New Update:
We visited that sister, and she had prepared us a great meal for our coming. Then we visited her mother-in-law (both are widows) and uncovered a bit of bitterness in her heart. The daughter-in-law is a believer only 4 weeks old, and the mother-in-law a believer of more years than the church in the city. I heard bits of the story as Daniella (Pr. Goran’s wife), explained it to me. I prayed before we ended, and then we headed back to the church for the prayer meeting. We began with a few announcements, and then we sang a couple of songs before I gave the message on the widow’s persistence. I forgot to mention that while doing the woodwork the first day, an older man was chopping wood and hurt his wrist. I went over and offered to pray for him and then later, he asked me to pray again, specifically for his addition to tobacco. He was ashamed of it and trying to hide it from Pr. Goran while we worked, and didn’t want to smoke anymore. I told him I would and we did right there, and Timothy translated my prayer for him. He then told us that was his last cigarette. Then at the prayer meeting he said he had read the parable of the widow’s persistence earlier that day, and he also said a lot more I didn’t have translated. The brothers prayed over him specifically at the end of the meeting and he invited Goran and I to his house tomorrow to meet his son and relax. After the meeting, I went upstairs and was going to rest until the boys got me for some time to talk with the family later. I guess it could wait, because my door was open and I was asleep on my bed until the next morning.
Partial update:
It’s Wednesday. Today I wokeup, read, prayed, and then went with Pr. Goran’s eldest son, Timothy (12) to a local shop to buy a few items and then to a local bakery for burek (like layers of dough and filling like meat and spices – I had it at Marjan’s place). We went back, ate our breakfast, and then we met downstairs to resume the work of hauling and chopping wood. That lasted until about 1:00pm, and then we headed in. I showered and then came down for some lunch. After lunch we took a couple hour break during which I wrote the past few days’ updates and did a couple of other things. I finished my message for tonight – I’ll speak on the parable of the persistent widow for the prayer meeting. After the break we went downstairs to the sanctuary where there are a lot of humanitarian aid packages. We had to put some more of them together and then move them across the room, out of the way for the week’s services. Then I returned to my room to work on this update before we head to a new sister’s house, and then come back for the prayer meeting. I’ll update you again if there is much more to say. Please keep praying for my effectiveness in preaching by the power of the Spirit and for the openness of the men and women with whom I stay. Different people feel me out differently, and so it takes a little while before I know they’re comfortable having me around. Also, I’ve received some news today from some of the brothers I’ll be staying with in the next few weeks. Please pray for our communication as it’s somewhat hard for me to decipher. I think some people have been a little put out that I’m coming, and given that I don’t want to be a burden, this can be understandable but hard to deal with emotionally/spiritually. Also, pray that as I have time to spend with the youth in these churches and with the children of the church-planters that I can be a godly influence on them, encouraging them in respecting, honoring, and looking up to their parents. I have seen this as a great ministry opportunity, to speak into their lives and give them as much friendship as I can. Until later, God bless.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Another short post
I woke, read, had a great breakfast as usual, and listened to a little music with Pr. Toni before heading to the bus stop around 10:45. My bus left around 11:00am, and took me from Strumica to Negotino. It lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Pr. Goran picked me up and took me to the church where his home and my lodging is. I unpacked and then we had lunch and his two sons and I started to watch the movie: To save a life. I hadn’t seen it and was interested in how well done the movie was. We stopped watching when Pr. Goran came in to let us know it was time for some work. An agency had arrived that morning unannounced with wood for the church’s heating, but had dumped it all and blocked the driveway. This was unannounced and meant a lot of extra work. We worked until the later evening and came in for a late dinner and finished the movie. Then Pr. Goran briefly outlined the week for me and I headed to bed. I called my parents for a quick SKYPE chat and then headed to bed. Tomorrow we finish the job and do some other work before heading out for a home visit and then have the prayer meeting in the evening.
I woke, read, had a great breakfast as usual, and listened to a little music with Pr. Toni before heading to the bus stop around 10:45. My bus left around 11:00am, and took me from Strumica to Negotino. It lasted about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Pr. Goran picked me up and took me to the church where his home and my lodging is. I unpacked and then we had lunch and his two sons and I started to watch the movie: To save a life. I hadn’t seen it and was interested in how well done the movie was. We stopped watching when Pr. Goran came in to let us know it was time for some work. An agency had arrived that morning unannounced with wood for the church’s heating, but had dumped it all and blocked the driveway. This was unannounced and meant a lot of extra work. We worked until the later evening and came in for a late dinner and finished the movie. Then Pr. Goran briefly outlined the week for me and I headed to bed. I called my parents for a quick SKYPE chat and then headed to bed. Tomorrow we finish the job and do some other work before heading out for a home visit and then have the prayer meeting in the evening.
Monday, June 27, 2011
This post will be shorter in order for me to catch up.
This morning I cleaned and packed for heading to Pr. Toni’s. We headed to the church’s cucumber/tomato/pepper field which was developed thanks to a European brother’s gift of 120,000 Euros. The first and second years were good and so-so in regard to return, but because of the e-coli scares, this year’s crop has been deemed worthless by surrounding countries (though it’s fine to eat as we have been all along). From that field we traveled to Pr. Toni’s sister’s field where she had a heating system (which helps the crops grow more quickly so that you can get your food to market first and get the best prices). Then we headed to his home for breakfast (huge!) with Desi and to take her to a women’s prayer meeting. After dropping her off we headed to see the businessman brother (I had asked if I could get an appointment to meet him). We had an awesome meeting of a few hours in length. I learned a great deal and my mindset for Macedonia’s business climate changed again. From the meeting, Pr. Toni and I visited Desi’s parents and we went with her dad to their watermelon patch and grabbed some for home. At home we had lunch with Philip and Desi, and then we rested. I had about an hour to rest, but I slept for 2. We left for the mountains, to hike up a trail to a monastery. We hiked most of the way, and then came back down for the evening. On the way home we picked up Philip’s friends and took them to another friend’s house for movies. Then we went to one of the friend’s house for coffee and snacks with the adults. We picked up Desi and then went there, and had a couple hours of good conversation. I shared a few testimonies and plans for the future. We returned home around midnight. The young guys were at the house to watch the movie, and so I saw them for a few moments before cleaning up and heading to bed. I traveled to Negotino the next day.
This morning I cleaned and packed for heading to Pr. Toni’s. We headed to the church’s cucumber/tomato/pepper field which was developed thanks to a European brother’s gift of 120,000 Euros. The first and second years were good and so-so in regard to return, but because of the e-coli scares, this year’s crop has been deemed worthless by surrounding countries (though it’s fine to eat as we have been all along). From that field we traveled to Pr. Toni’s sister’s field where she had a heating system (which helps the crops grow more quickly so that you can get your food to market first and get the best prices). Then we headed to his home for breakfast (huge!) with Desi and to take her to a women’s prayer meeting. After dropping her off we headed to see the businessman brother (I had asked if I could get an appointment to meet him). We had an awesome meeting of a few hours in length. I learned a great deal and my mindset for Macedonia’s business climate changed again. From the meeting, Pr. Toni and I visited Desi’s parents and we went with her dad to their watermelon patch and grabbed some for home. At home we had lunch with Philip and Desi, and then we rested. I had about an hour to rest, but I slept for 2. We left for the mountains, to hike up a trail to a monastery. We hiked most of the way, and then came back down for the evening. On the way home we picked up Philip’s friends and took them to another friend’s house for movies. Then we went to one of the friend’s house for coffee and snacks with the adults. We picked up Desi and then went there, and had a couple hours of good conversation. I shared a few testimonies and plans for the future. We returned home around midnight. The young guys were at the house to watch the movie, and so I saw them for a few moments before cleaning up and heading to bed. I traveled to Negotino the next day.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Last night’s message went well. I spoke about the power of being a Christian versus the powerlessness of doing the Christian things. I explained how only Christians can walk like Jesus and that the a bad tree cannot bear good fruit, and so it’s worthless to try to be like Jesus unless you have the same life that He has and that same seed of God in you. After the group ended, Zivko got together with the young adults who normally lead worship and who are leading the worship time at the youth camp they have in a couple of weeks, and I hung around and met different people from the youth. Many of them were 19-20-21 and in college in Skopje. They are studying IT, Computer graphics design/marketing, agriculture technology, etc. I found out that we were going to go out for dinner as a large group (the young adults) and so I went to my room and read and sang a little while I waited for their meeting to finish. For dinner we went back to the Corzo (that long street where people gather), and we stopped at a restaurant whose owners were friends with Zivko and one of the younger brothers with us. At dinner I learned that this younger brother’s father (his sister and cousin were also with us) is one of the primary businessmen in Macedonia. They attend the local Methodist church, but come to the youth group because they have all grown up together and gone to school together and play music in the worship band together. It was a good time of fun, relaxation, and lots of joking. As I’ve mentioned before, I see the people in the Balkans most happy around the meal table and when telling a joke. But, be careful, if you aren’t one of the minority parties and try telling a joke, you’ll probably be seen as an oppressor. I haven’t had that misfortune yet, but I did notice uneasiness once when I cracked a joke about one of the countries. It’s like the use of the n-word in the States. If you’re using it and you aren’t black, then you’re racist. It’s not a parallel situation, but it’s analogous. After dinner, we dropped off a brother and Zivko’s sister and headed back to the church. There I cleaned up and went straight to bed in order to get a few hours of sleep before preaching in the morning.
Okay, so I wakeup after 3 hours of sleep and get to work making sure my message is clear. I’m giving a straight Gospel message – God’s character, man’s character, The dilemma of God’s justice, the God’s self-motivation to save, the required response of men, what true faith is, and bearing fruit (including baptism and sharing the Gospel). After finishing my preparation and getting ready for the service I went downstairs and met a few people who had already arrived. I continued to meet people until it seemed that no more would come and grabbed a seat in the front. Pr. Toni came and sat beside me and I asked him to pray and he did. The service began with singing. I knew a few of the songs by heart and was able to sing along in English. Otherwise, all of the songs were in Macedonian and not transliterated (in Cyrillic). Their soundboard/mixer just broke, and so they are without the ability to have their worship band play. Thus, Zivko played the piano and Pr. Toni led in singing. Zivko and his sister are incredible musicians. They both have been ranked at the top in Macedonia among musicians. Zivko was once the #1 theoretical musician in the whole country, and his sister, Ellie, was one of its best pianists (though she had an undiscoverable nerve problem in her right hand that forced her to stop playing daily – and so she stopped going to music school though she is still phenomenal). After we finished singing, Pr. Toni invited me up to preach and Zivko and I gave the Word (he translated). We sang some more after the message and prayed before leaving. Pr. Toni and I said goodbye to everyone as they left the church. There was quite a bit of hanging around afterward (This was the 9:00am service in Monospitovo). From there, Zivko, Stephanie, and I drove to Strumica for the 11:00am service there. I didn’t have to preach. Instead, another brother from the U.S., from Chattanooga, TN, was there giving the word. He is a worship leader at The Net church. It’s a North Point styled plant a few years old. He and I were glad to connect as the only U.S. citizens we’d seen in awhile, and I found out that he has a good friend who travels around the world helping churches and church-planters get setup with microfinance businesses. He’s going to send me this friend’s contact information. He preached on God’s life-giving love out of John 4 (the Samaritan woman at the well). He also shared his testimony which was pretty amazing. He was a missionary kid in Germany until moving to the States where he was constantly picked on, had his leg broken by a jealous upperclassmen, was told he was worthless and should have been aborted by a music teacher in front of the whole band, and sought satisfaction and fulfillment in all the wrong places. It was a strong message. After church, Stephanie, Zivko, headed to Pr. Toni’s home for lunch (with Desi, Ellie, and Philip). Pr. Toni loves bluegrass music, especially the Gaither album. HAH! He shared that with me and we had a great lunch afterward. Then they asked me to show them a little breakdancing as they don’t see that anywhere in the country.
Hilarious story: So I go to the restroom in the home and lock the door. Interestingly, the lock didn’t work the best – meaning it didn’t consistently unlock when you turned the key back. I proceeded to try and leave the bathroom but was unsuccessful in unlocking the door. I knocked and called for Zivko and told him the situation: The keys are on the inside of the bathroom, the door reaches to the floor and so you cannot slide them under or pass them over the top. We’re on the fifth floor of the apartment complex, and there was no ledge. Thankfully, the bedroom window was close enough and about parallel so we were able to pass the key on a broom pole from the bathroom window to the bedroom window and I was out in 10 minutes or so. But it’s always an awkward situation when you get locked in someone else’s bathroom and need a mission impossible scenario to leave.
While chatting, I found out that Ellie was into computer graphic design and marketing (and so was another brother in the young adult group). Given what I’d spoken with Zivko about (regarding the film festival organizer position) and Nicky and Stef from BL Bulgaria, and Ivaylo, Hari’s son, I realized the importance of connecting these brothers to see if there could be a partnership that could harness the competencies and passion for Jesus these young Christians have with the newfound opportunities to affect the culture through audio/visual media. I wrote an e-mail to each of them later in hopes of helping initiate some dialogue and action. Zivko, Stephanie, and I left for the church and I took some time to read and rest. Pr. Toni was going to pick me up around 6 or 7pm to go to Bansko, a nearby village, so that we could visit some sisters and a brother in a hospital for the severely disabled. We took time to talk with them and just hung out, sharing stories and hearing about what was going on in the ward. Some patients were trying to commit suicide, and some are manipulative to others. It was very interesting to say the least. I shared a word about the purpose of God in suffering and sanctification for His glory and our joy. Then Pr. Toni and I sang a song. For the most part, we relaxed and shared – while I listened and Pr. Toni would translate from time to time. I prayed at the end and we left. When I returned to the church, I had some dinner with Zivko and Stephanie and then showed them some videos. Then I packed to go stay at Pr. Toni’s house for the next night as Zivko and Stephanie were headed to Greece for a few days. We said goodbye as the evening ended (the would leave very early), and I went to sleep.
