Loving God. Loving People. - Daniel and Becky Haverkos

Malawi Bibles

Mon, 8 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Our squad has been blessed with the opportunity to impact the country of Malawi in an incredible way. For the month of March AIM will be collecting money to purchase as many bibles as possible for the nation of Malawi. As we mentioned in one of our blogs back in January the people of this country are so unbelievable hungry for the word of God. In many of the villages there is often times only a single bible that must be shard by hundreds of people. We are trying as a squad to raise enough money to purchase 1800 bibles. With tax season coming up I"m sure some of you have deductions on the brain so please pray about this opportunity and if you feel called to help we would be so grateful if you could follow the below instructions to make a tax deductible donation.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support

Here are the easy steps to follow to get the money in the right account. PLEASE DO NOT PUT MONEY IN BECKY AND MY SUPPORT ACCOUNT SINCE IT WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRANSFERRED INTO THIS ACCOUNT.

www.theworldrace.org

Please click the tab "Donate" on the top right side of the page.

Click on the link "Click Here To Give!" This will take you to the donation page.

In the box that appears, you will see:

ONLINE DONATION INFORMATION

Please select "Support a World Race Project" under Choose Program.

Please enter "2010Mar I Squad" in the Project field provided in order to be sure your funds will go into the account designated for this ministry.

These gifts are tax-deductible.

If you wish to send a donation by mail, please make your check payable to Adventures In Missions and mail it to:

Adventures In Missions

P.O. Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470

Please indicate "World Race Project Fund - 2010Mar I Squad" in the memo section of the check.

Again Please do not put money in my support account. Please follow these easy steps for a tax-deductible donation.

Thank you

The Durian Challenge

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Here is a blog and video our teammate Cori posted of some team bonding...Durian style.

A few weeks ago, our team went out with our contacts for some authentic Malaysian food. It was yummy.

But then, of course, we had to try a fruit... the fruit. Durian. If you haven't heard of it, google it. (It was even used on an episode of Fear Factor apparently.) It's pretty much just plain nasty and only a select few can tolerate it. It also comes alongside a very distinct smell.

Here is most of our team attempting to push it down our throats (I think Daniel chickened out and never tried it). You'll have to travel to SE Asia yourself someday to fully appreciate all of its lovely, distinct flavors.

A Whole New World

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

We arrived in Malaysia on February 3^rd. My initial thought as we came out of Africa and entered into South East Asia was that we would be leaving the "bush" and arriving in the "jungle". I was pleasantly disappointed as we arrived in Kuala Lumpur which in many ways resembles NY City. This is one of the largest melting pots of three religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Christianity makes up less than 5% of the population here. There are almost two million people here from all over the Eastern hemisphere including India, China, Thailand and Japan just to name a few.

We are working and living at a refugee school called Harvest Center which has been quite a change of pace from what we experienced over the past three months in Africa. The school is one of the first of its kind here in Malaysia as they teach utilizing the Montessori teaching method with the 700+ students who attend the school. The children range in age from four all the way up to eighteen.

The work we are doing here is all over the shop as we are learning what it means to be servants to the truest definition of the word. We have done a whole range of projects here at the school ranging on the bottom end from cleaning the stairwells to helping teaching in the classrooms. Our normal work day starts at 7:30am and runs through 6pm with a short 20 minute lunch break.

The school has won a grant to produce the same Montessori materials for 34 other schools around the nation who are in desperate need for teaching guidance. With that grant we have spent several entire days over the past few weeks copying, laminating, cutting, binding and packaging more than 10,000 pages of lesson plans. The focus on working non-stop seems very reminiscent of life in America. It has been difficult to maintain the level of intimacy and focus on my relationship with God during many days that seem to run together with an unending amount of work to be done. It has been a nice glimpse into what living a life for God is going to look like when we get back to the States instead of simply trying to fit God into my life, which up until the World Race, has been all I've ever know.

We have met some amazing kids here at the school and it is going to be really sad to have to say goodbye at the end of the week. We are still waiting for approval from Harvest to put up pictures of the students and teachers here. We are hoping to get those up soon. God bless.

PS. I forgot to mention it but we ended up completely changing all of the teams around at the end of last month. Our new team is jam packed with a bunch of studs. Here are our new teammates: Marissa, Cori, Kaleb, Tiffany and Scottie, after eating way too much Malaysian food at a place called Glutton Street here in KL. They take their food very seriously here and so does Team 7Seas.

Valentine UP

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Brother Elias

Sun, 7 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

In November, our squad was introduced to one of God's men in Vilankulos, Mozambique. Elias Bene was born in 1981 in Malawi and now lives in Mozambique. He blessed us as our translator from Thanksgiving to just before the Christmas holiday.

