finally able to get this thing going...

hey everyone,

Sorry about the loooong delay in getting this up and running. For those of you who did not receive my emails, the computers on base were not working until this week.

It is Saturday morning here (well 10:56am anyway). I have been up awhile already b/c I have weekend breakfast duty which means I prepare and clean-up.

Here is a quick rendition of what has happened while I have been in Amsterdam so far (for those of you who have gotten my emails, you can skip the next few paragraphs):
After coming, we had a three day camping trip that was quite intense. The days consisted mostly of either walking in the fields (looong walks!) or playing sports together. It was a good time to just talk and get to know each other. The evenings were even better b/c we shared our testimonies around the campfire. I think we always secretly know that amazing people have come from hard situations, but when you actually hear the details, it always astounds me. Out team is amazing truly and I feel we are like family already.
The next week we started classes. The first week was Identity in Christ (which was so incredibly stretching for me...really put me out of my comfort zone, but I feel such a difference by opening up and letting people know what's deep inside) and our speaker was from the other Netherland base in Heidebeek.
This week was The Nature, Character, and Father Heart of God. Our speaker was originally from Australia but has been working at the YWAM base in Denver, CO for over 10 years now. He was so deep spiritually and had a solid foundation in the Word (by which I mean he gave references for literally everything except when questions that pertained to relatives came up. Then he gave his opinion which I respected since it seems that so many times teachers try to avoid a direct answer and just say to decide by yourself).
I absolutely love the city of Amsterdam. It is so culturally diverse that you would never know you were in the Netherlands except that everything is in Dutch! (almost everyone speaks English though). It is a safe city to walk around and most everyone has a bike. There are bike lanes everywhere and they have the right of way, so if you are walking or driving you'd better watch out! I have almost been malled over by a bike several times!
We were given an opportunity to choose our weekly outreach option. I chose to work with the ladies behind the windows (prostitutes) in the red light district. I will work every Wednesday from 2p-5:30p so please pray for that when you think of it...I can never convey what you feel when you walk around the areas w/ the windows...there are no words. But I have great anticipation for how God will use me to reach the ladies. The ministry time is so well organized. We start out w/ a time of prayer and worship, go out to minister in twos (women only of course), and then end w/ an hour of prayer, worship, and debriefing (or talking about what we saw/felt to be sure not to carry away unwanted emotions). The women who live and work full-time w/ the ladies behind the windows are beautiful people who have such a heart for the ladies. I feel privileged to be here and able to learn to love like they do.

Next weekend the base will travel to Berlin for a YWAM conference. There will be several ministers from all over the world (including Pastor Cho from Korea). Our base will be performing a dance (which I will be a part of...please pray for that, too! I have not dance background!) and also the band Tribal Roots (which is a part of our base) will be performing.

This weekend I will be running in a half-marathon. Some of you know that I have a goal to run some type of race in each country I stay in. So here comes number three! I run tomorrow and am a bit nervous since I havent really trained. A guy here on staff talked me into running it with him, so ready or not...I will give it my best.

Ok, I know this is getting quite lengthy. In the future I hope to just dash out a quick little blurb and then email you all to let you know that I made a new post...

Thanks for the interest in my life. Thanks for the support in my life's mission. Thanks for all the future messages you will be sending me, and most importantly thanks for the support through prayer! I am surviving on those!
I am praying for you all as well. This time here is so special already. I cant wait to see what the coming weeks have in store for me. I will be sure to share as they go along.

Love you dearly,
Michelle/moosh/Hannah