Amazing!!!

I got to share my faith!!!


We have a group of 50 people here for a few days that are mostly 12 year old students and 2 teachers, so it’s a little crazy at the hostel at the moment. I do have to complain because they will not eat any of the food that we provide for them; it all just goes into the trash! I always thought that it was just an American thing of people not liking the food in other countries, but I have quickly realized that it is now also an Eastern European concept as well, since that is where all the students are from. But anyways, as much as they have driven us crazy and demanding strange things, they ask their teacher why we are so nice and what makes us so happy. All she could tell them was that we have an inner peace about us.

The other night, me and another work spent 3 hours talking to the teacher about God and Jesus and how He has affected our lives and why He is the only way to having a relationship with God. She asked questions as to how it’s different from other religions and especially Islam. It was amazing! And last night she sat down for another 3 hours and talked to one of our other staff members about our faith. It’s amazing how God is working through us in the little things, to have the guests ask about the major things.

Taking a breath.....

This weekend the hostel is fully booked (go us!!) but that means that today for my Morning Café shift, that everyone was down for breakfast. It was going ok (I was a little tired this morning) but then I broke two of the cereal bowls, leaned over the grill after I cleaned it and got a huge grease spot on my favorite shirt, and had to try and decipher what people were saying to me even though they were speaking English, although I’m not a mind reader. And it’s only 2:20pm. I think I accidentally prayed for patience this morning, and God has given me lots of opportunities this morning to practice. I think I am now going to take a little nap and hope that the afternoon and night is a lot better than the morning. :)

But I thought I would put up a couple pictures from Dam Square.

And to think that in the 1970s, people were sleeping in the middle of the square, because there were no hostels in Amsterdam at that time.  That's why The Shelter was created.  To provide them with a safe place to spend the night.

Frustrations

Almost every day this week I have been a CS (aka cleaner supervisor) and I’m completely drained from it. I feel so inadequate to lead our cleaner time Bible study when two of the people barely speak English. I feel like I’m not helping them and it’s not helping me. So please pray that I can find a way to communicate to them and vice versa. It’s just making me very frustrated and then I feel bad that I’m frustrated!


On a different note, yesterday was my day off. We went to the park and had a farewell picnic for 2 of our staff members and last night I helped my German friends/staff member make schnitzel with noodles. It was so delicious! And actually reminded me of home even though it was from Germany. It was a good ending to an amazing day off.

Happy Birthday to Me!!! :)

Yesterday was my 25th birthday.  To start it off, at midnight we ate pizza, apple pie, and watched Gilmore Girls (so it was a perfect start); then the rest of the day I had cake and flowers and balloons everywhere.  It was such a great birthday.  I thought I would post some pictures of my day.

Flowers from Christy, Travis, and Paul Wayne.  Everyone was jealous.  :)

My bike was waiting for me in the morning with a balloon tied to it.

My tulip pancake for breakfast.

My GIANT chocolate cake that was super delicious!!!

It was a very great day!!!

The last couple of days.....

We have been short handed this week with cleaners in the hostel; so we have been praying very hard for some extra help for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday because a new cleaner arrives Tuesday and God was able to provide!  Part of my job is to hire new cleaners and Friday night a man came in looking to stay until Tuesday as a cleaner.  It's just so amazing to pray for something and have it happen right in front of you.  Please pray for our new cleaner Nathan.  He doesn't know Christ, but I think he has really been thinking a lot about our Bible Studies the last two days.  Hopefully we can plant a seed in him.

Cleaner Supervisor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am now a full fledged cleaner supervisor!!! Today was my first day by myself and I think it went pretty well. The most difficult part is trying to lead a Bible study to people who don’t speak English. I found a website that translates the Bible for one language (theirs is Hungarian) into English. They said it helped them a lot, so I’m going to continue to use it. My main focus if for them to read what the Bible says in a way for them to understand, and then later on when their English is better discuss the deeper meanings of the Bible. It’s just so hard to communicate. I need lots of prayers in this.


Today is St. Patrick’s Day!!! My favorite holiday! Although the Dutch aren’t as excited as I am about this day. A few of us wanted to cook corned beef and cabbage today, but we were afraid to stink of the house and other people would probably not like the smell. I don’t understand why because it’s so delicious, but I’ve heard people complain before.