Okay, so I wakeup after 3 hours of sleep and get to work making sure my message is clear. I’m giving a straight Gospel message – God’s character, man’s character, The dilemma of God’s justice, the God’s self-motivation to save, the required response of men, what true faith is, and bearing fruit (including baptism and sharing the Gospel). After finishing my preparation and getting ready for the service I went downstairs and met a few people who had already arrived. I continued to meet people until it seemed that no more would come and grabbed a seat in the front. Pr. Toni came and sat beside me and I asked him to pray and he did. The service began with singing. I knew a few of the songs by heart and was able to sing along in English. Otherwise, all of the songs were in Macedonian and not transliterated (in Cyrillic). Their soundboard/mixer just broke, and so they are without the ability to have their worship band play. Thus, Zivko played the piano and Pr. Toni led in singing. Zivko and his sister are incredible musicians. They both have been ranked at the top in Macedonia among musicians. Zivko was once the #1 theoretical musician in the whole country, and his sister, Ellie, was one of its best pianists (though she had an undiscoverable nerve problem in her right hand that forced her to stop playing daily – and so she stopped going to music school though she is still phenomenal). After we finished singing, Pr. Toni invited me up to preach and Zivko and I gave the Word (he translated). We sang some more after the message and prayed before leaving. Pr. Toni and I said goodbye to everyone as they left the church. There was quite a bit of hanging around afterward (This was the 9:00am service in Monospitovo). From there, Zivko, Stephanie, and I drove to Strumica for the 11:00am service there. I didn’t have to preach. Instead, another brother from the U.S., from Chattanooga, TN, was there giving the word. He is a worship leader at The Net church. It’s a North Point styled plant a few years old. He and I were glad to connect as the only U.S. citizens we’d seen in awhile, and I found out that he has a good friend who travels around the world helping churches and church-planters get setup with microfinance businesses. He’s going to send me this friend’s contact information. He preached on God’s life-giving love out of John 4 (the Samaritan woman at the well). He also shared his testimony which was pretty amazing. He was a missionary kid in Germany until moving to the States where he was constantly picked on, had his leg broken by a jealous upperclassmen, was told he was worthless and should have been aborted by a music teacher in front of the whole band, and sought satisfaction and fulfillment in all the wrong places. It was a strong message. After church, Stephanie, Zivko, headed to Pr. Toni’s home for lunch (with Desi, Ellie, and Philip). Pr. Toni loves bluegrass music, especially the Gaither album. HAH! He shared that with me and we had a great lunch afterward. Then they asked me to show them a little breakdancing as they don’t see that anywhere in the country.
Hilarious story: So I go to the restroom in the home and lock the door. Interestingly, the lock didn’t work the best – meaning it didn’t consistently unlock when you turned the key back. I proceeded to try and leave the bathroom but was unsuccessful in unlocking the door. I knocked and called for Zivko and told him the situation: The keys are on the inside of the bathroom, the door reaches to the floor and so you cannot slide them under or pass them over the top. We’re on the fifth floor of the apartment complex, and there was no ledge. Thankfully, the bedroom window was close enough and about parallel so we were able to pass the key on a broom pole from the bathroom window to the bedroom window and I was out in 10 minutes or so. But it’s always an awkward situation when you get locked in someone else’s bathroom and need a mission impossible scenario to leave.
While chatting, I found out that Ellie was into computer graphic design and marketing (and so was another brother in the young adult group). Given what I’d spoken with Zivko about (regarding the film festival organizer position) and Nicky and Stef from BL Bulgaria, and Ivaylo, Hari’s son, I realized the importance of connecting these brothers to see if there could be a partnership that could harness the competencies and passion for Jesus these young Christians have with the newfound opportunities to affect the culture through audio/visual media. I wrote an e-mail to each of them later in hopes of helping initiate some dialogue and action. Zivko, Stephanie, and I left for the church and I took some time to read and rest. Pr. Toni was going to pick me up around 6 or 7pm to go to Bansko, a nearby village, so that we could visit some sisters and a brother in a hospital for the severely disabled. We took time to talk with them and just hung out, sharing stories and hearing about what was going on in the ward. Some patients were trying to commit suicide, and some are manipulative to others. It was very interesting to say the least. I shared a word about the purpose of God in suffering and sanctification for His glory and our joy. Then Pr. Toni and I sang a song. For the most part, we relaxed and shared – while I listened and Pr. Toni would translate from time to time. I prayed at the end and we left. When I returned to the church, I had some dinner with Zivko and Stephanie and then showed them some videos. Then I packed to go stay at Pr. Toni’s house for the next night as Zivko and Stephanie were headed to Greece for a few days. We said goodbye as the evening ended (the would leave very early), and I went to sleep.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
In case my next update is slow in coming
I will be speaking at a prayer meeting tomorrow night, and giving short testimonies on Saturday night and Sunday morning. I will preach at a Gypsy church on Sunday night. I will be visiting brothers and sisters throughout the week.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Saturday, June 25, 2011
UPDATE: We returned to Monespitovo (where the church I'm staying at is located) after a good long day of soccer fun. I accomplished a good deal of update writing and prepared a bit for my messages tonight and tomorrow. Stephanie made Zhivko and I some food when we returned, and now we're just resting before this evening's service. Please keep up the prayer.
This morning I woke early and prepared for the day. Zhivko and I left the church and picked up several others in the van on the way to Veles for a soccer tournament many of the pastors are playing in. I read the Bible on the way there and since we’ve been here, I’ve been writing the updates from the last few days as the games continue on. They’re playing in-doors today, because of the heat, and the guys are intense – intense in their desire to win. Their acting skills when they fall and get pushed a little upholds the professional soccer reputation. I’m going to be speaking with the youth tonight, and so I doubt I’ll have much more of an update about the day to write beyond what happens later. I plan to speak on the lifestyle of a Christian with saving faith. And, I’ll speak tomorrow morning for one of the churches. Keep me in prayer. God bless,
This morning I woke early and prepared for the day. Zhivko and I left the church and picked up several others in the van on the way to Veles for a soccer tournament many of the pastors are playing in. I read the Bible on the way there and since we’ve been here, I’ve been writing the updates from the last few days as the games continue on. They’re playing in-doors today, because of the heat, and the guys are intense – intense in their desire to win. Their acting skills when they fall and get pushed a little upholds the professional soccer reputation. I’m going to be speaking with the youth tonight, and so I doubt I’ll have much more of an update about the day to write beyond what happens later. I plan to speak on the lifestyle of a Christian with saving faith. And, I’ll speak tomorrow morning for one of the churches. Keep me in prayer. God bless,
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Today was a somewhat uneventful day. I got up and read and prayed and sang and such. I had a strange dream right as I awoke. As I was getting out of bed I saw someone very clearly. I have never seen this person before and do not know the location at which I saw them either. It was very odd. After I was finished, I took my things to the office and talked with Stole a bit about western administration styles versus eastern administration styles. We also spoke a bit about the idea of the Bible vs. by-laws. After our discussion, Marino and Stole had to leave briefly. I was packed and ready to leave, and so I finished my update for Tuesday. Pr. Yosip Pastor arrived at the office and he and Marion helped me load before we headed to the bus station to purchase my ticket and then head to the conference for one of the week’s final sessions. The conference atmosphere and information wasn’t too exciting except for when Mircho spoke and called out the rest of the religious world to stand up for the rights of the Evangelicals if there were really committed to interfaith dialogue. After that session, the guys took me over to the café and we had a big lunch. I met Sasho, another Macedonian pastor, and he shared with me his desire with the rest of the guys to start a Bible school or seminary of their own, as they all have advanced degrees, a few with doctorates and the rest with masters degrees in theology (topics covering OT, NT, Systematic, ethics and philosophy, history, etc.). After lunch, Marino took Yosip and I to the bus station where Yosip helped me find my bus and get loaded. He was going to be taking a train in a couple of hours, and so he had the time to help me out. On the bus (3-5pm) I read a book about cross-cultural business negotiations as that’s an interest of mine, and started up a good conversation about 45 min. before we arrived at Strumica with the guys sitting next to me. He was coming from Skopje to see his wife and daughter and their family. He’d been working for a few weeks in molding and artistic supplies manufacturing. It sounded like he was doing some seasonal work. When I arrived, Pr. Tony was there to pick me up and we loaded his car and were off to his home. I met his wife and we took some time to hear one another’s stories. Neither of them is originally from Strumica, but came to plant churches here. They have three children: two sons and a middle daughter. The eldest son is Zhivko, and it’s with him that I’m currently living. He and his wife are expecting in a couple months. They live at one of the churches that they’ve been developing, and they have a guest room with four beds. It just so happens that the next day (Friday) was to be the hottest day of the year in Strumica. And, as you’ll read Friday’s post, it was. After our time getting acquainted, Tony took me over to that church and I met Zhivko and his wife Stephanie (26 and 22). I also met Philip, Zhivko’s younger brother (going to be a sophomore in high school). After some time of getting acquainted and hearing about their ministry, we had a service down stairs in the church. After some singing and a message from Pr. Tony, we split into two groups and Zhivko and Tony each lead the groups in some discussion questions about the passage. After the service was over and everyone else left, Zhivko, Stephanie, and I went upstairs and had some food and talked more about ministry and business and some testimonies of what has happened in the past two years in this are of Maceonia. We eventually called it a night and I cleaned up, prayed for a bit, and then I went to bed.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
I woke a bit tired Wednesday. Nicky and Stef were leaving, and so I cleaned up quick, and we all met in the office to go grab a quick breakfast before the guys departed. I had an interesting dream about working on a home with a failing roof. I had to leave for something else, and we never actually fixed the roof. Could just be thoughts/anxieties. After breakfast, we said goodbye to the guys and sent them off. Marino and Stole also had to run some errands, and so I had the office to myself for maybe two hours. I spend the time reading and singing and starting to pray when Stole returned. My brother had sent me an interesting e-mail that night/morning, and so I shared it with Stole and we then prayed for awhile. Marino joined us near the end, and then we had a good long discussion about ministry in Macedonia, a short history of the Bible League under Stole’s leadership, the growth of the Evangelical Church in Macedonia, and the legal structure of business development in Macedonia. From all that I’ve gathered, the framework for entrepreneurship is nearly nonexistent – if you want to do things legally and/or you don’t have strong connections with government officials. But, you should take those observations with a grain of salt, because I see small businesses all over the place. What I’ve heard, though, is that those businesses only permit someone to survive. There’s a gathering of Christian business persons in Skopje, but I have yet to be able to meet them. When I return in two weeks, I’ll see if I can get together with them (if they have a meeting) – it will be tricky being that I’ll only be back for half a day. We had a short break after a couple of hours, and then we continued for a bit before breaking again for lunch. For lunch we returned to the café outside of that hotel holding the interfaith conference. During lunch Stole told me about his childhood and testimony. Then, Rev. Jonatan Vlaisavljevic (the executive director of Teen Challenge Europe in Macedonia) joined us and shared with me about their ministry in Macedonia and relationship with the government. Instead of heading back to the office after lunch, we went to another session about Muslims and Christians and what they agree on and what they disagree about. From there we went back to another nearby café and had some coffee and soft drinks. One of the guys’ eastern orthodox friends joined us. From what the guys told me, he’s very much evangelical in his theology but he likes the comforts the EOC has to offer him. From there, they dropped me off at the BL office and I called it a night. I had to do some writing I wanted to get finished and some singing also. I called my brother and Pr. Bob on Skype while uploading some videos to YouTube. Then I packed a bit a went to bed.