This one is kind of long, but there are Pictures at the end =)

Written September 28, 2008

It has been a few days since my last post. I am not sure when I will actually be able to post this blog. The internet isn’t working in the building. As Americans we are very dependent on the internet. It is amazing what a bummer it is to see that Internet signal yet for one reason or another it is not connecting. A few years ago on a trip like this we would be lucky to talk to home once a week at an internet café or hotel phone. Then it would cost us an arm and a leg. Today it is completely different. I think it is nice to be able to post a blog, send an email, and make a call. The difference is when the attachment from home keeps you from bonding with the group and the people of country you are in. The internet like all things in life needs balance and self control. That goes for whether you are traveling abroad or living in your home in the United States or wherever else your home may be.

It is somewhat of a time warp here in Moldova. The combination of longs days and jet lag make it hard to remember which day is which. Today is Sunday and yesterday was Saturday, which means my last update was Friday. Friday seems so long ago from today. Saturday was the Thanksgiving for Moldova. It is a day of thanking God for the harvest. They have a program at the church which involved about ten other churches from other villages. The program involved singing, preaching and testimonies. They had this beautiful setup at the front of the church, which included the biggest cabbage I have ever seen, apples, sunflowers, pumpkin, grapes and other produce from their harvest. The difference between their Thanksgiving and ours is that they actually grow and harvest the food that they eat. In most homes in America we go to the store and buy the food we eat for Thanksgiving. In two places that are very different in many ways we can both be thankful for what the Lord has given us.

Today was Sunday. We went to church in another village and then later today went to Mihailenii for lunch, home visits and fellowshipping with Moldovans. The group I was with went and visited with a woman with crippled legs and chronic pain. She told us that she prayed to die. She asked for medicine for the pain. We told her that we didn’t have any medicine, but we do have God and the power of prayer. She told us she wanted to give us money for prayer and the visit, but we told we where there for free. That it was gift. We prayed for her and talked for a little bit. The Moldovan girls sang her a couple of songs. Then we left because she was tired. I could hear her crying as we left. I asked and they told me that the youth from the church would follow up and continue to visit her. I hope that they do because that is what will make this first visit effective.

After the home visit I talked with a Moldovan girl who lived in Sacramento for two years. We talked a long time about Moldova, school and life. She taught me some Romanian and Russian words and we ate walnuts from the tree. It was good. Then we joined some other girls in the eating area and we just hung out for a while. They sang songs and then made me sing a solo. Unfortunately I can’t sing and then I couldn’t remember any songs, but I think they got a kick out of my embarrassment. It was just a good time of bonding with the church over here. When Alexandria left she left because she had to bring the cows in – I thought that was an interesting cultural difference.

Remember to keep me in your prayers. Pray for the youth and the church of Mihailenii. Pray for the healing and salvation of Mila, the crippled lady, from today’s house visit. Pray for Moldova.

The Amazing Grace of Jesus Christ be with You!

Here are some pictures from Moldova...


This is one of the water wells across the street from the church. The Orthodox church built that building behind it with the purpose to make it a store to distract from the church we are working with. The building is currently empty.

Our van sort of broke one night in the middle of Mihailenii. It was an adventure and nothing too serious.

This is the church we went to on Sunday

I think these cars are so cool! I want one =)

This is me at the outside market on Friday. I am going to spell it wrong, but the call it a Pizzaza or something like that =).

This is a picture of the church that we are working with in Mihailenii.

A Full Day in Moldova...

9/25/08

Today was the team’s first full day in Moldova. We woke up in Chesinu, spent the day in Milehni and are spending the night in Bells. It was quite the day. Moldova is a very pretty country. It is green and full of rolling hills. As you go into the country it is like stepping a back into time with a few cars and cell phones thrown into the mix. We saw multiple times a horse and cart serving as transportation, shepherds and livestock roaming in front and back yards. There is a lot of agriculture here and we saw people harvesting their crops.

