A New Adventure Has Begun!

Hello to those of you who might still check this blog from time to time! I have started a new blog and I would love for you to read it! The address is http://arijaanbulk.blogspot.com and it will tell a lot more about what I will be doing with Campus Crusade for Christ in the coming year. Thanks for your support!

Oh Amsterdam. . .

Today I leave the Shelter. This is not fun because my time here has been wonderful - as I am sure you could tell by my previous posts. There's not much to say at this point but thanks for all of your prayers and support during my months out here! Today, after small group and trying to pack everything (will it fit?) I am off to visit many great relatives for 10 days. At this point I am just so excited and ready to move on because the Lord has really worked in me and through me here. . .I'm ready to put it all to practice at home. So, I'm ending with this picture taken at the Museum Plein. It makes me think of Exodus 3:14 - "God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you". Knowing that I have been sent by I AM is powerful and in this power I go on knowing that He goes with me wherever I go! Thanks for reading this summer - I will likely do at least one more post when I get back home to let you know how things wrapped up for me here. God bless you!

These are a few of my favorite things. . .

Let me start with the beautiful clouds - I love it when the sun is shining but there are these amazing clouds in the sky, it adds so much depth and interest. This I will miss! Another favorite thing are the canals here. It sounds so typical for me to say this but it's true - I certainly won't find anything like this in California. It makes for such a cool atmosphere! As for yummy favorite foods that I've had in the city one of my favorites has been falafel - a delicious middle eastern pita bread filled with utter goodness. . .sorry, there's just no other way to describe it! Another one of my favorite things has been my ability to confuse people in regards to whether I am Dutch or American - how about both?! One of my favorite things to hear people say has been "you look so Dutch" or "you act so Dutch", however because of my American accent I have rarely heard "you sound so Dutch" - I typically get made fun of for my language skills but that has been one of my favorite things as well! However, it has also been one of my favorite things to introduce all these internationals to some American culture - and hopefully breaking some of their stereotypical assumptions while I was at it. This picture captures a powerful moment - sharing Reese Peanut Butter Cups (thanks to Kelly!) with those whose taste buds have never experienced something so amazing before:

I'm helping to start a Reese Revolution. . . maybe soon they will start producing them here! Another favorite thing - effective public transportation, other then cars I might add. After living in this city it just sounds like the craziest thing that I have a car at home - that is so unnecessary here! Well, there are so many more favorite things I could add to the list and I think that once I've left I'll be able to recognize even more of them but I'll end with one more. A favorite thing has been getting to know the ins and outs of this city - with the hopes that one day I wil be back and be able to navigate around with confidence, knowing where all the coolest places are - the cafes, restaurants, shops, churches, museums, etc. It's amazing what two months in Amsterdam will do to someone. . . in the midst of all the madness there is just so much light waiting to be discovered - I am so thankful to have discovered it here!

My Shepherd, the Lamb of God

Some reflections on the Bible Discussion I just led in the hostel. I woke up yesterday morning with the strong feeling that I should prepare on the topic of the shepherd and his sheep. I had tentatively planned on doing a different topic but was thankful for this bit of inspiration from above! So, when this evening rolled around I was excited to share and discuss this topic with whoever the Lord had planned to hear it. Even though we invited many guests who were hanging out in the cafe the group consisted of me, Christian (a German staff member), Benjamin (a manager), and Jerome. Jerome is a new cleaner at the hostel, he started working and living in the hostel yesterday. He is originally from England but has been rooming around for 6 years now. I was so thankful to have him at the discussion and put aside any expectations of having a larger group knowing that it is God who is ultimately responsible and more then capable of bringing as many people as He wants to bring. So, I started the time with brainstorming together the different characteristics of a shepherd and of sheep. Then we turned to the Bible - there are so many references to this topic, in both the Old and New Testaments, for the sake of time I choose just a few. Starting in John 10:7-13 we looked at the contrasts Christ sets up between Himself as the gate in contrast to the thief, as well as Himself as the Good Shepherd in contrast to the hired hand. To get a better picture of our position as sheep and how the Good Shepherd views us we then looked at Luke 15:3-7. What an amazing image - Christ seeking us out, lifting us up out of the pit and onto His shoulders, and rejoicing over us as we step into His fold. So, these two passages pointed to Christ as our shepherd but what about Jesus as a sheep, the sacrificial Lamb of God - for this we turned to Isaiah 53:6-7. How crazy that He stepped down from the throne and into our position as sheep so that He could make us righteous before the Father by His blood alone. 1 Peter 2:24-25 tells of this as well. While sharing these verses and talking about them together God gave me the courage to ask Jerome directly what He believes about all of this personally. He went on to explain that he has been reading the Bible but has a hard time trying to figure out why Christ would die for His sins and why something that happened so long ago would be true for him today. This man is seeking and open to hearing God's word - now just pray that he could set his questions aside so as to accept the free gift of grace by faith in Christ alone. We closed the time by reading Psalm 23 - to think that what David writes of awaits all those who trust in God and dare to acknowledge Him as their Good Shepherd is just insane because I know I am not worthy of such love, joy,and peace yet on the otherhand I am worthy because of the blood of Christ that was shed for me. . . and you! One final thought that really both encouraged and challenged me by bringing the Bible Discussion time full-circle was the picture of my life as a cup that overflows. This is in Psalm 23:5 and it ties in so well with John 10:10 where Jesus says that, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full". Does your cup overflow, are you experiencing the full and abundant life that Christ came to freely give to us? It is my prayer that Jerome and all sheep that are still lost would come to experience this full life and it is my prayer that I and all sheep within the loving fold of God would come to experience more and more of this abundant life that He has promised!

