We are wrapping up a pretty crazy week here on Team Americanos. I have a thousand stories to tell about the amazing encounters we’ve had and I find myself with no time to process them, let alone write about them, because we keep meeting more and more incredible people and I genuinely want to spend every second with these new friends.
I’m currently on a bus to Paris, France, which will be our tenth country in Europe. Needless to say, it’s been go-go-go since we’ve arrived in Bulgaria just over a month ago. When we got placed in these teams at the end of June, before we even picked a team name, we were collectively dreaming about what Europe would look like, and we prayed for the Lord to give us specific places on our route. Amsterdam was one that came up, and we looked into going even though it seemed like a such a stretch to fit it in our budget. It pays to have a networker on your team, and Ronny was able to find us free lodging with one of his coworkers just outside of the city. Through the hospitality and generosity of many along the way, we have been able to visit so many places, and if you’re one of our hosts reading this, we have been so blessed by you; thank you.
This story actually begins well before our time in Amsterdam. This is Lehanie.
We met back in Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa at the beginning of June. We didn’t get to spend nearly as much time together as I would have liked but we quickly bonded over our love of Eminem, sunrises, and avocados. When she found out our group was going to Amsterdam she connected us with her aunt who lives there. She also sent me a huge list of recommendations for fun stuff to do and good food in Amsterdam which came in handy as well (:
We had no idea how much Leahnie’s aunt Marietha would bless our team when we agreed to meet up with her on our first day in the city. Marietha has a great relationship with YWAM Amsterdam and the house of prayer there. Although our housing outside of the city was nice, it was costing us so much money to get to and from the city center each day to make it worth it. Marietha immediately began looking for lodging for us within the city. Not only did she offer up her own apartment for laundry, coffee, and food, she connected us with a nice Christian hostel in the middle of Amsterdam, where we ended up staying without paying anything from our own budget. We initially felt uneasy accepting such generosity, but we were reminded of the verse our squad leader spoke over us last month and gratefully accepted the offer. (Read more about that verse and how we end up with all these amazing opportunities here.)
Being at the hostel in the city center fostered so many opportunities for us to meet locals and other travelers. Although the staff at the hostel were all Christians, most of the guests were not. (Side note – this is such an amazing ministry: Shelter City Hostel.) We just so happened to plan our trip on Amsterdam’s second largest celebration of the year: the annual gay pride parade, which the ENTIRE city celebrates all week long. Coincidentally, we were in Stuttgart, Germany for the pride parade the weekend before, so we had an idea of what to expect, but Amsterdam’s pride gathering is one the biggest in the world. Before we arrived in Amsterdam, we began praying for interactions with those in the gay community there – that God would give us discernment and compassion for those individuals. Our main focus was hearing their stories, learning from them, and communicating to them that they are unconditionally loved by God.
Our time in Amsterdam was filled with so many amazing opportunities for ministry, mostly within the gay community, the red light district, and by meeting up with Couch Surfers. Be on the lookout for future blogs where I share stories about each of these avenues of ministry!
Please take time to read Part Two of this blog where I talk more about my experience with the gay community in Amsterdam. God gave me passion and compassion for this beautiful group of people, and I would love to share my heart in this with you and tell you specifically how God showed up. 
