volume 34, issue 4 december 2013 to know God and make Him known

volume 34, issue 4 december 2013 to know God and make Him known

word from REINIER Dear friends, If you would walk into any of our four buildings in the heart of Amsterdam right now, you would find people, people, people! Yesterday afternoon I was going to our reception area at our training facility De Poort to sign out a meeting room, only to find out that every meeting room currently is occupied! While I was there I tried having a conversation with the receptionist, but that was almost impossible because of the amount of people he had to respond to by phone or at the desk. At this moment we have a school of Foundations for Counselling Ministries (FCM) that has a total of forty different people who are all directly involved. Then there is the Overflow DTS with fifteen students and four staff, there are teams that are visiting us for their outreach in Amsterdam, and there is so much more that s going on right now. This week we are hosting a seminar called Word By Heart. Broadway actor Bruce Kuhn, who has memorised Luke and Acts himself, teaches participants how to do that efficiently and then do Bible storytelling as if it were told by an eye witness.

Your friendship and support are so important to us, and it hasn t gone unnoticed! It s incredible to see the Word of God come alive this way! All of these different teams, events, schools and programs added up together have caused us a real nice problem to have: we have run out of space! As we are getting ready for 2014 and there are plans for different schools, events and programs, we have to think through our facilities and consider how we can continue to facilitate what God is doing in us and through us. Would you please join us in prayer as we continue to look into these opportunities for growth? Join us in prayer for the planning, fundraising and renovating that needs to happen. Join us in prayer as we will be in need of new staff and leaders that would come and strengthen us. Pray for us that God would give us His wisdom and strategy in the midst of this growth that He is bringing. In this newsletter you will read more detailed reports of some of that growth, and we re really excited to share this news with you! As we are nearing the end of this year, we are strongly appealing to you to partner with us in prayer and generosity. Would you consider partnering with us financially to help us continue to run after the vision and multiplication God is entrusting to us? Your friendship and support are so important to us, and it hasn t gone unnoticed! For His glory, Reinier Blijleven

THIS YEAR IN NUMBERS 468 missionaries hosted 3640 5673 liters coffee consumed 76,278 1352 bananas were given out by the evangelism team kilometers traveled by our hours of prayer DTS outreach teams 3 st an na (Alg Ph Ind Zim So Ze Bu Sw

r 30 student and staff nationalities (Algeria, US, Mexico, Brazil, Netherlands, Philippines, Canada, Hungary, Norway, India, Barbados, Australia, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Germany, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Venezuela, Latvia, New Zealand, UK, Aruba, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Finland, Switzerland) 7 outreach nations (Russia, Latvia, India, Nepal, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia)

The first eight weeks were filled with lectures. Here we learned about intimacy with God. For me it was as if first I knew about God and now got to know Him. After the lecture phase we were divided into three teams for Dutch outreach (Barendrecht, Groningen, Terneuzen). Then we went on our big journey. First two weeks of extra lecture in Israel. From there on we went in two teams all over Russia where we shared the good news and the love of God. We had a great time there and saw a lot of God. The January 2013 DTS was an amazing time. It all started off in the beginning of 2013 with a group of students wanting to know God deeper. One evening in Rostov we went to a small group in a rehab centre. We d prepared to share for half an hour, but we ended up sharing for over three hours. In the end we asked if we could pray for people and they all asked for the same prayer: that they might have a desire the rest of their lives to seek God and to get to know Him in an intimate way. Johan Knol (January DTS student)

september DTS 2013 Our Overflow DTS includes twelve weeks of lecture (ten in Amsterdam and two in Singapore) and twelve weeks of outreach in South East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia/Laos). We will work with local missionaries and/or churches to inspire, support and help them with their long term calling to that specific area. Both teams will work in rural areas and in cities. Your prayers are welcome! At the end of September this year we were very excited to welcome fifteen wonderful students for the Overflow September DTS 2013. Leander Timmer (September DTS staff) After a lot of preparation in the office and practical work in the new classroom the journey could finally begin! Our group is quite international; the students come from seven different countries (US, Canada, Sweden, Germany, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria and the Netherlands) and can speak at least ten different languages as a group in total. A DTS exists to gather, train, challenge and most of all disciple young people by teaching them about Jesus and letting them serve Him in creative ways. As staff team our desire is to see these fifteen young people grow closer to God so that they can make Him known in a joyful way.

