Hello California!

After 28 hours of traveling with only 1 hour of combined sleep...Team Amsterdam is finally home in the horribly hot yet beautiful Redding, Ca!

It is great to be home and be surrounded by loved ones but we definitely miss our home for a month, Amsterdam. We landed in San Francisco at SFO at 3pm Thursday afternoon, and with traffic, 7 hours later to Redding. We were all greeted by some of our favorite people in the world! Mom's, fiances, boyfriends, and best friends! And we said goodbye to each other in the arrival lobby and went our separate ways for the first time in 34 days...it was bittersweet!

Some have had jet lag, but we've all experienced some reverse culture shock! Even the little things, like everyone around you speaking English and not Dutch! Please continue to pray for us, that we may adjust back into normal society as smoothly as possible!

We were most excited to return to our churches and participate in corporate worship! It was there that we felt the most home! Being at the Stirring was definitely surreal for most of us, being there and not serving! I (Hannah) had to force myself not to go to church early, it was just too weird to be in Redding on a Sunday and not be at church all day! Once I arrived at church, it was so wonderful to see all my church family but also all the newcomers! As worship began, and I listened/read the words to the new songs that I had never heard, it was amazing because of Amsterdam, I had a true experience for every word that I was singing. We saw God do amazing things in Amsterdam, not only in the city but in each of us individually...I know with everything in me that "my God is not dead, he's surely alive, living inside, roaring like a lion!" [Like a Lion - David Crowder]

Thanks you from the bottom of our hearts for all who supported, encouraged, and prayed for us! We wouldn't have seen the miraculous that we did without your love!

For our readers and supporters in the Redding area, we will be having a sharing night hosted by the Stirring! We would love for everyone to come! More details to come!

THANKS and LOVE from TEAM AMSTERDAM!

a blog dedicated to Hannah

If you read the previous blog you would have no idea that Hannah was actually a member of Team Amsterdam. WE apologize for this and therefore we are dedicating this blog to Hannah and all the funny things she does. She is awesome and the coolest person on this team.

#1: Hannah locked all the other girls in Elisa's room from the outside...stood outside and laughed for a while and then went to the bathroom. A couple minutes later she unlocked the door.

#2: Hannah laid hands on Chelsea and prayed for her unborn children.

#3: Hannah wrote this blog while all the girls we're sleeping.

To be continued...

Flock of Seagulls: Favorite Moments of Amsterdam Thus Far

Chelsea and Elisa dress up night in gross clothes

Chelsea poured sugar on her sandwich thinking it was salt

Chelsea the amazing triple chinned woman

Sock time!

Do you see the tiny kitty picture? This is what is in the prayer tower

Chelsea the cupcake fairy Korean

"I'm going to line Elisa's coffin with dolphins!"
-Chelsea Engstrom

"Look at my tiny spoon!" (literally a tiny spoon and a huge cup of ice cream)
-Elisa McKeown

Natalie got hit by a bike.

Heather fell on her face.

Nat and Chels got lost for 2 hours on our 3rd day in the city yogging.

Our host's 2 year old son dressed up as Captain Featherspoon from the Wiggles jumping on the the trampoline yelling "catin Feathersoon, catin feathersoooooon, catin feathersooooooon!!!!"

Chelsea got pooped on by a pigeon in the Red Light District while on a prayer walk.

"Everyone, please close your heads and bow your eyes..."
-Chelsea beginning the dinner prayer in front of the whole base.

The staff of the base ate and didn't pay for our muffins that we made for a fundraiser so the base could by new furniture.

Chelsea and Elisa's song to the beat of the "Pants on the Ground" song...
"Poop in yo pants, Poop in yo pants, whatcha goin do when u poop in yo pants? Poop runnin down, poop runnin down, whatcha goin do when the poops runnin down.
You ganna wipe it? NOO!
You ganna throw it? YAA!!!

(Another line)

Poop on yo face poop on yo face. Whatcha gonna do when ya got poop on yo face?

The End P.S. there is a one leg shake dance move one must do to the song

Natalie growls at people in the morning

Because of chelsea's lost voice her new name is now "cackles"

Natalie- " All little kids carry around balloons as pets." Chelsea- "What?" Natalie - "Or.... maybe that was just me?" Chelsea, "Weren't you the one with imaginary friends?" Natalie- "Yes" Chelsea- "That makes a lot of sense."

"Giddy McGees....too much laughter." -Chelsea

"Why would you do that??" -Elisa as Natalie put a chocolate roll in front of her

"When you are done with that can you please milk me?" -Chelsea

We rock, paper, scissors to see who will pray for the night.

Streaking of Men.

"Hey...you wanna go to a coffee shop?" (man on a bike)
"No...cafes only."-Chelsea

Night crawlers down the hall. During quiet hours. Actually happened.

"I will smash your face into a jelly!!" (after Chelsea accidentally spit in Elisa's face during prayer time)

"MMMMMMMMM......Naaa Naaa Na Naaaaaa" (what happens during serious prayer time)

Chelsea looks like a cupcake fairy korean woman. with a unibrow.

You look like a woman...and yet a man!

Probably none of this will make sense to the real world but these have been some our funniest moments and inside jokes.

Natalie's power kick and Chelsea's night crawler videos

WE'VE GOT JOY JOY JOY DOWN IN OUR HEARTS.

HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR LAST WEEK!!
#1. Monday - We painted our hearts out in the dining hall for the base. The goal was to paint many things to decorate for and bless the people who live here constantly! While we were painting many people from the community came down and soon we were having a community paint night... it was pretty cool. We also went around the city and chalked some more, and Heather had an incredible encounter with a woman in one of the parks in Amsterdam.
#2. Tuesday- We woke up at 3:30 in the morning, interceded for the red light, and then went with Jacob, our host, to the red light district with buckets of chalk and card board signs of purity and the Lord's beauty. What did we do with these? Duct taped them to walls around the red light and chalked truth about the women and men who passed through the red light on the side walk and the walls. We also may or may not have spray painted some of the ply wood boards with God's truths as well. It was amazing. We also slept for a while after that, and then painted more around the base.#3. Wednesday - We went for an outreach with our host Jacob to the Southeast part of Amsterdam. When we got back we had a fire burning in us so we marched down to the red light and we sang worship songs on the corner of one of the entrances. The Lord moved powerfully, and we were fully and completely covered in His protection. From that moment on, we have fully dived into the journey that God has put on our hearts - to bring the walls down in the Red Light District.

#4. Thursday - We wrote Melissa Gomez encouraging cards and then went to the Tabernacle to praise and worship, and afterwards we began on our Jericho walk around the Red Light. We call it this for a reason.... not just because we think it sounds cool!! The Lord was speaking the story of Jericho to us months before we came here; that we were coming to Amsterdam to bring the walls down around the red light district and shake it's foundations so that the wall could be rebuilt in the Lord's glory. The previous night when we worshipped on the corner of the Red Light the Lord spoke to us all individually about marching around the Red Light and praying to bring the walls down around the perimeter of the district, and to do so like the story of Jericho. We also realized that we had exactly 14 days left in our trip for this.... 7 days to bring the wall down, and 7 days to "rebuild" it, so every day since then we have prayer walked around the district.

#5. Friday - We went with the Staff to Zaanse Schans and got to spend a lot of time with them, exploring the Dutch culture! Wind mills, cheese... we even got to be in a picture for a dutch news paper. Jesus loves us :) And after we went for our prayer walk and then we shopped for the womens night we were having on Saturday. We got to have a real Venezuelen dinner that was amazing!! And then we stayed up all night and interceded for the city until 5 in the morning - praying through the darkness.#6. Saturday - We slept from 5 in the morning until 1 or 2 and then proceeded to bake (from scratch....without recipes...) for our womens night! We made muffins and chocolate chip cookies and had fruit and coffee and our womens night was an incredible success. 15 women came and got to bless everyone with time to relax and have community with each other, and it was truly one of the best nights that we've had.

Now we are entering into our last week and the time has gone by so fast! We can't believe that we only have days left to be here, so please pray that we finish strong in everything we do and that the Lord gets all the glory! We will be home in a little over a week... and see all of your lovely faces. We miss you all, very much, and will be reunited soon. Until then, goodbye!
Zaanse Schans (the old windmills)

Chalking the City

Another hello to everyone at home - the time has come for another update about the adventures we have been having in Amsterdam. We are already half way done with our trip and the Lord still continues to work in the lives of those around us as well as in our own... we are all growing and learning so much!

Since the Monday night bible study where we got to minister (and be ministered to) by some of the ladies in the Red Light, some pretty significant things have happened to us as a team. As we moved on in the week we continued some of our renovations and painted in the streets, having the opportunity to talk with some really interesting people who find Amsterdam to be their home. After that day we really began to have fires stirred inside of us to branch out more - mostly we had been ministering through lending helping hands and forming relationships with people on the base - but we were beginning to itch to flood the streets with the Gospel and step outside the box. A lot of our heart had been for the people on the base, but we also had the desire to be able to impact the people of Amsterdam and speak truth into otherwise truth-less lives.

So, the natural conclusion was to buy a box of chalk and chalk the streets of Amsterdam!

We took our chalk to the library and as we walked back to the base we stopped by one of the more walked on bridges in Amsterdam. We prayed for the Lord to inspire us and give us words for the city and that part of town, and then we dispersed! The Kona team, a YWAM team who is also staying at the base with us, tagged along, and together we covered the area with crazy truths about the Lord- we even wrote the story of Jesus on one of the walls. We hadn't even thought about the incredible opportunity it would be to talk to people on the streets, but as we chalked everyone passing through slowed down to read our words and talk to us about what we were doing. We even found out later that days after we had left the chalk was still there and people pause as they pass through and read through everything we wrote, taking pictures and lingering in the spot we prayed over.

Needless to say, we are definitely doing this more.

On the downside, we also had to say goodbye to Niki this morning as she boarded the plane to go back to the States. Today has been a hard day because we feel that part of our family is gone, because Niki was a huge part of our team. We know that the Lord has completely equipped us to see and do amazing things in the streets in the coming two weeks, but Niki is and will be so missed. Remember that Niki!!!!! Amazing things are waiting for you at home!

Next week we will dive more deeply into street ministry and prayer - we will be doing some outreaches outside of the city and in the far sides of town, some prayer walks through the red light, and a lot more chalking and street painting. These next 2 weeks are going to be intense and wonderful, and they are going to fly by so fast! Thank you so much for praying for us and please continue to pray for our safety and for the Lord to really work in the last 2 weeks that we are here.

We miss you all very, very much! See you soon! And... p.s. ..... keep texting us words of encouragement please! thanks! bye!

