Christmas was simply amazing. I had brunch with my good New Zealand friends, Jasmine and Rick Smith, who I met at my beautifully intimate new Church. And when I say brunch I mean homemade delicious eggs benedict and homemade mulled wine.
I relaxed and enjoyed the fellowship until dinnertime where I moved onto my next course and family, The Freylings. Desi and Lisa are from Canada and I work with them in The Lighthouse. They have two beautiful kids who are full of life, Shayla (4) and Nicolai (2). Desi is a fantastic cook and made a complete "North American dinner." It was truly the best I have ever had. We then watched my favorite Christmas movie "It's a Wonderful Life" with Nico and Shayla on my lap, it was perfect.
When I got home I skyped with my parents, brother, sister in law, two nieces and nephew back home. They were opening up presents and I was so thankful I got to be apart of that via Skype.
For New Years my Dutch friend, Lysette, was in town from Latvia (she moved there to work with prostitutes, human trafficking and prevention.) We support each other in our ministries and have a great connection. She came to Amsterdam were we got dinner on the Zeedik and drinks at a really rustic, chill cafe. Then made our way to Dam Square where thousands of others from all over the world joined together in lighting fireworks and fellowship. Fireworks are legal here so my "fireworks should be illegal view" was slightly stressed as they were going off all hours of the night in every nook and cranny of the city. But I was glad I got to experience my first Dutch New Years.
In between Christmas and New Years I, and a small team from the base, set out to Germany to take part in a huge European Missions Conference. It was quite the experience. Sleeping on a mat in a huge hall with about a thousand other girls, representing Amsterdam to everyone we spoke to, and my favorite part; speaking to about 150 people about Human Trafficking. Within the conference they had "workshops" you could do everyday. One of them was on human trafficking. Me and two others who are staffing Shine were looking forward to attending this class. But the night before we were asked by the girl who was putting together all the Seminars if we knew anyone who has knowledge on human trafficking and could conduct the class because the original teacher was sick and could not make it. We met together and had an outline within an hour about what to speak and how to present it. It was amazing! We went there to promote Shine and God brought 150 people (out of 2600) that were interested in this topic. We got to educate and connect people. It was so incredible, truly nothing we did on our own but through God.
When January started it was Shine full force. We have been working together to really make this seminar incredible. For those who don't know, Shine is a 6 week seminar held in Amsterdam based on "the global sex trade and a Christian response." Its for those who have a heart to work in this type of ministry, we provide education and practical application. It truly changed my life and I look forward to seeing others changed by it too.
The last update I want to add is I met with Toos Heemskerk yesterday. She was the director of The Scarlet Cord, a ministry that not only visits the ladies in the windows but offers professional help in counseling, training and leaving prostitution, for 15 years. She is now the director of Not For Sale Amsterdam. Not only have I wanted to work next to her but also partner with NFS. She is renting our building and doing the work out of The Lighthouse. I explained to her my idea for a hairdressing project and she was on board. She thought it was a great idea with actual potential and we talked about partnering up together to support one another.
I realized that I am here in Amsterdam for a greater purpose than I could ever imagine and God is going to bring the right people, the right connections, and the funds to truly make the Red Light District of Amsterdam a renewed place. I am so excited that He asked me to be apart of it.
