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Some members of EBF Anti-Trafficking Working Group: Lauran, Sven-Gunnar LIden (Sweden, Chair), IM Missionary Debbie Kelsey, Maria Liden (Sweden)
Let’s Celebrate!
We’re celebrating our 400th birthday! Yes! A group of dedicated Believers in Christ decided that they were Baptists 400 years ago, in 1609—in a bake shop in Amsterdam! And so this summer the Baptists have celebrated our beginnings by coming to The Netherlands and learning about our history. But in addition to the merry-making and looking at the past, we have used the international attention to propel us into a future “bright with the promises of God”! We want the future to reflect our past: our beginnings were rooted in complete and unconditional devotion to the teachings and leading of Jesus Christ: no matter what. No matter where. There were those who died because they surrendered their lives completely to Jesus and refused to submit to any other authority.
No one died over the last week-end of July, 2009, when more than thousand members of the European Baptist Federation (EBF) and guests from all over the world came together for “Amsterdam400” to celebrate our beginnings. Rather, I believe that “new life” and the promise of “new things” was infused into our “mature” Baptist family. For me, the celebrations began with a “pre-conference” event sponsored by the EBF’s “Anti-Trafficking Working Group”. The Working Group decided to take advantage of the gathering of European Baptists to also offer events in Amsterdam that would educate people about prostitution and trafficking. And so we sponsored an over-night event in the middle of Amsterdam’s red-light district. We stayed in a youth hostel in the district, prayer-walked streets, learned from those currently in ministry and from one who has left prostitution. People from 14 countries came to worship and pray together and to seek God’s heart for the “new things” that God wants to be done. As the one local member of the Working Group, I assumed responsibility for the arrangements for the conference, with great help from Dutch Baptist women. One highlight of the event was the distribution of the Working Group’s THIRD anti-trafficking book! This one is focused on the DEMAND side of prostitution and trafficking—and how that relates to Christians and the church. Hopefully, it will soon be available in pdf format on the EBF web-site and can be used for discussion groups and forums. Our goal is to get these books into the hands of as many church leaders as possible.
God’s presence was shining in the Amsterdam’s red-light district! God has great and challenging plans for Baptists as we move into another new century!
We’re celebrating our 400th birthday! Yes! A group of dedicated Believers in Christ decided that they were Baptists 400 years ago, in 1609—in a bake shop in Amsterdam! And so this summer the Baptists have celebrated our beginnings by coming to The Netherlands and learning about our history. But in addition to the merry-making and looking at the past, we have used the international attention to propel us into a future “bright with the promises of God”! We want the future to reflect our past: our beginnings were rooted in complete and unconditional devotion to the teachings and leading of Jesus Christ: no matter what. No matter where. There were those who died because they surrendered their lives completely to Jesus and refused to submit to any other authority.
No one died over the last week-end of July, 2009, when more than thousand members of the European Baptist Federation (EBF) and guests from all over the world came together for “Amsterdam400” to celebrate our beginnings. Rather, I believe that “new life” and the promise of “new things” was infused into our “mature” Baptist family. For me, the celebrations began with a “pre-conference” event sponsored by the EBF’s “Anti-Trafficking Working Group”. The Working Group decided to take advantage of the gathering of European Baptists to also offer events in Amsterdam that would educate people about prostitution and trafficking. And so we sponsored an over-night event in the middle of Amsterdam’s red-light district. We stayed in a youth hostel in the district, prayer-walked streets, learned from those currently in ministry and from one who has left prostitution. People from 14 countries came to worship and pray together and to seek God’s heart for the “new things” that God wants to be done. As the one local member of the Working Group, I assumed responsibility for the arrangements for the conference, with great help from Dutch Baptist women. One highlight of the event was the distribution of the Working Group’s THIRD anti-trafficking book! This one is focused on the DEMAND side of prostitution and trafficking—and how that relates to Christians and the church. Hopefully, it will soon be available in pdf format on the EBF web-site and can be used for discussion groups and forums. Our goal is to get these books into the hands of as many church leaders as possible.
God’s presence was shining in the Amsterdam’s red-light district! God has great and challenging plans for Baptists as we move into another new century!