Los Lunes - The Mondays.

Hello again to everyone who faithfully reads our blogs! Or not... but that's ok! Thank you for all your support and prayer thus far... it is definitely needed since we have officially dived into our ministry and things seem to get more and more intense - God is doing great works here in Amsterdam.

The past weekend was one of rest for our team, but not after we made dinner for the entire base 2 nights in a row... from scratch! Saturday night we experimented with Chili-mac (with a special shout out to Hannah's dad for passing on this recipe to her.. you would be proud!) and the base loved it! Sunday night we made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup (also from scratch) and got on an 8 out of 10 from the chefs in the kitchen. We are slipping into routine with the people in the community and finding ourselves in the beginnings of incredible relationships. Mostly we are trying to help out here on the base as much as possible, where at the moment we are needed most.

However, we had an amazing opportunity at the Lighthouse ministry in the red light district - God blessed us and we were able to cook dinner for a bible study hosted by Melissa and Edna, two of the main leaders. We had dinner with some of the women from the red light and then painted for them during the worship session, and we even got to explain prophetic painting and the meanings of our pictures before we gave them away as gifts. We shared an amazing evening praying for and getting prayed for by some of the most honorable and beautiful women we have ever been blessed to meet.

As we go into the next few days we are going to be doing a lot of renovating and working with the people directly on the base and at the Lighthouse. Please pray for health because Chelsea lost her voice and also pray for our host family and their daughter Vera's health. We would appreciate it very much!! We love and miss you all and will update this soon, and hope all is well at home.... This month is going to be a crazy adventure - and please keep sending us texts of encouragement! Ok.... bye!

Amsterdam those 80 stairs!

We are on our 6th day in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. Since our last blog we have settled in to our new home and gotten to know our wonderful hosts Jacob and Rachel Kollar as well as the YWAM base staff. We have walked around much of the city and gotten to know more about the city itself and the Dutch culture. The buildings here are amazing and the city is beautiful with the canals and waterways, the old buildings, and the people. We all really love it here and are beginning to feel very at home.

During our first few days here we have been able to join in with the various ministries of YWAM, the Tabernacle and the Lighthouse. Almost every day we join the Tabernacle, which is located in the Red Light District and is a house of prayer and worship, in their 2-hour worship sets. In these times we are able to intercede for the city and the people as well as the YWAM base staff and the ministries.

Along with the Tabernacle worship and prayer times we have devoted 1-2 hours a day of prayer with our own team. It is a time when we are able to pray on behalf of the base and really focus ourselves on the Father's heart and to be ready for our day, allowing the Lord to guide us. These times have been amazing and the Lord is really speaking to us.

We also have plans to do evangelistic ministries through art and worship within the city. We began to paint last night and have plans to place art throughout the city to display God's beauty to the people, specifically in the Red Light District.

Tonight we have planned a community night in which we will show a movie and invite the entire base to join, serving them food and drinks. We have seen in our time here, and after talking with many of the staff, that one of the biggest needs on the base is encouragement and community. YWAM Amsterdam is going through some very difficult transitions and there has been a lot of discouragement within the staff. Therefore, we plan to host community nights every Friday where we can foster more community on the base and get people to come together, giving us a chance to encourage.

Next week we will begin to help out with the Lighthouse ministry which focuses on the Red Light District and the prostitutes and their children. They have womens bible studies with some of the women that work in the windows that they have poured time and energy into building relationships with and we are able to cook dinner for the women on Monday night. We are also going to do a prayer walk throughout the Red Light with one of the leaders of the Ligthhouse where we can become more informed on specific brothels and women in order to better pray as we walk.

We are really excited to see what the Lord is going to do with us here and every day feels like a new adventure. The Lord is working here at the base as well as in each one of us individually. We are all changed and have been moved by the Lord and are grateful that we are able to be here at this specific time.

We do have some prayer requests as we have really begun to intercede here and begin ministry, and we feel the opposition of the enemy. We ask that you would continually pray protection for our team in our relationships with each other, in our personal walks, and in our unity. Also that our families and people we love back home would also be protected as we are here, and that we would trust the Lord in his protection. We also would ask that you really lift the YWAM base and ministries up in your prayers because they are having a really difficult time here with their recent transitions, and therefore need a lot of prayer in this time. Pray for physical health because we all feel extremely exhausted and Chelsea is beginning to feel a little sick.

The biggest prayer request that we need is JOY and PEACE in every situation and every circumstance. Thank you all for your prayers while we are here because we do feel them and they have brought us so much comfort.

SHOUT OUTS
_____________________________________________________

Chelsea- someone please text me encouragement, texts are free to receive but I can't send you one back! (i.e. Josh and everyone else) Also Josh please check your email. I love you all!!

Niki- no phone. Email me please...encouragement.

Natalie- Dear everyone, I love you and I miss you. Please send me lots of messages on facebook that will make me smile. PS MOM: I'm really glad I got to talk to you last night. Austin Ashley and Dad: I miss you a lot. PSS Ashley: good luck in track today.

Heather- Tiff and Rob: I hope the living room is treating you well, stay out of my room. Amy Metz and Sarah Bram: thank you for the encouragement, you light up my life! Everyone else I love: please keep up the encouragement I need it on a daily basis. Thanks in advance because I can't text you back!

Elisa- Mom and Dad: miss you guys. Danielle, Jaymee, James: I love you all and I miss you. Jared: I love you, thank you for your daily encouragement!

