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Amsterdam: More Than Drugs!
22 October 2002
Maranatha, Amsterdam is the largest free church in Holland today.
Under the leadership of Pastor Stanley Hoffwijks the church has grown to over 2000 people.
Mal Fletcher visited during October to speak in the main Sunday morning service. This was Mal's third visit to this very significant church.
He said afterwards, 'Maranatha has a passion -- to see Holland changed for Christ. And it's having a real influence.'
'You just can't leave that church feeling sad! It has this infectious enthusiasm: for worship, for the preaching of God's word -- for life!'
Amsterdam is a city of 700,000 inhabitants, but its influence extends much further than its size might suggest. Most people outside Holland know it mainly for its reputation as a seedy, sex-crazed city where prostitution is blatantly advertised in sex shops and where drugs are often quite freely available.
However, Amsterdam is also home to a very strong and growing relationship between Christian pastors, all of whom have one passion -- to bring people to Christ. Other cities in Holland, such as Rotterdam, have even bigger churches.
Across the nation, there is also a growing communication between pastors of different streams.
Next Wave's SLC and EYE leadership network meetings will take place in Amsterdam in May of 2003.
Please pray for this city, and for ground-breaking churches like Maranatha. They're doing what many people have said can't be done -- to make God famous!
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