November Update from Brother Hristo

This is a letter from Hristo Arnaudov detailing what's happening in the Vazrazhdane Church.

Dear friends,

Greetings from Hristo and Vania Arnaudov, servants of the Lord at the Church of Christ in Sofia, Bulgaria!

We thank the Lord for Jesus and the salvation He has gifted to all of us!  It is with great joy and privilege that we serve Him and His world-wide church, part of which is our small family of faith with brothers and sisters who have opened their hearts for the Savior.  We are grateful for every soul that steps through the door of the church to worship with us on Sunday and hear the word of God!  We pray to God for all that come for the first time to our worship services with various needs, for often it is that very need that helped them to take the step and search for the Lord.  We pray that God will work in their hearts and help them decide to become His children, willing and ready to follow Him and give their life to Him!

We are also very grateful that God answered our prayers for a prayer house which we can use at any time for worship, Bible classes, meeting with members from the church, as well as others who seek the Lord.  God touched many hearts and now we have the finances needed to rent such a space.  For the past three weeks Vania and I have been contacting real estate agents and meeting with them to see various locations and spaces available for rent so we can find the one that fits our needs and budget.

We have found a space on the first floor of a commercial office building which had been used for a dance studio.  The location is very central - close to the railway station, subway, buses, tram, and trolley stations - it will be very convenient for all church members who travel from various directions within the greater Sofia area (NOTE FROM JEFF: From what I can determine the location is a dozen blocks due north of the Renaissance Hotel where they meet now, on Hristo Botev Blvd. just north of Slivnitsa Blvd.).

Currently, the space is being renovated and once completed we will purchase chairs and other furniture that may be needed.  All brothers and sisters are very excited and eagerly await the time when we will be able to move to the new place.

During this period, along with the search and other hardships, we continued to meet for worship and Bible classes.

On November 12 I had my second eye surgery (on the other eye).  I thank God for the successful surgery and my ability to see well now with both eyes and no need for glasses.  Vania also had some health problems and needed to be on bed rest but is now feeling better - Praise to God!

Immediately after my eye surgery, brothers Bisser and Gencho were very helpful in helping lead worship and preaching in my stead.  Brother Bill Binum, a missionary from Texas for Eastern Europe also visited us and shared the word of God with us.

We celebrated Thanksgiving Day with the church members with a special program - the praise and worship group sang new songs of thanksgiving to the Lord.  Many of the sisters brought fruit and vegetables to decorate.  Others had prepared cheese pies, cakes, and sweets and we ordered some pizza for everyone to share during our fellowship time after the worship.

The singing group is already preparing for Christmas - we often use this worship service to invite non-Christian people too so we can share the Good News of the birth of our Lord and Savoir with family, friends, coworkers, and others.  We will praise the Lord with Christmas songs, a sermon, prayers, and will then have a fellowship time and lunch together.

After a short time of illness, we said our goodbyes to brother Peter Velkov who was only 33 years old.  Peter was a member of our Bulgarian church of Christ in Athens.  He returned to Bulgaria in 2008 and lived and worked in his hometown, Vidin.  Not long after his return, the doctors found cancer in his intestines.  He underwent a serious surgery which was followed by many chemotherapy treatments.  Peter wanted to be a part of the seminar which we held in June this year but was unable to do so because his condition had worsened.  We visited him in the hospital many times and together with his wife, who is a very new Christian, prayed for him.  Several days before his passing, we visited him again and served him the Lord's Supper.  We believe that he is now with the Lord.  We pray that the Lord may be with his wife, Vesi, to give her comfort and strengthen her in the faith so she can trust in Him for everything.  We ask all of you to keep Vesi and Peter's family in your prayers as well.

We also need your prayers for the renovation and repairs of the new place for the church, as well as our move there - we should be able to do so by December 15.  May the Lord give us strength, physically and spiritually, and we hope to praise His name at the new place for the Christmas holidays.

Praise be to our God and thanks to all of you who support us in our ministry in Bulgaria!

May the Lord bless you and your loved ones!

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

In God's Grace,

Hristo & Vania Arnaudov

Dec. 3, Part 2

I just read a letter from Hristo via Shawn Moore at the Northside Church of Christ in Spokane, WA. The Vazrazhdane Church of Christ has a facility! From the pictures Hristo included, it looks pretty nice, though he said it needs some fairly extensive renovation. I am terribly excited for the beginning of this new chapter in the life of the Vazrazhdane Church! I hope to make a visit in February to help out with things, but it's an expensive proposition. If you can help pay for a plane ticket, both I and the Arnaudovs would be very grateful!

Dec. 3, 2012

Yesterday we had lunch at a local Greek restaurant, where I ran into a former student of mine who is waitressing there. She, like Elise, was adopted from Bulgaria. She was five years old at the time back in the early '90s. We introduced them to each other (something I've wanted to do for years), and talked over "things Bulgarian." To our shock, we learned that this girl has never had any Bulgarian cuisine! She's never even heard of tarator (the cold yogurt and cucumber soup that's a staple in Bulgaria)! We've extended an open invitation to her to come share a Bulgarian meal with us, and I hope that someday she will come with us for a visit to the land of her birth. It made me wonder - how many other Bulgarian-born young people in the US have no experience whatsoever of their culture?

Post-election...

 The following is taken from a post I wrote on our Bulgarian Blessings Facebook page.

I have a heavy heart today, as I'm sure some of you do. I posted on my main wall a more concise message about the election. Forgive me for unburdening further here.

I'm afraid. I want to believe, as many have said, that it's all going to be OK. In an absolute sense, that's true; God reigns supreme, and He controls all things. The problem is, I wonder if this will be OK in the same way that it was OK for the early Christian martyrs? I wonder if this will be OK like it was for Christians in Constantinople as the Ottoman Turks breached the wall and sacked the city? We are guaranteed an eternity with God, but we are not promised an easy go of it here.

I'm writing this on this page because I am concerned for our mission to Bulgaria. I want so desperately to go! When I talked to Vania last week, she said again how much we're needed there, how much she wishes we were there already. The church in Sofia has been blessed by an amazing gift from Northside in Spokane, WA; they'll be able to get the facility they've needed for some time. God provides.

