.Amsterdam Ministry.

.Hey All.

2006-07-06T04:04:00.000+02:00

Hey you guys....I'm home now back in the States..so for any future postings check out my personal blog to read all about what's new with me and to check out my summer pics!!
K...peace and love, Sarah

http://www.sarahmcallister.blogspot.com

.I'm Home.

2006-06-30T03:36:00.000+02:00

Oh man...the amount of time people have to spend on planes and in airports before arriving home is just a little bit INSTENSE for me....when in Atlanta, the only place I wanted to be was home. But now...I am....HOME!!! Yeah...Hood River Hard Core....hahaha. Sad to say, I miss The Shelter already. I miss the work, the ministry and the people. To all my peeps there,,,,hello, much love and I MISS YOU LIKE A BEACHED WHALE MISSES THE OCEAN!!!! HAHAHA!!!!
Seriously..it's been a day...and it feels like I've already been gone for weeks. It's crazy how all that works out. But being home is also nice...I got to ride in a car (and drive MY CAR) for the first time in three months.....riding was fine, but driving,,,,oh man...I love to drive me sweet subi. Yeah I definetly missed that. But I also miss my lavender lucky #4 ghetto stylin' bike from The Shelter.

Weird. My dad offered me a beer tonight with him....that's never happened before...but you know now that I'm a mature 21 year old adult I can handle the whole alcohol thing right....haha..whatever....I turned him down. Beer is discusting.

What else....oh man,....fun. Being home is super fun because you get to hang out with friends...I've seen a couple already...not enough..but I'm still just chillen with my family and SISTER!!!!(who aparently thought that I was going to be really huge when I got home,....because my parents were trying to guess what I did to myself in Amsterdam....like Tattoos, peircings, etc....and Rachel guessed I was going to be really fat....isn't that mean!!!!) I proved all of them wrong...I didn't get any ink or new holes in my body, and my joey is just as big as he was before....haha.

Well...I'll be peacing out now for some lekker dinner.

In Him, Sarah

p.s. that's my mountain...MT. HOOD!!!

.Prayer is SO COOL.

2006-06-22T22:25:00.000+02:00

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Megs and I went on a really random camping trip to North Holland a few nights ago. It was amazing because we just rode our bikes around the park camp site area to find a good spot, then once we found one, we kept riding our bikes around and took some cool pics until it got dark. When we rode back to the spot we picked out to sleep that night, there was a couple there arguing near some of the other picnic benches. Meghan and I decided to read a little bit, but the fighting proceeded and got much worse until the guy was really yelling at the girl like hardcore. It was really lame, so Meghan said we should pray for them. We did. It was amazing because whatever we were praying for God was answering. We just prayed that the guy would find forgiveness and that he would stop yelling at the girl and that the girl would have angels of protection around her. It was amazing. We prayed for him to stop yelling and he stopped. Then we just praised God for answering immidiatelly. Then when we would stop praying, the guy would start yelling again. So we started praying over and over for peace and protection. And love and grace and forgiveness. It was so so so cool to see. By the end of the night...we were praying for salvation of their souls and for God to reveal Himself to them and for their lives to be changed and for Christians to be in their lives and to share the Gospel with them. It was one of the coolest times in prayer I've ever had.

.school school school.

2006-06-19T23:07:00.000+02:00

Today at school the topic was Missions and Prayer. Missions, Crossing a cultural boundry to bring the Gospel, helped to re-affirm all of us at the shelter as missionaries. Not that the title is of any importance. But more just to re-affirm us in what we are all doing here. We are all here, from around the world, crossing a cultural boundry to spread the Good News to the travelers coming here and to preach the Gospel to those who don't know Christ. Wow. I'm blown away sometimes at what a priviledge that is.

During class we talked about how it doesn't take a ton of people to start a revolution for the Lord. It only takes faithful believers totally sold out to whatever and willing to go wherever the Lord wants us to go. It's not about what we can do or say, it's all about what the Lord's plan is for our lives and His goals for us His children. And the best thing we can do is to offer up our lives and our hearts for Him and His Gospel to be freely revealed and shared with others through our lives. It's about having a heart of obedience to the Father and having a heart that says: Lord, I'll go anywhere and do anything at anytime for You.

