Written by: Femke Helland<\/p>\n
For two years, my husband, Matt, and I have been part of a team that visits the people who work in Amsterdam\u2019s infamous Red Light District. We tell them about God\u2019s love for them\u2014about hope.<\/p>\n
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We pray, we listen, and we offer practical help. Sometimes the young women want to talk; sometimes we have to put in more effort to get to spend time with them. We always try to think of unique ways to bring something to bless them, surprise them, and show them God\u2019s love in a tangible way.<\/p>\n
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For my 40th birthday I came up with a plan. I ordered a big birthday cake and cut it into about 50 pieces. On the box I wrote a note that said: \u201cToday is my 40th birthday, and I love spending it with you because you are so valuable to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Matt and I stepped out of our comfort zone and took the birthday cake and a large thermos of coffee to the young women. Their responses were so special! Hugs, birthday wishes, presents, and text messages. We even got to know new women\u2014which is an opportunity to share Christ and to talk about the help we offer to get out of this work!<\/p>\n
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The reason we go out to the young women is because, in the gospel of Luke chapter 15, we see time and again that Jesus goes out to look for that which is lost. Sometimes finding and building relationships with the lost around us takes some creativity! We have brought various young women breakfast, coffee mugs that say \u201cYou are loved,\u201d flowers, and even a beautiful bathrobe.<\/p>\n
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Another reason we meet with these young women is because we are doing it unto Him! If we read Matthew 25, we discover that anytime we help, love, and serve the least of Jesus\u2019 brothers and sisters, we are doing it unto Him. In the hurting, oppressed, lonely, and poor we can see Jesus. When we do something about their hurt, their oppression, their loneliness, or their poverty, we do it for Jesus. We can see our acts of love as acts of worship to Him!<\/p>\n
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Every time I go into Amsterdam\u2019s Red Light District and enter the women\u2019s workspace, I don\u2019t look at their clothes, I don\u2019t look at the surroundings. The thing I do is focus on each young woman\u2019s eyes. Because when I look in her eyes I see a beloved daughter of the Lord. And when I focus on that, loving her is an act of worship to her Maker!<\/p>\n
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God has placed each one of us in a place with people in need of His love. I know that if you listen to the Holy Spirit, He will give you and your family creative ideas to make His love tangible to those around you\u2014even if that means stepping out of your comfort zone.<\/p>\n
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As an act of worship, brainstorm some unique ways to share God\u2019s love with others. Then, step out and put your plan into action and watch as God transforms your family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[446,37],"tags":[749,16,1024,489,488],"class_list":{"0":"post-3969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phpp","8":"category-womens-ministries","9":"tag-749","10":"tag-discipleship","11":"tag-femke-helland","12":"tag-people-of-promise","13":"tag-place-of-hope","14":"entry"},"title_es":"Amabilidad como adoraci\u00f3n","content_es":"Escrito por: Femke Helland Durante dos a\u00f1os, mi esposo, Matt y yo formamos parte de un equipo que visita a las personas que trabajan en el infame Barrio Rojo. Les contamos sobre el amor de Dios por ellos, acerca de la esperanza. Oramos, escuchamos y ofrecemos ayuda pr\u00e1ctica. A veces las j\u00f3venes quieren hablar; a veces tenemos que esforzarnos m\u00e1s por pasar tiempo con ellos. Siempre tratamos de pensar en formas \u00fanicas de traer algo para bendecirlos, sorprenderlos y mostrarles el amor de Dios de una manera tangible. Para mi cumplea\u00f1os n\u00famero 40, se me ocurri\u00f3 un plan. Ped\u00ed una gran torta de cumplea\u00f1os y la cort\u00e9 en aproximadamente 50 pedazos. En el casillero escrib\u00ed una nota que dec\u00eda: \"Hoy es mi cumplea\u00f1os n\u00famero 40, y me encanta gastarlo porque eres muy valioso para m\u00ed\". Matt y yo salimos de nuestra zona de confort y tomamos la tarta de cumplea\u00f1os y un gran pastel. termo de caf\u00e9 a las mujeres j\u00f3venes. \u00a1Sus respuestas fueron tan especiales! Abrazos, deseos de cumplea\u00f1os, regalos y mensajes de texto. Incluso llegamos a conocer mujeres nuevas, \u00a1una oportunidad para compartir a Cristo y hablar de la ayuda que ofrecemos para salir de este trabajo! La raz\u00f3n por la que acudimos a las mujeres j\u00f3venes es porque, en el cap\u00edtulo 15 del evangelio de Lucas, vemos una y otra vez que Jes\u00fas sale a buscar lo que est\u00e1 perdido. A veces, encontrar y construir relaciones con los perdidos que nos rodean requiere algo de creatividad. Hemos tra\u00eddo desayuno a varias mujeres j\u00f3venes, tazas de caf\u00e9 que dicen \"Te quieren\", flores e incluso una hermosa bata de ba\u00f1o. \u00a1Otra raz\u00f3n por la que nos encontramos con estas j\u00f3venes es porque lo estamos haciendo a \u00e9l! Si leemos Mateo 25, descubrimos que cada vez que ayudamos, amamos y servimos al menor de los hermanos y hermanas de Jes\u00fas, lo estamos haciendo a \u00e9l. En los dolidos, oprimidos, solitarios y pobres podemos ver a Jes\u00fas. Cuando hacemos algo acerca de su dolor, su opresi\u00f3n, su soledad o su pobreza, lo hacemos por Jes\u00fas. \u00a1Podemos ver nuestros actos de amor como actos de adoraci\u00f3n a \u00c9l! Cada vez que entro en el Barrio Rojo de Amsterdam y entro en el \u00e1rea de trabajo de las mujeres, no miro su ropa, no miro el entorno. Lo que hago es centrarme en los ojos de cada joven. Porque cuando miro en sus ojos, veo a una amada hija del Se\u00f1or. Y cuando me concentro en eso, \u00a1amarla es un acto de adoraci\u00f3n para su Creador! Dios nos ha puesto a cada uno en un lugar con personas necesitadas de su amor. S\u00e9 que si escuchas al Esp\u00edritu Santo, \u00c9l te dar\u00e1 a ti y a tu familia ideas creativas para hacer que su amor sea tangible para quienes te rodean, incluso si eso significa salir de tu zona de confort. Como un acto de adoraci\u00f3n, piense en algunas formas \u00fanicas de compartir el amor de Dios con los dem\u00e1s. Luego, salga y ponga su plan en acci\u00f3n y observe c\u00f3mo Dios transforma a su familia.","author_name":"","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/08\/HF-Femke-Helland-Kindness-as-Worship.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4T9u2-121","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/discipleship\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}