The Youth Group
On Saturday afternoon I came into The Hague Den Haag city centre to go to the gym... and to meet Rhode, the youth group's leader. We met an hour before the youth group arrived to prepare for diner. Once that was done, the teens began to arrive at the church office. We had dinner together and then headed to a nearby go carting location. It was my first time go carting and I know I wasn't the only one to have a lot of fun. The group is great. They're a mix of international teens most of who's families have moved here for various reasons. It was the first gathering of the youth group since they went to NewDay (I was still working at Youth With A Mission YWAM Heidebeek when they went). For those of you who don't know about NewDay, its a youth conference (for 12-19 year olds) in Norwich, Norfolk, England for the youth groups from the NewFrontiers family of churches. Normally there's about 6,500 participants attending each year for six days of camping on the Norfolk Showgrounds.
Yesterday, we had seven baptisms at church. Three of those getting baptised where from the youth group. Its amazing that these teenagers are willing to make a step to follow Jesus and they took a public step to confirm their faith and beliefs.
I've Moved In!
I moved in to my new home on Friday evening. I can't tell you how nice it is to have somewhere to settle down for the next for nine and a half months. All the moving around of the last nine months has gotten to me a bit. It was really satisfying to be able to unpack all my stuff and find places for everything.
I don't know how much I mentioned in previous blog posts but I'm now living with Rebecca and Martijn and their two young children. I'm now staying in a room on the second floor of their house in one of the outer suburbs of The Hague Den Haag. The kids have so much energy and are still trying to figure out what to make of having me in the house all the time. Its a new experience for us all. I've shared a house before, in London, and one of the couples had her baby whilst I was there, but that's different to having two kids about. When I posted my last blog on Saturday I was on my way home from the Go Carting and the family weren't home. They'd gone to see family. I got home late to an empty house, so I ended up showering and going to bed.
Impact Internship
Today, I ended up working on some stuff for the Connect Conference in Sidcup, London. We've got quite a large group going so I've been organising accommodation and documenting how people are getting to the conference. Its something I really enjoy doing.