“Come with me by yourselves to
a quiet place and get some rest.”
(Mark 6:31)

Greetings from Amsterdam! It’s been a long and wearisome winter, but we’re finally seeing subtle indications that spring is starting to stir. Daffodils and crocuses are starting to peek through the soil. Song-birds can now be heard in the early morning darkness, and the sunrise is happening earlier and earlier (albeit typically still veiled by a layer of clouds). And sure enough: the calendar says that we’ve made it to March! An old Dutch nursery rhyme says, “Maart roert zijn staart”—which can be roughly translated to say, “March’s tail starts stirring things up.” And even though it’s still a ways until we’re totally done with winter, it’s lovely to feel some stirrings of the spring!

But perhaps what’s loveliest of all is that the stirrings aren’t just meteorological.

Some of you have been praying for our current Alpha Course since I wrote about it in our February prayer letter, and I’m happy to say that there is definitely some spiritual stirring going on there. Last week I had the honor of sharing with the group on the topic of “How Can I Have Faith?”—and it’s obvious that there are several sincere spiritual seekers in the group. During the dinner segment of the evening, for instance, I sat with one young couple (probably still in their late-teens), and I was particularly struck by their lack of previous exposure to Christianity. The young woman, Suzanne, said that she had never had even the slightest interest in any kind of spirituality; but when she and her boyfriend (Nils) were invited by a friend to visit the Alpha Course, they decided to give it a try. After experiencing their first week of Alpha, both Suzanne and Nils were curious to keep hearing more—so they decided to keep coming. Please keep praying for this strategic initiative! The “Alpha Weekend” (a more intensive series of discussions at a retreat center outside of Amsterdam) will be taking place March 18-20, and this is a particularly significant part of the course where people often are brought to a point of decision, as to whether or not they will follow Jesus. Therefore: if you would, please continue to hold up the Alpha Course (and particularly the Alpha Weekend) in prayer.

The preceding weekend, March 11-13, also promises to be a very strategic weekend for our church, and it would also be great to have you supporting us in prayer during (and in the days leading up to) that time. As opposed to the Alpha Weekend, which is designed for a smaller group of spiritual seekers, the weekend of March 11-13 is scheduled to be a special retreat to which we’ve invited our entire church.

We’ve never done a whole-church get-away like this before, but it seems that we really need it. Have you ever read the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Mark and felt like you could relate with the craziness of the disciples' lives and ministry? There was so much "coming and going" that they didn't even have enough time to eat—much less connect with Jesus! So when Jesus noticed this situation, he acted quickly. He said to his disciples: “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So basically, our weekend retreat is trying to replicate this experience. Over the course of the weekend, we're going to take time to connect with Jesus. We're going to get out of the city and watch the budding of spring in the middle of the forest. We're going to seek God's rest, refreshment, encouragement, inspiration, and renewed vision for the future. And we're going to create an extended opportunity to soak in God's goodness and the fellowship of other people from our church family.

In preparations for this weekend away, we’ve made reservations to get away to a beautiful estate near Twello, in the forested region in the east-central part of the Netherlands. For a couple of months now, we've been planning and preparing ways to really connect with each other and with Jesus. And even though most people from our community have never really experienced something like a church retreat before, it’s really encouraging to see that we’ve already got over 60 people signed up for the retreat! As I personally pray for this retreat, I feel consistently encouraged that God is going to use this weekend powerfully for our church and for the lives of each individual who comes along.

However, in order for us to really make the most of this opportunity, we need to keep praying and trusting that God can prepare the hearts of our people ahead of time. Would you please help in laying a foundation of prayer for God to build upon in our church retreat? It would mean a lot for this retreat (and indeed, both of the aforementioned ministry weekends) to have the spiritual support of a broad network of ministry partners all throughout the world.

We’ve got an exciting month ahead of us, and we look forward to seeing how God moves. Thanks for everything you do to keep us engaged with ministry here in Amsterdam. We deeply appreciate your support. We’ll be in touch…

Eric