Elias (or Elijah as I know him) has a heart of gold and is one of the most gifted people I have ever met. He shared with us the journey God has taken him thus far in his life and the visions that have been given to him of the future.

It was our absolute pleasure getting to know Elias over those few weeks at the end of last year. Two weeks ago, we were fortunate to reunite with Elias in his home town of Beira, about 8 hours north of Vilankulos. Becky and I spent a week visiting with him at his small cement and stick hut about 7 kilometers outside of Mozambique's second largest city. We were able to meet his 21 year old brother Anthony, the teenage boys from the soccer team that he coaches and most importantly the 21 orphans that he has dedicated his life to.

Elias's story is one that needs to be told. Not because of the honorable man that he is. And not because of the incredible circumstances that he has had to endure and overcome. His story is one that needs to be told because it has nothing to do with him and everything to do with his Father.

A Bug's Life

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

As we wrap up our time in Africa, we wanted to share with you some photo's of bugs that we have seen over the course of the last three months. Enjoy.

God bless and Love.

Two Roses and a Holly Bean

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

Jeremiah 1:4-5

A big congratulations to Daniel and Crystal Havey (Becky's brother and sis-in-law) and Paul and Katie Clark (Daniel's sister and bro-in-law) on the birth of their beautiful daughters.

Welcome to the Planet to Kerrigan Rose Havey born on October 28 and Bridget Rose Clark born on January 26.

Also, we want to wish our beautiful niece Holly Allison Havey a very happy third birthday on January 29! We love you Holly and can't wait to sing the backpack song with you in just a few months.

We love you family and miss you so much!

The Truth in Love

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

-Ephesians 5:14

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

1 Corinthians 13:6

Truth in love. This is something I have struggled with for so long. Way back at training camp in March, someone said to me - "Becky, you need to learn how to speak the truth in love." At that time I thought it was something that I would just get' one day. I thought I would wake up and would be speaking truth in love all over the place. Well, here I am, about to enter month number eight of our trip and the concept of truth in love' is still heavy on my heart. Just this week, I have realized that this is something I will need to consciously work on for the rest of my life. It's funny how we think we can solve our biggest challenges in life in a day or two.

I love love. I love loving people and I love being loved by people. I love it that God loves me and I love to love God. However, somewhere along the line a mix up happened in how I have seen the world. I love those that I can love. I have so much mercy and grace for these people. It just so happens, that most people fall into my lovable category and I love these people in the deepest and truest way. When I love people in this way, I know that God is truly working through me. I feel like I am living for my true purpose. When I cry with people, when they share their hurt, when I rejoice with people in their victories...I know that is what God created me to do.

However, there is another side of me. There is a side of me that finds a few people very difficult to love. For some reason, I have always allowed myself to separate and distance myself from these people. I think that since I get along with and love most people, I hardly noticed that I treat these other people in such a manner. I allow myself to have this pocket of judgment and dislike instead of compassion, mercy and love.

A funny thing about God is that He won't let me get away with being less than He has called me to be. Jesus tells us in Matthew, Chapter 5 that we are to love not only the lovable, but our enemies and those that are hard to love. This year He has put in my path some major challenges in loving people. I believe God did this because He is pushing me to love the way He loves. And I find it so incredibly difficult.

Last week, God started to reveal to me how He loves and see's some people. I didn't want to see it. I wanted to keep fighting and seeing things my way. I wanted to hold onto my judgments because if I let them go that might have meant that I was wrong. But God has shown me that my judgment doesn't matter. It's not about right or wrong. It's about love. If I can't love the people He has called me to, I know I will never have the space to speak the truth to them in love. And I will not provide them with the necessary space to speak truth to me. He wants me to help people see themselves how He sees them, but with eyes of judgment there is no compassion and no mercy and no grace and there is no way to deliver that message.

Once I let go of judgment, what is left is love. Love, but also truth. Love without truth is fluff. It's not real. Really loving people is challenging them to be what God wants them to be. I will be able to do this in the relationships that are hard, but only if I move out of the way and allow God to work.

So for now and for the rest of my life, I am challenged to pour love out....equally, freely, and truthfully with grace, compassion, and mercy.

LOVE.

How does God feel about Haiti?

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Seth Barnes, the director of Adventures in Missions, the parent organization of the World Race, wrote a blog that we wanted to share with you.

