Just an Update

We are waiting for the "Go" call from the Salvation Army and the missionaries here in Georgia. When we get the call half of us will go to the Salvation Army warehouse and the other half of us will go distribute food to the displaced people from the war. The Salvation Army is receiving a new container and have only a twenty-four hour period to unload it, so we will help provide some manpower. The distribution group will go to one place with thirteen families and distribute goods such as blankets, pots, plates and so forth. Then they will go to another building with 160 people. We went there yesterday, so today we will distribute the rest of the food, play with the children and have a mini program with the youth and adults.

Until then we are talking, catching up on emails and Facebook, eating food and resting up for the day. Thanksgiving is on Thursdsay and we will spend it with the international church here in Georgia. It will be my first Thanksgiving away from home and my first Thanksgiving abroad. It will be interesting to see how this Thanksgiving works out. The interns are bringing mashed potatoes and drinks. I can't wait to peel all those potatoes - in Strasini I got kicked out the kitchen for peeling potatoes to slow - I don't think that will happen Thursday morning =). I have to go. Have a good Thanksgiving. Live in Christ Love!

I attached some more pictures below...


Gabby working on removing old chipped paint from the basement


Me at the old Monastery - this gives you a good view of the whole river

Their is an old folk tale that says if you take a piece of cloth and tye it on a tree in a holy spot and make wish it will come true

This is Nate climbing a Persimmon tree during our lunch break

Reports from Georgia...

I am in Tbilisi, Georgia right now. The team arrived on Monday. Georgia reminds me of a mix between Moldova and Armenia. Georgia like Armenia has its own language. It is a flowy script – very artistic. The produce here is good. The missionary home here has its own grape, pomegranate and persimmon trees. It is fun to pick the fruit and eat it straight from the tree. I never had tasted a persimmon before this trip. They are very good. I love the new taste, experience and culture.

The team has been working with the Salvation Army. We split into two teams. Half of the team is sorting and organizing in the Salvation Army warehouse, so that the donations can be distributed to the internally displaced people from the crisis with Russia. The other half of the team is working in a Salvation Army office cleaning up the basement and an upper room preparing it for painting. I have been working with the basement crew. I have spent the last few days scraping paint and cleaning off wallpaper. The basement will be used for children’s Sunday school. It is a pretty big project. It is nice to know that we have helped them get a little farther on renovating their building.

I have put some pictures below of both Armenia and Georgia. Enjoy =). Thank you for all your prayer and financial support. Be Blessed! =)










This is an old cathedral in Georgia - the Salvation Army took us here on Saturday - they took us sight seeing and bought us a Georgian lunch. I love Georgian food.

The view from another old monastery on top of a mountain.

Me (just in case you forgot what I look like =) ) at the old Monastery with the scarf I bought in Vandazour.

A Persimmon

Me - working at removing wall paper off the ceiling

Noah, Zach and Nate taking a break from work

Candy from the Armenian market

We butchered a lamb and then cooked it - It an adventure in lamb barbecue- These are the vegetables we cooked over the fire. It was fun - we ate all the parts of the lamb =)

I am in an Armenian Internet Cafe. I am alive. The teams heads to Georgia on the 17th - please pray for us and the work we will do in the country. We worked on water filters and a program called Community Health Evangelism this week. It has been cold here. I just wanted to check in and say hello. Live in Christ Love!

Claire Balch

Just a Few Pictures

I have a few moments to touch base. I have not had any internet access in the last week. I posted two blogs below that I wrote in the last week or so to give you an idea of what the team has been doing in Armenia. Internet access isn't consistent, so I am alive, just not able to communicate with the world =). I uploaded some pictures, so you can see a little bit of Armenia. I hope all is well. Live in Christ Love.

Claire Balch


Some Armenian Sheep

These are some of the homes - they are mid construction

This is at the church built on the spot where the first monk to bring Christianty to Armenia was thrown into a dungeon

This is a picture of the church with Mount Arat in the background - we could see the Turkish-Armenian border from the other side of the church

House Building

November 2, 2008

* Internet is not as accessible here, so I am posting these as soon as I can, the post date and the written date may not line up =)

The last few days we have began working on the homes for the Armenians who lost their homes in an earthquake many years ago. They have been living in FEMA style trailers since that point in time. The homes we are helping build are funded mainly by the Armenian Relief and Development Agency (ARDA) with the help of a few other agencies. The homes are built from a technology out of Arizona using Styrofoam blocks, cement, and rebar. The technology has been tested to work.

We have been painting and mudding sheetrock the last few days, while we are waiting for the blocks to arrive. The blocks arrived late Friday night, so the Armenian workers set up the first layer of blocks on Saturday, while we painted and mudded. Monday we will begin to help set up the structure. This will be an interesting task. It will be cool to see the house take shape and to know that a family in need will be able to live there.

Today we went to an Armenian Church service. Culturally it is very different than Moldova. It was much more similar to what we are used to in America. We were allowed to worship more freely, wear jeans and I was allowed to introduce the team to the church. It felt a little more comfortable. We sang some songs in English, Glori Ann gave her testimony, Karen read a Psalm and Zach preached. Afterwards the pastor and his family had us over for lunch. The food was very good and we had a lot of it. The team really loves the flatbread here in Armenia. Another favorite food are grape or cabbage leaves stuffed with meat or rice. We had them in Moldova also, but the name is different in Armenia. I believe they are called dolmas. It is always nice to have food that you enjoy in a different country. The lunch was very good and the pastor and his family were very kind. Afterwards we went on a ski lift in the area that overlooks part of Armenia. It was beautiful.

I want to leave you with a verse from 1 John 4:
“God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free from worry on Judgment day – our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love, banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life – fear of death, fear of judgment – is one not yet fully formed in love.
We, though, are going to love – love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

If anyone boast ‘I love God,’ and goes right on hating his brother and sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.”

We are now in Armenia...

Hello My Dear Friends and Supporters –
I wanted to let you know that I am now in Armenia. It was a long day of traveling from Chisinau, Moldova to Odessa, Ukraine. We left on the bus at 7:00 in the morning and arrived around 3:00 in the afternoon. Our flight did not leave until 8:45 in the evening, so we set up shop in the airport. We sat around listening to music and reading our books. Around 6:00 in the evening we attempted to go through customs only to find our flight had been delayed. At 8:30 in the evening we finally started the journey through customs again. We finally boarded our flight around 11:30 at night and we arrived in Armenia around 4:00 in the morning on October twenty-sixth. It was quite the day. =)
We are now in Armenia. We are resting from our journey and our learning about a community development plan called Community Health Evangelism. This program looks at health from physical, emotional and spiritual aspects. Members of the community are trained on the program, create a committee and then train others in their community. The idea behind the program is to get people in villages to think about solutions to the issues they face. These issues may be lack of fuel, lack of clean water, bad backs or toothaches. It encourages them to look for the cause of the problem and then come up with solutions using local resources. The trained members are also to visit homes in their community to discuss problems and solutions. At the root of everything is the love Christ has for us and to share this love by meeting people’s needs. Our role is to inform, train and help share the vision of this program to the Armenian Kurds.
After our training days and rest we will begin to help build houses for Armenians who lost their home twenty or so years ago in an earthquake. They have been living in FEMA style trailers since they lost their home. Then we will use our Community Health Evangelism training to train the Ysidi Kurds. Lastly we will help build winter kits for those who lack enough food for the winter. For the last part of our trip we will head to Georgia and work with the people displaced from the war.
Please continue your prayers as the team and myself begin this last part of our journey.
“The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you”. 2 Corinthians 13:14