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Today I got up and cleaned up as we were headed to the central mountain in Skopje from which you can see all of Skopje and on which is located the Millennial Cross (check my videos). The ascent was exceptionally smooth for such a lift and the sights were magnificent. While Stef, Nicky, and Marino tested some interviews with the equipment on the top of the mountain, Stole schooled me on Macedonian geography and history. To express it in a word: Wow. The country is landlocked and not everyone is friendly. Intense ethnic hostilities run deep in the cultural consciousness of the Macedonian society, and the surrounding countries are not much different, but I stress the landlocked nature of Macedonia which emphasizes its position in the midst of its friendly foes. It’s not in the EU, and such status hinders it economically. There are many more aspects of the history and culture which are profoundly influential in the dealings of the people and the mentality which governs the decision-making process. Nevertheless, I’m not surprised, as one sociologist has pointed out, your culture can be your prison. I think this is sometimes true, and just as the rest of the world harps on the ethnocentrism of the United States (which sometimes is a caricature and other times is the reality), other regions and nationalities evidence their own ethnocentrism or societal pride – often to their detriment and mutual misunderstandings and long-lasting feuds. The essence of the question of Macedonia resides with what happened with the Balkan Wars and the land divisions that occurred afterward. France, Germany, and the British gave parts of Macedonia to Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia. This land was forcibly given, and currently, if the EU were to recognize Macedonia, then it would also have to recognize this history and because of international human rights laws, the EU would have to recognize the right to repatriation of these former lands by Macedonians, which would certainly create problems with EU countries that are presently in control of these lands. Could this conflict generate another war? This situation inculcates the Macedonian people with a mindset of uncertainty and attitude which Solomon rebuked in Ecclesiastes that “the former days were better.” Thus, the church planters and organization here not only have to deal with the Eastern Orthodox dilemma (I’m a Christian because I was born in an EOC country and am not a Muslim, and anything other is a dangerous cult-like gathering), but they also face the historical undertones which shape the general attitude of the people. This outlook is one of suspicion. I found out the next day that this suspicion makes its presence known in how the church seems to able to operate. According to some, the suspicious nature of people prohibits the effectiveness of house churches and cell group ministry. People are not afraid or wary of attending a public service at a recognized church building, however, as its visibility and public openness makes it less likely to be a “trick” or a deceitful enterprise. I should probably also mention here about the humor. As I said previously, humor is important in developing relationships that last. Here in the Balkans that is no different. But, the humor that is most prevalent is toxic to greater cross-border relations. The jokes, for the most part, harbor a seed of discontent or are the only way to voice a frustration or relay the way the different ethnicities feel about one another or how the nationalities relate to each other’s independence and cultural distance. So what you find is a people who are fearful that war will erupt tomorrow, that today is unfair and too hard, but if you’ve survived yesterday you can be proud even though yesterdays were better days. Ultimately, people don’t seem to want to hope for the future, because pride is attached to surviving the past, thus to accept a new outlook on life which is positive one would effectively diminish the value and importance and significance which the past offers his life – at least this is the view that seems to be showing itself. If I don’t suffer today and won’t suffer tomorrow, then my surviving the suffering from yesterday is my attachment to strength. If I don’t succeed in the efforts of today and am not a success by the world’s standards tomorrow, then my hold on glory is the past, and to let go is to have no glory. I’m not saying this is the dominant frame of mind among the church, and I’m not saying that it’s relegated to this part of the world alone. It’s everywhere, especially among the warring generations. Those who suffer much are sometimes bitter when the generations for which they suffered don’t suffer themselves. It’s strange thinking, but it’s not uncommon. Anyway, after coming down from the mountain because the coffee shop on the top was closed, we headed back to the café from the previous night for some coffee and discussion. We met up with a local missionary who works with the AoG and not only in Macedonia, but also in Croatia and Albania as well. His name was Gary. After finishing that conversation and time of discussion, Nicky, Stef, Stole, Marino, and I went a block or two away and grabbed some lunch (inside so that we wouldn’t spend much time there). We had some pretty intense discussion about western and Balkan mindsets and approaches to ministry, funding, administration, and more. The differences between the Balkan countries are very distinct even though the nations are similar in some major ways (former communist oppression, people groups, defeatism, geography, reliance on the West, threat from the East, etc). After that lunch and some more discussion about my purpose for being there, we headed back to the BL office for some rest. I took time to write notes and read the Bible. I have a little spiral-bound notebook which Hari gave me that I’m taking around jotting down ideas and historical facts and such. It’s proving most useful. From the office we headed to a conference around 5 or 6:00pm which was a kind of ecumenical discussion between Muslims, Jews, and different streams of Christianity. I was given a translation headset and took notes, but they aren’t worth writing down here. We went outside to a café near the hotel in which the conference was held for dinner and had some good food and coffees. One conversation we had dealt with the mission organizations’ difficulties in financial matters, especially in understanding the way budgets are developed and used – and what causes tension in this process across cultures. After dinner we dropped Marino off at a hospital for a pastoral visit before heading to the BL office ourselves. He’s got a full plate of responsibilities. Please keep him in prayer. He’s very self-sacrificing for the good of others and exceptionally kind and humble. Back in the room Nicky, Stef, and I joked around and had a bit of a theological discussion before calling it a night.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
I woke a few hours after I went to sleep in order to finish my packing and prepare myself with reading and such before our trip to Macedonia. As I grabbed a yogurt I had left in the fridge from when I first arrived, I met Rick Howard, who had been coming to Sofia for at least 15 years and preaching and acting as a kind of missionary (I think) before returning to the States and continuing now with short trips back and forth. We talked a bit about the changing landscape of global missions and about the assault on Christianity by the prosperity gospel. After we visited I went back to packing and at one point was able to talk with Ventzy at the office about the city of Sofia and ministry within the city and some of his background. We also spoke about the BL office and some of the grounds work. Later, we all gathered upstairs to pray before Nicky, Stefan, and I left for Macedonia. After packing our things into the vehicle, we headed out, first stopping at an exchange for me to grab some Bulgarian currency and for Nicky to grab some Macedonian currency. We did pretty well on exchange rates. From there we met with Vintzy, the newly elected president of the Church of God denomination in Bulgaria. We had a wonderful time talking about ministry in the country and the cultural context its ministers face. He wanted me to share my impressions from prior meetings with church planters and ministers and the BCPN first, and after I shared he gave me his thoughts on what I had seen clearly and what other factors had perhaps affected my perception and items of which I may not have been aware. As usual, we were having coffee and the weather was beautiful. How interesting it is that such places of beauty are so often empty of joyful inhabitants. Anyway, Nicky and Stefan were also testing some of their audio/visual equipment during our conversation and engaged Vintzy with some of their own questions as a means of gathering critiques of the most recent BCPN conference (the one I attended last month which helped initiate this mission) and what the attendees viewed as most beneficial and useful – the evidence or “data” of why the conference series is worth continuing. By the way, Vintzy is Nicky’s pastor and was a speaker at the BCPN conference. One of the subjects which dominated our discussion was the question of ministry structure. The western churches have structures: sub-ministries, organized leadership, regular programs and understanding of what a program does (what does a youth program look like and how does it function, under whose leadership, with what kind of funding, etc…). The Balkan churches, however, don’t seem to have such structure. They struggle in this area – finding it difficult to organize themselves often because of mentality and circumstance. I’ll talk about mentality later in this post or in another post to come. We had to be on our way and so did Vintzy, and so we ended the discussion with a “plan” to meet again and discuss more when I return to Bulgaria either in one month’s time or near the end of my time in the Balkans. As we headed West, Nicky, Stef, and I spoke about our backgrounds. We hadn’t had much time to connect personally up to this point, and so the road trip provided a great time for discussion and the foundation of a closer relationship with one another. For instance, I found out about their educations, that Stefan was a Bible school student and his passion for photography and use of his skill as a freelance professional was as a way of self-support and also for helping other Bible school students – he sells prints online and donates 30-35% of the proceeds to help others get Bible school educations. His work can be seen HERE. Nicky, on the other hand, has his education in Psychology and Screenwriting. His passion is for the cinematic arts. He’s written one major screenplay on a Bulgarian WWII hero as well as smaller pieces for commercials and humanitarian PSAs. As we progressed in conversation, we eventually began kicking around ideas for businesses in Bulgaria as well as solutions to problems which inhibit business in Bulgaria (marketing, market size, regulatory issues, start-up capital, etc.). We stopped along the way for some ripe cherries and again for lunch before we reached the border (I think). It was definitely a time of mutual encouragement. We also talked quite a bit about movies and differences between European and American tastes and music performers as well. We sampled different songs and I was educated in the musical cultures throughout the Balkans. I would later learn more about the events that have historically shaped the music each region promotes. The same events could also figure heavily in why the movies and arts emphasize the asking of different questions and promoting different values. We finally arrived at the BL office in Macedonia in Skopje and quickly unloaded our things into our room and spent some time catching up with Stole and Marino – BL officers as well as pastors and church-planter trainers. After organizing dinner plans with another brother (denominational leader), we headed for dinner at a local restaurant. The restaurant was located next to the Macedonian capital’s soccer stadium, and it just so happened that next to our table was the country’s minister of covert intelligence. After great discussion (most of which I didn’t understand..hah) and a wonderful meal we headed toward the city’s center to view the brand-new statue of Alexander the Great which was being placed on a large pedestal to make it the world’s tallest statue of the renowned military leader. I have some video and several pictures you can view on YouTube. We decided to find a place to sit down and have some coffee and catch up and talk about the history of the ministry as well as the cultural issues the churches are currently facing, and we found this nice outdoor café near the statue. I had the greatest coffee drink this world has ever known. It was so rich I couldn’t stand to drink it all, but because it was so good I couldn’t stand to let it remain in the mug. Nothing has ever tasted so good on my tongue. It was like what liquid gold would taste like if its taste reflected its value. Again, the discussion was beyond my vocabulary, but the company was great, and so I was able to relax and not be burdened. Thankfully, the seating consisted of couches and pillows and cushions, and so I was pretty much lying down, and the café had free Wi-Fi, and so I was able to see some of your e-mails to me and read some scriptures and pray intermittently. After awhile we decided to call it a night. But first, Marino had to take me to the police station because unregistered persons who plan to stay in the country longer than two days are required to or be liable for removal from the country. It didn’t take long at all, and we drove back to the office immediately afterward. From there I unpacked my bags while chatting with Nicky and Stef about the dinner and the day. We were at the point of starting to crack jokes, which is that point at which you know a friendship is really forming. That’s probably one of the closest points we have to a universal cultural truth (except in some Asian contexts): where you can be vulnerable to another’s friendly jabs without bitterness is where you have a friend. Traveling drains you physically, and so we were ready for bed (even though we gained an hour journeying westward).
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
I’ve been having a lot of dreams myself recently. Saturday night’s dreams were about being sent out. After waking and cleaning up for the day, I prayed and sang a little and then had some breakfast with Marjan and Zoya before church. We visited the same church I had last time I’d visited for the BCPN conference. Pastor Steve, a missionary from the Bible Baptist Fellowship who planted the church didn’t recognize me immediately with short hair, and so he started speaking to me in Bulgarian, and then because I was with Marjan, asked if I was Macedonian. Then I spoke in English and he had the epiphany. Hah! A young man from Pr. Steve’s sending church who plans himself to be a missionary in Ecuador was visiting and shared the Word with us on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, particularly about being the light of the world. This message would prove helpful later. After church, we greeted the brothers and sisters for a little while and then went to Zoya’s parents’ house. David had been staying there the previous night, and so we picked him up and took him home with us after a short visit. At home we relaxed and had some ice cream for lunch and then took time to rest before the home group arrived in the evening – generally those who don’t believe or are very young in their faith. While everyone else rested I spoke with my parents on Skype and worked on some updates and e-mails. Then, as it was nearing time for people to begin arriving, we did a little to clean up the apartment. Some of the children who came from the neighborhood have seen me around the past few days, and we’ve had fun talking and me showing them how to do some breakdancing. I mime for them a little too. Two of the girls who came for the first time had such a great time that their mother – whose a family friend of Marjan and Zoya – called to say they will be coming back from now on because they enjoyed it so much. The kids play games and color and hear a good message while the adults sing and also hear a good word. Pastor Steve came and told me about the results from the last time I preached at his church. He said that a man repented and came to faith along with the other man who was convicted to be baptized as a believer. Pastor Steve said that he has seen more people come to faith in the past month or so since around the time I preached than in the previous decade of his work in Bulgaria. Whoa! Another couple from the church that came to the meeting is a newer missionary couple with IMF who desire to work among the Gypsies in the country. Since around that same time I last came, the church has had an influx of Gypsies and the church is holding a VBS specifically for the Gypsy children this coming week. Pray for them. We spoke with this brother and sister, holding them over for coffee after our house service had ended and everyone else departed. We spoke about their calling, their desire for ministry, their past experiences in ministry and prior to missionary service, and humorous personality stories. After dropping them and their two boys off at their place, Marjan, Zoya, David, and I headed for the Gypsy community in the Valley to take them the clothes and shoes and other items. When we arrived to deliver the clothes they were burning tires for heating up metal for salvage and sale. The entire community was present. It was especially dirty because of the burning of rubber. Kids were covered in black soot and dirt because of the fire. Some were at play, rolling in dirt and trash. I was able to speak with one young man and an older woman who spoke Spanish – apparently some of them have joined this group from Spain…he was somewhat versed in the knowledge of Jesus, but he had some very strange ideas and was into drug use for visions and such. He wouldn’t share this knowledge of Jesus, distrusting others. I shared about the light and fire, based on our morning’s message about letting your light shine before men, utilizing the blazing rubber fires in the darkness as my illustration. They all seemed to catch this understanding. I don’t know his name, by you should pray that God gives him understanding through capable teachers. These communities need teachers. Too much demonic activity prevails among them because these people lack knowledge and they are carried away in deception and myths. As we left we saw Loudon (the brother who is a kind of Christian leader to them, especially the children) on the way out. Marjan spent time talking with him because of the poor conditions that are so dangerous to the kids, and Loudon’s scavenging for food is a bad example even if it provides something. Eating expired eggs and half-eaten sandwiches cannot be accepted. Because he was willing to listen, Marjan stayed and he and I said farewell, and Zoya and little David and I headed to the BL office to drop me off. After they left, I grabbed my things and started doing some laundry and packing. It’s late now, and I’m going to bed.
