Strange Boat

The Waterboys

We're sailing on a strange boat
heading for a strange shore
We're sailing on a strange boat
heading for a strange shore
Carrying the strangest cargo
that was ever hauled aboard

We're sailing on a strange sea
blown by a strange wind
We're sailing on a strange sea
blown by a strange wind
Carrying the strangest crew
that ever sinned

We're riding in a strange car
we're followin' a strange star
We're climbing on the strangest ladder
that was ever there to climb

We're living in a strange time
working for a strange goal
We're living in a strange time
working for a strange goal
We're turning flesh and body

into soul

These lyrics pretty much capture our life right now... strange. Everything is strange: a strange place, a strange culture, a strange journey, a strange (but lovely) group of people, a strange purpose, a strange message. But it's the best strangeness in the world. 

"Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own..." -Genesis 15.13 

Ik Mis Je, Rachel!

A good friend left today. It's a sad thing to be left. I think it's always harder than leaving. Rachel Baransi has served our family in Amsterdam for the past eight months on her own time and on her own dime. She has served us, suffered for us, cooked and cleaned for us, bled for us (I'm sure), and sweated for us. And she has become friend to us, family to us, joy to us. This is my little happy tribute to Rachel. Ten things I have learned about what is special in life that I could have only learned from her...

1. Eet smakelijk! I must say this one first, as it is the one that she is the most famous for. Rachel is an amazing cook. Thing is... she didn't cook before coming to Amsterdam. Rachel could easily become a chef in a five star hotel (see good food here), but she would prefer serving five course meals to orphans. I hope she gets to do that one day. Until then, back to cans of soup for our family.

2. You can't laugh hard enough. There's enough tears to go round the world a few times. We need more laughs. Rachel had this little thing that she would do. When we would get laughing around the dinner table (usually because someone said 'penis' or farted or burped... Rachel knows we are truly barbarians), she would take it to the next level and bring out her Santa Claus laugh, and we would find ourselves laughing uncontrollably loud and long. Dinner was much quieter tonight.

3. The big things are the little things. Rachel taught me to notice the small things. She noticed every little phrase, every little action, every little squint of the eye. Perception. And she relished in it. When someone would say something normal or boring or stupid to the rest of us, she would find the humor or the profundity in it, usually making it her most recent facebook status. "Someday I'll give you one of my kidneys or something."

4. Service for a smile. I'm in Amsterdam, where service is nearly impossible to find and service with a smile is non-existent (sorry Amsterdam...love you still). Rachel is service and a smile. And she is one of those rare people who serves other people so they will smile. It's not service for a buck or service to get something in return... service to make you happy. One in a million.

5. People seeking people. Rachel is a connecter. In a world of disconnectedness and shallow relationships, it is a gift to meet someone who is genuinely interested in you for being you. Rachel loves people and genuinely cares for people. Wonder twin powers, activate.

6. Just (suck it up and) do it! I never heard Rachel complain. I'm sure she wanted to. I'm positive there were lots of reasons to (I think one of the kids pooped in the tub or on the floor one time). I don't know that I've met someone so young who is such an incredible servant under really challenging circumstances.

7. Give and it will be given to you. Rachel is a pay it forward person. And I know that she will get paid back... it's the way that God works in the world. He is generous to those who are generous. And Rachel is a generous person. Rachel didn't hang out for a year in Amsterdam, bum off friends, and smoke up like most people who visit the city. She worked tirelessly without pay, without community, without family, without ... without... What she had, she gave ... she gave... I hope a new movement of Rachels starts in the world. We sure need one.

8. I brought dreams, dreams. This was an under the water-line year for Rachel. Under the ground. Something that maybe won't grow tall for 10 years, maybe 20. But it will grow, and it will be a tree that will provide shade for others. Many people never let those things be planted down inside, and they never find what they were made for.

9. My sista' from a different mista'. Small families suck. I was always the kind of guy that didn't really want to have a family, much less a big family. I was stupid. The more people, the more fun... that is true. I've learned two important things... 1) The nuclear family concept to approaching modern life is good, but woefully inadequate. 2) No matter what size your family is, Jesus gives us a chance for a big family.

10. Dance more, think less. I think way too much and find myself lost in other worlds. Rachel would help me enter this world more often. And she would usually get me dancing in the process. Like most people, I suck at dancing. But I have realized that one of the greatest gifts is being able to cut loose without having had six beers to do so.

