"Why are you going? Why to Holland?"

I want to begin this blog by addressing the most frequently asked questions when someone hears that we have decided to take our whole family, for a year across the world, to The Netherlands. Our history with Holland goes back to 1999 - (Wow - that seems like a long time ago!) I was able to go to Holland on a short term missions trip for the summer and fell in love with the country and people. I liked it so much that I decided to return the following year and spent 6 months working with the same church and their youth department. Shorlty after I returned, Jeremy and I were married and I longed to share the passion I had for that part of the world, as well as introduce him to all the cool people and places that are there. So, in 2003 we returned as a family, taking our 1.5 year old daughter Kaylie with us and again worked with the same church and some other short term missions teams that were there. Jeremy also fell in love with the country and started to learn Dutch, though he did not feel at the time that we were necessarily "called" to go as missionaries.

This changed when we recently returned from Thailand on a mission to pass out Bibles to Chinese tourists. The missionary there challenged us to think about what it meant to be "called." We were reminded that Christ called all of his disciples to go, and so, each of us disciples are called to go - the question is Where? The missionary challenged us with the information that, in America, we are not needed so much to share the Gospel that someone else cannot come along and fill our spots. Unfortunately, this is not true in many other parts of the world. In those places, there are many gaps in the ministry, and there is no one to fill them. Then we were reminded of the beautiful country of Holland and the many people there who had become our friends and had no one to share with them what the Bible means or how it can impact their lives. There was a big hole, and we decided to help fill it.

This leads me to the second question we get asked. Why Holland?

Well, for one, we truly love the country and the people. The history of the country is exciting to me, and the wide open green fields with canals zig-zagging through with the occassional windmill or church steeple peeking through is an amazing site. We have really enjoyed working with the church there and meeting all the great people.
Second, and more importantly, in Holland there is a great need for God's truth. The Dutch are considered very forward, openminded people. They love to sit, drink tea, and debate (argue) different ideas about politics, philosophy, and religion, and then amiably come to the conclusion that all is right. Tolerance is a way of life and they are in no way judgemental of most anything (except for being intolerant!). While this makes them easy to get along with, it also makes showing them that Christ is the only way, truth, and life much more difficult.

Here are some facts about the part of Holland in which we will working:

We plan to live in Alkmaar, The Netherlands pop. 93,000
Surrounding suburbs add appr. 100,000

There are 5 churches in the area - Total of all believers - Less than 1,000

That equals less than 1% believers.

We will be part of the 2nd largest church - Around 100 people

Europe is one of the most influential parts of the world. It is a center for fashion, philosophy and politics. Thousands are migrating to Western Europe from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. They feel that they are Post Christian and are proud of it. To them, they have surpassed religion and the need for God. We know though, that their need is great and we are looking forward to the opportunity to share how Christ has changed our lives with them.