Hannah- Jacob: It was so good talking to you the other day! I love you so much! You make my heart so happy, I miss you so much! Mom and Dad: I want to talk to you soon! My day for internet is Wednesday so please be available to around 2pm your time. Can't wait to talk to you and see you! Everyone else: I love you and miss you!

Airplanes, Arrivals, and Amsterdam

First we want to thank everyone who helped get us to this point. Without you, we wouldn't be sitting where we are today!
Sooo, where are we today, and how we got here... We left Friday, arrived at SFO thanks to Fran Smith and Liz McKeown, along with the awesome luggage carrier Jacob Wise. All went smoothly until.... we realized that the wrong gate had been printed on our tickets. Hearing the LAST call for boarding we sprinted to our plane.
Fastforward a movie filled ten hour flight, we arrived in London deliriously tired and starving. Let's just say Converting 40 dollars to 20 pounds for one hungry but satisified team = Priceless..
We arrived by train into central Amsterdam, but not before Chelsea almost waived goodbye to the team as the doors closed on the rest of us. Luckily the train conductor kept hollering "Push the button!" in dutch (good thing a few of us are hand talkers and finally caught on to the non-verbals).
Once we arrived we waited paitently for our contact only to realize that we had been temporarily forgotten. A two dollar phone call (Thanks Liz! (and Elisa says sorry mom!) we were met at the station and walked just ten minutes and arrived at the YWAM base.
We spent the today getting to know the city and spending time with our contacts Jacob and Rachel Kollor. So much is still undecided as we head into the next few weeks, but we will continue to remain faithful and trusting that the Lord has a plan for our time here and we need to simply be flexible, open, and obey.
The team is fading fast tonight, it's 2:51p back home with you, but it's almost midnight here.
we will continue to keep you up todate on where we're at and how things are going.
Once again we can't express enough how blessed we feel for all your support and encouragement as we chase after whatever the Lord has planned.
love you all,
Elisa, Chelsea, Heather, Hannah, Natalie and Niki

__________________________________
SHOUT OUTS from The Team:

Chelsea: Thank you mucho to Aunt Amy and Josh my lovely fiance, for your notes, my heart was aching but now it is comforted. Miss you, Love you K,T,A,A,D,A and J.

Elisa: Thank you mom and dad for paying the $2 phone call that saved our lives, I owe you!! Love you!! Thank you so much Aunt Amy and Megan McCarty,for your notes, they encouraged me so much! Jared, I love you so much! Miss you all!

Hannah: Hello everyone! I'm here and I'm alive. The city is beautiful and I wish you all were here. Mom, Dad, Jacob, Simpson friends and Stirring Peeps miss you all! Much love.

Heather: Dear Family, I'm still having sweet dreams about stuffed french toast... can we please incorporate it into my welcome home party as well? Love you guys!!! Dear Friends, I'm getting your texts but can't send them out. I will do my best to reply via internet. And dear Alia, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! YOU ARE AN OLD GRADUATE!!!!!!!!!

Natalie: TO EVERYONE I SAID I WOULD TEXT AND DIDN'T.... MY PHONE DOES NOT WORK. I wasn't being flakey I promise. Those days are over. I love you all,and miss you! See you in a month.

Niki: Emily and Mack CONGRATULATIONS you're officially Grads!! So sad I missed it. D&D I love you and thanks for all your pre-trip encouragement! She, thanks again for the hidden note BFF 4-EVA (yep just went Jr High.) Still looking into "what going dutch means" ;)

We are on our way!!!

Hello everyone!

We are officially on our way to Amsterdam. We raised over and above what we needed and are able to do more outreaches in country. We are currently sitting in the San Francisco airport waiting to board our flight. We made it through check in and baggage check in record time and with amazing ease. Also, our flight is somewhat empty because of the recent mess ups with the flights for British airways, and so we all have empty seats in our rows and room to spread out! We feel so blessed up to this point with the way everythinghas worked out and we want to thank you all for your amazing support!

We will continue to update our blog as often as possible throughout our trip and let everyone know what we are doing!

Second Times the Charm!!

We want to first give a HUGE shout out to all our friends and family that came out to support us at our second car-wash this last weekend!! Wether it was to wash cars with us, get your car washed or just to drop by to say hey, we could not have done it without you!!!
With the help of Fran Smith, Shelby Schwitters, Abby Zopfi, Amy Metz, Roseleen Meade, Josh Meade, James Spencer, Crystal Backus, not to mention Zoe and Judah Fleck we were able to raise just over $700 this weekend!! Such an encouraging weekend!! We still have about $4000 to go before 5/15 (when we need to have all our funds in), but we will continue to trust the Lord that He knows what He's doing better than we do.

Soooo, Here's what's coming up:

5/12: Chevy's night!! From 4-9pm 25% of your dinner check will go to our team!! How great is that!?!? So, celebrate Cinco De Mayo a little late, or AGAIN!!!

5/15: All our money must be in or pledged by this afternoon. Please if you haven't yet and would like to, or would like to donate again to the team either online at

https://app.etapestry.com/fundraiser/SimpsonU/Amsterdam2010/individual.do?participationRef=4872.0.332222623

Or through the mail to: Simpson University C/O Student Development 2211 College View Drive Redding CA 96003 (and put AMSTERDAM in the Memo line)

You can also call, facebook or comment on our blog your pledges! Just be sure we have enough info to contact you later. (Pledges at latest need to be in by the time we come home, preferably before we leave on 5/21)

5/21: We're boarding a plane to Amsterdam!!! From San Fransisco at 655p. Pray for safe travel!

