MIS Ministry Update
Posted: August 1, 2007
Since our last update ... Australia and Mozambique teams have returned; rejoicing in God's protection and ministry accomplished for His glory! The Brazil pre-med team is still out.
Bethesda
As soon as we arrived at Bethesda, we started our training sessions with the staff here. Later, we visited a cemetery which showed us the horrible affects that AIDS has played on the people here. It was very sobering to see.
Wednesday: Each of us were paired up with a home here at Bethesda, and today we went to their house to help the house moms out with chores around the house. When the kids got out of school we played on the playground with them and started to get to know their names. Some of the kids dragged me into playing soccer. I warned them that I am not very good at all but they continued to laugh at my lack of coordination.
Thursday: We went sightseeing in a town called Soweto. This was a small town out of Johannesburg that the black people were forced to live in horrible conditions away from their families. We learned a lot about the horrible effects of the apartheid. We ate lunch at a place called Wandies where we chowed down on some traditional South African food.
Friday: This was our first work day. We are working on digging a ditch (which we have lovingly named Gus) that will be about 200 meters, knee deep. It is very hard work and made us very sore. In the afternoon, we did crafts with the older kids. We were trying to teach them how to make things that they might be able to sell someday. For dinner each of us went to the houses that we helped out with earlier in the week. We got to talk to the parents and the children and get to know them better. It was great to also see how they functioned in their own homes with their families. After dinner, they have a devotion time. At the house I was at the whole family is memorizing Genesis 1. It was really great to see the kids help each other and challenged each other as they memorized God???s Word. Even the two year old, Jack, who doesn't speak English, said Gen. 1:1.
Saturday: We had our first day camp with the kids, who we divided into three groups. We played games, told stories, did crafts, and sang songs. It was really great to work with the kids and share God???s love with them as we taught them about the Bible. Sunday: For church, in the morning we went to a very small black church that is held in a local daycare. It was really encouraging to see the enthusiasm and joy that the people had. We all enjoyed the singing, preaching and fellowship at this growing church. In the afternoon, we went to John and Lois Mixon???s (the director of Bethesda) for lunch. They are very warm and friendly and it has been a blessing being with them and encouraging them. We went to the Mixon???s church on Sunday night. This was a white church and very much like many churches in America. It is so cool to see the difference in the way people worship God from the black church we went to in the morning and the white church at night.
Monday: We worked on Gus (the ditch) all day long, which really wore us out. We had to remind ourselves that all we do, even digging a ditch, is worship to God. The reason we are here is to serve God even if the work is extremely hard we need to keep that in mind. After dinner we invited all of the families over for dessert to say goodbye to an intern who has been here all summer. It is great to spend time with these precious children. God has brought each and every child here for a reason, and the staff here at Bethesda is doing an amazing job at training these children in the way they should go.
Throughout the week most of our bags did arrive although we are still missing 3. Please pray that they will arrive soon (as some people are still missing their clothes). Also pray that God would continue to protect us and give us strength. God is definitely teaching us, stretching us, and molding us to become who He want us to be. This trip will continue to be an adventure, I am sure. In Christ, Diana Deakin for Bethesda Team 2
Ah, the beginning of week three. I cannot believe the last leg of our journey is already here. Oh, what can I say about this past week??? well, for starters, yesterday, one more piece of luggage arrived, leaving only one out in the wild blue yonder. Unfortunately, the missing bag contains clothes, etc., so one of our members is struggling materially, but God is teaching us what it means to store up treasures in heaven. Most of us are in fine health, with only a few ill feelings, which is a blessing. Our team is very unified, which is a miracle, considering we???ve lived in close confines for over 2 weeks now. Our second week started with a bang - work, work, work. We spent Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, half of Friday, and this Monday working on our ditch (Gus). We are finished! We have completed a ditch about 200 yards long total, digging about 1 ?? feet deep, sometimes through solid rock. It gave new meaning to the words ???On Christ the solid rock I stand.???
Tuesday, July 17, we went to an orphan mission in Stinkwater, where we whipped out our gardening skills and turned a run-down garden into a brand-new-looking one. This garden feeds 42 orphans 4 times a week. The rest of the time they have to find their food elsewhere, as all but 4 of them are living on their own. We fed them a lunch of paloney sandwiches. (Paloney makes me thankful for baloney.) We spent the evening getting to know some of the families here at Bethesda. Wednesday morning, our team did chapel devotionals for the grade school here on Bethesda???s property, and we did the story of Jonah, taking full advantage of the acting skills God has given some of the members of our team. Thursday we helped out in the school again, this time pretending to be germs, and then helping with art and PE. In the evening we spent some time in the homes of the families here. Friday after working, we went to the Menlyn mall, where we shopped for 3 hours and then celebrated a birthday in the evening- that of Christian, one of our team members. He turned 20, and much to his chagrin got only a brownie for a gift (well, and singing, a fun card, and a candy bar). Saturday was a real treat for all of us, as we got to go to the Pretoria Zoo. We took about 15 kids from the Stinkwater orphan mission, and they had a blast. We thoroughly enjoyed sharing our vast knowledge of zoo animals with the children, just as much as we enjoyed holding their hands and seeing giraffes, lions, tigers, and lots and lots of snakes.
