10 September 2009
Up until now I have written a chaplain’s comment every three months. As we move from OUTLOOK magazine to the web-based medium I now get to blog. That may well be the difference between things what to present on paper on about one page about something that characterizes the season to what is floating to the top right now?
There is one big fish on my mind right now and lots of little minnows swimming around that usually would not get a mention but just might now. The big fish is our church’s great need for a new venue, what is happening, not happening and glimpses of God’s hand in all that.
Getting a space to do Sunday church is really tricky in the Netherlands. It is such a planned and controlled environment that securing a building for people gather in for the purposes of being church is really tricky. It’s worth asking why some countries make some activities difficult and others easy while in other places it is the other way round.
I can legally buy and consume marijuana at the end of my street in Eindhoven without causing a legal ripple as I satisfy the requirement of being over 18 years of age. On the other hand if I want to have some strong medication on hand to deal with bee stings or heavy indigestion I need to go through the system and get a doctor’s prescription. To get a doctor you need to be insured and to be insured you need to be… Consequently tourists visiting here can get dope but not common medicines. In the country where I came from marijuana is illegal but antihistamines are as available as ice cream.
Trying to get permission to use a space for church is a bit like that in the Netherlands. One of our potential venue options (Strijp S) involves having the appropriate town planning permission we are still waiting for an official reply three months after applying. On the other hand most of the buildings planned or designated as churches in this region are Roman Catholic churches that are styled and laid out in such a way that they are not ideal for an international church such as ours.
Despite these circumstances and oh-so-slow progress I have a comforting sense of the Lord being in the proceedings and in control. God is moving things in his time and adjusting to that means waiting. The best thing I can do is watch and pray. Right now I am looking forward to how the Lord brings about the next development. I’ll let you know when I know.