First Baptism!

This is Sylvia, one of the Bible students in Bulgaria. She's so beautiful and passionate about Holy Spirit. What a gift! We went to the hot springs last week to baptize these two women from a local village. Jesus is so amazing. How did I get here??

Sweden is beautiful. I'm being treated like royalty and trying my best to soak up all that I can from these magnificent headquarters of SOS. God has really given me a special grace for this trip.

Pray for strength and stamina. It's exhausting out here at times, always soaking and learning and going.. I'm being taken into new elements though with my Jesus and wouldn't trade it for the world!

Love Love Love You!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I love you profusely and will be thanking God for you all as I eat airplane food with strangers on my way to Sweden! I'll be there for one week.. going to the Bible school, meeting with leaders, attending Johannes' "Evangelism Days".. it will be wonderful. Then I'm off to the Safari-lands of Africa for Christmas and New Years! 

Be blessed today. God is so good.

I love Bulgaria

It's going to be very sad to leave this Thursday. I'm in love with Bulgaria. In love with the people. The villages. The kids. The missionaries. My amazing leaders. My friends. My new sisters. Tomato sandwiches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everything. 

On to new things. New people. New experiences. New sights. 

I am missing my family though and can't believe I'm in the nations again on Thanksgiving for the second year in a row! God's always faithful and always in control. I love Him.

These are some kids from a village nearby.. precious.

Greece

Greece was incredible. I cried the moment I looked out over the city lights.. feeling the presence of God so powerfully. Walter and Linda blessed me incredibly with this trip, all I could do was ask myself "How did I get here?". God amazes me. We stayed in a hotel in the city of Kavala which is ancient Neapolis (the city Jesus and the apostles sailed in to on many occasions). I read Philippians while looking out over Philippi and could hardly contain myself. This is where the first church of Europe was started, and from here it literally went to America and the world! Now, it's hard to find one Holy Spirit-filled church in the city. I can't wait for the gospel to come full-circle. How can people live without Jesus?

"I can do all things through Christ Jesus who gives me strength" was written for this place, along with "My God will supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus", "I am confident of this very thin, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus", "Rejoice in the Lord always!", "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus", "Finally brothers, whatever is true..", "For our citizenship is from heaven.."

 This is also where Jesus asked, "Who do people say that I am?".. the resounding question that still echoes through the brick streets, marble-laid villas and gardens. 

The soil is rich, full of spiritual minerals waiting to be taken ahold of. There are times when great tilling is necessary in order to lay the ground-work and foundation over certain areas but the foundation has already been laid in much of Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and other surrounding areas. We just need to dig a little in order to see the brilliance and worth of what's already been planted by those who went before us. 

This is the Mediterranean Sea! Stunning. I also ate my first Gyro in Greece, I'm vegetarian though so I don't know if it really counts :) I have pictures from Paul and Silas' prison cell but I can't upload them because the internet in Bulgaria doesn't always work.. I'll try to get them up again soon. Love you all!

On my way to Philippi

I'm on my way to Philippi, Greece today! I'm so so so honored to walk in the same footsteps that my Jesus walked in.. and to see where incredible men and women of God preached the Word of God and saw miracles, signs and wonders!!!

Acts 16:12

From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

Matthew 16:12

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

Acts 16:19-40

When the girl's owners realized that they had lost all chances for making more money, they grabbed Pail and Silas and dragged them into court. They told the officials, "These Jews are upsetting our city! They are telling us to do things we Romans are not allowed to do."

The crowd joined in the attack on Paul and Silas. Then the officials tore the clothes off the two men and ordered them to be beaten with a whip. After they had been badly beaten, they were put in jail, and the jailer was told to guard them carefully. The jailer did as he was told. He put them deep inside the jail and chained their feet to heavy blocks of wood.

About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, while the other prisoners listened. Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the jail to its foundations. The doors opened, and the chains fell from all the prisoners.

When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he thought that the prisoners had escaped. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! No one has escaped."

The jailer asked for a torch and went into the jail. He was shaking all over as he knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. After he had led them out of the jail, he asked, "What must I do to be saved?"

