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
So, Yeah...Here's A Nice Way To Spend A Day
We'd gotten settled at the Durk Duyvel Scouting Building.
We'd gotten our bikes.
We'd exchanged money.
We'd gone shopping.
We'd had breakfast and cleaned up (yes, parents, it's amazing how compliant your children are when they with someone else--we've had enthusiastic respose to various chores and such, so they CAN do it, and yes, you can use this as proof if so needed).
And all this was after we'd kept them up for around 30 hours to get their sleep patterns where they need to be for this trip.
So, the next step was to give them a tour of Alkmaar. They were pretty excited about it all and some left before they got the full deal...they chose to learn by exploration instead of waiting for a guide. Sometimes it's the best way, anyway.
More or less we were in two groups, and we had them hold off until 1PM yesterday so they'd avoid the famous Cheese Market craziness. This town is known for their cheeses and celebrates it every Friday with much hoopla. Best not to have novice bikers in the heaviest traffic on their first day, eh?
Our group arrived as they were tearing down the sidewalk kiosks and parked our bikes next to the 500 year old cathedral in the center of town...how it used to be in the olden days. Now the church is a civic center of sorts, hosting dances and art exhibits and such...how it is in the new days in The Netherlands. You get the drift.
We wandered. We showed them landmarks and showed them shortcuts and backroads as best we could. Mostly they'll learn by wandering around but the introduction was helpful.
I was looking for free wireless. Found it, too. I love technology.
Then I found what I wanted to see: Bailey, Keila, Schuyler, Alex, & Olivia--the explorers--were sitting at a table with Dutch teens. They'd already made friends. They got phone numbers. They've got tentative plans to meet again. They'd already found out where those teens stood with Christ. They've got work to do still.
But they were doing it. The reason we came.
So, to re-cap: 60 degrees and windy and sunny. Canals. My bike parked against a 500 year old church. Cheese. Canals...
...and my teens doing their mission, and doing it well.
Wow.
P.S. Rob: Michael and Roy said hello. Michael was here 30 minutes after we arrived and stayed until we ran him out...what else is new? He couldn't believe you missed this trip.
Deb: Arnot and Fira were here, I'll post photos later with my free wireless, and they were terribly disappointed you weren't here.
Brent 8:40 AM