67. That's how many stairs there were to my room in De Poort, the YWAM base in Amsterdam. SIXETY-SEVEN!! After a week of going up and down several times a day my legs are more toned than they've ever been! Not to mention we walked a minimum of 2 hours every, but more on that later :)
This week was evangelism week for our DTS and our leaders decided to take us out of the country to give us some practical evangelism opportunities (not that you can't evangelise in Switzerland...). Some of the DTS went to Amsterdam, the others went to Istanbul. We left early (last) Friday morning and traveled to Basel, where the teams separated. Very cool fact: Basel sits on the point where Switzerland, Germany and France meet...so I was in 3 countries at once! It was weird saying goodbye to the Istanbul team, there was a strange emptiness with only half of us there!
When we arrived in Amsterdam we had to walk 20 minutes to the base...carrying our hiking backpacks! Mine was only 11kg (ha, only!) but so difficult to carry - I'm going to have to build up some muscle before big outreach! I was just about dead when we reached base but then we had to walk up all those stairs!! The base is HUGE, six floors all connected with stairs and hallways. Very easy to get lost!
First impressions of Amsterdam:
Cold & Windy - the wind blows so hard I cannot even describe it. The below freezing temperatures would be bearable if not for the constant, icy wind.
Busy & Bustling - there are always seems to be swarms of people and everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere.
Bicycles - bikes are quite literally everywhere! The cars and bikes don't seem to follow any road rules or speed limit so the roads are dangerous. In Australia and Switzerland the pedestrians have right of way but in Amsterdam if you step on the street you'll just be run over! They won't stop for you, even at a crossing.
Water - there are canals/rivers everywhere! There are 165 canals in Amsterdam, a combined length of over 100km! As a result, there are 1,281 bridges throughout the city.
Saturday we spent the morning in team worship and prayer. We scoured the base until a guitar was found and had the best worship time ever! That afternoon we went for a walk through the Red Light District. At first I was like, "this isn't as bad as I expected" but then it just kept getting worse. Your eyes are assaulted with every kind of obscenity imaginable...and some many more unimaginable. As you probably know, Amsterdam is famous for it's 'windows' - windows where girls stand inside and men pick them as if they were a grocery item, although I've never heard even a grocery item talked about or to in such an inhumane manner. I don't feel it appropriate to talk much about the RLD here but I will say that it is truly a hell on earth. I am really thankful that God protected my mind and heart and I was not too affected by what I saw. Saturday night we had dinner with two ladies who work with The Lighthouse, a YWAM ministry reaching out to the women in the windows. For those of you who know Rahab, it's run virtually the same. It was such an awesome evening, these ladies had so much to share about miracles and changes taking place in the district.
Sunday was our sightseeing day. Becca, Lisa, Kaylene and I set off to find the Anne Frank House. Amazingly, we did! Amsterdam is very windy and confusing but we got there with a little help....and then stood in line for ages! My goodness, I could not get over how cool it was that I was standing IN ANNE FRANK'S HOUSE!!!! I am such a history lover :) It was very sobering, however, to think of what took place there. To walk through the original bookcase-door with original manuscripts still in it. To touch the pictures on the wall that Anne herself had stuck up during their years of hiding. To see the bathroom where they "weren't able to flush the toilet during the day". To stand in the very room where Nazi officers burst in discovered the alarmed occupants. Wow, what a privilege. Sooo, are you feeling really sober and melancholy now?! Let's lighten you up with some food stories :) We had lunch at the "I Love Kebab" restaurant. For some bizarre reason, Amsterdam has an extraodinary amount of kebab places. Weird. Anyway, next we visited the HUGE 'Bibliotheek' - library. It has 8 floors and holds absolutely every book/CD/DVD/magazine ever produced!!
Monday we had worship with the whole base (can I just say, VERY different to anything I've ever experienced. I try to be open to new things but this was pushing it!). That afternoon we went on a prayer walk through the RLD with one of the Lighthouse volunteers. She took us to different buildings, explained the history and current situation and then we prayed over it and the people involved. She showed us a building that had been a sex shop - for years they had prayed for it's closure and it just recently shut down and became a sandwich store! Monday night we had a worship time squished in on of our bedrooms and then played multiple rounds of 'Never Have I Ever' - believe me, that game only works a few times before you run out of things you've never done!
Tuesday morning we had evangelism teaching with Rebecca, a fiery Mexican woman. She could make anyone excited about evangelism! (During yesterday's prayer walk we saw a mafia boss - apparently he's terrified of Rebecca and always tries to get away from talking with her!)We went to Amsterdam's Dam Square and, in pairs, handed out roses with bible verses attached. That night the other DTS on base had an open night where they were talking about human trafficking and watching the documentary 'Nefarious'. Perfect! Nefarious is a powerful doco on human trafficking and our school had been trying to arrange seeing that movie. It was such a God-thing that they were showing it!