They replied, "Have faith in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved! This is also true for everyone who lives in your home."

Then Paul and Silas told him and everyone else in his house about the Lord. While it was still night, the jailer took them to a place where he could wash their cuts and bruises. Then he and everyone in his home were baptized. They were very glad that they had put their faith in God. After this, the jailer took Paul and Silas to his home and gave them something to eat. 

The next morning the officials sent some police with orders for the jailer to let Paul and Silas go. The jailer told Paul, "The officials have ordered me to set you free. Now you can leave in peace."

But Paul told the police, "We are Roman citizens, and the Roman officials had us beaten in public without giving us a trial. They threw us into jail. Now do they think they can secretly send us away? No, they cannot! They will have to come here themselves and let us out." When the police told the officials that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, the officials were afraid. So they came and apologized. They led them out of the jail and asked them to please leave town. But Paul and Silas went straight to the home of Lydia, where they saw the Lord's followers and encouraged them. The they left.

Sneak peek to my heart and the book..

3000 languages still do not have translated copies of the Bible. 2.9 billion people still do not have a church to go to including those living in the countries of Iran, Iraq, India, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Somalia, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Yemen, Vietnam, Nepal, Algeria, Cambodia, China...

The leading religions in these areas are Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. As you walk the streets you will see flower ornaments being sold by the young and old alike, all for the purpose of showering worship upon countless shiny idols who have no real life or power to save. Rats, matted dogs, boney cows and other animals clutter the streets.. the people believe they are their long lost loved ones, reincarnated into joyful oblivion. Who will tell them the truth?

Two nights ago, I watched a woman doing her 5pm prayers to Allah. She muttered words she didn't even understand and kneeled to the ground eight different times, making odd motions in hopes of making herself more holy. I want to see her bow to the ONE, TRUE, LIVING GOD.

"Every knee will bow".. let us do all we can to make this happen before we're in eternity and they're bowing too late.

Saved!!

Just got back from a Pomak and Gypsy village.. the Bible student guys played soccer with some local young people and SEVEN muslims accepted Jesus!!! They were like, "Jesus is the only way!" with big accepting eyes and hearts! YAY GOD!

Here's me with a little boy I got to love on..

Precious :)

Next week I will travel down to Philippi, Greece where the first church was established.. incredible :)

PS - Sorry about the video.. trying to figure that one out!

Where's your Heart?

I went to a women's house church in another gypsy village last night. It was wonderful. The women are so full of love and you could feel such a passion for Jesus in their prayers and worship. They don't have much at all, we sit on the floor or on a bed in their one-roomed homes and cuddle close to the tiny fire they use for the winter, but they're happy. Tears of devotion, love and utter dependency on God stream down their dark cheeks before being wiped away on their dirty, flower-printed skirts. Watching them melts my heart, I can't imagine how Daddy feels. 

Maria shared from the book of Jonah and encouraged everyone to keep an open heart to the things God may ask of us. It truly doesn't matter where you're from, what resources you have or how you line up on the social scale.. God is moving all over the world through open and willing people. God is in love with the suited pastors on Sunday morning in America as much as He is with the woman I met last night, curled up in the corner of the room with her cracked and splintered hands raised ever so slightly in the air. It's fascinating to realize that this is one of the people groups that Jesus Himself loved on when He walked on this earth. What an honor it is to be here in Bulgaria.

________________________________________________

"Thud-thud.. Thud-thud.. Thud-thud"

"For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also." Matthew 6:21

The bright rays of sunlight laser-beamed directly past the windshield and into your squinty eyes as you raced through the bands of rush hour traffic while attempting to avoid hitting the naive hordes of pedestrians. Your eardrums thud intensely to the blaring beat of.. well; actually you're not quite sure what in the universe that noise could be, let alone from where it originated. Swerving between three separate lanes of traffic, you ward off the honking by-riders who angrily motion obscene gestures to your appalling driving skills. What is that sound? After several minutes of near death chaos, you pull over and frantically begin searching in, under, around and on top of your car. Nothing. Suddenly the drumming intensifies as you realize that it's coming from behind the vehicle; in the trunk.

