Something deep is happening in the spiritual realm in Amsterdam...and lately it has begun to openly show itself on our streets.
No, I am not speaking of the blatant display of immorality that Amsterdam is popularly known for. What I speak of is a spiritual shaking from the heavens.
Two events specifically demonstrate what I mean:
The first is that my church (God's Embassy) held it's first Sunday morning service on the street. What an experience. It was beautiful to be out in the open, with no roof overhead, and have the freedom to worship God while passersby gape in wonder or stop to take the occasional "stealth" picture (from windows of nearby houses or even peeking out from behind light poles to snap a shot from their cell phone--I kid you not!). A few were even bold enough to join in on the service.
We had our service as usual, and I am glad there was no attempt made to have it be a show for the city. It was just us loving God out in the open. I felt a unique strength and pride in what took place that day.
There are plans to have more of these services though the dates are not determined yet (there are several legal hoops to jump through to get the services approved).
The second event was that Hillsong United came to Dam Square. For those of you who do not know, Dam Square is smack in the center of Amsterdam and is the historical beginning of the city. There are still several tourists this time of year and it was a magnificently sunny Saturday. A group of 120 composed a "prayer station". They would walk about the concert fringe and talk to people. Each of them wore a red apron that said "Prayer changes things" or in Dutch "Bidden helpt"(prayer helps) which sounds a bit cheesy or something worthy of rolling your eyes at, but really, (and I speak from experience) it is a very effective tool and people will see the apron and approach you to talk. These prayer station people had great testimonies of salvations and other conversations where God was glorified.
My church had some people in bright pink shirts (the new trendy color for guys in Europe by the way) that said "SMS God naar 4477" (send a text to God at 4477).
When people send a text then they get the web address
which explains the entire gospel and gives opportunity to get in contact to speak with someone if they have questions. There were over 280 visits to the site over the last few days.
During the Hillsong concert I could feel the power of what was happening. This was huge for this city. It is said that nothing to this scale of publicly declaring God has happened like since the Jesus March in the 70's...all I know is that as I looked at the sky, the moving clouds seemed to symbolize to me the moving of the Spirit.
God loves the people of this city. He loves them so much that He has brought me and others together to give of ourselves to see lives changed and made whole.
God's Kingdom is being established here...to be continued.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Monday, August 06, 2007
engaged!!!
YES!!
Indeed it is true. Here is how it all happened:
It was a beautiful Saturday= the sun was shining and there was a cool breeze in the air.
Bas and I were in Maartensdijk at his parent's house for the weekend. That day, we visited an elderly couple who are friends of his. After our lovely chat and coffee break together, Bas disappeared for awhile. I wondered where he had gone, but sat talking with the wife (she could understand my English and I could understand her Dutch so we had a bi-lingual conversation since neither of us could speak the other's language!). After some time, she stood up and walked toward the street. I followed her.
When I got to the street I could see Bas across the street in the canal on a boat. It was a rowboat!
I was so excited and exclaimed over how cute the boat was as I stepped in.
Bas rowed us out into a more open area (not canals like in Amsterdam but more open areas...not sure what they are called in English). We passed through some lovely, Dutch countryside going by windmills and farm animals. Occasionally he would row to the land where tall plants were lining the water and pick some flowers for me. I was thinking how much like a story the whole experience was and told him what a good idea it was to do this. He just smiled a huge smile.
We found a spot to land. It was exactly out of a story-book. There was a lovely, massive tree providing shade over soft, thick grass. We laid out a blanket and got out our picnic lunch. We had just begun to eat when Bas pulled out two pieces of Dutch apple pie (one of my favorite desserts) as a surprise for me. I was telling him how thoughtful that was to bring those when Bas began to eat his already. I was surprised and amused that he already wanted to have his dessert. And I could see that the thoughts in his head were moving quickly. I took my time to finish my sandwich and pie, unsuspecting of anything.