Once again, thank you to all of you who have come out to fund raisers, donated, and just in general been there for all of us. To say it means more than you know is still not quite enough....

Training week: Chelsea and Elisa are currently out on conquest, which is a grueling leadership training week in the mountains. Keep them in your prayers that they stay rested as possible and healthy.
The team heads into training week as soon as they return, keep us all in your prayers for continued bonding within the team, health (in all regards), and of course finances.

Thank you again!!!
Greatest Blessings!!
-The team .

Car Wash Fundraiser and UPDATE

Today was our Car Wash at the Dairy Queen on Churn Creek. We had a car wash and Dutch Bros. also donated a free limo ride in their all-new Dutch Bros. limo that we were able to raffle off.
We were definitely weary the night before because the weather was not supposed to be very nice and there was a good chance of rain. But we had to go through with it because this was one of our only free weekends and we had been planning it for some time. The car wash began and we had a few people come through and then after a few cars NOBODY came for a good 20-30 minutes. We started to get a bit discouraged and so we decided that we needed to pray and to dedicate the car wash to the Lord and give it all over to Him in trust. About one minute into praying, one car came rolling in to get washed...and then one more right behind that...and one more behind that!! All at once we had 3 cars roll in as we were praying! God is so amazingly faithful and it blew us away today. We all just started laughing and got to washing the cars. However, after another hour it was dead again. So again we gathered to pray. As soon as we started praying two cars came in to get washed. We started washing cars while others kept praying. That is how the whole day went...we were discouraged because of the weather and the lack of cars to wash but God completely showed up and totally provided exactly what we needed! He is so good and we are constantly amazed by how He has provided for us along the way. So with that...the car wash was a success and it was a really great day!

Now for an update on how our trip planning is coming. We are buying our plane tickets right now and our official trip dates are now May 21st-June24th. We have raised about 6,000 dollars so far as a team and we need 10,000 more to go. We trust that the Lord will provide this! We are less than two months away from our departure and we are so excited! Continue to pray for us as we prepare ourselves to go and pray that the Lord will prepare our hearts and minds for what is to come.

Thank you all for supporting us through this whole process!

Yard Sale Fundraiser

This Saturday was our big yard sale fundraiser with the Costa Rica mission team. We had been preparing for the sale for weeks: collecting items and furniture, putting up fliers,and coordinating. W e ended up collecting a TON of stuff to sell, including many big furniture items and many, many clothes.

So we woke up at 4 am on Saturday to start transferring everything we had from one room to the outside basketball courts at Simpson. We filled trucks and cars numerous times before everything was out onto the courts. Then we had to start the process of sorting it and setting it out on tables and tarps. When the sale started at 7am we were just finishing setting everything out. We all worked really well together and were able to get everything done.

Throughout the day many people showed up and bought stuff. By the time we were done with the sale at 1pm we had sold close to everything we had collected. Our total profit in the end was $1806.77!!! It was a huge success and we are so thankful for everyone who showed up to help out and to buy stuff :) Also to all those who donated your items to the sale. We feel so blessed by everyone who is so willing to support us, and we are so happy at the way the fundraiser worked out.

We were also able to collect and pledge enough money to buy our plane tickets this week! We still have around $10,000 to go for our whole trip, but it is such a weight off our shoulders knowing we are able to buy our airfare now. So thank you to everyone who has donated to our trip!

We are still preparing and planning so please continue to keep us in your prayers!

Street Fair and Fundraising!

This weekend was the Genesis visitation weekend at Simpson University, and as a part of that ther is the annual Street Fair. All of the Simpson missions teams put together a table or a booth displaying information about their trip, handing out cultural food, giving out prayer cards, and just talking to people about their trips. It is always a lot of fun and a great way to let people know what you will be doing.

Our booth turned out amazing! Our wonderful team painted the beautiful signs over the table and we displayed Natalie and Hannah's paintings. We had fun fact cards and statistics about sex trafficking, as well as prayer bracelets to remind people to pray for us as they look at their bracelets. It was a great time and very enjoyable!

We have also been busy the past couple weeks preparing for our various fundraisers and raising funds. Our airfare money is due this Friday (around $7000 for the team, $1100 individually) and we are doing really well raising our funds! Each of us only has a couple hundred dollars left to raise and we trust the Lord's provision for this. After we are able to buy our plane tickets we can raise the rest of our funds for our trip. We have a few fundraisers planned for our team which we are really excited about.

On Saturday we are having a Yard Sale with the Costa Rica missions team. The yard sale will be a large collection of donated items and we will be having it on the basketball courts of Simpson University. We have large furniture items as well as clothes, shoes, home decor, electronics, and much more. Please come out to help support our team!

Other than hat we are still preparing for our trip and getting ourselves ready. Some prayer requests we have are:

• continued financial provision
• Comfort as stress builds with school, the trip, and other commitments
• continued cooperation amongst our team and unity

Thank you everyone for supporting us! Here is our recent team picture:

Niki's Journey- Red Lights and Reality

As I sit down to share with you how I came to be a part of this team I am reminded that this is reality... It's no longer just a dream or conversation, it is a movement, a story unfolding... Six stories unfolding really, as I am sure you will see this journey will and already has begun to reach each one of us in different, yet the same ways.
Months ago I wrote in my personal blog about how lucky I realized that I am. I have been given so many opportunities to see and do some amazing things that others may only wish for. The Lord has been gracious, faithful, humorous and loving to me over the years, and for that I am so thankful.