So why hasn't he provided for us? I've been unemployed for years, and not for lack of job searching. We've been unable to raise any church support. Father, where have you been? You know that we want to serve you only; equip us, support us, so that we can be Your lights in a dark place.

I had hoped that Romney would win, because it's clear to me the President has no idea what he's doing when it comes to economy. I had hoped that within six months of a Romney presidency, the economy would improve to the degree that churches would see increased contributions, allowing many more of them the capacity to support missions like ours. That was my plan, anyway, which of course on the cosmic scale means absolutely nothing.

Perhaps this is God's way of pouring fire on top of the altar. When Elijah faced the prophets of Baal, he told the servants to thoroughly douse the altar with water, which should have made it impossible to light - so it was all the more dramatic and awe-inspiring when the whole thing went up in flames. Perhaps that's what God has in mind here, to pour water on an already soggy economy so that in it he can show His incredible providence and the amazing generosity of his people. I hope so.

Perhaps I'm overpersonalizing all of this. I'm pretty sure that the President wasn't reelected so that we would have a harder time getting to Bulgaria. But this morning a phrase has been bouncing around in my head, "you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." I took a look at the passage's source, Hebrews chapter 12:

'Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.'

Father, I don't know what this election means, but I am afraid. Help us to have a measure of your peace, and give us Your provision which equips us for Kingdom work. You are the great God of all the universe, and nothing is too difficult for Your hand or too small for Your notice.

Nov. 1, 2012

I was blessed to be able to talk with Vania for about 20 minutes this morning. She and Hristo are well, and more importantly their daughter Natalia in New York was relatively unaffected by Hurricane Sandy, though she did experience some high winds.

Hristo continues to heal from his eye surgery, and prepare for surgery this month on the other eye. In addition, Vania told me that she will need the same type of surgery herself soon. As a result, she has decided it is not for the best for her to come to Nashville in January as we had all planned.

Instead, we are going to see about me traveling to Sofia again in January for a couple of weeks. The church in Sofia has been very blessed by the Northside Church of Christ in Spokane, WA, and will be able soon to rent a facility full-time in which to meet, hold classes, teach Sunday School to kids, etc. I'll be helping out in any way I can to set up that facility (paint, organize, etc.). This will necessitate me raising a bit more money, and I hope that some of you will be able to help with that. We had raised $300 for Vania to come, and I hope to apply that amount to my ticket (with the approval of that money's donor).

As always, we need your prayers. Vania expressed again how much we are needed on the ground in Sofia; there is so much Kingdom work to be done! May God bless us richly to His service.

Trip to Fort Smith

We had a great weekend trip to Fort Smith! We headed out Friday afternoon at about 1, with a first stop in Searcy to have dinner with my cousin Jordan. We would have loved to have my cousin Sarah there as well, but she's on Harding's track team, and they were at a meet in Oklahoma. From there we headed south to Stuttgart for the night, staying at Lisa's Aunt Ann's house with her brother Chris (Ann is out of town... are people trying to avoid us?). Saturday morning, which was stunningly beautiful, we got up to head for Fort Smith at a nice leisurely pace. On a whim, we stopped at Toltec Mounds State Park to walk around 1,000-year-old Indian mounds and feed some turtles.

Upon arriving in Fort Smith, we visited the Fort Smith History Museum, which was really well done. Next door to it is the Fort Smith National Historic Site. For those who don't know, Fort Smith was the center of administration for the Indian Territories (now known as Oklahoma) in the days of the Wild West. If you've seen either version of True Grit, that story starts out in Fort Smith.

We were very blessed to be able to have dinner with Shawn Moore from Spokane, WA on Saturday evening. Shawn spend two years in Athens, Greece, where he got to know Hristo and Vania very well. He is the preacher for the Northside Church of Christ, which supports the Arnaudovs and their work. He shared with us his story, and we shared ours with him. It is amazing how God works in the lives of His people!

We stayed Saturday night with Jerry and Meg Canfield, who graciously opened their home to us. Sunday morning, I taught the adult auditorium class at the Westark Church of Christ (with some MC-ing by Chris Benjamin). It was wonderful to see familiar faces again from our summer trip to Sofia! I was blessed to be given the opportunity to preside at the Lord's Table for Westark, as well.

After an amazing lunch at El Rodeo (I've never had molcajete before - fantastic!) with the Benjamin family and Shawn Moore, we headed back on the road. It was a great trip, and we're very thankful the Lord brought us safely through our journey of just over 1,000 miles.

The battleground of our lives

We feel like a bit of a battleground lately, in that Satan has been attacking, and God has been blessing (though sometimes that blessing hurts a little, too). First, some of the blessings: Lisa (for those of you who aren't her Facebook friend) will have a second phone interview on Thursday for a fantastic position in North Carolina. This job would be a substantial raise for Lisa, and would allow us to remain in Nashville; the downside is that she would have to travel a lot, but we can deal with that.

Then an attack - I am covered quite ridiculously in poison ivy, mosquito bites, and chiggers, and I don't think it all came from the campout last week. When I say ridiculously, I mean poison ivy on my leg, the back of my neck, my forehead, my nose, my chin through my beard, and my eyelids. I never went into the woods, so I don't know where I could have picked it up. It's a fairly minor thing in the grand scheme, but quite annoying. Within the last month, Avery's been sick, Elise has been sick, and I've been almost sick. And Lisa is dealing with a horribly dysfunctional workplace that led her to look for other work in the first place - but that, as I've said, may be a hidden blessing.

Probably the most difficult "blessing" is our remaining cat, Kira. Kira has been with us for almost 15 years now, our first baby. Since we have made the decision to go to Bulgaria, we had wondered what we would do with the cats, and her in particular. We had found a person to take Keiko, but we knew that Kira would never adjust; It's too expensive to take her with us to Bulgaria, and even if we did the flight would probably kill her. We're taking our call to mission seriously, and we can't tell God "Sorry, but we can't go do the work you've put before us - we have a cat." The horrible blessing is that we may be putting Kira down this week. She has not been right since we put Keiko to sleep; she hardly eats, and I have not seen her drink water in weeks (which makes me wonder seriously how she's still alive now). She has balance issues, and staggers often. There have been other disturbing behaviors which I won't go into (you might have just eaten...) that tell us it's time.

