Street Outreach

   Last thursday the 12th, we took the streets by storm. We set up in one of the city squares and worshiped. Jacob Cole (one of my team leaders) lead with my guitar. All day I have had a head ache so I decided it would be best not to be playing or singing much.

  As we worshiped a handful of people came up and sat down next to us. For the next hour or so we all walked around and met some of the people. It was awesome to hear their stories and to see how open they were with us.

  I met one young man from Germany and his name was Michael. Him and his friends had randomly decided to take a road trip to Amsterdam to stay for 2 days. They acted as if this wasn't a normal thing for them to do, they actually have never even been to Amsterdam before. It seemed like the entire conversation was truly being guided by the Lord. We got to swop stories about high-school and how we got to where we are at now. He told me how he grew up catholic but now isn't sure what he believes. Before our conversation was up I got to tell him about Jesus and what I believe. He told me that it was very encouraging to see people like us out doing what we were doing and how it makes him think about what he believes.

  The openness Michael had towards me, a complete stranger, was so awesome! Getting to share with him about Jesus and plant that seed was so encouraging. I know that the Lords hand was on his random 2 day trip to Amsterdam and I trust that the Lord will keep pursuing Michael until he returns back to him.

 Before we left the square Jacob, Jeff and I approached a little hot dog stand and sparked conversation with the man running it. It is amazing what a simple hello can do to someones day. His name was Sabor, born in Egypt and has spent the past 22 years of his life here in Amsterdam. He shared some about his family and about being in the Army right out of high school. We just spent our time loving him and giving him an ear to talk to. He loved to talk and seemed as if he hadn't talked to anyone in quite sometime, at least not anyone who asks many questions like us.

 We are excited about our new friendship and look forward to sharing more with him! Please keep Sabor in your prayers and that the Lord would guide our future conversations with him.


Today wasn't much of a picture day.

My friend Matt Parks made this and I would love for you to check it out! Great stuff!

http://f.cl.ly/items/3J2d2w092g012i2P3A2g/The%20Knowledge%20of%20God.mp3

plug that link into your browser and take a listen!

I saw this on a motorcycle and it made me miss home a lot!

                                                                       love you guys!

Homeless ministry. monday the 16th.

On monday night we get to serve the homeless. The Salvation Army comes and serves soup and we get to bless them with coffee, tea, coffee and cake.

 Tonight I spoke with a man from Romania named Michael for about an hour and a half. He talked a lot about how he has spent the past 2 years on the street but he feels like this is what God wants him to do. We began talking about God and he told me his views and ideas about everything. They seemed a tad off so I was able to share what I believed with him and he was very open about what I had to say. I asked him if he reads the bible and his response was "not anymore" so I ask him why and he said "I already have read it and know it all. So I asked him what he thought about Titus because I had just read it last night and it really spoke to me. Michael said "what is Titus" I said well sounds like you should read your bible more, and we both laughed. We both agreed that we would talk about Titus next week after he reads it. Please keep him in your prayers and that the Lords Love would pour into his heart. He uses drugs and shared with me that he is trying to stop because he knows they are not good for him. He doesn't have a job or any money so the only way he can get drugs is if someone gives him some, so pray he isn't offered any. : )

 Lord we ask for food and shelter for Michael!

One thing Michael said that really hit me hard was this. I told him that we were thankful he came out tonight to get some food and coffee and this was his response. "I go to a lot of churches and shelters for food, but I come here to talk. Churches want me around until they realize I can't give them money. People will be known by the fruits of their lives, so I come here. Their is fruit here".

any who. love you guys! thanks for reading my updates, means a lot.

Picture of the homeless outreach from my bed room window.

Please keep me in your prayers!


If you feel lead to support me financially you can send a donation via Paypal.

Joseph@equinoxvisual.com or by check.

if you do not have paypal you can email me and I can give you the info you need to donate another way.

     It seems like so much has happened in the past week and half of being here in Amsterdam.

   The amazing staff at the YWAM base have taken us around the city and have shown us good places to pray and set up street worship. We got our finalized schedule in last night, which allows me to lead worship sets plenty of times throughout the week. Me being able to use a gift that the Lord has given me, here in Amsterdam, is so honoring. The Tabernacle (prayer room) is in the heart of the red light district, so getting to do worship and prayer in such a dark place in the city is such a privilege.

The Lord calls us to go to the darkest places of the earth, and the sexual addiction that is here in this city is very present and dark.

     As we were preparing to come to Amsterdam, we thought we would be working along side ministries that work inside the Red Light District, but once we got here the Lord had a different plan. After connecting with our team leader here, the base had many different ministries where they needed us to step in and serve. We came here with an open heart, just wanting to serve the city and the base in anyway that we could. The YWAM base has a RLD ministry already in place and is very active in working with the prostitutes. It is called "The Lighthouse". They do walks through the district weekly and give the women coffee and meals. Serving the people and sparking up friendly conversation seems to be an amazing tool to show them the Love of christ and build friendships. The bondage that these women are in is very heart breaking. The loneliness and pain can be felt by just looking into their eyes. No amount of money is worth what they are put through everyday and night. We were told that some girls who work on the streets will sell themselves in order to buy cigarettes. 

