And the things you have heard me say in
the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable
men who will also be qualified to teach others.
(2 Timothy 2:2)

Season’s Greetings from Amsterdam! We trust that God is an ever-present source of joy and hope to you during this volatile time of the year… As for us, it seems that we can identify a bit more intimately with some of what Jesus, Mary, and Joseph had to go through in Bethlehem, at the time of the original “nativity scene.” Our ministry facilities on the Herengracht are still a bit of a mess—like the lowly stable in which Jesus was born—with sawdust and globs of plaster all around, tools scattered in the various corners, and a chill in the air from the lack of heating installation. As with most renovation projects (at least most Amsterdam renovation projects), things never seem to run quite according to plan, schedule, or budget. Thus, our community is still in “exile” as we await completion of the renovation process so we can move into our new space (please pray with us for an efficient conclusion to everything, hopefully before the end of the year)…

Even so, ministry in Amsterdam is far from stalled. In fact, it seems that we’re gaining momentum throughout this admittedly awkward period of our church’s history!

One of the more significant events from the last month was our church’s first ordination service. On Friday, November 10 (followed by a separate church-wide recognition on Sunday, the 12th), Todd Watkins and I were officially recognized as pastors for Zolder50. Of course, the two of us have been acting more or less in this same capacity for a couple of years already—since the departure of the church’s founding pastor in July of 2003—but it seems that the ordination last month brought some closure to a work that God has been doing in our lives and in our church for the last few years.

Perhaps it would help to explain a bit more of the process by which Great Commission Ministries (and its association of churches) recognizes its church leaders. There is a wide range of practices and procedures for establishing Biblical leadership in churches today—and honestly, it seems that there should be some room for allowance of different practices and procedures among different streams of Christianity—but pastors in the Great Commission movement are recognized primarily on the basis of character development. More than formal education (i.e. seminary), more than vocational choices (i.e. “full-time” versus “volunteer” ministry), more than adherence to a specific set of denominational guidelines—pastors in our church culture are recognized on the basis of practical experience and, most significantly, development of godly character such as befitting church leaders (outlined in sections of the Bible such as 1 Timothy chapter 3, Titus chapter 1, and 1 Peter chapter 5). Thus, in essence, Todd and I were trained and tested through our experience in actually leading the church in Amsterdam over the last few years (together with a more experienced pastor, Joe Dunn, on-site for the first year and then coaching from afar for another year and a half). And as it seemed that the Holy Spirit had given us sufficient grace to develop and lead the church—which indeed seemed to become clearer over the last year or so—it seemed appropriate, for Joe and for the entire congregation, to formally recognize Todd and I for the positions to which God had apparently already raised us. Therefore, the ordination ceremonies in November were a chance for the church to lay hands on us and pray for us, in formal recognition of what God has already been doing in our lives. At any rate, the ordination was a special event for me, personally (it was also neat that my parents could be there to witness the occasion). And, to be honest, I think that the ordination has also had a somewhat subtle, subconscious effect on the church as a whole, as well.

Since the ordination last month, I’ve had several conversations indicating that others have been impacted with the idea that they, too, could be used by God to help lead the church (and new church plants) in the future. In particular, I’ve had conversations with one young man from my home group and two other young men from another home group that I’ve been coaching—all Netherlanders—who have expressed interest, ambition, and availability for playing a more significant role in helping to lead the church (and/or new church plants), developing and learning how to pastor as they go. Going against the natural Dutch aversion to being one of the “tall trees that catches a lot of wind” (an old Dutch proverb, basically reinforcing a cultural value of anonymity), these young men are stepping up to play a key role in leading God’s church in the Netherlands.

Without a doubt, this is something to be excited about! We’ve long recognized that one of the greatest needs in the world today—and particularly in Europe—is spiritual leadership. And it seems in recent weeks that the Lord of the Harvest is being faithful to send out workers into His harvest fields (Matthew 9:37-38)! Please continue to pray with us for this process of leadership development—and particularly the development of European pastors—within our church. And please pray for Todd and me, in our role as pastors for these potential pastors—and for the church as a whole—shepherding these people’s lives effectively, through the power and wisdom of God.

Thank you for everything that you give to make this ministry possible. Your faithfulness and sacrificial generosity remind us of Someone else, whose gift to the world is remembered at this time of the year. We wish you a very merry Christmas, and a happy New Year. Thanks again, for everything!

Eric

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. Who can proclaim
the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?
(Psalm 106:1-2)

Greetings from Amsterdam! It’s a season for thanksgiving. No, not Thanksgiving with a capital “T” (the American holiday with the Pilgrims and Indians and turkey dinners and such)—thanksgiving: simply giving thanks, celebrating the goodness of God, and remembering His mighty acts in our lives. Especially here in Amsterdam (where, incidentally, they do not celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday)—and especially at this stage in our church’s development—we have much reason for thanksgiving.

