Day 7

Prayer:

Psalm 119:73-76

73  Your hands have made and fashioned me;

         give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.

74  Those who revere you shall see me and rejoice,

         because I have hoped in your word.

75  I know, O LORD, that your judgments are right,

         and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.

76  Let your steadfast love become my comfort

         according to your promise to your servant.

Devotion:

Deuteronomy 8:6-12

6Therefore keep the commandments of the LORD your God, by walking in his ways and by revering him. 7For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, 8a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, 9a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. 10You shall eat your fill and bless the LORD your God for the good land that he has given you. 11Take care that you do not forget the LORD your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. 12When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them,

Journal:

After getting on the train in the morning and taking a short trip to Rotterdam, we checked into the hotel, dropped off our bags and headed into town to meet Pastor Arjan. We met him at the Pilgremvaderskerk which is the Pilgrim Fathers’ Church. This was the sending place for the Pilgrims who left the UK with a goal of making it to the Americas. The neighborhood offered a good harbor to build and prepare ships for the long journey. The church in itself is a museum being built in 1417 (600 year celebration this year) and holds many artifacts from the 15th-18th centuries.

We first met with the head pastor of the church, Rev. Dr. Arjan Markus. He told of the neighborhood of Delfshaven with its interesting history and how it survived the bombing of Rotterdam by the Nazis in 1940.  He shared with us the ministry of the church and how it serves as a museum for people interested in the history of the Pilgrim’s journey to the Americas. Arjan’s discussion consisted of 5 topics: 1. Situation in Delfshaven 2. Vocation of the minister 3. Relevance of the Gospel 4. Giving Reasons 5. Where do people hear the Gospel? Now you will have to read my paper that will be turned in for academic review to hear the specifics :-) but we discussed many topics including immigration, secularism, and the missions of the church.

After meeting Pastor Arjan, we met with Pastor Martijn in the same church and we talked about his ministry with the Muslim population in their community. Religious diversity and pluralism are of interest to me and we discussed at length about how he engages in community gatherings that welcomes Muslims and Christians alike. When working in the community, Arjan wants to have integrity and be able to say the same thing he would with a Muslim then he would say in the pulpit to a Christian gathering. He does this so that a muslim would feel welcome in his church. The pastor doesn't want to persuade anyone but to be a witness to the Gospel - it's God's purpose to persuade people into devotion.

We took a walk after meeting with Arjan and we saw the harbor that was and is the industrial backbone of the neighborhood for centuries. After walking through a park and seeing the small shops in the heart of the neighborhood we returned to the church and met with Pastor Nico who leads a multicultural congregation in Spangen, an economically depressed neighborhood in Rotterdam. With 80 nationalities present and almost one-third of the people not speaking Dutch, it creates challenges to ministry but it also offers an opportunity to be inclusive and welcoming to all God’s children. He sees the primary functions of the church in three ways: Gathering, Service to Others, and Connecting to the Neighborhood.

We finished off the night with a wonderful dinner in a quaint neighborhood eatery and were joined by Pastor Arjan. After catching the metro back to the hotel, we grabbed a drink and settled in for the night. The day was long but it was a great look at the mission and outreach of the Pilgremvaderskerk and it offered to us hope for the traditional church model in a secular world.