The Lighthouse also works with women who have left a life of drug addiction. 

    It seems like each day is packed, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I will never have any day back and the Lord has given me the chance to serve this city so I want it to be as busy as possible. I love it! The Lord keeps saying to keep going, because once I get to heaven I won't have the choice to share the gospel or "suffer" for him. Being in Amsterdam is in no way suffering for the Lord, I mean being away from family is way hard, but I have a bed and a nice little sandwich to eat everyday. I am blessed and I thank the Lord for everything I have.

  For all of you who might be curious what part of my week looks like, here it is!

    We have partnered with Crossroads international church working in their children's ministry every sunday! This church has been struggling with getting enough volunteers to help serve in the childrens department, so with our serves they are able to have children's church for all three of their sunday services.

    Some of us get to teach classes, assist, and greet people at the front door. As the weeks go on we will be giving our testimonies to the high-school age classes. The Church wants us to share how the Lord has been working in our lives, and how serving the Lord at our age is exciting and not just something we do on sundays but how it is a life style.

   Me serving coffee this past weekend. gotta love some good dutch coffee! Praise him!





              





Once a week we go into a neighborhood which is primarily made up of muslim families. We play soccer with the kids and pour into their lives. A lot of the kids come from broken homes and do not have a father figure, so it is great being able to be a mentor to them.

    Today I played basketball with some of the kids and just me spending time with them seemed to mean a lot. After we finished playing soccer and basketball we handed out some soda to all of the kids and said our goodbyes. As we turned to leave, some dutch women approached us and shared something with us that was very encouraging.

     "We come through this neighborhood often and walk through this park, it is never this alive and we never see this many kids out playing, something is different today".

   Hearing this was so amazing and really gave us joy to know that what we are doing is truly changing things and bringing life to an area of the city. God is so faithful!

(here is a picture I took of the 2 women who talked to us. They didn't know I took it, haha) (felt creepy) (oh well)


   Every day we have work duties, my work duty is cleaning 2 bathrooms and sweeping and moping a long hallway. Our heart is all about serving the base and giving some relief to the long term missionaries here. So spending a couple hours a day just laying down our free time to serve them has been such a joy and amazing privilege.

   It is crazy how much my outlook on mopping floors has changed. When you approach any situation with the spirit of thanksgiving, something like mopping turns into worship and it rules!

    Every monday and friday night the salvation army comes and sets up outside of our base in order to feed the homeless. This opens up doors for us to build friendships with many new people every week and re-connect with many of them on a weekly basis. We hope to hear their stories, share ours and in return able to share with them the love that we have found in Jesus to them.

   Many different times out the week we get the honor to lead worship and intercession sets in the Tabernacle. This is truly stretching me as a musician and as a worship leader. The sets I am leading are 2 hours long, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Being able to lead people into the presence of God is an honor and I find so much joy in it. Later this month I will be leading a campus wide corporate worship set, I am a tad bit nervous but I am so excited to see what doors the Lord is opening up for me.  

     On good friday we had a chance to go the Dam square and minister to the local and tourists. We carried a cross a good mile to set up where we were leading worship. We had no idea what peoples reactions would be so we were very excited to get the cross out on the streets. As we walked many people took photos, some laughed, some thanked us. The feeling of carrying the cross in Amsterdam pass windows with prostitutes in it is a feeling I will never forget. So many times I take the cross for granted and forget all of the pain that Jesus went through. As I was carrying the cross the Lord just kept talking to me saying how much he loved me and this city. It was a remarkable feeling of pain and joy.




    here is a video that shares what we did on that day and has me and my friend Jeff give a testimony of what happend! please watch!!!

     I am hoping you had a chance to watch the video! If you did here is some pictures of our friend philip! It was amazing to see the Lord move the way he did. Philip came to church with us on good friday, this past sunday and plans to continue on attending the church that we got him plugged into!

                                            Here is philip in his costume and him without his mask! We were able to bless him with some money for that day. Later on he told us that it had been slow that day and without that money he wouldn't have been able to eat. 

   Yesterday we went to The University of Amsterdam and did a prayer walk through parts of the campus. We are praying for some opportunities to open up where we can do some college ministry. Please keep that in your prayers!
















  Tonight we got together as a team and had a bible study in a coffee shop down the street. We are going to make it a routine to be there every week in hopes that we will be able to witness to the employees and regular attendees of the coffee shop. We have found so much fun in just loving people when they least expect it, and in places where they normally wouldn't get love.  The Dutch culture is very unlike the American culture. When we go grocery shopping it throws off the cashiers when we ask how their day is going and sometimes even just smiling at them catches them off guard.







  Thank you so much for all of your support. My life is changing so much and my love for the Lord has grown sense I joined YWAM. I am planning on being back home in the summer and hope to meet up with everyone and share with you what the Lord has done and is still doing. Please be praying for more energy, endurance and continued good health amongst my team. Also just please be praying into all of the ministries I shared about above!

    If you feel lead to support me financially, I am still fundraising to help pay for day to day expenses while I am here in Amsterdam.

My pay pal is Joseph@equinoxvisual.com
OR just click this lovely link. : )  PAYPAL LINK

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