The first few days...

20080929_IMG_0035, originally uploaded by cutjas.

The first few days here have been filled with kindness and generosity. It started with Kevin Johnson (the pastor I am working with) picking me up at the airport at 6am. It was nice to see a friendly face right away. The fact that he woke up and drove 45 min to come get me that early in the morning was very kind. When I got to the Johnson’s Kathy, Kevin’s wife, made us some fantastic omelets, which I enjoyed thoroughly. I have known the Johnson’s for about 7 years and this was a great way to start off my time in Den Haag (The Hague).

The second act was that of the Crossroads staff, they prepared a lunch in my honor, which some began to enjoy before I even arrived, because they could hardly hold back there excitement of my arrival…or they were just incredibly hungry. This was a time for me to meet all of the staff at both Crossroad church and the CAI European office. We had a great time getting to know each other and laughed a lot, which is always good. From there I sat in on a Crossroads meeting and was able to get a sense of what the church is hoping to do in the coming months. This was helpful to get myself in the mindset of their mission.

At this point I had been up for about 48 hours, with maybe a 2-hour nap in there and I was tired. We headed off to the Perriman’s house, which is where I will be staying for the duration of my internship. I was welcomed with joy, merriment and a bit of excitement, as they as here. Translation, they welcomed me with open arms. I got a quick look at my room and around the house, and then it was off to a dinner at Kevin’s.

Once at Kevin’s I got caught up on the Twins scores and was delighted/pumped to hear that they dominated the White Sox in all three games, yes, dominated. We then had dinner and I headed off to the Perriman’s. When I arrived Andrew and Belinda Perrriman were just sitting down to dinner, so I joined them and we took some time to get to know each other a little better, as I have met them before. I first met Andrew at a CAI conference, called Connect, over a year ago. We have been in a little contact since then. Andrew has visited Minnesota to visit with Greg Boyd, my senior pastor and then I saw Andrew and Belinda this past summer at the same conference. Where they offered me a place to live during my internship.

We had a good drink and some good laughs, then they went to bed and I went out and sat in the garden, outside my room. I sat there overwhelmed with tiredness, but also with the way I had been received here. The kindness and generosity of everyone was fantastic. Everything that everyone here has done has made my transition that much easier. I thanked God for where he had led me and prayed that my time here would be blessed and that I would be able to bless these people who have opened their lives to me in simple amazing ways.

It has been a few days since my first day, and I have been to a couple services, a grand party, which lasted until 330am and a trip to the beach. I am beginning to get my bearings here and my jet lag seems to be fading. I know this year will have its challenges, but right now I am in the honeymoon stage and it is very nice.

I will be praying for all of you back in Minnesota and around the world, as I hope you will continue to pray for me. Right now the biggest requests I have are surrounding how I will fit in to the ministry here. We are going to be meeting this coming week around this very topic. I have a few ideas, but we will see what happens.

Take care and God bless,
Jason

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p.p.s. please email if you would like: jascut@mac.com