MissionPostDecember 2010

„Where Word and action meet“

Searching for a new House Leader

Stories of former Mission Housers

times are changing

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EditorialDear readers,

Welcome to our second edition of Mission-Post. Thanks for your feedback from our first issue. Please keep helping us to make this as interesting and as relevant as we can. When we published the first edition this year the cur-rent Mission House group had just arrived in the house and had just started to settle down. Between then and now a lot of water has flowed down the amazon river! It’s mid-December now, Sinterklaas just went back to Spain after some weeks in the Netherlands, the weather gets colder, it even freezes (that opens the discus-sions if a “elfstedentocht” will take place this year unlike the past thirteen years) and we’re getting

close to the “adventus” (coming) of Christ.

At this time of year we have nothing better to do than collecting and writing articles. Actually we do: Toby has studying to finish and Buchanan must become a crime fighter/labradoodle.

As you will see, times are changing. The Mis-sion House is looking for a new House Leader, starting summer 2011. So let’s spread this Mis-sionPost to all of those who might be interested in the Mission House and pray that the Mission House Council will select the best candidate for the house. Have fun reading

Yours

Toby and Buck

tablE of ContEntsA parent’s view 9

A thought from Iain 4

Buchanan’s fumble with a thought. 10

Cornelius, current Mission House Volunteer 7

Editorial 2

Erjo’s miraculous head-spinnings 3

Ex-Volunteer profil: Iain Proctor, 26 8

Photo Caption 6

Sjaak en Hadassa gaan trouwen! 5

Vacature - Huisleider Mission House 5

www.missionhouse.nl

Projectleader: Iain MajcherHouseleader: Erjo BeitlerRedaction: Buchanan Grant, Tobias SchaapDesign: Tobias SchaapPictures: Iain Majcher, CWM, Tobias

Schaap

Mission House AmstelrankNieuwe Herengracht 20-2

1018 DP AmsterdamThe Netherlands

www.missionhouse.nlalumni@missionhouse.nl

„Where Word and action meet“

MissionPost

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Erjo’s miraCulous hEad-spinnings‘I’m sometimes up, I’m sometimes down’. It’s

the first thing that comes into my mind when I think of Mission House. This text comes from a song of one of my most favourite projects I worked in, the homeless choir, Straatklink-ers. The rest of the lyrics has left my fuzzy brain, but this piece is still there and I can remember very well the faces of the men singing this song. Worn-out, but happy, although it is a funeral song.

It also reflects my time in the Mission House. After this year I will have spent three (!) years here, which is almost a miracle, seeing my fascina-tion for ‘new things’. I was down sometimes and was it hard sometimes. I remember a depressive January month, stupid accidents and heartbreak moments for all different reasons. But I also remember brilliant parties, surprising family times and wonderful open discussions. I was ‘up’ a lot.

However, my fascination for new things has come up again and so I want to move on after this year. Focus on my study Psychology, prob-

ably study abroad and who knows I’ll become politically active. I don’t know, but I will move on and try something new. This means a new

houseleader position comes free which I recommend to soo many people to apply for!

As a houseleader I learned a lot, from separating private and work time to being clearer to other people. And from creating a vision to knowing what to be able to control and what not. However, I do sound like an old man looking back on his life that is almost over. But hea, I still got 6 (!) months left to still learn a lot and enjoy a lot. Because that’s what I learned most in the Mission House. The more you learn, the longer the list of new things to learn becomes.

Therefore, with a fresh mood me and the house look forward to the new year. Six months for us to get to the climax of our year together. Six months to even more enjoy each others company and six months to contribute and learn all we can at projects. I’m afraid their over in a click.

Erjo

www.missionhouse.nl

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a thought from iainAdvent and the lead up to Christmas is a new

start in the Church year and a time of expecta-tion, excitement and preparation for what is to come. All of us sit counting down the weeks until at last Christmas arrives, Christ is born... and well, let’s be honest, we get to rip off the wrapping paper covering with eagerness!

During the weeks leading up to Christmas the presents have been shaken, moved, kicked (by accident), forgotten and stared at. We sit night after night guessing what is inside the wrapping paper, distracted by size, hoping and praying that the really large box wrapped in the shiny gold paper will be for me. Is this not like how we live our lives at times and treat one another? Shaking each other, moving one another emotionally for better or worse, forgetting our friends far too easily when times are good and judging people by what clothes they are wearing or how big or small they are, where they come from....? Advent is our time to reflect about these things, to start afresh and pre-pare ourselves for what is to come as we wait for Christmas day. It is a time to remember that Jesus was born because God loved us so much, that he gave his one and only son to us . I won-der though, how many of us remember that as we stuff our faces with turkey, rip open presents and get lost in festivities? I know that I too often

forget.