It's about having a heart for the Gospel and being totally sold out to the Lord. How awesome is that?!! Man...it's such a challenge, but it's an amazing challege. A challenge that is more than worth living up to and living for. Man, I want my life to count. I don't ever want to be in a position anymore where it's me first. I need to rely upon God for my strength in all of this, but I really really want to be devoted to spreading the Gospel for my whole life. Wherever God needs to take me and whatever He has for me to do in that specific time, I pray that I'll be open and willing to do it wholeheartedly in the name of Jesus Christ. It's all about Him. It's all about The Gospel. Spread the love.

.Good Stuff.

2006-06-17T00:00:00.000+02:00

Do not be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, Brother, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think of such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. ~~Philippians 4:6-9

Today I was thinking about the past two and a half months. About my time in Amsterdam and at The Shelter and about the aspects and blessings from God here. I think more than anything, I have more passion about my faith, people, and loving others through God's grace and mercy. It's good stuff you know...when God lays different people and ministries on your heart and when you get to have an effect on people for the eternal Kingdom of God. It's such an amazing blessing. Oh man. I really desire to be in the ministry for my whole life now. I want my whole life to be dedicated to preaching the Gospel. I want God to be praised with everything that's in me and everything that He wants me to be. I want my life to be pure, noble, praiseworthy, and all of the traits God gives us. I just want to find a full time ministry opportunity to get involved with. But more than that, I want God to prepare one for me. One that's perfect for me and one where I'll be used most effectively.

So...if you think of it, you could pray for me in these areas:

~School this fall; for me to get a full time job when I go back to the States and save enough money for school and rent and books this fall and all that jazz. Also for ministry opportunities this fall to get involved with when I move to Portland.

~For reBEL, the clothing company I've been semi trying to start up for the past few years that's never really gotten anywhere. I really would love to use this passion for God and for a career someday, and someday soon.

~Snowboarder's For Christ. I think it would be super rad to get something started in Portland for SFC this fall, and I'd be more than happy to be a big part of this ministry if it's God's will. Hood River, Portland, Mt. Hood, Mt. Bachelor, and Oregon need to hear about the love of Jesus Christ.

~Pray for growth in my life with the Lord. Pray that I wouldn't forget what I've learned here or forget what I am passionate about and about the grace I have in the Lord. Pray for discernment in my life to know where and when and what God wants me to do with my life, and for patience while I wait to see it all happen...

dank u wel!!!
loves, Sarah

.Water Washes Over.

2006-06-12T23:09:00.000+02:00

In Revelation it talks about Jesus being like an abundant stream of living water. A pure, clean source of light and life.

A stream is constantly washing over the rocks and plants and animals in a riverbed, making them more refined. Over time the rough or dull spots are made smooth and shiny. It is never an imidiate process but one that takes time and persistance. The source of the stream comes from an abundant source of water, always supplying the streams ever flowing water. This constant source is God.

God refines us the way a stream refines rocks. We all start out the same and as Christ comes closer and closer to us and to our hearts, he starts to refine the dirt from our shell. He starts to rub off all of our muck and mire and makes us smooth for Him. If the stream did not exist, the dirt would not come off. Just like, if God is not present or evident or dwelling in our lives, we won't be made pure and we won't be transformed into His likeness. God longs to purify our hearts and minds and bodies for His glory. He wants to remove the dirt from our lives. He longs to make our hearts pure like His. His constant living water and love washes over us.

.Belgium Day Trip.

2006-06-08T23:17:00.000+02:00

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For mine and Becky's day off we went and visited Antwerpen Belgium for the day. It took about two and a half hours to get there and we stayed the whole afternoon. It was a really beautiful city. All we really did was walk around all day long and take a bunch of sweet pictures. We also got to eat real fresh Belgium waffles and they were AMAZING!!! Yum. So lecker!!!

.Isaiah 40.

