Break on Through

Two years ago I met a pastor from southern Serbia, his name is Sasha. We met at an NLI pastors' conference in Belgrade. He was there as an attendee, I was there as a photographer. Having an American in the midst of about 40 Serbians,and a half-dozen Canadians, was a bit of a novelty. So as the week progressed I had many opportunities to chat with pastors from all over Serbia.
Sasha had just started a new church at that time and was eager to share their story. He had faith, high hopes, and an unwavering dedication to following God's instruction.
Two years later I happen to run into Sasha again, this time in Poland. His wife was home with a cold, so we "adopted" him for the week. Over Polish Pizza and Cokes we had time to hear more about his now not so new church in Kraljevo. At the end of the week we made sure to exchange contact info and the made the all so typical promise to keep in touch. Oddly enough, we have kept that promise.
I received an email from Sasha just today, and in it he shared a short update on their Christmas service. I'd like to share in with you...He also included the images you see in this message.

Dear Paul & Mary,
Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. I am sure things are getting back to normal now.
Christmas in Kraljevo went very well. We had a wonderful service on our Christmas eve (6. January) in our church. The church was packed with people. We had to take all the chairs out and people were standing throughout all the service. Many, who were not able to come inside because of no space, were standing in our garden. Altogether we had 140 - 150 present and all these are people we have contact and are working with. Our children did a fantastic nativity play and I preached a simple and clear message about the real meaning of Christmas entitled "The birth of Jesus - our Saviour and friend". I am sending you a few pictures so you can see.
Wishing you every blessing,
Sasha
Now 140-150 people at a Christmas Service may not sound like much to you, and the "bathrobes and beards" certainly are nothing new in the arena of kid's nativity productions. But you need to know the rest of the story.....Sasha's church plant is one of the few in that region of the country. The population has a large Turkish presence, and there is a very strong Muslim influence on the culture. Those two factors alone have kept most Christians in the shadows. Add to that the mindset that many of the citizens consider Christianity a cult, and are openly violent towards them, you get the idea that only a lunatic would start a church in this environment. Oh...I almost forgot....Sasha has had death threats made against him, his wife, and children. He has had his car vandalized....and about a year and a half ago his church was firebombed. Yes, firebombed.
It is in this repressive atmosphere that these 140-150 saints gathered to praise the birth of Jesus. Despite social pressure, physical danger, and what sound like almost insurmountable odds....this church is alive and thriving. This story is just one of hundreds that could be told about the great works taking place throughout Europe. Sasha is just one out of hundreds of pastors being trained and helped through NLI's short-term missions teams. We are ready to join the adventure with Sasha and his brethren....you can come too.

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(Factoid: It is estimated that over 300,000 new churches are needed to win Europe back to Christ.)

Learn more about how you can make this a reality...

http://www.going4the1.com/

In Your Eyes

How do you view the importance of missionary work? How do you view the impact of short term mission trips? In this day and age when perception outweighs reality, here is what stm's can really do....

It's easy to accuse Short Term Mission teams of being one-hit wonders! They 'hit' a location for 10 days and then return home, never to be seen again. This is not the case with NLI mission teams. Fledgling churches being strategically planted across Europe are partnered with churches able to support them with teams, trainers, and finance. Many of these partner churches send teams year after year. This faithfulness is very much appreciated and helps build strong relationships between the two churches. Each year the teams can build on what they did the previous year, thus ensuring ongoing growth and impact. One-hit wonders? No way!

In August 2007, Cheryl and Ed returned to Tarascha (Ukraine) the church plant Cheryl had visited as part of a Canadian mission team in 2006. "When our team of 10 went to Tarascha in May 2006 little did we know the bonds that God would begin to form not only in the hearts of the Canadians that responded to the call, but also what God had done in the hearts of the people of Tarascha.

Last year we were very much impacted by what God was doing between our worlds and by specific people that we met. However, we did not realize that God would continue to grow His love in our hearts for one another after our departure. He opened doors that were otherwise closed. Some of these have remained open and continue to open wider as the Spirit of God continues to move.