Rachel is a good friend, one that I would like to be more like. Thanks, Rachel for serving me. Thanks for giving me a great life this year. And remember one of your favorite quotes: "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" (Emerson).
Love,
Your brother from a different mother.
(The mice are out while I write this. They say hi.)

Vineyard Amsterdam Vision Sundays

It is great to be part of community. And over the past several months we have started to see a new faith community form here in Amsterdam. It is incredible to be part of the beginning of Vineyard in Amsterdam. Our vision for our new faith community is to be a place where people from diverse backgrounds can experience a living encounter with God, connect to genuine grace-filled community, and give themselves in love for the world. And it's starting to happen. The past two Sundays several of our friends from diverse backgrounds and cultures met together and encountered God, connected in real community, and started to get a vision for what it would look like for us to love the city of Amsterdam and the world. Here are some highlights...

No News

I love America, but I hate Wal-mart. The two sometimes go hand in hand. I went into Wal-mart today because I had to pick up a few things while I'm stuck for two weeks in this backwater Kentucky town. I know... not a great attitude, but I'm missing my other home. And as I'm standing in the underwear section looking for some t-shirts, this woman comes up and stands next to me and starts singing. Awkward. Please don't sing to me, especially in the men's underwear section in Wal-mart. So I stop and stand as still as possible and try not to turn my head toward her as she digs through the men's underwear. But I have to look, so without turning my head, my eyes follow her with a long, loathsome look. It wasn't that she was crazy, just a little too happy for me and my underwear. It continued for a couple of minutes as I stood like a statue waiting for it all to pass me by. She finally finished her show and walked away. My eyes followed her as she walked away and I think I muttered something to myself. But a moment later, as I moved to walk away, I felt the eyes of someone looking at me. You know that one, right? It wasn't a great feeling. I stopped for a moment thinking about how ridiculously judgmental I can be. And thinking about how too often I just miss it. I knew I had a chance and I missed it.

As of late, we in Amsterdam have been asking ourselves an important question: Since Jesus' message is good news, how is it good news through us to the city of Amsterdam? It's an important question that we can all ask ourselves: Am I good news to the people I interact with day in and day out? For me, the answer isn't as positive as I'd like it to be. It's not that I'm bad news exactly. It's just I'm usually no news at all. I think most of us are in the same boat. Most of us are 'no news' people. Not good, not bad, just nothing.

I just saw this video (Tony Campolo) that convinced me again that it is possible to be a good news person in simple ways. It's worth watching the whole thing...

Finding Jesus in London

A few weeks ago, I got to catch up with an old friend, James Mumford, in London. James came to Columbus and spent a year interning at Vineyard Columbus eight or nine years ago, before heading off to Oxford for his studies. Last night, I was a bit shocked as I clicked through the top stories on Time.com and came across an article that began with a story about James. The story highlights the encouraging trends in London as there are many more young professionals who are finding faith in Jesus than a generation ago. The Alpha Course, which originated from an Anglican Church in London, has had a huge impact over the past twenty years, with over eleven million people participating from around the world. This is an encouraging sign for urban centers in Europe. The churches in Amsterdam hope to see a similar turn around for faith here in our city in the next generation.

Half Life

I must first say that I am sorry. I am sorry for judging all of you bloggers all of these years for secretly thinking that you blog only because you don't have any real influence in peoples' lives. Or because you are narcissistic. Or bored. Or lazy. Or lame. Yes, I have had all of those thoughts, (and still do) mixed at times with a bit of jealousy. Now, it's all coming back on my head: I have bloggers block. I haven't posted for weeks. I have realized that blogging is a gift and I don't think I have it. I don't want to post crap, so I don't post anything. And, not posting anything is criminal in blogger world. But, a friend emailed and told me to post, and now I am doing so out of blogger guilt. Oh well.