Like people around the world the Mission House to is preparing for a new year with antici-pation as to what is to come, as they embark on the second half of their journey in Amsterdam. It is going to be a very special second half to the year as everyone in the house will be there for the last time. Erjo after two years of wonderful leadership in the Mission House will be packing his bags too at the end of the year to start the next stage of his life. The new year brings with it for the whole house new possibilities. Sometimes

the best memories are yet to come and they won’t be like that large box wrapped in the gold shiny paper, which far too often disappoints us when we open it up, but it will be like that small choco-late hidden deep inside the tree: almost forgotten but found just in time.

So like the wise men who walked with a purpose and towards a goal unsure of what is around the corner,

so we to should approach our new year. To tackle this new year with purpose, anticipation and a goal.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a peaceful and exciting new year.

Iain

www.missionhouse.nl

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VaCaturE - huislEidEr mission housEMet ingang van het nieuwe seizoen (1 sep-

tember 2011, eerder verhuizen naar het Mission House is mogelijk) zoekt het Mission House een nieuwe, inwonende huisleider. Als huisleider ben je verantwoordelijk voor het reilen en zeilen van het groepsleven binnenshuis en de individuele bewoners. Je krijgt gratis kost en inwoning bin-nen in het schitterend gelegen Mission House. Het is een vrijwilligersfunctie die je naast je studie of (ander vrijwilligers)werk kunt doen. Zie www.missionhouse.nl voor een samenvatting van de functie. Via www.missionhouse.nl kun je het uitgebreide functieprofiel downloaden. Je kunt tot uiterlijk 10 januari solliciteren door het schri-

jven van een sollicitatiebrief en CV, graag met referenties.

Na sluiting van de termijn (10 januari 2011 ) zal er een sollicitatiegesprek plaats vinden voor uitgenodigde kandidaten. Deze gesprekken zullen plaatsvinden eind januari 2011 in overleg met de kandidaten. Verder maakt een kennismakings-bezoek aan het Mission House deel uit van de procedure.

Nadere informatie over de vacature is te ver-krijgen op www.missionhouse.nl en bij Iain Ma-jcher, Projectleider Amsterdams Vrijwilligersjaar, iain.majcher@protestantsamsterdam.nl, 0031 (0)20 53 53 700

sjaak En hadassa gaan trouwEn!Op vrijdag 1 juli 2011 hopen Hadassa en ik

te trouwen, in Amsterdam. Natuurlijk zien we er enorm naar uit, en we willen er een geweldig feestelijke dag van maken. De dag bestaat uit de officiële huwelijkssluiting voor de burgerlijke stand, een kerkelijke inzegening van ons huwelijk, een maaltijd en een feest. We vinden het een grote eer als ex-Mission House-bewoners dit feest met ons mee willen vieren. Super als jullie er bij willen en kunnen zijn. Ook zouden we het heel leuk vinden als jullie op de dag met som-mige dingen kunnen meehelpen, zoals met eten & drinken, opbouw & afbouw. We proberen het zo te regelen dat we vrijwilligers slechts een deel van de dag inzetten. Om goed te kunnen ins-chatten op hoeveel mensen we mogen rekenen, en om slaapplekken te regelen, vragen we om –

als je komt - dat uiterlijk 1 mei aan ons te laten weten. Ons mailadres: hadassjaak@hotmail.nl

Meer informatie, zoals een scan van onze trouwkaart, volgt over een paar maanden.

Graag tot op 1 juli.

Hartelijke groet, Hadassa en Sjaak

www.missionhouse.nl

Dutcharticle

Sjaak Teuwissen was initiatiefnemer/me-deoprichter van het Mission House, en pro-jectleider van 2005 - 2010. Nog altijd staat hij als jeugdwerkcoördinator van het Protestants Jeugdwerk Amsterdam in verbinding met het Mission House. Hadassa en Sjaak gaan op de zolderverdieping van gebouw Amstelrank wonen (Sjaak woont er al), en zijn dan de buren van het Mission House.

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photo Caption

www.missionhouse.nl

”I’m making a lasagna! For one...”

”Erjo and Iain discuss how postmodernism has helped them understand vla in the 21st“

”Erjo trying to copy Iain...“ ”...being damn good in it.“

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CornElius, CurrEnt mission housE VoluntEErIt seems to be a

German tradition in the Mission House to work for the Seamen’s Cen-tre as every year so far a German has worked for the Seamen’s Cen-tre and it is now the 4th time in a row.

This year I am the only person from the Mission House who works for the Seamen’s Centre as it is a really tough job going on the ship every week no matter what weather it is, no matter how high the waves are, no matter how hard the wind blows.

