Habitat for Missionaries

There is an exciting opportunity on the horizon which will help me and my support raising endeavors. I have been selected as a missionary candidate to work with an organization called Habitat for Missionaries. Habitat for Missionaries partners with local churches to rehab, and sell houses. When the house is complete (and sells) the missionary, in this case me, receives 100% of the profit. This project could potentially put me over the top and complete my support raising!! :-D

It is definitely a big project, but I am so thankful that God has provided this opportunity. Tomorrow I will be doing a walk through of the house and will have a better idea of what exactly needs to be done. We are hoping to flip the house in 52 days and put it on the market early June. 

This project is a great way to be involved with my mission and use your skills to serve the Lord hands on. If anyone is interested in volunteering your time and skills to work on this house, if you or anyone you know is interested in starter home, or if you have any other questions, please email me. Or for those of you who attend EHWC, there will be a chance for you to sign up after each service.  I will also be posting updates here on my blog throughout the project. 

My final request is that you pray along side of me as we ask Jesus to take leadership of this project. I truly believe that if it's bathed in prayer it will be a success. For detailed prayer suggestions please join my prayer team to receive my monthly prayer newsletter (enter your email in the box to the left of this post.)

Disconnecting to Connect

Social Media might as well be my middle name. I get excited when I learn about new programs online. I love the internet. I love facebook. I love twitter. I think they're all great tools for communication, sharing information, and in short make life a lot easier. I think they're all very beneficial and define our society today. They are part of my "deep culture" (an AmeriCorps term, meaning they make me who I am) - I have "grown-up" with these resources and I can't imagine life without them.

However, like all things if used too much they can become addicting, or harmful in nature. There is a fine line between the "good" and the "bad" of each of these resources. Sometimes, probably more often than not, I cross the line. I spend too much time on facebook. I get caught up in the internet and hours of un-productivity (I think I just made that word up) pass by. What do I gain from all the time I spend online? Not too much. 

So, what if I substitute the time I spend on the internet, facebook, and twitter with something that could make a difference? What if I spend the same amount of time I waste putzing around on the internet, connecting with God? What if use that time for prayer or reading my bible? Or perhaps building relationships with people in the world, not online, reading more, learning my Albanian or practicing my backgammon skills (some of the things on my to-do before Albania list.)

Last year when I came home from our mission trip to Cambodia I felt the need to disconnect from the internet - cold turkey. On the trip I was made aware that it held too high a priority in my life and needed to stop. It was an addiction. So I took a 21 day vacation from it all. My goal: draw closer to God.

As I've had a year to reflect on those 3 short weeks, I can look back and see that it was one of the times in my life I have felt the closest to God. In hindsight, I can see that we got a lot accomplished during those three weeks (some pretty significant things, might I add). Like kicking any addiction (I'd assume) it wasn't easy, I craved the internet and so desperately wanted to log on to facebook many times. But when I returned the internet and facebook didn't seem so important anymore, and initially, my interest of being online was minimal compared to what it was before the vacation.

It's amazing how clearly I was able to hear God speaking when I removed a distraction of the world. Though the internet is a great tool it often clutters my life and distracts me from what's important.

My mission this year: 40 days with limited internet and email, and no facebook or twitter. The goal: to continue grow in my relationship with God.

Sometimes you need to disconnect to connect. To refuel the relationship, and to reset priorities. As I grow with Christ and in my spiritual disciplines, I am able to cross back over the line, kick the addiction, and use social media for good.

Shunem House

Shunem House is the best place in the world! In my opinion it's even better than Disney World, can you imagine that? Mostly because of Jim and Jeanette Vermilya and their wonderful hospitality, delicious food, and humorous stories.

Shunem House is a home for missionaries who are back in the states and don't have a home. It's a place where missionaries can come to relax, and be loved on for a while.

Here is a promo video that I had a small role in creating while Katie spent countless hours finalizing. Check it out and you'll see why it is such a wonderful place to be!

Did you know? My mom appears in this video more than I do, and I'm a missionary.

Kuptoj

I reached a new milestone today: I had my first unprompted thought in Albanian. The thought may have been only one word, but still... it was in response to a conversation in English, and it came to me before the English word!

...and yes, I did feel the need to document something this exciting on the blog! ;-)

We are Global Partners

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:19-20


I am a Global Partner. 
What is your passion? You can share Jesus with the world and become a Global Partner too, even if you're not Wesleyan!

All trained...

