Are you "going to church" this weekend? For the people of Amsterdam50, this actually doesn't mean attending a worship gathering (at least not for this weekend)! Instead, we're Serving the City.

Throughout the day today (and throughout the previous three days as well), we are (and have been) participating in a city-wide inter-church initiative called Serve the City, with different service projects happening in different parts of Amsterdam. At the end of the day today, our ministry center will be hosting a special meal for the volunteers who have participated, which just so happens to be right around the time that we typically gather for worship. Except this week, instead of our typical worship experience, we're learning how to practice "pure and genuine religion" by taking care of widows and orphans and other people in Amsterdam who need help. It's an enacted sermon, if you will. A different way of "going to church."

So this weekend, our family "went to church" along with ten people from Stichting Philadelphia (a residential center for adults who are mentally handicapped), two professional care-givers, and a bunch of wild animals. That is, we spent a lovely sunny Saturday at Artis Zoo together with people who love to see animals, to an extent that can only be rivaled by my children, but who cannot manage such an experience without the help of others to guide them and look out for them. I spent most of the day offering my arm to a 70-year-old woman named Lotte, who loved to draw pictures with felt-tipped markers that depicted all the various animals she saw. Marci and Olivia drew the admiration of a woman named Hennie, who liked to practice her English on them. Elliot became fast friends with a woman named Jolanda, who had Down's Syndrome. And on more than one occasion, the professional care-givers who accompanied the group mentioned that they were astonished to see how well their clients bonded with us. They were especially amazed to see the ways that Hennie and Jolanda responded, given that they are often prone to angry and aggressive responses to strangers  (even though we didn't see the smallest hint of this in their behavior yesterday).

All in all, it turned out to be a very productive experience of "going to church" for our family. I had a strong sense that Jesus was honored and blessed through the day, although his name was not frequently spoken, outside of the battery of questions regarding Jesus' ascension into Heaven that Lotte had for me as we walked past the giraffes and elephants.  We all felt exhausted by the time the day was finished, but satisfied: grateful for an opportunity to worship with our hands and feet.