It doesn’t happen often that church planting makes the headlines of secular newspapers, but on 31 July 2012 Dutch newspaper Het Parool opened with ‘God returns to the city’. The article reports that 1,500 citizens of Amsterdam joined so-called ‘new churches’, and that 10 more of these churches are planned for the next three years. Since three Reformed churches joined hands in re-evangelizing the city, new church groups are popping up everywhere. This adds to the already blooming immigrant and free Evangelical churches in the Bijlmer area of the Dutch capital. The Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics reports that 17 percent of the inhabitants of Amsterdam see themselves as part of the Christian tradition. The Church in the Netherlands is still in decline, but not as marked as in the past. Church planting provides a new stream of life in the cities.
Pray: for the ongoing growth and new life of the Church in Amsterdam. (Gen.17:2)