Strangely, I am more at peace on this. I am sad, to be sure, but perhaps losing Keiko prepared me somewhat to lose Kira as well. This will be a pet-less house, which makes it easier for us to prepare it to sell. I've learned through life that transitions are tough, but God leads us through them to brighter futures.

Update - October 3rd, 2012

Technology is awesome! I had another phone chat with Vania today. I called to see how Hristo is doing, and I was glad to hear that he is doing well. Apparently (if I understood correctly), they are not going to do surgery on his other eye until next month. I was glad to hear also that the communion cups I had sent a couple of weeks ago arrived there yesterday; apparently the Vazrazhdane Church of Christ had run out of cups, and the only store in Bulgaria that carries them ran out and had no idea when any more would come in. The things we take for granted in the States...

We've got a busy month ahead of us. This weekend we'll be heading to Stuttgart, AR to hook up with Lisa's family. Next weekend, I'll be in the second of three class meetings of a course I'm auditing at Lipscomb on "Counseling for Church Leaders" (and yes, that can be taken pretty much any way you look at it). The weekend after that we're really looking forward to being in Fort Smith to visit with our West Ark family; I'll be co-teaching class with Chris Benjamin, and officiating at Table. The final weekend in October will be a Cub and Family campout and Elise's birthday, and the following weekend the third of the Counseling class... I'm pretty busy for an unemployed guy.

Some of the job searching has been put on hold as Lisa looks for a new job. We're trying to find her something that is here in Nashville, or at least would allow her to work from here and travel to sites occasionally. There's a particular job she's looking at now that we think would be absolutely fantastic (and would indeed allow us to stay in Nashville). We ask, as always, for your prayers that God will continue to lay the path in front of us that He desires. We still want very much to be in Sofia next year, but only God can make that happen. In the meantime, we continue to prepare as best we can with language lessons (had one tonight; I think I have conjugations in the present tense down... I think).

We are so thankful for your prayers and thoughts. It has been a rough year in a lot of ways, but also a year full of surprises and blessings. God is so good to us!

Long time no post!

Greetings all!

It's been some time since I posted to this blog, but don't think there hasn't been development and progress toward our goal of working in the mission field in Sofia, Bulgaria!  We had a simply amazing trip to Sofia in June/July, capped off by three days in England with some of our dear friends, Brent and Miranda Poff.  We returned to the US reinvigorated for the Work, wishing we could stay and continue on the ground.

But things still have to be done here.  We continue to look for congregations to support us, but this is proving to be nearly impossible in this economic climate.  Indeed, even pleas to those we know for the immediate goal of bringing Vania to Nashville for a month have largely not proved fruitful.  We will continue to work, trusting that the Father will provide in His time.

We were very blessed to find a lady here in Nashville from Shumen, Bulgaria.  She has agreed to give us weekly language lessons, which we began several weeks ago.  We are meeting on Wednesday nights at the West End Church of Christ, which has graciously agreed to lend us a room.  I already feel smarter!

On Wednesday this week, I will be flying to Dallas to participate in a Cross-Cultural Discipleship Conference hosted by Missions Resource Network.  I am thankful for my friend and Chi Sigma Alpha brother Richard Ashlock and his wife Joanna for hosting me, and I'm very excited that a former student Brandon Kaag, who is now a youth minister in the area, will also be attending.  I can't wait to spend time learning about ways to be more effective in sharing the gospel, and encouraging others in their walk with God!

We have plans also to be at the West Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith, AR on Oct. 21st.  I have been invited to share with that church some of my experiences with the work in Sofia, and how West Ark has been an important facet of the developments in the Vazrazhdane congregation.  I can't wait to reconnect with our brothers and sisters who share our love for Bulgaria and her people!

We need your prayers.  We are thoroughly and faithfully convinced that no amount of effort on our part will bring us to Sofia, or accomplish for the Kingdom what needs to be done.  Only the blessing of God will equip and enable us to be his instruments, and we ask that you spend time before the throne asking for his active work in our lives.  

May our loving Father bless us all richly as we serve Him!

Sunday in Sofia

What a day!  I'm blogging this on Monday morning, as Sunday had already expired when I finally got to a point where I could.  The day started out with breakfast in the hotel lobby.  For some reason, they were playing some type of techno-trance music, and I commented that it seemed a little early to me for that sort of thing, which caused a German guy at another table to snicker.  That led to us talking to him, a little in English and a little in German (thank you, Frau Vischer!), and finding out he was also in Bulgaria with a church - the Evangelical Free Church of Germany, and that he was in Sofia specifically to work with disabled kids in orphanages.  Another great connection for our future work!

Then it was upstairs for worship.  I knew it would be a full house, but I was overjoyed to see every seat taken, and people even sitting on the floor.  Every seat but one, that is; my brother Yanko had saved me a seat with the praise team.  I'm starting to get the hang of singing in Bulgarian, though occasionally there are still some oddities - such as singing a hymn to the tune "Auld Lang Syne."  The singing here is robust!  If American churches sang with the same gusto, they'd hear us the next county over.

After church, we headed back to the park.  Borisova Gradina used to be called "Freedom Park" back in communist days, but it really is quite a nice park.  We had several young Bulgarians join us for a rousing game of Killball (patent pending, I'm sure...), and they promised to come back this week.  There was also a 9-year-old boy named Georgi who played some badminton with the kids, and while he was doing that I talked for about 15 minutes with his mother Desislava.  I don't know if they will be back or not, but we plant seeds and see what God will do with them.

Then it was time to catch a bus to Rakovski Stadium, an old communist-era soccer field where we essentially broke in without permission - a pretty bold thing to do in a stadium owned by the police!  Why?  To play Ultimate with the local Ultimate (frisbee) club!  I coached the team at Nashville Christian School for two years, and so I was really excited about this opportunity.  I was also glad to meet an American who has been working with the team named Philip.  He's a little more qualified to give pointers on Ultimate to them than I am, as he played for the University of Wisconsin on their 2003 championship team.  The match was a ton of fun, though our side lost.  We did score 5, which is pretty impressive considering our competition!

