Faith Walk, Second Round, Day One.

Before I jump into the story let me give you a run down on what "Faith Walk" is.  Faith Walk is a time for you to learn to rely solely on God and His faithfulness.  You are sent out for a period of time (We did three nights, four days) without food, shelter, direction,  and a limited sum of money (We had ten euros for our team of four).  The goal of the Faith Walk is to serve the place where you are at, looking for the individual in front of you that may need a helping hand, and to bless anyone and everyone in whatever way possible.

So I embarked on my walk of faith with three of my friends from DTS.  I really loved the dynamic of our group because we really took time to pray and seek the Lord even if we got no response, our spirits were built up.  We started out heading East (We had this feeling) and ended up in front of a large hotel where we got out the guitar and started singing worship songs.  One of the girls pulled out her phone and decided to check her compass app,  it turns out that we were standing directly east!  I've learned that the littlest things seem like the biggest victories! We asked around at Starbucks, the Hilton, and the Library to see if there was anyway we could help out but were turned down every time.  We also had our friend from China with us and so we decided to take a chance and go to the biggest floating Chinese restaurant in Europe and ask if we could wash dishes or bus tables.  As the three of us sat there in anticipation listening to the conversation between our friend and another lady, all we had to go off of was facial expressions, hand gestures, and words we thought we understood.  In the end we weren't able to help them but boy, did they help us!  The cute little older Chinese woman told us that we could come back to her restaurant everyday if we needed and that she would personally cook food for us.  We were amazed.  We ended up leaving with individual take away boxes (bigger than the average size) filled with chicken and rice/noodles.  We walked away feeling triumphant and thanking God for blessing us with food.  You may think "God doesn't do that, He doesn't care about what you eat."  Yeah He does, that is who Jesus is!  He cares about the biggest and the tiniest things in our lives, and He blesses us accordingly.  He created us each as individuals and He knows us as such. There is no generalizing God,  He has a personal relationship with every person, and that is so evident.  Especially after hearing the other teams stories,  I saw how God worked differently in each team according to the needs.  Sorry I am starting to preach now,  but we cannot dismiss the small things God does in our lives!  He loves to bless us, and no it is not to rub it in the faces of those who are going through difficult situations.  God meets us where we are at, according to our needs and our hearts.  That is who He is.

I can see I may have to make multiple posts or else i'll end up writing a novel, but let's keep going

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We decided to start walking and take opportunities as they come, feeling lead by the Holy Spirit as to where He wants us to go.  So we would walk and someone would shout "Let's turn here" or "Keep going straight".  We ended up in front of a Church where we were hopeful to find a warm place to stay.  The only answer we got was "This is a Church, There is no place for you here." Door Slam.  I am still wrestling with the judgement in my heart when it comes to this event.  This is not the heart of God people!! I pray that the pastor there will have revelation of Gods heart for the poor and the needy.  This experience really gave me a bigger picture though of how easy it is to be burned by the Church.  There is so many times that we as Christians fall short, and fail to represent God for who He truly is.  It is so easy to let our interactions with humans determine our view on Jesus, and when we cling on to that we allow for bitterness to consume our hearts towards the one who actually loves and cares for us most.  "For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him."  John 3:16-17.

*Tangent, but God loves you so much!! I just have to keep saying that.*  Anyways,  after the Church experience we happened to walk past a  makeup artistry school that was in session.  I had this strong feeling (There is that word again, you will be hearing it a lot)  that we should stop and ask if they needed faces to practice makeup.  I shared my idea with the group but was too overcome by fear to do anything about it.  Luckily, one girl from Latvia who is full of boldness, went together with me to ask.  Unfortunately, they did not need girl faces because they were practicing basic grooming and Halloween makeup for guys.  You should have seen us, almost in hysterics as we pointed out the window and said "We have a guy, we have a guy!".  It was a crazy God thing because one artist had just gone out the door to find a guy off the streets because her model didn't show up.  So for three hours we got too watch the one guy in our group get his makeup done, drink tea, and sit inside warm & cozy room (and have a bathroom!!!).  It was really one of my favorite experiences getting to talk with the teachers and some of the girls, as well as a mom to one of the models.  We were able to share our stories and ask about their lives.  They thought we were pretty crazy (which we were slightly) but they were so welcoming and inviting.

At the end of those three hours are hearts were full of encouragement, and our bellies ached from laughter.  It's not every day you get to see your friend turned into a werewolf!  We continued on our way and stopped to ask for directions.  We started talking to a guy from Israel and ended up drinking coffee, sharing stories, and praying for him.  He was a really really kind hearted guy with a really beautiful heart.  It was inspiring to see how God used our lives to encourage him and to see that as we left he told how much peace he had started to feel.  By this time it was late in the night and we were hoping to find a place to stay.  The Christian hostel we ended up at was full, however they did their best to find us a place to sleep and provided us with warm food.  One of the guys from the hostel told us that if you go to the Police station they have to let you stay there, but let me just confirm and say that is not true.  We were turned away, and as our desperation grew, our pride diminished.  We went from hotel to hotel with no luck.  At around 2:30 in the morning we found ourselves on the richest street in Amsterdam.  To our surprise we saw people gathered in little huddles, some with sleeping bags, others with umbrellas in hand.  My first thought was that we found the place where the homeless people come to sleep, my heart literally filled with joy at the thought of being able to stay the night in a community like that.  As we continued to survey the area, the guy in our group pointed out that there was also people sleeping in cars.  We went over to talk with a group and found out that they were waiting all night for Kanye West's new "Yeezy" shoes.  Personally, I came face to face with the judgement that was lurking in my heart. Moments before we had been talking with a guy who shared with us about what had happened in Paris.  I could not fathom how a few pieces of leather that fit your feet could be this important, even if they were a rare commodity.  I actually had to leave and hold my mouth until we were out of ear shot, before I really lost my cool.  I had my rant about how hundreds of people just died and that the shoes were most likely made my child slaves in Cambodia.  I would like to be able to call it "righteous anger", to say the judgement was justified but it was not.  Upon reflection I wish I would had been able to swallow my disgust and to see these people through the eyes of Jesus.  Given a second chance I would love to just sit with them, to ask them questions, to hear their stories, and to represent Jesus in a way that honors Him.  Even though they are not trapped by slavery, they are still in bondage to the riches and material things of this world.  Jesus loves them the same as He loves me or you.  With an Infinite, Unwavering, Steadfast love.   It is moments like these when I am confronted by my own brokenness and need for a Savior.  

We ended the first night with 11 hours of walking, curled up in our sleeping bags on a benches around a tree.  We still were in high spirits though as we went to pee in a dark alley and silently cried out for protection as groups of drunks staggered home from the nights party.  Sleep didn't come easy, and while I laid awake breathing in the chilled night air, I was constantly reminded of how fortunate that these circumstances only lasted one night.  It continually broke my heart to come to the realization that for so many people this lifestyle is not a project, but a painstaking reality.  

At around 5:00 the next morning, we groggily packed up our things and headed back toward the city center.  Unsure of what the day had to bring but expectant to see the hand of God move throughout our lives.