The Journey

Well, it's been nearly a week, and this evening is about the first time I've had any length of time to blog. It's about 11.15PM here, and our time has been really jam-packed. We've been at for about 14 hours/day since we got here. But tonight offered a little bit of down time for us after about 10.30PM. The days have been long, but they have been good. I'm looking forward to sharing some specific stories in some future posts (maybe more tomorrow?), but for now here are a few images of take-off for us.

The photo above was taken as we were leaving Pittsburgh International Airport. It's the first time I've ever looked out at the terminal as we were taking off (probably because I'm usually in an aisle seat).



This picture represents one part of our team. Our entire team was seated in the same row, but half of us were separated by an aisle. This was Kathryn's second trip to the Netherlands and Jamie's first trip out of the country. It's cool to see how they are both stepping out of their comfort zones, and serving people. Kathryn was so moved by the people of Amsterdam when she first traveled on a mission team in 2003, she wanted to return again. Jamie has been hoping to go on a STM to amsterdam since 2006, and that hope finally became realized this Spring.



Above are the two guys who were across the aisle--Curtis and Ricky. This was a series of firsts for Curtis. It was his first flight, his first time out of the country, and his first mission trip. Ricky, similarly to Jamie, has been hoping to make a mission trip to Amsterdam since 2006. Although he has traveled over much of the world, this marks the first time he has taken a trip dedicated to missions.

I'm really excited for this team, and the work God has been doing in their lives so far. They have also had a huge impact on many people here in the Netherlands. It's so cool to see what happens when people step out of their comfort zones for Christ.

So what about you? How are you going to step out of your comfort zone for Christ? Of course you may not need to come to Amsterdam to do that (although there are some HUGE needs here, but maybe God needs you to do SOMETHING to shake up the routine of your life, and open an opportunity for you to be a blessing to others. I pray you will take some time to talk with God about it, and to listen to what He has to say.