Monday, December 10, 2012

Shine // Latvia // Germany

Well, it is decided. I am the official Shine Seminar 2013 Leader. I couldn't be more thrilled and terrified at the same time. For those of you who do not know, Shine is our 6 week course on the global sex trade and how we as Christians can response. It's pretty much a training for those who are interested in working with those in prostitution or have been trafficked. Modern day slavery still exists, and it's closer than we realize. We just want to play a small part in working to end it. This will be our 3rd year doing this seminar. We really have a desire to take it from Amsterdam and bring it all over the world. My life is about to get even more busy, but I am so excited. If you are interested in partaking in Shine email me at Shine@ywam.nl and I will send you an application (that I just spent several hours creating mind you :) The dates are April 18th to June 3rd.

And going to the next topic, Latvia was really amazing. We have a sister ministry in Riga, called Freedom 61. They are a small team that reaches out to the street ladies there who are working in prostitution. Almost all of them are addicted to drugs. They also do prevention work in schools and orphanages as Latvia is considered a Source country. In regards to trafficking humans, you have 3 different types of countries:
1: Source Countries: from which people are trafficked out of
2: Transit Countries: a temporary stop, momentary exchange
3: Destination Countries: where the victims end up (Amsterdam is considered a Destination Country)
So prevention work is pretty important in these Source Countries. But while we (myself and the 3 lovely volunteers we have had here in Amsterdam for 3 months from IHOP) were there, we taught about intercession, interceded, as well as did some outreach to the ladies. I brought my scissors with me and did some haircuts. It was awesome to be able to use a physical skill the Lord has given me. It even brought in some ladies who have never come into their cafe before. Oh to explain, they have a cozy room in the middle of the "Red Light District" there, where they offer a warm place for the girls to sit, have some coffee & tea or soup or just a conversation. Or while I was there, a haircut. It snowed while we were there so someplace warm is nice. The last client I had, had never come into their cafe before. And while I was running my hands through her hair, she opened up about her life story. How she had been trafficked and bought and sold. They got to build a relationship with her, and I pray it grows. The cafe was also where many would meet in the underground Church during the Soviet Union. So amazing!

Doing work!

The team that went to Latvia

Part of Freedom 61

Traditional Latvian Food!


Lastly, my colleague and I went to Germany to teach at a DTS on Justice. I was SO stressed out, but guess what? Everything came together and worked out! My friend and I split the week in half and really tagged teamed all there is about Justice and the Word of God. It was a wonderful experience. Got to see some old friends, meet some new ones, pray for the students, showed Nefarious, and taught from the Word of God. Oh and Köln is such a beautiful city. We spent one afternoon checking out the Love Lock Bridge (Hohenzollern Bridge) the old Cathedral (Dom) and eating really delicious German cake. There are never any complaints when it comes to German cake. But truly, it was an awesome week.

Els and I on the train to Köln

Seeing Rahel at the train station!

Hohenzollern Bridge

                                                                                 The Dom Cathedral

                                     
Oh! And so I just ended up taking my severely broken bike to my Croatian bike fixing buddies and just told them I will spent the large cost in replacing the parts. He called me a few days later saying that he could not replace the parts (because its such an old bike and hard to find them) but he somehow fixed the problem and only charged me 25€! It was such a relief and a blessing. I am SO thankful to have a bike again!