Sunday we experienced two more local churches: a smallish black church in the morning and a smallish white church in the evening. We really enjoyed both. Yesterday evening (Mon, Jul 23) we again spent time with the families. We are getting very close to the people here, and it???s going to be hard for us to leave. We are also getting closer to God with every breath we take here in Hammanskraal, South Africa. We are finding at every turn that God is good. Please pray for continued health, and for the arrival of one last bag before we leave. Please also pray that we would clearly and accurately represent our Savior to the world. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We???ll see you in a week! In Christ, Nora (for Bethesda team 2)
Germany
In a mere two hours, our camp (the second session in Marzell - which I am director for) will be invaded by 28 German teens. They will be here until Sat. Aug. 4th. Our staff has been here since Sunday and has bonded well, praise the Lord!
We also covet your prayers - for staff unity, for safety during our activities, and most of all that God will be at work. Satan does not want the campers to give control of their lives to God, and we know from past experience that Satan will be trying to defeat us and God during these camps. Please pray that Satan will not be able to work - that God will put a hedge of spiritual protection around us. Pray that God???s love will flow through us to the campers, that the language barrier will not be a hindrance, and that we will see God work mightily in the next two weeks!
For further updates during camp, please check my blog - www.karisue1119.blogspot.com - I will try to update it regularly with the adventures of camp. Thank you for praying! By His grace, Kari
Dominican Republic team (women's basketball and volleyball)
The team is doing well - we???re thankful to be here. Here???s the update from Katie & Lib??? Thanks for your continued prayers! Coach Hartman
Well, we are all doing fine! Besides a few headaches, stomach pains, and back cramps from the long bus rides, everyone is in tip top shape! We were extremely blessed to have all of our luggage arrive!! Things like losing your luggage can create a lot of headache that would distract from the purpose of why we are here. We woke up this morning at 7o???clock. We had breakfast then headed off to Santa Domingo where we played the Junior National Volleyball team. Let???s just say that we learned a lot about perseverance and just a lot about each other as individuals. Next we went to the Sugarcane village. WOW! Approximately 10-20 people accepted Christ as their personal Savior! PRAISE THE LORD! Even though I don???t know how to speak Spanish, people can still see our love for Christ through our actions, facial expressions, and heart. Today God showed me his love and compassion!! We have so much that we take for granted in our lives. Our house, food, clothes, and washer, are all things we rely on, and they don???t have much of! So as I was challenged today, I hope that we all take the time to thank our Creator for the wonderful blessings he has given to us! Kt
The Dominican has welcomed us with humid weather, crazy drivers, lack of personal space, beans and rice, and trash filled streets! It is such a blessing to come here and experience a different lifestyle and culture. Having been here two years ago, it is so awesome to come back and learn new lessons and become reacquainted with old ones. Today I was able to share the Powerball with the Dominican Junior National team. The Powerball is a volleyball with colored panels where each color represents a different part of the plan of salvation. Kiko was my translator and then Andres, another missionary here, preached. A few of the players said that they accepted Christ as their Savior!!! It was such a delight to tell these girls about Jesus and give them hope for eternity. I am very excited to see what God has in store for us in the next few days! Thanks for your prayers!! Hi to Cari??? We miss you and love you and can???t wait to see you. Lib
Hey everyone! Long but good day....this will be short due to the fact that people are waiting to get on and there is one internet connection! Tomorrow is a visit to the sugarcane village in the morning and bball games in the afternoon. Coach Huck
Greetings Earthlings...
We got up rather early to eat breakfast and than off to play the first game of the day at 9. We played a total of 4 games. During our break between games we went and passed out tracks on the street. It was very interesting to see how open the Dominican people are to accepting the tracts we passed out. Immediately when they received the tract they started reading it. They always greet you with a smile and thank you for passing out a tract to them. It was amazing to be a part of that and see their response to the tracts. After our final game we came home for the night. It was an amazing day. We finally got home, ate, then had an amazing worship time. It was a great day and we look forward to another great one tomorrow. Until tomorrow, Groomsy
Posted: June 27, 2007
Australia
The website is www.xanga.com/CUAussieteam07
Part of a recent entry: First of all I just want to say (not boastfully) that we have a great team. I am so excited to see how God is going to continue to use us and develop us as a team and as individuals while we are here! We have become a family and although no family is without it's problems we have been doing considerably well loving each other and that has been so helpful in allowing us to love others.
God is really blessing our ministry here. We have had several concerts now and have gotten into a pretty good rhythm in our music and drama ministry. Last Wednesday we were able to minister in a retirement village here in the Werribee area. It was a great time of ministry and worship for us. We were able to have tea with the people afterwards and it was so encouraging to hear their stories and words of wisdom and encouragement. It was a great reminder of the amount of wisdom to be passed on from generations and the importance of worshiping together young and old.
It has also been quite encouraging and simultaneously quite challenging ministering in such diverse environments. One of the churches that we sang in had 27 different nationalities represented in the congregation. They did language interpretation during our concert via radio controlled headsets. That was pretty awesome! We also just recently got the opportunity to do our children's program for the first time and it went so well. Those kids were great. I hope we taught them something but I wouldn't be surprised if God put us there so that those kids could be an encouragement to us.