Bas stood up and held out his hand asking me to dance with him. After a few minutes he stopped and looked looked intently at me. He began to share with me from his heart. I suddenly realized what was happening and became shaky and emotional...
then he got down on his knee and asked me to be his wife.
I wholeheartedly said "yes!" and shared with him from my heart then we hugged and cried and put our rings on each other (the guys here also wear their ring during engagement).
It was an absolutely perfect day in every way possible.
So the day is 9 April 2008 in Amsterdam.
We also will plan a blessing ceremony/reception in Kansas sometime in early May.
I am still floating from the whole experience and am in complete thankfulness and awe of how God has orchestrated our entire relationship...beautiful.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
"He gives and takes away..."
This the the absolutely true story of a boy named Richard:
Richard is a young, single, good-looking, snazzy-dressing Dutchie (I am not trying to auction him off to anyone, but I think it is worth drumming up his attributes!). He is also incredibly enthusiastic for Jesus.
His story begins on a fine Netherland day (which means that the sun was probably partly shining and the rain had either just stopped or had not yet begun. hee-hee).
Richard is very fond of boats and used to work building yachts (you know those big, gorgeous, ridiculously expensive ones? yup, he worked on those).
He also owned his own snazzy little speedster as well as a very old praam (I don't know the English word for this boat but it is all wood and flat and slowish). Yes, indeed, life was quite comfortable and seemingly perfect...until God called him to YWAM.
dun-dun-DUN!
Oh, the delimma! What to do? What to do!
It did not take long for him to understand that working for YWAM was exactly where he needed to be and quitting his job (he had just found out the company wanted to hire him on a long-term basis--he was set!) and selling his speed boat (aka. his baby) was going to be necessary to do that.
One day he went to show his boat to a prospective buyer. He decided to bring along his newsletter informing friends/family of his decision to join YWAM.
The buyer asked Richard why he wanted to sell his boat, and as Richard told him of his desire to serve God through working with DTS schools it touched something inside the man. Richard gave the man his newsletter which explained the purpose of a DTS (to create a safe environment for young people from around the world to come and meet God on a deep, intimate level).
The man had truely been touched. He contacted Richard again to let him know that not only would he buy the boat, but Richard could use it whenever his family was did not want it! AND-he would also like to support Richard on a regular basis during his time in YWAM! whoa!
The story does not end there:
Two weeks ago, a lady on our base was asked to look into a boat that a homeless man was interested in buying. She took a boat expert with her (Richard of course) to see if the boat was in good condition. It was. When the homeless man did not show further interest, Richard made a bid for half the asking price.
The seller called Richard to say he was moving to Spain and the man who originally was going to buy the boat had a fight with his wife and was no longer going to buy, so he would gladly sell it to Richard.
So this is the story of how Richard now has three boats (if you include that he can still use his old beauty...and the family is on holiday right now so he actually has access to it for 2 weeks. I got the privilege of riding around the canals in it one evening).
The boat will be used for having fun as well as riding around the canals to worship and pray over the city.
Be encouraged that when you know you should do something and it is difficult for you to do, God WILL meet you there and exceed what you could ever imagine possible...even when it comes to the more "dainty" things in life. God is a good Father and an excellent Provider.
I love you all.
Send me some info on your life...
Richard is a young, single, good-looking, snazzy-dressing Dutchie (I am not trying to auction him off to anyone, but I think it is worth drumming up his attributes!). He is also incredibly enthusiastic for Jesus.
His story begins on a fine Netherland day (which means that the sun was probably partly shining and the rain had either just stopped or had not yet begun. hee-hee).
Richard is very fond of boats and used to work building yachts (you know those big, gorgeous, ridiculously expensive ones? yup, he worked on those).
He also owned his own snazzy little speedster as well as a very old praam (I don't know the English word for this boat but it is all wood and flat and slowish). Yes, indeed, life was quite comfortable and seemingly perfect...until God called him to YWAM.
dun-dun-DUN!
Oh, the delimma! What to do? What to do!
