Happy Thanksgiving…and an update!

Can’t believe how fast these past few months in Holland have gone! So much has happened. It’s been so amazing, I’ve forgotten to blog! Just kidding. I’ve actually started three of them and never finished due to falling asleep or being interrupted by something or someone. Welcome to living in community. The plus side to getting a Masters of Divinity, you get to learn a bunch of great stuff about the Bible! The downside, you learn a ton of stuff about the Bible all at one time! Seriously though, it’s been amazing to dive into a deeper knowledge of topics like Bibliology, Cross Cultural Christianity, Old Testament Survey, Survey of Doctrine, Early Church History, and even my least favorite, Biblical Greek.

One of the issues I’ve had to deal with is time management. That’s never been my strong point and it’s been even more difficult at this point in my life. Why? Everything takes time. Not only do the requirements of school take time, but starting a new life in a new country takes time. Finding and building new friendships takes time. Building relationships with the youth and their families takes time. Learning my way around town so I don’t get lost every time I go into the center takes time. My time flies away from me faster than I can grasp at it. I’m looking forward to having a few weeks without any studies before heading home to spend time nurturing these budding friendships here.

I am so thankful God has provided the opportunity to get plugged back into working with youth again! It really was an answer to pray to be able to get on staff part time with the church. It’s only ten hours a week, but a lot can be done in ten hours! And it helps cover some of the expenses of being over here. Haven’t gone hungry yet, but sure could use a little extra support for the upcoming years.

For those of you who don’t know, Crossroads International Church has brought me on to work with the older 15+ group. My job basically consists of building relationships with the youth, plan socials and volunteer events, be the contact person for parents and students, and be the liaison between volunteer leaders and church staff. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment due to the cultural differences. But it’s been a great experience and I look forward to getting to know the youth, their families, and leaders better over the next few years.

On a personal note, I’ve been blessed to get involved with a small group that meets every week right down the street from the office. It’s made up of mostly Dutch people and one other American. The church has been a great blessing and I’ve been able to develop some good friendships there. And Amsterdam is an amazing city! Every chance I get I enjoy going into town and taking in the sights. My parents bought a museum pass for me when they were here in August and I’ve taken full advantage of that with some of the other students here. We’ve also been able to take some great trips as a school and see some other parts of Holland and Europe. The first trip was to the Palais Het Loo and just last weekend we headed to Cologne, Germany for the opening weekend of the Christmas market.

Thank you for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. I look forward to seeing some of you back home in December. If we aren’t able to meet up then, I’ll be back during the summer for a month and a half (most everyone is on holiday here during July and August, so I’m headed home to see friends and family and do a little support raising). Everyone loves pictures, so click on the photos to see the latest ones:

Autumn in Holland

Third Month In Holland

Welcome to Holland!

After 12 hours of traveling, I’ve made it to Holland! Nenad and Stef welcomed me with open arms at the airport. Open arms for a hug…and to help carry the massive amount of luggage I have. It didn’t take long for us to get to Tyndale Theological Seminary from Schipol. I had about an hour to start getting settled in before dinner. The first couple months here I’ll be without a roommate, but he’ll return from visiting his home country of Romania in August. It’s probably a good thing he wasn’t here cause everything got opened up and piled all over the place as I began settling in rather than take a desperately needed shower.

Dinner was fun as all the new people started mingling with the current, and some graduated, students. The food was good, but let’s face it, you can’t really mess up a good BBQ anywhere you go in the world. We then played a few ice breaker games before breaking off for the evening. Several of us decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and took a walk around town which then lead to drinking tea and talking for a couple hours.

And now it’s 2am Dutch time and my bed is still not 100% put together and I’ve yet to take that now very much needed shower. But, I wanted to share some pics from the first and let everyone know how the day went. Tomorrow brings a pancake breakfast at 8am and orientation at 9am. Some plans have changed for this weekend and it looks like I’ll be talking with Daniel from Crossroads before joining the youth leaders for a BBQ Saturday night and then heading to church Sunday instead of joining the younger crowd for poldersport. Will keep you posted on how things go this weekend!

Click on the link or photo below to check out the pics:

https://picasaweb.google.com/toryjalmond/FirstDayInHolland

Father Knows Best

Believe it or not, God knows what’s best for you. You may be questioning something that’s happening in life. But He knows how it all will work out. It may look like an opportunity went bad. But He knows what’s best for us. He knows the gifts He’s given you and me and how we can use those to glorify Him best. So let me quickly encourage you to seek God, listen to His guidance, and be willing to humble yourself if He leads in a different direction. There’s great joy to be found in following His leading.

Getting Your Feet Wet In European Missions

God has really blessed and shown His directing and guiding throughout the process of moving to Europe these past few months. I never would have anticipated moving forward in this direction, but that’s when you know God is leading. For those of you considering doing ministry in Europe, I’d like to suggest a great way to get your foot in the door. Go as a student. And here’s the reasons why:

1. Visa’s are easier to get.

Getting a visa as a missionary has become very difficult and expensive in Europe. If you fill out the wrong form or file it the wrong way, you could jeopardize you chance of getting in for many years. But, if you go in as a student, the process is much simpler and cheaper. One thing I’ve noticed as I do research for post graduation, several countries allow you a year after graduation to look for a job before being booted out of the country!

2. Cost of living is cheaper.

Just as an example, for me to live with roommates in Amsterdam would cost at least $150,000 a year. By living on campus and eating their food, I’m 0nly out $18,000 a year. That’s a major savings when trying to start raising funds! The nice thing about Europe, especially near university campuses, you don’t need a car to get around. A simple bike and basket gets you around to most places you’d want to go. If the bike can’t get you there, public transportation can get your anywhere else you need to go.

3. Strengthen your gifts.

Not sure if anyone else feels this way, but I could sure use a little refreshing and sharpening of the gifts after doing ministry for several years after college. The experience that now comes to the table while learning brings new perspective and questions. There have been several occasions I felt very unprepared for situations that came up and only through the grace and power of God did I make it through. Going over and studying helps build up your toolbox and sharpens the tools you already have.

4. Great way to connect.

If you know God is leading you overseas and have a general idea of where, going over and spending a few years before jumping on full time can help you get connected in several ways. First, spending a few years in a country helps you learn the culture and language. Which leads to more effective ministry. And most mission boards want you to spend a couple years doing nothing but learning the language and culture, so why not already have that experience before even talking to a mission board. Second, you don’t have to commit to one type of ministry just yet. Throughout your time as a student, you can get to know the people in the area and work with several different churches and missionaries. It’s a great way to see how your gifts can be used to be the hands and feet of God. Knowing more specifically how and where God is leading makes it easier when trying to find an organization or mission board to join after graduation. Third, you may learn by getting involved that particular area is not where God would want you but where you would want to go. On a personal note, I’ve learned my gifts and personality would fit better in a European setting than in South Africa. I’m so glad God knows what’s best for me and closed things off to head south of the equator.

So there you have it. My opinion on why studying in Europe for a few years makes a great way to explore doing missions in Europe long term. Please feel free to comment and ask questions. Let me know your thoughts on the idea.