Crossroads Bible Church, Team Holland 2006 Official Blog Site
Dates of our trip: July 12--July 30, 2006.
The team has been assembled and preparing since January, 2006.
Departing Flight Information July 12: British Air Flight #2192, Departing DFW 4:20PM. Arriving London Gatwick 7:20AM. Connecting flight from London Heathrow, British Airways flight #434 to Amsterdam Schipol arriving 1:45PM.
Return Flight Information July 30: British Air Flight #8110, Departing Amsterdam Schipol 7:00AM, arriving London Gatwick 7:10AM. Conntecting flight from London Gatwick, British Airways flight #2193 to Dallas/Fort Worth arriving 2:30PM.
You can also use the links on each of these sights to find out even more information!
In order to prepare for the nature of direct outreach in a postmodern culture, our team read the book "How Should We Live Then" by Colson & Pearcy. It's an excellent read for an introduction to worldviews, their effects and their results.
Some of the most influential books on the subject of postmodernism would be by Francis A. Schaeffer, including "The God Who Is There," "Escape From Reason," & "How Should We Then Live" (which obviously influenced Colson). If you're interested in some basic quotes on postmodernism, you can get them here:
2003: Brent McKinney, Rob Edwards, Deb Stevenson, Jess Semmelbeck, Liz Stevenson, Alicia Garcia, Jude Miniat, Christy Thrasher, Abby Lorenc, Cristina MacGilvra, Matt Eaton, Justin Bascue, Faith Oldenburg, Kayti Edwards, Kim Church.
2006: Brent McKinney, Steve Davis, Debbie Schmidt, Michelle Davis, Thomas Egbert, Schuyler Crabtree, Kayla Russell, Alex Ehrich, Keila Lorenc, Bailey Price, Olivia Schmidt, Maria MacGilvra, Alicia Garcia
First and foremost, this trip is 17 days long and for many team members it's the longest they've been away from home. We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to check back often and comment by clicking on the spaces beneath each entry!
Secondly, pray for the team members and those they'll come in contact with. This ministry is entirely relational...and each day we'll simply be waking up and trying to find someone to share the Gospel with. We'd truly appreciate your thoughts and prayers!
Finally, when this team left, we were short of our financial goals. If you're so inclined to donate, simply go to the church website and click on "contact us," send an e-mail saying you'd like to contribute, and you'll be given the necessary instructions.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
The Next Field Trip…But Not Necessarily A Day Off
Today we went to the city of Haarlem. It was supposed to be, more or less, a day off from the ups and downs of ministry (and I hope many of them blog about their experiences—hearing about them around the dinner table has been encouraging in their boldness with their faith—of which they are truly having meaningful moments).
We took the 10:17 to Haarlem and went immediately to the town square—which, in Steve’s words, “That’s the best turning of a corner I’ve ever experienced.” What he meant was that it’s truly stunningly beautiful. The highlight was the group sat Mish in a chair and sang “Happy Birthday” to her. We’ve had a day of celebrating Mish, too. I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get that, but I did get a photo of Alex & Bailey trying to kick the pigeons (not a good enough shot to get them scattering, though):
One thing to note: Various team members invited their friends to come with us…either encouraging a few of the Dutch teens in youth contact who rarely get to interact with so many Christians at once or some even invited the people they’ve been having spiritual conversations with.
Then we introduced the team to the wonder of poffertjes—kind of a cross between pancakes and doughnut holes smothered in powdered sugar/butter or with strawberries & cream added. Bailey described them as “like mixing heaven with cute boys.”
Here’s Tom, Olivia, Kayla and Bailey enjoying the Dutch version of Nirvana:
Then, after an hour of shopping, we had an appointment to tour the Corrie Ten Boom house. Maybe some of you read “The Hiding Place” for school…a story of devout Christians who led the Dutch resistance in WWII. They did so by building a false wall to hide their Jewish friends from the Nazi Gestapo. It’s incredibly moving and inspirational and I’d encourage you to read it or rent the movie of the same name…
…so we took some photos. Of course, deciding to smile or not is always tough in this situation because you feel so humbled and small during the tour. We chose the “Christian” version of the tour so our friends could hear it from that perspective and the guide was excellent with that part…one more seed planted: day off or not.
Here's Kayla, Tom & Mish in the hiding place:
Here's Steve-O and myself:
Here's Mrs. Debbie:
Finally, here's Olivia, Bailey, Alex & Keila:
In fact, many of the group is shunning their freedom for their “day off” in order to spend the last few days with their friends tonight. Pray that they’d finish strong with the “face-to-face” portion of the trip…because they realize that a lot of it will continue after we leave…
...and every little seed planted actually matters.
Not a bad lesson to learn on a "day off," eh?
Brent 4:30 PM