Potato Festival!

Let me start with a picture of where I have been sitting all these months as I update my blog:

That's the library - usually a place busy with people using the internet, chatting, and looking for good books to read. Often it is hard to focus as I write, but still so fun to be with such a social group of people! I wanted to quickly share about the outreach my small group has planned for tonight. We are having a "Potato Festival"! Sounds random? Well, it is but I think it will be so fun! We will be making our own french fries, learning about some potato history, listening to a little art lecture about the "potato eaters" painting by Van Gogh, as well as playing crazy games - such as bobbing for potatoes and a three-legged potato sack race. makes you wish you'd be here for it, huh?! It should be a great chance to connect and form relationships with the guests as well as share the gospel with them (Bettina is going to initiate this during the art lecture, it will take some creativity!). As I think back on all the outreaches I helped to plan and participate in I am confident that the Lord will work in any and every way that He wants. To close, I am leading my last Bible Discussion on Saturday evening - please pray that guests would come and that I would be bold and compassionate towards those the Lord has entrusted me with during that time. Thanks - and Happy September!

Gezellig!

This word is the best way to describe the Jordaan (the name of the area in Amsterdam that I've been living). . .too bad there is absolutely no translation for this word in English! You'll just have to come out and experience it for yourself one day. If I try to describe the word I would use adjectives like: fun, cozy, cheerful, festive, relaxed - but really it's a combination of all these words and more! From what I've heard, in the past the Jordaan was the poor area in Amsterdam but that has now changed. I see many ritzy looking people riding on their bikes in nice suits and dresses - probably on their way to their work. There are lots of cool art galleries and specialty stores up and down the many tiny streets. And the cafes, there are so many cafes! This is really cool because in the early evenings. . .when the weather is nice. . .there are many people sitting outside - drinking and socializing together. The buildings and canals are so wonderful as well here - they really add to the atmosphere. Along with that there are many "hofjes" to be discovered. These are beautiful old secret courtyards that the rich made for the poor and the sick to enjoy. From the street you would never guess they were there, you enter through a door only to find some of the most beautiful and peaceful scenery in this crazy city. What a blessing it is to step into a hofje - a great chance to enjoy a bit of nature and silence! Another "gezellig" aspect to life in the Jordaan are the great markets that happen a few streets down from our house on Saturdays and Mondays. Anything and everything is sold here - from bras, to batteries, to broccoli for example! Not to mention delicious cheeses, beautiful flowers, and an abundance of second hand treasures that I typically don't have the patience to search through. It's such a great chance to be amongst the many people that live here or travel to this area because of all the great things they've heard about it. Well, I hope I have been a decent tour guide and that you are now convinced to come and experience the gezellig nature of this wonderful part of Amsterdam - as I think about leaving I know for certain that a part of my heart will remain!

Visitors!