Matthew 6:19-24 is very clear in reiterating the importance of our heart's devotion to particular areas of life and eternity thereafter. Although our heart remains securely settled within the cage of our center being, imaginary wings cause it to float off to areas we might call "desires", "dreams" or "passions". Some of us allow particular breezes to scatter about our heart in different areas so much so that all we find left at the end of the day is a gaping emptiness on the inside of our souls. When earthly heart-destinations take control, we find the end result being death. The only other alternative is to choose to place the well-being of our hearts in the safe hands of an everlasting God who will watch, care for, mature and bless our hearts into life. Where will you find your heart?

Think about this before you unlock and lift up the lid of your trunk. Was that thumping really your heart that found itself settled inside the material possession you call a car all along? Maybe it's rotting beneath the pile of dirty masses of vibrant thread at the bottom of your closet. Maybe it's left soaking through the papers on your desk or in the forgotten hands of your long-lost friend. You decide. 

I LOVE MY YMC CLASS!!!!!

I woke up this morning to an amazing love letter from home! My Master's Commission class took pictures and ate lunch with a photo of me and posted it on facebook! I have the best friends in the whole wide world.. trust me, I'm  traveling it and I've found no better!!

The Beast

Thank you all for keeping me continuously in your prayers. I feel a strength that is not my own and am beginning to walk in a grace that I've never experienced before. The base leaders here are incredible! I feel like I have Pr. Thomas, Pr. Sergio, Pr. Juan and Johannes all rolled into one.. it's an honor to serve under this anointing. The missionaries here feel like family too, it's weird to think that I'll be leaving Bulgaria in 2 weeks and doing this all over again in three more completely different and completely wonderful places. 

The book is launching off in a powerful way. I'm excited about all the info I've been retaining and can't wait to see where it goes!

Here's something I wrote last year.. I found it this morning and thought it could help someone..

The Beast

..."casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7

It's 5:30 am, the stars are fighting to hang on through the bright blue haze of early morning mist just before the sun makes it's rounds and follows the path to your window where it will settle for the day until returning once again to where it came from 24 hours before. "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!" your alarm squeals for a moment before you slam the snooze button.. again. Just as you pull the warm covers over your head for one last snuggle in your toasty cocoon of dreamland and roll over to place your bare and vulnerable big toe on the cold and dangerous floor, you hear a crack, as if something were approaching just yards... feet... and now inches away from you. Your heart stops as you hold your breath and listen with your whole being, waiting, waiting, waiting...

Suddenly, you're knocked down and tumble from the side of the bed upon which you just sat, to the floor opposite, tangled up within the blanket you just held with security. As beads of sweat drizzle down your spine and moisten the edges of your hair line, you find yourself pinned to the floor like prey with something beastly on you. It's big and fiercely strong, breathing with such intensity that it almost purrs and vibrates the entire room with each inhale and exhale of the once peaceful air. You strain, tense and attempt to scream, but nothing comes out. There's nothing you can do.

Crawling to the bathroom, you apply makeup and dress in your favorite pale blue shirt. Within the hour, you're out the door and about your life, beast in tow as if you're giving a free piggy-back-ride for the day. He growls in your ear while making the atmosphere reek with a muffling odor of rotten eggs and dead fish; a tangible substance thickening upon your shoulders like molasses and smothering your ability to think and move and breathe and sometimes even feel. Everyone stares and points, making you the unwanted center of attention. This is anxiety. 

The beauty of the beast is that he's not ours to carry like some rat/snake/dinosaur-ish pet. Rather than adding him to our life like a newfound accessory, we can literally cast him out of our bedroom the moment he comes in with stealth to attack. We need to be on the offense rather then the defense.. crouching at the foot of our bed and then pouncing the instant he does, bringing such a vigorous collision that will send him flying through the air until he lands at the feet of Christ like a wet cat on a stormy day, shivering and helpless. He's not ours to carry. 

Mountains and Villages..

This weekend I went backpacking through the mountains of Europe and snuggled at a bonfire as the sun set.. it was incredible!