I wish I had the time and the memory to share all of the positive feed back we have gotten. There have been a number of pastors, church members, and non-believers who have witnessed our ministry and been encouraged or convicted. At this point, we haven't yet heard of anyone making the decision to accept God's gift of salvation but we are fervently trying to plant seeds.
Please pray for us that we would be strong and persevere in our ministry. That we would continue to show love to one another and to our host homes and all that we come into contact with. And that we would continue to be yielded to the Spirit's leading in what to sing, say and do as we minister to His People.
Most of all pray for us as we try to be living examples of our theme verse trusting God in every situation. (Ps. 31:14- 15a). Thanks, miss you guys, Justin
China
I wanted to email you and give you an update now that we are back. We all arrived home safely. We built many friendships with the Chinese university students that we worked with. They were very gracious, and eager to practice their English! God is doing incredible things through the missionary family there! They have a great opportunity to reach students through their English meetings and Bible studies. Most of the team members were able to have deep spiritual conversations with at least one student. We saw one come to Christ, and many were challenged to think about their beliefs a lot more. We fulfilled our purpose in being there - to aid in the ministry by drawing more students to the English meetings and Bible studies and bringing them closer to God by building relationships with them. We have faith that those students will continue to be ministered to by the missionaries! Although we did not pick up much of the language, we learned a lot about their culture. We all feel that we, and those we ministered to benefitted from this trip! Christina for the China team
Romania
Things are going great with the Romania Computer team. We are in the middle of our second week here. The first week we taught computer classes in 2 villages, with about 25 kids at each village. Both villages had small churches, and the pastors were trying to build their church by reaching out to the children. We were able to clearly present the Gospel to the kids during our daily chapel time.
This week we are again in two villages. One has a strong church, and we again have about 25 kids. The church in the village we visit in the afternoon apparently has very strong opposition from the Orthodox Church, and the soil is very hard. We've walked through the village and talked to people, and now have about 12 students. It is heart-breaking to see the strong opposition that evangelicals often get here in Romania.
The team is all healthy and praising God for His grace in allowing us to be here.
Thailand
Check their Xanga: www.xanga.com/marcedwards
A sample entry: Wednesday was our second day at the elementary school. We started with our songs, special claps, and ???The Mask??? skit. Shane explained the meaning of the skit, and Pastor Reuel translated. After the assembly, we split into our different grades. Leanne and Laura had first grade, Erin and Hannah had second, Andy and Sam had third, Diane and Stacy had fourth, Amy and Bekah had fifth, and Marc and Shane had sixth.
In first grade, Leanne and I reviewed greetings, colors, shapes, and body parts. The kids enjoyed being quizzed and rewarded. For lunch, our team went to a church member???s house. We were served chicken and rice and fresh fruit. The best thing about eating at their house was that the backyard had a fruit orchard. Some of the new fruits included mangosteen, long kong, and lychees.
When we returned to the school the kids were ready for more action. We started with a few more songs - the kids loved ???Head and Shoulders,??? and ???The Chicken Dance.??? Our first game consisted of four relay teams racing to fill their bottle with water. You could see the joy on the children???s faces as they took turns filling their cup and running to the bottles, dumping their cups, and running back. In our second game the kids second game the kids raced to dribble the ball in and out of the obstacles (us!). we took a break from the hot, Thailand sun and sang more songs. For the last game, we did a water balloon toss. We left for the church after handing out snacks and saying our goodbyes.
Please continue to pray for these teams and others serving the Lord as they represent Cedarville this summer! The Hungary team is on the ground teaching English and the Mozambique team leaves Monday July 2.
Posted: June 8, 2007
Bethesda
Greetings from South Africa! We cannot thank you enough for your prayers. We spent the first couple of days becoming acquainted with Bethesda and our responsibilities here. We've been learning about the culture and the history of the surrounding areas. The death toll that AIDS has taken on this country is unbelievable. We visited a massive graveyard where bodies are piled up to three on top of each other to make room for the constant burials. The magnitude of the poverty in this region is unlike anything we've seen in America. Most of the people live in tin shacks with garbage spread throughout their property, and every house is fenced in due to the high crime rate.
The first Saturday, we helped construct a concrete house in the local township. It was a project of one of the area schools and we had the privilege of working alongside the students. The house was for a lady who runs a day care and was kicked out of the place she had before. The last two Saturday evenings we spent with Bethesda's houseparents and their families. It has been such a blessing to get to talk with these families and to see their hearts for serving Christ by building families for these orphans.
We spent all of Monday - Thursday doing manual labor. While we were cleaning a giant pile of rubble we happened upon a 12 inch cobra! Our manual labor consisted of clearing out a pile of rubble, moving dirt/sand piles to a cement slab, laying bricks on the side of the team center to prevent erosion, and a few other jobs. Though we've been sore we've gotten much done and it's fun to see the progress we've made!
On Friday, Bethesda took in 2 new children which was exciting for Bethesda and for us! Yesterday we had Day Camp with the children. We spent 3 hours playing games with them, having Bible lessons, and getting to know them better.
We look forward to work days throughout this week as well as more opportunities to interact with the children and their parents. We've been so thankful that God has provided for our needs and has taught us so much about the meaning of ministry. Please pray that God will continue to humble us as we seek to serve Him through our work here at Bethesda.