Please pray that:
o My travel to Macedonia is safe and time well spent (perhaps in rest or valuable conversation)
o My time in MK is filled with joy and hope by the Holy Spirit and much fruit is born through my meeting and working with the brothers on business plans and strategies for stronger financial positions with their ministries
o For humility in working with, listening to, and potentially advising brothers who have been faithful servants for years, and being attentive to the kind of anxiety which changes involving money and new habits can create
o For powerful times of prayer and praise and that God would be my refuge always against the troubles, trials, and wiles of the flesh, world, and evil one
o For grace and wisdom in conduct, and a strong mind for evaluating the environments where I live and loving my keepers
Please pray that:
o My travel to Macedonia is safe and time well spent (perhaps in rest or valuable conversation)
o My time in MK is filled with joy and hope by the Holy Spirit and much fruit is born through my meeting and working with the brothers on business plans and strategies for stronger financial positions with their ministries
o For humility in working with, listening to, and potentially advising brothers who have been faithful servants for years, and being attentive to the kind of anxiety which changes involving money and new habits can create
o For powerful times of prayer and praise and that God would be my refuge always against the troubles, trials, and wiles of the flesh, world, and evil one
o For grace and wisdom in conduct, and a strong mind for evaluating the environments where I live and loving my keepers
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
We arrived home late Friday night. Again, during the ride, Marjan and I spoke extensively about following God’s will in your life as well different business ideas for the Balkans. We stopped along the way out of Macedonia to visit the family of his second cousin consisting of two parents and three young adults, a little younger than me. They were working in the field when we arrived, planting and harvesting some crops. They immediately stopped what they were doing and came and joined us. Marjan ended up spending quite a bit of time on the porch with the young man (probably 22) while his sister (21) cleaned up and started showing us hospitality (chairs, coffee, cookies, fresh vegetables. While we waited, Marjan and Zoya’s younger boy, David, took his soccer ball and found some neighboring kids to play with. All of these people, Marjan’s relatives included, are not believers. They are very open, however. The boys, including one not present, had come to Sofia previously and spent time at Marjan and Zoya’s to help work on a church construction project. They are very proud of helping in that, and were pulled over by some Bulgarian police at one point and were let go because the police were stunned that these Macedonians were coming to help Bulgarians work on a church. It probably made them feel purposeful. I find it wonderful to no end that even though I don’t speak more than basic greetings and one or two other phrases that people seem to really enjoy my presence and want me to stay with them. These people don’t ask for money, and they aren’t Christians. Sure, I could say that there are probably ulterior motives, but why? How about I say the Holy Spirit has ulterior motives, which is to save such people? Maybe then I’ll accept such invitations, but not yet. Perhaps when this mission is accomplished and groundwork is laid for other work to be done I will have the privilege of revisiting some of these brothers and sisters who want me back. Before a good long draft of relaxing conversation I had taken some time away from the group to pray. They hadn’t yet congregated on the porch for refreshments, and so I was okay to go a ways away. Many things were running through my head and heart, ideas about Christianity, my own faith, and the mission for which I’m here. I have a greater sense of what I’m going to do now, after spending some time reflecting and having a bit of input from Marjan, as he and Zoya know most of the brothers and sisters who I’ve come to help and the present situation in some of these organizations. Their thoughts have been valuable for helping me frame my situation better and consider what’s possible. I hope you meet them as they are before you meet them as they shall be. After the time spent together talking and hearing about the present affairs of things on their farm and the usual discussion between family members separated by time and distance we took leave and headed back to Bulgaria. It took awhile to reach the border. On the way, while we were talking about the destruction of ministers and ministries, Marjan told me a story about how the communist officials used to discredit and destroy the work of ministers. They would kidnap the pastors, and then they would strip them and tie them to chairs in rooms naked. Then they would hire two or three prostitutes to go into the rooms. While this happened they would be taking pictures which were them disseminated throughout the community and the pastor’s witness was effectively tainted by the “evidence” of his immorality. The lesson here is to no be deceived, for our enemy is a crafty Devil, and he will work woe against you. He is not silent. He is not all-powerful, for to the Lord belongs all power, wisdom, might, authority, and honor. But His foe hates you nonetheless. Make the Lord your Refuge. We passed through the border crossing without incident, though it took a little longer this time around as there were more vehicles passing through. As we were nearing home (maybe 40-50 minutes out), we were stopped by policemen who tried to ticket Marjan for driving too fast near a city. He explained that there wasn’t a sign and that there wasn’t a city. They tried to get him to pay them a bribe but he wouldn’t. After about 15 minutes they let us go with no ticket and no warning. I was praying because this unrighteousness is ridiculous. And, Marjan and Zoya are giving sacrificially to people all around them – me included. It’s not right that they should be harmed in the midst of such honorable living. Thus, I knew God would deliver us out of the hands of such wicked men. He did. Okay, so now for what happened on Saturday. Well, we slept in (we arrived home around 2am). Then, we got up and had breakfast. I read my Bible while some kids played and Marjan and Zoya handled some things. Then Marjan and Zoya and I spent some extended time in prayer. We prayed in particular about the kids in the valley and their provision. They have nothing and they need everything. Well later in the afternoon, we went to one of Marjan’s friend’s houses to have coffee and hangout. He’s a motorcycling friend of Marjan and Zoya, married, and well off financially. At one point I was helping him locate some items to purchase online for better prices than they could find in Bulgaria. Anyway, while we were there, one lady neighbor had heard about their Marjan and Zoya’s visits to the brothers and sisters among Valley, specifically the children, and how Marjan and Zoya clothed, fed, washed, and loved them. Well, this woman had a lot of extra clothes and shoes and things to give away, but she hadn’t known where to give them. When we came she was happy because she remembered hearing about them and was glad to give them to us. Now Marjan and Zoya will be able to clothe nearly all the girls in the valley. We prayed in the morning, and God’s rain of provision came in the afternoon. All praise be to God. We had six bags of clothes and shoes. Marjan and I also had coffee with another friend in the late afternoon, and the evening’s plans were to ride with another friend and that previous man and his wife on motorcycles out to a government-rented lake for a fish fry. It was a great evening, and these friends are all unbelievers. The fish-fry was awesome. The company was friendly. The motorcycles were hardcore. I was on Marjan’s friend’s Harley. Whoa. Without speed-limits you can really learn what these things are capable of. :) At home we rested a little and had coffee and some pop and spent a few hours talking about a lot of things. We shared more personal stories and they shared many testimonies of what God has done in their lives. Recently, God has given them many dreams together. I’m finishing writing this on Sunday morning. I’ll have more updates later.
God bless.
God bless.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Last night, we drove to Marjan’s house in Kumanovo, Macedonia, Marjan’s hometown. It took some hours. Along the way we stopped for some ice cream and snacks a couple times. Throughout the drive, Marjan and I spoke extensively about ministry opportunities, about businesses that would have great potential in the Balkans. There were some that dealt with farming and livestock, others pertained to energy and fuel, still more involved vacationers and tourism. I think some of these ideas have great potential, and Marjan has been a good businessman for years, and so his knowledge of what would work and what wouldn’t is grounded in experience. Upon arriving, we met his family (Marjan has built floors and rooms onto his parent’s house so that it’s much, much larger now – he has a knack for good construction), and had a light meal. Then to bed we went. This morning I woke and heard the boys downstairs and so I saw them for a moment and then came back to my room and did some of my Bible reading and had a little time for prayer. Afterward, we had family prayer. Then Zoya made breakfast for us, which included Macedonian cheeses, yogurt (like Airayn drink), this special fried bread with spices, onions, and meat (like Samosas), and fresh garden tomatoes. After breakfast we headed out to the city center. Emmanuel went to play basketball and David stayed with the grandparents, climbing trees and playing in the garden. We first went to a bank and Marjan and I went to grab coffee and waters at a local outdoor café. There is at least 40% unemployment here. The mentality among the youth is that everyone wants to be the “cool boss” who has a few workers and does no work himself all day. Instead, he just hangs out, drinks coffee, checks out the girls, and has enough to buy some nice things. The culture is pervasive with sexual immorality. Apparently a lot of the men go to work in Iraq and Afghanistan for American companies. They send back money to their wives so they can buy fancy things and sleep with young men for $50/hr while they’re away. This isn’t hidden adultery. It’s encouraged by their own husbands?! Before we crossed the border in the middle of the night, Marjan and Zoya told me about the spiritual darkness throughout the country. Marjan thinks that the Lord has left this country to its own ways, and that this generation has had its opportunity and that the Lord may be merciful in some years from now. He suggested that if there be any older couple (50s+ who desire to do work here and are competent in the Scriptures and have a life of ministry experience), that in 5+ years he would be willing to help them establish a strong ministry and help them with housing and all that. Consider this. It’s a workday and the city center is packed with people just “hanging out” – very fashionably of course. We walked around a little once Zoya rejoined us from the bank, and found a shoe shop. Shoes are fairly inexpensive here. I saw a pair of Nike Air max (with off-brand name, but with the full air pocket under the shoe) which cost about $150-$170 in the U.S. for $31. But, I don’t need any quite yet, and so I didn’t purchase them. After the shoe store, we went for me to exchange some dollars, and it has been a good week for the dollar, and so my exchange was favorable. Again, there is rampant sexual immorality, evidenced in the pictures of naked women all over male-run stores. We returned to the car after my exchange and went to a place along the city’s river where natural spring water is pumped out of fountains. We refreshed ourselves and then came back to the house where we rested and talked. An hour or so later we went out again with Emmanuel and went back to the city center and had some late lunch. I had a massive hamburger, like a 1lb or more Angus burger stuffed with your normal toppings and condiments and a side of French fries (in the burger) for under $3. It was much better than anything you could find at a fast food joint and is more comparable to sandwich at a casual dining restaurant. Then we went to another place for some ice cream and I picked up a Macedonian SIM card for a couple dollars. Before returning home we went to the meat market and grabbed some food for dinner and finally made our way to the house. Marjan knows many people here and so we’re always stopping to talk with someone. At home I lied down for a few minutes and took some time to pray and then started up my computer to recap the day. We’ll head back to Sofia tonight without the boys who will stay here for a week (at least Emmanuel I know for sure). I’ll stay with Marjan’s family for another night as the BL office is full with people staying for the Joyce Meyer’s conference in the city. My things were moved for me to Nicky’s office, and so I’ll just move them back tomorrow at some point – I think. God be with you all. Please keep me in prayer. The Lord is definitely protecting me, but I have had two dreams this week of me falling astray of the faith in making bad decision. Dreams are not all from the Lord – I have been eating many new foods. But, I do know that with such a strategic purpose in being here and the work I’m to do that I need consistent protection and endurance in the faith. Marjan and I spoke at length about sanctification this morning. He had a dream last night about the end of the ends times. He has had two of these dreams in recent months. The urgency is a reality, my friends. Jesus is coming back, and many people will perish in eternal torment. They needn’t if they would be repent, and they will not turn until they hear the good news that they have wronged God and He is bringing justice with him to punish those who do evil and not good. If they only heard that Jesus died in their place so that this debt wouldn’t be held again them…but many of them will not listen unless you befriend them, and we cannot befriend them until we love them more than the temporary comforts of this world. Choose and be satisfied with the fruit of your choice.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
I slept in a bit today as we had planned, and after waking I showered and readied for the day. Breakfast was great, and we spoke a bit about our plans. The plan we decided on was to drop Emmanuel off at the playground for playing basketball, and that Marjan and I would go meet with some kids and families in a hidden-away village that is like a slum/dump. We took the motorcycle to be able to drive faster and get more accomplished. We took the kids cookies and candy and I shared a message for the youth (roughly 45 families live in this “village”) about forgiving each other as Jesus forgave us with the picture children's bible (the scene with Jesus on the cross and the others scoffing). The kids sang for me and I have video and pictures. Marjan has small groups of the kids over every week for food and to clean. They have been doing this despite not having the money to do it and pay their other expenses. This is Christianity. And you know what? God has been providing for them. They have been feeding these kids, like 70, twice a week. They have been getting them clothes and shoes and other needs. But more than any of these physical things, Marjan and his family has been spending time and showing love toward these other brothers and sisters who are “the least of these.” They are providing for those who can provide nothing in return. I don’t know many who do this. I don’t do this. Anyone can preach a Gospel message. It’s easy. But who will show such love as this because of that Gospel message? The brother who leads this "village" was in the church I preached at last month. He showed me great affection. Another brother who came with him was very touched and convicted to be baptized and was the following week. Praise God. I continue to find myself humbled (I’m not saying that as a righteous person, but as one who sees the vanity of my Christianity in many ways), and the book of James shows this as the proper response for those who are “rich” in this age. After we left, we dropped by the bank, and then we headed back to the apartment. But, we decided to stop at the house of a motorcycling friend of Marjan’s. Another friend was also there; two were not believers. We had coffee and some special fruit drink that the man had created from a flower he grows. Rain started pouring (it was good we hadn’t stayed for coffee with the village brother because we would have never made it home in the downpour (this man’s house is in the same neighborhood as Marjan’s)), and we went into the garage. Marjan is praying and hoping these men come to Jesus. They do good deeds, but they aren’t attached to the vine. The man whose home we were at and his wife go to Marjan’s church, but they don’t believe yet. After staying for awhile, we left for home. At home we cleaned up a little and then had dinner with Zoya. The kids were playing outside, having already eaten. After dinner I started working on these updates (the latter half of Tuesday until now). Also decided in the morning was tonight and tomorrow’s plan. I called Nicky to make sure that my schedule was relatively free, and planned to stay with Marjan and Zoya and the boys for another night, but this time we would head to Macedonia for Friday. We’ll come back late, and probably be home Saturday morning. I’ll travel back to Macedonia on Monday with Nicky. This weekend, I’m not sure what will happen. We’ll see as you and I pray and God works as we wait.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
