im in a bloggin moood today...dont know why? i have this energy but not enough to go outside, im saving that for my double shift tonight. im working evening reception and sleeper. so ill be working reception from 6:30-12am, and sleeper from 10pm-2am. weird but it works...
few of you know this but about a month ago i started volunteering at the local mother teresa home here. when i first got to amsterdam i looked for it, there are mother homes all over the world and i knew there was one here so i searched the internet and asked about it and couldnt find any information. so i let it go for a while, but it was always in the back of my mind. about 6 weeks ago i decided to look again. the only church ive been attending consistently is the cleft, its a small group church for homeless people that meets every tuesday night in the heart of the red light district. i really like the worship there most times, the message is usually pretty simple and not very deep but i like it. i wanted to volunteer there but they have this great problem of not needing volunteers. i also enquired about the scarlet chord, a rehab ministry for women trying to get out of prostitution, but they want at least a 2 year commitment! i was a bit discouraged but the Lord saw my heart and 6 weeks ago when i googled the amsterdam mother house i found the website! i was so happy1 especially when i found out that it is literally an 8 minute walk from my back door! ive passed it countless times when going for walks or on my way to the jordan, our sister hostel. i couldnt belive it was so close! so my friend lukas and i went to find it and talked to sister regina for about a half hour and we both decided we wanted to volunteer some of our time there. ive been there about 6 times since then. i wish i could go more but our schedules are different every day and the only time the mother house is open is from 9:30-12:30, to prepare the food, and then from 2:30-5pm, to serve and clean up. so mondays and wednesdays when we have work and class its hard to fit it into my schedule but ive been trying to go as much as i can. and its so rewarding! i get more joy out of working there than most days at the city. i think its because the house focuses more on serving and loving people and at the city there are so many rules and politics that it just gets old sometimes. but dont get me wrong, i do love the city. but when im at the mother house, i feel like i have so much more purpose. joy fills my heart when i can serve these people. i used to be scared of working in homeless shelters and soup kitchens because it made me so sad to see people with nothing, i was afraid id just cry the whole time. and i was a little worried the first time i went but i honestly had such a good time and God really gave me this joy that made me want to come back. the sisters are all great too. sister regina runs the house, shes indian. sister fujinia and sister roswitha are also from india. sister roswitha asctually got to work with mother teresa. i asked her what that was like and she said, it was a blessing. then she said something to the effect of, in a polite way, "it was mother teresa,how do you think it would be dumb-dumb?" there is also sister jenma, shes from italy and there might be more but i have only met a few.
there are also a slew of volunteers that give this place even more charater. walter has to be my favorite. he is the absolute, stereotypical sweet little italian man. i will get some pictures of him before i leave and you will all agree he may be quite possibly the cutest old man ever. he only speaks italian and a little dutch so speaking with him consists of "bonjorno walter!" to which he says it back, i ask him how he is and he does the same. i can also tell him goodbye. hes so sweet, i was doing dishes and he came in and started speaking italian and doing all these hand gestures over and over thinking i would somehow crack his code. but i didnt and simply smiled, laughed a little and nodded. i think he thinks i know what hes saying, so i started working on my italian...
there are also two men from argentina, carlos and ruben. i think theyre brothers. they are also cute, not quite as old as walter but maybe the same age as my dad. i can speak spanish with them so thats a huge plus. they're there everyday to volunteer! its funny to watch them scurry around kitchen, carrying big pots or serving meals to the guests. they are like little speedy-gonzalez's.
there was a woman the first day i was there. her name was irina and shes from surinam. she was such a nice lady, she told me about how hard her life was and that she had a disease that God cured and something abot her daughters living here in amsterdam with her grandchildren. she spoke spanish and a little english but shes so soft spoken i had a hard time understanding her. i havent worked any mornings since the first time and i think i heard that she has left the mother house. i hope i can see her again before i leave.
the house is immaculate, everything has its place and theres no clutter. its always spotless and there is no dirt or anything, anywhere. they wash all the towels by hand, boiling them in water first and then hanging them outside to dry. they save the leftover water from the lunchtables and use it to clean the floor. nothing is wasted and everything gets used. its incredible to watch these women do this work, and know they do it everyday without complaining or getting tired. i told one of the sisters one day how i was impressed at how hard they worked, she said, "its all by the grace of God." its true. the first day i volunteered they were short helpers so i came back that afternoon and realized i should be tired from little sleep the night before and having to be at work in a couple hours. but i wasnt! i had all this energy and i was happy to work. God definitely gives you grace to do this kind of work, even if youre only a volunteer like me doing it only a few times a week. it will be hard to say goodbye to them. yesterday sister roswitha asked me when i go home. i told her in a month and she said, "and you not coming back christina, never?" i said i didnt know. they all call me christina, when i told them my name was chrissy they kinda looked at me. so i said my real name is christina and then it made sense to them.
i have seen so many peole at the mother house who are or have been guests at our shelter. some of them are young people too. i havent told anyone i live or work with besides lukas, what we're doing. i dont want it to become a "shelter thing" where people come because of idealism. i just want this for me, that sounds selfish but i need somewhere i can go in this city and not have 40 people along with me. and i told lukas because i know he has such a huge heart for the poor and has also tried to volunter at scharlakken choord and the salvation army. he has worked at the mother home once and loved it. i can really feel God's presence there and so much peace. its a wonderful place and God has blessed me so much by allowing me to volunteer there. im going to try to be there as much as i can, i only have 4 weeks left in amsterdam! so hard to believe. this time has gone so fast and i have some regrets but God continues to tell me to look at his face, to seek his heart and trust Him with everything. and im trying my best to do that now, especially since i may be here a few more monhts. either way, im going to make the best of my last few weeks here.