It was after 11PM by the time we got dinner and settled back in for the night.  I don't think tonight will be quite as late, but then again the Lord sometimes throws us blessings we can't foresee.  He's doing some exciting things here in Sofia, and across Bulgaria!

Back in Bulgaria!

It has been far too long since my last post -  so long, in fact, that I never posted anything about my trip to Sofia in May!  It was amazing, and I have no doubts whatsoever now that this is where God wants us to be.

But enough about my trip to Bulgaria - I want to tell you about my trip to Bulgaria! I flew in last Wednesday, a day before the rest of a team from the West-Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith, AR led by Rick Odell.  This is a great group of young people (and a couple of "crustier" ones...) who are making connections with young people in Sofia.  

They have an interesting method - they go to a local park, a very large one called Borisovata Gradina (the Borisova Gardens).  They go into a grassy area and throw frisbees, play badminton in the round, hit volleyballs, kick soccer balls, and generally be really loud, friendly, and obviously American.  Whenever young people pass by, they team invites them to join them in play or strike up conversations, which is quite easy to do - most young people in Bulgaria study English from a very young age.  

The fruit of this has been amazing.  Without hammering people over the head, this team has made connections with several young people, many of whom are coming back, even on this third trip (the first team trip was in 2010).  It has gotten to the point where some of those young Bulgarians who have made connections are bringing their friends to meet the Americans as well.

I am very excited about one of these in particular.  Blagovest is a young man they met last year who became a close friend to one of the team members.  He was so eager to see them again, he actually showed up at the airport to greet them!  Along with some other young Bulgarians, they have started an informal Ultimate (frisbee) league in Sofia with two teams - and they were very excited when they learned that I coached the Nashville Christian School team for two years.  Tomorrow evening, we will be traveling to a local stadium, where we've been invited to play in a friendly match with the locals.  I don't know if this corpulent carcass is ready for competitive play...  strike that, it's not.  But I'm going to play anyway.  Even if I make a complete idiot of myself, I can make a lot of connections that may bear fruit for God later.

Today, we held a seminar for the members of the Church in Bulgaria.  Almost everyone from the church was there, and additionally there were about a dozen people from outside Sofia who were converted by Hristo in Athens, where he led the Bulgarian congregation for several years.  Though the schedule got a little crazy and messed up, we were able by God's grace to speak to the people on the theme of being a healthy Christian community.  I led two sessions, the first on being part of a covenant community of peace, and the second on the practice of communal lament in the church (many thanks to Drs. Hicks and Fortner for letting me sit in on their Job class this summer - it helped a lot!).  

One problem the congregation is having is a disconnect between generations.  The older people sometimes see the younger generation as wild hooligans, while the younger people think those older are judgmental and uncaring.  There's perhaps a little bit of truth in both, a good bit of unfair generalization in both, and tons of room for humility in Christ to work.  I have never been as excited to have a class completely abandon me while I'm standing in front of them - because they were intensely discussing what I was saying!  Even if they totally disagreed with me, the fact that they were engaging with each other discussing the meaning of God's word is truly inspiring.

Spain just beat France.  That means it's late, and we have worship in the morning.  I love the challenge of singing with the praise team in Bulgarian!  I'm even beginning to understand a lot of it.

Update 4 from Kolentsi

So much has happened this weekend.  Many of you know that the timing of this trip was to coincide with a conference on human trafficking.  This conference was largely put on by Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  This organization has bases all around the world, and people attended this conference who are working in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Fiknland, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US.  I guess I represented Bulgaria.

I knew that human traficking was a problem, but had no idea it is on such an incredible scale. Estimates are that there are between 12 to 27 million people in the world held captive, either in sexual or labor slavery.  In the realm of sex trafficking, Greece is the primary destination country for Europe; as I already suspected, Ukraine and Bulgaria are leading source countries.  Bulgaria is an easy target; a bad economy (particularly in the villages) lead girls to make very poor decisions in their desperation for something better, and it is very easy to slip them across the southern border into Greece.

We heard from an organization called A21 which has already set up an office and a house in Sofia.  I will try to make a connection while I am there with their office to learn more about their work with those freed from sexual slavery.  I will not seek out the house for several reasons, but one of the primary ones is the safety and psychological well-being of these women.  There is a distinct danger to them from their former traffickers.

I have been blessed to hear the stories of Christian men and women who are working in various ways around the world to put an end to trafficking.  I am astounded by the great faith they show, often in the face of real danger; the women who work directly with these trafficking survivors are sometimes in danger of being trafficked themselves.  They greatly need the prayers of all Christians for wisdom, strength, and safety as they minister.

Tomorrow I amgoing into Kiev with Jenny Kelly, with the intent to talk to some missionaries who are doing work in the urban setting.  I will be staying at the transition house I visited last week, and will fly out to Sofia early Tuesday morning.  I will likely not be able to post again until I arrive, so your prayers for safe travel are appreciated!  Blessings and a big thank you to all of you who take the time to read these posts.

Update 3 from Kolentsi

It's 6PM in Kolentsi, and raining to beat the band.  It's been raining off and on since 2 this afternoon, but it's really coming down now.  The good news is, we finished the concrete floor for the new cabin today!  The bad news, we didn't get much done on the sidewalk leading up to it, which is a good 40 yards (I mean meters, of course - this is Europe!).
We had a little excitement during the pouring process.  Kolya motioned for us to come over to
an area he indicated, but to be very quiet, and said one word - "zaetz."  "Zaek" is the Bulgarian word for rabbit, and indeed that's exactly what he had found.  Apparently this species' defense mechanism is to absolutely freeze, because he didn't move a muscle until Sergei actually grabbed him with his bare hands!  I got the whole thing in pictures.  It's funny, but Sergei took the rabbit over to his house, and I haven't seen it since.  I wonder what's for dinner?