Leon Rasser and I the ship visitors from the Seamen’s Centre conquer every single barrier, the security control at the harbor and on board of the ships, the dangerous way through the harbor and finally the sometime danger-ous climbing act to get on the boat. We go on board of the ships to be there for the sea-men who spend months on the sea without seeing any people except the crew members. So we give them the opportunity by sell-

ing them cheap phone cards (instead of enor-mous prices other people charge for the product) to get in touch with their family back home. Further we explain how to get to the city center or to the Seamen’s Club to get more diversifica-tion to their monotonous life on sea. Moreover we offer them the opportunity to have a chat starting with easy topics as soccer or news but also going to serious talks about religion.

It is always also for us a nice experience to go on the ships so we see all different kinds of ships from the little tug boat to the giant oil tanker and I’m always amazed by the hospitality especially of the Indonesian seafarer. So we have tried, when we were invited for a nice meal on board several different culinary deliciousness from around the world.

Cornelius

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Ex-VoluntEEr profil: iain proCtor, 26Why you ap-

plied for Mission House? – Realis-ing I was getting close to the end of my studies at university, I wanted to do something active, rather than just sit behind a desk for the rest of my earthly days. I wanted to show

God’s love to others actively and I also wanted to live in a different part of Europe, so something practical like the Mission House really appealed to me.

what you learned – Apart from Dutch, I learnt a great deal about the technicalities of floor-mop-ping, climbing improbably high ladders, telling

small children not to hide in store cupboards, playing defence in table football, deep-fat fryers and looking intelligent in art museums. In all seri-ousness, I learnt more about my own relationship with God and how I best relate to others than any specific task.

How you are putting that into practice (words into actions)? – Jesus promised us life in all its fullness and as such, we should not seek anything less in our lives. Paul calls us to live in a loving, sharing community; we should give our whole selves in service to others and thus to God. This fullness of life is not to be kept for ourselves (moreover, it can only truly be gained through a sacrificial attitude) and this really is where we can see God work in our lives, by allowing Him to lead us in service to our world. How we do that in actuality is not the difficult part; we only have to ask for His help in making this our mindset. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you why you’re doing it: all for Jesus.

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a parEnt’s ViEwI adore my daughter Zoë, though sometimes

we’ve struggled to really love each other, espe-cially since Zoë was in her teens. I’m a minister and Zoë found the relatively ‘public’ life a pres-sure - as I did similarly. So I hoped that going away would give Zoë some distance and space to ‘fly’ – I mean, to find herself, where no-one knew us. Yet there was security, too, in the structure, to give us confidence to encourage her to go. I hoped that Zoë might come to see some positives of family, church and being involved in wider society; that the experience of living in

a multi-cultural community would be fun, and stretch and help her grow; that her faith would be challenged and strengthened.

She came back in August 2008, of course, still essentially Zoë! but a little softer, more open and better able to listen to others. She had a new confidence, rather than just the mask of it. She’d learned new skills – and Dutch. She had been stretched, challenged and had grown and she – and we - have been benefiting from the whole experience since.

Edmonde Openshaw, mum of Zoë Gill

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buChanan’s fumblE with a thought.An acquaintance of mine pasted away recent-

ly. This mountain of a man had a physical disabil-ity which restricted his body to a wheel chair.

While his body was restricted to the wheel chair his spirit and mind certainly weren’t, he defined himself in such a way that you easily saw past the metal contraption and saw a mind acutely aware of issues surrounding youth advo-cacy and disability advocacy, not to mention his relationship with God.

My lasting impression of this man was how comfortable he was in his own skin, of how confident he was of his body and his mind. What was comfortable for him reminded me of my own skin deep views of myself.

Recently there was a debate on Radio 4 about the topless female model pages in a national newspaper, strangely the paper decided recently that only female models who were all ‘real’ could be shown. A young female was asked for her views and she pointed out how these pictures, while demeaning, also warp the minds of young girls bat-tling with the ‘ideal female identity’.

I remember as a teen-ager being horribly aware of the size of my clothes, even at the age of 16 I

was wearing clothing for 12 year old boys. Fast forward and now I couldn’t care less. That said I do still delegate a great deal of authority over my self-confidence to others.

Mission House helped amazingly well. I was told to “take no shi*t” and counselled on the importance of putting Buchanan first. This wasn’t and isn’t always as easy for sometimes you have to battle with aspects almost central to your character.

Leadership has always featured in my plans, throughout my life people have commented on my leadership qualities but it wasn’t until Mission House when someone told me “you’re not ready yet”. It was not hard to hear, in fact it set me free to be the Buchanan I am, not the Buchanan oth-ers expect me to be. God didn’t create me to be a Chief Constable or Prime Minister; he created

me to be me. Leadership is there inside me but I learned how give up my need to be a leader.

Take time to carefully consider whether people, sometimes completely well intentioned, are pushing you to be someone you’re either not or not yet ready to be. Be thankful for who you are, be thankful for where you are on your journey.

Buck