Filming in Milan

Today, Tina from Finland, Stacey and Angie from the US, and I went to Milan to film different people and ask them about what they thought about Jesus and God. It was a good experience for us. We were able to see the various perspectives of the people here in this town and their need for God. There were various responses, as we talked with various people from around the world. But there was a common theme or thread amoung the people. I asked one man, "Is it alright if I film you?" And he said, "It's ok, but if it's about Politics or Religion I don't want anything to do about it." There is a thread of coldness towards religion in this city. Yet, at the same time, it is like there are gods just in disguise. Fashion and football run through the vains of these people in this city. Their world is somehow surrounded by fashion and sport and thats what is so important here. Signs about fashion are displayed throughout the city, in the metro, in every concession stand. It is all around, there is no way to escape it; and it influences culture. I saw a sign with a picture of a model on a clothe store today, and it said, "Love me!" She was decorated in all the finest clothes from this store...And it made me think, "What is life when someone thinks that love is something that you can buy?"

After filming, we came back to the house, and we had a great meal with the Tommasi family! It was wonderful. They made some sort of bread with tomato on it. I took one bite of it and thought, "wow this stuff is delicious." Stacey then asked, "Hey, so what's on this?" And Luigi said, "Tomatos and Anchovies!" When he said that I said, "WHAT?" I couldn't help but laugh at Stacey's bulging eye expression!

At the YWAM Milan base

It's been good being here for the last three days. I have had so many good experiences and just getting a chance to be with Luigi and Paola, and Tiina a girl from Finland who has come to help, who are pioneering the base here in Milan has been a very special. We have been visiting churches and ministires and meeting young people. I am excited for what God has here and I am excited about God doing a transformation in this nation to love and to find fulfilment in God sending young people to the ends of the earth to do missions through this place! :-)

Here is a picture of me with a group of people from a church we went to last night--which was doing intercession and worship! They were very receptive and prayed for us and the vision of YWAM Milan and for the country of India. It was awesome.

Goodbye Holland...YWAM Milan here we come...

It has been an awesome time in Holland. Living here at the stable has been awesome and a great experience. I have enjoyed the time to spend with friends and see Amsterdam and Rotterdam and make friends with the Dutch people. I hope in the future that I can revisit the streets of Amsterdam and work along side them in their missions projects in the RedLight District. It is an amazing place of diversity and culture. There are people here from all over the world. The foreigner, the prostitute, the orphan, and the lost street kid cry out for a God of mercy, compassion and Love.

Today was pretty cool too. I was able to go to Elisabeth and Jaap's church. The sermon was really good. It was about how God has set us free, though we were enemies, and gave the peace offering! The pastor spoke up against religious laws and extra rules and emphasized that we were set free by Christ and His love and that through His love we can really realize how to love those around us--even our enemies.

Now, I'm getting ready for a 14 hour bus ride to the YWAM Milan base. I leave here now and then I'll arrive in Milan in the morning. Oh...I hope I will be able to get some sleep on that train! I am excited with this opportunity to help the Tommasi family with communications, while they pioneer this new base bringing and extending God's love to the city of Milan!

The Old Dutch Barn

Today was a good day. I was able to help work here at the house and chisel away at old bricks from an old barn made in the 15th century. It was really a blessing and I had a chance to spend time with Luke and his son Peter. Luke calls his 75 year old barn house he calls "young." It was quite fun and he shared about the 25 years and 2 days of marriage him and his wife have been celebrating. It was a good time!

In Krimpen !

The town Krimpen is a nice little cozy town here in Holland. It's quite nice. Today I had a chance to go to Elisabeth's church here. It was good. It was a little more reformed than Mt. Zion or the Potler's house church or any church i'm used to. But it was great to be amoung believers here in Holland and enjoy the fellowship. The message was great too. It was about praising God in the midst of all things whether suffering or not. It's a difficult thing sometimes, because when things get hard...It is hard to see anything good in the circumstance if we don't keep our eyes on Jesus.

I'm excited for what God has here each day..and I am just taking it one day at a time here watching out for what God might have in store each day. But I'm very excited now, because i've been welcomed to help with communications at the YWAM base in Milan that is being pioneered right now and after that with YWAM in India.

Recent news involving Italy and India

At the van Doornes' house in Krimpen aan de Lek.

Yesterday, I heard some people playing praise music downstairs here at the barn--where i've been abundantly blessed with a wonderful place to stay for two weeks here in Rotterdam--and i went down for a listen. There was a family jamming away at the Piano, Clarinette, and singing away. It was glorious. They were singing Dutch songs along with some American songs with Dutch lyrics. And I had a chance to sing along. Then the van Doorne family, Jepta, Micha, Roel, Jessica, and Ada welcomed me for dinner. I ate with them and we discussed everything from Politics, Geography, and Missions, to Religion, and Philosophies and styles of life. We had some American Hamburgers with some "American Sauce" which wasn't remotely American at all which made it pretty funny. It's funny here in Holland they call some of their foods "American" and yet they look nothing like anything i've ever seen in America before.

In the Netherlands for Jaap and Elisabeth's Wedding!

I have been having a great time here in the Netherlands! Today, I went to my friends Jaap and Elisabeth's wedding. It was incredible! It was a really special occasion! And a reunion for Elisabeth, Jaap, Annette, and I who did our DTS in Recife, Brazil this last year. The wedding was awesome! We had wedding pictures in the morning, followed by a court wedding, then we had a suprise! The parents didn't even know about it, but Elisabeth and Japp suprised us with a few hour long boat ride on the Rhine River between Rotterdam and Den Haag! Then after that we went to the church for the ceremonial service! Then after that we had a great big party and all the guests were invited to sing songs and dance and fellowship together until the wee hours of the morning. It was a really special time of blessing for me and my friends from YWAM Brazil!