Amsterdam 2011 Part 4 (Energy Drinks & Potato Chips)

I will always reminisce Amsterdam. It's a beautiful place full of culture and diversity. I was told that the cultures we would see aren't wrong, they're different. And that's what I think people misunderstand a lot here in America, but also all over the world. People think that the ways other people do things are either wrong or weird. People grown up in a home learn somethings differently than others. It's just what we're taught that makes us think that our methods are right. When really, it doesn't matter. What matters is the reason behind it.

Fourth Day in the Field

Julia is one of my best friends ever since we met on the trip.

So the three women had said they would let us go into the mosque. Well Julia, Lexie, and I were in the area where we had met the three women. That day there was some sort of festival or recognized day. I don't remember what the day was about. We saw one of the women. She went by us and then and took us into the mosque. The other two were going to met them soon.

(Here comes the climax of the story.)
Once we were in the mosque, the one lady had to pray first. We asked if we could pray to our God, but she said no, because we weren't Muslim and we were in their mosque. But we were just praying the entire time. While we waited for the other's to get there, we talked and asked questions about the Muslim culture. Totally cleared up any stereo types of them.

The other's got there and prayed then we talked a bit. They showed use three around the mosque. Believe me, it was epic. Not in a bad or good way. It was just wow. I'll explain more in my experience's post. Anyhoo, since we were "tourist" and sorta their friends, they took us over to the men's side of the mosque. The men and women have separate rooms and can't be together. But they allowed it because we were tourist. We saw some men come in and pray. We all were in the men's side for quite awhile talking about the Koran and all about the Muslim culture. The Muslim culture was pretty much the only thing we talked about. But it was interesting. After that we went back into the girls side and talked some more. Two of the women went to an Albert Heijn and bought some snacks. Which hence the title, we ate potato chips and had energy drinks. I was like, wow. For some reason I use to think Muslims were like Amish people, because they were usually so conservative, but they're not. Only the devoutMuslims were really conservative, but not to the extreme like Amish. Conservative in a different way.

That day was rather cool. We pretty much agreed to disagree. We knew that the were devout to their faith and we were devout to ours. We weren't really trying to persuade each other, but we would just share views. They asked us about some things we do and we asked them about their culture. I do respect the those women. Even though, I still do not agree with their beliefs. Usually if someone just claims to believe in something (other than Christianity) but isn't solid on it, or has no real reason in believing it in, I don't have personal respect for them But if they believe in something with reason and are firm in it, then they do have my person respect. Even if it is against the Christian belief. Basically I'm saying you're either in or out. Not in-betweenie weenies.

We asked them if we could meet them again the next day and perhaps bring some other people from our group into the mosque.

We sure had stories to tell that night and it was great. All of that plowing sure paid off. And we felt satisfied. It was amazing what God did. Sowing is awesome, and exhausting. It's also not easy being in the circumstances we were in. But it just reminds me, if I can do it in Amsterdam and have the situation be harder, when can't I do it here at home when the situation is easier? It makes me sound so weak. But that's what we are. But we can do all things though Christ who gives us strength.

Up next: Day's 5 and 6 in the field.

Amsterdam 2011 Part 3 (Miles Away and Upon Us)

The excitement of everything was overwhelming. Not necessarily in a bad way, it's just like how a kid gets that one thing he thought he would never get as a birthday present and is speechless. We pretty much ran on adrenaline (our bodies caffeine). The jet lag still had and effect on us. We would be busy all day while walking and then get back and stay up late. About 6-6 1/2 hours was it. But I was happy. I was syked to even be there just doing everything for God.

Second Day in the Field
From then on we were allowed to start talking to people. We couldn't bring up God, they had to bring up religion first.

We prayer walked our usual place that day. We tried saying "hi" to people and start up conversations with fellow Muslims. Stephanie and I were together for awhile. We didn't really start up any conversations. I really wanted to try talking to someone. Just so I could get the feel and get to know someone. I saw a lady watching her child play in the square. She was a Dutch lady who was a German school teacher. Very cool. We didn't really get into religion (boy I really dislike that word) at all and I knew it wasn't going anywhere. But it was nice to get the feel of it.

