Macedonia Week 1 is in the books!

 I finished up the first three weeks in England by visiting with Bro. Dave Solt in Preston England. He has a church that has a great group of believers attending. Some are from Pakistan. I was able to chat with some of these families, and I spoke with several of the teen girls. They are very sweet.

I shared my missions ministry in the morning service then taught the teen girls Sunday school. I was told later that because of what I shared, some of the girls made some important decisions in their lives. In the evening service, I shared my personal testimony.  It was great to visit with the Solts whom I heard about for many years, and it was wonderful to see one of their sons serving with them. I will be returning to England to help with VBS at the Solt's church.

Wow! It has been a whirlwind first week in Macedonia. My friend Hallie, one of the college girls I worked with this last year, joined me for this trip. This is the fourth person I have been able to bring with me to show them what I do and let them get a taste for missions. 

Bro. Jason Mann has taken the time to show us his burden and vision for this tiny country. Yes, tiny! The whole country has only 2,000,000 people. That is the size of many cities in the US. Winning people to Christ is not easy. Macedonia's main people groups are Macedonians who are Eastern Orthodox in religion and Albanians who are Muslim by religion. They do not separate their religion from the national affiliation. It is very much apart of them. Winning people to Christ is not quick or easy. It takes much time in building relationships to have the opportunity to share the Gospel. The people here are searching for meaningful relationships. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to witness to several people. Please pray for Vera, Robert (robear), Christian, Lindita (Muslim), Halidee (Muslim), and Alexandra. I have handed out many tracts as well. Thousands of tracts are going out. Please pray that there will be fruit that comes from those tracts. 

 Hallie and I have helped in English classes, cleaned and now we are sprucing up the Center, which is a gathering place for  Bible study, church, English classes, game nights, and any other events that we think will help bring people to us so that we can witness. Because they are looking for community, inviting them to various events allows us to build relationships and eventually present the Gospel. Hallie and I have painted, I mudded and sanded drywall. 

Yesterday, the Manns, Katie Jane (another single missionary to Macedonia), Hallie and I along with a Roma (gypsy) man went to help a national Macedonian man who is building a retreat and conference center for Christians in Macedonia and Europe. We cleaned and moved various things around to make room for  more work to be done. Katie Jane and I waterproofed some boards for a porch. The location is beside a beautiful mountain river. After we finished, Hallie and I headed to the river to cool off. I lasted about a minute with just my feet in the water. It was so cold! 

The  needs for the ministry in Macedonia are laborers and finances. The Manns have had issues with paperwork, and are requesting prayer that they can get long-term visas as they are having to leave the country every three months and stay out for long periods before being allowed to return. If things continue to be this way, they need people who can fill in the gaps when they are gone. In this nation of 2,000,000 there are only a little over 1,000 believers. It takes an average of seven times for someone to hear and receive the Gospel. 

In other news, my nephew Joel continues to recover from his second heart surgery in the last three months. He is still in Boston, and today, Andy and Julie will talk with the doctors about plans for a transfer of care to Iowa City so that he will be near home and be able to have mom, dad, and siblings around. He has had a few scares since the second surgery, but everything  continues to get fixed so healing can continue.

Please continue to pray that God will bring more people into my path for me to help starting in February of next year. Please also pray that God will open doors for my support level to rise to $1000/mo.  

 

 

England!

 I am praising the Lord for a safe journey to England. It was a long two days of travel for my friend Gail and I. We were exhausted, but slept very well and woke up ready to begin getting settled for the next two weeks with a little shopping and a drive by the ocean. We came to be a blessing to my Aunt Debra who has served in England, her homeland, for over 40 years. We were able to join in with the new church, South Shore Baptist, and we sang a special. We joined in the ukulele singalong  time after church. Please pray for the church to find someone to come take the pastorate full time. The man who currently preaches is not able to make this a permanent position.

Gail and I were able to join in with several ukulele outreach groups during the two weeks she was in England.  We also joined in with a knitting club outreach. We visited Samlesbury (Psalmsbury) Hall and enjoyed English teacakes which are basically buns with raisins.  We visited Blackpool Tower which was designed by the same man who created the Eiffel Tower. We traveled to Gretna Green Scotland which is the place where English couples would elope to be married without parental consent. In those days, the blacksmith would perform the ceremony. We drove back through the Cumbrian Mountains which had some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen in England. We also saw Highland Cows and of course lots of sheep. On another day, we had afternoon tea at Lytham Hall. This was a fun experience and the house and grounds were beautiful. We had an adventure when we decided to travel to the moors not knowing the road through the upper moors was closed. We did have a beautiful drive as we tried to navigate through the area. On a visit to Liverpool, we saw the Adelphi hotel which was the overnight stay for those traveling on the Titanic. We had fish and chips, and then walked to the Royal Albert Docks to buy souvenirs. We rode an old carousel as well. Our last adventure was to Haworth, the hometown of the Brontes who wrote stories like Wuthering Heights. We bought a few souvenirs, had a delicious ploughmans lunch, and took in the beauty of the lakes district. During all of our adventures, we were able to pass out gospel flyers and talk with a few people about Jesus. On Gail's last day, we passed out about 50 church invites in the neighborhood. Please pray that each seed planted will bring forth fruit.

I now have my trips scheduled for the rest of this year. I will be speaking at Bro. Dave Solt's church in Preston England Sunday, June 21 where I will share my testimony, speak to the teen girls, and share my ministry. On Monday, June 22 I fly to Macedonia where I will be met by one of the college girls I worked with in Iowa. I will be in Macedonia for a month. I will return to England at the end of July to help with VBS at the Solt's in Preston, and then I will travel by train on a two day trip to join the Socks in Poland for almost three months. From Poland, I will fly to Tanzania to take the place of Rachel and Jerry Wyatt Teaching English for about a month. I will return to Poland and travel back to England to spend Christmas with my aunt and her family. 

The trips to Macedonia and Tanzania have been a bit more expensive due to accommodation needs and airline costs being high due to the Iran war. Less expensive flights flew through areas and had layovers in nations that might have been closed if the war escalated. Please pray that God will open the hearts of pastors to take me on for support. I am still praying that God will allow my support level to go to $1000 per month in order to travel more frequently and help more families.

My nephew Joel had a second open heart surgery. He is recuperating better than he did with first one. They have already stopped his paralytics, and he has been able to respond to commands of moving his toes and nodding his head. They did find that he had a case of MRSA in his chest. They would not have found this had they not done the second surgery. They are treating him with strong antibiotics. Before his surgery, they finally determined his eating issues, and hopefully, once the lift his sedation, he will be able to eat regular foods. He does have some jaundice due to being on liquid feeding for so long, so pray that his liver function will improve. God has done many miracles, and we are expecting Him to continue to do so because of the prayers of those who have joined in this battle with us.

Please pray that God will give me opportunities to witness to people who speak English. Sometimes it is hard to feel productive with the Gospel when I cannot speak the language. Please pray for safety as I travel, that there are no delays, and that I can truly be a blessing to each family I travel to help.