amsterdam

On Monday, I had the opportunity to go to Amsterdam for a day. At the GO Conference, I found out that two people from OM USA had registered at the same hostel as I, so we traveled together. We stayed at Shelter City Christian Hostel. Amsterdam is a very interesting city, with lots of beautiful canals, bicycles and uniquely Dutch architecture. The home of Corrie Ten Boom and Anne Frank, there’s a lot of thought-provoking history to move you. For the artists and musicians, the Christian Müller organ, played by Mozart and Handel, is there, along with museums of Van Gogh and Rembrandt. There’s all sorts of shopping and good places to eat.













It’s also a sad city. Well-known around the world is the Red Light District. Prostitutes advertise themselves in the windows. Shops on the outskirts of the district sell not only wooden shoes and tulips, but “XXX” logo t-shirts, hats and mugs, as if they’re proud of this section of town. Holland was the first country to marry gay couples. There is a homomonument in Amsterdam. No surprise to most people is also the fact that if you want to score a joint, it’s perfectly legal in the Netherlands. I definitely remember smelling weed in a restaurant we poked our heads into in the artsy-cool section of town, Jordaan.

Let’s pray for this beautiful but immoral city that God loves and gave His Son for. That His people in that city will let His light and love shine to their neighbors, colleagues and friends. That Shelter City can make an impact to the people in the Red Light District, that the women who give themselves away each night and live with deep hurt will find the One who loves them as they are because He created them.