We met with the pastor, the deacon and some other church members from Milehni today. They introduced themselves and shared some of the history of the church. The pastor’s grandfather was martyred during the years the country belonged to the Soviet Union and Communism. When they were trying to build the current church in early 2000 the Orthodox church protested by threatening to tear the building down and then by trying to buy half the land to squeeze them out. Neither one of these things happened. Today the church is in its final phases of construction. We will help texture and paint it tomorrow. In American we can worship God so freely. We can go to church when and where we please. There may be a handful o f times that the American church faces vandalism and mockers, but rarely are we in harm’s way for professing to be a Christian and for attending church. These freedoms are awesome and I wish every country could experience that freedom. The truth is that in many areas of this world Christian’s lives are threatened everyday from the countries of the Middle East, to some of those in Asia, to the current persecution going on in India and so forth. We need to remember to pray for our brothers and sisters, our fellow God worshippers, around the world who face persecution for believing the same thing you and I believe.

After lunch we set up for the next day. Since the weather has been less than ideal we are staying at a church in a different town. This means a longer drive in the morning, but it also means we don’t have to rough it out quite as much as predicted. We have beds, a hot shower, and internet so not too bad at all.
=)

* My comupter is about to run out of battery, so I will post pictures at a later date. Also the spelling of the names of the cities need to be corrected.

A Plane Flight and Moldova

I have arrived in Moldova. I wrote the below post while on the plane and this was my first chance to publish it. I also have included a few photos at the bottom of the post.

I am sitting on a Boeing 777-200 watching Kung Fu Panda and drinking a diet coke. My destination is Chisinau, Moldova. The plane is now between land and the Atlantic Ocean just how every person on this team is between who we are today and who we will be in December. Our experiences of spending two months in a place different than our own will change our worldview. Ministering to others will teach us to be more like Christ. Finally as we minister and as we live in a different place we will deepen our intimacy and walk with God.

The plane will land in Vienna, Austria. In Vienna the team will be able to leave the airport and explore the city. After our exploration of Vienna we will board another plane and find ourselves in Moldova. We will spend the night in the Chisinau and then the next day head out to the first village. It has been said that this first week will probably be our hardest week. It will be our hardest week in the sense of the amount of roughing it out we will be doing. I am not sure if we will be staying with Moldovan families or in a church there. It will be an adventure and a new experience.

Please keep me and the intern team in your prayers. Pray for the people of Moldova (which has been called the saddest place on earth) and the missionaries there. Pray that our team will have long term Kingdom impact and not just be a short term experience for us. The point is to show God’s love so people can see and then receive God’s love.

I want to leave you with a section from Ephesians 5:

“God is strong, and he want you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the devil and all his angels.

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, Righteousness, peace, faith and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so than no one falls behind or drops out.” Ephesians 5

Go out and live your God created identity!



This is me in front of the St. Stevens Cathedral in Vienna


This is me drinking a Coco-Cola Light in Vienna - who would of known? :)


The St. Stevens Cathedral

Long Van Rides and Disaster Relief

I have been in the Convoy of Hope van for several hours too many. We left Port Arthur on Wednesday morning and drove to Houston. We stayed the night in Houston at one of the other interns house. I have never been so happy to eat a salad. Her mom made us a great meal complete with apple pie. We departed from Houston early this morning. We left at 6:30am and are still driving. Needless to say we are restless and ready to be back in Springfield. The next few days promise to be a whirlwind of preparation as we leave Tuesday morning for Moldova!

We worked the distribution line all day Monday, most of Tuesday and a half day on Wednesday. The distribution is set up with three to six stations of ice, water and MREs (meals, ready to eat). Three to six cars (depending on the number of stations) would come through the line at a time. Each station was responsible for their car. We would put the goods in the cars with a smile. Let them know that they were all set, told them to have a good day and God bless and they were off. We try to make the line as efficient as possible, while making the people feel important and taken care of.

We ran out of goods and that is why we closed early Tuesday and Wednesday. As we were leaving on Wednesday the National Guard came in and took over. It was funny because they were asking me how the line worked, so there I was telling the National Guard what to do – like I was in charge or something. =). Its amazing how God can give you energy to serve all day. It was like the moment I stopped then I felt tired, but while working I had energy to move boxes and smile to the drivers and passengers coming through the line.

