Number 12

February-March 2002

" Go therefore," Jesus said " and make disciples of all nations." We rejoice in the many young people who, in response to this great commission, did go indeed: the staff members in The Shelter Youth Hostel Ministry. They left their homes in Romania, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, Germany, the Philippines, England and the USA, to come to Amsterdam and minister to the guests in the hostels. It is wonderful to have so many different nationalities in our two teams. Not only is it an enriching experience to be part of such an international team of young missionaries, it also reminds us how universal Christ's church is. The international character of the team also makes the communication of the Gospel more effective as it enables us to reach guests in their cultural context. The tourists that stay in the Shelter hostels come from many different countries. Possible cultural or language barriers can be more easily bridged by a staff member from the same or a similar background.

Last year about 150 different nationalities were represented in the hostels, which is getting close to " all nations" . Most of the guests come from European countries (50%), but also travellers from North America (15%) and South East Asia (Japan and Korea, 10%) come to the hostels in big numbers. Unfortunately, we do not have many staff members from South East Asia. At this moment, Fancie Kao from Taiwan and Virmel Largo from the Philippines are the only persons from this part of the world. We also look forward to a time when Spanish or Italian staff members might join the team. We estimate that 14% of our guests come from a Mediterranean or Latin American culture, but none of the staff members. The Italian and Spanish language is often a big barrier for our staff. The same is true for France, staff members from this country are rare but there are many French tourists. In order to better minister to the cultures that come to The Shelter hostels, we would gladly receive applications from Japan, Korea, Spain, Italy and France.

It is a blessing to see that the Lord is touching the hearts of people from so many different cultural and religious backgrounds. Samira, for example, comes from a Muslim family but was brought up in the Netherlands. She desired to know Jesus, but as many Muslims she was afraid of the reactions of her family and friends. The Shelter City provided her with a save place where she could learn from the Bible. " During my stay, I was able to speak a lot about God and Jesus with the staff members," Samira tells us. " I was so happy that God had finally surrounded me with people who could answer my questions. After a week, I felt that the moment had come to give my life to God and to accept Christ as my Lord and Saviour." She is excited to call God Father, and to know that Jesus is always with her. " It is wonderful to worship God and Jesus!"

An other guest, Michael, comes from a background that is very different from Samira's Muslim background. As a child he was baptised in the Protestant country Denmark but was not committed to church at all. After his summer job in Denmark had ended, Michael started travelling through Europe without much direction. He was interested in spiritual questions and searched for answers in philosophy and Buddhism. In The Shelter Jordan, Michael was invited to the Bible study. He accepted the invitation because it seemed to fit in his spiritual search. He did not know a lot about Christianity and decided to stay in the hostel to learn more. In the many conversations with staff members he was challenged to consider Christianity but he wondered how he could be sure that it was true. He was uncertain until he received a book that the Lord used to open his eyes, ' Mere Christianity' by C.S. Lewis. God used this book to reveal to him the nonsense of atheism. It convinced him that man is a moral being and that God must exist. Also the saving work of Christ became clear to Michael. After a spiritual battle, he decided to live in, and according to the Christian faith. Currently Michael continues to learn at the L' Abri study centre in The Netherlands.

We trust that the Lord will continue to lead people from various cultures to The Shelter City and The Shelter Jordan. The staff and managers of the hostel are committed to faithfully communicate the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to these people. We want to do this in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave results to God. Will you help us and support this ministry through your prayers? Thanks.

A.A.

Each day, many guests fill out the registration form at the reception desk and pay for bed and breakfast. As an international hostel we accept many foreign currencies, including various European ones: German Mark, French Franks, Spanish Peseta, Italian Lire, etc., and of course the Dutch Guilder. But this has all changed with the introduction of the Euro as the common European currency. Rosemary Barrett, reception manager at The Shelter Jordan tells you about the Euro introduction.

" At reception in the Shelter Jordan we have a black board where we write a daily invitation to the Bible discussion. This morning it took me longer than usual to read it I had to concentrate because it was written upside down. It reminded me of what people are doing all over Europe at the moment whenever they buy something with cash. We are given Euros for our change whether we pay in Euros or our national currency, and it takes a few extra seconds to look at your change and check if it's correct.