2006-06-05T21:32:00.000+02:00

I read Isaiah 40 today and it just struck me how BIG God is. Like whoa. Seriosly how cool is this.....

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?
Who has understood the mind of the Lord, or instructed Him as his councelor?"
~Isaiah 40:12-13

This is only two verses of scripture....but they are so powerful. It's amazing. I loved being humbled by this verse. I just think it's funny how humans think that we're it.....when in actuality we are more like ants living in a world of T-Rex sized love and grace from the power of God. Power that is continually revealed, even through a couple verses. It's crazy. But it's cool. Really cool.

What the Willemstraat does when bored.........

2006-06-03T14:34:00.000+02:00

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So......we here at the Willemstraat(my house) sometimes get a little bored. I know what you're thinking right?!..."What did we do?!!?" Well.......let me tell you a little story; it all started with Joshua and Jacoline getting some big trash bags out and putting them over their heads and then wrestled with no hands!!! The rules are as follows;
1. No hands.
2. You must spin around three times prior to the attack.
3. If you get shoved off the rug, you're out.
4. Best out of 5 wins.
5. Shelter Jordan against Shelter City
=Y.H.M. SMACKDOWN!!!!!!!

.Staff Day.

2006-05-30T22:47:00.000+02:00

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Today was Staff Day and all of us Jordan staff went to the town of Utrecht and climbed over 400 spiral stairs to the top of the tallest church tower in Holland. It was pretty much sweet, and really really fun. I got a lot of cool pics. After we climbed the tower we also went and checked out the church and the church gardens. Everything was really beautiful. Then we walked to this Snooker(Billiards) place and played pool for a while. Meghan and I just ended up getting bored with being all serious and tied our hair up all crazy style and just started freaking out to the music that was playing...it was great. Oh man......then we went and got Chinese food and then we all sat in a very tiny apartment and all ate together. Afterward we got icecream and came back home. I think getting outside Amsterdam is really fun. It's nice to get to see some of the other towns and cities in Holland. They all have similar aspects, but are very different at the same time. Staff day was really nice because we all have different schedules and never get to all hang out together....so it was way cool. I spent the whole day taking pictures and that made totally me stoked.

.More Staff Day Pics.

2006-05-30T09:22:00.000+02:00

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.What makes my Heart Sing.

2006-05-27T13:33:00.000+02:00

Isn't it funny how humans tick?!?! It's amazing to me how we are all wired so differently and yet so the same. In every person there are certain things that make each of our hearts sing. In those little things, whether they are; dreams, passions, talents, or inspirations they all simply make our hearts sing a personal love song to the Lord. At least, this is the case for me. There are those simple things in life that I am so blessed to have, and couldn't imagine my life without. For example, the color of the sky during a brilliant sunset on the beach. I could sit for hours and stare in awe of the Maker and His masterpiece of transluscent and vibrant paints on his enormous sky wide canvas. Or, when it rains, I love it when it pours. Torrential downpour. The kind of rain that you would leap out of your chair as a kid and grab your galoshes just so you could beat your little sister to making the biggest splash in that perfect puddle. Another personal favorite is when it snows. The cold crisp smell of the dry snow, especially all piled up everywhere is amazing. When it starts coming down, almost one flake at a time, dancing, twirling from the sky. It's the little things of life that bring us joy, the gifts God gives us to bless His children. I love it. God is so big and so good, and without his blessings, life would not be complete. The blessings that I thought of all had to do with the outdoors and the beauty of His creation,,,but it definetly doesn't stop there. If we take time to look, they are all around us. Just waiting to be found. Or waiting to be unveiled by Him for us. Pretty sweet!!!!!

.Psalm 27.8.

2006-05-26T14:25:00.000+02:00

My heart says of you, "Seek His face!" Your face, Lord, I will seek.
~~Psalm 27:8

.Cookie Outreach Night.

