A short update this time. At the EPL consultation Jack Dennison shared some of his insights about the role of prayer in city reaching. In the afternoon I had an intense talk with Ross Rohde, an American missionary working in Spain. The topics were starting a house church movement and how to help pastors release young leaders to form postmodern communities.

Ronald paid me an Italian dinner (nice guy) and suggested to ‘gossip the gospel’. This was a new thought to me. At least it will deliver us from the four spiritual laws.

Had a coffee with Albert Walsweer, who heads up DAWN Flanders. Nice guy, good fellowship.

So far for now. I better get some sleep. Tomorrow the national meetings will be held, where the implementation of the results of Hope 21 will be discussed. My feeling about this is that it will very likely be a ‘paper tiger’. WRRAAAH… a lot of noise, but no power. Sleep well. :-)

This morning the Lord gave me a revelation of His altar of prayer and worship. This was such a contrast with yesterday’s opening ceremony, that I could only cry. Ian and the Welsh worship team led us deep into God’s presence, which was comforting.

Barbara Tonkin from Wales, Levi Graudins from Latvia and Ueli Haldemann from Switzerland shared powerful testimonies of what God is doing in their nations in relation to unity in the prayer movement and the forming of servant leadership teams. I plan to compile a sheet with the main principles, pitfalls and focal points.

In the afternoon I joined the church planting track, where Andrew gave a relaxed but challenging presentation of his ‘album’ on postmodern culture. Was glad to see Rubens and Steffi from Frankfurt, Murray Moerman from Canada and other friends. Had a meal with the DAWN guys on a nice sunny terrace.

The evening meeting was nearly as uninspiring as yesterday. One of the leaders on the EPL team remarked: “If this is a presentation of Hope for Europe, than there is no hope for Europe.” Another leader was so frustrated that I seriously advised him not to attend the next meetings. Glad I didn’t go. I went back to the hotel to hang out with the Welsh guys. Laughed a lot, especially about Gary’s imitation of Benny Hinn, praying for a Dutch ‘stroopwafel’ (cookie).

This morning I had breakfast with Jack Dennison, Sam Williams, Eric Swanson, Reinhold Scharnowski and Ueli Haldemann. We talked about the developments in city reaching in Europe and how the US based CitiReach International team could serve us.

During lunch I met up with Jane Holloway (we will lead a session tomorrow on the development of servant leadership teams and how to unite the prayer movement in a corporate vision for the nation). She is a keen lady; helped me to reflect on a number of developments in the prayer scene.

At five o’clock dinner was served at the BCC congress centre, followed by the opening ceremony of the Hope 21 conference. It was OK (read: pretty boring), so after 30 minutes I went out to bump into a few friends I hadn’t spoken for some time. Ended up in the hotel bar with Ronald van der Molen and Andrew Jones, talking about forming communities (don’t mention the word ‘church’) in youth culture. Would a political party work for the emerging generation I was wondering. Andrew doesn’t think so; it’s too much about positions and power. No logo; young people identify themselves with specific issues and influence others at a grassroots level, rather than working through parties and programs.

Haven’t found a cheaper internet connection yet, but composed this little report off-line to save expenses.

In our EPL team meeting we talked about the draft of the ‘Budapest Declaration’. This document is to be presented as a kind of final paper of the Hope 21 conference. We tried to make it a bit more prophetic, but to be honest: I think it’s a waste of time. It sums up a number of general biblical truths in political language. Wonder who will read it when it’s finished.

Did I already introduce the EPL leadership team to you? We are now with eight crazy prophetic people, who are –somehow- all limping.

- Pieter Bos from Holland, who dreams about nations every night (he even wrote a book about it).
- Warren Carter, an American from Austria, whose main passion is to multiply leaders and drink coffee.
- Anneli Portman, a Finnish lady from Italy, who dares to pray for the Pope’s succession.
- Brian Mills from England, the grey-haired daddy on the team.
- Ioan Peia from Romania, a wise guy with discernment, and together with Ian and Jane a new kid on the block.
- Ian Cole from England, known for five funerals and a wedding (this is a riddle).
- Jane Holloway from England, standing her ground as a female leader in the British Evangelical Alliance.
- And then there’s me, the youngest and tallest guy on the team who brings in the Dutch stroopwafels.

