The Shelter Youth Hostel Ministry

NEWSLETTER

Nr. 30 – February/March 2005       Editor: Auke Algera  Info: newsletter@shelter.nl

 

Greeting from Amsterdam

It is the Low Season but it is nevertheless busy in the hostels. We are glad that we have more guests in the hostels than before. The Shelters are still not full but God is doing great things.
In both the hostels we had some great outreaches. The Jordan received a LCD beamer which Freek is now using for movie outreach programs. The staff is trained to use this modern means of communication in the Ministry Training Program and also by Barbara who was a staff member at the Shelter Jordan. We now have an evangelistic program every Friday, in both the hostels. The programs lead to many good conversations and last week a cleaner in the Shelter City accepted Christ. We have a great team with a heart to share.

As a management team, we are using these first months of 2005 to consider how we can improve the hostel. We’d like to become more focused on the hostelling needs of the guests and adapt our service and facilities to the modern day budget traveller. Many suggestions are already made and we have scheduled February 15th as a day to talk and pray about these things. Please pray with us that God gives us the right vision for the future.

Here is some news. The Shelter City now has 13 rooms. The big dorm number 8 is split up in five smaller rooms (4-8 beds) and dorm 7 will be split up soon in two rooms (12-20 beds). We hope to become more attractive to travellers who prefer smaller rooms. Also the tourist website is renewed. Auke is still working on it but you can take a look at www.shelter.nl. Please view the websites regularly to keep in touch.

For those of you who worked with Heidi Sawyer in the Jordan, she left the first of January. There were problems with her papers that prevented her from working in the Netherlands any longer. We miss her, and she is missing us. We hope to keep in contact with her.

New in the management team of the Jordan is Ewout de Vries (responsible for reception, groups, and cleaning team), and Gepke Oosterom (responsible for the Jordan staff).

The team of the City is still the same, but the way we work has changed since we have to function with smaller management teams. This is not always easy, but we believe that these changes are necessary for the future of the hostels.

Last Wednesday we had an Open Day in the hostels and we will have a second one on February 16th. This is a good way to promote the work of the ministry and get people interested in joining our team. In this respect we are also very happy with an article in one of the major Christian magazines in the Netherlands. The “Visie” placed an interview with Kimberly, a staff member from New Zealand. The “Oogst” magazine from our own organization also focused on the hostel ministry with a “Shelter special”. The February issue is in full-colour (for the first time) and features many articles about the ministry. One final thing that is worth mentioning is that our mother organization “Tot Heil des Volks” will celebrate her 150th anniversary this year.

A lot is happening in Amsterdam, as you can see. Please pray that God will bless all the work and the ministry. Also, if you have any good Christian books (used of new) for our guest library or Christian lounge music on CD or DVD (used or new) for our café, we would very much appreciate it.   


Connected by the love of Christ,

Jacob kops, manager. Jacob@shelter.nl

 

Two fridges

7 am: loud radio music, painters pop up in unexpected places, construction workers bang around, staircases seem to move locations, the fire alarm starts sounding familiar…. This is the Willemsstraat! No, this was the Willemsstraat. It’s starting to become quieter now, as most of the reconstruction work is actually done. Wow, how nice to be able to hear silence at times!

In the last months a lot of flexibility and adaptability has been asked of the staff living here, as the staff community house was reconstructed. While the building work is being finished, the community has started to form. Many new staff members came through the freshly painted front door and are adjusting to community life. We are very happy more guys have come! At one point the ratio guys : girls was 1:15(!) Some how the guys survived and now the ratio is 1:3. Hopefully the girls will survive. Besides books in the library you can find people doing Internet and small groups praying together.

At the tables in the kitchen discussion topics are: cleaners, the ministry school and life in general. As the one makes a snack before going to bed, the night man gets himself a breakfast before going to the hostel. There are constantly people coming and going. It is a place to get to know staff of the other hostel, to relax and watch a DVD in the weekend and to learn Dutch.

Yes, although English is the common language, there is a daily Dutch sentence written on the fridge for those who want to learn important phrases like: “Ik koop kaas” and “Mijn onderbroek zit scheef” (translation “I’m buying cheese” and “My underwear is twisted” it really is the sentence for today! I just went to the fridge to copy it.) The other fridge has a Bible text, for today it is Lev.27:26. To get an idea of what is important in this house, read BOTH fridges.

The living room is getting more and more cozy. During the day either a small group is eating, sharing and preparing an outreach together, or someone is relaxing on the couch with a book and a drink. In the evenings the computers are frequently used and now once a week there is a time of worship for those who want to join. Although the group dynamics constantly change, there is one Person that binds us all together. So many different nationalities, backgrounds and personalities and yet a feeling of belonging to the same somewhat strange Family.

I’ll skip the laundry room in my little tour and go upstairs. Besides the flooding of the showers way into the hallway twice the showers and toilets function well. But most importantly are the rooms upstairs. As you walk through the corridor, you can hear someone practicing guitar, the night man snoring, music from one room and chatting from another. At times tears are shed, as it’s not always easy being away from home and living in a community, facing challenges and growing in faith.

The builders have worked hard on the new foundations of this building, yet we can rest in the one foundation already laid, Jesus Christ. This is the One who can truly make this community house a community house (I Cor. 3:11).
 

Krista van der Ziel

 

 

 

 

Krista and Gerrit Jan van der Ziel are the coordinators and leaders of the staff community at the Willemsstraat.

 

 

PRAYER SUPPORT

·        Please pray for the staff community. That the staff will find fellowship, encouragement and joy here.
 

·        Pray for the spiritual life of our staff, that they will remain devoted to Bible reading and prayer. Also pray that they will grow in knowledge and wisdom as a result of the training school.
 

·        Remember the vision meeting that the management of the Shelter City hopes to have on February 15th.
 

·        Pray for the evangelistic program every Friday, and the daily guest Bible discussion.
 

·        Pray that God will continue to use this ministry to change the heart of people and to reveal Himself to those who are searching.

 

 

 

 

 

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.youthhostelministry.shelter.nl  

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 

This Newsletter can also be found at www.yhm.shelter.nl

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