Tomorrow is one more cleaner day and then Friday I’m off!! I’m very excited!

sleeper loft

Tonight I am “little” sleeper; which means that I don’t have to do any cleaning (although I was kitchen cleaner today, so I took care of everything earlier) but I have to spend the night at the hostel to support the nightman. Tomorrow is my last day of cleaner supervisor training. The Bible discussions that we start with at the beginning of the day are a little difficult because we only have two cleaners at the moment and both speak mostly Hungarian. They’re trying to learn English, but it’s difficult. So it’s very hard to read a passage and discuss what it means. I can tell that their English is improving, but it’s a slow process. I think about if I tried to learn a new language now, and I think it would be very difficult. I’m trying to practice my German with a few of the German staff members, and it’s not going the best. It’s hard to remember what all the words are, but I’m excited to learn.


Today I also had a class on leading a Bible discussion to the guests and I have my first discussion on Saturday. I’m not sure what passage we’re going to discuss; I’m just going to have to pray and read some more.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday when I was leaving church.

....

These last three days have been a little bit of a blur. I took a tour of the Jewish in Amsterdam on Friday. Then Saturday and today I have been training as a cleaner supervisor. So three days a week, I will be in charge of the cleaners here at our hostel. Saturday wasn’t too bad, I just had a lot of things to learn and retain; so my head was very tired. Today was just a little bit of a stressful day. Sunday is the day that all the weekend travelers check-out, so we had 78 beds to change and that many rooms to clean. So most of our day was spent trying to get all the new sheets put on the beds. Tomorrow I’m back to working in the café, but Tuesday is my last day of training and then I will be on my own! Here are some pictures of our tour Friday.

The oldest building in Amsterdam.  It looks like a castle.

Top of one of the oldest churches in Amsterdam.

The bottom of the church.

Rembrandt's house

rhythm

These last two days I’ve really started finding my rhythm; I’m still not completely sure how to do everything (which is a little annoying for me) but I do feel more confident behind the counter. This week has been a little slow. We’ve had a smaller number of guests this week, although the weekend is completely booked. We’ve had a group of college students here from North Western College in Iowa. It’s been nice to have them here and have extra hands in the kitchen. We are short staffed and I guess they have been for a few months; so our prayers lately have been for more workers and specifically more male workers, because we are almost all girls now and sometimes it’s a little difficult for a female to approach a male guest.


Tomorrow I’m going on a city walk tour with other people that work here. I’m very excited to see so much of Amsterdam and I hope to get a lot of pictures. I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Fasting Day

So today is a day for us to pray and fast; with this being the theme of the day, I thought I would post some pictures of some foods on here.

This one is a little easier to understand what the juices are, but you can read the names in Dutch.

Milk

These are different types of pudding.

And here are a couple of pictures of our cafe.

reasons

I’ve only been here a week, but every day I am reminded more and more of why I am here and the purpose it has on my life. It’s such a comforting thought to understand the reasoning behind our experiences. Today we had an evangelism training class, which is the first of five lessons; so today was just an introduction day to understand why we are here and who it is that we are ministering too. This class today has really helped to fill my heart. My prayer for the last few weeks has been for boldness. I think one of my weaknesses is a fear of sharing my faith and my relationship with Christ and so it has been my heart’s desire to really step out of my comfort zone and be “bold” for Him. I definitely think I am in the right place for that!

So Sleepy.......*yawn*

Last night my job was "Big Sleeper", which means that I helped finish cleaning the kitchen at the end of the night and then I slept at the hostel to help support the nightman on duty. I really enjoyed my night because I got to talk to one of the other staff members that I hadn’t really seen much this week and to keep him company so he wouldn’t be bored through the night. I finally went to sleep this morning at 4 and got up at 7:30 and came back to our house to sleep until 12. Today is my day off, so I’m just having a relaxing day of doing pretty much nothing but go to church. We’re going back to Zolder church today at 4. I really enjoyed last week, so we’ll see how this service goes.


