I have been on a few mission trips before but none of them impacted my life the way that Amsterdam did this past break. While I always knew that God wanted me to go on the past trips that I had taken, I had never before felt His prodding and pressuring for me to go a particular place. When things were financially tight at the beginning on fall semester, I seriously considered dropping the trip. God apparently had a different plan in mind and things began falling into place, He began showing His amazing providence. During these months of preparation, He also began to burden my heart like never before for the people that I would be encountering in this city. I had never felt so drawn to and concerned for a group of people before and I felt bolder that ever, burdened heavily with a need to tell people this very important News.

Upon arriving in Amsterdam, God continued to lead the way. It was amazing to be aware of a change in my heart, consciously being able to see Him work and form me for a purpose that He has for my life. I have always been very timid and generally very quiet (though I have become quite talkative at Truett, haha). However, all of my fear and intimidation melted away at the sight of these people. I found it easier to strike up conversation and steer it towards the Gospel than I have in any of the other countries that I have been to. I found that it was easier for me to understand the culture and find its emotional vacancies, its inadequate answers for the emotional questions and heartache that its people suffered.

My favorite place to visit was the Balkon Café and Burger King, as that is where I found the majority of good conversations. The people I met were so wonderful and so willing to talk, though some less enthusiastic to talk about religion than others. What struck me the most though was how easy it was to find a bridge to present the Gospel and how many people would listen to what you had to say. I enjoyed asking them, “How do you feel about that?” After I finished anything religious that I had to say to see if they were paying any attention as well as to see what reservations they held concerning spiritual matters. I was impressed that most everyone listened very well, able to give good feedback on what they had heard and it also struck me how many of them would then open up to honestly share their opinion and questions concerning the information that they had heard. Many of the questions I heard were similar, a struggle with pain, a distaste for the disrespectful attitude of the church toward others, the hurtfulness of hypocrisy, the fear of no purpose in life, the problem of evil and fairness. Most every response was rooted in emotion. Though some of these sound like smokescreens, and indeed some of them were, the majority I found were genuine concerns. Their culture lacked the ability to answer life’s toughest questions with any satisfying answer and the people seemed genuine concerned about that. Most people who said they didn’t believe in any truth came down to this point. The lack of sufficient answers led them to a distrust of anything claiming to be true, how could any one thing can have all of the answers? Many responded that they wished it were so but believed it was too good to be true. There seemed to be a certain suspicion to being optimistic that there may be hope.

One girl in particular that I had the opportunity to share with was sitting with a group when we joined them. Of the three girls at the table, Patricia, seemed to definitely the most disengaged and I didn’t believe that she was really even listening as she sat back in the chair and continued to text. But after talking with some of her friends and answering some questions they had, able to share the Gospel in its entirety, as well as share a part of my testimony, Patricia began to look up from her phone and watch critically from the corner across from me. Perhaps though I read it wrong and it wasn’t really criticism toward my words as much as a criticism of a hope that was beginning to grow in her heart, because she suddenly began to lean forward and rest on the table, staring at me as I finished speaking. There was hardly a pause after my last word and her quick response: “So you aren’t afraid to die?” I must admit that this question caught me quite off guard because, though I probably shouldn’t be, I have always been somewhat of a critique when it came to using the “If you were to die right now” approach to witnessing. But it was right then that I heard God’s stern rebuke, reminding me that it had been a long time since I had had to worry about what would happen when I die and though it was not a fear that plagued my life, it was indeed a fear that shadowed the lives of others, and rightly so. I also was caught by surprise though because it seemed out of culture for this to be Patricia’s concern. The majority of people I had spoken to cared nothing of the thought of death or an afterlife and many said that they never even paid the topic any mind. Patricia, however, was different. God gave me the words to explain to her from the Word why we didn’t need to be afraid of death if we had the assurance of the Gospel. Her response was that she was saved but that she still worried about it. We were able to speak a little more on how we can have confidence in our salvation, but also determining what salvation really is and what it is not. She leaned back in her chair once more, a look of deep pondering on her brow. Her friends took over the conversation, wanting to talk about other things, but I couldn’t help but occasionally glance over at Patricia. This experience was the first really long, in depth conversation that I got to have on the trip and it became a standard for the way that I would think when speaking with people: Patricia was the last of all the girls that I had expected to respond in any way, I had never expected such an honest and obviously contemplative response, and she caught me off-guard because she wasn’t what I was expecting. These three things were illusions that I had held to subconsciously that God shattered that night. Who am I to put anyone in a box, especially God and limit what I think He can do and who He can reach.

I am so thankful that He taught me those invaluable lessons that night because as the week progressed and He graciously provided many other wonderful conversations, I was able to experience everything at a much higher level than I ever would have before because I had learned not to set up any expectations except for my own obedience to follow through on what He called me to do. I believe this is another reason that I have so fallen in love with the atmosphere of Amsterdam- everyone is so very different, and yet so much alike. They are different in that it is impossible to put everyone in a box and they are all so fascinating that it isn’t difficult at all to strike up an honest conversation because I was genuinely interested in hearing their story. But also we are all so alike in that it also isn’t difficult to find some kind of common ground with everyone. From an Australian girl named Amy who was backpacking through Europe to an Italian guy who loved to read to a Finnish girl who was a nurse. Amsterdam is a beautiful collage of personalities and cultures, but they are all bound by a few culturally similar dissatisfactions and fears- and this is where it is so easy to share the story of the cross, the Bible is the only book that has sufficient answers to the difficult questions that haunt them.

So the most significant thing I learned on this trip would have to be to be open and genuinely curious, never assuming, and never holding an expectation or map for the way things should go- it’s the ultimate adventure, you just have to go with it. I was used to this lesson when dealing with the physical side of a mission trip- ultimate flexibility when living out of a hammock in the rural mountains of Nicaragua, but it was a new experience to learn social flexibility. But I find that it has also been one of the most fascinating of lessons to learn and the most beneficial. This is one of the major things that I would stress to people going to Amsterdam: be flexible, but also be curious. Curiosity starts natural conversations and there is no fear or awkwardness then. But it is also very important to be alert to the subtleties of the conversation because that is where the opportunity to share the Gospel comes in and if you aren’t alert you can and will so easily miss your opportunity. Though I would stress that it is important to genuinely enjoy your time with the people and the conversations that you have and the things that you learn for them I would have to stress much more that though these things are great, do not forget why you are there and always keep in perspective the destiny of the person before you, that you may be determined and persistent to share the Gospel with them.

I feel like this trip had a huge bearing on my understanding of what God’s call on my life might entail but I also feel that the great majority of this impact is still beyond my comprehension. It has definitely encouraged me in evangelism more than anything else I have ever done and it came at a point when I definitely needed it. It has also re-energized me with an urgency and desire to share with everyone I pass, remembering always that when God calls you to ministry, He doesn’t call to you a specific group (though He may call you to live in a specific place) He calls you to everyone. My heart should be burdened for every soul that I pass and that passes me. There is still so much that I have left to learn and understand and put into practice but I feel that this trip was the biggest and most effective stepping stone to the thrusting me into the kind of ministry that I hope to faithfully uphold throughout my life, beginning now, not when I graduate.

Lauren Brown

The TMC Missions Team departs for Amsterdam in less than 18 hours. Please keep us in your prayers.

Erin Camp