Me and another missionary left for a small city on the border of Greece near Phillipi at the beginning of the week. We stayed with a another missionary couple that was married a year ago and sent out together to raise up a church in the southern region of the country. Their story was fascinating.. I can't even express how hospitable the people in this village were to us and how opened they are to the things of God. One day soon this area will be bursting with signs and wonders as house churches spring up all over! It's perfection really, because everyone in the entire region knows everyone else and all of their business.. so imagine how the truth of God can spread! We were really pioneers down there, standing strong as the only light in a really dark place. I've never been in a city before, knowing that I was one of only four Christians standing in the gap for an unreached people group.

An interesting thing I've learned is that hundreds of years ago, Bulgaria was a Christian nation.. when it became corrupted and overtaken by bordering, communist areas, the people were forced to renounce their faith and practice islam. Thousands of Bulgarians refused though and were driven to jump off a cliff near where I was. We need to bring back the roots from which this nation was founded upon. The muslims I've talked to don't even know why they're muslim and why they practice the things they do.. I've asked them specifically. It's just a matter of time and some commissioning of missionaries before Bulgaria and all the unreached people groups (Bulgarian, Pomak, Gypsy and Turkish) it contains are transformed. I can't imagine living life without Jesus. 

Our trip was full of seed-planting. First we met at a cafe with around six women and talked about the miracles we've seen on the field (blind eyes being opened, cancers drying up, deaf ears restored, addictions abandoned.. etc) and even a few men at the table next to us starred on in disbelief. We never would have been able to talk to those men on our own, being females in this culture.. you never know just who you will touch. By the end of the day my cheeks were sore from all of the kisses I received from old babushka-covered ladies and I can't tell you just how many of them tried to get me to marry their sons! I think I have a grace right now to really soak up new cultures and connect with people I've never dreamed of meeting. Even the language is coming to me which is a huge blessing.

I cried for the first time yesterday.. thinking about home, Christmas, snow, YMC, the many more months I have to be away in foreign lands and all the work I have to do.. that's pretty good though considering my first trip to China when I cried before my plane even took off! I've made it a week and a half!! Yay! 

Don't worry, I keep telling myself to be strong. I wouldn't be here if Jesus didn't think I could handle it and I've walked through some things I never thought I'd get through before, but I did.. guess it's all a part of maturity. I also keep telling myself to live here in the moment.. not in Youngstown. There will be a time for that again but it's not now. So.. as I drift away to dream land.. know that I'm safe in Europe, snuggled in yellow blankets and preparing to once again take on a day of gleaning, serving, loving and living in this land God loves and that I'm beginning to cherish as well.

French Women Need Jesus Too

"I love Jesus but He's not the only way" said the French woman through beaming eyes as she tore bread and stuffed it into her broad mouth. She say next to me on flight 427 between Philly and Germany. Her ideas of religion, life and eternity thereafter fascinated me. "I believe in reincarnation" she admitted as if she had unlocked some secret treasure. You see, Phylla had been through a series of hypnotic appointments in which she professed to have once been a masculine gladiator and a medieval peasant with her ex-husband centuries ago.. 

these demonic encounters teased with her imagination and ultimately led her down a freeway of believing in a twisted and deformed image of God. It seemed as if she pulled a 'little here' and a 'little there' and then applied it not as religion but as spirituality and energy. My heart broke.

How could I convey the truth that not all paths lead to Jesus but He'll travel any path to get to her.. that Jesus is the only way to heaven through forgiveness of sin? Phylla was a brilliant intellectual with a huge heart and a blessed life. What could make her realize she's deceived and in need of a Savior? My heart lives and continues it's steadfast beat behind my ribs for the very reason of spreading Jesus. I love to introduce Him to people for the first time but what about the French, the Australian, Jewish and Americans who have already heard the Name and filed it in the back of their twisted theologies with men like buddha? What of those who have been vomited upon by religious judgments and "christian politics"? How can we convey to business men and law students that they must become like children to receive Jesus while the world screams "climb the ladder of success and achieve 'the dream'"? Our commission demands "Go into ALL the world". Sometimes that "going" is really just untangling the woven strands of brain matter inside the minds of those who think they already have what they need.