(5/31) Well... here we go again...another friendly little update of various experiences since our last note from South Africa, the land of contrasts...Sunday, we worshiped in the morning with the believers of a small black church in Soshanguve. Their joy and faith despite the difficulties they've been through was refreshing. Contrast of the day, the difference between the culture of that church and of the white church we attended in the evening, proved to be interesting as we could see believers in close proximity wholeheartedly worship the same God in differing ways.
Monday was spent learning more about the area we're staying in. We went to a market place, interacting with the vendors and testing out our bartering skills. After spending the morning surrounding by people vying for our time, we headed out to a game drive. Our time spent surrounded by God's creation was, in a word, amazing. We saw zebra, warthog, antelope, elephant, hippo, giraffe, and came real close to some rhino. The sun setting over the African landscape...was quite a peaceful contrast to our morning.
Tuesday was not so much a contrast for us as it was for the Bethesda house mothers. Our team spent the day in the homes doing whatever needed to be done there. Mostly, we cleaned and looked after the younger kids to give them a break. We also sent the house mothers off to the team center to have a surprise lunch provided just for them. Those women are extremely hard-working and put their all into what they do...needless to say they deserved the change in routine. Please pray that God would continue to give them the strength and wisdom that it takes to care for such lively households and that He would enable us to be a true encouragement to them.
On Wednesday it was time to get back to work under that beautiful African sun...we spent the day in Stinkwater working at a ministry which takes care of orphans in that area. We spent the morning hoeing, shoveling, raking, and a little planting in the garden they have out back which provides food for the children. We also brought lunch for all the kids who came over once they got out of school and spent some time just hanging out with them before heading back to Bethesda. We are looking forward to taking many of these same orphan kids out to the zoo this weekend. Many of these kids have never even been out of their little township, so it will probably prove to be an interesting experience. Please pray that our time spent with these children will be one that brings joy into their lives- which is something it seems they don't see a lot of- a contrast to their everyday lives, if you will. There's no other way...only Jesus...a Bethesda team member, for all
Togo
The students are great workers and very faithful to do what God requires. They work in the hospital and clinics, move furniture for a missionary who will arrive in June, baby sit, type, pack for a family who is leaving Togo to go to China in June, file papers, rearrange and re-labeled medicines in the hospital.
Two students, a physician, a couple of Togolese nurses, and translators and I went to a village one hour south of the hospital and east of Kpalime almost to Ghana. This village is very large and the home of one of the on the job trained nurses. We went to one chief's home. He was dressed is a very fine blue print outfit. We all greet him and sit for the formal welcome ceremony. Then we are ushered to a place with about 100 people assembled. We greet them and go to the other section of the village across the road. The welcoming ceremony is repeated with two other chiefs. We walk about one- quarter mile to another group of people. I stopped to take pictures of a man and his family. I showed it to him and turned to join the group only to discover that they were no where in sight. I started to run past a couple of houses so I could determine which direction they were going. As I did a couple of Togolese two year old's saw me (white adult) and ran shrieking in terror!! The man just laughed until he doubled over. I soon located the group and our vehicles. We walked down a long wooded path to a series of houses. On the porch of one we were told to sit. Out came food!! Fine but not prepared so that Americans could safely eat, but you must eat it or you are very rude. God had prepared the way...I had a whole pack of antibiotic in my bag to use for the next night.
We returned to the place where the second group of people were...now over 300. The chaplain and one of the nurses spoke to the villagers in Ewe. The other Americans sat in the sun for one hour listening. I stayed at the back to take photos!! Good choice because after the meeting (teaching about Christ, and health-aids and hypertension). We started taking blood pressures. I located a woman to translate for me who was rather uninformed about Christ and Christianity but she was a great, faithful help (sat with me for hours recording the information for me). The sun was direct and we now had no shade. The rest of the team were in an open bamboo shelter. Since we did not give numbers and the Mobile Medical Clinic had never been to these villages, we couldn't call names. The women sat in front of me and as I finished taking the blood pressure of one lady and she started to get up, several women fought for the seat and a turn to have their B/P taken. Most of the women had their family name, Togolese name and village name tattooed on the left forearm. We took over 335 blood pressures; 125 had hypertension! One woman had a pressure of 220/110!! She said she didn't feel too good; I guess not. The doctor gave her medicine. I gave packets of vitamins; but how do you explain vitamins to uneducated women who can barely write their names. We took one break and went to the same house for late lunch. Very good African food. We arrived back at the hospital long after dark about three hours later than expected.
A ministry we especially enjoyed was singing in the hospital wards at 3:00 P.M. Sunday afternoon. Patients and families were encouraged and made certain we didn't miss any unit. The patients and families would sing with us in their language if they recognized the tune. Everyone has remained well. The students testimonies are great and delivered with conviction. Love to all, Irene for Lois and the Team.
Bangledesh
It's hard to believe that our four weeks here are almost over! The team has seen that nursing in a cross cultural setting does not always mean being at the patient's bedside. Here in Malumghat, the expatriate nurses do many other things and very little hands on care. Our students have been exposed to all aspects of what it means to be an expatriate nurse in this culture. We have spent time with the MK's and families here in the hospital compound, provided special music and shared testimonies in English church services, visited with national friends in the nearby village, stayed overnight in one national's home, attended services at Memorial Baptist Church, participated in Bible class/devotions with the national staff and students, helped with organizing supplies in the warehouse, created bulletin boards in the health college, and taught English conversation to health college students.