Wednesday we went to Dam Square to evangelise again. This time we used the surveys to start the conversation with people, which worked much better than the flowers. We were asking questions like, "What is love?, Who do you think Jesus is?, Is is possible to have a personal relationship with God?" We had some great conversations and I grew a lot in my confidence to just walk up to people. It's so funny, the thing we fear most is rejection yet we hardly go rejected at all! Wednesday the Lighthouse team do their outreach to the women in the windows, bringing them hot drinks and cookies. We went to their headquarters and spent the time they were out in intercession. They always notice such a difference on the nights they are covered in prayer so we prayed extra hard! We had the most awesome time of worship. We hadn't even meant to sing that much but the songs just flowed and I could feel God's presence so strongly. It was so beautiful!
Because Wednesday had been such a late night, we were given Thursday morning off. Some of us went on a boat tour of Amsterdam's canals. It was fantastic, I'm so glad I spend those 9euros! We wandered around the markets and I found the biggest op shop ever! I was in heaven! Unfortunately it was a heaven where I had no money to spend so we didn't stay there long. That afternoon we had another time of intercession (if we weren't eating or walking this week, we were praying!) at YWAM's house of prayer, The Tabernacle. The inside has been done up to resemble the actual tabernacle from the old testament and it felt so magical to pray inside there! That night we went out for waffles....Amsterdam is huge on their waffles, also. Next to every kebab store there is a waffle one! We took a last walk through the RLD, the first time we had done it at night. The atmosphere is very different to that during the day. I so glad we got to experience it before we left, the 'true' side of the RLD.
Friday was leaving day and we were on our way by 7.30am. The ridiculous hike back to the train station with my (somehow heavier??!) backpack obviously took it's toll on me because I got my first ever blood nose! Everyone felt very proud to have witnessed it. I was a hilarious sight, trying to walk with my head tilted back and a tissue stuffed up my nose while trying to navigate myself and my 14kg bag through the busy station. Sigh. My life is full of these moments, created for everyone else's entertainment I'm sure! When I got back home, guess what was waiting for me....packages!!!! My beautiful friend Ana had taken the time to put together some care packages for me, filled with all the GF food I couldn't find here! Thank you again Ana, such a blessing!
After such a full on week, I have spend the weekend relaxing and unpacking (which included cleaning out my bag - a packet of chips exploded during the flight and left crumbs and grease scattered throughout my luggage. Charming.) It is now Sunday evening and the start of week 8 of the DTS is only a sleep away. Crazy how time flies - only 5 weeks till outreach!! Mind boggling! Blessings until next time :)
This week was evangelism week for our DTS and our leaders decided to take us out of the country to give us some practical evangelism opportunities (not that you can't evangelise in Switzerland...). Some of the DTS went to Amsterdam, the others went to Istanbul. We left early (last) Friday morning and traveled to Basel, where the teams separated. Very cool fact: Basel sits on the point where Switzerland, Germany and France meet...so I was in 3 countries at once! It was weird saying goodbye to the Istanbul team, there was a strange emptiness with only half of us there!
 |
| Team Amsterdam |
 |
| There's Basel, right at the crossroads! |
When we arrived in Amsterdam we had to walk 20 minutes to the base...carrying our hiking backpacks! Mine was only 11kg (ha, only!) but so difficult to carry - I'm going to have to build up some muscle before big outreach! I was just about dead when we reached base but then we had to walk up all those stairs!! The base is HUGE, six floors all connected with stairs and hallways. Very easy to get lost!
First impressions of Amsterdam:
Cold & Windy - the wind blows so hard I cannot even describe it. The below freezing temperatures would be bearable if not for the constant, icy wind.
Busy & Bustling - there are always seems to be swarms of people and everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere.
Bicycles - bikes are quite literally everywhere! The cars and bikes don't seem to follow any road rules or speed limit so the roads are dangerous. In Australia and Switzerland the pedestrians have right of way but in Amsterdam if you step on the street you'll just be run over! They won't stop for you, even at a crossing.
Water - there are canals/rivers everywhere! There are 165 canals in Amsterdam, a combined length of over 100km! As a result, there are 1,281 bridges throughout the city.
Saturday we spent the morning in team worship and prayer. We scoured the base until a guitar was found and had the best worship time ever! That afternoon we went for a walk through the Red Light District. At first I was like, "this isn't as bad as I expected" but then it just kept getting worse. Your eyes are assaulted with every kind of obscenity imaginable...and some many more unimaginable. As you probably know, Amsterdam is famous for it's 'windows' - windows where girls stand inside and men pick them as if they were a grocery item, although I've never heard even a grocery item talked about or to in such an inhumane manner. I don't feel it appropriate to talk much about the RLD here but I will say that it is truly a hell on earth. I am really thankful that God protected my mind and heart and I was not too affected by what I saw. Saturday night we had dinner with two ladies who work with The Lighthouse, a YWAM ministry reaching out to the women in the windows. For those of you who know Rahab, it's run virtually the same. It was such an awesome evening, these ladies had so much to share about miracles and changes taking place in the district.