I woke around 4:30 and quickly cleaned up and spent a few hours doing laundry, Bible study, prayer, and fixing my online picture account so that I can share photos with you all from here on out. Around 9am people started to show up at the office and around 10 we had a chance to meet for prayer and I recounted my time in Kardzhali. Some things from the trip from this point forward I will forego sharing, and so my updates may be a bit thinner. But, I will not cease to share with you the joy of God in people coming to salvation and the many chances I have to learn from churchplanters and their wisdom and sufferings. The reason for my doing this is that my writing often functions as a processing activity, and it’s as much a portion of my prayers as it is of my testimony. But, I don’t want any of you to get confused about the mission because of those things that might prove confusing to me and my heart. I am sure that as my journey and work comes to a close, that I will be able to share some of the thoughts and experiences that are happening in these moments with greater understanding and with the power to testify how God worked through them to show Himself glorious and the Master architect of this mission and its continuance. My request is that you pray for me as I call upon God during this process, that He would continue to comfort and encourage me through the brothers and sisters I meet, and that He would give me insight to the needs of the organizations. I need the power and presence of God to persuade people effectively, to not be embarrassed or quiet when I need to be forceful and resolute in sharing information that’s not the Gospel. I am not here just to observe but to help organizations change. This is hard work for the hearts of men. To change is risky and scary. It's all the more for organizations that are in the midst of other changes and might desire to keep a little (that’s no more secure) than to risk for everything. ---> Back to the story. After our time praying, we had a little bit of a work morning and spent time removing rocks from the outer edge of the office so that we could reinforce the wall/fence on another side that had fallen apart. After an hour or two, I had to go clean up and get ready for a meeting with Ivador, who’s a worker in Sofia. I met him at a movie theater food-court and we spent a couple hours eating and talking about what he’s been doing (work in prisons, getting housing for ex-inmates, starting groups that are no longer exclusive to inmates, and starting businesses that will help the church and its families). In September, he will open an art school (painting, dancing, music) with some famous instructors around the region. The school will be private and cost quite a bit, the tuition profits will go to help with at risk youth and single mothers in the city alongside the church and the youth in the church. Another business that will be starting in the same building will be a kind of health and wellness center (like relaxing environment with massage chairs and stress-counseling). Both will be intentional as giving the platform for the Gospel’s proclamation in relationship with those hearing. After we finished spending time together, Ivador had to leave for a meeting with a realtor about rent for this building, which would also house the church’s administrative work, another brother and sister arrived. They were “T” and “I”. They are directors of a youth movement in Bulgaria and the Balkans. They work with youth and are trainers with New Leadership Initiative. They train through the Balkans, and recounted to me the work of the Arab countries’ political leaders to deceive and manipulate leaders and people in the Balkans, specifically in Albania so that a plan to bring the Balkans under the power of the Arab countries could ensue. This is serious; it’s in process and has been for at least 10 years. There were rumors about it, but the evidence of its reality are abundantly apparent. You can see the incredible mosque-building expansion throughout these villages: 1 mosque for every two Muslims. Think about that. These people cannot afford these buildings. Where do you think the money is coming from? Pictures are forthcoming. Our meeting began a little shaky, as I wasn’t very aware of them or their work prior to the meeting, and so I think they were a bit hesitant to share. As our time together progressed, however, I think we warmed to one another, and I found out that their son is an MBA student in strategic management, and will be heading to the U.S. next month. He an I may have an opportunity to meet when I return to Bulgaria in August at the 10th anniversary of this youth movement’s primary event (like CDYC on a massive scale for the Balkans, meeting on the Black Sea coast for 10 days for worship and preaching and prayer). When they understood that I was much like their son both in my life focus and fogginess of vision in some areas, they became like parents to me and spent a good deal of time giving me good advice and encouraging words for walking faithfully and using what I am passionate about for the Kingdom. They gave me good examples to thoroughly explain these truths. They invited me to a young men’s prayer group that evening that one of the youth initiated, and I was going to go, but I didn’t have a ride back from the young man’s house, and so I was unable, but at the same time, I received an invitation to stay at Marjan and Zoya’s home for the evening. Thus, I was hugely blessed in another way. I returned to the BL office and packed for the trip and worked on my picture account, so that I have space to upload in the coming days. Marjan and Zoya arrived a couple hours later, and we drove around and visited some of their relatives. Then, we had dinner at their place and I showed some of the younger boys and girls some dancing, because they love the rap music. It’s evil that the music is so full of sin, and it’s ridiculous how the culture is infused with this, both in our home and being exported across the earth. But, I was able to share with them some Christian rap that is both of high quality in music and lyrics. Because the English is hard to understand and it’s rap, I don’t think the youth understand the depth of these messages, but I sure do. It’s almost suffocating. But, it allows me to have greater compassion for these youth. Marjan and Emmanuel, their older son, and I went out to the mall around 11pm and went to a club to play some pool. The music blasted and smoke filled the air, and music videos played on LCD screens all around us. We had a great time in the midst of the circumstances, but Marjan wanted to give me a good understanding of the situation. O how I understand that culture so well. We came back and were very tired, and so we all just headed for bed.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
I woke around 6:00am, enjoyed my morning activities, and sent out those e-mail requests on the blog. Then, I finished packing, went over to their apartment for breakfast, and Hari and I spoke about my plans in Sofia and the rest of the Balkans. We spoke about his vision and he gave me some advice and encouragement for how to make the most of my time with other brothers and some specific questions to ask them. They blessed me in so many ways, and I know that God will continue to bless their household and ministry more than we can imagine. He invited me back if I am able at the end of my trip in August, when I return to Bulgaria, and so we’ll see what work is available for me elsewhere in the region before I am able to commit – though I would certainly love to return and visit some of the new and younger believers as well as refresh the hearts of the olders saints. Then we headed to the bus stop, purchased my ticked, hugged and said goodbye and thanked God. I loaded onto the bus, and have been writing this account and those of the past two days during the trip.
I finished the journaling of Sunday and Monday about 20 minutes prior to our arrival, and so I worked on some Bible memory for the last 10 minutes or so. Nicky and I connected immediately when I offloaded, and he and Denny took me to meet a youth movement leader in Bulgaria for coffee (I wasn’t hungry at the time). Jan is the brother’s name, and he helped initiate the 365 prayer movement in Bulgaria as well as works to implement humanitarian groups in the country. He also leads a home group and has developed the youth ministry at his church (Nicky and Denny were the former leaders before Jan came in) so that many of the youth are now leading ministry teams at the church (for their age groups and more). I think we chatted for nearly two hours, with me asking him questions about the youth culture and undercurrents in the church. I also asked him about his vision for the church globally and Bulgaria in particular.
From there, Denny took me back to the BL office, and I unpacked and prepared my room. It was Tuesday again, and so there was no running water, and so I had to postpone the shower and such until after 4am. I was going to go to the premier of a musical on video, but because of transportation issues I was unable. Then, I had planned to go treat Jan to dinner, but after he called his wife and found her sick he was decided to go home to her and his children. Thus, it was obvious that I would stay at the office for the evening. I had some yogurt and juice and nuts I had purchased the previous week before I found I would be going to spend time in Kardzhali with Hari and Penka, and I spoke with Pr. Bob on Skype. Afterward I wrote briefly about my day and then uploaded videos to YouTube before tiring out and sleeping on the bed around 10:30pm.
I finished the journaling of Sunday and Monday about 20 minutes prior to our arrival, and so I worked on some Bible memory for the last 10 minutes or so. Nicky and I connected immediately when I offloaded, and he and Denny took me to meet a youth movement leader in Bulgaria for coffee (I wasn’t hungry at the time). Jan is the brother’s name, and he helped initiate the 365 prayer movement in Bulgaria as well as works to implement humanitarian groups in the country. He also leads a home group and has developed the youth ministry at his church (Nicky and Denny were the former leaders before Jan came in) so that many of the youth are now leading ministry teams at the church (for their age groups and more). I think we chatted for nearly two hours, with me asking him questions about the youth culture and undercurrents in the church. I also asked him about his vision for the church globally and Bulgaria in particular.
From there, Denny took me back to the BL office, and I unpacked and prepared my room. It was Tuesday again, and so there was no running water, and so I had to postpone the shower and such until after 4am. I was going to go to the premier of a musical on video, but because of transportation issues I was unable. Then, I had planned to go treat Jan to dinner, but after he called his wife and found her sick he was decided to go home to her and his children. Thus, it was obvious that I would stay at the office for the evening. I had some yogurt and juice and nuts I had purchased the previous week before I found I would be going to spend time in Kardzhali with Hari and Penka, and I spoke with Pr. Bob on Skype. Afterward I wrote briefly about my day and then uploaded videos to YouTube before tiring out and sleeping on the bed around 10:30pm.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
Because Monday is Hari’s day of rest, we planned to sleep in a little given our fast and full pace through the week. I woke around 9 and went over for breakfast at Hari’s knocking. Hari had some writing he wanted to do, and so we planned to not go out until the afternoon. After about 20 minutes, Hari came over and said that plans had changed, and an older believer (new in conversion from Orthodox belief, but 78 years old) desired to be baptized. She had been encouraged to be baptized since her new birth, but because of her background in the EOC, she thought she was fine. Hari explains how this call for obedience is just that, something YOU must respond to, not something another can respond to on your behalf (though there’s something about the dead in Scripture that’s antiquated and only the Mormon’s practice). Anyway, this sister had wavered, saying, “maybe tomorrow or next week” for too long. Eventually she became sick with cancer and then with her brain so that she is bedridden and could not be baptized by immersion with the other believers at the lake. Thus, Hari recognized the importance of going immediately because of the Lord’s work in her heart to desire this with a firm decisiveness. This could be considered the third-style of baptism after immersion and pouring, because only sprinkling was practical for her situation. Pastor Bob explained this on the 5th of June, baptizing J. Custer and Pastor Joe performed the 2nd form on a new, older brother. The sister had two other sisters (biological and spiritual) present with us, and I shared a song through Hari with them to encourage the sister. Hari likes the song and took a copy of it so that he can use it for baptisms from now on (Wounded for me, wounded for me). The sisters like to make sure I’m healthy and strong, and so I had more cherries and strawberries and some iran and cookies. Hah. After ending the visit, we dropped off one of the sisters and then went back to the apartment and picked up Penka. We were heading out for the day, and so we took all we needed, and went first to the local electronics store for some printer ink and then to the Bank. They were expected a wire transfer, but it was late by a week, and so some error must have occurred, but they were not troubled. From the bank, Penka walked to the art gallery while Hari and I headed to the church for some training material prints he needed a sister there to make. There had been internet issues and so Hari asked me to pray that it worked, because we would have to drive home otherwise. After finding the internet still not functioning and calling the company which said it should work, I prayed with Hari, because he was ready to go back home and have me stay there. I did some checking and found out that the maintenance person who had worked on their machines earlier that week had not plugged in all of the Ethernet cords…how frustrating that can be. With great joy we thanked God for the simple solution and wisdom to check such simple things and then left to head to the art gallery. Penka was cleaning around the building when we arrived – it’s a government building that they are the caretakers of, having a 10-year contract that concludes this year. Pray that with the elections and potentially new government, that they keep this relationship and strategic location for their witness. The courtyard of the building has apple, pear, cherry, almond, and walnut trees. Flowers, too, adorn the walkway. Inside, their art and that of other local artists hang on the walls. The first floor has a few of their pieces, but upstairs was where the true treasures were. I was amazed at the prophetic messages that call out from Hari’s works. I hope you have a chance to see them some day. He and I spoke about having some placed on his website. Penka too, has amazing pieces, and their personalities are definitely evident in the diversity of the messages. Penka’s work demonstrates a soft power that is beautiful as only a sister could rightly capture, and Hari’s tell the message of suffering, growth, and glory that only a church-planter in his position can rightly convey. Hari and I rested a little on a couch while Penka put some music on through the gallery and did some organizing. Later, she put on coffee for us and brought out some chocolate and cookies. Then, a young artist who they know arrived and came up and spoke with us. This was unique, as they lady had never been willing to stay with them prior to this event, and she opened up a bit. Thus the foundation for further relational contact is laid. After she left, they shared stories with me of how the Lord had inspired different pieces of their art and used them to bring people to know Jesus as well as create relationships with churches and government agencies (God has strategically placed Hari in this situation…it’s amazing who they know and how they came to know them, and how those relationships figure into their calling to share the Gospel, plant churches, and bless people in the region. Then, Hari and Penka told me they wanted give me a print from each of them. This was beyond gracious. The selection from Penka’s was their selection for my mom, and I know she’ll love it as I love it and it will speak deeply to our family because it’s actually about a Scripture which means a lot to her and me in particular. Hari’s piece is one that is very evangelistic and deeply thoughtful. Perhaps someone can help me frame them when we return and we can show them at the church? After we finished up at the gallery, before it started raining, we headed to a currency exchange for my sake. The dollar has been up the past few days so that I get a few more leva now than when I arrived. Our next stop was a gypsy brother’s home. We visited him to speak about his daughter who desires to switch schools, but Hari and Penka, after having spoken with the director of education for the region, believe she will do better to remain in the same school for one more year and then switch at the beginning of high school (going into 8th grade). After speaking with the young sister (the father wasn’t home), we headed back to our vehicle only to intercept the brother and share about the matter with him. Some other possibilities came up. This is a great need for these people – education for the children. This gypsy brother is a light in this community because he loves and cares for his wife and daughter in a way that is unique. Please pray that God might make ways for the church to help these brothers and sisters who seek help and work hard, but are devastatingly poor. Their homes are illegally constructed on sides of mountains, and who knows what may happen if the government stops turning the blind eye. They are under-cared for by the government, and so this is their response. They are continually discriminated against, and this village in particular is the most dangerous in the entire region. After leaving this brother, we headed to one of the highest mountains in the region where the television studio is located and took time to pray and take pictures. Hari and Penka call this the special prayer room. You’ll see pictures and video soon. The videos are already uploaded but I have yet to make the links available. I’ll do that by e-mail, and so if you’re not on the list, let me know and I’ll add you. Fierce rain attacked us after we had returned to the van, and we headed for home. One of my first jobs at home was to help Hari create some YouTube and Picasa accounts to help him share his videos and pictures with the church and supporters more easily. While Hari was working with these new functionalities, Ivaylo, his son, and I spoke at some length about the economy, governments, gold, and investing. We continued over dinner (Wow, what a send-off dinner!), and then afterward, I Skyped my mom, dad, and brother. Finally, I asked Hari to talk seriously about accepting a small amount of money for ministry expenses. I shared my testimony of how the Lord brought me to this region the first time and then again, and that all the brothers and sisters who are supporting me would very much like to share this small gift with them because of the great need in the region and their faithfulness to steward something well, even though it was not much. To end the evening, we took and extended period of time to pray together and take a couple pictures of the four of us. Then I said goodbye to Ivaylo, went to my room, packed, showered, and went to bed.