It did not take long for him to understand that working for YWAM was exactly where he needed to be and quitting his job (he had just found out the company wanted to hire him on a long-term basis--he was set!) and selling his speed boat (aka. his baby) was going to be necessary to do that.
One day he went to show his boat to a prospective buyer. He decided to bring along his newsletter informing friends/family of his decision to join YWAM.
The buyer asked Richard why he wanted to sell his boat, and as Richard told him of his desire to serve God through working with DTS schools it touched something inside the man. Richard gave the man his newsletter which explained the purpose of a DTS (to create a safe environment for young people from around the world to come and meet God on a deep, intimate level).
The man had truely been touched. He contacted Richard again to let him know that not only would he buy the boat, but Richard could use it whenever his family was did not want it! AND-he would also like to support Richard on a regular basis during his time in YWAM! whoa!
The story does not end there:
Two weeks ago, a lady on our base was asked to look into a boat that a homeless man was interested in buying. She took a boat expert with her (Richard of course) to see if the boat was in good condition. It was. When the homeless man did not show further interest, Richard made a bid for half the asking price.
The seller called Richard to say he was moving to Spain and the man who originally was going to buy the boat had a fight with his wife and was no longer going to buy, so he would gladly sell it to Richard.
So this is the story of how Richard now has three boats (if you include that he can still use his old beauty...and the family is on holiday right now so he actually has access to it for 2 weeks. I got the privilege of riding around the canals in it one evening).
The boat will be used for having fun as well as riding around the canals to worship and pray over the city.
Be encouraged that when you know you should do something and it is difficult for you to do, God WILL meet you there and exceed what you could ever imagine possible...even when it comes to the more "dainty" things in life. God is a good Father and an excellent Provider.
I love you all.
Send me some info on your life...
Friday, June 22, 2007
prison break
This is an amazing story!:
Once upon a time, in a prison far, far away, God was on the move...
I don't know how many of you I told but this last December I went with the DTS I was staffing to minister in the prison in Singapore. They already had an established ministry with the boys (ages 15-25 roughly) that meets on a weekly basis, so we had the unique opportunity to share and pray with those who attended this weekly meeting.
During my time, I was able to talk one-on-one with a few boys and while I prayed, I really asked for a connection with the Holy Spirit and to speak out what they needed to hear.
The same night we visited, there was a special Christmas Eve service. The pastor invited those who wanted to pray for salvation to come to the front of the room. Normally, none of them would have responded because several were still involved in secret society gangs and a response would mean trouble for them. However, so many were so affected by speaking and praying with our group earlier that day that over 20 of them went forward to renounce their gang involvement and to pray for salvation!
Not only that, but the prison wardens said they could see a glow about many of the boys and they had received a stack (literally 1 inch thick) of good reports from the boys of their experience with our group.
Fast forward a few months to April. You would think the excitement may wear off or at least diminish quite a bit, right? Not so! The boys continued to grow in their hunger for God through prayer and Bible reading, and still spoke of when the YWAM Amsterdam team came to visit.
The prison officials contacted the base leader of YWAM Singapore to discuss this phenomena. They had a meeting with the YWAM base leader to request future involvement in the prison. When they learned what exactly a DTS was, they became convinced that this was just what the boys needed.
Now the door is swung wide open for YWAM Singapore to bring a team in to disciple those interested for a 3 month lecture phase during their last three months in the prison (most have a 1 to 2-year sentence in that prison) then they will have the opportunity to do their 3 month outreach phase in another country!(they will be allowed a passport as a special privilege for the DTS)
What an opportunity! Who would have thought that a little team from Amsterdam would be so honored as to help pave the way for the prisons in Singapore to be discipled and their convicts turned into missionaries! God absolutely astounds me.
I was able to return to the same prison and was there exactly one week ago today. I witnessed that, indeed, the boys who were there in December do remember us and were permanently affected by the meeting. I sat with one such boy a week ago. He is doing very well and growing so much during this time. Prison is a blessing for him because it gives him the opportunity to spend long amounts of quality time with God and grow deep in his faith.