We start most mornings out in the hospital, taking care of patients on the wards or observing in the outpatient department, the OR, or in the ultrasound room. The students have had the opportunity to practice some nursing skills using equipment no longer used in the states. :) They have also learned to do assessments and educate patients without speaking Bangla, either through an interpreter or by gestures and facial expressions. It has been a challenge for each student to adjust her expectations of what ministry means and how she thought she would be interacting in this culture.
One of the veteran nurses took us up to Lama, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, to help with a mobile clinic. While the expatriate nurse and a short term surgeon evaluated patients, the students helped with taking blood pressures, filling prescriptions, and crowd control. We visited in a Tripura village, eating 'sticky rice' and other delicacies with the tribal family of one of the health college students. We also had the opportunity to visit the Hebron station, the clinic and school where the ABWE medical work was first initiated. It was a great pleasure to see how the ministries have grown over the last 50 years, all due to God's faithfulness and the diligence of the expatriates who have served Him.
There have been difficult times during the last few weeks, given the many cultural adjustments needed, the deaths of some patients, and the difficulty in communication in Bangla. We have seen many times over how the Lord has guided, protected, and supplied for all of our needs, giving the strength for every challenge faced. We have felt the hedge of protection your prayers have built around us. Thank you for being such a vital part of our ministry here in Bangladesh. We have many more stories and experiences to share with you, but will wait to do so until we see you again.
Please pray for us as we close out our time at Memorial Christian Hospital, that we will finish the race set before us with diligence and faithfulness. Each team member will be leaving behind national brothers and sisters that she has grown to love. Our parting we be bittersweet, for we are sad to be leaving but know we have the hope of seeing them again, either here in BD or in heaven.
Again we thank you for your active part in our ministry in BD. Thank you for your ongoing prayer support and encouragement. May the Lord be glorified! Because of Him, Kathy Jones (for the team)
Please also remember to pray for these teams currently out: China and Thailand. The Australia and Romania teams head out next week.
Posted: May 24, 2007
Spain
Please see their entries @ http://www.xanga.com/spainbound2007
A sampling of their notes:
Saturday, after team devos, we traveled to the nearby town of Baeza. This would be a nice place to plant a church, there is not a single known Christian in the entire village. So we prayer-walked through the streets, just praying that God would really make Himself known there and soften the people's hearts, giving them a hunger to know more, and a dissatisfaction with the Catholicism that is so prevalent there. As we walked past dozens of people, it was so strange to realize that none of them professed to know Christ. In the states, there are so many people that claim to be Christians, but here, there are 7500 towns where not a single person identifies with Christ. Spain is such a lost country, and we've been praying for God to burden hearts for this nation.
It's been interesting to stay with Guadalupe, she speaks no English and we speak very little Spanish. Yet it has been neat to share the common bond in Christ and be able to carry on some conversation with her as far as what God is doing in both of our lives. It's also just been evidence of how Christianity/God's love/the applicability of the gospel is demonstrated through actions, not just idle words. Guadalupe doesn't need to explain to us how God's love is evidenced. She just displays her generosity and her compassion by what she does. And it's neat to see how my Spanish is improving as I spend more time immersed in Spanish conversation.
It's also been amazing to see how God uses the talents of various people to perform different tasks to the best of their ability. For example, if I tried to perform every task that needs to happen on this trip, it would be a flop. But God has given me specific areas that I'm skilled in, and he's given other abilities to others. If we try to usurp others' positions, we're preventing them from using their skills well. It's neat to see a mini-version of the body of Christ work together here in Spain.
Monday we drove 8 hours from Ubeda to the Instituto Biblico Y Seminario Teologico de Espana. (IBSTE). We've been here since working at the seminary. Some tasks we've done thus far include, but are not limited to:
Tearing up old patio — Laying a new patio — Sanding fences — Painting fences — Trimming Palm trees — Weeding — Planting Grass — and General maintenance work.
Hungary (Special Education)
We are back in Budapest and will be at the International Christian School of Budapest (ICSB) for the remainder of our trip. We arrived back here yesterday at 6 a.m. after wonderful trips to Prague and Bucharest. At the Christian International School of Prague (CISP) we tested 6 children and met with each of their families. It is delightful to meet Christian teachers and missionaries and work alongside them to assist the children who are struggling to learn. Leslie Johnson, the director of the school is a gifted leader whom we look forward to working with more in the future! We finished testing and meetings at about 8 on Tuesday evening. As we traveled over the Eastern European countryside, we were reminded of the few short years it's been since these countries were controlled by dictators and communism! How privileged we feel to be here to empower these missionaries to reach the nationals for Christ!