Just a short month ago, our church was homeless. We were struggling to get ourselves untangled from our old home on the Leidsekade, while simultaneously fighting through the red tape of government approvals and contract negotiations to get into a new place. But now, within the next week or two, we will once again have a roof over our heads—and not just any roof, but the roof of a really unique, truly beautiful, providentially prepared facility on the Herengracht (a beautiful canal neighborhood in the heart of old Amsterdam). Somehow, despite the odds, we managed to find a place that is bigger, more centrally located, more accessible, and significantly less expensive than our former ministry facilities! Truly, we’ve seen God work to meet our needs in very tangible ways over the last several weeks—even during the transition period—and we feel ourselves overflowing with thanks and gratitude for such assurances of God’s care for our community. There are still several elements of the transition that need to be solidified (including exact timelines for renovation and relocation), but we’re encouraged that things are headed in a positive direction. If you want to get more of the details from this transition period, I’d encourage you to check out my weblog: www.amsterdamasp.blogspot.com, where I’ve posted several photos and descriptions of the new facility—and, to be sure, I plan to keep posting more information as it becomes available…

In the meantime, we’ve got plenty to keep us busy! November will be a very active month for our family and for our ministry. In addition to moving the church (which will probably happen somewhere in the middle part of the month), we scheduled in a special seminar (called Ancient Paths) for the first weekend of the month, with a series of follow-up opportunities in the following week—all designed to facilitate recovery from deep emotional wounds and spiritual wholeness among the individuals within our church. We hosted the same seminar last spring, and the response was overwhelmingly positive—to the point that we felt we needed to offer the seminar again this fall, as well as create opportunities for some of the people in our community to be trained as facilitators for other seminars to hopefully be hosted in the future. Therefore, we’re excited to see how God will equip our ministry through the Ancient Paths program.

Also, in the second week of November, our church is planning to formally ordain Todd Watkins and me as pastors (as opposed to pastors-in-training) for our community in Amsterdam. I hope that I can explain more about this in our next prayer letter—but suffice to say, it’s an exciting development on both the personal level and the ministry level… Coincidentally (and, actually, somewhat consequently), my parents will be coming into Amsterdam also in the second week of November. We’re really thankful and really excited about their visit, as such opportunities for family connections do not come along too often (we may even try to pull off a good old-fashioned American Thanksgiving dinner while they’re in town!). In any event, with all of these things stacked on top of each other, it seems the second week of the month will be an eventful one for us.

Of course, it doesn’t end there. In the third week of November, I will be taking a trip to Austria for a conference with other GCM church leaders from across Europe. And finally to close out the month, Marci will be flying back to Ohio to help her Mom and Dad move out of her childhood home and into an old family farmhouse (which is in the process of being refurbished) where her grandparents will also live. So I’ll get some special time with the kids while Marci is busy packing, cleaning, and painting (and hopefully getting some nice downtime with her family too!).

I guess you could say that we’ve got our hands full for the coming month! But we’re excited that it’s good things and exciting things that are filling up the calendar. It’s obvious that God is at work. Therefore, we have much to remember during this season of thanksgiving. We hope that you will be similarly encouraged and prompted to thanksgiving by everything that’s happening here and in your own life as well. And not only do we want to thank God for all His goodness—we want to thank you for your role in making everything possible, through your prayer and financial support of our family and our ministry! Your faithful involvement in our ministry is an amazing blessing for which we are extremely grateful.

We’ll continue to keep in touch. Also, feel free to check the church website (www.amsterdam50.nl) and the “blog” (www.amsterdamasp.blogspot.com) for all the latest information. But for now, that’s it. Thanks again, for everything!

Eric

O our God… We have no power to face
this vast army that is attacking us.  We do not
know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”
 (2 Chronicles 20:12)

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place
he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went,
even though he did not know where he was going…
 (Hebrews 11:8)

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you!
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you…”
 (John 20:21)

Greetings from Amsterdam!  The weather is beautiful, the tourist attractions are packed, Elliot's school year has finally finished (though only since the middle of July!)... Without a doubt, summer has come to the city.  August is the month in which most Europeans go on vacation.  To the beaches, to the mountains, to the forests—our friends and neighbors (even local businesses) leave in droves at this time of the year.  But we know from experience that most of them will be back by the end of the month.
 
Most... But not all.
 