2006-05-25T19:13:00.000+02:00

Both the Jordan and the City had Cookie outreach nights. They were really cool and really fun. A lot of poeple showed up for both of them. Ryan shared a message at the Jordan and Susana shared one at the City. Fun fun....makin', bakin', frostin' and decoratin' cookies.............
<""> The City Cafe
<""> This is Niels and I......Can't you tell how excited we are to make cookies?!?!?!
<""> this is my 66 Volvo 122s cookie....haha.......
<"">This is Joshua's "Joshua tough Guy kicking Jonathon Tough Guy's butt cookie"

.Jimmy is so cool.

2006-05-24T00:02:00.000+02:00

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Oh man,,,praise God. This is so cool. God does amazing things. At both Shelter hostels, The City and The Jordan, there are cleaners who volunteer(usually street people, or younger people who don't have anywhere to go),....so there are three cleaners at the Jordan and six at the City, and in return for their work they get a free bed and free food. Jimmy is from Malaysia and worked for a month at the City before now working in the Jordan. Yesterday Jimmy's digital camera and all of his cash got stolen out of his locker, but he has had the best attitude about it all. It's crazy, I think if it were me, I'd be so ticked off. Then today there was a group of people in the Jordan getting a tour and Desiree was sharing about what it's like to work here and what we do and all that, then Jimmy was in the room too, and he started talking about how cool the last two months have been for him here and how he met Jesus here and how the staff members are all so friendly and generous.......oh man......God is so good. None of us really knew if he believed or not and all that, then he gets up infront of a crowd and shares about meeting Jesus here. Praise God for Jimmy. He is so cool.

.Living for Him Alone.

2006-05-17T22:28:00.000+02:00

Today I was reading in The Call, by Os Guinness and he was talking all about living for the Lord. Living for an audience of One. Choosing to live for the Lord instead of ourselves and choosing to take the time to be in solitude with Him. Making time in our day to set apart for the Lord to speak to us and fill us. It was really cool and I really enjoyed this quote:

"Where as normal life puffs up our sense of self importance and locks us into patterns of thought and behavior dependent on others, solitude liberates us from these entanglements by carving our a space from which we can see ourselves and our situation before the audience of One."~~Os Guinness, The Call.

.Colossians 3.23.

2006-05-15T12:38:00.000+02:00

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."~~Colossians 3.23

I read Colossians this morning. This verse really spoke to my heart because working here in the hostel you can get so involved with working and just getting stuff done, that we can often lose track of who we do things for and why we are working here and I think this verse just helps to keep me in track that it's all about serving God and it's all about working to bring Him glory and to just simpy serve God instead of ourselves. I think it's pretty cool how God does that. He'll lay a passage directly in your path when you need to hear it. Awesome!!!!

.God is Moving.

2006-05-14T23:39:00.000+02:00

It is like whoa.....so neat to see God moving and see the heart of the Father reflected at The Shelter. That's fun. It's sweet to watch His hand at work. Because it's never in our control....it's almost like a diving board effect....we first jump off, but don't know how cold the water is until we make our splash. God needs us to first jump, then wait midair for Him to be the surprize in the water. Living Water. For us to simply live in Him. Through faith and obedience. He wants to make our lives, not just a splash, but one colossal wave, using even the aftermath of the whitewater mist to bring Glory to His name. A constant current of movement, perhaps even a swishing and/or splashing process.

.this is part of my journal entry from today, just some thoughts I was having after I read John 15. You should read it, it's amazing.
loves, Sarah

.Just Chillen.

2006-05-13T19:01:00.000+02:00

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.Dutch. German. American......just kickin' it.....and being CRAZY!!!!

.Keukenhof.

2006-05-11T23:22:00.000+02:00

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Today I visited Keukenhof, the famous tulip gardens outside of Leiden, Holland. It was SO beautiful. I am a flower freak due to my Cannon Beach job in the flower shop,,,but yeah. They were so amazing. And there are so many different types of tulips I cannot even explain to you.........if you ever get the chance to visit keukenhof, do because it's totally worth it.

.A day at the Beach.

2006-05-11T21:59:00.000+02:00

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After visiting Keukenof Nicolette and I went to the beach to lie in the sun for the rest of our day off....it was lovely...........

.BEAUtiful Canals.

2006-05-11T20:27:00.000+02:00

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Here is one of my favorite canals in town. I love it!!!