I just returned home after spending the week in Indiana at a week-long missionary training. It was the second of two trainings required for me to complete before I can depart for Albania. I was one (and the oldest) of 5 people at the training. There with me was my Albanian partner, Katie, Lauren who is heading to Zambia and Sam and Sean who are going to Australia.  We spent the week learning about different topics such as: cross-cultural ministry, personal security and hostage survival, spiritual warfare, and many other "-ology" sessions. The days were long but the information was valuable.

We were privileged to stay at Shunem House - a home for missionaries. Let's just say we definitely weren't roughing it. Jim and Jeanette (the hosts) took good care of us. Each morning we awoke to breakfasts similar to what my mom makes only on Christmas morning. Katie and I were able to spend some extra time there to create promo-video for Shunem Ministries. It was a great time to relax and get to know each other better.

I will now recap the week with pictures.

Limos are the cheapest mode of transportation. So... we took a limo from the airport

one of the 19 rooms at Shunem

Katie, Me, Lauren, Sam and Sean

Lauren took advantage of break time!

Playing Settlers of Catan on our lunch break

The Shunammite woman serenades us with her accordion at breakfast

We made it to the wall of fame!

A friendly game of Catch Phrase (the girls won!)

Shooting the promo-video

 

our editing suite!

Sad to leave these wonderful people...

*special thanks to Katie and Sam from whom I stole these pictures ;-)

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Isn’t it kind of silly that we get presents on Christmas? I mean don’t get me wrong Christmas morning, sitting by the tree, opening presents is one of my favorite times of the year. But year after year we celebrate Jesus’ birthday by giving and getting ourselves presents. Huh?

Let’s put in the context of our birthday… Each year people celebrate, have parties and exchange gifts on our special day but we’re never included in any of the festivities, invited to the party or given any gifts. I would be crushed! … and if it repeated every year?? Yikes!

BUT thankfully we don’t have to worry about that – our birthday is our birthday.  YAY! Each year as we get older the celebration looks different, but it’s still our special day. This Christmas wouldn’t it be cool if we actually celebrated with Jesus on His birthday? Included Him in the day, give Him a present, and make Him the special guest of honor?

Get this: The best gift we can give Him, and the only thing He wants, is free! We don’t have to spend hours trying to figure out the prefect gift, spend tons of money on it or even deal with the crowds at the mall. The only thing He wants for His birthday is you. He wants to know you and have a relationship with you, His favorite child.

How? one might ask. Good question! Simply start by inviting Jesus into your life. Tell Him you want to have a relationship with Him. Talk to Him: ask Him questions, tell Him your problems and fears, tell Him everything good that’s going on, just like you would with any friend of yours. There is no right or wrong way, no special time, or day, or time of the day. This makes giving the gift even easier because all you have to do is be yourself!  Check out the bible, do research, ask questions, seek truth, go to church, the list could go on and on…

...And as your relationship grows you will see the irony in all of this is by you giving yourself as a gift to Jesus, you are actually the one receiving the gift. 

Christmas Songs

Top 5: My Favorite (under-rated) Christmas Songs

(please note: it's the song, not necessarily the video that is my favorite)

5. Carol of The Bells - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

 

4. A Baby Changes Everything - Faith Hill

3. Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) - Amy Grant

2. Joseph's Lullaby - Mercy Me

1. Mary Did You Know?

Praying Away Spiritual Warfare

"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." - Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)

Have you ever been attacked by Satan? A team of us traveled to Cambodia last February to learn more about human trafficking and what we could do in the U.S. to take a stand against it. Prior to us leaving, and then throughout the trip Satan was doing everything in his power to bring out team down - physically, emotionally and spiritually. He was very upset that we stepped into his territory to try to further the Kindgom of God!

Thankfully as Christians, we had nothing to worry about because in the end, we know that Jesus has triumphed over evil. We took confidence in knowing that with the help of the Armies of Heaven and all our faithful prayer warriors, we could overcome the obstacles that Satan was throwing at us that week.

Throughout the trip we were constantly relying on our prayer partners back home. It was through their intercession and the grace of God we all made it home safely - and we were only gone for a week!

While in Albania for two years, there is no doubt that I will need a team of faithful prayer partners who will constantly lift me, the team and my ministry in prayer. There is no possible way I can do this alone. Like in Cambodia, I will be immersed in Satan's territory and this will not make him happy.

Will you join me in prayer? Can you commit to pray for me at least once a week (note: at least) starting now? Sign up for my monthly e-prayer update in the box to the left for ideas of what to pray for.

Giving and Getting

 "Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything." - 2 Corinthians 6:10

This summer I was blessed to spend a week in Haiti on a mission trip with a team of wonderful people from my church. Sometimes I feel the mindset with mission trips are that we (Americans) are going to a country to help them, and to to give them stuff. And we did. We had 20 suitcases filled with all sorts of donations: clothes, formula, medical and teaching supplies, games, arts and crafts and a small monetary donation. You can't argue the fact that we didn't give while we were there.