For the most part the people coming through the line were gracious and felt blessed to be receiving ice, water and MREs. On Tuesday I worked with a local volunteer. I have no idea what his story was or if he was a Christian or not, but he had heard about Convoy of Hope and the distribution area on the radio station and decided to come out to help. He was so excited to be there. He told me that volunteering that day was just what he needed and that it was the first time since Friday that he hadn't been stressed. I thought this was a cool different perspective. So many times the stories are about people without power or a flooded house, this story was about God using Convoy to help someone by allowing local people come and volunteer.

I didn’t take too many pictures because I was super busy during the day and I really didn’t want to make people feel like I was taking advantage of their situation, but I took a few Wednesday morning before distribution. I also have included a link to a article with a picture of yours truly on it =). It will also tell you more about what Convoy of Hope did in Port Arthur. http://www.convoyofhope.org/go/usdisaster/details/convoy_of_hope_expands_hurricane_response


Here I am in front of some boxes

Here are the stations before we opened up

This is a reenactment...

This is another reenactment


“And don’t forget to pray for me. Pray that I’ll know what to say and have the courage to say it at the right time, telling the mystery to one and all , the Message that I, jailbird preacher that I am (or just Claire Balch from California – definitely not the missionary that Paul was), am responsible for getting out…Good-bye, my friends. Love mixed with faith be yours from God the Father and from the Master, Jesus Christ. Pure grace and nothing but grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ” Ephesians 6

Almost a Day Later...

After almost 24 hours of driving we pulled into Port Arthur, Texas. This is the area that the state asked Convoy of Hope to set up their point of distribution also known as a POD. We left Saturday evening around 5:30pm and drove until 3:00pm Sunday. We stopped for 3.5 or so hours somewhere in Dallas at a gas station with truck and van parking. We all slept in the van or the RV. It was quite the adventure. We even drove through the rain and wind. In fact most of the roads and interstates were closed, so it took some creative thinking/driving and a good map to get us into Port Arthur.


We did arrive and as soon as we did we got to work. There is a curfew here so around 4:00pm we had to stop the distribution. For the hour we had we jumped in and then of course helped with clean up. For dinner we had MREs, not quite mom's cooking, but will fill the stomach. We even got in a quick shower, an outdoor leg shave and are able to sleep in the RVs. We even have Internet access! It's not the Hilton, but definitely a blessing from God. Tomorrow will be a long day. So pray for the teams strength and please pray for the people here who have been hit by this storm and that God's love and truth will be revealed to them.


Another need is that these last few hurricanes have really drawn out resources from Convoy of Hope. This is good because we are suppose to respond to disasters, but we need the resources to be replenished. So, pray for resources for the current damage in the US, Haiti, Cuba and the other islands in the Caribbean as well as the replenishing of resources. For more information on this you can go to the Convoy of Hope website: http://www.blogger.com/www.convoyofhope.org


Here is a link to an article on Hurricane IKE : http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/15/us/15ike.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&adxnnlx=1221444047-8cJnqcBj3f%20G5NGBds4Rqw


Tilting Power Lines - There was a whole line of them, but I couldn't get the picture from the van


Flooding - we drove through some of it and we also saw several flooded streets

This picture is a little fuzzy, but the words on the wood on windows are "Go Away Ike".

These are just a few pictures of some of the hurricane caused damage I saw, but I am sure if you turned on the news you could find similar or more informative images.

I just wanted to touch in to let everyone know what is going on. I will try to do this a couple times, while I'm down here in Texas.

"May what our Master Jesus Christ gives freely be deeply and personally yours, my friends. Oh, yes!" Galatians 6:18

Training and a Hurricane called Ike

Life has been very busy the last few days. We have been in training learning about Convoy of Hope and Compassion Ministry. We have discussed social justice, discussed the balancing line between the traditional idea of evangelism and the idea of compassion ministry, learned to build water filters, talked to missionaries in Moldova and Armenia, unloaded a Target load and began to be introduced to a program called Community Health Evangelism. We are being prepared for the tasks ahead.