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Morning activities were as usual, though I’m having great times in the Scriptures. I’ve continued to memorize one or two Scripture verses each morning as the Spirit leads me so. They are proving encouraging and useful throughout the day in keeping me built up as well as for Kingdom prayer. I had some coffee for breakfast – I was too focused to eat. Soon after breakfast was over, we left to pick up some nearby sisters whom we dropped off at the church with Penka before heading on to Tolga’s village. After picking Tolga up we headed for the church, needing to pick up no one else. At the church we met and greeted brothers and sisters who had already arrived. Those whom we had dropped off with Penka were serving, and so Tolga and I just sat around while women practiced worship music and a couple of youth worked on the PowerPoint and showing pictures from the picnic and our travel to Tolga’s friends’ village. I don’t think Tolga knew anyone either, because she just sat by herself, and so I had her come over and sit by me (I had chosen a seat by Penka’s father who suffers from memory problems – I’ve been living in the art studio apartment which he lives in as well). The three of us in a row was probably hilarious because none of us could communicate with each other very well. I used my iPod touch calculator to display numbers and found out that Tolga is 15 years old. I may have mentioned that elsewhere, but maybe not. I took some video of the worship practice and a little during the service also. After a little while (still prior to the service’s start) I took a walk around the church building and prayed. Then, as the church was filling, I went back inside and took my seat among the brothers. With singing from Penka and the women, “church” began. Prayer ensued soon afterward, and this was followed by a little more singing and then Pastor Hari presented the morning’s message – at least part of it. He called me up to present a testimony, and I shared a similar message to the one I had in the Turkish house, but I also shared a message the Lord prompted me to give through my Scripture readings, experiences that week, and the pictures on the wall (Penka illustrated a Bible that the BL published, and the pictures are on the walls of the church – I have a video of them). One picture in particular struck me – that of Esther. Given the women I have met and their position as spiritual leaders by circumstance, I shared how I believe there are many women among that church who will be like Esther in their communities, saving their peoples through bold proclamation of the truth and steadfastness in the faith no matter the trials. I called upon the men and Hari to be like Mordecai’s toward our sisters, encouraging them to do hard and bold things that require courage and trust that God will be with them wherever they go. I know that God will answer this call through my brothers and my sisters there. Before I had gone up to give my testimony, I was praying about the new brother and sister in the Lord who were supposed to have come to the church. I wasn’t disappointed; instead, I prayed that God would not let the enemy steal away the good word they received (we had prayed that previous evening and at breakfast for the Lord’s mighty hand to hold back the darkness that hates this transformation of men and women from death to life, from the power of Satan to God, from the dominion of darkness to the Kingdom of the Beloved Son). Immediately after I prayed again, they walked in the door. I was sitting in the back, and so I moved over a few seats so they could join our row. When I saw Peter, I burst into a smile and gave him a hearty handshake as I was a few seats away. You might find this funny, but I shared with the brothers before I spoke that I felt glad like a child among them, because I could show my love like a child and not like an adult. I could make noise and gestures and hug and kiss, but I could not speak and be understood or understand much more than their own gestures and physical touch. After I sat down, Pr. Hari had Tanya(ja) share her own testimony. She’s the MBB that I spoke to at the picnic. She was a little embarrassed sharing and stood where she sat. The brothers were encouraged her afterward with good words. Then, Pr. Hari embarked on a new plan for the service. He had us break into groups of six, moving our chairs into circles for the purpose of examining the Scriptures together. This was to engage in good, small community, but also to test and see the hearts of the brothers and who has the same vision in their heart for reaching the lost in the region. The responses from different groups were telling (I only know this by translated word of mouth). Acts 2:37-41 was our text. After we had shared among each other and shared with the large group through a spokesperson, we shared our needs and prayed for each other. Finally, we shared communion in the small groups. When the service had ended, we hung around and spoke with one another before taking people home. The older sisters were very loving toward me and the brothers as well. One brother I sat next to in my group seemed very nervous, and I realized this and put my arm around him and gave him some hearty pats on the back and shakes and hugs. I later found out he was a new believer, and was glad to be able to share with him the openness we have with one another in the Lord, as a true new family. I told Tolga to read Esther soon. In the van, on the way home, I showed an older sister some pictures of my family when I hit a wi-fi hotspot. Then, after dropping Tolga off at her home, we returned to the apartment and I worked on uploading pictures and videos and bullet-pointing an update. Hari soon came in and called me over for lunch, and so I left my work and we had some great food. I will stop telling about all the food because it’s very unique and incredibly tasty, and I cannot spell it. Penka has skills in everything that creativity can transform into art. We decided to rest after the meal, though I went back to working on uploads and figuring out if I might be able to find more space on the internet for uploading pictures. Eventually, I decided to rest. Around 7pm Hari woke me up and apologized, seeing I was “out.” I was glad to be awake, however, and quickly readied myself to go out with he and Penka to first visit his mother (she has been experiencing pain in her foot and so we prayed over her and Hari planned to take her to see the doctor the next day at her request, but when he called her Monday morning, she said that God had healed her and she didn’t need to see the doctor anymore, though Penka wanted her to do some foot exercises and have her shoes checked to see if they offered enough support for her ankles, praise the Lord, Christ Jesus) and then to take pictures of sunsets from mountains where they love to paint landscapes. This we did, and this is the trip on which I took the footage of the shepherd who sang to his sheep. Some of you have expressed the difficulty hearing the song. It’s not a song embedded into the video, and the man is not singing with great tune or in a language you probably understand. About 15 seconds into the video, he stops whistling and behind the bells you can hear him singing, almost chanting. It’s a guttural song, but the sheep move to him. Do you see why David was such a great musician and such a great shepherd? The sheep knew his song. The people knew his song, and he was honored in song (David his tens of thousands). On the way home, Hari stopped beside the road to show me some special stones and he and Penka help me collect some. There are some beautiful ones in my possession that I might be able to have cleaned, polished, and crafted. Anyone have ideas about this? Upon finishing our treasure hunt, we went to a pizza restaurant for dinner. It was located next to a dance club, and so I heard lots of familiar, American music – music to which the world dances. The Pied Piper of the younger generations leads them away from the faith of their forefathers. Money is power? Music too. Beware what you listen to little ears. Your heart will be ensnared like a bird that doesn’t watch where it’s going and alights on the trap. We drove home after dinner and Hari and I looked at pictures, one specifically of a shepherd with his sheep and some scriptures superimposed upon it. And later, the three of us watched some of Spielberg’s Amistad. But, instead of watching it through, I mentioned needing to get one specific report completed before heading to bed, and so we adjourned our evening.
Prayer Requests
I thought to give you this list before I depart in a couple of hours.
- A good heart for understanding and receiving wisdom in conversations with church-planters, for growing in experience and spiritual maturity
- For shrewdness in management of resources (time, money, items, etc.)
- For favor with all whom I stay and for the Lord's blessing to be upon them before I arrive, while I'm there, and to remain after I depart
- That God would continue to draw men to Himself through this work, and that we would see the glorious change of men and women and children being born again
- For the alignment of strategic Kingdom leaders to God's plans for this region, and the humility and desire to let go of "old wine skins." New wine requires new skins. New ministry requires new understanding and willingness to receive things that are made new. This is happening in my heart.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Update - forthcoming posts
Greetings everyone,
These past couple of days have been full, and so I haven't posted in order to get some sleep and not stay up too late. But, I'll work on my updates during the 4-hour ride back to Sofia today, and so you should be able to expect at least one (maybe two) reports by this evening (afternoon for you in the States - 7hr difference).
These past couple of days have been full, and so I haven't posted in order to get some sleep and not stay up too late. But, I'll work on my updates during the 4-hour ride back to Sofia today, and so you should be able to expect at least one (maybe two) reports by this evening (afternoon for you in the States - 7hr difference).
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
At breakfast this morning I mentioned to Hari how I had an evil dream at night. He and Penka did also. Please pray for us to be in prayer before sleeping as well as to be sleeping (getting adequate rest).
Prayer was good but difficult this morning. About halfway through my time of prayer I started to get tired and to have some difficulty focusing. I moved to songs when that happened at points. After breakfast I checked my email on Hari’s computer and sent out pictures of Friday’s visits. Some of you didn’t receive them because of the file size. Sorry. I’ll hopefully be able to upload the pictures next week.
I didn’t have much time to address the issue, as we had to be going to pick up everyone at the church for the picnic. We arrived at the church to a perfectly proportioned group for the first trip with the van. Hari dropped Penka and I off at the Billa market to get the food and drinks and for me to purchase candy for the children. While there I was able to connect to the wi-fi and sent a couple e-mails out. After buying everything and waiting for a little while outside of the store, Hari returned, having picked up the second load of people, and we headed for the campgrounds (Bulgarian military history site). We met and greeted one another and had time to share and talk for awhile while some of the older women prepared the meal (all sorts of foods). I spoke with a girl about my age from a Muslim-background family and shared a testimony from my life. Hari wanted me to encourage her with something like that and help her see an example of someone giving a testimony as he wants her to share in church tomorrow (Pentecost). She spoke a little English and so it was slow but good. Then Hari called me over to where all the younger children and teenagers were and asked me to share something with them. I shared with them about our youth group and how we have talked in the past about how simple it is to follow Jesus because it’s clear what He desires for us to do, but that following is not easy because we don’t like to do those things. But, we can talk to Him and ask Him to help us change and help us desire like those things that He knows are good for us and are actually desirable, because He has the power and the willingness to do that. I shared about a difficult command we face as young people being to obey our parents and to love our friends and neighbors, even though God promises good things for us if we obey. I gave the example that we have to ask each other how we are doing in keeping God’s commands and if one of us needs prayer we need to know and pray for them and encourage them and be nice to them. Our friendships must be strong with each other because we’re family if we are Jesus’ family, and we need to take care of each other and help each other to be strong in trusting God. Then we split away from the group, having divided the kids into small groups to talk with each other. They did this and did pray for each other. They played together the rest of the afternoon. I played some games with the kids, took pictures, and I even taught them break dancing in the latter afternoon (after I had some coffee of course). Most of the rest of the time I tried to speak with non-English speakers, and I realized more and more the struggles and self-ostracism that non-natives must face in closed communities (like Turkish speakers in Bulgaria…the older people). I wonder a bit about non-English speakers in Fort Wayne – those who have come over with family members. Eventually, we cleaned up and left with much leftover to have the brothers and sisters take with them. During the picnic, we shared the Gospel in different ways. Hari shared his testimony with people individually and Penka taught the kids how to share the Gospel with one of the colored-bead bracelets. I know at least two of the people who joined for the picnic were new people – a brother and a sister, both adults. He was formerly in the Mafia, and also a 2nd mechanic on a ship near Senegal. His sister has a 2nd-hand clothing shop. Their recent situation has been bad, for her husband cheated on her and got into drinking, and so they divorced. She has two daughters. The brother had a business with a partner in auto-mechanic work, but the partner was the brother-in-law...thus the man squandered the business profits on his habits and it suffered i.e. the family suffers. The brother is trying to help take care of his sister and his nieces now...the sister is going to the university for Agriculture. She has exams next week. The brother and sister heard the Gospel message at different times during the picnic from different people (him from Hari and her from Penka with the kids, and individually they spoke with Hari about wanting to repent of their sins. The sister said she needed to, and Hari told her to not wait, but do it now. She did. They are coming to Pentecost service tomorrow and Hari will have them testify :) we're having communion too. We dropped the brothers and sisters off at homes on our way back, and then we came back also. I took time to write up yesterday’s journal entry and then was called over for dinner. After some short conversation after dinner, Hari showed me a video clip he was considering showing for service tomorrow. I wasn’t too thrilled as the preacher has been involved in scandals in the past few years, and the salvation that was alluded to never involved repentance or the name of Jesus. Anyway, I hope I didn’t bring Hari’s spirit down because of it. He was going to use the clip because it showed all the people in the church celebrating this man’s testimony – which I didn’t see as actually showing celebration of Jesus at work in the life of the sinner to save him. I could be misperceiving the video. After that I left for my room to work on this update. Now that I’ve finished. I’m going to review some scripture memory, pray about the testimonies I and others will be sharing tomorrow, along with Pastor Hari’s words and then heading to bed. Night.
Prayer was good but difficult this morning. About halfway through my time of prayer I started to get tired and to have some difficulty focusing. I moved to songs when that happened at points. After breakfast I checked my email on Hari’s computer and sent out pictures of Friday’s visits. Some of you didn’t receive them because of the file size. Sorry. I’ll hopefully be able to upload the pictures next week.