It was a discouraging day because the ground was hard. A lot of the Dutch people were what we would consider rude, but it's a different culture. The just aren't as open as some others may be. One of the Ms over there said that near our area was Amsterdam's largest mosque. We walked over to the mosque and prayer walked. About a couple blocks away from the mosque there was a Baptist church there. We all walked over there to see if we could go inside. It was looked up and sealed tight as a drum. One of our leaders T-Mac prayed, "God if you want us here, please open the doors for us." (Paraphrased). So next to the church was the pastor's house. T-Mac must have knocked on the door to the guy's house or he just saw us and came out. All I saw was that he was there. Standing in confusion and wonder. We were let into the church and we prayed for it. The church was closing because there weren't enough people supporting... It's heart shattering. When you walked into the church, you can feel that what once was something great, is now soon to be gone. Knowing that God is doing ancient work is the only hope. We left the church, and headed to our Doner place for dinner. We all decided to go back to that area for prayer walking. After dinner we headed back to our hostel.

We all shared about our day. Although it was discouraging, we couldn't give up. We wanted to keep pressing on. We prayed about our days and just thought about what it was like for our first time to sow in Amsterdam.

Third Day in the Field
Well we had our usual morning routine and we went to the mosque. Our trek found a spot and we spread out. Julia and I were together. We saw more people and more Muslims in that area. Julia and I prayed for God to show us someone to talk to. Almost instantly Julia and I saw three Muslim women by a fountain. We both thought that it was a good idea to try and talk to them. They were eating cookies and hanging out having a break. They were all very nice. One of them spoke English better than the other two, but it wasn't perfect. They all spoke Arabic. (so many languages!) So we asked them about the culture in Amsterdam and their Muslim culture. They brought up their god and that gave us the change to say that we believe in a God. We had an awesome conversation with them. We mostly talked about our views of faith. They even agreed to take us to the mosque the next dy We talked for probably an hour. They even gave us the rest of their awesome cookies. When they had to go,
Julia and I went into a grocery store to talk about the mind blowing, God-given experience. We were so excited but we didn't want to make a scene. It was so awesome. That day went very well. When we got back to the hostel we all had some awesome stories to tell and felt better about the mission.

Amsterdam 2011 Part 2 (It's Surreal, it's So Real)

When I got to Amsterdam, we grabbed our luggage and then we met our interns. One of the interns was from Kansas (the rest weren't) and I was greeted with a sign that said "You're not in Kansas (or Nebraska) anymore!" The interns are the people who stay over seas usually for 6-8 weeks during the summer. They help the groups coming over. There were four interns. Stephanie, Nick, Michael, and Sarah. They are all very awesome people. And Sarah works at a Starbucks, so what's not to like about her?




Our KS/NE group was of 20 students and 5 adults. Both high school and college. We were divided up into 4 treks: blue, orange, green, and red. I was on the blue trek and Stephanie was our intern. The interns are also known as JSIs. The interns had a leader who was an M.

When we arrived in Amsterdam, it was like 11 in the AM. We were all exhausted, so to keep is awake, we had to stay "vertical." We had to stay up past 8 pm so we would adjust easier and it'd help us with jet lag. It took me about 3 days to get over the jet lag. They made us do a scavenger hunt around the bustling city of Amsterdam. It was so amazing to be in Europe. A place I've always wanted to go. Seeing the buildings, smells, sounds, it all felt so different. Not really in a bad way, but it was some to get use to. In Amsterdam, there are bike lane, bike lights, car lanes, car lights, side walks, sidewalk lights, cars, bikes, people, trams, busses, and trains. There are bikes and sometimes cars on the sidewalks! You're more likely able to get hit by a bike than anything else. I never came close to getting hit, some of my team mates did have some encounters. haha. Well, there was that time I was standing a little to close to a tram, but Nick pulled me aside. In Amsterdam, you have to stay alert. Bikes have full right of way, except at lights. Sometimes to cross a street, you have to cross a bike lane with bikes coming from both directions, then a car lane with cars going one direction, another car lane going the other direction, tram tracks, and another bike lane. Talk about epic! A good reason why only the interns and adults were able to ride bikes. Ha.


Anyhoo, we would walk around the touristy part of the city. We saw Burger King, Starbucks, McDonalds, and lots of cool shops. Pretty legit. We ate dinner at a Turkish place. It was pretty cool. We were going to take the trams the first day, but they were on strike. So lots of walking. By the time we got back to the hostel, and to our room I collapsed.

First Day in the Field
Breakfast was at 7. It was bread with jelly, peanut butter, or nuetella. Yum! After breakfast was Bible time. Our goal was to read all of Acts. After that we'd have sing a few songs and then our M would talk about seasons. Plowing, Sowing, Reaping, and Vintaging. We'd learn one a day.

Plowing=Praying
Sowing= Conversations
Reaping= Converting
Vintaging= Maturing. Once someone becomes a Christian, you must help them grow.

