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.

 

Praises, Updates, and More

 The school year finished a week ago with college graduation. The last few months have flown by. Preparations for my trip, cleaning out my room and storing everything have taken a lot of that time.

My nephew JJ had heart  surgery on April 14. The surgery went well, but unknown to us at home, Joel did not come off the bypass easily and had a couple scares with that. His recovery has been slower than expected but steady. JJ had a couple scares with some internal bleeding and a pinched off vein during the first week which both turned out to be simple fixes. Once he was stabilized from those, his chest was sewn closed. He remained sedated and intubated until  May 6 when they began to wean his sedation meds. Over the last few weeks, JJ has progressed to where he is now on a nasal canula (cpap at night). He is able to talk a bit more which took awhile due the length of time he was sedated which causes the vocal chords to become weak. JJ has been doing physical therapy for about two weeks. He is beginning to get more interest in regaining his physical abilities. Some days it has been a struggle because he gets tired easily. He has been allowed to feed himself ice chips and some very soft foods. JJ still has 3-4 weeks to remain in Bsoton. Please pray that he continues to progress quickly as he is allowed to eat more solid foods. Pray for Andy as there have been many difficult days and nights for him. During the last few days when JJ was allowed to begin having ice chips, JJ didn't understand that his tummy is too small to eat a lot at a time, and he has had some issues from that as well as from withdrawals from the various sedation and pain meds. 

JJs mom, Julie, remained in Iowa with their other six kids. Baby #8 is due any day. Please pray that all goes well with the rest of the pregnancy and delivery. Please pray that Julie's kids continue to do well even though daddy is not around to help with their needs. 

My friend Gail and I leave for England on June 1. I am praying that the baby arrives before that day. Please pray for Gail's and my safety, and pray that we will be a blessing to all those we will be serving. I now have missionaries to help lined up through the end of the year. I will be in England, Macedonia, back in England, Poland, and Tanzania. I will return to England for Christmas, and I may spend some time with my cousin who is a missionary in Scotland. I already have a scheduled trip to Nigeria next August, so I will be looking for missionaries to help to fill in the time between January and the time I arrive in Nigeria. Please pray that God will open the doors He wants me to go through and close the ones He doesn't.

 I am still trying to raise my support level from $300 a month to $1000 a month which will allow me to travel on a more continuous basis. Please pray that God will open the hearts of pastors and churches to take me on for support. 

My mom's health has been difficult since her heart attack last year. On May 7, one year and one month from the day she had the heart attack, she had another heart cath and had two new stints put in. Please pray that she can find some natural heart doctors who can help her come off some of the meds which I believe a re major contributor to her ongoing  issues. Please continue to pray that her hip muscles will continue to heal. She has now been five years with the torn muscles. 

Please pray as my parents continue to follow God's leading for their future. Dad is still pastoring in Maine, and the Hatian service they started is going well. Please pray that Maine will get a good governor and that many changes for better economics, integrity, and protections for families and churches will be implemented.

I am excited for what God has in store for me. He has taught me a lot in the last two years. some lessons were difficult and revealed the humanity of people I trusted. Others opened the door for healing in my own life and in my family's life. The unspoken request I had for five years was answered when  I was able to meet with my sister and brother-in-law when I was home for spring break. I learned how to fast and pray a bit more for things that I knew I could not fix or when I needed God to come through with major answers  for the problems I was dealing with, or for miracles of healing, protection... I wish everyone could learn what I have learned about spiritual warfare when dealing with everyday conflicts. It doesn't matter how old in Christ you get, there is always so much more to learn about life, from Scripture, from receiving counsel... I am so thankful for the godly friendships I developed with 8 women who pray with me and for me.

April Showers and Crazy Busy Days

 Wow! Another month gone! It's now crunch time as I wait hopeful that my sister's baby will be born before I leave the country on June 1 . This will be baby 8. Her 4 year old son JJ had his third open heart surgery on April 7. I spent a couple days with her as we waited to see how he would do..she stayed in Iowa with her other six kids while her husband flew with JJ to Boston. After a lot of ups and downs, JJ is doing pretty well. Today he tried to lead singing when his siblings sang Jesus loves me to him. He still has a long road of recovery, so please keep her m.ams his family in prayer.

We had our spiritual warfare conference in April, and it was a blessing. Going through the difficult time of JJs surgery right in theidsle.of it caused me to not be present in a few sessions, but I caught them on the live stream. The last six months were pretty rough, and during that time, including the conference, every sermon, song service, special has been exactly what I needed.

 Last year during the conference,my mom had a heart attack. She found out recently that the same area of her heart is not working, so she has a heart cath on May 7. Please pray her heart and her torn hip muscles will just be healed and she won't have to deal with the chronic pain she has been in four five years now.

I was able to take a few singles whom I have invested in personally to a singles conference in Indiana. For me, most of the sermon were a validation of what my life has been as a single lady simply serving the Lord. The main emphasis was for young people to find a purpose, serve others, and wait on God's timing. Please pray that those who went will realize their potential to be used by God.

I leave June 1 for England. I now have missionaries waiting for me in Macedonia, Poland, England, Scotland, Tanzania, and Nigeria. I have made contact with a few other missionaries, and hope to plan those trips soon. Please pray that God will raise my monthly support to $1000. This will.allow me to travel for longer periods of time.

I finished working with my foster care clients. I was able to witness to.a.couple.md talked with some others about church. One client met withy pastor and trusted Christ. Her name is Jackie..she has many things to overcome; please.pray that she can get remote counseling set up.

Please pray for the college here and the students as they finish the semester. 

Please pray that God will open the doors for two young ladies to meet me in some countries while I am traveling. One has a lot of struggles, and the other isn't sure if she is called to missions, but wants to do a trip.

I have learned much in my time here at Harvest Baptist Church Fort Dodge. I pray God will allowe.to use what I have learned to help others as travel.

Updates

 The unspoken I have mentioned often was answered when I went home to Maine. Praising God that after 5 years, I have been able to speak with my brother-in-law and sister. Lots of prayer and fasting went into those 5 years. In the last year, I have seen God working so many miracles in my life even with some extreme trials I have had to go through.

Missions 

I will now be working with four missionaries this year. Debra Smith and Southshore Baptist in Blackpool, England, Daniel Solt in Preston, England, Jason Mann in Macedonia, and Paul Sock in Poland.

Most of my room is now packed up. I have sold my loft bed. I need to sell a desk and get all my stuff put in storage. I'm thankful for a friend who is willing to let me store in her attic for the time being.

Please pray for some very important meetings I will have in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, these will end some major issues and close th door on them. Please pray for our college students. The attitude among them has changed drastically due to an influence that is pulling them down. Pray that God will remove the influence or correct it. Please pray for the Spiritual Warfare Conf. April12-15. Satan always stirs up trouble in the weeks leading up to this, and several families are feeling the warfare heavily right now.