We arrived "home" in Budapest about 10:30 p.m. and traveled to Eden House, the Southern Baptist Pinciune (sort of like a B & B) for the Eastern European region, where we rested for the night. Back at ICSB on Thursday morning, we tested four children and then left for the airport to fly off to Bucharest. We arrived in Bucharest about 11 p.m. and were met by the Rutherfords who packed us in their van and took us to an apartment in the heart of the city where we stayed with two young women missionaries. We were met at 7:15 the next morning by our Romanian driver - a delightful Christian man - who took us to the school. Mr. Daniel was very friendly and helped us out by picking us up and delivering us where we needed to go - but we could not talk much as he speaks no English! We tested five children at the Bucharest Christian School (BCS) and met with their parents and teachers. But, the best experience so far, was learning that the audio Bible we had taken for them was a specific answer to their prayers! A father of one of the school secretaries had recently had surgery. He is diabetic and needed to have several toes amputated. The school teachers were praying for him and several men from the secretary's church went to visit him in the hospital. He was touched by their prayers and the visit. In fact, he accepted Christ as his Savior as a direct result of those prayers and that visit. He expressed an interest in reading and learning more about Christ. Because of his blindness from the diabetes, he cannot read (with his eyes). The secretary and her friends at BCS began to pray for a way for him to read the Bible. When we gave the audio copy of the Romanian New Testament to the director of the school she took it directly to the secretary and teachers and they wept! They later told us this story and we cried with them! God is SO good!!!
We finished our testing and meetings with the parents and teachers and had a fun afternoon of walking through the city and shopping and sight-seeing in Bucharest. We walked through the city to the Peasant Museum - an outdoor exhibit of the types of peasant houses from all over Romania. It's like a little village - with the folks dressed in costume. As we walked, we were struck by the remarkable differences between Bucharest, Budapest, and Prague. Bucharest is a graphic picture of life under communism. However, it's changing each day and becoming more "colorful" and free. In fact, while we were in Bucharest they held an election and elected a new president!
We ate dinner and returned to our apartment where we rested till 3:30 a.m. when we left for the airport to travel back to Budapest (BP). We worshiped with the Danube International Church in BP later Sunday morning. It was great to worship with believers (many of whom are missionaries) in this great country! We rested for the afternoon - our first real opportunity to slow down since we've been here! We reflected on the busyness of our time here so far and believe it to be a direct answer to our prayers. Our schedule has been so busy we've had no choice but to lean on Him - we've been so exhausted we could do nothing else. We are grateful to Him for this very real answer to prayer - we've asked that He help us to totally empty ourselves and be purely channels of His love and mercy to these families. We believe our busyness has really helped us to "be empty" and to tank up on Him.
This morning we will begin testing in BP again. We're rested and excited about what God has in store for us. This has been an amazing trip so far. The team has bonded well and we are so grateful to God for the lessons He's teaching us. See you soon! Cheryl for the team
Germany (Military)
On Saturday (5/19) the team helped the missionaries with whom we are staying with a few apartment projects. They plan to move back to the States in August, about a month after their first baby is born, so the team helped them pack some things up. They were great workers.
That night we went to a farewell barbecue for the people who attend the Darmstadt chapel and will soon be moving. It was our first opportunity to meet some of the youth group. It was fun interacting with the students. One girl's family will move to Ohio later this week. She's looking into colleges and we all suggested that she visit Cedarville!
Sunday was our busiest day yet. We went to chapel in Wiesbaden and met the family who runs the youth group there. After chapel we attended a picnic for the youth and their parents. Faith was in charge of games and did a great job. The parents and students all seemed to have a great time together. That evening we ran youth group at Darmstadt with the high school kids. Faith was in charge of games again. Courtney and Andy taught the lesson. They spoke about the purpose of dating and the importance of dating a believer. Their messages were well-received by the kids. The evening was a great opportunity for each of us to chat with small groups of students and get to know them a little better. They all have unique stories about where they've been.
Today we met with the guys and girls during their lunch hour at school. Only a couple of girls came, so it was good to talk in depth with them. Then, we had the middle school youth group at Darmstadt. Daniel and Becky gave their testimonies.
Tomorrow we will go to Ramstein for both their senior and junior high youth groups. On Wednesday we pack up all of our things and go back to Wiesbaden to attend their youth group and spend the night with the family who leads it. We will then head to the Malachi Staff Conference on Thursday to do childcare for the staff member's children for the rest of our stay in Germany.
Thanks, everyone, for your prayers. We appreciate it a ton! We are all having a great time here. Have a great night! Brooke
5/23 ... Tonight we left AJ and Anna's apartment where we had been staying for all but one night of our trip thus far. Knowing the sap that I tend to be, most of you won't be surprised to hear that I was really sad to leave their place. Tonight the group split up into three groups. Courtney and I are staying with Jim and Rachel Turnage, the high school youth Malachi leaders in Wiesbaden. They have three adorable young children. They also have a very neat apartment... Rachel's favorite color is orange and the apartment represents that. I LOVE it!
Tonight was our last night of working with youth groups. Each team member will take home with them different stories of how they ministered to the students and one-on-one conversations they were able to have with them. I have continued to love the team's "divide and conquer" method of interacting with the teens. I have loved seeing each of them surrounded by groups of teens.
In the past few days I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the full-time missionaries in the area. It has been such an encouragement to me to learn about the lives of people my age who are serving God whole-heartedly through working with the military kids. They are passionate about this ministry and that passion has definitely rubbed off on me.
This may be the last e-mail I am able to send out. We leave bright and early to go to an amusement park with the full-time missionaries. (It's a rough life!) After that, we will be very busy with child care for the missionaries' children for the rest of our time here.
