Cecil & Kathy Stalnaker
Netherlands

Ministry Overview: Cecil teaches at Tyndale Theological Seminary, teaching and training European church leaders (along with some Africans and Asians) for ministry, especially in the areas of evangelism and missions. In their local church, Cecil is an elder, and Kathy organizes the music portion of the worship services. They serve at Trinity Baptist International Church.

Where they live: Cecil and Kathy live about 100 yards from the Amsterdam city limit in a town of about 10,000 called Badhoevedorp. Holland has a population of 16 million, with about 850,000 Muslims. Evangelicals only make up about 7.6% of the population. The morality of the country is very liberal with homosexual marriages, soft drugs, and euthanasia all being legal. Amsterdam has 800,000 people, with about 100,000 Muslims. The city has 145 nationalities, 400,000 bicycles, 28 parks, 260 trams, 24 diamond polishing factories, 165 canals, 1281 bridges, 6800 buildings that date from 16-18th centuries, and 6 windmills. It rains about 227 days a year and the geography of Holland is flat. 33% of Holland is reclaimed from sea waters. They personally live 15 feet below sea level (Amsterdam has the only international airport in the world below sea level).

Prayer Requests: Pray that God will continue to use us during our Home Ministry Assignment in the USA. Pray that God would raise up people to serve in Europe as long-term missionaries and that people will use their resources to fund missions in Europe.

What's Happening in Holland?

• 1000th Pickpocket caught: Recently, the police nabbed their 1000th pickpocket in Amsterdam. However, they decided not to prosecute her because she went though great humiliation by the celebrating police officers. The police apparently fixed a sign ion the back of the woman's coat which said "1000!" The whole indecent was broadcast by a local TV station. (No ACLU here.)  
• Strong marijuana ruled as dangerous: The NL has begun to classify the different types of marijuana, had have found that "strong marijuana is so dangerous it should be classed alongside heroin and cocaine" (quoting from the Dutch news). The government is also planning to turn the country's marijuana cafes into member-only clubs in an effort to curb drug tourism. Only people officially living in the Netherlands would be able to join.
• Tax office tells woman to divorce handicapped husband - to keep benefits: The Dutch tax office has recommended a woman divorce her seriously handicapped husband so she can keep childcare benefits. The husband is totally paralyzed and lives in a nursing home and is unable to take care of his children. Because she was not meeting the criteria, the tax authorities told her that she had to repay the benefits which had already been paid to her. A phone caller from the tax office told her that a divorce would solver her problem.
• Dutch doctors and euthanasia: New guidelines have come out in reference to doctors who have moral objections to euthanasia. These doctors are not obligated to practice euthanasia, but are to refer the person to another doctor. One-third of doctors have refused to euthanize people over the past years. Over 50% of family doctors felt that they have been pressured by patients themselves or their relatives to help people die. And almost 75% said they were unwilling to carry out euthanasia on someone who is worried about unbearable suffering in the future. 20% were willing to help a patient who is tired of life. The number of reported deaths by euthanasia rose 13% to 2, 636 in 2009. Some 80% of people who opt for such killing die at home.

Pray for:

• Praise the Lord: A few months ago, I asked for prayer fro Tyndale that it be recognized as a legitimate graduate school in Holland. The government officials came to the school and examined it from head to toe for one entire day. After the examination, the committee will be making a positive recommendation to the Minister of Education that the school be recognized along with its accreditation.
• The evangelistic Bible study that Kathy is part of - that the women would keep coming and that the Lord will open their hearts to the gospel.