The consultation was opened by the Welsh who washed out feet with water, gave us bread to eat and wine to drink, and anointed our heads with oil. What more could you wish…

Had a nice talk with Levi from Latvia. We have been in touch by e-mail for the last three years or so. God used him to gather the Lutheran and Catholic archbishops and other senior church leaders in his nation for prayer and fellowship. One of the results of this is that the church leaders speak with one voice and the prime minister and other politicians are listening and giving the Church incredible favour.

Just arrived in Budapest. For tomorrow an EPL team meeting has been planned and in the evening our consultation for European prayer leaders will start. I don’t know to which degree it will be possible for me to blog or access my e-mail (first have to talk with the hotel manager to get a cheaper telephone fare; they charge 1.35 euro a minute, can you imagine), but I will try to connect again in a few days or so.

Andrew Jones (tallskinnykiwi) from Prague continued his learning journey on postmodernity. Some highlights from his second article:

"We are leaving Plato and Aristotle behind. This is good news to some and bad news to others. Aussie James Thwaites reckons it is good news. 'My conviction is that the postmodern period gives the Christian and the church the ability to come out from under centuries of Greek influence and take hold of the worldview God intended us to have all along.'"

"If being Western is problematic and a hindrance to God's plans for the planet, then being post-Western might not be all bad. Perhaps we need to be less Western and more like Jesus?"

He describes four spiritual journeys that are helping people survive the post-Western transition: Going Hebrew, Going Celtic, Going Non-Western and Going Early-Modern.

About the joy of being Post-Colonial he says: "A friend from Zimbabwe told me that the churches under his care were struggling because the modern worldview that came with the missionaries did not allow for power encounters with evil spirits. And no, I didn't ask him about the pipe-organs that we shipped to them."

"Some of us think that our present church culture is not always ethically superior or worthy of export. Rather, we have backslid over the years into embracing capitalism, an unhealthy independence, the worship of self, the abuse of the environment and the persecution of margin-dwellers. Unbelievers no longer are attracted by the light of American Cultural Christianity. Some pagans think themselves more spiritual than church people."

His third article is on the emerging blogging culture.

"Blogging, they say, is the hottest thing on the internet. Why? It is grounded more than abstract, being more than becoming, kairos more than chronos, context more than content, recapitulated more than representational, dynamic more than static, discontinuous more than sequential, grassroots more than corporate, holistic more than dualistic. Blogging rocks..."

"My ministry cannot be seperated from my breakfast. Or my family. Or what car I drive. My life is a story and everything I do should have prophetic value. Blogging is a way for me to speak out as a whole person."

I have to confess that I'm a so called 'floating elector'. There's not one political party that I really wholeheartedly embrace. So normally I keep on floating until the eve of the Parliamentary Elections (planned for 15 May), then I pray (if I vote on the wrong party, then there's always a spiritual excuse ;-), and vote with confidence.

To break with this floating behaviour I visited www.kieswijzer.nl, a website that calculates my policital preference, based on my (dis)agreement with 30 political statements and the issues I feel strong about. To my surprise I found out that the Labour Party fits best with my convictions. Also close were the Socialist Party, the Christian Democrat Party, the Christian Union and the Reformed State Party.

Now you may think this solved my dilemma, but...
I already decided not to vote for the Labour Party (their leader is called 'Milky' and he unrightfully cashed European subsidies);
the guys (only guys) of the Reformed State Party are dressed like undertakers;
the Socialist Party supported the legalisation of euthanasia;
the Christian Democrat Party and the Christian Union are not really advocating the much needed political renewal.

So... I guess I will keep on floating... at least until 15 May...

Good news! The number of intercessors praying for the Netherlands has grown to over 3,000 nationally and 10,000 internationally. On the 10 days website you can monitor the mobilisation process realtime.

This morning I took David to the 'Scottish Highlanders' near De Bilt. One of the cows was just giving birth ('kijk papa, mamakoe') and the farmer's Mitsubishi with four-wheel drive was also interesting ('kom, auto zien'). In the meantime Karolien bought a children's bicycle chair for Peter (in a few weeks time he will be able to sit).

