Many years ago my life was forever transformed when I realized what it means to be a true student of Jesus Christ and I put my faith and trust in him alone. From that point forward my goal has been to use whatever God gives me as a positive and transforming influence in the lives of others.

Anytime I start to worry about what I do or build for God, my life begins to drift off track. It can be very tempting to worry about why my ministry, church, or career is not as big or famous as that of another, or proud that it is.  The pursuit of God in scripture continually reminds me that the success of my life is not as much concerned with what I do as it is with what I am and what I am becoming.

So, as I seek to take inventory of my life, I look for signs of transformational influence in the lives that God brings across my path. Seen from the perspective of that metric, these past few days have been confirming and encouraging.

In Croatia I saw a church made up of key families influenced by contact with KCBT 20 years ago. This is not to say we or I have been the only or even the main influence in their lives. This is only to say that when God connected us we did what we should have done and both parties were enriched. We gave to them training, tools, encouragement, friendship and enough money to put doors and windows on a new building they sacrificed to build for over two years. They gave us love and friendship, confirmation and inspiration in return.

In Germany I met with a pastor who has been a friend of our ministry for several years. We have been of encouragement to each other and to a group of Spanish-speaking pastors in Germany. At dinner with us that evening was a young man and his wife who attend his church. I can remember meeting him in his native Mexico just a couple of months after he had come to faith in Christ. Certain church leaders were discouraging him from his dream of singing opera and insisted that he should only sing “Christian music.” I gave him an alternative view that confirmed to him that he should invest the gift God gave him and that led to his meteoric opera career. Interestingly enough, he continues to be faithful to God’s call on his life, serves in his local church and has the opportunity to share his faith with people most of us could never access, even though much of what he sings is not “Christian music” as many have come to define it within the parameters of contemporary Christian culture.

Hosper Mulder, Daniel Douma, Ralph Johnson and me

One of the men on the trip to Amsterdam has an electrical construction company in Louisiana and also is pastor in a church. He is finishing his studies with KCBT’s Shepherd School of Ministry by extension. Sometimes I worry that we don’t have the resources to provide all I would like to provide to folks like this. One day as we were traveling together he said that his experience with Shepherd School of Ministry has been the single most influential factor in his life outside of his conversion to faith in Christ. Wow! That was a wonderful confirmation of what can happen if we just let God use what he has placed in our hands.

Our final morning in Amsterdam we had breakfast with two Dutch men, Hosper and Daniel, who are also finishing their course of study in Shepherd School of Ministry and plan to come to Kansas City for graduation this Spring. I was blessed to hear them discuss their experiences in their studies and how much it has meant to them.  This is the type of thing that makes me content with who God made me to be.  It’s great to be part of a team, a church family that is committed to being a transformational force in the lives of others. We all exert influence over others for good or for bad. My prayer is that we can continue together to use whatever influence we have for eternal transformation.

I’m writing these words from the Newark airport having landed not long ago on US soil. The rest of the group took a different route because their tickets were purchased at a different time. Sadly, their flight was delayed four hours in Amsterdam and they have still not landed in Houston. I was to leave three hours later than them and it looks like I might beat them home. Travel can be glamorous at times!

Man! This week always seems to fly. Everyone feels that they have had a very full week, but there is always so much more they would like to do and there is just not time.

This morning I finished the section on key periods of missions history and concluded with thoughts on how we each find our place in God’s mission. That was followed by a time for sharing what God has been doing in everyone’s lives this past week. There was some sweet emotion and passion as several shared what they have been learning and what this week has meant to them.

Letting out a bit early, folks set out to do last minute shopping and sightseeing before meeting back at the hotel to leave for a canal tour of city under lights. I never get tired of this tour. Amsterdam is beautiful in so many ways. Following the tour we made our way to the famous Sea Palace for a fabulous dinner. This is always a great time to enjoy each others company. By this time the group feels like family.

Donivan, Nabil and Me

Speaking of family, my friend Nabil joined us for dinner and most got to meet him for the first time. As always he came bearing gifts for everyone. He had already sent them gifts with me earlier in the week. This is Muslim hospitality on steroids! His personality immediately captures an entire room of people. He quickly remembers everyone’s name and many facts about them. He tells them that he considers me his big brother.  He is a very special, loving man who in God’s providence has decided that he is now part of our family. I take that as both an honor and a great responsibility.