Often people think that people being saved is the main goal of evangelism. We were taught that plowing and sowing are the main goals. We count conversations, not conversions. If reaping was the main goal, we'd lose sight of why it'd even be important. Not to say it isn't important. But, God does ancient work. He was here before us. We never started anything and we aren't the ones to finish anything. We don't bring people to Christ, God does. We manifest it. By God's grace, He allows us to be a part of of His plans.

So, after seasons we ate lunch, which would be like sandwiches, and then we'd head out with out ACs (adult chaperons) and intern. Our trek would take the tram to our site.

For our first day we were only allowed to prayer walk (plowing). We'd beak up into pairs or groups of 3. Since we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves, we'd take turns praying while we walked the streets. It just looked like we Amsterdamers having a conversation. We were actually talking to God. It was a long time to for praying and walking, but since it's all for God, it's totally worth it. We ate dinner at the site. While I was in Amsterdam, I was going through a "munchies" phase. Oh man. I was hungry like 25/7. Yeah we got enough food, but I just had an urge to eat. haha. Stephanie told the other interns.

"I hear you eat a lot."- Mike
"Why aren't you eating? I thought you eat a lot."- Nick

I didn't want my stomach to hinder my goal in Amsterdam. So, I prayed about it, and pushed on. Dinner was always amazing. Ah, I miss that Doner place. Pure goodness.

So to leave it on a good note, we didn't have a lot to share that night back at the hostel, but at the same time things were racing through our minds.

Amsterdam 2011 Part 1 (The Departure- Of Home and Heart))

I've been pretty busy recently, so that's why this blog post is late.

At a summer camp I had heard about going on a mission trip Japan. I wasn't old enough to go, but a girl in my youth group was able to go and she went. I was inspired and so I prayed and prayed about it. I wanted to go, but was it the trip for me? I went to that same summer camp the next year and heard about the Japan trip again. That time I had felt a calling to go. So I prayed and talked about it and then I signed up. I got the forms together and prayed more about it. I had to be accepted. I was accepted. Someone had told me that the trip was changed from Tokyo to some where in Europe. I didn't know. Later I received and email saying that we were going to Amsterdam. I felt better about the trip. So to fast forward a bit, I kept preparing by buying what I needed and that stuff.

I was syked the day I left. I was finally real. It was here. What has been talked about is now reality. A four hour drive to Base Camp and I was there! I wanted God to teach me things. I wanted to know through experience. So I said good bye and I was off for 10 days.

At Base Camp, they prepared us for culture shock, street smarts, and air port immigration. We stayed at Base Camp for 2 days. The second day was a whole lot better. We were in sessions all day learning about how to evangelize and what's going to happen and how it should go. It was exhausting. Especially when I only got 3 hours of sleep that previous night. I did my best to absorb all of the knowledge. That next day we were going to take a bus to the air port. Our flight left at 4 PM. So we had everything all packed up and ready to go. While we waited we played some of my favorite games. Egyptian Rat Slap and Ninja. I fell asleep on the bus, no matter how hard I tried to stay awake. We got to the airport and checked in. I checked my suit case. We found our gate. We still had about 2-3 hours left. We ate lunch and played more cards.

Boarding was sorta a big moment for me. I was leaving Kansas. We flew with Delta Airlines. Our first flight was to Memphis, TN. I had never been to Tennessee before. The flight was an hour and a half long. I sat next to Austin. There was some guy behind me who was jokingly harassing me. When I got off the plane, the flight attended told me not to be such a nuisance next time. Haha he was kidding. Although the flight was short, I was so tired and did my best not to fall asleep. I had some bad ears aches.

When we arrived in the Memphis Airport (which was really big and nice) we had to go find our gate. We actually chose the gate next to ours and then we moved. We only had to wait about an hour to an hour and half. I boarded the Boeing 767. A 9 hour flight later I arrived in Schiphol, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The 10 Commandments

I'll be talking about the The Commandments and just breaking them down and describing them. Some people get confused with them, or completely overlook them. So I'll take it a step further for your understanding. I've read all of Exodus especially the 10 Commandments. But, that was almost a year ago, and I feel like it'd be nice to go over them again.

The Commandments start in Exodus 20:3
1. “You shall have no other gods before me." Ex. 20:3

This one is number one and it's pretty plain and simple. It's doesn't just apply to idols or statues, but also as a mindset. Don't hold anything else up above God. It doesn't matter whether you think something you passionately enjoy is a god, it's whether or not you begin worshiping in with a mindset of it being better than God or a sense of worship.

2. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below." Ex. 20:4

Now this one may seem kinda confusing. It's basically saying that you shouldn't make an idol out of anything from the sky to the sea. Now what does that mean? Nothing from that range should be considered an idol. Of course you'd have to think about it. Nothing in heaven should be an idol or below the earth. God is the only one who should be worshiped.

Here is a blog by Isaac Deitz about idolatry.
http://isaacdeitz.com/2011/06/pills-and-idols/

Verses 5-6

5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Now these two verse have great meaning and depth. Because when we sin and break the commandments, our children will be punished. How will the be punished? I don't know. Sometimes it's an illness, or disorder. Sometimes it's economic. Sometimes it's hard living. But it's doesn't just happen to individual families. For example, the children of Israel. Because of their sin, they wandered for forty years (about 3 or 4 generations). Sin is inevitable because of the ones before us. But God promises to love us to a thousand generations. If we keep the commandments to the best of our ability, that's great. But if that's our main goal, then we've already broken the first commandment.


The Greatest Commandment (Mark 12:28-31)

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”


3. “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." Ex. 20:7

This is a big one most people tend to oversee. I was going to do a whole post about profanity, but why not just cover it all with the commandments?
A lot of people say, why can't I say that? Those words are in the Bible. Well, yeah, but they aren't used in a profane way. The words like damn, ass, hell are in the Bible. Does that mean we can't say them? No. Does that mean we can use them in a derogatory way? No. We can, but shouldn't. So then what about the other bad words. Some people say, "God doesn't care what words I use." Or "Man made these words, and they aren't in the Bible." Now, God doesn't hold what you say above your relationship with him. But, if your taking others down with what you say, your relationship with God needs to be checked.

Ephesians 4:29
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

Colossians 3:8
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

When (and if) you became a follower of Christ, you are to repent of you old ways. Such as profanity.

Here's a blog I read by one of my inspirers (Isaac Deitz) about profanity.
http://isaacdeitz.com/2011/03/question-should-christians-cuss/


4. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." Ex. 20:8-11

God rested on the seventh day to look back at His work. He wasn't tired. He just looked backed and enjoyed what He did. You could sorta say he slowed down to recognize Himself. It's not so much that you must stop working after 6 days of work. It's just take at least one day to stop and thank God for your week and talk to Him. It's also a great time to stay clean and just reset yourself for the next week. It doesn't even have to be Saturday or Sunday for that matter. Just as a day to be with God and acknowledge Him.

5. “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." Ex. 20:12

Have respect for the ones who brought you into the world, because God can take you out. (That was an attempt at a lame joke.) Seriously, be thankful that you're here on the earth. "Every breath is a second chance."- Lecrae "But what if I don't have parents. Or I don't like my parents and vice versa"? Well, it doesn't matter if you like your parents, but you should have respect for them.

6. “You shall not murder." Ex. 20:13

You might be thinking, "I've never killed anyone, that's an easy commandment to keep." Sure, but raise your hand if you've ever hated or come close to hating a person. With anger and bitterness, you can kill someone with your mind. It's hard to not fall into that mindset. You could push someone to suicide or seriously mentally hurt someone with what you do and say. So what I'm trying to say it, don't kill them with your heart.

7. “You shall not commit adultery." Ex. 20:14

It doesn't just take physical action to commit adultery. With fantasizing about someone other than your significant other is adultery. If you're going to love someone, you must be committed to them. Half a commitment isn't a commitment at all. God is a jealous god. He doesn't want to be worship along with other gods, He want's to be worshiped alone. And the same with your person. They want your love focus to be on them and not any other person.

8. “You shall not steal. Ex. 20:15

Once again, it doesn't have to be physical. You can steal a person's joy or happiness just with your attitude. You can even kill our own joy with your attitude. But on a physical matter, you shouldn't steal, even if it's a bank pen or a penny. Sure, who'd care? But it's really a mindset. If you start with small things, it can become bigger things. It's also not so much what you do, it's being an example. If you're a bad example, it'll teach others, especially the younger ones, that it's okay to do wrong things.

9. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." Ex. 20:16

This is another one that can be confusing. Being a false testimony against your neighbor means that if you were in a trial and you witnessed something, tell the truth. Don't lie for some benefit or because you dislike your neighbor.

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Ex. 20:17

Being jealous is hard not to do. It can be easy to want what others have such as money, status, luxury, and whatever else. So don't be jealous. Be thankful for what you have, since there is always someone who has it worse than you. If you're reading this, you are certainly privileged and should be thanking God. Don't envy that someone who appears to have it better, because you don't know what they may be going through.

