In him the whole building is joined together
and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
And in him you too are being built together to
become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
(Ephesians 2:21-22)

Greetings from Amsterdam! As you may remember from our last prayer letter, March was a busy month for us—but I’m happy to report that it was also a very good month for us. We had a lovely church retreat, over the weekend of March 11-13 (you can read more stories and see more pictures on-line at A50 Retreat and More Pictures from the A50 Retreat). And the Alpha Weekend seemed to go pretty well too, though I didn't end up personally participating in that one (I was really blessed when other leaders from Amsterdam50 took charge of that one, so I didn't have to). Up to this point, it seems that two of the participants from the Alpha Course have already chosen to follow Jesus -- and there are still several others who seem to be seriously considering it -- so that's definitely something to be excited about. The course ends in the middle of this month, so we'll see what God does between now and then! Thanks, in any event, for your prayer support in these things!

Another special initiative that happened in March was spearheaded by our church’s Artists’ Community. Before I explain about last month’s initiative, however, I should probably share some of the background on this community.

Made up on an international group of professional and amateur artists, the Amsterdam50 Artists’ Community has formed a special relationship with Amsterdam’s municipal government over the past year or so. A couple of the individual artists have been commissioned on different occasions to develop projects for the city. But in addition to this classic artist/patron arrangement, an ingenious business relationship has been worked out as well. Basically, these artists move into empty business spaces which the city has been unable to rent for a time, and the artists establish a “Pop-Up Gallery.” This becomes a win-win situation for the city and for the artists because it provides the artists with free studio space and an audience for their work -- while simultaneously increasing the visibility of the rental property and attracting new tenants. Just recently, one of these Pop-Up Galleries was established right around the corner from our family home in the eastern part of Amsterdam. Suddenly this place that had sat abandoned for two years was attracting a lot of interest from the neighbors (and new inquiries for businesses to take over the lease as well!). I’ve been really impressed with the way that these young artists have worked out this arrangement. Who says that artists can’t have a good head for business?!? I’m really proud of the Amsterdam50 Artists’ Community!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, the Artists’ Community decided to set up an interactive art project on the broad area of sidewalk in front of the Pop-Up Gallery in our neighborhood. Using a small generator and a large amount of heavy-duty plastic, one of the community’s artists created a sculpture in the shape of an old-fashioned church building (high ceiling, tall tower, etc.). It’s transparent, so you can see through it -- and you can even climb inside of it -- but more than its form, the sculpture’s function is significant because it’s designed to stimulate conversation with others about God and the Church. Since our family lives so close by, we were invited to join with the Artists’ Community in striking up conversation with people walking by -- and it was amazing to see just how successful this sort of outreach can be! As people walk by and see the sculpture, their curiosity is naturally piqued, and they fall into conversation rather easily.

That day, I fell into conversation with a Turkish man in his mid-30s who said he had only been in a church one time in all his years -- and even at that, it was only to install a fire alarm system (which happened to be his line of work). Nevertheless, as we talked, the man said that he would be very interested to experience a real Christian church for himself sometime. I told him that, in a sense, he was experiencing a real Christian church right in that moment, since the Artists’ Community and I were all followers of Jesus -- and that basically makes us a “living church” (though he would also be more than welcome to visit one of our worship gatherings sometime, if he would like!). We both had a good laugh about that. The conversation remained fairly casual that afternoon, and I can’t say that we got into any real deep spiritual conversation; but still, I was encouraged to see how the considered application of a Christian community’s unique talents and perspectives can spread “salt and light” throughout the city. And I was especially encouraged to be able to interact with some of my neighbors on such a level.

Please pray for more and more opportunities for the Artists’ Community (and all the various communities of Amsterdam50) to be able to engage people in Gospel conversations. And pray for the people in our neighborhood who were brought into dialogue that afternoon -- that God will keep working on their hearts in ways that we can’t. We’re so grateful for your role in supporting this ministry in Amsterdam. Thanks for everything. We’ll be in touch…

Eric