Nabil is so open to speak with me on every aspect of life. We have often discussed life’s spiritual dimension and several of us have had long conversations with him about faith in Jesus Christ over the years. He loves it when we pray for him and remembers every prayer request that he has asked of me and that fact that I did pray. I cherish his friendship and pray that one day we can share every aspect of faith in Isa the Messiah according to the scriptures.

I’ll be up early to say my goodbyes to the group as they leave for airport at 0645 tomorrow. I don’t leave until three hours later. It’s been a rich and fruitful trip, but I am very ready to be home. Thanks for your prayers and following along with me on this journey.

This post is a bit late (or early, depending on your time zone) because I could not access the Internet last night. Now I can and all is well.

Wednesday is the day I teach a bit on several key periods of missionary activity in church history. One thing that helps us keep focused, even as we near the end of our time here and are tired, is that so much of this history has to do with people and places not far from where we are. I always say that I teach some of this same material in Kansas City, but it is totally different when heard here. I asked this morning if that was true and the response was immediate and positive.

Wednesday afternoon we went on our public transportation adventure to a castle near the city of Utrecht. It involved riding a tram to the train station, a train ride to Utrecht, a 35 minute bus ride to the de Haar and a 20 minute walk to actually get to the castle. I am always amused to watch people’s reactions as they catch a glimpse of the castle for the first time.  Since the Netherlands is mostly flat, you don’t see the castle until you are right up on it.

I am writing this early Thursday and will try to give you an update on how things went today later.

What a good day! This morning I began our study time talking about three words not found in the Bible – mission, missions and missionary. Hopefully, everyone can correctly define those words now. Then, in our second session, we talked about this changing world in which we live.

Right after the class, we all headed down to Central Station to catch the train to Haarlem to visit the ten Boom Museum. I was thrilled when I saw the guide poke her head out of the side door in the alley. She is my favorite guide and does a marvelous job of telling the ten Boom story and presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the same time.

Nebil is my Muslim brother from Cairo. He has lived most of his adult life here in Amsterdam. He was a physical fitness instructor until an injury ended that career and he began working in hotels. Unfortunately, Nabil no longer works here at the hotel where we stay, but he is still my friend. I had dinner with him last week when I arrived and again tonight. Several in our group joined us and we had an absolute blast.

Nabil is the most amazing servant I have ever met. We have been friends now for many years. Cathy and Mark McGaughey, myself and others in our groups through the years have shared our faith with him on several occasions. With a person form his background, it is difficult to detect exactly where he is in relation to the Gospel, but he is very open, receptive and totally respectful. Nabil is transitioning to retirement status and this is not easy for him. His story of being released from his job is a complicated and sad one, but he is doing well enough. Several of you remember having met Nabil and being touched by his life over the years. Pray for him as he goes through this transition. We are just about the only family he has left and we are Jesus to him.

There were many things to like about today – it did not rain, it wasn’t as cold as it could have been and we found where the Haagen-Dass Ice Cream restaurant has relocated. When it disappeared from the Leidseplein a couple of years ago, many of us were in shock and grief. For those of you who know what I’m talking about there is now ample reason to return to Amsterdam.

Today’s class is one that I enjoy the most. I cover the linkage between the Bible, philosophy, art and culture. This is a class I have tried to teach in the States and it just doesn’t seem most Americans can understand what I am talking about until they are in a setting like the one here. I love seeing the lights come on as people begin to get what I am talking about. Seriously, of all that I teach during this seminar, I think this particular class is the most transformational.

Speaking of transformational, back to this Haagen-Daas thing … I don’t take pictures, so I stole some from Wendy’s Face Book so you can get an idea of the level of suffering we endure.

Wendy experiences REAL hot chocolate

Brownie Explosion!

Don't remember what this is called, but I'm pretty sure you gained three pounds just by looking

Donna happily compensated for enduring Indian food earlier in the evening

Mine is on the right