Now for a little post about how wonderful it was to see familiar faces here in Amsterdam! During the month of August (can you believe it is almost over?!) 4 friends from San Luis Obispo, my college town, came to this crazy city for various reasons. I'll go in chronological order. The first visitors were Tim and Steven (Bessie). They had been traveling through Europe for sometime and Amsterdam was their second to last stop before heading back to California. Sadly, the two days that they were here it rained so much (what's new though) but we still tried to make the best of it. We were able to go to the Jewish History Museum together which was really interesting. Also, here's a great shot of Tim using one of the many outdoor urinals in the city(for this reason I am glad it wasn't hot because when it's hot you shouldn't get anywhere near these because it stinks!):

Hopefully you're not to embarrassed Tim, but you said I could! It was great to hangout with these guys - and feed them! My goodness, their idea of traveling was to not eat because that costs money - not the way I would do it. So, it was fun to feed them Shelter food. . and then they were off to Paris! Next came Kelly, while visiting her aunt and uncle she made the time to spend a day with me. First we walked around for a bit - stepped into the Westerkerk to get out of the rain as well as to catch a glimpse of where Rembrandt was buried and to hear a quick bit of an organ concert that was going on. We also walked into a Tulip Museum - which is where this picture was taken:

There is quite the story behind this picture because little did I know that when we came into this museum we would get into quite the spiritual conversation with the man running the place. Really something, to be used by God when you least expect it! Through the course of the day her aunt and mom ended up joining us and we had such a nice time walking through the Jordaan. There are so many fun little things to discover here. We also went out to Rembrandt Plein where they have created a lifesize iron version of the "Nightwatch" painted. The city is crazy about Rembrandt right now because it's his 400th Birthday - even some of the trams are covered with his artwork. After some more fun in the city we headed to Kelly's aunt's house and had such a nice dinner there (ah, Mexican food - it had been so long!) with lots of laughter and stories for dessert. What a fun day! And finally, Lauren came to visit for 3 nights before heading of to Florence to study architecture for a year. This was my chance to be a real tourist. We hit up the Rijksmuseum (with lots of art work, including Rembrandt and Vermeer), the Van Gogh Museum, and DNA Fashion Exhibit. We also spent an afternoon in Haarlem (gotta love Corrie Ten Boom!) followed by lots of walking through Amsterdam. We went to the Albert Cuyp market . . . where Lauren experienced her first fresh Stroopwafel:

Yum, a must-have while in The Netherlands! How nice it was to have each of these friends here - to show them where and how I have been living for the past couple of months as well as to talk about life at home with someone who has been there and has an understanding of what it's like - an understanding that is not based on what Hollywood depicts (people are quite fascinated with the fact that I am from California. . .I blame many misconceptions on the movies! Yes, we have snow and no, life is not like it is on the OC. . .but, alas it is true that Arnold is the governator). How blessed I am to have had this opportunity to see familiar faces here - I had no idea this would happen before I made the decision to come out here. . .but then again there are many things that I could never have expected. God's plans are so great - far greater than anything I could ever dream up for myself!

Faith

A couple of days ago I prepared a Bible Discussion on the topic of faith. I was spurred on to do so after my faith in the Lord's power to heal (spiritually of course. . . but physically also!) was increased. I had a sweet time preparing and felt like things came together somewhat smoothly. Anne, my roommate, was my attender and after spending some time in prayer together we went into the cafe and patio to invite guests. This part can be a little nervewrecking because you just never know what their reaction will be to the invitation to join. Leading a Bible study at home is so different in this regard - I usually have the liberty to assume that at least one (usually many more - you girls are wonderful!) will show up. . .and that they are Christians. I can in no way make these assumptions here. Well on this particular night no one was interested which initially was disappointing but it ended up being really cool. I figured that since I had prepared Anne and I should go on with it and discuss the topic together. We talked about what faith is (Hebrews 11:1) and what the opposite of faith is (Romans 14:23). We also discussed the idea that faith is a gift from God and that He is the only one that can bring us into a saving relationship with Himself. This comes from Ephesians 2:1-5 and the understanding that God makes us spiritually alive - just like I could do nothing to bring myself back to life if I died, the same is with my spiritual being - when I was dead spiritually it was only God who could make me spiritually alive, He gets all the credit! We went over several other verses and just had a good time mulling over this topic together - we didn't necessarily see eye-to-eye on all things but that's what a "discussion" is all about. The unseen can be a challenge to wrap our minds around and I certainly don't have all of the answers but hey, that's why God is God - I will leave it up to Him to reveal more of Himself to me in due time or to keep things from my understanding according to His purpose. As we were wrapping up we heard Freek, a manager, playing the guitar and worshiping so we went out to join him. It was so cool - we were singing "Shout to the Lord" in Dutch, German, and English simultaneously. . .don't think I will be experiencing that at home anytime soon! Anyways, the blessings the Lord had in store for my Bible Discussion were different then what I thought they would be - and they continued today. A new guy on staff here, Christian (yet another German!), and I got to talking about faith and it was great! He pointed me to a verse I hadn't thought of - it's "powerful", as Ryan from Las Vegas always says. I'll end with it now, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (have faith!) that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mark 11:24). Yep, that's powerful - that's Jesus for ya'!