I took advantage of what I thought was the passing of the rain (turned out to be just a short lull) to finally walk into the village of Kolentsi.  I got some great pictures of the local houses, which are colorfully decorated.  Several of the villagers greeted me with a "Dobre den" ("Good day") which I happily returned, and even tried to talk with some of them - though one lady corrected my grammar (rather useless, I'm afraid, since I haven't figured out Bulgarian grammar yet).  Eventually, the road led to the village church: an old, weather-beaten white building that is only opened twice a year, on Christmas and Easter.  A villager told me the church was 150 years old, and I believe it!  If the pictures I took turn out even half as good as I think, with a foreboding dark sky behind the steeple and dome, I'll be very happy!

Speaking of pictures, I haven't posted many because my computer is dead.  Lord willing, I'll be able to figure out what's wrong with it once I get to Bulgaria - and out of the Ukrainian sand.  If not, I'll be posting a whole slew of pictures when I return!

Update 2 from Kolentsi

Today entailed another trip to Kiev, this time to pick up an attendee of the upcoming weekend's conference on human trafficking from France named Michelle.  I'm very excited to meet Michelle, because not only is she a French cook, she's actually won a TV cooking competition - and she's volunteered to make dinner tomorrow night!

We left for the airport quite early in order to stop at a house Jenny Kelly founded several years ago.  This house is for young people (17 and up) who have "aged out" of the orphanages.  Most of them have earned enrollment in local universities, but some work in the city.  The orphanages do not do a good job preparing these young people for life; they come out with no idea how to cook for themselves, wash clothes, keep track of finances, and lots of other things we teach our children as a matter of course.  Furthermore, though many of these orphans eventually marry each other, the only idea they have of what marriage or family should be is what they see on TV - a very scary ideal!  I was blessed to be able to meet Bogdan and his wife Anya, who serve as houseparents, and talk with Anya at length.  I gained a great deal of insight today on how a ministry like this might take shape in Sofia - a ministry not only geared to prepare these young people for independent life, but for a life in the Spirit of God and engaged with the church.  There is much to pray about.

Tomorrow, I am told, we will be able to finish pouring cement for the new cabin!  Father, give me strength tomorrow to finish this good work, and bless the children who will hear of You while spending a week here in Kolentsi.

Update 1 from Kolentsi

It's been a very busy weekend here in Kolentsi!  On Friday, I spent seven hours with Kolya, a resident of nearby Ivankiv, mixing and pouring cement for a new cabin.  Kolya is a hoot!  Shortly after meeting him, he told me in English that he has sixteen kids, but my shocked look caused him to reconsider; he meant six.  His oldest son is studying to be a hydrological engineer, but the other five are still at home.  We've talked quite a bit, and surprisingly my Bulgarian skills are quite helpfulhere - it's very similar to Russian which most Ukrainians speak, close enough that we are generally mutually understandable.

The World Race team left on Saturday morning.  I was especially sad to see them go, because late Saturday morning a group of leaders from Youth With A Mission in Kiev came to the camp for a retreat.  Andrew and I cooked lunch, cleaned up after lunch, cooked dinner, and cleaned up dinner.  In all, it took about seven hours.  I am glad this camp is here, so that groups like this can use it, and that I can help Andrew be a blessing for them.

Today we went into Kiev to pick up an intern at the airport (about a two-hour trip each way).  Joy is from Californiq, but she's spent the last three months working in Riga, Latvia with a ministry to prostitutes.  She works for the lady who will be leading the conference on sex trafficking.  She'll be helping prepare the camp along with Andrew and I for the 40+ attendees we're expecting.

Tomorrow, I'll be headed to the airport again, this time with Jenny.  I don't even know who we're picking up, but on the way we'll be stopping by the mission house Jenny set up, which is a post-institutional home for kid who age out of the orphanages.  I am especially interested to see this aspect of missions, as Lisa and I have discussed opening this exact sort of thing.

Looking forward to serving my Lord tomorrow!  

ny set up, which is a post-institutional home for kids who age out of the orphanages.  I am espc

Greetings from Kolentsi, Ukraine!  I'm here at Pine Branch Christian Camp, a ministry of Jeremiah's Hope, run by Andrew and Jenny Kelly.  Kolentsi is a very small village outside of the small town of Ivankiv, a little over an hour northwest of the huge capital of Kiev.  The camp is very nice, with small cabins, a large hall with a kitchen, a soccer field (essential, as it is in much of the world!), and a couple of nice playgrounds.  Oddly, though there's not a body of water nearby, the ground around Kolentsi is almost entirely sand.  This makes it difficult for the villagers to farm; many have  actually trucked in dirt to spread on top of the sand, and they bolster this with manure from their animals.

There is a team here that is part of World Race.  This is a group that goes to 11 countries in 11 months.  This team has already been in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and China.  They'll be moving on Saturday to go to Romania.  They've done a lot of work for the camp, preparing it for the coming summer camp season.

I imagine I'll get to do my share of similar work while I'm here, though Andrew and Jenny are graciously allowing me to ask questions and gather ideas that will help make our mission to Bulgaria effective.

My friend...

Next week I’ll be bringing a visitor with me.  I hope you get a chance to meet him; his name is Muhammad.  Muhammad is from the Gaza Strip, and he’s a terrorist.  He was involved in a couple of bombings of Coptic Orthodox churches in Egypt, has helped fire rockets into Israel, and even shot up a bus full of tourists with an AK-47.  But you see, all that has changed now; Muhammad has come to know Jesus Christ, and he’s a changed man.

Does he make you nervous anyway?  It’s no surprise; I would undoubtedly be nervous too if Muhammad came to church (he’s not, by the way – I don’t know anybody named Muhammad).  After all, people like that never come to church… do they?

When the apostle Paul first came to church, can you imagine the uproar?  The concern?  The outright fear?  This was a man who was zealous in persecuting the church, who had dragged people away to be killed and imprisoned!  Yet there he was, in the church praising Jesus as Lord.

Later he would write to the Corinthians in 1Cor6 an entire list of sinful behaviors, but he would say in v. 10 “that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”  He certainly knew what he was talking about!  God can cleanse people of even the most horrific sins, and use them to further His Kingdom – so don’t be surprised when He does.  The question is, would you accept the apostle Paul?  Would you accept Muhammad?

MRN Training report

This past weekend, Lisa and I were blessed to fly to Dallas to participate in some training for Missions Resource Network, the organization which is helping to prepare us for the mission field.  Training is probably not the best word to describe it, as most of what went on was an assessment of our strengths and needs, but it's the best word I can think of.  