One major ministry that we have here at The Shelter, is a cleaner ministry. What that consists of is people can live for up to one month for free (free bed, food, laundry) and they have to clean the hostel every day. At first I thought, “Great! Then we don’t have to actually clean the rooms!” But I’ve seen that it’s really so much more than that. Most of the people that come here as cleaners are looking to live in Amsterdam and it gives them a place to stay and look for work or a permanent place, and most of them know nothing about Christ. Every day before their work begins they start off with a Bible discussion and then throughout their stay they have conversations with our staff about Christ and why we have chosen Him. We have 4 cleaners in particular that are heavy on all our hearts at the moment. They now understand what the Bible has to say and Christ’s love for us, but they are still on the fence about accepting him as their Savior and Lord and fully trusting a relationship with him. Two of the guys left this week and one is leaving next week. So if we could just all pray for them, that would be great!

I’m very excited because in two weeks, I will be training to work with the cleaners.

hmmmm......

Today was a pretty good day.


I went to a bike shop around the corner and bought lights for my bike. Apparently it is illegal to not have lights on your bike if you are riding at night. Reflectors are good, but it’s the lights that really matter. I’ve been going all week without lights and it’s been a little scary. I’m still not used to dodging cars, pedestrians, signs, sidewalks, and other bikers yet, and it’s worse at night cause they can’t really see me; but not anymore cause I have the best lights of anyone! When I first got into the bike shop and told the guy I needed some lights, he took a look at my bike and his first words were, “This bike looks like it’s been hit with a car! Or driven into a wall!!” Which is really funny because I was complaining yesterday how it was a little difficult to turn, but I didn’t really think anything about it. So anyway, I just looked at him and shrugged my shoulders cause there wasn’t anything that I could do and I obviously hadn’t had an accident with it. But he looked it over and took me to the back and showed me the type of light I needed because my bike had places to mount lights. He really could have sold me anything at that moment, because I had no clue what I was supposed to be buying and it turns out that I did pay a little more than everyone else here; but I don’t care because I feel so much safer. Everyone here has these tiny lights, but mine is like a headlamp. Everyone will know when I’m coming!!

Then this afternoon, I had afternoon café and again I had to cook dinner for everyone. I was so nervous!!!!! It was two different kinds of burritos, but nothing like what we have at home so I had no idea if I was doing anything right. Everyone said they enjoyed them, but I’m really not sure if they were just saying that to be nice cause I didn’t care for them as much. I’m just glad that I got through today because I was a little stressed trying to get everything finished.

Tomorrow I don’t start working till late, so I’m hoping to sleep in. Since it’s the weekend, the hostel is almost completely booked. We’re praying that we can impact these people’s lives in the next few days.

Morning Cafe

Well I have officially worked all of the café shifts available. Today was my first Morning Café experience and it was a little intense. The hostel provides breakfast to everyone that stays the night and last night there were about 50 people staying, although not all of them came for breakfast. I was so happy to have my trainer there with me because I think it would be pretty impossible to work the morning shift by yourself. I was having a hard enough time to take orders and get the cold breakfast ready, I can’t imagine what it will be like when I have to do it all by myself. There are three options offered for breakfast: a hot breakfast of either eggs, ham, and toast, pancakes, or French toast (and all of these alternate everyday); a cold breakfast with a bread roll, cheese, butter, and jam; and another cold breakfast with Muesli (which is like granola) with either milk or yogurt on top and fruit. And the yogurt here is different than at home because it comes in a carton, like a milk carton, and you pour it on stuff instead of spooning it out. So my trainer (who is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met) was working the grill and frying the eggs and I was taking orders, filling drinks, and making the cold breakfasts. Luckly we just work behind a counter the whole time, cause I wouldn’t have been able to walk around a lot. But 2 hours felt like 2 minutes with everyone coming at one time. I had a few bumps along the way trying to understand people who couldn’t speak English and having to do a lot of sign language and pointing; but I managed to get through the day.


This afternoon a group of us rode our bikes to the Jewish History Museum of Amsterdam. It was very interesting and I was able to get a card that will give me a discount to all Museums here in the city. They had so many beautiful items that people have used over the years for ceremonies or rituals. And it was very interesting to learn from a different perspective. Not just reading from a distant land about it, but actually being in a city that experienced it. I pass everyday by the Anne Frank house and one day when I have free time, I’m going to go and look around. I love history so much; I just enjoy being in places that are so rich and full of it.