These are 'buffalo days' as the Dutch expression goes. Days of hard work, catching up with things, following up on others, preparing the time ahead. I finished the resources in English for the 10 days and will start the international prayer mobilisation today. Did you know that on the 10 days website you can follow the mobilisation process realtime?

Some more news. The Evangelical Alliance asked me to become part of their 'board of reference'. I declined for two reasons:

1. I've always had an ambivalence towards 'boards of reference' because it links 'big names' to a product, while there is not always a solid relationship/friendship to really stand together.

2. God has been telling me and others in my direct network that we should lay aside our labels and positions. A 'board of reference' doesn't really match with these values.

I've also been asked to serve on the 'advisory board' of Soul Survivor Netherlands. There was a direct confirmation in my spirit because the Lord has been speaking about this for the last year or so. At the end of this month this movement will gather 3,000 young Dutch people who long for more of God in their lives. It's a pity I can't be there (have to be in Budapest for Hope 21).

Had no time to blog yesterday. Woke up at 5.15 h Dutch time and arrived home around 22.30 h.

I took the fast boat to Helsinki. Halfway the weather changed from cloudy & stormy to sunny & clear blue sky. Had a good time with Tomas Sandell, a Finnish journalist and prayer leader who is much involved in the political field (both EU and Finland).

In Tallinn airport I came across my former boss who was visiting Estonia with the Dutch minister of Transportation. Interesting coincidence.

Today we spent time with the house church leaders in Tallinn. We took time to identify and confirm everyone’s giftings/anointings, which gave people a fresh motivation to work as a team. In the evening we had dinner with Valeri Solin (who leads DPM in Russia and has functioned in an apostolic role) and Julia & Sascha, who give leadership to the church now. We agreed that this weekend was a new beginning.

Tomorrow I’ll take an early boat to Helsinki to meet up with Tomas Sandell, a networker in the prayer movement.

Just returned from the seminars. I touched on the sensitive subject of the Russian and Estonian national identity and how they can pray in unity for the nation. Henk taught on the power of the Holy Spirit. We finished with a good time of ministry to empower people to 'stand their ground'.

We arrived safely in Tallinn and just had our first meeting with the house church leaders. We talked about three issues: prayer, teamwork and vision & strategy. Tomorrow we'll give two seminars on corporate prayer, city church and national identity. On Sunday we plan to meet with the leaders again.

The weather is nice: sunny and 17 degrees centigrade. This afternoon we had a nice walk through the old city.

We had a good meeting with Danish house church leaders. Henk, Svend Madsen (our host) and I gave short introductions, and we ended up praying and prophesying. Typical house church. At the moment we're still talking and sharing.

Tomorrow morning we will fly on to Tallinn to meet Alex and Julia.

Tomorrow I will leave for a short trip to North Europe. The schedule looks like this:

11 April: Copenhagen, Denmark: meeting with house church leaders
12-14 April: Tallinn, Estonia: training for house church leaders and (on Saturday) a seminar on city church
15 April: Helsinki, Finland: meeting with prayer leaders

Your prayers are appreciated, for travel safety, for wisdom and breakthrough where needed.

The issue I shared about on 29 March has been settled. I'm happy about that.

Received an encouraging letter from a lady in America (a Baptist pastor's wife). She enclosed a donation of 50 dollar and shared a word she received from the Lord: "Just as the wall of Communism fell in a day, so will all the denominations that you see now." Looking forward to it...

It was a busy week, so my weblog suffered a bit. We launched the new website of '10 days for Holland' and will work more on it after the weekend.

Today Arend and I paid a visit to the Dutch director of Derek Prince Ministries. He has a very nice office in Beverwijk with a great view in all four directions (a kind of 'eagles nest'). We talked about heart issues, communications, fundraising, databases and more. In the evening I met with a couple who would like to become more involved in Joel Ministries.

Easter 2002. We try to educate our children with biblical values. But I'm afraid we missed something. This morning I told David (nearly 3): "Today we celebrate that Jesus died for us and rose from the grave." He looked at me and replied: "Cho-co-la-de-ei" (chocolate egg). Maybe he knows it's also April 1st.