FCM Bringing the Lord s healing from the bottom of your heart Excited, we let you know that the FCM school has returned back to Amsterdam. The school took off in an amazing way, with eighteen students, seven staff and three volunteers helping around the school and caring for the children. The seven families together have fifteen children. All together a group of forty people from fifteen nations and five continents! The school introduces the students to counselling. Besides learning basic skills in counseling and understanding brokenness, the main focus is to understand and cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Topics that are covered are: (sexual) brokenness, different counseling skills, addictions, family systems, the Holy Spirit in counselling, the cross, renewing the mind, development stages and sonship. principles for themselves. We hope to see the school return yearly, growing out to the 3rd level counselling schools, like the Addictive behavior Counselling School. Stand with us as we follow the Lord in this new season where people s lives get restored and we learn to walk in more intimacy with the Lord. Ansel Pronk (FCM school leader) Counselling is not just a theory, so the outreach is important and will go to Asia. Under the supervision of the team leaders the students will learn to bring into practice the skills they learned. In doing so, they will continue to practice the

DO YOU HAVE A PASSION FOR MUSIC DANCE THEATRE Do you want to know God and make Him known? The stage is yours VISUAL ARTS 8 Like us on Facebook to get the lastest updates of what s happening in YWAM Amsterdam. facebook.com/ywamamsterdam Want to know more about who we are, our ministries and schools? Visit our website: www.ywamamsterdam.org ARTS DTS 5 January - 25 July 2014 artsdts@ywam.nl * NEWSLETTER BY E-MAIL? Would you rather receive this newsletter by e-mail? If so, send an e-mail with your name and current address, indicating the preferred version (Dutch or English) to: newsletter@ywam.nl

prayer points Thank God for our buildings and facilities and for the blessing they have been to others. Pray for the planning, fundraising and renovating. Thank God for all of our staff, for His calling in their lives and their passion to serve Him. Pray for more people with a heart for this city to join YWAM Amsterdam. Thank God for the training schools and programs. Pray for the students and participants to multiply what they received and for more to join the upcoming activities. 4

upcoming activities Discipleship Training Schools www.ywamamsterdam.org/dts The DTS is an intensive discipleship course focused on missions which encourages young adults to grow in their relationship with God. This course is for those who want their lives to count for eternity. It s about learning the ways of God, hearing His voice and allowing Him to transform your life. Arts DTS 5 January - 25 July 2014 February DTS (English / Dutch) 1 February - 10 July 2014 Christmas of service www.ywamamsterdam.org/cos2013 The Christmas of Service is a whirlwind opportunity to spread the love of Jesus and the true reason of the season across the city of Amsterdam. We will join together in times of worship, prayer & teaching, but the focus will be going out to the streets! We will do both service projects & street evangelism. We will even be joined one day by a professional gospel choir to sing out Christmas carols around the neighbourhood! 20-23 December More info on our website! CHRISTMAS of SERVICE 20-23 DECEMBER ywamamsterdam.org/cos2013 cos@ywam.nl

ADDRESS: Kadijksplein 18, 1018 AC Amsterdam, The Netherlands CONTACT: tel: +31 20 530 2100 fax: +31 20 530 2101 e-mail: infomail@ywam.nl GIFTS: Bank: Rabobank 14.32.50.736 IBAN: NL10 RABO 0143 2507 36 BIC: RABONL2U t.n.v. Stichting Jeugd met een Opdracht, Amsterdam For USA tax Deductible gifts: please make your cheque payable to YWAM Amsterdam and mail it to: PO Box 26479 Colorado Springs, CO 80936