Amsterdam has been amazing!

okay so Wednesday... we went to a cafe for coffee and pastry for breakfast. Dutch coffee is really strong!!!! Then we went walking down the big shopping street down to the famed Flower Market that is entirely on water! Tulips aren't in season right now, but they sell bulbs by the trillion! and they even have ones that are certified to be able to grow in the us if they are brought over!! I might have to bring some!

Then we went to a prayer and worship session at the YWAM Tabernacle... it is a prayer house modeled after the 24 hour Kansas City IHOP (International House Of Prayer) . They pray for the City of Amsterdam and for the Pastors and for the YWAM base and for God to powerfully move in the lives of the people here. So we went to a session where they worshiped Jesus, and worshiped from what we sensed from the holy spirit and sang scriptures and prayed that God would teach us to have respect for the authorities God has put over us and also to respect our fellow brothers and sisters in the lord:

Romans 14

1 Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong...7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead.

10 So why do you condemn another believer[a]? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For the Scriptures say,

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bend to me,
and every tongue will confess and give praise to God.[b]’”

12 Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. 13 So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.


Then we went to a BBQ for all the people that work at the Cleft house.... Venezualen BBQ prepared by our blessed sister Edna, cooked by Desi our host who is a professional chef and is Canadian, in the apartment below ours of Wilfred and Carolina who are from India... and we are in the Netherlands and we are from America... so there alone 5 countries are represented... not to mention the people from Germany, Poland, and Ghana that were there!! :)

Thursday I was able to meet the Pastor and his wife from the Vineyard here in Amsterdam, got to go outside of the Center... the Center is what they call the oldest part of Amsterdam where most of all the people and stuff are and where we are staying in the Red Light District. I had tea with them and talked about our different Vineyard Churches! They were amazing and very hospitable, I'm glad I got to meet them!

Then we went to the Thursday Soup Kitchen day at the Cleft, prepared sandwiches and soup and coffee and tea and they open the house up for 3 hours for anyone to come in and have as much as they like as long as everyone gets some! We got to hang out with all homeless people in the district and be their friends and love them the way the Jesus does! I had the best time... I met people from all over Europe! Lots of interesting people, a few of them High... tried to offer me a few things and I gave them soup! met someone from Louisiana who is here trying to escape Obama.... he was hilarious, very blunt! But we had an amazing time serving Jesus


Friday we went to another session at the Tabernacle and we prayed for the City Pastors and that God would continue to work in their lives and guide them in his light! There is the best and most amazing peace in the Prayer room! I love being there, I definitely want to have one at my church!

and then we painted with Will in the Cleft House. Will is one of the guys on saff, he is from Minnesota, and boy is he from Minnesota... lots of minnesotan phrases!! Hilarious! and Kim and Will and I Painted for 6 hours in the Cleft house, they have needed to do some more stuff for a while so we got to make a significant dent in the work needed to be done as well as put our fingerprints there! Will took us to the best ice cream place, the ice cream is like iced whipped cream ice cream for 90 euro cents and then to the best patat place in town... patats are big french fries in a paper cone with Mayonaise on top! dutch specialty and really good!

Then we went to the Tuschinski Theater and saw a movie.... it is a really old and beautiful theater here, the building is as well older then our country! we went home afterwards and Edna who lives in our apartment also brought some missionaries home that are from Brazil and work with YWAM there, they invited us to visit their extensive ministries anytime!

Kim and I went to the Corrie Ten Boom Museum in Haarlem today which is a 20 minute train ride away! and our new Brazilian friends came with us! We got to spend the day there... Haarlem is kind of like a smaller version of Amsterdam and we got to see the place where the Ten Boom family hid Jewish people during WW2! We had the best time and Adrianna and Deniss from Brazil were amazing! We are still praying about it, but Kim and I definitely think we were supposed to meet them, after knowing them for less then 24 hours we feel like we have known them forever! Man! The family of the LOrd is so amazing!!

Well if I didn;t type your ear off enough, maybe I can remember some more to tell you tomorrow! I love all of you! I'm kind of sad that I only have 3 days left here! Amsterdam is definitely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen!!!

happy blogging
may the lord bless you and love you and hold you in his arms for the rest of your life!

--kim