Our mission to Tarascha was just as significant for the church in Vegreville. Not only does a team go, the whole church goes! That is what God has called us to do. We each have a role to play in the Mission field and realize that when we walk through the doors of our local church, we have just entered the mission field. This is the challenge God has brought to our church in Vegreville. At this moment in time, Tarascha is our calling."

Knockin' on Heaven's Door

In the midst of our trip to Poland we had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz. In a short two hours we were overwhelmed with the history and inhumanity of this place. I don't know if we will ever fully comprehend the scope of this tragic piece of history.

The picture in this post is of the lock placed on the door to one of the gas chambers. And as part of the tour we were able to walk into this very place where countless thousands died as poisonous gas was pumped into the room. I will never forget the chill that ran up and down my spine as we crossed the threshold. The only comfort was in the knowledge we could walk out whenever we wished.

The stories of the torture, the images of families being separated into lines...one line meant hard labour and worse, the other meant almost immediate death, the artifacts on display....thousands of shoes, bales of clothing, and perhaps saddest of all....remnants of infants' outfits and toys....all speaking of ultimate sadness.

One cannot visit this place without shedding tears.

We join many other in the prayer....Never again.

Back in the USSR (somewhat)

Greetings from Krakow Poland, Mary and I have been here for the last week attending NLI's EuroSummit. This is a meeting of NLI staff, their European ministry partners, and global friends, supporters, etc. We decided to make the investment for the trip to get "the big picture" about what NLI is doing across the continent. Needless to say we are more excited about our future adventure than ever.

Over the course of the past 6 days we not only had a chance to observe the local culture, experience the cuisine, and walk down some very historic streets....we also had ample opportunity to chat with many of the other conference delegates. Each conversation exposed a new facet, opened a new door, into a fascinating world. There were delegates from Serbia, Estonia, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, UK, Australia, USA, Canada, Bulgaria, Romania and a few I probably forgot. We were amazed over and over again at the great works of God in action through these wonderful people.

As the week wind downs and we head home (tomorrow) we come home with new dreams, inspired spirits, and one more affirmation we are doing the right thing.

Close to the Edge

We have officially set our departure date: January 06 2009. This time of year has had a significance throughout our lives together. We met in early January 1976. We wed in early January 1979. In fact our departure date is our 30th wedding anniversary. What better date to begin our newest lives together?
Now that may seem a long way off but we are already laying the foundation. In the next week or so we will be unveiling our new website (special thanks to our great friend and web design guru Jason Hoag).
Also in the next week we head to Poland for a week. NLI is hosting their annual EuroSummit Conference in Krakow. This gathering brings all of NLI's staff together with their numerous multi-national ministry partners. So, in one visit we get to meet all of our soon to be new co-workers and countless pastors, missionaries, and others who will also be an important part of our new lives. This trip will be another glimpse into what the future holds. We feel like little kids waiting for Christmas to come.
There is still much to do...and we will keep you posted.
Thank you for your prayers and support.

Heavy Fuel

Someone recently asked me how our plans were coming along and my reply just rolled off my tongue. No forethought, no pause to determine the best way to sum up our current status.

Today's sermon at church reinforced my answer with such strength and clarity that I now know my response was spot on true...and biblical.
Pastor Nathan referred to the Exodus and how the Jews lost their chance at the Promised Land due to their lack of faith. Of all the nation of Israel that escaped from slavery in Egypt, only two men crossed the Jordan River....Joshua and Caleb. Interestingly enough, 40 years earlier,they were the only two who had encouraged the people to follow God's instruction to possess the land, tho' it seemed fraught with peril.

Here we are thousands of years later, but nonetheless, we all face that moment we can choose the promise based on God's Word, or be scared by the "giants in the land."
Mary and I know we face some challenges in the months ahead as we make arrangements to move, and we certainly understand we face bigger and totally unfamiliar problems once we are in Europe. We cannot give in to fear and uncertainty. We can trust a loving, unfailing Heavenly Father.
Oh...my response to my friend's query...."We're running on faith, but we're not running alone."

Penny Lane

Hello world...please welcome us in introducing the newest addition to our family.... Penny Lane.

Penny is our third grand daughter in a series of extremely cute girls. Mother and baby (and dad) are all doing well.

To quote our daughter Aileen (aka new mom)...

Having a family is nice.
Mary and I look forward to seeing Penny in September.