Back in Sept I wrote:
"Recently a great friend of mine shared with me her desire to lead a Summer team to Amsterdam to minister to the women of the Red Light district. When she told me about her plan my heart started to pound with excitement!! I can’t wait to see where the Lord is going to take her on this journey and I already feel so lucky that I get to walk along with her as she goes after the burden on her heart. Stay tuned for news from Amsterdam…. "

Little did I know at that time that I would later become a part of the team with her. I will always remember that first conversation with Elisa in my office. I think I will never forget the heart pounding I felt as she shared this long held dream of hers with me.
Throughout the time that we have all spent together as a team the Lord has spoken more and more clearly to me about who I am, what my dreams are and how each one of these ladies has played a significant part in helping me to see that.
For me, when I think about Amsterdam there are two parts for me that get my heart pounding. The first for me is this team of amazing, beautiful, smart, loving, wise, loyal, faithful, POWERFUL ladies that I am getting to serve with. My heart first and foremost on this journey beats for them. I honestly don't think I can think about them and what they bring to this table without welling with tears. I am committed to this team like a family, to do all that I can to support and encourage their dreams as they too discover more and more of who they are in this process.
And secondly, but most definitely not any less important is for the city of Amsterdam and those who are already reaching out to the windows. My heartbeat is for the broken, lost, misunderstood, wrecked women who are desperately in need of Jesus. Who long to hear the words that they are worthy of love, they are beautiful beyond measure and there is someone who jealously seeks their hearts. Having the opportunity to go and refresh those who are doing what I could only dream of is such an honor.
I feel like this is a rambling of all my thoughts on our team and this trip... I can't say that Amsterdam has been a place that I always knew I'd go... but I can say that because of Elisa and Chelsea's dedication to their dream I have begun to find my own in the midst of it.
I think I can say with great certainty that not one of us will return to the states the same as when we left. I have felt the Lord greatly press upon my heart that this is a marking moment for each of us. Something that will greatly impact us for a lifetime.
So it is with great honor, humility and thankfulness that I say "Let's Go!!"

Please keep the team in your prayers. Especially for protection, both physically and mentally. The enemy in his lack of creativity has already begun to try to reach us all with the same lies that I am sure he has the ladies of the windows under. As we travel in to a country that thrives off the brokenness of women, pray that we will hold strong in who we are, and who we know God to be.

Natalie's Journey

Hey guys! I've never blogged before in my life, so this is the first time..... kind of like how it's the first time I will be going to Amsterdam, and kind of like how it will be the first time I go on a missions trip.

Ok.. so last summer, while working in I.T., Chelsea Engstrom came into the office looking for a cord. At that point, Chelsea and I hadn't really talked a lot, but right before she left she stopped and looked at me and said something along the lines of, "Next summer we're putting a team together to go to Amsterdam. You should really think about coming." I smiled and told her I would think about it... but the whole time in the back of my head I was thinking "Nope. Not gunna happen." I had other plans, other places I wanted to go, other ministries I wanted to be involved in. Plus, since when had I ever cared about Amsterdam? She left, and I completely forgot about it.

Meanwhile, God was changing my heart completely. I was no longer someone who loved God on sundays and had a separate life -- God had been encountering me and unearthing my identity; I could no longer deny that God was my life, solely and completely, and that I would never, ever be happy unless I was following God with complete abandon to the ends of the earth.

I was going to go to Burkina Faso and do missions work, but the whole time in the back of my mind and in my spirit I knew that it was going to fall through. True to form, I continued pushing and telling God, well, if you don't give me something else to do I'm going anyways. But, as most of you know, challenging God is always really good for a laugh, because unlike a lot of other people, when He takes up a challenge He wins. So, the day I realized completely Burkina wasn't going to work out, the missions chapel at Simpson took place. I knew before I got there that something really pivotal was going to happen, and the second the Amsterdam Team got up and shared their heart, everything inside me lit on fire and my skin was burning and my stomach dropped, and I felt God say "You're going." Immediately, I began to argue with the Lord, telling Him that it was impossible, that there was no way I would go to Amsterdam, that I had other plans and I couldn't back out on them, and what about Burkina? But my body was on fire and my spirit was crying out and the more and more I argued with the Lord the worse it got until I couldn't deny it anymore. So, I caved. And the second I said, "Fine. I'm going," everything in my spirit was released and there was a rush and my stomach dropped even farther and my body was shaking and I was suddenly terrified and excited and scared all at the same time, because it was the most REAL calling I had ever felt and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was going and nothing could stop it.

When the chapel ended, I ran to the front to Elisa and Chelsea and told them what had happened, and Chelsea looked at me and remembered that she had spoken to me over the summer, and then I remembered, and she told me that at the time she didn't even really know what came over her except that the Holy Spirit told her to tell me about Amsterdam. Confirmation? I think so. So, I took an application, applied, and was accepted onto the team.

