The Shelter Youth Hostel Ministry

NEWSLETTER

Nr. 27 – August/September 2004       Editor: Auke Algera  Info: newsletter@shelter.nl

Difficult times for hostels

These last months have been among the most difficult ones in the history of the Shelter. The negative financial situation forced the board to consider closing both of the hostels. Fortunately, they decided to keep the hostels in business but huge changes need to be made.

The cause of the financial problems is the decrease in the number of guests. After 9/11, SARS, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the tourist industry received some blows. The economies of many European countries are also doing really badly and have high unemployment levels which mean that there are less people able to spend money on travelling. Amsterdam has also become more expensive compared to other European cities. The number of visitors to Amsterdam became smaller and as a result also more Shelter beds remained empty.

Since the beginning of this year tourism is going back up but the Shelter hostels are only recently benefiting a little from this up-swing. The figures over the first months of this year were lower than last year’s which were already lower than those in the years before that. As a result, our income has seriously gone down causing a huge financial loss over 2003 and the beginning of this year.

When the board of our organisation discussed the situation and tried to come up with solutions, they were inclined to close the hostels in order to cut back in costs. The reason they did not do this is because of the fruit of the ministry. Especially during the months in which we were all very concerned with the financial situation and were searching for solutions, God blessed the ministry in the hostels tremendously. Many guests accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour. It was for this reason that the board took a step in faith and decided to keep the hostels open.

Although we are relieved that the Shelters will remain in business, we realise that the current financial situation requires some adjustments. We will have to find ways to attract more tourists, and we will have to cut back on costs. In order to do the first, The Shelter City will have to focus more on tourists and improve its image in that respect. The new  furniture in the café is a first step in the right direction but more will have to be added to this.

To cut costs some big changes are necessary, some of them being even painful. The contracts of some of our part-time management have been changed or ended. Also, some members of the management who had already planned to leave will not be replaced, or only in part. The management team will therefore become much smaller in order to cut costs.

  The role of the staff will also be affected by the smaller management team. With less managers around, our staff members will get more responsibilities. Especially long-term staff members will have to work more independently at reception or in the café. Such a change in the role of our staff towards more responsibility was already part of our long term plans.

Also the ministry training program and the staff living community should be seen as ways to equip our staff better and give them more opportunities to carry responsibility and develop in spiritual leadership. However, due to the current situation the changes in the hostel tasks will be implemented sooner than we originally planned. We hope that the staff will see this as a challenge and as an opportunity to put in more of their own creativity and insight, and to ‘own’ the reception or café more.

In our selection of candidates for joining the Shelter ministry we will have to put more emphasis on the practical work as well. Up until now we primarily asked candidates about their spiritual health and motivation for evangelism. We will continue to focus on these aspects, but in addition we will look at the skills and experience of the person in relation to the practical hostel work. New staff members will also receive less pocket money and have to provide for their own medical insurance. Non-EU citizen will have to pay the fee for their residence permit.

 

At this moment the first changes are being implemented. These are not easy and require a lot from the people involved. We would like to ask you therefore to increase your prayers for the management and staff during the coming months. We are confident that God will use this difficult period for His purposes, but realise also that we need His strength and grace to carry us through.

If, as a result of reading this article, you would like to help us financially, either with a one-off donation, or a regular contribution, please follow this link. It is good to know that we try to make a distinction between the hostels and the ministry when it comes to finances. The hostel function aims to be self sufficient in that the costs of running a hostel are covered by the income of reception and café (this is where we struggle at this moment).

The ministry, on the other side, depends completely on gifts and donations. Your donation to the Shelter youth hostel ministry will help us continue to have extra staff around to talk with guests, offer the ministry training program, provide staff accommodation, give away tracts and Bibles to guests, and put on outreach activities.

PRAYER SUPPORT

·        Sergei and Candice, two former Shelter City guests, have been baptised! Please pray that they will grow towards spiritual maturity. 

·        Please remember the financial situation of the hostels when you pray. Pray for more guests, and for  wisdom and grace when we have to cut costs. 

·        During this time of transition, the managers (Jacob, Hennie and Rosemary) and their team would really appreciate your intercessions. You can pray for wisdom, peace and a sense of God’s direction as they have to lead the organisation through many difficult changes. 

·        Also pray for our staff as their roles will be changing. May they continually perceive this in a positive way and may their ministry to the guests be effective. 

·        We are currently having interviews with candidates for Group Leader Staff Community. Pray for the right decisions to be made. 

·        The hostels have a part-time vacancy for Ministry Supervisor, which seems to be difficult to fill. Pray for the right person to respond and be selected.

FRUIT OF THE MINISTRY

We are thankful for the many blessings that we receive on our ministry. Sometimes these are very surprising. A few weeks ago, a Dutch guy entered the Shelter Jordan and asked the receptionist how he could be saved. A few days later, an Iranian man came from the airport to the hostel and asked to be baptised. In both cases other people had been sowing and watering and we could witness the fruit of it.

Often this is the other way around. Francesca from Peru wrote us that she had become a Christian one year after her stay in the Shelter City in 2000. “You were some of the persons that God used to touch and change my life,” she wrote us. We praise God for this.   

The Shelter Youth Hostel Ministry is a Christian evangelism ministry in the centre of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Our goal is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the 30,000 travellers who are staying each year in our two Christian youth hostels: The Shelter City and The Shelter Jordan. The ministry is part of the association Tot Heil des Volks, a non-denominational mission organisation registered in Amsterdam. Internet: www.theshelter.nl/ministry

Donations. The work of The Shelter Youth Hostel Ministry would not be able to continue without financial support. Help support this ministry! Read more at http://www.theshelter.nl/ministry/donations.html 

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