I didn’t have much time to address the issue, as we had to be going to pick up everyone at the church for the picnic. We arrived at the church to a perfectly proportioned group for the first trip with the van. Hari dropped Penka and I off at the Billa market to get the food and drinks and for me to purchase candy for the children. While there I was able to connect to the wi-fi and sent a couple e-mails out. After buying everything and waiting for a little while outside of the store, Hari returned, having picked up the second load of people, and we headed for the campgrounds (Bulgarian military history site). We met and greeted one another and had time to share and talk for awhile while some of the older women prepared the meal (all sorts of foods). I spoke with a girl about my age from a Muslim-background family and shared a testimony from my life. Hari wanted me to encourage her with something like that and help her see an example of someone giving a testimony as he wants her to share in church tomorrow (Pentecost). She spoke a little English and so it was slow but good. Then Hari called me over to where all the younger children and teenagers were and asked me to share something with them. I shared with them about our youth group and how we have talked in the past about how simple it is to follow Jesus because it’s clear what He desires for us to do, but that following is not easy because we don’t like to do those things. But, we can talk to Him and ask Him to help us change and help us desire like those things that He knows are good for us and are actually desirable, because He has the power and the willingness to do that. I shared about a difficult command we face as young people being to obey our parents and to love our friends and neighbors, even though God promises good things for us if we obey. I gave the example that we have to ask each other how we are doing in keeping God’s commands and if one of us needs prayer we need to know and pray for them and encourage them and be nice to them. Our friendships must be strong with each other because we’re family if we are Jesus’ family, and we need to take care of each other and help each other to be strong in trusting God. Then we split away from the group, having divided the kids into small groups to talk with each other. They did this and did pray for each other. They played together the rest of the afternoon. I played some games with the kids, took pictures, and I even taught them break dancing in the latter afternoon (after I had some coffee of course). Most of the rest of the time I tried to speak with non-English speakers, and I realized more and more the struggles and self-ostracism that non-natives must face in closed communities (like Turkish speakers in Bulgaria…the older people). I wonder a bit about non-English speakers in Fort Wayne – those who have come over with family members. Eventually, we cleaned up and left with much leftover to have the brothers and sisters take with them. During the picnic, we shared the Gospel in different ways. Hari shared his testimony with people individually and Penka taught the kids how to share the Gospel with one of the colored-bead bracelets. I know at least two of the people who joined for the picnic were new people – a brother and a sister, both adults. He was formerly in the Mafia, and also a 2nd mechanic on a ship near Senegal. His sister has a 2nd-hand clothing shop. Their recent situation has been bad, for her husband cheated on her and got into drinking, and so they divorced. She has two daughters. The brother had a business with a partner in auto-mechanic work, but the partner was the brother-in-law...thus the man squandered the business profits on his habits and it suffered i.e. the family suffers. The brother is trying to help take care of his sister and his nieces now...the sister is going to the university for Agriculture. She has exams next week. The brother and sister heard the Gospel message at different times during the picnic from different people (him from Hari and her from Penka with the kids, and individually they spoke with Hari about wanting to repent of their sins. The sister said she needed to, and Hari told her to not wait, but do it now. She did. They are coming to Pentecost service tomorrow and Hari will have them testify :) we're having communion too. We dropped the brothers and sisters off at homes on our way back, and then we came back also. I took time to write up yesterday’s journal entry and then was called over for dinner. After some short conversation after dinner, Hari showed me a video clip he was considering showing for service tomorrow. I wasn’t too thrilled as the preacher has been involved in scandals in the past few years, and the salvation that was alluded to never involved repentance or the name of Jesus. Anyway, I hope I didn’t bring Hari’s spirit down because of it. He was going to use the clip because it showed all the people in the church celebrating this man’s testimony – which I didn’t see as actually showing celebration of Jesus at work in the life of the sinner to save him. I could be misperceiving the video. After that I left for my room to work on this update. Now that I’ve finished. I’m going to review some scripture memory, pray about the testimonies I and others will be sharing tomorrow, along with Pastor Hari’s words and then heading to bed. Night.
Backlog - Friday, June 10, 2011
I bet you're getting used to my routine in the morning, and so unless it changes it's: awake, Bible reading, singing, prayer, and then breakfast.
After breakfast, I waited for Hari to take Penka to the art studio as she wouldn’t be coming with us or be free until the evening. I fell asleep sitting on the couch for about 20 minutes after memorizing some Scripture verses my brother and Dean Hill sent me for encouragement. I later shared them with Hari as we drove to pick up Tolga, Mustafa’s wife, and her mother to take to the other village which is unreached. Hari had never been to this village and says that going with a friend of someone who lives there or who has a relationship is the best way to enter the Turkish community without being viewed as a foreign element (with distrust and skepticism). By going with friends (they hadn’t seen each other in over a year), we were immediately considered as friends also. Before we got them, however, we had to go back and pick up Hari’s camera and his watercolor kit, and I brought along several packs of chewing gum that I had brought from the U.S., the only gift I had to offer on hand as I left some of the other things at the BL office. Go figure that Hari would tell me that chewing gum is a “great Turkish gift.” By the end of the day we were joking about chewing gum evangelism. “The children of the world are [usually] shrewder,” but not today. Anyway, we picked the women up at their house and drove to their friends’ village. It was a long drive, but very scenic and winding. I have pictures and video for upload at a later time. When we arrived at the house, the family came to see us and one younger girl, who was the daughter of the believer sister (the only believer in the village – Hari is amazed that she hasn’t fallen away – whom I will our sister from here on out), runs over and immediately starts crying profusely and hugging the women. To say she was overjoyed to see them in an understatement. We were introduced after a little bit and they invited us all in to the upstairs room (our sister’s bedroom). They sat us down and served us coffee and drinks and chocolates. We spoke a bit, but here comes the interesting cultural context point: we waited. Hari said that sometimes you will be invited in and served such and then the family members will leave for 30 minutes to an hour, just doing other things before returning. But, you learn to wait and say nothing, for this is how things are done. It is, as Dr. Richard Lewis (missiologist) would say, a rule by which you play the game of life among this people to be relationally engaged and have friendships. We sipped our coffee and the brother of our sister came in and we got to know him a bit. Hari has been extremely hospitable to me and a good mentor in helping me engage in the situations alongside him. He provides opportunities for me to speak in and ask questions through him of other people. He let’s the Spirit work and doesn’t try to overrun the situation. He asked me if I wanted to ask the young man anything (his name was pronounced fEEk-writ). I found out he was a shepherd and the kinds of animals he shepherded. I asked him if he had any principles or wisdom to share with me about shepherding and about animals and people and the similarities of working with each. He is 22 and shared about the instructing of animals and their coming and not coming when you call them. They shared with us that the region is becoming famous for a special eagle that hunts and nests on the mountain tops (they live near the top). Hari was glad he brought his camera, and used this as an opportunity to let the women have time alone in reunion. He explained the strategic and sympathetic nature of the situation, and that we leave the house to go find these eagles and take pictures with the young man so that we can share the Gospel with him while also allowing the women to reestablish their friendships and love for each other. As the young man directed us up the mountain, I prayed and took some pictures. Hari would translate something every so often. We saw some of the eagles, but they were too distant for nice photos, but we did end up finding great feathers. I have a couple in great shape that I plan to bring home (if it can get through C – I’ll spray it down with something). As we were coming down the mountain, Hari asked me if I wanted to share anything, and I remarked about how our God says that if we trust in Him, we too can be made like eagles in the fact of their strength and graceful endless endurance. And, when I heard about the mountains treacherous wolves and snakes that are the enemies of his flocks, I asked Hari to share with him about these spiritual realities, the there are both wolves and snakes that are dangers to men, for God likens us unto a flock of His own if we hear His voice. Hari then shared the full Gospel with him as we came down the mountain and asked him if he believed? He had asked him if he was sure of his salvation in the Islamic tradition and that is always a powerful question for Muslims because they answer “no.” Hari told him, “I am sure.” This touched the young man’s heart in that he was very open then. In the house Hari and I noticed he seemed a little defensive, probably wondering what our reason for being there was. But, as we came back, the young man was answering questions that probe one’s soul. Upon walking back up to the house, Hari noticed some markings on its front-faces. He asked the young man if he knew what they represented. The young man didn’t, but Hari said that he knew and would share the understanding with him. The images were leaves on four corners and in the center of the primary wall was a dove. Hari told me later he thinks a Bulgarian may have lived in the house prior to this family, though he’s unsure. He explained the Christian theology behind these pictures, the dove of the Spirit and peace (we always hope to find a House of Peace in a new village as the disciples were directed on their journey). After we entered the house, we found that the women had prepared a meal for us (Hari, our sisters, and me). They pulled out the Turkish table and gave me a little instruction on eating together. When it comes to eating and drinking things, Hari has been good to make sure I’m not going to die from anything. And, I pray that God helps me have wisdom in making good choices that don’t cause offense and don’t cause me undo stomach issues. But, I also pray in accordance with Mark 16 that “poison” won’t hurt me as I obey the command to proclaim the Gospel abroad. That’s tongue-in-cheek Christian humor, but it’s also true. They did use some spices that Hari later told me can cause throat/esophagus irritation – an understanding I gained today as well as knowing why he didn’t eat it. They offered me the yogurt drink, but I stuck with some kind of soda drink, as we had some spiced noodles in yogurt with the meal, and the yogurt is a little sour. However, knowing it’s supposed to be yogurt helps me enjoy it much more than thinking it’s not supposed to be and wondering why I have curds in my glass. After the meal, Hari said there would be a chance for me to share something. After a little bit, I shared a testimony of a time when God humbled me greatly so that I could receive mercy and grace and be made useful for His prepared work. From that I led into having Hari read about the promise for those dependant on God from Psalm 23. And, after that, I asked him to teach from John 10. It should be obvious that the Spirit led these selections as well as the general wisdom of the Spirit-filled believer who knows the Bible. These selections speak to their daily lives. They know shepherding. That’s why Jesus spoke to the people with such words Himself, because they could understand these figures better. And, these people did too. They were touched and Hari gave out Bible literature to all of them. Our sister there then shared a dream she had about her daughter. It was a powerful dream about her resurrection and depicted baptism clearly. As the talking went on, Hari encouraged Tolga’s friend who repented and is committed to Jesus to be baptized and she said she wants to. The girls need Christian husbands, which as you might imagine is, at the moment, an impossible thing in these nonChristian, Muslim-dominated villages. But all things are possible with God, and so we pray that this young man is raised up as a believer who will lead other men to Jesus with Hari’s help. That’s my prayer. After this discussion, Hari kept talking while I just sat back and prayed and watched. Then we all prayed as a group, Hari praying for all of us – for the girls, for the young man and a wife, for work for the people, for one lady’s health, for the growth of the believers etc…, and then I was asked if I had anything more to share. I prayed and then we started to leave. As we were leaving the room, Hari spoke with the grandmother of the house about the Gospel again. She has expressly not wanted prayer for herself. He shared the Gospel a bit more vigorously and prayed for her anyway. She was moved by the situation and expressed how she couldn’t understand this new peace that all of a sudden was overwhelming her. Hari just started to leave, I said goodbye and gave the woman a hug and she started to cry. This grandmother was not like the girl who had cried earlier. She was fairly reserved during our entire stay. I think she was hesitant to accept anything strange, and was probably superstitious and so frightened by this teaching we brought that has real power. Anyway, I’m in the situation and cannot understand anything because only Hari could translate for me, so I’m hearing lots of talking but just smile. That’s one thing I’m unashamed of: showing love through touch and posture. When I cannot communicate verbally, I can at least be like a little child and do it physically. At that point we left the house and Hari explained the pictures on the house to the rest of the family. They hugged and said their goodbyes and we left. On the way back, we stopped on the side of a mountain, because Hari wanted to help me get some precious stones. He knew some would be in this area that we had seen on the way there. As we stopped, there just happened to be another bus of people, Americans, looking at some of the rocks also. They didn’t know what they were looking at even though one of them had a PhD in geology. Hari gave one of the women in their group a nice rock with some Opal in it. Then, as they came by I asked where they were from and they said various states. I mentioned some information about myself and they were surprised and wondered if I was studying geology, but Hari said, “Not geology, theology.” At that point, they wondered if I was Eastern Orthodox or a Muslim. Hah. When I said evangelical Christian, it was as if they went blind. I’m not kidding. It was as if their friendly demeanor’s disappeared and they had to be going. I saw the back of a woman’s shirt with “Karma” labeling. The lostness of them struck me and I shared with Hari how I knew in my spirit that in their quest to be “world-traveled” they were just wordly. Even so, during the conversation, Hari mentioned twice at other points important truths: that God created all these rocks, and that the most valuable of them is The Rock, the Lord Himself. Then we took our sisters back to their village and they invited me for coffee. Hari didn’t seem like he was too inclined to stay, but I said “yes” without hesitation. It almost stunned me how fast the word came out of my mouth. Anyway, a teenage girl and her little brother were looking at us, and Hari called them over while we waited and grabbed a storybook about Jesus (Isa), to have her read. Then, a group of people came up the street. Hari started talking with them and I gave him the rest of a pack of gum I had and he distributed it among them while they spoke. He heard about their troubles and shared the Gospel with all of them. He heard this older lady had great pain in her back and he prayed for her on the street. She said she had prayed to God, but he told her that only Jesus can forgive sins and has the power to ultimately heal you physically and spiritually for your good. He told her that if she wanted His healing that she had to pray to Him and no other god. She was willing and they were all receptive and invited him to come over some time (this is that village where our sisters were slandered). Then we went inside and spoke with Mustafa’s wife about this and she was amazed about their receptivity. We spoke with Tolga a little and she wanted to come to church on Sunday for communion and so Hari agreed that we would come pick her up Sunday morning. As we were walking out of the house, we spent a little extra time talking with Mustafa's wife's mother. Hari impressed upon her more thoroughly the importance of the Gospel and prayer to God in Jesus' name. He prayed for her and her eyesight improved and she was moved emotionally. She also spoke more clearly afterward, which was great because she had much difficulty speaking at all. She often just makes facial gestures. Hari charged Tolga with gathering the women to pray each night for the grandmother. This is part of Hari's plan to help Tolga mature as a Christian leader in her village. She is very bright, the first in her village to be graduating middle school in a week or so. Then we left for good for the evening. But, as we were driving away, we saw a few men walking in the direction we were headed, and so we asked them if they wanted a ride, and two of the three – one with a boy too – said they would. Hari spoke with them about our visiting our sisters. One man asked if Hari was Jesus Christ. He said, no, but we preach Christ. They wanted prayer because of sicknesses and other things, and so they invited Hari to come visit them in their houses. In these Turkish villages, the people are Muslim, and the Eastern Orthodox church is state-directed and they limit the ability of people to organize and start churches. But, no one can stop you from worshiping in your own home, and so this is the strategy they take. Thus, home invitations are vital. Thus, by the end of the day, in a village that was formerly maligning our sisters and our Lord, there were now three homes of people desiring visits to have prayer and hear about the Jesus to whom we pray. Upon arriving back at the apartments, we rested on the balcony and ate cherries while listening to a Turkish gypsy wedding going on down the street. We then had dinner and dessert (wow!) and Hari and Penka’s son visited. He’s a web and graphic designer (animator by education). We spoke about his business and I offered to give any consulting that would be useful. We spoke for quite a bit about ideas and strategies that might help him. It seemed good. I also found out that Hari had received a computer virus while in Switzerland the previous week while at a church-planter training conference (T4T) and it was spanning his network of Christian friends with character-harming e-mails. It’s nearly solved now (I’m writing and posting on Saturday evening). After showering I went to bed.
