will stacken - ywam amsterdam staff

hey all well here i am again. things are going fairly well here. but life is busy. i am finding that God is very busy within me though. i know this just because i am feeling so drawn to time with Jesus and reading My Bible. i wrestle with questions in my own life...questions about the neighborhood i work in...things like these. i must say that i feel awesome in general. life here is fun and i know this is where God surely wants me here. its just a constant adjustment to the life here....amsterdam culture...language...living on support...building my life here. so yea. hm...but i feel like i should share some news of what God is doing here...so here we go...

i am learning how to better follow my hunches here...learning how to better hear God in how to direct our ministry efforts. well last thursday night me and 2 other guys went out on the streets of the RLD for a night ministry from 11:00pm - 1am. we were praying for what streets to go down and what things we were to do for the evening. i was praying and waiting on God and i heard Him speak..."go to the back of the Oude Kirk and I will meet you there." no joke. Oude Kirk is dutch for "Old Church." so we followed God lead and went there. we prayed and waited for about 10 minutes when we noticed a guy there. so we went up and talked with him. turns out he was a new Christian from Nigeria in south western Africa. he was attending a Nigerian church here in Amsterdam. it was awesome. we were able to pray for him and one of the guys i was with even had some words of encouragement for him from the Lord. it was awesome. also, he told us that he was involved in some sort of "bad business" here in Amsterdam and that he knew that God didnt want him involved in it...he wanted God to get him out of it or at least tell him to get out. i was able to speak some real words of truth to him in this area. i could truly feel Gods presence when i shared insight and direction on this topic. i told him that God already made it clear to him that he must get out of this business he was in...it was now up to him to take the steps to get out. God would lead him through it, he was first need to begin moving on it. i think that is how i will end this blog.

there are times in our lives we know that God is moving us to do something. Hes put it on our hearts and we know we must do it. however, we tend to drag our feet or say "God please speak or clearly...give me a sign!"...however God has already spoken and we choose not to move on it...this can be due to fear...pride...thing like this. i guess encourage any one actually reads this to follow through on the things God has put on your heart!...do not let fear or anyone person come between you and God and things He has just for you. so yea. take care all. email me with your comments or questions.

heyhey

well its a beautiful saturday morning here in amsterdam...it was such a bad week of weather here. it rained and hailed everyday! but its normal weather for the autumn here. it was a good week though. i am beginning to watch the personalities of the people who live on the streets change. as the weather gets colder...so do they. they become harsher and less open. its not all of them, but a majority i am noticing. this is understandable, given there situation. however, it really makes me wonder and pray for them. how long will they continue to run from there problems? so many seek the isolation of the street. on the street they have no responsibility...no concerns. they know that others will provide for all there needs. its tough, Gods been challenging me with these things....

i know that i cannot and do want to be a part of there co-dependent cycle. i do not want to enable them to continue is such unhealthy and wasteful patterns. life is so much more! Jesus gave His life so that they may have life in abundance! this is what runs through my head and heart...the verse that has been in my head is 1 Corinthians 2:2, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." this verse is so powerful and straight forward. the context of it i feel is for all generations. this area knows "who" Jesus Christ is. they know that He was a person that did some stuff and "loves them." but they have do not "know." they have no idea of the immense depth of His love for them. but my point is, they do not know the Jesus "that for the joy set before Him" was crucified in there place. they do not know this man of passion. this is my mission and goal here. the NEED to know Jesus like this. they hunger for peace and freedom from life they are in. that's why use such hard drugs to escape the reality of it. I feel that Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians that people need to know more than just "Jesus"...they need to know the crucified and risen Jesus. i feel that this the Jesus that the world cannot except...but its the true Jesus. I hope my point comes across through this...

that's whats running through my head these days. life is good here for sure. i love this city and what i do in it. take care...always feel free to email with any questions for comments..

in Him...will

hey all

i hope and pray that life is going so well for you all. i know that things are well here. i can definitely say that God is busy in me and through. just to give examples of that so i dont sound so general...God has  been teaching me to keep short accounts with others. like if i have a grievance against someone, to talk with them and make sure i have nothing against my brother or sister. i know that at times christians can hold grudges and just plain dislike one another for no good reason. man, that frustrates me. as the "body of Christ," that cannot be! the body of Christ cannot be a disfunctional family! so Gods been teaching me that. especially here on the mission field...where we totally need to have a close and open fellowship with one another. we must be able to rely on one another.  its true. i think this truly stems from Matthew 5:24, "leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."...man, Jesus wasnt joking about that. God calls us be united..and  that is only possible when each of us in the body of Christ have a true personal relationship with Him.

so yea. i had to get that out i guess. its a rainy tuesday here in amsterdam. we are just about to go out the streets for our tuesday street evangelism. this is a really awesome time. for me, i have been able to meet a lot of the dealers at this time. i am able to talk with them and learn about who they are and how they got into this mess they are in. its interesting really. i guess i truly try to treat them like people show the that Jesus still cares about them and loves them....He does not and cannot love there sin. thus, He does not want to leave them where they are at...its pretty cool.

so yeah... i guess thats it for now. all is well...i hope its the same for all of you. take care...feel free to email me @    willstacken@gmail.com

seeya..in Him...will