Tonight I was the attender/helper for Bible Study. Every night someone prepares a lesson for the guest to come and listen and learn if they want to. Everyone is invited and told about it whenever they check into the hostel. We only had one person there tonight, but I could really feel God’s presence. She was from Japan and I think she really understood the lesson. It was about forgiveness and how God has forgiven us if we ask. It was very good and I just pray that the girl took something away from it. I could tell that she was searching for something, and I hope that we have helped her to find that Christ is the answer. I just have to keep praying for her.

Working

Yesterday I started my first work day. I had Evening Cafe from 6:30-12. And let me tell you, it was a very humbling experience. I’m very glad that I had it as my first shift because what it involves is cleaning up after everyone, and especially cleaning up after the dinner meal. Every night the people working on the Afternoon shift cooks dinner for all the staff and the guests of the hostel. Well yesterday’s meal just happened to be Mexican chicken and it was really stuck on to all the pans. Again, like I said… a humbling experience. I worked almost the whole time on one pot, just soaking and scrubbing and soaking and scrubbing, but still putting other dishes in the dishwasher and wash the stove and counters and still getting people coffee, juice, or tea. By the time 10 came, I was exhausted and I still had 2 hours left! When I finally got home, my head was spinning and I was even too tired to really sleep; but finally after a few hours I was able to rest.


Today I had some training on procedures in the café and on Monday we’re going to work on them some more. But also today I had Afternoon Café and I was really nervous! I can cook for my family (sometimes  ), but the idea of cooking for over 20 people was horrifying. Plus trying to read a recipe that is in English and all your ingredients are in Dutch, is a little difficult. I didn’t realize how easy it is to cook at home, until I was looking all over the fridge for the mustard, and it was right in front of me!! It wasn’t in a little, yellow bottle! And it didn’t even look like a word that could resemble mustard. Hopefully I’ll learn to pick up some of the phrases soon. But all my worries disappeared, cause I was being trained (so I had help) and everyone said they loved it! First I thought they were being nice, but I tried it and it was really good. Haha….. But now I’m exhausted! I hope tonight I can sleep really well.

Tomorrow I have Morning Café and hopefully I can get through making breakfast for everyone.

Here is a picture of my bike and a picture of our basement that is our bike room.  I hope you can see it.  It's not the best looking bike, and it makes a lot of weird noises when I ride it that make me a little worried, but I'm very happy to have it.  It's a lot longer walk to the hostel than one would think.

Introduction Day!

Today was introduction day.  We went through the rules, situations that could arise, schedules, and the classes we'll have.  A small group of us walked around our neighborhood and I can finally get to and from the hostel and my house, which is a major achievement.  I was getting nervous that I wouldn't be able to get around very well.  My first day starts tomorrow with evening cafe.  So pretty much I'll be cooking a little and mostly cleaning all the dishes from the day.  It's a 5 1/2 hour shift.  I also have my first small group Bible Study at 10 am.  I'll be having breakfast with my group and we'll go through different passages.  I'm hoping to go to the Anne Frank house in the afternoon, so I'll let you know if I get there.  Here are a few pictures I took today. 

This is the hostel where I work.

Here is a car that I've seen a lot of people driving around and it makes me laugh.

I'll get a picture of/with my bike soon, I just didn't ride it today because my behind is sore.  I thought I would give it a day to rest.

Day 2

Saturday night/Sunday morning, I had a horrible time sleeping. I slept for about 4 hours and then was awake from about 1:30 till 5am. This jet lag is harsh. I finally went back to sleep and slept till 11. I hope to establish some normal sleeping patterns soon.


Then in the afternoon we went to this church called Zolder. It was a very contemporary non-denomination church and a very good service. They had guest speakers and one guy got up and spoke about his life. He's lived in Amsterdam for many years and was involved in drug trafficking and prostitution in the red light district for years. He had trouble with police and other criminals because of his line of work and it came to the point where he was homeless. One night he stayed at the Shelter City (which is the other hostel that the organization owns) and ended up being a cleaner and staying for a month where he came to know Christ. It was a very refreshing and encouraging. The worship was great! They said the style is different every week. I hope to go back there again next Sunday.