One night towards the end of the week we were privileged to have a Haitian woman sing "Give Thanks" in Creole to us. It was a beautiful, incredibly humbling experience, and part of the trip the team will remember forever. Since the earthquake the whole country has been through so much loss and suffering, pain and heartache- I can't even imagine what it must be like. Most of the country doesn't have the basic necessities that we as Americans take for granted everyday like a roof over their head, food to eat, and a clean supply of water. Yet they know the secret to life, and because of this, they as a country are far "richer" than America. They don't use medicine to cope with their depression, they don't sit and wallow in self pity or complain about what they don't have, they take everything to the Lord and constantly singing praises to Him for what they do have. Being in Haiti was such a great reminder not only of how much of my life I take for granted, but also how we as Christians should be living on a daily basis.

When you get on the plane to come back home with empty suitcases and part of your heart still there, you realize that you've still received way more than you gave. As Thanksgiving is a day of proclaiming what you are thankful for I thought it would be an appropriate day to share the song "Give Thanks" with you.

What am I thankful for? The list is too long and could go on for days. So instead of listing each individual thanks, today (and everyday) I am giving thanks to God because He's given me His Son. As Haiti knows all of the earthly possessions I am thankful for could be gone in an instant, but nothing can ever take away my gift of eternal life. Thanks be to God!

Albanian Brain Dump

This is part of an email from Dawn, one of the missionaries in Albania. It paints a clearer picture of Albania and gives some insight into what it will be like to live there.

People: Albanians are very hospitable, if you walk down the road they will invite you into their home for coffee.  The personal space here is much smaller than Americans, people touch you (after they know you) and walking arm in arm with two women is common and with men too.  Relationship is many orders of magnitude more important than time in Albania.  (This is not true in America, we as a people are very time oriented) Women gather with Women, Girls with Girls, Boys with Boys and Men with Men.  This is a male dominated culture, one example, while in the store and they are adding up what I am buying, if a man comes in, the clerk will stop and take the man's order, then once he leaves continue with your order. Most of the time wives walk a step behind their husbands.  In general, when a couple come to our house for a visit, the woman will speak very little while the men will talk most of the time.  People do not walk down the street and look at others in the eye and never smile (as a women this send the message that you are available).  If you know someone, no matter how late you are, you must stop in the street and greet them, usually with a kiss on each cheek while shaking hands and ask about them and their health and their family...Things take more time here.

History: The Ottoman Turks conquered and ruled this area for 500 years, then there were a few years of independence, Italians tried to take over and then the Communist moved in for 50 years and declared Albania an atheist nation and one of the cruelest oppressions ever. In 1990-91, Communism fell and "Democracy" arrived.  The history of Albania has profoundly impacted the people, but the new generation (post communism) are very different. 

Home: The food here is amazing, if you like Mediterranean food.  There is very little fast food here, so you will doing most of your cooking.  We do not have dishwashers or clothes dryers.  Nearly all Albanians have TV's.  There are many internet cafe's in just about all areas.  Many of the stores out where we live and you will be living have a counter at the door and you must ask for what you want.  This is a built in language lesson!  Fruit and vegetables are available in season, not all year around.  Veal and Chicken and Mutton are the main meats, while pork is available but a little harder to find.  It does not snow here, but it does get cold enough a couple of days in the winter to cause the mud and the canals to freeze, which we are thankful to reduce the mosquito population.  When it is cold outside, it is cold inside because the homes are all block and concrete.  Gas heaters are available, but they vent in the room and over time cause headaches.  Electric heaters are available and great when we have reliable electricity.  Wood stoves are available, but are expensive and require lots of work. 

Spiritual:  70% are nominally Muslim, 20% are Orthodox, 10% Catholic.  Our family has worked mostly with nominally Muslim folks and some Catholic.  Our Muslim friends are Muslim in name only.  Most have never been in a mosque, never read the Koran, but own one and have it in a place of honor in their home.  Most are very superstitious and mystical and believe very much in the Evil Eye and fear it.  Most all building have things hanging from them to ward off the Evil Eye, dolls, garlic, horseshoe, animal horns, charsms...  Some children wear amulets around their necks with verses from the Koran in them. Many of these things have found their way into the believes of the Catholic people here too.  Unfortunately, since we are Free to be here so are the Jehovah Witness and the Morman's.  People here believe very strange things about Jesus and need people to share the TRUTH about who He is and why He came to earth.  Albanians do not mind talking about religious beliefs and discussing them, there is not a 'politically incorrect' feeling about this kind of talk.