 : Gott hat die Menschen so sehr geliebt, das ser seinen einzigen Sohn hergab. Sohn hergab, nun warden alle, die sich auf den Sohn Gottes verlassen, nicht zudrunde gehen, sondern ewig leben.
The Kenya Mission team left Raleigh on September 19th not knowing we would have an interrupted schedule. We were booked on Delta/KLM through Detroit-Amsterdam-Nairobi. In Detroit, we experienced a delay as we were taxing out to the runway. The pilot informed us that a caution light had come on and we had to return to the gate for maintenance to check it. Good idea! It turned out to be fixable as the boarded plane waited patiently. Many passengers mentioned that they had tight changeovers in Amsterdam to make their connecting flights but everyone was in good spirits. Ultimately, we were delayed for two hours and we knew that we would probably miss our flight to Nairobi.
The delay resulted in our team being laid over one day in Amsterdam. We couldn’t get 16 people transferred on a flight until Tuesday morning at 10:30 am. KLM put us up in a nice hotel and we checked in at 3:30 pm. The weather was quite cool at 55 degrees and many of us wished we had packed a jacket. It was very overcast.
The team decided to make the most of it and see what the Lord had for us to do in Amsterdam. We went back to the airport and got on a train intending to go to Center City and see the old part of town. As it turned out we got on the wrong train and ended up in a more southern town called Utrecht. The scenery was pretty which was good because we got to see it twice since we had to return back to the city. The land is very flat and very green with scattered cows and sheep. The flat landscape reminds me of Louisiana. The canal has traffic and there are many people bicycling on these flat paths. The weather is overcast.
I had heard Ruth Rowe speak of Amsterdam in the past. She told us at Bible Study what a dark city it is spiritually. Prostitution and marijuana are legal and the masses are not churched. Because of this I have never cared much about visiting. I had a visual preconceived image of a gloomy and dank city.
Because of this, Lena and I had decided to prayer walk and pray for these spiritually dark people as we toured the area. So let’s get back to the train ride into the city…
Lena met a young adult woman who said she knew Jesus and another who said she wouldn’t read the track Lena gave her “because stuff like that scared her.” My group met a young man named Vincent. He immediately pegged us as Americans being the expert he is after one trip to America. He was very chatty and had very animated eyes. He told us he worked in a café in Amsterdam near the canal and Central train station that is the only Christian coffee shop in the city! He wanted very much for us to go see it so after we detrained we followed him to the busy street corner. He looked up at the building façade and pointed to the top to show us a sign in huge letters that said “Jesus loves you”! I pray it will be a beacon for the Lord in this dark place. I was so encouraged by the two young Christians we met because we were lost on a train!
The group walked to the canal to board the boat tour through the many locks and canals of Amsterdam which are formed off the Amstel river. There are over 165 canals and 1200 bridges. It was one hour long and we saw the house boats, arched bridges, church spires and constantly changing architecture. There were many different door designs, windows, trims and roof lines. We also passed the former home and current Anne Frank Museum. The homes, for the most part were warehouses along the river so many years ago, each one tightly packed in neat rows. At the top of each roof top is a thick beam which was and still is used to hoist cargo and now furniture into these yuppy homes.
The city is very clean and I can understand why it has the appeal it does with these young urbanites. Vincent said that Amsterdam is a great place to live and it has “everything”. I pray that were only true. They don’t have Jesus!
As the sun set, the Lord blessed us with patches of blue sky, bits of sunshine and ultimately a full moon peaking through the clouds. I am always amazed and so very comforted by God letting us know He is with us! Even in the dark city He reminded me that He will never leave me nor forsake me. He will be with us where ever we go!
By Mimi Brummitt
Tuesday September, 21, 2010
We arrived in Kenya on time and had a very smooth trip. All team members are well and we are preparing to go to our different regions bright and early on Wednesday morning. We will leave the hotel at 6:00 am. Each team member is so excited to see what the Lord has prepared for us in Kenya.
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