I must say that when a convict prays FOR YOU while you are sitting on the floor of their bare little prison room and the Spirit of God descends in power, it is an experience that forces you to recognize that of our own we can do nothing.
Isn't it just like God to bring Himself to the most unassuming of places and break it open at the seams?
I hope to see Him doing it again, and again, and again...
Once upon a time, in a prison far, far away, God was on the move...
I don't know how many of you I told but this last December I went with the DTS I was staffing to minister in the prison in Singapore. They already had an established ministry with the boys (ages 15-25 roughly) that meets on a weekly basis, so we had the unique opportunity to share and pray with those who attended this weekly meeting.
During my time, I was able to talk one-on-one with a few boys and while I prayed, I really asked for a connection with the Holy Spirit and to speak out what they needed to hear.
The same night we visited, there was a special Christmas Eve service. The pastor invited those who wanted to pray for salvation to come to the front of the room. Normally, none of them would have responded because several were still involved in secret society gangs and a response would mean trouble for them. However, so many were so affected by speaking and praying with our group earlier that day that over 20 of them went forward to renounce their gang involvement and to pray for salvation!
Not only that, but the prison wardens said they could see a glow about many of the boys and they had received a stack (literally 1 inch thick) of good reports from the boys of their experience with our group.
Fast forward a few months to April. You would think the excitement may wear off or at least diminish quite a bit, right? Not so! The boys continued to grow in their hunger for God through prayer and Bible reading, and still spoke of when the YWAM Amsterdam team came to visit.
The prison officials contacted the base leader of YWAM Singapore to discuss this phenomena. They had a meeting with the YWAM base leader to request future involvement in the prison. When they learned what exactly a DTS was, they became convinced that this was just what the boys needed.
Now the door is swung wide open for YWAM Singapore to bring a team in to disciple those interested for a 3 month lecture phase during their last three months in the prison (most have a 1 to 2-year sentence in that prison) then they will have the opportunity to do their 3 month outreach phase in another country!(they will be allowed a passport as a special privilege for the DTS)
What an opportunity! Who would have thought that a little team from Amsterdam would be so honored as to help pave the way for the prisons in Singapore to be discipled and their convicts turned into missionaries! God absolutely astounds me.
I was able to return to the same prison and was there exactly one week ago today. I witnessed that, indeed, the boys who were there in December do remember us and were permanently affected by the meeting. I sat with one such boy a week ago. He is doing very well and growing so much during this time. Prison is a blessing for him because it gives him the opportunity to spend long amounts of quality time with God and grow deep in his faith.
I must say that when a convict prays FOR YOU while you are sitting on the floor of their bare little prison room and the Spirit of God descends in power, it is an experience that forces you to recognize that of our own we can do nothing.
Isn't it just like God to bring Himself to the most unassuming of places and break it open at the seams?
I hope to see Him doing it again, and again, and again...
Singin' to the Pore
Here I am back in my beloved city of Amsterdam...it is gray and raining outside while I sit here on my bed with a lovely cup of tea. ahhh, I can't get much more content at this moment.
Some of you may wonder whatever happened to my candid promise to keep updating you since I disappeared for several weeks...
Well, let me assure you that my promise was genuine though my circumstances were unforesee-able.
I was in Singapore.
To be very quick in answering why: I had to run after Bas. To be honest in answering why: I had to run after Bas because he has a position as a bridge between Amsterdam and Singapore which will continue for an undetermined amount of time. This means a few months of each year he may be in Singapore. This also means that, as our relationship progresses, there is some connection for me there as well.
I spent three weeks in the busy, bustling, hot, and sticky city/state asking God what He had for me there. While there I helped in selling books for Landa Cope (speaker on living Old Testament principles in today's life=wise speaker, much respect for her!), preparing for a visiting DTS team from Australia, helping to host the DTS team, and ministering in the Singapore prison (same one I visited in December while there for our DTS).
Amidst all this I became frustrated by not hearing a clear reason as to any future involvement I could have at the base or in Singapore itself.