Sunday was our sightseeing day. Becca, Lisa, Kaylene and I set off to find the Anne Frank House. Amazingly, we did! Amsterdam is very windy and confusing but we got there with a little help....and then stood in line for ages! My goodness, I could not get over how cool it was that I was standing IN ANNE FRANK'S HOUSE!!!! I am such a history lover :) It was very sobering, however, to think of what took place there. To walk through the original bookcase-door with original manuscripts still in it. To touch the pictures on the wall that Anne herself had stuck up during their years of hiding. To see the bathroom where they "weren't able to flush the toilet during the day". To stand in the very room where Nazi officers burst in discovered the alarmed occupants. Wow, what a privilege. Sooo, are you feeling really sober and melancholy now?! Let's lighten you up with some food stories :) We had lunch at the "I Love Kebab" restaurant. For some bizarre reason, Amsterdam has an extraodinary amount of kebab places. Weird. Anyway, next we visited the HUGE 'Bibliotheek' - library. It has 8 floors and holds absolutely every book/CD/DVD/magazine ever produced!!
 |
| The green doors are Anne Frank's house - you don't enter here but from a museum on the side |
 |
| The book-lovers dream! |
Monday we had worship with the whole base (can I just say, VERY different to anything I've ever experienced. I try to be open to new things but this was pushing it!). That afternoon we went on a prayer walk through the RLD with one of the Lighthouse volunteers. She took us to different buildings, explained the history and current situation and then we prayed over it and the people involved. She showed us a building that had been a sex shop - for years they had prayed for it's closure and it just recently shut down and became a sandwich store! Monday night we had a worship time squished in on of our bedrooms and then played multiple rounds of 'Never Have I Ever' - believe me, that game only works a few times before you run out of things you've never done!
Tuesday morning we had evangelism teaching with Rebecca, a fiery Mexican woman. She could make anyone excited about evangelism! (During yesterday's prayer walk we saw a mafia boss - apparently he's terrified of Rebecca and always tries to get away from talking with her!)We went to Amsterdam's Dam Square and, in pairs, handed out roses with bible verses attached. That night the other DTS on base had an open night where they were talking about human trafficking and watching the documentary 'Nefarious'. Perfect! Nefarious is a powerful doco on human trafficking and our school had been trying to arrange seeing that movie. It was such a God-thing that they were showing it!
 |
| Headin' out to evangelise! |
Wednesday we went to Dam Square to evangelise again. This time we used the surveys to start the conversation with people, which worked much better than the flowers. We were asking questions like, "What is love?, Who do you think Jesus is?, Is is possible to have a personal relationship with God?" We had some great conversations and I grew a lot in my confidence to just walk up to people. It's so funny, the thing we fear most is rejection yet we hardly go rejected at all! Wednesday the Lighthouse team do their outreach to the women in the windows, bringing them hot drinks and cookies. We went to their headquarters and spent the time they were out in intercession. They always notice such a difference on the nights they are covered in prayer so we prayed extra hard! We had the most awesome time of worship. We hadn't even meant to sing that much but the songs just flowed and I could feel God's presence so strongly. It was so beautiful!
Because Wednesday had been such a late night, we were given Thursday morning off. Some of us went on a boat tour of Amsterdam's canals. It was fantastic, I'm so glad I spend those 9euros! We wandered around the markets and I found the biggest op shop ever! I was in heaven! Unfortunately it was a heaven where I had no money to spend so we didn't stay there long. That afternoon we had another time of intercession (if we weren't eating or walking this week, we were praying!) at YWAM's house of prayer, The Tabernacle. The inside has been done up to resemble the actual tabernacle from the old testament and it felt so magical to pray inside there! That night we went out for waffles....Amsterdam is huge on their waffles, also. Next to every kebab store there is a waffle one! We took a last walk through the RLD, the first time we had done it at night. The atmosphere is very different to that during the day. I so glad we got to experience it before we left, the 'true' side of the RLD.
 |
| We got to welcome back Team Istanbul with a proudly homemade sign! |
 |
| Yaaay packages! So exciting!! Thank you Ana :) |
After such a full on week, I have spend the weekend relaxing and unpacking (which included cleaning out my bag - a packet of chips exploded during the flight and left crumbs and grease scattered throughout my luggage. Charming.) It is now Sunday evening and the start of week 8 of the DTS is only a sleep away. Crazy how time flies - only 5 weeks till outreach!! Mind boggling! Blessings until next time :)
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