Team Amsterdam 2007 Amsterdam 2007 Was a Big Success!

Amsterdam is a place that is well known for its spiritual darkness, sex shops, the legality of marijuana, and its loose definition of prostitution.  In March 2006, after a long layover that allowed our Uganda Mission Team to tour the city, the Lord placed Amsterdam on the heart of the mission’s team at Istrouma.  The Lord orchestrated all of the planning, communication, money, and team members to assist the Red Tulip team in the communities of Slotermeer and Osdorp.

Slotermeer and Osdorp are small Turkish/Moroccan communities on the outskirts of the city limits of Amsterdam.  The Turkish people have a long history of being in Amsterdam.  They have been in Amsterdam since the 1700’s.  Our Istrouma team had the opportunity to partner with the Red Tulip Team of Amsterdam and assist them in an activity called “Narrative Mapping” the community and assisting them in seeing how best the Gospel could be presented in the mostly Muslim community.

Missionary Trey Sapp and family

The narrative mapping of a community is an opportunity that includes prayer walking the neighborhoods, initiating conversations with shop owners and patrons of the coffee shop culture, and brain storming opportunities that would present the chance to introduce the Gospel to these people for the first time.  Our team did have several opportunities.

Our team also had the opportunity to see several churches, Christian organizations, and college groups while we were in Amsterdam.  Zolder 50 is a church plant in downtown Amsterdam that is doing an outstanding job of reaching the college age/young professional generation of Amsterdam.  It was so refreshing to see in even a city as spiritually dark as Amsterdam there were believers even there with a vision to see the Kingdom of God advance in their city!

The Red Tulip Team has been in Amsterdam for almost three years now and they ask that our church family continue to be in prayer for their team.  Our Istrouma team had a great opportunity to not only assist the Red Tulip Team in learning about the Turkish Culture in Amsterdam but we also were able to encourage the team by just being their and serving along side of them.

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