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.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Random Thoughts
In the “it’s a small world” department: In the Rijks Museum yesterday, I noticed the familiar “AU” logo that adorns the helmets of my beloved Auburn Tigers football team on a t-shirt. Keeping with the custom of the fans of the school I said, “War Eagle!” to him. He smiled, we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Turns out that he went to my high school and graduated a year before I attended. I knew of his sister and brother and I thought it was odd. Not that two guys from the same hometown ran into each other in Europe, but that two guys from Alabama were in a museum (insert rim shot here).
It’s nice working with a group of teenagers that you can trust enough to run around a city like Amsterdam on their own for a couple of hours. And if you haven’t been to Amsterdam, the reason I said a city like that is hard to describe, but you don’t really have to look for trouble. It’ll find you so you have to be strong in your walk, and frankly, I wasn’t even worried about any of them in that regard…and I know of few youth ministers who get to say that. So, I’m pretty blessed.
Some of the bicycles we rented are in need of minor repair. Nothing too big, but think of it this way: Your car needs to stop every 10 miles to put a few pounds of air in the tire. No big deal, really…but just enough of an inconvenience to irritate you.
I have the opportunity to teach the Word on Sunday. Maria and Thomas will take some time during it to talk about what God is doing in their lives. I’ll be speaking with a translator, too…and sermon prep without the usual study aids is always challenging. I don’t want to burden you all with it but if you have any extra room on the prayer list it’d be greatly appreciated by me and the kids. I get the same jitters here as I do when Pastor Tim asks me to do it at CBC.
Last night, even on their “day off,” Olivia and Kayla had a significant discussion downtown with someone they just met and have plans to go out tonight with her. I’m amazed at how little the teens seem to be telling you all about the specific discussions they’re having because almost every night I’m floored by some of this stuff. I “poker face” it because I don’t think they have any idea of their boldness or courage and I don’t want to let them know how rare those things are once you get past, say, age 25.
The Laundromat here uses washers that hold 5.5 kilos of clothes. I have no idea how to measure that…I’ve never weighed it, I just put it in the washer until it looks about full. But today, after the bike fix, I’ll see if that same method works here.
The shower here has one knob that turns on the water pressure and another that has the desired temperature on the other. I never knew the temperature of a comfortable shower until now: For me, it’s 90F.
My personal ministry here involves a combination of encouraging some of the Christians here and maintaining the relationship with various friends…I haven’t really met any new non-believers.
In fact, I’m off to coffee with Sjaak and Vera right now. More later, and thanks for reading & making comments. Every night before bed we get a dose of encouragement and comfort…it really does mean more than you know.
Brent 9:58 AM