After breakfast, I waited for Hari to take Penka to the art studio as she wouldn’t be coming with us or be free until the evening. I fell asleep sitting on the couch for about 20 minutes after memorizing some Scripture verses my brother and Dean Hill sent me for encouragement. I later shared them with Hari as we drove to pick up Tolga, Mustafa’s wife, and her mother to take to the other village which is unreached. Hari had never been to this village and says that going with a friend of someone who lives there or who has a relationship is the best way to enter the Turkish community without being viewed as a foreign element (with distrust and skepticism). By going with friends (they hadn’t seen each other in over a year), we were immediately considered as friends also. Before we got them, however, we had to go back and pick up Hari’s camera and his watercolor kit, and I brought along several packs of chewing gum that I had brought from the U.S., the only gift I had to offer on hand as I left some of the other things at the BL office. Go figure that Hari would tell me that chewing gum is a “great Turkish gift.” By the end of the day we were joking about chewing gum evangelism. “The children of the world are [usually] shrewder,” but not today. Anyway, we picked the women up at their house and drove to their friends’ village. It was a long drive, but very scenic and winding. I have pictures and video for upload at a later time. When we arrived at the house, the family came to see us and one younger girl, who was the daughter of the believer sister (the only believer in the village – Hari is amazed that she hasn’t fallen away – whom I will our sister from here on out), runs over and immediately starts crying profusely and hugging the women. To say she was overjoyed to see them in an understatement. We were introduced after a little bit and they invited us all in to the upstairs room (our sister’s bedroom). They sat us down and served us coffee and drinks and chocolates. We spoke a bit, but here comes the interesting cultural context point: we waited. Hari said that sometimes you will be invited in and served such and then the family members will leave for 30 minutes to an hour, just doing other things before returning. But, you learn to wait and say nothing, for this is how things are done. It is, as Dr. Richard Lewis (missiologist) would say, a rule by which you play the game of life among this people to be relationally engaged and have friendships. We sipped our coffee and the brother of our sister came in and we got to know him a bit. Hari has been extremely hospitable to me and a good mentor in helping me engage in the situations alongside him. He provides opportunities for me to speak in and ask questions through him of other people. He let’s the Spirit work and doesn’t try to overrun the situation. He asked me if I wanted to ask the young man anything (his name was pronounced fEEk-writ). I found out he was a shepherd and the kinds of animals he shepherded. I asked him if he had any principles or wisdom to share with me about shepherding and about animals and people and the similarities of working with each. He is 22 and shared about the instructing of animals and their coming and not coming when you call them. They shared with us that the region is becoming famous for a special eagle that hunts and nests on the mountain tops (they live near the top). Hari was glad he brought his camera, and used this as an opportunity to let the women have time alone in reunion. He explained the strategic and sympathetic nature of the situation, and that we leave the house to go find these eagles and take pictures with the young man so that we can share the Gospel with him while also allowing the women to reestablish their friendships and love for each other. As the young man directed us up the mountain, I prayed and took some pictures. Hari would translate something every so often. We saw some of the eagles, but they were too distant for nice photos, but we did end up finding great feathers. I have a couple in great shape that I plan to bring home (if it can get through C – I’ll spray it down with something). As we were coming down the mountain, Hari asked me if I wanted to share anything, and I remarked about how our God says that if we trust in Him, we too can be made like eagles in the fact of their strength and graceful endless endurance. And, when I heard about the mountains treacherous wolves and snakes that are the enemies of his flocks, I asked Hari to share with him about these spiritual realities, the there are both wolves and snakes that are dangers to men, for God likens us unto a flock of His own if we hear His voice. Hari then shared the full Gospel with him as we came down the mountain and asked him if he believed? He had asked him if he was sure of his salvation in the Islamic tradition and that is always a powerful question for Muslims because they answer “no.” Hari told him, “I am sure.” This touched the young man’s heart in that he was very open then. In the house Hari and I noticed he seemed a little defensive, probably wondering what our reason for being there was. But, as we came back, the young man was answering questions that probe one’s soul. Upon walking back up to the house, Hari noticed some markings on its front-faces. He asked the young man if he knew what they represented. The young man didn’t, but Hari said that he knew and would share the understanding with him. The images were leaves on four corners and in the center of the primary wall was a dove. Hari told me later he thinks a Bulgarian may have lived in the house prior to this family, though he’s unsure. He explained the Christian theology behind these pictures, the dove of the Spirit and peace (we always hope to find a House of Peace in a new village as the disciples were directed on their journey). After we entered the house, we found that the women had prepared a meal for us (Hari, our sisters, and me). They pulled out the Turkish table and gave me a little instruction on eating together. When it comes to eating and drinking things, Hari has been good to make sure I’m not going to die from anything. And, I pray that God helps me have wisdom in making good choices that don’t cause offense and don’t cause me undo stomach issues. But, I also pray in accordance with Mark 16 that “poison” won’t hurt me as I obey the command to proclaim the Gospel abroad. That’s tongue-in-cheek Christian humor, but it’s also true. They did use some spices that Hari later told me can cause throat/esophagus irritation – an understanding I gained today as well as knowing why he didn’t eat it. They offered me the yogurt drink, but I stuck with some kind of soda drink, as we had some spiced noodles in yogurt with the meal, and the yogurt is a little sour. However, knowing it’s supposed to be yogurt helps me enjoy it much more than thinking it’s not supposed to be and wondering why I have curds in my glass. After the meal, Hari said there would be a chance for me to share something. After a little bit, I shared a testimony of a time when God humbled me greatly so that I could receive mercy and grace and be made useful for His prepared work. From that I led into having Hari read about the promise for those dependant on God from Psalm 23. And, after that, I asked him to teach from John 10. It should be obvious that the Spirit led these selections as well as the general wisdom of the Spirit-filled believer who knows the Bible. These selections speak to their daily lives. They know shepherding. That’s why Jesus spoke to the people with such words Himself, because they could understand these figures better. And, these people did too. They were touched and Hari gave out Bible literature to all of them. Our sister there then shared a dream she had about her daughter. It was a powerful dream about her resurrection and depicted baptism clearly. As the talking went on, Hari encouraged Tolga’s friend who repented and is committed to Jesus to be baptized and she said she wants to. The girls need Christian husbands, which as you might imagine is, at the moment, an impossible thing in these nonChristian, Muslim-dominated villages. But all things are possible with God, and so we pray that this young man is raised up as a believer who will lead other men to Jesus with Hari’s help. That’s my prayer. After this discussion, Hari kept talking while I just sat back and prayed and watched. Then we all prayed as a group, Hari praying for all of us – for the girls, for the young man and a wife, for work for the people, for one lady’s health, for the growth of the believers etc…, and then I was asked if I had anything more to share. I prayed and then we started to leave. As we were leaving the room, Hari spoke with the grandmother of the house about the Gospel again. She has expressly not wanted prayer for herself. He shared the Gospel a bit more vigorously and prayed for her anyway. She was moved by the situation and expressed how she couldn’t understand this new peace that all of a sudden was overwhelming her. Hari just started to leave, I said goodbye and gave the woman a hug and she started to cry. This grandmother was not like the girl who had cried earlier. She was fairly reserved during our entire stay. I think she was hesitant to accept anything strange, and was probably superstitious and so frightened by this teaching we brought that has real power. Anyway, I’m in the situation and cannot understand anything because only Hari could translate for me, so I’m hearing lots of talking but just smile. That’s one thing I’m unashamed of: showing love through touch and posture. When I cannot communicate verbally, I can at least be like a little child and do it physically. At that point we left the house and Hari explained the pictures on the house to the rest of the family. They hugged and said their goodbyes and we left. On the way back, we stopped on the side of a mountain, because Hari wanted to help me get some precious stones. He knew some would be in this area that we had seen on the way there. As we stopped, there just happened to be another bus of people, Americans, looking at some of the rocks also. They didn’t know what they were looking at even though one of them had a PhD in geology. Hari gave one of the women in their group a nice rock with some Opal in it. Then, as they came by I asked where they were from and they said various states. I mentioned some information about myself and they were surprised and wondered if I was studying geology, but Hari said, “Not geology, theology.” At that point, they wondered if I was Eastern Orthodox or a Muslim. Hah. When I said evangelical Christian, it was as if they went blind. I’m not kidding. It was as if their friendly demeanor’s disappeared and they had to be going. I saw the back of a woman’s shirt with “Karma” labeling. The lostness of them struck me and I shared with Hari how I knew in my spirit that in their quest to be “world-traveled” they were just wordly. Even so, during the conversation, Hari mentioned twice at other points important truths: that God created all these rocks, and that the most valuable of them is The Rock, the Lord Himself. Then we took our sisters back to their village and they invited me for coffee. Hari didn’t seem like he was too inclined to stay, but I said “yes” without hesitation. It almost stunned me how fast the word came out of my mouth. Anyway, a teenage girl and her little brother were looking at us, and Hari called them over while we waited and grabbed a storybook about Jesus (Isa), to have her read. Then, a group of people came up the street. Hari started talking with them and I gave him the rest of a pack of gum I had and he distributed it among them while they spoke. He heard about their troubles and shared the Gospel with all of them. He heard this older lady had great pain in her back and he prayed for her on the street. She said she had prayed to God, but he told her that only Jesus can forgive sins and has the power to ultimately heal you physically and spiritually for your good. He told her that if she wanted His healing that she had to pray to Him and no other god. She was willing and they were all receptive and invited him to come over some time (this is that village where our sisters were slandered). Then we went inside and spoke with Mustafa’s wife about this and she was amazed about their receptivity. We spoke with Tolga a little and she wanted to come to church on Sunday for communion and so Hari agreed that we would come pick her up Sunday morning. As we were walking out of the house, we spent a little extra time talking with Mustafa's wife's mother. Hari impressed upon her more thoroughly the importance of the Gospel and prayer to God in Jesus' name. He prayed for her and her eyesight improved and she was moved emotionally. She also spoke more clearly afterward, which was great because she had much difficulty speaking at all. She often just makes facial gestures. Hari charged Tolga with gathering the women to pray each night for the grandmother. This is part of Hari's plan to help Tolga mature as a Christian leader in her village. She is very bright, the first in her village to be graduating middle school in a week or so. Then we left for good for the evening. But, as we were driving away, we saw a few men walking in the direction we were headed, and so we asked them if they wanted a ride, and two of the three – one with a boy too – said they would. Hari spoke with them about our visiting our sisters. One man asked if Hari was Jesus Christ. He said, no, but we preach Christ. They wanted prayer because of sicknesses and other things, and so they invited Hari to come visit them in their houses. In these Turkish villages, the people are Muslim, and the Eastern Orthodox church is state-directed and they limit the ability of people to organize and start churches. But, no one can stop you from worshiping in your own home, and so this is the strategy they take. Thus, home invitations are vital. Thus, by the end of the day, in a village that was formerly maligning our sisters and our Lord, there were now three homes of people desiring visits to have prayer and hear about the Jesus to whom we pray. Upon arriving back at the apartments, we rested on the balcony and ate cherries while listening to a Turkish gypsy wedding going on down the street. We then had dinner and dessert (wow!) and Hari and Penka’s son visited. He’s a web and graphic designer (animator by education). We spoke about his business and I offered to give any consulting that would be useful. We spoke for quite a bit about ideas and strategies that might help him. It seemed good. I also found out that Hari had received a computer virus while in Switzerland the previous week while at a church-planter training conference (T4T) and it was spanning his network of Christian friends with character-harming e-mails. It’s nearly solved now (I’m writing and posting on Saturday evening). After showering I went to bed.
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