We have a long drive tomorrow. Please pray for our safety. Please also pray that we'll be an encouragement to the missionaries this weekend. Love to all! Brooke
Also please remember to pray for these other teams serving: Bangladesh, Togo, Bethesda, Liberia and Peru.
Posted: May 18, 2007
Two teams are back: Mexico (men's soccer) and Dominican Republic (women's softball) returned safely with great reports!
Bangladesh (nursing) & Togo (nursing)
Have arrived and are serving in the mission hospitals.
Bethesda I
arrived 5/17: "Just letting you all know we made it safe and sound! All luggage made it too! Today was a full day of orientation and taking a tour of the area! Thanks for praying!! I'll be keeping you posted of everything going on!" ~Becky
Germany
Just a quick note to let you know we're here! Our flight out of Columbus was delayed a little bit yesterday after we got on the plane, but not enough to cause any trouble with making our flight out of Detroit. We got in at around 7:30 this morning (5/17 Germany time) and have been running, running, running all day seeing lots of fun sites! We just got back to the apartment and it's 8:15 pm. We are tired, but it was a great day. Our host missionaries - AJ and Anna Johnson - are fabulous. More soon.... Brooke
Liberia
Left yesterday Thurs 5/17 and will arrive in the next few hours.
Spain
Please see their entries @ http://www.xanga.com/spainbound2007
A sampling and prayer request:
Day 2: (Missionary host) Steve made a presentation about the culture and religious background of Spain at the church. The presentation was really interesting and we were really shocked to see that Spain is considered the third most lost country in the world in regards to Christianity. Religious freedom has only been present in Spain for 25 years. There are 7500 cities without a single known Christian. For lunch, Steve dropped us off at the grocery store with a huge list of groceries and we basically had to find our way around the store on our own. Groceries in hand, we walked back to the church and ate bocadillos (sandwiches), white asparagus, chips, strawberries, flan, salad, cheese, cookies, and some sort of enchilada/quiche/tuna...stuff (we don't really know...but it was good).
Day 4: Half of our team has gotten a little sick and we could really use your prayers for sleep, health, and strength! Five people had sore throats and congestion yesterday and our team leader, Aaron, has been especially sick. He had an adventurous trip to the Spanish doctor yesterday and found out that he has a virus so he has been resting a lot.
Although the last couple days have brought unforeseen challenges our way, our prayer has been that God will use us in whatever way to bring Him the most glory... sickness and all.... and He is definitely at work here in Ubeda!
We are about to leave to visit a local nursing home, but I will finish my update about yesterday when we return. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!! To be continued... (on the blog site)
Thank you so much for praying!
Posted: May 11, 2007
Mexico (Men's soccer)
We all arrived safely in Mexico after a very early morning. We were able to meet Bernardo, the missionary, and spend the afternoon and evening with him.
Some quick prayer requests we have would be...
- Energy for the players as they run camps, interact with kids, and play in a match tomorrow (also with this high altitude, they will be affected physically).
- Expenses (we are a little nervous after seeing the prices of everything today)
- Safety in travel
- That our first day will go smoothly as this is going to be our first day.
- Lastly, that we will glorify God with our words and actions and that the people will see Him through us.
Thank you, and we hope to get you an update daily with our day's escapades and new, up to date prayer requests.
Day 2: The day started early with breakfast at 7 in the morning. We met at the lobby ready to leave at 8. Our plan was to travel to an elementary school about an hour away to run a clinic. God had different plans. Where we were originally going to travel, there were some protests of us coming. A professional referee, the contact there, who set everything up for us, including the clinic and the match later that day, was pressured very hard by the people of the town. There is a very strong catholic influence there, and they did not want him bringing Christians there. They even wanted him thrown in jail. So, he didn't feel comfortable bringing us into that atmosphere. So, we had to change plans. We traveled to UNAM, the biggest university in the world, with over 250,000 students. It was pretty cool, because we got to see the Olympic Stadium there, though we weren't able to go inside. We started playing a little bit in a big grass area in the center of campus. Trying to get used to the thin air and high altitude; we were out of breath very quickly. Fairly soon, there was a group of guys wanting to play with us. So we set up goals with cones and played six on six for a while with these guys. It was a lot of fun, and afterwards we were able to talk with them for quite a while. Hugh was able to share the gospel in Spanish to them using our power ball (different colors to walk through the plan of salvation). We were also able to introduce Bernardo to them so he was able to make good contact with them. Then we practiced our clinics along with a skit that we hope to do sometime at the clinics.
After all this, we went into one of the cafeterias at the school for lunch. We ate there and then loaded up in the vans again. Oh yes, the vans...usually we have three vans, but today we only had two. So we packed about ten kids in each van, one of the vans probably had closer to 13 or 14 people. Thankfully, the guys have been very flexible and happy the whole time. So we got back to the hotel about 6.30. Bernardo shared with us his mission in Mexico City along with his testimony. Then the rest of the night we get to rest, eat pizza, make some more bracelets, and hang out. Our day didn't go as planned, but thankfully we were able to connect with some kids at the university and plant a seed.
Please keep praying for...
- Energy, we are all exhausted even after a "lighter day"
- Bernardo and his family for babysitting us every day
- Our plans for tomorrow (travel to a Christian school, give testimonies and run a clinic with them and hopefully play a match verse a local university team in the evening)
Thank you for your prayers. God Bless.