.VW Love Bug.

2006-05-10T19:57:00.000+02:00

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Here's one for you Jesse!! This cute VW was parked just down the street from The Shelter Jordan a few days ago.

.Picnic in the Park.

2006-05-08T20:07:00.000+02:00

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There is a really nice park called Wester Park a couple blocks away from our house so a big group of us staff and guests from the hostel went there to hang out and eat food and worship and play frisbee and the best part of it all was climbing trees and having grass fights. Yeah man!!! So much fun!!

.My NOW safe Bike.

2006-05-07T20:29:00.000+02:00

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So, due to my bike accident a few weeks ago, I decided to "safety-ify" my bicycle...in doing so, I found some blue fruit packaging and wrapped it around my bike for padding and now my bike is safer for me to ride so I won't get bruised next time I go flying off of it....hopefully in all honesty there won't be a next time, but now (or at least while I had it) my bike was taking precautionary steps in my bicycle safety. Pretty funny.

.Crazy Kitchen Crew.

2006-05-06T20:13:00.000+02:00

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Benjamin, Desiree and I were going crazy in the kitchen a couple days ago and I decided to take some pictures of us FREAKING OUT!!! It was so funny. I was laughing so hard I was crying. It was really funny. If you are ever bored, just try dancing around and shaking your head and body really hard and taking pictures of it all.................oh man it's hillarious!!!

.A Night for the Queen.

2006-05-05T20:17:00.000+02:00

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On May 5th Holland celebrates the anniversary of their independence from WWII. On the 4th there is two minutes of silence at 8pm after the Queen and Royal family leaves flowers at the WWII monument in Dam Square. Then on the 5th there was a free symphony on the water in celebration. It was super fun. Meghan, Tina and I all went and hung out by the canal on a blanket under the stars. It was so fun, and the symphony was so beautiful. fun fun fun.

.Tina and I being Crazy.

2006-05-03T20:23:00.000+02:00

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Tina's my German friend. I love her. She's awesome!!! Here's us being crazy.

.Dead Duck Day.

2006-05-02T21:44:00.000+02:00

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Today Jacko, Meghan, Tina, Cameron and I were walking home from the park and we looked down into the gully and saw a dead duck just lying there. I don't really know what dead ducks normally do but lie there......dead...but either way it was pretty sad and random and funny all at the same time. Then Meghan tried to eat it.....hahaha. It was great!!!

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.My 21st Birthday.....YAY ME!!!!!.

2006-05-01T21:13:00.000+02:00

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So....being 21 doesn't really feel any different than being 20........it probably has something to do with the fact that the legal drinking age in Holland being 16, and the legal drinking age in the U.S. being 21. Either way, I am not drinking over here anyhow so it doesn't matter to me. But yeah ...didn't do all that much for my birthday, aside from getting lots of hugs and kisses from all my Dutch friends. Kisses on the cheek, no worries. haha. Fun fun. And my birthday happened to fall upon a Monday, so all I had to do was go to school in the morning and I lead a Bible study in te evening........so this weekend or next my friends and I are gonna try to go find a hip hop club and dance the night away. YE-UH!!!!! I'm So excited!!! 21, 21, 21!!! YEAH!!!!!
p.s. Happy Birthday sounds far better than Gefiliciteerd!!!!......yeah what is that anyways?!! hahaha!!!

.The Shelter Jordan.

2006-04-28T20:11:00.000+02:00

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this is outside of The Shelter Jordan where I work. Yeah......now all of you can see where I get to go to work all the time. If you follow Bloemstraat down either way left or right of the door, you'll run into streets lined with canals and trees and bridges and yes, even more bicycles. Bikes, bikes and more bikes everywhere.

.My first Bicycle Accident.