We also have received some questions from people about whether or not we will be heading to Haiti for the relief effort. The World Race can send us anywhere in the world that is in the greatest need. As far as we know at this point we will be continuing on our Race route and flying to Malaysia at the end of this month. We do know that AIM is responding to the crisis in Haiti with contacts they currently have in the Dominican Republic, which is about four hours from Port-au-Prince. There is also a group of alumni World Racers that will be traveling to Haiti tomorrow to help aid the people in desparate need there as well as prepare for short-term teams to arrive. We will keep you updated on any additional information as we recieve it. Please continue to pray for the people of this country.

God weeps for his children. He sees the horror they're experiencing in Haiti and he feels a grief that human words cannot describe. He sees the woman holding her crushed child and he feels the sorrow coursing through her being. He wants to hold her in the same way.

The sovereignty of God is a mystery that seems at odds with a tragedy of this scale. As humans we struggle to explain how a good and omnipotent God can allow it.

Worship is the proper response, not speculation or theology on the cheap. For a Christian leader to speculate on national television, for example, about the linkage between the country's leaders' pact with the devil centuries ago and this calamity is irresponsible and grossly insensitive. It's an anthropomorphic syllogism akin to Peter asking Jesus for permission to build booths on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Too often we Americans let our rational minds spin with speculative and convoluted proof-texting. And I want to say, "Can we just stop having to explain this God of ours in ways that bring our tiny minds a shabby and evanescent peace? Can we just let his response be the one that he took four chapters to give Job* starting with, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?"

God help us when we go through our similar tragedy one day, be it through cancer or a car accident. We will have a choice, to bow at the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and ask "Why?" Or, to bow at the tree of Life and worship. Let's choose the latter, knowing that our God weeps for his children in Haiti.

*Job 38-41

Finding Jamie

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Meet Jamie

A little boy.

Just 10 years old.

An orphan.

He has no parents.

No grandparents.

No siblings.

He doesn't know where they are.

He doesn't know how long he has been alone.

He lives on the streets of Beira, Mozambique.

He sleeps on the beach exposed.

His only friends are young women who prostitute their bodies to survive.

Jamie was hit by a mini-bus last week.

His foot was hurt badly.

We see homeless children every day on this trip.

It would have been easy to walk by and ignore him.

God opened our eyes and let us see him.

God wanted us to help Jamie.

God broke our hearts.

We love him.

Last Thursday, we brought him with us for our day of ministry.

But first we watched Finding Nemo.'

This was absolutely necessary :)

These 1.5 hours have been some of my favorite on the Race.

He watched.

He listened.

He laughed.

He was concerned about Nemo.

He was a normal little boy.

At lunch, we explained Jamie's situation to Pastor Mario and to our good friend Elia.

Both men stepped up to God's call.

After confirming Jamie's story, both have offered to love, care for his foot and help him find a home.

Jamie is soon to be living at either the YWAM orphanage in Beira or with Elias.

Praise God for how He works through the body.

Because there is one loaf, our manyness becomes oneness. Christ doesn't become fragmented in us. Rather, we become unified in him. We don't reduce Christ to what we are; he raises us to what he is.

1 Corinthians 10:17 (The Message)

Walking the Walk

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

There's no "i" in pr I de

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Four months ago in Bucharest, Romania, God alerted me to an area of my life that I have long been neglecting. Ever since I was old enough to realize that I existed, and that people could pay attention to me over others, I have subconsciously been dealing with this problem. The issue that God was bringing to my attention was my pride.

As I lay in the grassy field of our ministry site in Bucharest, Romania, a cool, autumn breeze rushed over my face. I had been laying there, staring up at the cloud scattered blue sky for about half an hour when the startling realization planted itself in the forefront of my mind. For the past few months, and really for the previous thirty years of my life, I have been pretty content with the fact that I have lived a relatively sinless life. I consider myself to be a fairly good human being. I will certainly be the first to admit that I have had a few struggles over the years with money and a desire for success, but I have never felt like there was anything major in my life that I've needed to completely overhaul. That was until God gave me a vision of an angel named Lucifer falling from heaven because of one of the most basic sins that man has ever known.

The devil's first and worst sin was his belief that he could do things better than God. Satan was comparing himself to the Almighty and his pride had overtaken him. The more I thought about the person that I have become in this life, the easier it was to recognize that not only do I need some serious work, but I happen to share the greatest sin that Satan prides' himself in.

I have been focusing much of my studies over the past few months on what the bible teaches about pride, and more importantly humility. It has been an incredible journey. I used to despise the word humility'. In my mind, to be humble meant to belittle myself or to become weak and not live up to the full potential that God had placed on my life. But when you really think about it the ultimate example of humility was given to us by God when he took on the appearance of man and sent His only son to Earth to die on a cross for all of our sins. The root of our pride originates with a basic desire to compare ourselves with those around us. We are prideful in our achievements, our jobs, our pay, our possessions, and seemingly everything else that God has blessed us with. I have come to the realization that the only true comparison that one should ever rightfully make is with Jesus Christ. In comparison to Him it is painfully clear that we all have a long way to go. Thank God for grace.

