When we left for The Netherlands, we were struck with conviction that the Lord wanted us to increase our faith.  After a victory, there is always a temptation to think that the next experience will be a downer, “comparatively.”  The Lord challenged us to walk in the opposite spirit, and ask to see even more of Him than ever before on this trip.  The first morning after we arrived, OJ introduced the group, and Pete taught the simple, profound truths of original design, explaining that the Bible calls us in Eph. 2:10 God’s “masterpieces,” created in Him for great works.  We explained why it is important to recognize that we each have a unique design and eternal purpose, and become aware of how that individual design is strategically opposed.  OJ taught the concept of strongholds, the freedom that comes through repentance, and how God’s purposes for our lives can be restored to us through freedom.  To demonstrate how we ask the Lord about individual designs, we asked for a volunteer to come receive a few pieces of their original design in front of everyone.  The Lord, of course, came through and spoke to who our volunteer was, and then we asked for a lie that the enemy brings that specifically opposes her design.  She was a lovely, faith-filled woman, and I laughed when I found out that we had prayed publicly for the chair of the leadership team without even knowing it!  Good thing God is faithful! 

At the end of that meeting, there was a signup sheet for prayer just for that day and the next, as we still were determining the schedule.  But soon after, we found people puzzling over the filled sheet, writing in their own times, signing their names at the bottom to indicate that they wanted prayer and there were no slots left.  There was such a hunger!  It was an exciting problem…too much hunger, not enough time.  So we indeed had to up the faith level.  By the end of the week, the 30-minute prayer times were cut in half to 15 minutes to get to everybody, and we were all needing to hear a lot better a lot faster!  We ended up praying for more than 60 people in the week, all of those receiving their original design, and a core stronghold.  A few highlights were the youth evangelist who had his leadership restored, a beautiful young lady who was released from anger at an abusive relationship, a powerful woman released from the lies of jealousy that kept her on the fringes of the community, and an amazing mother of teens who broke after more than 40 years the defensiveness and condemnation that her father’s criticism had forged in her as a little girl.  I wish I could tell you all the amazing stories, but there’s so much.  It’s just such a joy to see the Father speak to His kids’ freedom in ways that let them know how well he knows them.  On our way off the base the very last day, OJ grabbed me and pulled me over to where a wonderful older man was working on a project.  He and his beautiful bride of 49 years (!!!!!!) had received prayer from OJ and Pete earlier that day.  OJ explained to me that the Lord had revealed fear as the stronghold, but that they had not received the root of it during the prayer time.  He asked for a quick highlight.  I closed my eyes and saw a picture of WWII, and German soldiers everywhere.  I described what I saw.  His eyes got wide, and without thinking he just began to blurt out, “It was terrible!  From when I was 5 to 10 we lived in constant fear.  I almost lost the ability to walk, I was so weak from their treatment of us…I cannot believe that you guessed that…”  It was an honest, unguarded moment, where it was obvious that the Lord was speaking to his heart at a level one just cannot prepare for, where all the dots connect forcefully in an instant.  God was meeting Him right there in the square.  We had to dash off immediately, but we left with the knowledge that God was taking His 70 year old son on His knee right behind us and healing of the heart of a little boy.

As I said, there were so many other stories.  We could see the change in people by the end of the week, and they were coming up and testifying to the Lord’s work in them.  At the end of the long week, we unwound a little by touring around the area with a fiery young man of God from the base.  I hope to upload some pictures from our day.  We saw the ancient city walls, still strongly fortified against attackers, the old city gates leading to an inlet out to the sea, and cobbled streets.  We saw a Jewish cemetery from the 17^th century, and a synagogue that was as old, and learned of the decimation of the Jewish population in the war.  According to our host, there are still very few Jews in the Netherlands, most of them having been killed by the Nazis.  It’s strange to stand in an incredibly beautiful place, and yet know that you are looking at the very gates that families were dragged through to die.  As we learned through a few intense prayer times, the scars of WWII are still very much marking the soul of the peoples here.  We saw windmills and drove over a huge dike, marveling at the hundreds of miles of land that have been recovered from under the sea.  (NB:  I tried to figure out with my host what would have prompted people hundreds of years ago to create farmland out of seawater, and we decided they must have had the choice:  we need land.  Either we fight the Germans for it, or the sea.  We choose the sea!)  We saw more people on bikes than in all the USA combined, and almost fell for good prices (in Euros) on bargain items, doing the conversions just in time to save ourselves.  We toted Judah in the backpack and Ariel in the faithful umbrella stroller till they feel asleep pink-cheeked in the car.  It was a great day, a great trip, and a huge victory.  God bless the Netherlands!  And so…on to Germany!