2006-04-25T12:40:00.000+02:00

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It was a dark, rainy night in Amsterdam. Jonathon in the lead, then I with Samgar tailing. As we crossed the Tram tracks at an angle Jonathon made it across okay, but my front tire just happened to slip directly into the Tram track and in doing so, I first slammed my body sideways into my bike before heading over my handlebars onto the pavement...................it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh man,,,,,,so funny. And Jonathon and Samgar just stopped and were in shock and awe that I got back up from the ground and started laughing. I mean it hurt yeah, but it was just hillarious that I actually flipped over my bike.............hahahah!!! And what's worse,,,,I broke my bell. So now, I have to go buy a new one. I have a burly bruise on my leg from hitting my bike before I flipped. But all in all, it's all good. The moral of the story being; if you choose to cross the tram tracks at an angle in the rain, you will most likely slip and crash and fall.........HARD!!!!!

.Real Old House.

2006-04-22T23:55:00.000+02:00

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I saw this house after walking home from the park near my house, and I guess it is one of the oldest houses in Amsterdam.........sweet stuff..........I know you're really excited to see this real old house right!??!!? No need to thank me.....just enjoy. hahaha.

.My Mailing Address.

2006-04-21T17:29:00.000+02:00

Hey all,
just for you who would like to send me snail mail, although expensive I really enjoy getting it!!! *hint hint*....so here it is.....

Sarah McAllister
c/o Y.H.M. Community
Willemstraat 33
1015 HW Amsterdam

thanks!!!!
peace and love from the Father above, Sarah

.God Is.

2006-04-17T22:50:00.000+02:00

God is
The Lord your God is a consuming fire
God is
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
God is
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.
God is
My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold my refuge and my saviour.
God is
God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?God isThe Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
God is
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its water roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
God is
For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.
God is
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
God is
For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favour and honour; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
God is
The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.
God is
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
God is
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
God is
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
God is

.The Jordan Cafe.

2006-04-15T23:45:00.000+02:00

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Here is just a pic on one of the tables in the Jordan cafe.....this is where I work....pretty basic, lots of tables and chairs and it's very "homey" feeling inside the cafe,,,,,I tried to design a new interior plan for colors and art and whatnot to make the cafe look better but they like it the way it is.......I personally think it needs some work,,,,,,,but I just want it to be more artsy like the City Cafe. Oh well. It's all good.

.Black and White,,,keys of color in song.

2006-04-14T23:39:00.000+02:00

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.Easter Week.

2006-04-14T13:59:00.000+02:00

Easter week has been pretty busy for me here. Each day this week we have had a different theme for the day and then an outreach at night to share the true meaning of Easter with the guests. Tina a I had joy as our theme day on Wednesday, so we handed out flowers to the guests with verses tied to them about joy. Then in the evening we led praise and worship, and shared a movie about the grace we have through Jesus Christ. There weren't a lot of people in the room when we led worship, and most of them got up and left when we started talking about the true meaning of Easter and when Tina started sharing the Word, but we just prayed that God would use our worship for His glory, so it's all good. To God be the Glory. Praise Him for His Son.

peace and love, Sarah

.Do I smell bad or something!??!.

2006-04-12T23:30:00.000+02:00

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This is hillarious.......I found this random piece of paper floating around in some of the cafe paper work,,,,,,,so I decided to put it to good use. The "Explosive AAAHHHHH" just had to be pinned to my back and then directed toward my bum region. hahaha.......I think it's great!!!!

.Beautiful Steps.

2006-04-11T23:36:00.000+02:00

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This is one of the most beautiful staircases I've ever seen. They are in the Theatre Museum here in town, but the museum itself doesn't have much to it, but the staircase is brilliant. It's so beautiful!!!!

.A day in Amsterdam.

2006-04-08T17:34:00.000+02:00

A couple day ago, I got to go and check out the Van Gogh museum here.....so amazing!!! And check out The Dam district (downtown), and I did a little shopping,,,they have H&M here......aka my new favorite store!!! Fun fun!! I love Amsterdam, it's so beautiful here!!

.Morning Cafe Crew.

2006-04-08T17:25:00.000+02:00

Yay for Kitchen crew.....my Brittish pal Oliver, my French roomate Sara, and I rockin' it in the kitchen!!!! Morning cafe crew rocks!!

.yeah VOLVO.

2006-04-08T17:22:00.000+02:00

This pic is for you SETH!!!!! YEAH VOLVO!!!!!

