So much has happened, this day could have easily been a couple of days crammed into one. It was our "fun day," and we took the train into Haarlem and then into the big city, Amsterdam.
We had a lovely walk from our B&B to the train station in the snow and enjoyed our ride from Barneveld to Haarlem (I could definitely get used to this). We went into Haarlem to visit Corrie ten Boom's house. What an amazing experience! We had the sweetest little old lady tour guide and she told us the ten Boom story in a cute Dutch accent. I'm really familiar with their story of hiding Jews during WWII and their eventual imprisonment in concentration camps, but it was incredible to get to hear it sitting in the living room where so many events took place.
One of the best parts about the tour was listening to our guide clearly present the ten Boom's (and her own!) faith and the message of Christ throughout her presentation. You could really see her passion and love for Jesus!
We all bought a few things from the bookstore after the tour, and the bags we were given had "Jesus is Victor" written in English on one side and Dutch on another. So cool! An older lady working in a souvenir shop we stopped at in town after the tour was over noticed my bag and told me that she was a Christian too. Her name was Louise, and she told us how she tries to tell everyone who comes into her shop to go visit the ten Boom house because she knows they will hear the gospel there. She was so excited about Jesus and so happy to get to meet us. Such an encouragement!
Gage and I were talking about these two dear ladies as we walked to lunch. He made a comment about how they were like watchmen for Jesus, gatekeepers placed just outside a city that's know for its indulgence in sin. And it's so true. They're using the opportunities the Lord's given them to make His name known right where they are. It seems we only hear the bad things about Europe, but there are definitely Jesus followers here, and He is using them in exciting ways! I'm so blessed to have gotten to meet several of them on this trip. Join me in praying for them!
As soon as we got into Amsterdam, you could just tell it was unlike any of the cities we'd been to before. It was much larger and more crowded, but it wasn't really noisy, probably due at least in part to the fact that there weren't a whole lot of cars driving around, especially for a city that size.
It's so hard to try to describe it. We walked around it for hours and saw a little bit of everything, both the picturesque and the depraved. The architecture was so mixed, with buildings from the 1500s right next to very modern structures. Beautiful churches and boats on the canals, ugly reminders of sin just about anywhere you looked.
We didn't have much of a plan going into the city. We had a map with some of the points of interest highlighted, so for the most part we just roamed around, shopping here, photos there, it was a lot of fun just to get to explore.
One place we did intentionally look for was the Red Light District. It was harder to find than we counted on. The "you can't miss it" aspect people had told us about didn't seem to apply for us until the sun started to go down. Then, just like that, it appeared.
We weren't there for long, but we didn't need to be. It wasn't like what I expected it would be. I was thinking of a long strip of nothing but brothels and clubs, but they were mixed in with other normal buildings, like they were just another place to stop and buy whatever your wanted.
What you hear about the women in the windows, it's true. I can't fully express yet what it meant to see that; I'm still trying to process through those few brief moments. But I don't think I can be the same. So many emotions attached to this experience: sorrow, shame, disgust, anger... but as I sort through these feelings, I'm reminded of the women we met in the beginning of the day, and the message of hope they were so excited to share. It's the lack of this hope that breaks my heart, both for the men and the women, the spiritual slaves and the physical slaves. I'm reminded that apart from the grace of Jesus, I'd be in the same boat they are in. And I'm reminded that if He can rescue my heart, He can rescue theirs.
So tonight, right now, I ask you to pray for the hopeless in Amsterdam. Because really I am Amsterdam. And so are you.
That was a very moving entry, Elizabeth. You have a gift of writing from the heart that reaches to the heart. This is not your usual travelogue, but thoughtful and thought-provoking. My mind is still stuck on the idea of the women in the windows, the evidence of beauty and sin that you saw all over the city, your response to it and your call to US to respond. Although I didn't get to go on the trip, I feel as if I was in the experience. Thank you. :)
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Thanks, Ms. Karyn. That means a lot! Writing is a huge way I process through things, and it's awesome to know that God can use that to reach other people as He's reaching me through it too. :)
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