Fortunately, there are wise counselors and email in my life, so I was able to receive the message that maybe for this time what I am supposed to focus on (and enjoy) was my relationship with Bas. I knew God had told me to go to Singapore. I know there must be something there for my future, but, for those three weeks, what God needed me to do was to not stress about feeling future leadings. I do believe He will reveal all that when the time is right.
And it truly was a good time and place for us (Bas and I) to have a lot of time to talk and be together without the distractions of separate work and relationships that take up time and energy in Amsterdam.
So that, my friends is a quick explanation of my absence these past weeks. Hope you can understand.
As for now, I will go back to helping with renovations and a mosaic at the Tabernacle of the Nations.
I also plan to look into taking some Dutch classes provided they are not too costly. Otherwise I will try to teach myself by way of the Rosetta Stone CD-roms which I purchased while in the States.
I bid you each adeiu. Please let me know how you are as well.
much love,
Michelle
Some of you may wonder whatever happened to my candid promise to keep updating you since I disappeared for several weeks...
Well, let me assure you that my promise was genuine though my circumstances were unforesee-able.
I was in Singapore.
To be very quick in answering why: I had to run after Bas. To be honest in answering why: I had to run after Bas because he has a position as a bridge between Amsterdam and Singapore which will continue for an undetermined amount of time. This means a few months of each year he may be in Singapore. This also means that, as our relationship progresses, there is some connection for me there as well.
I spent three weeks in the busy, bustling, hot, and sticky city/state asking God what He had for me there. While there I helped in selling books for Landa Cope (speaker on living Old Testament principles in today's life=wise speaker, much respect for her!), preparing for a visiting DTS team from Australia, helping to host the DTS team, and ministering in the Singapore prison (same one I visited in December while there for our DTS).
Amidst all this I became frustrated by not hearing a clear reason as to any future involvement I could have at the base or in Singapore itself.
Fortunately, there are wise counselors and email in my life, so I was able to receive the message that maybe for this time what I am supposed to focus on (and enjoy) was my relationship with Bas. I knew God had told me to go to Singapore. I know there must be something there for my future, but, for those three weeks, what God needed me to do was to not stress about feeling future leadings. I do believe He will reveal all that when the time is right.
And it truly was a good time and place for us (Bas and I) to have a lot of time to talk and be together without the distractions of separate work and relationships that take up time and energy in Amsterdam.
So that, my friends is a quick explanation of my absence these past weeks. Hope you can understand.
As for now, I will go back to helping with renovations and a mosaic at the Tabernacle of the Nations.
I also plan to look into taking some Dutch classes provided they are not too costly. Otherwise I will try to teach myself by way of the Rosetta Stone CD-roms which I purchased while in the States.
I bid you each adeiu. Please let me know how you are as well.
much love,
Michelle
Saturday, May 12, 2007
what's going on:
ok, now for what I am up to these days....
I went to The States for 2 1/2 weeks to visit friends and family. It was quite a busy time traveling here and there but I feel satisfied with all that I got done in that amount of time. For those of you I did not get to see, well, you are invited to come and see me anytime! Otherwise I hope to catch you the next time I am that side of the pond (no telling when that will be).
I got back to Amsterdam last Saturday. My father and stepmother came as well for a holiday and I have been showing them around the city and some neighboring cities (or rather Bas has been showing all of us since I have not visited many of the places outside the city that we went to).
My dad and stepmom then took me to Belgium for a few days. We rented a car w/ GPS (works pretty well but has some kinks which can be quite hilarious to watch the driver get peeved over) and drove to Antwerp, Brussels, and Brugge/Damme. Antwerp has an amazingly beautiful cathedral that is definitely worth stopping to see. Brussels is overrated though does have some pretty perks. Brugge was by far the highlight of the trip with all its quaint architecture and the great hotel we stayed at with friendly/homey staff. We took a day trip to nearby Damme by a paddle-wheel boat which was a unique and interesting trip.