Day 3: Our day started at 7.30 when we met for breakfast again at the hotel. We left the hotel at 8.30 to head to a Christian school in the city. We ran three clinics, that morning. 3rd and 4th graders, then 5th and 6th graders, and then 1st and 2nd graders. It was very exciting because all the students there are learning English, and the older kids could speak pretty well, and could understand us when we spoke English. Our clinics consisted of some small passing drills (heading, volleying, etc.). Then we did some small relay games, and then we finished by playing a game of all the little kids versus our team. The kids loved it, and loved us hanging out with them. They were constantly giving us hugs and wanting to interact with us. That was a great time for all of us guys.
After we did the three clinics, we had another great opportunity. We split up into groups of two or three and were able to go to different classrooms for an entire hour. We were able to share our testimonies and just talk to them. We played a lot of small games like hangman, heads up 7 up, pictionary, and some others. DJ and Ryan Lustig were the heart throb for all the little girls.
We traveled back to UNAM. Everyone liked how yesterday went, so we thought we'd do something similar. We went to a different part of campus and just started playing pick up soccer amongst ourselves. After a while some other guys came and joined and played with us. A few of us even played basketball with a few of the students at the university. So it was good to interact with them, and we were able to tell them who we were and why we were there and even pass out some papers that had our team picture and some testimonies on it. So things went well there.
Prayer requests...
- Energy....we were again exhausted, and we didn't even play a match. So tomorrow we will need tons of energy.
- That we will connect well with the high school kids, and since they speak English, hopefully we can have some very meaningful conversations.
Thank you for your prayers, God bless. :)
Day 4: First, an update on Tyler, Kyle, and Steve (the sick kids). They went to the clinic with us this morning, but when we got back from that, they were feeling very bad, so we let them sleep through the afternoon while we went to the game. They seem to have improved somewhat, but still are not feeling well at all. Please, please, please pray for them.
Ok, for today's stories...we left this morning at 8.30 to go to a public school to run a clinic. On the way, Bernardo shared something very interesting with us. It was Mother's Day here in Mexico today (happy Mother's Day to all) and there wasn't even school that day, but all these kids were coming anyway simply because of us. That was pretty cool to hear. I'd guess there were about 150 kids, junior high age approximately. We ran through our clinic and had a great time interacting with them. They loved the time we were giving them and the teachers were very grateful too. We were restricted somewhat on what we were able to say to them, so Bernardo sort of edited what we had to say. But we passed out the wordless bracelets and were able to explain those for the most part.
From the clinic, we drove back to the hotel and got the stuff for our game, and grabbed some fruit and granola bars for lunch. This is the time we decided our sick kids needed to rest rather than travel, so we got a little behind schedule taking care of them and getting ready to go. We traveled from the hotel to where our next clinic was going to be, but due to the late start and awful traffic we were a bit late, and were unable to run a clinic. But Ryan Lustig and Tim Cox were able to talk to two professors for a few minutes, so that was very good. We then traveled to our game, which was just down the road.
We are driving down the road and someone jokingly points up ahead at a completely deserted dirt field with two goals on it and says "here we go boys!" we all laugh a little bit, that is until Bernardo starts pulling over, parks, and gets out of the van. We really were playing on a dirt field, not a blade of grass. Though no grass was present, there was more than enough glass. Just everywhere, broken glass. Just before game time a guy ran around the field with a chalk shaker and marked the field. What an experience for all of us. The two teams we played were kids from a rehabilitation center. We won the first game (20 minutes) 2-0. and the second we tied 1-1. Jason Heuer scored both goals the first game, and Gelser scored in the second game. After the game, we presented them a ball (with the colors on them). Jason Heuer gave his testimony, which is a great testimony for those kids. They were all very attentive and loved that we came. They didn't want us to leave afterwards and many talked to Bernardo also after the game. We were able to pass out tracts to all of them and some T-shirts.
Prayer requests...
- Tyler, Kyle, and Steve
- Our three clinics tomorrow, all at public schools.
- Our game tomorrow night is against a group of coaches, and this is a great contact opportunity for Bernardo and his ministry.
- Energy, tomorrow is probably our toughest day of the trip because it's so packed.
Thank you for your prayers, as they are much needed.
Hungary (Special Ed)
We all safely arrived in Budapest this afternoon. Bonnie and Martha missed their connection in Amsterdam, but were able to get on the next flight - which was ours! We all four arrived together. Unfortunately we couldn't let the folks here know that Bonnie and Martha would be late, but it worked out fine!
We will test some children tomorrow at ICSB and then leave on Sunday for Prague. We're all exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep. Then we're ready to begin the job we came to do tomorrow! Thanks again for this opportunity - it's so exciting to serve the Lord in this way! I love it! - Cheryl
Dominican Republic (Women's Softball)
They are there and ministering with Score International. The website should list out team eventually ... www.scoreinternational.org/trip-updates
Teams just departing: Bangladesh (nursing), Togo (nursing), Spain leaves Sat 5/12, Bethesda I leaves Tues 5/15, Germany leaves Weds 5/16, and Liberia leaves Thurs 5/17. Thank you for praying!