So I leave it at this. I was simply inspired by a Sunday School lesson and of course by our Creator. :)

Dani

The Hour Is Near...

On May 20th, I was in a doctor's office waiting. While I was waiting I watched the news on TV, which I rarely do and I’m sometimes oblivious to current events. Anyway, they announced that some "Christians" believed that the rapture was going to be tomorrow, the 21st. I thought it was a bunch a malarky, since people have previously said the world will end in year of 2012. Not only that, but it says in the Bible that we won't know when the day or hour will be.

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.- Mark 13:32-33

So that night I was having some fun on Twitter about how the next day wasn't going to be the end of the world. I had a lot fun, although the next time they declare when the world is going to end, I'll have a good list of jokes.

But as funny as it seems, it can be sad. Funny, because people actually believe that stuff. Sad, because people actually believe that stuff. So, then I got more serious about it and thought, "I know tomorrow isn't going to be the rapture, but all at the same time how do I know that?" Don't get me wrong, the rapture didn't happen...yet. What I'm trying to hint at is that you're not guaranteed tomorrow. Sure if Christ came back that'd be great. I wouldn't have to take those finals on Monday. But the main point is that we honestly don’t know what will happen the next day. So, when the rapture does come, I pray that God will save me with His grace and that I enter the kingdom of heaven, I know I surly don’t deserve. So know where you are going. If I died tonight I know where I’m going, but do you? Or what about those around you? This one post is like a bigger reflection of my previous post.

Live life to the fullest in optimism and out of love for God. When that day does come and I stand before the throne to testify, I know that I want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

My life verse:
And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.- Romans 13:11

"Every breath is a second chance."- Lecrae

But do we know where they are going?

A little while ago, I was coming home from the State Bible Drill competition. We were on a road, going about 45 on 30 mph road. We were like right on the tail of a car in front of us. Someone said, "What would we do if something were to run in front of them and they were to slam on their brakes"? The driver whose name I will not mention, "Well we know where we're going." One of the sponsers: "Yeah, but do we know where THEY are going"?

I though hard about that statement. It was very convicting.


Just because you know where you're going, doesn't mean the people around you do.

My Second Blog

I've decided that for a Bible study, I'm going back to the books I've read and break them down; getting in depth in the Word.

I've read Genesis, Exodus, Romans, 1 John, and Revelation. I'm currently reading in Leviticus, but I wanted to start out with Romans. Romans is probably my favorite book, although all of them are good. So I created this second blog as a side project from My Life Journey. I wanted to share my discoveries and thoughts to you! Not only that, I'd want to hear your thoughts too!


My Journey Through the Bible

Posts

Hello!

I have so many posts I want to get out! I get half way through, and then I wait to think of more things to add to them, or to work on later. So then I thought, no post is ever fully completed; there's always more that could be added. So to get posts out instead of a 100 years later, I'll post them, just know that, in a way, none of them will be complete. But of course I have to stop them at a point, just as long as I get the main idea out there.


It's a stopping point, not an ending point. Kinda the same way how death is too!

Time is No Concern

Time. Time is an interesting element, or in such cases a mindset. Then there's that feeling of time slipping by or wasted. We cannot fully comprehend time. Because there really is no such thing as time. Time began after the fall. How is there time? Decay, declining, cascading, death, aging, distance. The Earth's rotation and growth isn't really classified as time. It's more like distance.

Definition: temporal length of event or entity's existence, period

Synonyms: age, allotment, bit, bout, chronology, clock, continuance, date, day, duration, epoch, era, eternity, extent, future, generation, go, hour, infinity, instance, instant, interval, juncture, lastingness, life, life span, lifetime, many a moon, moment, month, occasion, pace, past, point, present, season, second, shift, space, span, spell, stage, stint, stretch, tempo, term, tide, tour, turn, week, while, year.

Time was never meant to exist. But to God, there is no time for Him. We humans can be very impatient. We want our things now. But it doesn't work that way with God. He can take as much time as He wants to and sometimes we mistake that as God not being here for us or not answering our prayers. God always answers our prayers, but the answer won't always be yes. God is not a vending machine. You don't just ask Him to do something and He will instantly do it. It takes time. Sometimes God will give you what you ask for over time, sometimes to teach you to be patient and have faith. For example: Jesus Christ. He's is on his way. When Jesus was talking to his disciples and some other people before he went up into heaven, he told them that he will be coming back. But the people thought that he would come back within a few days.

So when you ask God for something, just know that that He will answer.

So this is it for now. With love,

Danielle