There were four other couples we were excited to meet and get to know.  One couple is going to Croatia, relatively close to us across the Balkan Peninsula.  The other couples are going to China, Uganda, and Malawi (in southern Africa).  We are going to be participating in online cohort learning for several months, as we dialogue through several aspects of the theology of missions, covenanting, and strategies for mission.

We had a fairly grueling schedule of assessment.  First of all, on Friday evening every couple took 20 minutes to introduce themselves.  Lisa and I naturally chose a trivia game as the means by which to introduce ourselves, which was a lot of fun.  It was very interesting to find the wife of one couple sang in the Concert Choir at Harding with me, and the husband of another was a Chi Sig at the same time I was!

On Saturday, we had five one-hour interviews with assessor couples.  One couple was returning from over 25 years on the field in Brazil; one couple was on the Missions board with the Legacy Church of Christ in Dallas.  We also met with Dr. Dottie Schulz to go over the results of psychological testing we had done previously.  It was a taxing weekend, but well worth it.

We leave even more committed to our mission than before!  Please pray for us as we continue to prepare ourselves to do the Lord's work in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Underdogs

Which one of these phrases describes you best?  (A) “Tech U. was better back in ’07 when they had that 6’9” guard and ran man-to-man,” or (B) “ANOTHER GAME????  For cryin’ out loud, will he EVER get off the TV?”    Possibly your response correlates to your gender…

For those who answered (A), you’ve likely been in sports heaven the last week or so.  Something that has never happened before happened this year—two 15-seeds knocked off their 2-seeded opponents in the same day.  There is something about an underdog that really gets us excited!

Perhaps that is a reflection of the nature of God within us.  When God chooses a “hero,” it’s usually not the big guy, the strong guy, the smart guy, the suave guy.  Sometimes it’s not even a guy!  Think about some of God’s choices through scripture:

Moses had speech problems.  David was the youngest son.  Deborah led Israel when no man was courageous enough.  Gideon is hailed as a “mighty man of valor,” even though he’s “the least in my father’s house” of “the weakest clan in Manasseh.”  Simon Peter, James, and John were ignorant fishermen.

God loves an underdog, because through them he shows his incredible power.  1Cor1:27 says “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”  No matter how small and weak you think you are, God wants to use you!

Trivia Night

It occurred to me today that I never posted on how our Trivia Night fundraiser went last Saturday.  We had a good turnout of 9 teams, and the event raised almost $800 which will go toward the plane ticket to Ukraine and Bulgaria next month.  I'm quite proud that the team comprised of my family and the Pachciarzes from Smyrna (who adopted Yuli from Pleven, Bulgaria) came in a strong second place, but the winners of the night were Geriatric Dental Floss.  Though we plan, if the Lord wills, to be in Bulgaria next year at this time, I am going ahead with writing new categories so that the congregation can put on the event once more!

Reflective Practitioners

            The book of Deuteronomy finds the people of Israel on the cusp of entering the land God has promised to them.  They have endured 40 years of hardship wandering through the desert due to their disobedience and faithlessness.  During that time, they have come to rely on God for their provision, their guidance, and their protection.  An entire generation has passed away, and a renewed people look into their future.

            But the first three chapters look backward rather than forward.  When I was studying education at Lipscomb, I was acquainted with the concept of a "reflective practitioner."  Imagine a mirror.  When you look in a mirror, you see yourself exactly as you appear.  Not only this, but you are able to see behind you; metaphorically speaking, you see where you've come from.  A reflective practitioner is one who stops to examine where he is, and where he's come from, so as to press forward in the best possible manner.

            Moses reiterates to the people where they've been, and where they are now.  He reminds them of their failures, but also reminds them of the glorious future that awaits them if they will only have faith and obey.  Have you taken time recently to reflect on your walk with Christ?  Have you examined your own faith story, seeing where you've come from and where you are now? 

Super Tuesday

This week, like many others of you, I took the opportunity to vote in the Republican Primary for Super Tuesday.  I am something of a political junkie; I watch a lot of Fox News (and sometimes even CNN!), I listen to speeches, I stay as informed as I can.  At times, it's easy to get caught up, and sometimes even angry or distressed, about events in the political realm.

The great Restoration Movement figure David Lipscomb had a very different take.  Lipscomb felt that any involvement in politics, even voting, took a Christian's focus away from where it is supposed to be – that is, on Jesus Christ our King.  God is Sovereign, Lipscomb felt, and anything that took honor and attention from Him was inappropriate for Christians.

I disagree with Lipscomb, but his root point is hugely important.  We must all understand that if "our guy" (or girl!) wins the White House, Christ is King.  If our candidate loses, Christ is King.  If there is anarchy in the streets, or America is conquered, or becomes Communist, or monarchy, or any other crazy form of governance or non-governance, CHRIST IS KING! 

God, we praise You as King of the heavens and the earth, and we worship you for your greatness and glory!  Give us a "peace that passes understanding" in the knowledge that You guide all things in Your wisdom.

Visit with the Venkovs

We were blessed today to be able to visit with Dr. Hristo and Danka Venkov, who live in Nashville.  The Venkovs are from Sofia originally, but moved here after the fall of Communism.  Dr. Venkov is a professor of endocrinology at Vanderbilt University.  We brought them some martenitsas, and he gave me a very nice book, a biography of Vasil Levsky.  I look forward to reading it and gaining further insight into Bulgarian history!

Breakfast on the Morning Tram

I'm a big fan of jazz singer Stacey Kent.  If you like coffeehouse music, give her a try; I find myself noticeably relaxing every time I hear her.  Music has such an amazing power!