In the midst of our time of learning a hurricane has been brewing in the Caribbean. Hurricane Ike is set to hit Texas sometime Friday or Saturday. The US Disaster Response asked the Convoy of Hope Interns to help them in responding to this disaster. Three of our team members headed down Thursday afternoon. They will help with the prep work and immediate setup. The rest of us will head to Texas on late afternoon on Saturday. This has caused are schedule to fly out the window, but what a better way to take what we have learned so far and apply it. Anyone who has done missions knows that plans change and that one must be flexible. When we are willing to flow and flex God can move in ways that we could never plan for. Please pray for the protection and safety of those living on the Texas coast and for the protection and safety of the interns and the Convoy of Hope disaster response team. Also pray that God will be glorified through it all and that we will properly represent him to the people we serve. If you hit the following link it will take you to a article on Hurricane Ike: http://www.startribune.com/nation/28280739.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUl


I have attached some pictures of our various task throughout the last week or so -


Water Filter Training - Cleaning Sand

Water Filter Training - Cleaning Some More Sand

The Target Load - Well part of it...

A certain Uunnamed company didn't want their name on the beans they provided, so we got to open up boxes and dump bags of beans into other boxes. These bags will either go to Cuba or Haiti for hurricane relief efforts.




"And that;s about it my friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure. Greet one another with a holy embrace. All the brothers and sisters say here say hello. The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christs, the extravagant love of God, the initimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you." 2 Corinthians 13: 11-14

So it begins...

The interns arrived on September 4th and so it all begins. We started introductions to Convoy of Hope on Friday. It included a tour and detail on the upcoming training and time in Moldova and Armenia. Saturday we started right away on helping with an outreach in the city of Republic. The churches in that town organized and put together their own outreach that included a kid's zone, music, haircuts, clothing, health exams and so forth. I worked at the throw a hat on the powerade bottle game. It was cool to see these churches get together and help out their community. As a side note the community center in Republic is very cool. Every city should have a community center like this one. It included a gym, 1/12 mile indoor track, and a basketball court among other things.

Karen was the first to arrive at the intern house. She came into Springfield late Wednesday night in the pouring rain. I attached some pictures of our adventures in the rain unloading her bike and a few key items that she needed that night. It was quite fun. Rain requires positive thinking, but once you've got that it can be quite the adventure. =)

Me in the rain



Karen in the rain



The Shoes post rain =)

I am working on creating a prayer list for Moldova and Armenia. I haven't had a lot of time to breath, but I will get to that because I believe it is important. I do want list the interns name on the team so if you would like to pray for the team as a whole you can.

Karen
Kisha
Gabrielle
Mikellah
Glori Ann
Chris
Chad
Noah
Nathan
Zac
Bracy

Then of course there is me. I ask for your continued prayers in the areas of discernment, wisdom, maturity, strength, that I will have the eyes and heart of Jesus for his people, and that my financial supporters will remember me each month.

MAY YOU BE BLESSED!

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." Proverbs 3:3

Food For Thought

Food for Thought:

“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralist, loose-living immoralist, the defeated, the demoralized – whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ – but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all of this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”
1 Corinthians 9: 19 - 23

I read these verses the other night and they made me stop and think. I am entering the world of global missions and if I don’t have this attitude I’ll find myself ineffective. If I don’t understand or at least try to understand and respect the culture of the people I want to share Jesus with how will I ever effectively communicate the gospel?

I believe this verse doesn’t just apply to global missions. How many people have you met in your state, city, community and church that have a radically different worldview than you? How many times have you said they are just too different than me or judged someone because they look different or don’t dress like you? How many times have you laid down your own opinions and preferences and tried to enter someone else’s world? How many times have you laid down the differences to find the things you have in common?

Trying to experience someone else’s worldview is not easy. I believe for many of us it is a lifelong learning process. For some of us it goes against our personality and our self-taught learned behavior. I believe that through prayer, God’s help, determination and many uncomfortable moments that we can all become better at becoming servants and entering someone else’s world.