Days 8 & 9

Well that's it. The bags are packed; email addresses are being swapped and people are getting ready to go home. The week in Emmeloord is coming to and end and for this group of young people it is a week full of memories which will last the rest of their life.

Yesterday was another highlight of the week and there are some photos of our day above.

In the morning we went to Urk, a unique village in Holland, only 12km from where we have been based. It is unique because it has its own culture and language and is seen by many Dutch people as being almost a separate community. The people of Urk themselves have a strong independent streak and also have a strong sense of faith, though this tends to be strongly legalistic and exclusive.

In the morning we enjoyed a fantastic boat trip out into some fairly choppy waters which meant some of our party got a good soaking from the higher waves. This gave us a great opportunity to see how picturesque the town of Urk is. It attracts plenty of tourists and on a hot sunny day like we had, we were able to see it at its absolute best. We enjoyed a foot-tour of the village and then we had lunch at the beautiful home of Wilma, one of the local church members.

In the afternoon we spent time in a local park doing some evangelism amongst the young people who were playing football and skateboarding there. Many good conversations were struck up and the gospel was clearly shared.

In the evening we held a farewell barbecue and some of the people we had contact with through the week came along; this gave more opportunities to share with these people. One lady who we had met at the summermarket on Friday told how she'd gone to church on Sunday for the first time in a long while and had been unable to stop crying during the service as she was struck by the truth contained in the songs that were being sung. Two boys who we had met at Urk in the afternoon cycled the 12km to attend. Three Moslem boys who we had chatted to at the football cage two days ago came despite the fact that it was the start of Ramadan and they could eat and drink nothing. These people are hungry for more than food.

We gave gifts and said thanks to our host families and then began the job of packing and tidying.

This morning there is a realisation that the week is almost over and people are quite tired and ready for their own beds. However, they also don't want the week to end and I hope this positive experience of mission will inspire them to think seriously about the future and how they can servce God. As one of the teenagers has said this week, 'I want to do more of this evangelism when I get back to the UK.'

Amen!