One of her best albums is Breakfast on the Morning Tram.  The title track depicts a (fictional, so far as I can determine) train that serves breakfast.  When I first heard the song, I was struck by how the image it presents is something that is very attractive, a place where we'd like to be.  Here are the lyrics:

So here you are in this city with a shattered heart, it seems
Though when you arrived you thought you'd have the holiday of your dreams
You'd cry yourself to sleep if you could but you've been awake all night
Well here's something that you need to do at the first hint of morning light

Walk right across the deserted city to the Boulevard Amsterdam
And wait there for what the citizens here refer to as the Breakfast Tram

Climb on board; you'll soon manage to find at the far end of the carriage
The most wonderful buffet
There's everything you'd want to eat; you can take a feast back to your seat
Whatever you can fit onto your tray
And the mist on the windows will start to fade as the sun climbs higher in the sky
And you can sit back with your café au lait while outside the waking city clatters by
So things didn't quite meet expectations, but you're bound to conclude upon reflection
There's no reason you should give a (care)
Just treat yourself to a cinnamon pancake, very soon you'll forget your heartache
When you have breakfast on the morning tram

It'll be quite quiet when you first get on, but as that tram keeps moving along
It'll fill with people starting on their day
They'll be laughing and joking as they eat, they'll be passing plates along the seats
Your night of heartache will soon seem far away
And even though you're a stranger they'll make you feel right at home

They'll be offering to refill your coffee; they won't have you sitting there alone
They've seen many others just like you, and each one of them has had it happen too
So just enjoy your scrambled eggs and ham
Treat yourself to a cinnamon pancake, very soon you'll forget your heartache
When you have breakfast on the morning tram
 
So just enjoy your fresh croissant and jam and don't neglect the Belgian waffles
You'll soon forget your troubles
When you have breakfast on the morning tram

In the beginning the singer is disillusioned and broken, the expectations of happiness and fulfillment left empty.  Doesn't our world do the same thing?  It offers everything, so it seems; if you wear the right clothes, you'll be happy; if you get the right job, you'll be happy; if you get the right cell phone, or car, or friends, you'll be happy.  But ultimately we realize that it's all a lie, and a lot of those things are actually harmful to us.  We are betrayed by the things that we thought were supposed to make us happy.

What if we were able to come to a place where we are accepted in our pain?  Where people were unpretentious in understanding the reality of our situation?  A place that welcomed us, and brought us to the table of sharing?  What a relief that would be, what a joy! 

What if our churches actually became that place?  What if we became healers of the heart, rather than judgmental and exclusive?  If you read through the gospels, you'll be struck how many stories about Jesus involve a meal of some sort.  There is something very special about sharing a meal with people, something that connects us deeply with each other.  Jesus shared meals with people all the time, and I think we would realize some profound things if we would do the same.

I like the image of a train.  A train is not static; it goes places.  In the same vein, the church should not stand still (scriptural metaphors to the contrary notwithstanding).  The church should be active, reaching out to the community, at the same time working fervently and simply being – being whole, being at peace, being satisfied in the blessings of God our Father.  As we work and have our identity in him, our train rolls on toward our final destination – an eternal banquet.

Creative God, creative man

I was driving to Western Hills on Wednesday night and, on a whim, popped in a CD into the player in my van.  It was one of my favorites, a CD called "Summon the Heroes," and it features music used in the ceremonies and TV broadcasts of the Olympics.  We have an Olympic Games coming up this summer in London, and I find myself getting excited about watching them - though not as excited as I get for the Winter Olympics, which are a lot more fun in my view!  In any case, I was caught up in the beauty of the music, the stirring rhythms that made me want to stop the van, get out, and run somewhere, "Rocky"-style.  Music has such a power!

It brought to mind some of the amazing athletic feats I've seen in Olympics past.  I remember the amazing performance of swimmer Michael Phelps, and his record number of gold medals; Apolo Anton Ohno and the epic speed skating battles with the South Koreans; Jamaican Usain Bolt's almost unbelievable speed; and a host of others.  Isn't it amazing to watch what these incredible athletes can do?

Human beings have an incredible drive to create, to explore, to innovate, to compete, to do new things.  We are this way because we were wonderfully created – and because our "template," our pattern, is divine.  "Let us make human beings in our image," declares Gen. 1:26.  We create because God creates.  "What god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? (Deut. 3:24)"  We seek to do great things as a reflection of the mighty God in whose image we are made.  In Isaiah 43:19, God declares, "See, I am doing a new thing!"  Just as God creates and initiates new action, so has he instilled in us a creative spark.

Isn't our God an amazing God!  Can you find a creative, mighty, or new way to praise and show your love for him?

Update - Wednesday, Feb. 22

Greetings all!

It's been several days since I added anything to this blog.  I didn't write the bulletin article for Western Hills this week, so there wasn't anything there to post.  Still, this doesn't mean there haven't been developments!

We are quickly approaching our Trivia Night on Saturday, March 10.  It is my hope that we can raise $1,000 toward the expenses of my trip to Ukraine in April.  It's played in teams of six, so nobody is put on the spot.  $12 per person includes dinner, prizes, and babysitting if you need it!  If anybody has questions about Trivia Night, please let me know.

We talked this week with Vania and Hristo in Sofia by Skype, as usual.  We're excited that there's a good possibility that Vania will be able to come to Nashville for most of the month of August!  This would be a great help to our Bulgarian language learning, and it would be a lot of fun to boot.  Hristo also let me know that I will be preaching for the congregation on May 6.  That's a little intimidating, as I haven't had a lot of practice preaching in English, let alone Bulgarian!  Still, I have ample time to prepare, and the opportunity is an exciting blessing.

I have started to call around to congregations that might support us, but so far the news is not good.  Most congregations are being hit hard by this poor economy, and are having to cut back on their existing programs.  I pray, and I ask you to please pray, that this economy improves and that Christians will be as generous and even more generous than before in supporting missions around the world.  We want very much to make our move in September, but if we don't have the support we need, we will simply have to delay.  I have faith that God will move to smooth our path if he wills it!  No economic force in the world can match the power of almighty God!

Blessings to you all.

Cilantro - Western Hills bulletin article 12Feb12

   One of the happiest moments of each new year is when I see the first seeds for sale at Lowe's.  I couldn't help myself this week; I had to pick up several packets, even though it's far too early to plant anything, even indoors.  I'm quite proud of my front herb garden; last year we had an amazing display of Genovese basil, Thai basil, oregano, dill, thyme, tarragon, and rosemary.

