Children

Yesterday I was finally able to hold some village children in my arms. I've been waiting for them. They were Gypsy, incredibly poor, living in trash, dirty, smelly and so full of wonder and love. I will begin studying Bulgarian today.. I can't bear to not speak with them or understand the small, precious questions they ask me. 

While in this village, we gathered for my first house-church experience. There were twenty of us squeezed tightly in an old, wrinkly woman's one-room home that was only about ten feet in diameter. She wore a flowery scarf over her black hair and a dirty, matted, yarn vest but was incredibly hospitable with the few plastic cups of juice that she did have. She even made me sit on the one and only pillow that she had.. I was so humbled.

Although I didn't understand everything that was spoken, I felt power in the atmosphere and knew that we were all of the same Spirit. I love the verse in the Bible that says "the Word of God cannot be contained".. that's how I feel when we all speak in tongues because there are no language, culture or status barriers. Nonetheless.. I will ruthlessly study this gibberish language until I am a pro!!

Veligrad

Bulgaria is amazing! I feel like I'm dreaming when I open up my eyes.. 

The missionaries are incredible. There are 6 girls and 1 guy from Sweden, along with the base leaders, Walter and Linda and their 3 boys. They have also recently started a Bible school program with about 9 students... they are all married with a few children, only in their late teens. Obviously, life and especially marriage is quite different in this culture. I've learned that guys will throw a young girl (12-16 yrs) into the back of a car, drive to a forest, sleep together and then proclaim themselves to be married. These Bible students are some of the first in their generation to step up and declare themselves as set-apart by God. This morning was my first time in prayer with the entire team. The moment we began to speak in tongues, electricity seemed to zap through the room and the power of God filled all of our senses.. the students just began to speak in the Holy Spirit days ago. That's how rapidly the Word is moving in Veligrad, Bulgaria! I'm walking out the book of Acts with these incredible missionaries. 

This morning, Maria took me on a ride through some muslim villages in the Rhodope mountains... it looked like the fields in the Sound of Music with shepherds watching their herds in the distance and babushka-covered, old, wrinkled ladies carrying bags of produce from their home-grown gardens. I couldn't even speak.

At lunch time, Maria, Eva and I went to visit some muslim turks as they worked in Raspberry fields. We sat in the grass with sunshine and mountains all around.. laughing and talking about.. life. The women said they want me to marry a Bulgarian man and fed me some sort of tomato sauce, homemade cheese and chunky, sour milk :). They told us stories of how they are incredibly poor, working all the time in the fields for only dollars a day which end up funding their alcoholic husbands.

My trip here was amazing and horrible, all in one. On my first flight I got to talk about Jesus with an atheist (he was so open to all I had to say). Then I spoke with a French woman about reincarnation and hypnosis.. and Jesus :). I also got very sick and passed out on my second international flight which was scary and frustrating because I was alone. I feel much better now though and haven't even been too effected with the time change. Thank you all for praying for me.. I asked the angels to wake you all up for intercession when I was blacked-out on that plane!!

Later today, I will go to visit more Bulgarian, Gypsy, Turkish and Pomac people. This is such a rich, warm land. I feel like a gigantic sponge, soaking up all the sights, smells, foods, languages, and mannerisms that I can...

Commission

Psalm 2:8

"Ask Me for the nations, and every nation on earth will belong to you."

Over the next several months, I will be joining 'Mission SOS' on an adventure to bring Jesus to the unreached people groups of the world! I desire to see the miraculous take place through signs and wonders while walking in the power of God, the way He promised that I would. 

During this time away, I will also be taking photography and writing a book for Johannes Amritzer (the founder of SOS) which will be used to recruit new missionaries for the work of this end-time harvest we find ourselves living in.

Please remember to keep me in your prayers as I venture off into new things spiritually, emotionally, physically, relationally...

With God, I know that ALL things are possible!

 I'm not sure what's in store but I am so ready to take on this call and commission to love the world while worshipping God with my life!

Thank you tremendously for your support and blessings, I could not do any of this without you!

Loving the one..

"Love the one"... this simple yet profound statement was initially spoken by Heidi Baker in Mozambique. It's one of those 'nuggets' that has no limitations. It cannot be contained, persecuted, stolen, perverted or destroyed. Pure unconditional love, the way our Daddy loves us, is... perfect. 

Some have felt this love in fragments, some have grown up with it, others have only seen it as an infatuation, and still some run from it like it's a plague. My heart is to learn this kind of love. I want to first encounter and then take the deepest corners of God's heart to the teenagers on the streets of Youngstown, to the old men with their pet water buffalo on the rivers of Guilin, to the pre-teen prostitutes selling themselves like a pack of gum in front of brothels in Thailand, to the orphans and widows being baptized in water and fire in Harar, to the nations.  I want to love 'the one' and then in turn ... love the world. Unconditionally. Fully. When people deserve it and when they don't. When they're dressed up and righteous and when they're covered in dirt and smelling like sin. Wrinkled and freckled. Fancy and cheap. Hateful, angry, sad, seeking and desperate. Loving the world will cast out all fear. God, thanks for giving me this opportunity to be You to the nations.