Just like it was in America—particularly working in campus ministry at Bowling Green State University—this time of year is a point of transition for many young people in Amsterdam.  Heading off to a new school, getting started in a new job, or simply taking advantage of a natural "reboot" to the rhythms of life—we've discovered that August and September represent significant changes in the lives of the people to whom we are ministering in central Amsterdam.  Part of this is fun and exciting, as we get to meet new people and experience new opportunities for outreach and discipleship; we even structure our ministry calendar around these seasons, and we look forward to watching God work through the process.  Yet, in our fourth summer season observing the rhythms of life in Holland, we've also come to realize that we cannot escape saying "tot ziens" to good friends and valuable components of our church leadership team at this time of the year.
 
In particular, it seems that our home group (which I would basically consider the core element of our family's ministry in Amsterdam) is bidding farewell to some beloved brothers and sisters this month and preparing to make some significant transitions in the fall.  In some ways, we know these transitions will be difficult.  But we also realize that God is definitely at work, and he's using these transitions to expand the influence of his Kingdom—not just here in Amsterdam, but around the world!
 
Marco, Sander, Kor, and Jetske are energetic believers that have been involved with Zolder50 and our home group for several years.  They are the kind of people for which missionaries fervently pray: talented, capable, passionate, godly, young, Dutch men and women who have come to truly own the vision of Christ and of our church for reaching the world.  They are all in their early-to-mid-20s, and yet we've seen incredible spiritual growth in their lives over the last couple of years—to the point that we can be sincerely confident in their maturity and capability to lead.  Thus, when they started to dream about starting their own home group, we took notice and sought to offer as much help and support as possible.  Slowly a plan developed to involve two other aspiring young Dutch leaders from another home group, and over the summer we've been systematically providing these six leaders with opportunities to practice leadership and refine their vision for launching a new home group.  Finally, with the turn of the summer season, the time seems to be right for this new home group to launch.  The other members of our home group feel that we're ready to let our friends go (in fact, we're excited for the opportunity to involve new people who will get sucked into the vacuum that will be created by their departure), and the six core members of the new group feel excited to set out on their own.  Consequently, this month we will be commissioning Marco, Sander, Kor, Jetske, Mariska, and Gerard to start Zolder50's sixth home group—which also happens to be the first home group in our church's history to be comprised entirely of young Dutch leaders.  The guys' apartment in the heart of Old Amsterdam will serve as the outpost for this new spiritual family, and we're excited to see how God will use these men and women as missionaries within their own culture and their own city.
 
However, the commissioning of new missionaries from our home group does not stop with these six… Meghan is a young Canadian woman who got involved with our home group through the Alpha Course that we sponsored about a year ago.  She had moved to Amsterdam for a pre-determined period of one year (to work for a Christian youth hostel in the city), and she took advantage of our Alpha Course as an opportunity to share Christ with some of the people to whom she was reaching out.  After the Alpha Course finished, she stuck around to bless our home group with her involvement, and we came to love her cheerful countenance and compassionate heart.  But now that her year has finished (it went by so quickly!), she is moving on to a Bible school in western Canada to study counseling with the goal of one day ministering to troubled teenagers.  Thus, even though we can't claim too much credit for her personal spiritual development, our home group recently laid hands on Meghan like the early Christian church in Antioch (Acts 13:1-3) and commissioned her to be a part of Jesus' Great Commission in Canada and wherever God may lead in the coming years.  And again, we were excited to see one of our sisters trusting God for the next stage of her life.
 
Still, the commissioning of new missionaries from our home group does not stop here!  Geert Jan and Anne are a young couple whom we've known for about a year and a half now.  They bubble with charisma and enthusiasm, and they seem to have been naturally gifted as leaders.  For the past couple of years—in addition to serving within our home group and our church—Geert Jan and Anne have also been working part-time for a parachurch organization called Athletes in Action (www.athletesinaction.org) while maintaining “day jobs” in the fields of international law and early childhood development, respectively.  Yet they now feel God’s calling to serve in full-time ministry for the next two years with an organization called Operation Mobilization (www.om.org), working on the crew of an oceangoing ship christened the Doulos—putting in at ports throughout the Third World (they’re planning to join up with the ship in southeast Asia) in order to distribute Bibles and Christian materials, and to share the Gospel with the thousands of visitors who flock to their ship.  It’s a very exciting opportunity for Geert Jan and Anne, and we’re very excited to be a small part of helping to send them out to the ends of the earth!

So as you can see, there’s a lot happening during this season of transition.  We hope that you are as encouraged as we are by the breadth of what God is doing in and through our ministry, and we hope that you will join us in prayer for these young “missionaries” throughout the world.  Thanks for everything!

Eric