Now, this is where my "journey" gets a little tricky and hard. While being accepted on the team and knowing more clearly than I have ever known anything that I was going to Amsterdam, I still had a major hurdle to jump. I love my family so dearly, and they have nothing in their hearts save love for me, as well -- but, our views on success and what is appropriate to do in life are not the same. We tend to fall in a cycle of getting along and on a fairly regular interval falling into complete disrepair because my dreams and visions and heart don't really line up with their view of what is practical or what I should want to do. In all honesty, my parents terrified me, and I didn't go home very often or share my heart because I knew what would happen. So this, this was a huge breaking point for me, and was basically the ultimate sacrifice I could make in order to see my and God's dreams fulfilled. I knew this was the end, the moment of letting go of EVERYTHING I had clung to, because when you hold something with open hands the Lord can take it and then give it back to you. I would truly be breaking free of everything that held me back from following my calling and the dreams God had instilled in my heart. I knew my parents would cut me off, and I was willing to release them from my expectations and let go of "having a family" for a while, in order to see this through.

Fully knowing this, I decided to "fast and pray" for a few days before I told them the big news. That's what people do before big decisions, right? Well... that had never been a part of my relationship with God before, and in all honesty, a part of me wanted to fast so that I could prolong telling them as much as possible. It's also funny how God knows what you're doing even when you don't admit it, because the night before I was going to fast I went to a healing conference, and God encountered me during worship and began speaking to my heart, about all the pains and wounds and hurts that I never acknowledge concerning my family. I didn't want to talk about those things, but the Lord was firm and told me He was healing me, that I needed to deal with it and that in healing my wounds and hurts my life would be able to manifest the way it was supposed to in the future. He told me it was going to hurt, but that in the end it would be so much more beautiful, that the sacrifice was worth it. And, He continued moving and speaking to my heart of hearts. Of course I was crying and shaking and when it was over my nose was running and I felt raw inside. And instead of stopping and suddenly feeling so great, my nose didn't stop running and I was immediately sick. At this point I'm thinking what the heck?? I'm at a HEALING conference and God just told me that He's healing my heart and now I feel raw and I'm sick? The next few days were hard, I was sick, and I felt like I was having trouble hearing God's voice. Needless to say, no fasting was going to happen since I could hardly breathe.

A few days later I had a breakthrough, and things got easier. I wasn't as sick and I could hear the Lord and He was speaking and revealing things to me and I was understanding. I had been getting attacked subtley for the past few days, the lies of the enemy suddenly falling on me and I would instantly start to feel panicky and have to speak out that the Lord was bigger than the lies and the panic would subside. That sunday at Bethel, during worship, I was entertaining the idea of fasting again, (although why, I have no idea..!) and then I began to feel panicky, hearing all the lies about my family, until suddenly something inside me clicked and I told God that I didn't care. I didn't care if the entire world cast me aside and no one for the rest of my life was proud of me or accepted me, because as long as my Father was proud of me and I was following Him no one else mattered. And the moment I said this, God said suddenly, "Then tell your parents tomorrow." That caught me off gaurd a little bit... and so I was thinking "God are you serious? What am I going to say to them?" And the Lord said, "Let me speak." To which my response is oh, that's great, because I'm really good at letting you speak when I talk to my parents... But He continued to whisper it, and so what could I do? Only trust my Dad and let Him do His thing.

The next day was intense, and I was getting attacked and I had to go and worship and jump around in puddles to get out my anxiety. The Lord made it very, very clear that that moment, that day, was exactly where I was supposed to be. I came back in my room and spent some quality time with Him, making sure I was coated in grace before I spoke to parents, and the Lord showed me multiple things about the step I was making towards His heart and my future. This was about so much more than me, and I could no longer deny it. Right before I left His presence, He told me what me that when I spoke to my parents, there would be a false front, and the flood would come after. And so, I called my family. True to God's word, that's exactly what happened. Sparing the details, my mom was quite calm in comparison to how conversations like that normally unfold, but quickly got off the phone and I knew that was the end. I wouldn't be talking to them for a while, and I had to be ok with letting the Lord do His thing while my Amsterdam team became my family. My mom sent me one email explaining the ways that I ways that I was now "on my own" and that I wasn't their responsibility anymore, and then ceased speaking to me all together.

At this point I also realized that I no longer had a job, that I was going to owe a lot of money for next year on my own, discluding Amsterdam and my fundraising for that, and that I may not even get my fafsa information to come back to Simpson from my parents because they didn't want to help me in any way. I was now sitting on the highest limb of the flimsiest tree on the very tip, and I had absolutely nothing left. For the first time, I really and truly was simply living on faith. Circumstances and pracitcal points of view would say to drop Amsterdam. To drop my dreams and pursue what any normal person would persue, take care of yourself, and "be responsible." But I couldn't. If I could have, I would have, because it was too hard to want to do by myself save for the promises God had made me and knowing that I needed to do it. It was too beautiful, to big, for me to be able to let go. I couldn't. And besides, is it really responsible to know that the creator of the world is doing something huge and phenomenal and that you are a part of it, and to ignore what He has put on your heart?

God continued to affirm and confirm and re-confirm our trip. My Amsterdam team immediately became my family. The Lord spoke and continues to speak so clearly about our trip, about our purpose and our dreams and His dreams, our passions and our future together. This is no normal missions trip and this is unlike anything I have ever been a part of. The women whose hearts I now share are some of the most phenomenal women I have ever been blessed to work with toward a common goal, and I love them with all my heart. God has brought us together for such a time as this, and as we join hands and race toward Amsterdam with the heart of the Father, the dreams and opportunities will just get bigger and bigger, more real and more radical, every day. For an update, in continuing to press in with my family I had called, emailed, written letters and done everything save actually driving home and make them confront me, and they had refused to answer. But about a month went by and the Lord brought them to me. I now talk with my mom, although Amsterdam is never mentioned and is pretended to not exist, and for the first time a few days ago I talked to my dad for the first time. God will be faithful to His promises, and while it's hard I know it's the right thing. I have never been more free in my life, and Amsterdam is only the beginning.

