On a journey...

So many impressions and so much love in my heart as I sit here writing. My final evening in Amsterdam for this season. A strange and unreal sensation, but nevertheless the reality: tomorrow evening I fly home to Norway and finish the chapter of Amsterdam. It’s been an adventure and this past week has been such a good ending. Today I cycled across the city to have lunch with some dear friends. Friends I’ve met through ministry, one going out with me, the other on the receiving end. It was such a joy to enter into the home of one and meet as friends. Friends who have walked part of each other’s journeys. Friendship I hope lasts. On Friday we I went to my last outreach in the smaller Red Light District. It was good yet also hard. Hard to explain that “no, I am not coming back” to the questions of “yes, you go to Norway, but really, when will you be back.” Feeling so loved and yet having to accept the fact that I won’t be around next time... or the time after that. Finding so mu...

As I got on the plane from Fortaleza I felt such a sense of closure. It was like I had done exactly what I had come to do, and I was leaving at the exactly right time. My heart was full of peace, and even as I spent my layover in Lisbon (pretty much like a zombie; jetlagged, drinking tea, coffee, eating pastel de nata, and walking around to stay awake) the peace remained (and is still there). Boarding the plane to Amsterdam I had my action plan ready- sleep for the next 2-3 hours. However, as they scanned my boarding pass it beeped and they gave me a new one with the comment “you’ve been upgraded.” Such an awesome surprise, and of course I wasn’t going to sleep through nice food and good service. My cup of tea was even served in a ceramic cup with the tea bag on the side. I could get used to business class. Arriving in Amsterdam I was greeted by a good friend and rain. The city continues stunningly beautiful and it’s almost like this is the perfect time to wrap up. It’s been ...

My heart is full. Full of thankfulness for these months I got to spend here in this beautiful country. Needless to say these last days have been more intentional. Not so much in the trying to get a billion things done, but intentional in desiring to absorb and appreciate the moments more. Last night was the last time on the streets with the Iris team. It was such a precious time! They had made homemade chocolates and little verses had been written out for the women. As we divided into groups and headed out it was so beautiful to see the joy on the faces of the women as they got the little gift. It’s amazing how such a small thing can make such a difference. One girl said “this was just what I needed”. It was such a special evening of getting to know a little of what hides behind the confident exterior of these women (and men) who night after night stand on the street corners offering themselves to the cars that come by. It is always a privilege when they choose to open up and ta...

Another two days and I’ll be on a plane yet again. My time here in Fortaleza is very quickly ending and the familiar unsettledness is kicking in, joined by half-packed suitcases and lists of things to et done slowly being ticked off. It’s been good to be here. And I feel ready to go. Ready to walk through my final days in Amsterdam and say my goodbyes. And yet even though I’ve known this would be a month of many good byes, I don’t think I’ll ever come to like it or get used to it. This is a week of savouring all the things I love about this country and city. Even the craziness of driving in the city has its charm (although I do admit there was a bit too much adrenaline involved as I drove around yesterday having many drivers yell at me along the way, not because I’m a bad driver, I’m not just as aggressive as they are). I went to Mercado Central a huge indoor crafts market in the city. I was ready for some serious souvenir shopping, only to find out it was due to close early ...

Internet. It’s amazing how something you cannot see has become something so integral in life. And when it doesn’t work it’s almost as if the world is about to end… almost. It’s easy to do without it, unless you were counting on it. These past months the internet has come and gone randomly. And it’s made me more thankful when it does work, and less frustrated when it doesn’t Here are a couple of reflections written in the absence of internet, which even so record some of the movements of my heart in this time. Cumbuco- a little interval of rest at a cottage (read: apartment) on the beach. I write this as I sit outside on the veranda of a little beach apartment facing a huge swimming pool; listening to birds squeaking, and the waves hitting the shore in the distance. It’s 5 pm, my favourite hour of the day. The hour when it’s not quite as warm, and yet the mosquitoes haven’t made their appearance fully yet. It’s a good hour to write. And yes, I don’t have internet here. ...