The Shelter Youth Hostel Ministry
NEWSLETTER
Nr. 34 – October/November 2005 Editor: Auke Algera Info: newsletter@shelter.nl
Hostel Outreaches
Imagine sitting in a solid wooden chair, both comfortable and relaxing and the aroma of a tasty meal in front of you. On your left are two girls talking in a European language you don’t understand, but assume it is Greek. On your right people are having a conversation about the Sunflowers painting by Van Gogh. Then someone with a nice curly beard asks for your attention from behind the café counter. It’s that philosophical reception guy.
Eating
and Meeting
“Thank you all for
coming to the café tonight,” he says. “We call this event our Eating and
Meeting and that’s exactly what we want to do tonight. Our kitchen team has
made a special Swiss cheese meal for all of us, and as we eat, we want to
give every one the opportunity to meet the people staying at this hostel.
There are many things a traveller might run into. Maybe you’ve been
travelling for quite some time now? Spent this day outside in the Amsterdam
rain? Do your feet hurt from walking along the canals? Did you not have the
opportunity to enjoy a good meal today? Things like that happen to you when
you’re travelling. This hostel is called the Shelter Jordan. We hope to be a
shelter for all of you travellers and welcome you in our hostel for some
warmth, a meal and fellowship.”
“We also hope to be a shelter in a different way. On the black board over there, you can read something that Jesus says in the bible: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’ The members of staff who work here all want you to know that Jesus invites you to come to Him and find rest. If you want to know how He would do that and if you want to find out more about Jesus, and then please ask one of the staff members some questions. We are all excited to tell you.”
Café
Every week, on Friday night, there is an outreach in our hostel. In this
article I hope to give you an impression of the way these outreaches are set
up. Some factual info: Outreaches are organized by our two small groups. We
specifically aim these outreaches for our short term visitors. Our primary
goal is to share the gospel. Our best place to do an outreach is the café;
the thing we do best is serve, and our food rocks, so we often use food and
drink to support our evangelism. An outreach can involve drama, dance,
sharing you testimony, panel/forum/table discussion, sharing the gospel,
live music, movie clip, poetry, et cetera.
Postcard
The second Friday this past month was a so-called postcard night. Tables
stuffed with old magazines, scissors, and glue and postcard size cardboard.
Everybody is welcomed to join the small group members in making funny and /
or beautiful cards for friends and family. While we work diligently (and I’m
very unimpressed with my first card), Melissa starts a talk about
creativity. When we think of God being our creator, what does it mean to
create? God has made us in his image. We are all little creators. I don’t
remember the whole conversation, but something that stands out for me is
this amazing truth: God watches us because He loves us and although He
watches us, He still loves us. He sees who we are, all that we are and His
love is His reaction to all that. What a loving creator we serve!
(continue in second column)
At one hostel event we got everybody dancing in the café
(…continued from first column)
Little Streets
The next outreach was
based on Psalm 139, which says ‘O LORD, you have searched me and you know
me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my
ways.’
To understand this verse a little bit better, Daniela organised a walking tour through the Jordaan. We saw little streets, looked into crammed living rooms (packed with china dolls, fake golden boxes, purple or green cushions and anarchically colourful little rugs), greeted people and told stories about our life in Amsterdam. Fifteen guests joined us for this walk and we had a wonderful time together.
Back in the hostel, there was hot chocolate and cake and talks about God, who looks into our little streets, who knows our crammed hearts, who knocks on our door and reaches out to us.
Testimony
Conversations with guests vary. What? Well they can range from experiential
to intellectual. This night, Laurissa had a conversation with a girl from
Australia who was on a break from her studies (she's working on a Masters in
Psychology). “Earlier that night I had shared my testimony with one of the
cleaners and then with this Australian girl it seemed fitting to share it
again. I have not shared my testimony often with our guests, but this
particular night two times! After I had shared my testimony with the
Australian girl, I asked her where she stood on religion/faith. She stated
that she was Jewish and that she did not believe in Jesus at all. Wow. But
it is really good when people are straightforward.
After hearing this I thought of Lee Strobel's book ‘Case for Christ’. I suggested it to her and even offered my copy for her to keep. I thought that since she was working on her Masters in Psychology that this would be a great read for her. Instead she politely declined my offer and shared that she would gain more from hearing about people's experiences. Incredible! I am amazed that if we simply ask someone about Jesus or faith that they really will answer with a way that they would like to hear it!
Light
Back to Psalm 139, where the psalmist says: “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness
will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will
not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as
light to You.” God sees us, knows us and still loves us, still reaches out
to all of us. An amazing message for all our beautiful guests.
I’m glad I can share these stories with all of you. Please pray for our outreaches. For lasting fruit, For souls to be saved, for the Lord of the Harvest to send Labourers. Prepare the way of the Lord!
Freek
Koster
(Evangelism coordinator Shelter Jordan)
LONG TERM STAFF?
The youth hostel ministry has
need for long term staff members (6-12 months). Please continue to tell
people in your church and circle of friends about serving at the Shelter.
For more information please contact Nienke at
personnel@shelter.nl
The reception at the Shelter Jordan, first point of contact with our guests.
PRAYER SUPPORT
· Two of our cleaners, Cathi and Philip, accepted Christ as Lord and Saviour! Praise the Lord. Please pray for continual growth in faith.
· Also pray that God will change the heart of the other men and women in the cleaner team.
· Please pray that the openings in our staff team will be filled. We are still in need of more team members.
· Pray for unity and mutual encouragement in the staff team, as well as for good health and spiritual enthusiasm.
· Pray for Jan de Visser from the management team who is doing a retreat with L&L ministries, and for Rebekka van Ommen (ex-staff) who will be replacing him for few months.
OTHER NEWS
Remember the old staff attic at the Shelter City? Now the staff is living at the new accommodation at the Willemsstraat, we are turning this attic into hostel rooms. We expect the buildingwork to be finished in time for Christmas. Then we will have four 4-person rooms and two 2-person rooms, as well showers and bathrooms for hostel guests and a sleeper room for our staff.
Tourism is growing again. After a summer with many guest we also had a good September month. This is really good news after a couple of years with very few hostel guests.
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
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www.yhm.shelter.nl
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