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.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Old Friends and New Experiences
One of the more pleasant surprises for me has been to see the friends I've made here over the last six years return for visits. I didn't expect it, given that when I met most of them they were teenagers and now have started careers. I pretty much figured they'd have busy lives and wouldn't have much time for hanging out at the scouting building.
I'm glad I was wrong.
Michael stopped by about 20 minutes after we landed. He was excited to hear we were coming back, and for those of you on previous teams, he hasn't changed much. He's as outgoing and funny as ever...and if our door is open, he's been there.
Same for Roy. He's been coming by and spending more time. Through him I've been able to catch up with many of the teens we met in 2000...what they're up to and such. It's been nice having him around and yes, he still plays soccer incessantly.
I was pleasantly surprised by Vera. She stopped by on her way home from work, before her weekend got started and we got caught up on her family. She's the person who gave me the big EURO 2000 banner that hangs in our dungeon, and we celebrated her birthday at her house (didn't we Mrs. G? You'll be happy to know her mom has the glass you gave her--a replacement, wasn't it?--and still tells the story about it happily to all who ask) and visited the church a few years back. She fondly remembered hanging out at Farney's with the college group.
Anyway, she has taken up a new hobby: Dragonboat racing. She invited me to come today to the lake...and at first I thought she said "drag boat" racing...which I mistook for powerboat racing and thought I was in for a high-speed afternoon. But she said "dragon boat."
You know, like the vikings. Like this:
See the dragon head? They're on the front of every boat, and they have a team of 10 guys and 10 girls who race. It takes the better part of an afternoon. It's different than "crew" or "rowing" in the sense that they face the front of the boat and have an oarsman in the back to steer it. A person sits on that chair and bangs on that drum so the team will paddle in unison.
Here was the finish of the first heat, and they finished second of three boats.
I have to say that there are worse ways to spend an afternoon, sitting on the bank of a lake after riding up about 20 minutes on the bike, and cheering for the team in the bright yellow shirts...eating Magnum ice cream and having conversations that mean something (on all the topics you aren't supposed to talk about, like religion or politics) with Arnot and Joyce. Steve-O came, too...
And now, I'm sitting in downtown Alkmaar, by a canal, next to the Kaasmuseum (Cheese Museum...yep...they love their cheese in Alkmaar).
I think I could get into this European lifestyle...good friends, new experiences, and a peaceful end to the day.
Brent 7:06 PM