God is doing huge works there, redeeming and renewing the hearts of the people, and we get to be a part of this. What an honor, and what an amazing testimony to God's power and grace and goodness this trip is going to be. I am so blessed and so grateful that I get to take part in the dream and vision that God birthed in my team leaders hearts, as we strive toward God's passion together.

Elisa's Journey

I wanted to share my story of how I came to be a part of this trip to Amsterdam and the process that God took me through to get here. It has been an amazing journey and I am so thankful for what He has done in my life.

My story begins with my trip to Kenya in the summer of 2009.

When we were flying to Kenya we had an 11 hour layover in Amsterdam. Although we were exhausted we wanted to spend those hours exploring what we could of the city. We took the train to central Amsterdam and began to explore. We saw the amazing architecture, the home of Anne Frank, an old cathedral, the canals, and the coffee shops. As we were walking down a main street we encountered one window with a half clothed woman displaying herself to the world. As we continued to walk we came across more windows with more women, and so we turned down an alley to get out of the area. What we didn't know is that we walked right into an entire alley filled with red lights and one of the biggest windows we had seen. There were 5 girls with barely any clothes advertising their bodies to the passerbys. At that moment I felt my heart completely break for those women. I was overcome with despair and sadness for the city.

I remember telling my team, "You guys I have to come back here some day," although in saying that I did not expect it to ever become a reality.

After I came home from Kenya I started thinking about where I would do my internship for the next summer and God very loudly and plainly told me Amsterdam. I began to burn with passion for the city and I began to pray for direction and guidance in this dream the Lord had given me. (Just for some background, I am a big picture thinker; I can dream big and have big vision, but I never know how to get that dream accomplished and what steps to take.) I had never planned a missions trip or anything of the sort. I was so terrified of this dream that the Lord placed on my heart. It was big. I'm little. But I knew my God was faithful. So I spent hours and hours researching the city and it's issues, ministries, government, sex trafficking. I researched as much as I possibly could.

As I continued praying for the trip the Lord very clearly spoke two things to me that should be the focus of our trip: Prayer and Service. God gave me the passage about the wall of Jericho as I was praying one day and that we would be a part of the community that conquers the city of Amsterdam in the name of the Lord and tears down those walls. And just as Joshua and his people walked around the city and declared the praises of the Lord, so should we in Amsterdam.

He also showed me that we are going to be there to serve alongside of the missionaries there. We are there to encourage them, serve them, and bring them relief.

With these two dreams in my mind I began searching for ministries to serve with: that is when I came across YWAM's ministries in the Red Light District, one that focuses on prayer and one that focuses on service. So I emailed them (I had no idea if they would even take notice of my email). And they responded and eventually said we could be a part of what they are doing. God was so faithful! When you think something is impossible, it never is when you're working for the Lord.

So my dream was a reality. I started talking to people about it and the Lord began to stir up the dream in others' hearts as well. Chelsea had the same passion as I did and so asked her to co-lead the team with me. Then as we began to build our team God was still so faithful and made it clear who was supposed to be a part of the team: Natalie, Niki, Hannah, and Heather. God could not have put together a more amazing group of women. I am so blessed to be able to share this dream and passion with them and to see them catch the vision.

Since we have been a team the Lord has been confirming this trip in a hundred different ways and it is so apparent that this trip is supposed to happen and that God is paving the way and pouring His favor out on us. He has been growing me so much as I prepare for this and He has been so faithful in guiding me as I lead alongside of Chelsea. I am so thankful that He has called me to be a part of what He is doing in Amsterdam and so honored that He gave me the dream. I cannot wait to see what He is going to do with us!!

That is my story of how Amsterdam came about and how God has been so faithful the entire way.

--Elisa--

From Dream to Reality

Hello everyone!
We are the Amsterdam Team 2010! This trip began as a dream that we had to travel to the city and work with the people there...and now this dream had become a reality and we are leaving on May 24th. We are going to be staying at the YWAM base in DePoort which is about a 20 minute walk from the Red Light District. We will be working with a missionary family there, the Kollars, and we are also partnering with YWAM's two ministries in the red light: the Tabernacle and the Lighthouse. The Tabernacle is a 24/7 prayer and worship house where we will be able to partner with them to worship, intercede for the city, and create art. The Lighthouse is a street ministry that focuses on sex trafficking and reaching the prostitutes in the red light. We will be helping to renovate the building of the ministry as they are fairly new and many changes are happening.

We are really excited to see how God is going to use us as we go. Our heart is to serve the missionaries and ministries that are there long term and to encourage and bless them as they work every day in the city of Amsterdam.
We have some prayer requests as we prepare and plan for our trip:

• for team unity as we draw closer to one another in our relationships and begin to work together
• for protection as we prepare ourselves: heart, mind, body, and spirits
• for continued favor with the people of Amsterdam that we will encounter and be working with
• provision for our finances

Thank you to all of you who are backing us in prayer support! We couldn't do this without you :)