I know it's been a while since my last post...so let me sum up the last couple months: joyful, surprising, busy, stressful, growing, amazing, encouraging, blessed. In a nutshell.Now to the present....AMSTERDAM. I've been here now for over a week and I absolutely love it here. It took me a matter of days to feel at home in this place and welcomed by the people here at YWAM De Poort. I can't explain all of the amazing things that have happened since we have been here and all that God has been showing me, but I can say that this trip has already changed my life and I feel so blessed to be able to be here in this moment.
When we first arrived to the YWAM base it was very stressful. There was no real schedule and there was a lot of miscommunications. However, the first week, while stressful, was also stretching and a time of immense growth for the whole team. I think I learned and grew more in the last week than I have in the last year. It was an amazing time of getting to know the Dutch culture, the city, and the people here. We have built so many amazing relationships so far and we just love the people we are able to work with every day.
I have realized in my time here so far that I love to be in cross-cultural settings. I know I want to do missions, but since being here God has really confirmed that desire in me and has really shown me the ways in which I was made to do this. It's like God made me just the way He did in order to do this type of work that He called me to. I can't explain the feeling I have being here, I just feel a peace and I know I am exactly where God wants me to be. So this trip personally has been so confirming and amazing.
One of the best nights by far since we have been here was being able to attend a women's group at the Lighthouse. The Lighthouse ministry focuses on the Red Light District and the women working in the windows. They hold a bible study every monday with women that they have built relationships with that have either come out of prostitution or are still in it. We were able to cook for the women in the group on monday and join them for dinner. Although we couldn't communicate with the women (they all spoke spanish because they are from the Dominican Republic) we were able to just greet them and be in their presence and learn about them (with the help of some translating).
After dinner there was a time of worship and the leaders of the Lighthouse asked us to do prophetic painting for the 4 women at the group. So...during the worship Natalie, Hannah, Heather, and I each chose one women and prayed for them during worship and then painted a picture for them according to what God had laid on our hearts for the women. At the end, we were able to present the paintings to each woman and explain what God was speaking to them through the painting. It was an incredibly amazing and humbling time to be able to speak into the women's lives. God opened up the opportunity for us to tell these women exactly how the Lord felt about them. It was so amazing. It was a humbling time because when you meet these women you realize all of the stereotypes you carry towards women with the title "prostitute" and how when you meet the women all of those are shattered. Each of these women are beautiful creations of the Lord and who am I to judge them in any way? Who am I to say that they need this or that? I am just as broken of a human as they are. Being in the same room with all of the women made me see that we are all the same in the eyes of the Lord, we are women who hurt, who love, laugh, and cry. A title or description does not define who we are. We are children of God.
Needless to say that night was one of the most impactful nights of my life and so humbling. I am so excited to see what else God has ins tore for us as we are here and I am so ready to abandon everything to serve Him completely!