From 1st January of this year 12 European countries began to use our new common currency: The Euro (€). And by the end of February none of the old currencies from those 12 countries will be legal tender any more. Of course the Euro has existed for a few years now, ever since the 12 countries fixed their exchange rates and agreed to adopt the common currency, but it's only been in the last few days and weeks that people have actually been able to handle the new notes and coins.

In both hostels we spent extra time and staff meetings on learning about the Euro, how to recognise the different notes and coins and how the cash registers at reception and in the café were going to work for the month when both Guilders and Euros had to be accepted by law. Our Romanian staff members were brought up with only 2 coins in their country, when they arrived in the Netherlands suddenly they had to cope with 6 coins, and now 8 different ones!

It has taken some getting used to, learning the new prices for everything as well as putting up new signs with the prices in Euros, but I think we've managed pretty well. Of course there have been a few problems, such as the payphone still only accepting Dutch Guilders and some difficulties with our bank, but nothing major.

Comments from our guests have also been very positive. It makes travelling around Europe so much easier without having to change your money every time you cross a border."

Rosemary Barrett

It was a little preview of heaven More than 6000 young people from all over the world gathered to pray, to have fellowship and to worship God. For five days, with the theme " Just Jesus," the town of Zuidlaren (NL) was the centre of Europe for young Christians with a passion for God and mission. This international missions conference brought both ministries and potential missionaries together to meet each other and to glorify God. A team from the Youth Hostel Ministry had the opportunity to talk with hundreds of them as they visited our information stand at the conference. Many of these visitors were surprised to find out that a ministry such as ours exists. For most people the idea of a Christian ministry in a youth hostel is an exciting combination. Many of the people I spoke with practically said, " Why didn’t I think of that myself?" In what other setting can you imagine welcoming 30,000 people per year from all over the world and then have the chance to share the Gospel with them? There are not many places in the world where a ministry like the Shelter Youth Hostels exists. As a result of this uniqueness we drew quite a bit of attention at the Mission 2002 conference.

Our team representing the youth hostels prayed that God would bring Spanish, Italian and French speaking Christians to the information stand and that they would be interested in working with us. We often get guests from these countries who speak very little English and our staff rarely speak their languages. God clearly answered these prayers. Many Spanish Christians (who also spoke English quite well) showed quite a bit of interest in coming to help us out this summer. Near the end of the conference an Italian girl came and invited us to give a presentation of the work to her youth group. Some of these Italians were touched to hear that we reach out to their fellow countrymen who usually only come to Amsterdam because of the coffeeshops and the red light district. It was exciting to hear that members of this youth group would pray about coming to help us in the hostels.

In addition to working at the information stand and sharing about the Youth Hostel Ministry, it was wonderful to hear Christian leaders, such as George Verwer of Operation Mobilisation, speak and challenge us on the important task of World Mission. It was with inspiring passion that he revealed to us again the urgency of the task and the immensity of the need. Over five days we were able to pray for every country in the world. Through this experience I have become even more convinced of how important it is to ask the Lord of the Harvest to send new " harvest hands" . What I have ultimately taken away from Mission 2002 is the fact that fulfilling the Great Commission has to start with worshipping and praising the Lord for who He is. It was a wonderful to be a part of Mission 2002, a conference that glorified His great name.

Martijn Rutgers

More than 30,000 travellers are staying in our hostels each year. This means, for us, 30,000 opportunities to bring someone in contact with the gospel. To be able to use these witnessing opportunities we need more than 60 workers each year. Would you like to become a youth hostel missionary or do you know someone who would?

We are looking for Christians between 18 and 30 years of age, willing to commit for a period of 6 to12 months. During this time you will be part of our international staff team and you will be involved in both practical work and evangelism. The Youth Hostel Ministry provides unique opportunities to serve the Lord and to share the gospel in words and deeds. Go into the world, in a place where the world actually comes to you!