IWC Romania

WOW!  It has been a crazy month...I feel like I have been on a roller-coaster from mission trip to mission trip to all the craziness of our adoption.  With everything going on finding time to write has been in short supply.  So, here is a single post recap of the last several weeks.

Romania

Romania was an amazing trip and we had the opportunity to see God at work in great and mighty ways.  Our trip got off to a rocky start with our flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt was delayed by about 3 hours this delay caused us to miss our connection to Bucharest.  God showed up and we all were able to get on the same flight just a couple of hours later.  We finally made it to Braila and the Home of Hope orphanage around midnight.

Sunday was a great day, we got to attend church in Braila and I had the opportunity to speak to the congregation and give greetings from the team sharing what our mission for the week would be.  Later that day we met our crew for the week and had a time of crew planning.  We had dinner on the Danube, what would be the only touristy thing we did in Braila.

Monday it was off to the villages for our first day of work.  Three different crews, three different missions...One crew - mission - install flooring in two churches; next crew mission - two children’s camps and a youth camp a day; my crew’s mission -   in home visits with evangelism a children’s and youth camp.

It was incredible to be in the Roma villages and meet the people who live there.  We discovered a welcoming people who were excited and open to hearing what God was doing in our lives and how His power changes lives.  We all instantly fell in love with the warm and affectionate Roma people.  It was awesome to see God move and work in not only the lives of the people we were there to minister to but in each of our lives also.

As we have returned stateside we all have thought about the biggest thing God taught us during the week.  For me God reminded me about love and how I need to love more.  More specifically God reminded me I need to love other Christians more because we are all on the same journey just some are in different places along the road.  I have always found it easy to love the lost but sometimes my patience falls flat when I deal with other Christians.  Thank You God for teaching me how to love others again.

Romania will always hold a special place in my heart.  Thanks Bob and Gail our missionaries for sharing your passion for the Roma.  Thanks Robert, Vasilica and Victor for being my voice and teaching me a little Romanian.

Romania

So it begins, we are on our way.  I am very excited about the team of students we have going to Romania.  I believe God will show Himself in a powerful way as we minister in Brailia.  Pray that we have the opportunity to see people come to faith and experience the power of faith in Jesus!

Craziness

Wow, it has been a crazy couple of weeks…Finally finding time to sit down and write. So here goes a quick catch up…

Survived Easter – Check
Spring Break event - Check
International World Changers trained – Check
Taxes Prepared – Check
Adoption Finger Prints Round…(I’ve lost count) – Check
USCIS Paperwork – Check
National World Changers trained – Check
T-Shirt designs – Almost Check

It has been an interesting ride and the summer seems to be more of the same, a few more hurdles and look out Romania and Chattanooga, here we come.

Here’s a quick look at the next few weeks:

May 16 - Grad Sunday, AM Service
May 21-22 - Graduation Weekend
May 23 - Preaching during AM Service
June 2 - International World Changers final meeting
June 11 – Leave for Romania

OK God, feeling stressed, fill in the gaps and prepare my heart!

GO-Kart Frenzy

I had a blast with our students riding Go-Karts and playing mini golf during spring break. I had the chance to get to know a few students better and really enjoyed hanging out! Here are the long awaited pictures. I have also created an album on the Gum Branch Facebook page.

Re-Connect

How shallow can we be? We hide our inmost pain and fears from others as we keep the people who could help us at arms length. What are we so afraid of? Hurt, separation, mocking are just a few of the things we are afraid of. Why do we struggle so? The Bible teaches us that if we share our burden it is eaiser to bear. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says: “Two are better than on because they have a good reward for their efforts. For if either falls, his companion can lift him up; but pity the one who falls without another to lift him up. Also, if two lie down together, they can keep warm; but how can one person alone keep warm? And if somebody overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands in to easily broken.”

We know it is easier to share our burdens yet we don’t. Why? We have become so self centered that others have no place in our lives. We have become a society of individuals without a connection to others and most importantly we have lost our connection to God.

The loss of our connection has been a slow process it was not lost over night. Because of this the journey back will not be an overnight process.

Rediscovering our connection begins with the realization that the connection has been lost. To regain your connection with others you need to surround yourself with good Christian men and women who will help nurture you and who will provide you with a safe environment to share your thoughts, struggles, burdens and other demons. Your connection to and with God is the easiest and yet the hardest to regain. You must first put aside anything that is causing the separation and confess any unconfessed sin in your life. Then just talk to God and tell Him what’s on your mind. Daily quiet time and prayer help maintain the connection and strengthen your relationship with God by conforming your will to His.

May God bless you as you get re-CONNECTED.

TRANSFORMED

As we live a life consumed by God we will find our lives being transformed into His likeness. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says: “We all with unveiled faces are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.” I find the more I think about transformation two questions come up. First, do I want to be transformed and second, how am I transformed?

Do I want to be transformed? Transformation has a cost and am I willing to pay the cost? What will I have to sacrifice in order to be transformed? These are personal and often times painful questions we must ask as we search our hearts. Take a moment to soul search before you continue. Do you want transformation in your life?

So you want to be transformed. What next? First you must have a relationship with God through His Son Jesus. For He is the Only Way, the Only Truth and the Only Life, you cannot connect to God without Jesus in your heart and life. Titus 3:5 says: “He saved us not by works of righteousness that we had done but according to His Mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit." After establishing that you have a relationship with God you must put aside things that are not glorifying to Him. Ephesians 4:22 & 23 tells us our old selves are corrupted by deceitful desires and our minds will be renewed by the Holy Spirit when we put them aside. Romans 12:2 says: “Do not be conformed but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good pleasing and perfect will of God.” How do we renew our minds? Let’s see, read your Bible and pray…regular worship attendance and discipleship with other believers helps too!

Transformation is a long process and you could argue that it is never complete in this life. Are you ready to begin? Take the first step.

Consumed

I have been doing a lot of soul searching the last two weeks and have not found all the answers I am seeking but have come upon some thoughts I’d like to share. The first one is founded around the word consume.

CONSUME. To Consume: to do away with completely; to spend wastefully; to eat or drink especially in great quantity; to engage fully.

Consume can be either good or bad depending on how we look at it. If we let a situation consume us to the point where we are no good to anyone, including ourselves, we are consumed badly. I have allowed my circumstances the last several weeks consume me and rob me of my joy, this is a horrible way to be consumed and yet I have allowed it to happen. I know it is ok to grieve and be sad but I must not allow it to consume my every moment. God gives us grace to make it through so I need to keep my eyes focused on Him. Are you being consumed by something and allowing it to take your joy?

So, what is consumed in a good or beneficial way? In Psalms, David writes, "Zeal for Your house will consume me." God is referred to as an all consuming fire. It we allow ourselves to be consumed by the fire of God, we will put away things that separate us from Him and others. By doing this we allow Him to use and transform us into His likeness. By becoming more like Him, our lives will be changed along with the lives of those around us.

Allow God to CONSUME you, not the things that will keep you down.

Be CONSUMED and Transformed.