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What is the probability of two people having an identical dream at the same time?
It happened to us in September 2018. We had just lived in Rotterdam's Bloemhof neighbourhood for a year and a half. Regularly, we had prayed for God's guidance. 'Put us in touch with the right people. Show us in what ways we can be meaningful. Show us your way.' We soon discovered that 75% of the residents have a migrant background. More than 160 nationalities live there. Loneliness, crime and poverty are the biggest problems. And we did not know where to start.
Pioneering we learned in practice. In Veenendaal, we stood at the cradle of the Intercultural Christian Family (ICF). In seven years, a colourful church emerged there. But here things had to be different. We did not understand how.
We walked prayerfully through the neighbourhood for 16 months. Talked to residents and community workers. Even drew the houses on our street. Recorded every new name. Invited the neighbourhood police officer - not only to get acquainted, but also to report a cannabis plantation, theft of two bicycles, domestic violence in the street and huge noise pollution.
And then there was that dream.
Just awake, we told each other what was sharp in our minds that night. First, we were doing a survey in the neighbourhood. We wanted to get to know people and network with them. Then we were in the barber shop five houses away. There, the Catholic Cape Verdean cut her clients. We ran a living room there for the neighbourhood. A long table, colourful chairs and - another thing we both noticed - yellow awnings over the windows.
It was immediately clear to us: this is where God wants to say something. We cannot ignore it. This is a clue we are going to take forward. Our waiting for his clue was not easy, but it was rewarded. And this dream does not seem like a deception.
Carolien and Hans Euser
network leaders, Intercultural Church Plants (ICP)
