My first meeting in Amsterdam was very strategic. I met with Phil Graf, missional coach with CA, and we rode some wobbly old bikes down to a cool pub to watch Amsterdam beat Romania 2-0. We drank Grolsh out the front and yelled at the large screen with the Dutch. When we scored, everyone stood up at once and the bench tipped up. I was sitting on the end of the bench and nearly lost it. Anyway, a good start to my meetings. As for Phil and Christian Associates who are starting missional churches all over Europe, well, I guess i will hear more about them next time I come through Amsterdam.
Amsterdam: First Strategic Meeting
I’d be really interested to hear what you think about Christian Associates. I don’t know a huge amount about them but something about the way they set up English speaking churches in European cities feels a bit out of whack. Why not invest in native Christians already instead of bringing in English speaking Christians to set up churches? Something about it just makes me feel uncomfortable…it smacks of old fashioned colonialism.
I remember riding a wobbly old rented bike when I was in amsterdam a few years ago when I was helping out a house church their. I miss that city alot, and I am glad to see God’s people working there.
We will be in downtown Toronto at a Dutch pub tomorrow (Saturday) to watch the Dutch advance to the next round with free Grolsch.