They are now in Luxembourg for a few days then will come back to Amsterdam for couple days before heading back home.
Until September, when I will be staffing the next DTS, I will be working at The Tabernacle of the Nations (house of 24hour prayer and worship) helping with building renovations. Yup, I will be miss handywoman for a couple months involved in painting, sanding, drywall, tiling, and whatever else I can get my hands on to help with. I also plan to volunteer some days at The Cleft (also in the Red Light District) to either minister to the ladies in the windows or go to worship/pray/witness to people on the bridges (passersby).
I fully realize it has been far too long since my last posts so I apologize for not being better about general updates...I plan to be back on this blog thing again though so I will keep you posted.
I would really love to hear from you, too, so please drop me a line sometime.
Blessings to you all. Thank you so much for those of you praying for me regularly...please continue!
~Michelle
I went to The States for 2 1/2 weeks to visit friends and family. It was quite a busy time traveling here and there but I feel satisfied with all that I got done in that amount of time. For those of you I did not get to see, well, you are invited to come and see me anytime! Otherwise I hope to catch you the next time I am that side of the pond (no telling when that will be).
I got back to Amsterdam last Saturday. My father and stepmother came as well for a holiday and I have been showing them around the city and some neighboring cities (or rather Bas has been showing all of us since I have not visited many of the places outside the city that we went to).
My dad and stepmom then took me to Belgium for a few days. We rented a car w/ GPS (works pretty well but has some kinks which can be quite hilarious to watch the driver get peeved over) and drove to Antwerp, Brussels, and Brugge/Damme. Antwerp has an amazingly beautiful cathedral that is definitely worth stopping to see. Brussels is overrated though does have some pretty perks. Brugge was by far the highlight of the trip with all its quaint architecture and the great hotel we stayed at with friendly/homey staff. We took a day trip to nearby Damme by a paddle-wheel boat which was a unique and interesting trip.
They are now in Luxembourg for a few days then will come back to Amsterdam for couple days before heading back home.
Until September, when I will be staffing the next DTS, I will be working at The Tabernacle of the Nations (house of 24hour prayer and worship) helping with building renovations. Yup, I will be miss handywoman for a couple months involved in painting, sanding, drywall, tiling, and whatever else I can get my hands on to help with. I also plan to volunteer some days at The Cleft (also in the Red Light District) to either minister to the ladies in the windows or go to worship/pray/witness to people on the bridges (passersby).
I fully realize it has been far too long since my last posts so I apologize for not being better about general updates...I plan to be back on this blog thing again though so I will keep you posted.
I would really love to hear from you, too, so please drop me a line sometime.
Blessings to you all. Thank you so much for those of you praying for me regularly...please continue!
~Michelle
my own personal fairytale...
...this will be an exciting one for all of you; I am sure of it : )
so I could label this entry as so many things:
so I could label this entry as so many things:
- you will never believe this
- it finally happened
- Michelle is actually in a relationship
- it must be "some" guy
yeah, yeah, yeah, it is true, for those of you who do not yet know I am in a relationship!
I know you want all the mushy details, so I will acquiesce to a certain degree to quelch most of your curiosity (for the rest you will have to send a personal email to squeeze any more out of me) : )
He is Dutch. We first met when I came to do my own DTS in 2005. We worked together during this last DTS and co-led a team to Indonesia though the romance did not begin until after the DTS (God has good timing). He is an absolutely wonderful, wonderful guy who loves God ferociously, has a kind and tender heart toward others, is smart, funny, and kooky, and treats me with more care than anyone I have ever met. He is perfect for me. His name is Bas.
We have been together (romantically) for over a month now though it seems far longer. The way our relationship has progressed is truly unique and has the prints of God all over it. God is absolutely glorified in our relationship and I feel mauled over by the blessing of it!
I know this news will shock some of you who have known me for a long time and have never seen me w/ a guy before...but when it's right, it's right,...right? : ) Feel free to email me or whatever with your feedback or exclatmations of surprise...I would love to hear it.
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