   I had given up on cilantro, however.  It's one of my favorite herbs (I'm a big fan of Mexican food!), but every time I'd tried to grow it in the past, it bolted – grew up extremely fast and withered within just a couple of weeks.  I'd tried everything I could think of to pamper it, but nothing worked, so I gave up on it.  One day late last spring, I noticed that Lisa had planted something in an empty spot in the herb bed.  When I asked her what she'd planted, and she told me it was cilantro, I shook my head.  "It won't work; it'll just bolt like it always does."

   To my surprise, not only did the cilantro not bolt, it thrived – and is still alive now, despite the frost we've gotten.  How could this be?  I've done everything in my power to make that stuff grow, and Lisa gets it to work on her first try.

   I think I understand a little better now Paul's words in 1Cor3:6: "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow."  Ultimately, there's nothing I can do to make a seed grow.  Sure, I can make the conditions right for growth to happen, but only God has the power to make things thrive.  And there's a hidden blessing there as well.  I don't have to be responsible for results; rather, God only asks us to plant and water.  The results are up to him.  Praise God for his wisdom and power!

Bulletin Article for February 5

               I might lose my 'man card' over this, but I have to confess, when Lisa watches shows like "Project Runway," I get drawn in.  Though a lot of the clothing designers who are on that show and others like it are a little wacky, it's clear that there is a great deal of creativity in the process of designing clothes.  Different colors, fabrics, accessories, and shapes all contribute to unique styles.

               Did you know there's fashion in the bible?  At least, there is quite a lot of description of certain clothing ensembles.  If you've read through the latter part of Exodus, there's quite a lengthy description of the clothing required for Aaron, the high priest of God.  It's very particular, just as particular as the design of the tabernacle.  It must have been quite a stunning ensemble!

               On the other hand, we have the description of John the Baptist's clothes in Matthew 3:4 – "John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist."  I don't know about the leather belt, but a tunic of camel hair couldn't have been comfortable! 

               We have another picture of clothing in John 13:4-5.  There, Jesus removes his outer clothing and wraps a simple towel around his waist.  He uses this to dry the apostles' feet after he has washed them. 

               Scripture doesn't give us specific direction on what clothes to wear, except for us to dress modestly.  What does the clothing of Aaron, John the Baptist, and Jesus tell us about them?  What does your clothing say about you?

Western Hills bulletin article 29Jan12

I write bulletin articles for the Western Hills Church of Christ, so I thought I'd go ahead and add here what I write each week.

Have you ever read the book of Deuteronomy?  I'll admit, it can be a fairly daunting task.  Deuteronomy has long sections of laws, and some of them don't even seem to make sense (Don't boil a baby goat in its mother's milk?  Never even thought of that one).  But I think you'll find that, if you read through Deuteronomy, there are several important lessons to be learned.

One of them relates to a phrase that God says over and over.  In various forms, the admonition to "be careful to follow every command" is given to Israel, such as in Deuteronomy 8:1.  That seems like a terribly difficult task for Israel, though in general it's much simpler than it appears on first glance.  The Torah, which is usually translated as "Law" but is more properly understood as "Instruction," sets forth for Israel a way of living that will set her apart from other people.

But why?  Why does Israel need to be separate?  There are a couple of reasons.  First of all, Israel is to keep herself from impurity.  Rather than take her cues from the people around her, Israel is to take her cues from the mouth of God.  YHWH recognizes that, if his people do not take care, then they will naturally begin to think and act in the same ways as those around them, with disastrous consequences.  Do we as Christians take our cues from the word of God, or do we live by the pattern of our culture?  Do we even recognize a difference?

The second reason for this separation is so that Israel can be a witness to something better.  The people who live all around Israel can look to her and see a model society, a blessed society.  In looking to Israel, the world should have seen a people living in harmony, materially blessed because of their faith, trusting fully in the Lord.  Instead, because Israel often failed to "take care (Deut. 7:11)," not only did Israel fail to be a witness to the world, she was swallowed up and carried off into captivity.  Let us always "take care" to look at our own society and culture the way God looks at it, and be the witness to the world we are called to be.

The plan...

OK, here's the plan for this year in regard to our mission.  We recognize that, even though we have experience with education, with health care, and with church life, we have never been on the mission field (except for Lisa, who has been on a short-term trip with TORCH missions to Honduras).  There's a lot we don't know.  Thus, we need some practical experience.  In order to gain that...

Jeff will be flying to Ukraine for the last two weeks of April to spend time with Andrew and Jenny Kelly in the Kiev area.  Andrew and Jenny run Jeremiah's Hope, which works with children in difficult situations.  They have also started a post-institutional home for orphans who age out and have nowhere to go, to give them support and teach basic independence skills.  Additionally, the timing of this trip is to coincide with a conference on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe, something that is a huge problem in Bulgaria.  At the conclusion of the conference, Jeff will fly to Sofia for a week, spending time with Hristo and Vania Arnaudov (the minister and his wife with whom we will be working) and gathering information on specific ways in which we can minister when we're there.

In the last two weeks of June, both of us will be flying to Sofia again as part of an annual mission group from the West Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith, AR.  This is primarily a group of teenagers intent on spreading the gospel to other young people in Sofia.  Since West Ark will also be sending their pulpit minister, we are looking into putting on a mini-lectureship.

Lord willing, we will have gathered enough support to make the complete move to Sofia by mid-September.  We are eager to get on the ground, but we also know that God's time is not our time; his blessings will ultimately determine when we are able to go.  We ask for your prayers, your encouragement, and your financial support so that we can get to work!

Special thanks!

I would be remiss if I didn't profusely thank Dr. David Stark for his assistance in creating this website!  Praise God for brothers of many gifts, who are ready and willing to help!

Welcome to our new website!

We always wondered if we would ever have a website.  We never had a reason to, before.  But now we do!  Thank you for your interest in our mission to Sofia, Bulgaria.  We need you to partner with us, to equip us to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the Bulgarian people.

We will be sharing things with you as we travel the road God has put before us.  Some of the stories will be victories; some will be tragedies.  Ultimately, we praise God that we are part of the grand Story of His triumphant reconciliation of the world to himself!

We hope you will take the time to read our weekly (at least, that's what we intend...) posts, and interact with us while we prepare to go, and while we're in the field.  God bless you all!