Thursday

Greetings From Amsterdam!! This is Barb & I stayed in Amsterdam an extra day to rest, bike around the city & have a spiritual retreat day before heading home. It is Thursday evening about 6:00 and I have a computer in my room which is awesome! We have had a great time in Amsterdam & really nice fall weather...it has been sunny and a little cool. I biked all over the city today and my body is a little sore & tired...it feels good to sit down. We left our ministry guest house at 9:00 this morning & Teresa and Kathy took the train to the airport. I took a trolley to my bed & breakfast & dropped off my suitcase and picked up a bike. I am across the street from a beautiful park. I rode through 3 parks, along the canals and spent a few hours at the biggest park, Vodelpark. They have some great outdoor tables for tea and a croissant. I read and worked on my bible study..it was great. I again biked along the canals, shopped a little and had lunch/dinner at my favorite little cafe. I plan to rest this evening and get to bed early...I have to catch a trolley at 8:00 and then the train to the airport and fly out at 11:30. Wow...i can't believe I am coming home tomorrow...I am excited...ahhh, my bed and clean bathroom & my family and home will be great. It is hard to explain but because we have done so much and gone so many places we feel like we have been gone at least a month!! Ministry in Amsterdam has gone really well. We stayed with Carolyn & Johan Roos - he is Dutch and she ia an American..they are about our age & have 4 grown children. They are with WYAM and have been ministering in Holland for about 30 years. We stayed in bedrooms on the 3rd & 4th floors in one of those tall row hours. It was built in 1746..very old & quaint. We had a great outreach on Tuesday night & had about 20 people attend & got to pray with most of them. Wednesday we spent some time praying, planning & preparing for our evening meeting. In the afternoon we took a train to Haarlem and toured Corrie TenBoom's house..it was very interesting & a little emotional. We had lunch at a cafe on a beautiful town square. We met with lay leaders from Cross roads International Church last night and it went very well...we had about 15 people in attendance. They are very interested in our bible studies and we anticipate beginning a ministry with that church. Thanks so much for all of your prayers ...this trip has been one of our best ministry trips despite a few health problems...whew, we are all a little weary and ready to get back to America!! Pray for Teresa as she heads right to training at Sue's and then home on Saturday. Pray for all of us as we transition back & recover from jet lag. I will post some pictures from our trip by early next week. Blessings to you...Barb ,Teresa & Kathy