.I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE.

2006-04-08T17:16:00.000+02:00

There are seriously more bikes here than I've ever ever seen!!!! AMAZING!!! SO CRAZY!!!

.Something Sacred.

2006-04-06T14:53:00.000+02:00

Something that has really been on my heart and mind these past few days is the passage in Philippians where Paul talks about resembling Christ's humility in chapter two.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:3-11

Also, last night I was just reflecting before bed about what price was actually paid for me. The sacrifice of Christ's blood, and the pain that was endured for me!!! That's just insane to think about. And I started thinking about physical pain endured and the blood, and the agony of it all. I just ended up in tears over it all, but they were tears of joy, because through Christ I have life. I am living and breathing and have eternal life through Jesus Christ's death on the cross. How amazing is that?!! I truly don't focus on that reality enough. And I don't share the joy of that reality enough....I am going to try to focus more upon the sacrifice and the blood that was shed for me, and the joy and priviledge I have to share that with the people here in the hostel.
Praise Jesus!!!
Sarah

.Church Ministry.

2006-04-02T14:45:00.000+02:00

Every Sunday, due to differing shifts at the Jordan and at the City Shelter Hostels, the staff invite people from the hostels to go to church either in the morning or in the evening. Today I worked the am shift in the cafe, so I am going to attend the evening service at the international church in town. This is a really neat outreach to people here at the hostel and people in Amsterdam. During the shift you just try to talk to people and invite them to go to Church with you, some are realy open and some are not so much.

~Pray that people at the hostels would be open to going to church and open to hearing the Gospel.
~Pray for all of us staff at the hostels, that we would take the time to reach out to our guests and to love on them and share Christ with them. Pray for different opportunities to do so.
~Pray for staff to get into the Word daily, to fully rely on Christ to give us our passion and our strength. Pray that we would be like Jesus in Philippians 2:1-11!!

peace and love, Sarah

.Sprinkles on Toast.

2006-04-01T14:31:00.000+02:00

So....I've never eaten chocolate sprinkles(hagel slag) on toast before, but apparently it's a Dutch trademark food. Also, stroopwaffels, which are waffel like cookies sandwiched with carmel inside, they are really yummy too. No doubt,,I will get fat here in Holland....hahahaha!!! No....but I also had my first shift in the cafe today.....it was really really fun. I worked the morning shift with a really funny English kid named Oliver who kept saying stuff like "dodgy"and "mucky plates" as well as "I need autha cup uv tea". He is a crackup. He is teaching me all of the Yorkshire sayings, so I can become a true Yorkshire lady. It's great....shut up to öliver is "getawesh!!" I also worked with a really cool Dutch girl named Jacolina, she's super nice. I love all of the accents. The cafe is pretty high paced....all of the people staying in the hostels get a free breakfast with their stay, so the cafe crew gets to make all of those people the food. I have never made so much french toast in my whole life!! It's really really fun though!!!

much love, Sarah

Finally Here....

2006-03-31T22:34:00.000+02:00

So...6,190 miles later,,,,and I'm finally here....I arrived in Amsterdam at 9:30 this morning...and made it back to my house at about 11:30,,,took an 8 hour nap at noon, and now I'm just relaxing, meeting new friends, and planning on going back to bed soon, because I start working tomorrow in the cafe in the morning. Thank you all for your prayers,,,,my travel went really smoothly and I am safe and sound here in Amsterdam.

lots of love,
Sarah

.Moving to The Netherlands.

2006-03-23T06:56:00.000+01:00

So...this blog is going to be all about my ministry in The Netherlands. I am going to be living in Amsterdam for three months from starting March 30th 2006. I can't wait. I'll be working for a Christian youth hostel called The Shelter www.theshelter.nl/ministry
I can't wait to go and serve there. I'm sure you'll here all of my rants as well as my raves,,,hard times, funny times, and friends in this European mission I'm going on!! YAY!!! Most of all I can't wait to see what God does through me in this. It's going to be such a growing process!!

thanks for your prayers and support!!
peace and love, Sarah