A couple of days ago I went to the pool. Yes, I am in Amsterdam, so it wasn't an outdoor pool. But they have great indoor pools here. So, I took the kids. Have you gone to the pool lately? You quickly become self aware at the pool...dreadfully so (or, if you are hot, narcissistically so). So I'm looking at my arms thinking, 'Dude, you gotta work out. You are concentration camp skinny.' Ever have those moments when you want to suck in your stomach, or stick out your chest or butt? I had one right then and for a minute I had the idea that I could pull it off--I could be better looking than I am. Then, a few minutes later, I was brought to my knees. For those of you who don't know, I am a hairy beast. Literally. I wouldn't want you to see it to believe it. You just have to trust me. A few years ago when I went to Mexico on a mission trip, my friend had all the Mexican children in the village running around me shouting, 'Mono melenudo'! Imagine what it would do to your self-esteem if you heard dozens of kids calling you a 'hairy monkey." Well, I'm at the pool, and I have a flashback. Two dutch kids come up to me speaking dutch. (When I was a kid and would say something incomprehensible around my grandma, she would always say, 'You're speaking Dutch to me right now.') Well, they were speaking Dutch to me. I didn't understand their words, but I knew what they were saying. They were saying, 'Mono melenudo'! But in Dutch it sounds like this: 'Harige aap!' They were pointing at me and talking to me about how hairy I was. One kid was so enamored by my ape-ness that he was reaching out to touch it, like I was a Hairy Mammoth in a museum. That is when I let out an emphatic, "Nee!" And then their mom started speaking to them about how they should stay away or I might bite them. Poor kids learned a lesson about talking to strangers that day.

Anyway, all of this to say that I have realized that I am at half-life. When you have more belly, chest, and back hair than head hair, then you are officially half gone. Tomorrow is my 37th birthday. That's almost half-life considering the average life expectancy in America is between 78-80. The question of half-life begs the question, 'So what are you going to do with your half life?' There aren't that many times in life that we ask the half-life question, is there? Most of us don't ask the quarter-life question, or even the tenth-life question, much less the full-life question. That's my question for you today: What are you doing with your ___ life, however much of it you've got left? (That is even more emphatic, isn't it?) Oh yes, the typical answer is the country song lyric: "I'm gonna' go sky divin' and Rocky Mountain climbin'." Or to come up with some fantasy Bucket List of all the things that you want to do with the rest of your life that will make you happy and fulfilled. But once you get to half-life (or at least right after the half-life crisis), you start to realize all that is crap. If you are blessed, you will realize it sooner. But you only begin to live when you ask the question and dare to answer it and live it.

As I approach half-life, I am starting to understand the strange and seemingly indifferent words of scripture: "For me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." I am now teetering on the second comma.

Obama's new website

President-elect Obama has a new website (go figure!). Presidential radio addresses are out, Presidential blogging is in! Of course this is a good thing for all of us. Obama is sending a clear signal to Americans that he wants all of us to play a part of the political process. Go Mr. President! Here is a letter (sans a few details) I wrote to the President and posted on his website. I realize that it's dangerous to post a political letter on a blog so close to an election, but I think it is an important issue for all of us, whether Republican, Democrat, or Independent or Green, Libertarian, Anarchist (can this really be a party?), whatever...

Dear President-elect Obama:
Congratulations on your historic election to the Presidency of the United States. I support you and pray for you as my President.

Along with many Americans I look forward to the the new kind of politics that you envision for America, one that crosses party, race, region, and class lines to unite around a new hope, a new agenda for America. While I believe it is important to overturn many of the policies of the Bush Administration, it is my deep hope that you do not do so by merely adopting the liberal plank of the Democratic Party, one that pits blue states against red states, liberal against conservative. You awakened a vision for a new kind of politics, one that cares about the environment AND cares about business; a politics that shows concern for for the middle class AND for the starving in Africa; a politics that protects the civil rights of gays AND supports the institution of marriage; a politics that cares for the rights of a woman AND for the lives of the not-yet-born.

I urge you to work not just with Democrats, but with Republicans and conservatives, with political, civic, and religious leaders, to forge this new vision for America into a new reality, and not just return to a new version of the politics of a bygone liberal era.

You have several choices in your first few days in Office to show what kind of politics you will forge. I read today in the NY Times that the Center for Reproductive Rights delivered a 23-page memorandum to your transition team, urging a "bold policy change" through the use of your Executive Powers to repeal the so called "global gag rule", which prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars for family planning groups that perform abortions and provide abortion counseling. President-elect Obama, like you, I have traveled to some of the poorest places in the world, places where these groups would use taxpayer dollars to promote their agenda under the banner of "women's rights" and "development". And what I have seen in my work with churches in the developing world is that poor women who are trapped in the cycle of poverty do not need more abortions. Rather, they need real development work, long term aid that many groups like World Vision are providing without promoting a leftist political agenda. It is my great hope that you do not follow the advice of the Center for Reproductive Rights, but instead forge a new politics for America.

I urge you to stay the course with your vision for America, one that brings Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, together to form a stronger, better, and more hopeful union.

My prayers, and the prayers of our church, are with you President-elect Obama.
Warmly,
Eric Pickerill