One of the best perspectives I have ever heard on this issue of pride vs. humility was delivered by CJ Mahaney, who just so happened to write the book entitled Humility. He describes the difference between these two words in the following manner. Pride is something that can be achieved, but the alternative is simply an attitude of pursuing humility. I mean have you ever heard someone state that they were proud to announce that they have finally achieved humility. It's like someone cheering on their own victory at a humble pie eating contest. It just doesn't fly.

In chapter two of Philippians, Apostle Paul encourages us to consider others better than ourselves. The word humility has absolutely nothing to do with ourselves and everything to with those around us. God has been working on my heart these last few months and giving me a better understanding of what my true purpose is. This life has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with Him. And with His people.

So that is where I stand at the moment. Even as I type the final words of this blog I feel convicted that I have just written an entire page about my own selfish thoughts. Clearly, I still have a long way to go. If you have any insight on the matter I would love to hear your comments. Thanks for reading and God bless.

Conquering the Black Mamba

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

2 Timothy 1:7

On our second morning in Mozambique, Daniel was walking back to our tent as something caught his eye. He was taken back as a white liquid substance dripped down from a tree above him and landed right in his path. We had experienced large amounts of sap leaking onto our tent the night before so the thought was fresh on his mind. Daniel glanced upwards expecting to locate the source of yet another sap filled tree or at worst maybe a bird flying overhead. About two feet above him was an oddly shaped tree branch...or so he thought. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the long stick' looking object was in fact the tail of a dark colored snake. The white substance that he assumed was sap turned out to be liquidy snake poop. Not thinking much more of it, Daniel scampered by and went on to get breakfast. As we shared a bowl of African porridge he mentioned to me, and some of our other teammates, that he came about a foot from ruining the first hot shower he had enjoyed in over a week by the overhead excretion of a snake.

Word spread pretty quickly about the snake and our contact, Jaco, who owns and lives at the property where we were camping came out to take a look. As soon as he saw the snake up in the tree, he firmly asked everyone to back up. "What kind of snake is it?" we repeatedly asked. I wish I had misheard the words that came out of Jaco's mouth. Black Mambas don't live in America so for those of you who aren't familiar with this rare breed it is considered by much of the world to be the most poisonous snake on the planet. The venom of the Black Mamba typically starts to paralyze humans after roughly fifteen minutes and if you can't get to a hospital that carries the anti-venom serum within an hour of being bitten your chances of survival are virtually nil. With the closest hospital to Jaco's house being more than two hours away a feeling of tension blanketed our camp.

For those who know me (and my greatest fears), the mere mention of the word snake' sends tingles up my spine. My fear of snakes originated as a young child when my dad used to tell my brother and I a made up story about a Black Mamba snake. He would tell us about a giant snake that would chase humans around by standing on its tail before eating them whole. As ridiculous as I know that fictional story was, it has always seemed to haunt me.

Jaco tried to kill the snake in the tree, but it escaped into the thatched roof of our bathroom. Everyone felt a bit of relief as he informed us that snakes really don't like to be around humans and are typically pretty easily scared off. For about an hour, everyone took caution around the bathroom area although a few brave (and desperate) teammates did venture in to relieve themselves. As everyone was finally starting to calm down, Jaco came out of the bathroom and announced that he had found the snake hidden away and nestled into a corner of the roof! Jaco came back from his shed with an eight foot long stick with jagged metal spikes on the end of it.

I am going to go ahead and let the video tell the rest of the story, but I will leave you with one final thought:

After everything that occurs in the video you are about to watch Jaco placed the dead' snake in the back of his truck to drive it out somewhere to be burned. When Jaco returned, he informed us that the snake actually wasn't dead and that it had started to move around in the back of his truck trying to find a way out. Jaco swerved his vehicle off to the side of the road and jumped out of the driver's seat. He pulled the Black Mamba out of the truck and decapitated it before setting the scaly body on fire.

Enjoy the film.

Another Typical Christmas Eve - Part 2

Fri, 1 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

To read the first blog in this series click here: Another Typical Christmas Eve

I led the seven men through a short prayer and as they opened their eyes a quiet peace came over me as I watched them take their first eternal breaths as sons of the Most High. God has really been working through me over the past few weeks as He has led me to guide almost a hundred people in Africa to claim their salvation and start a relationship with the One who gave it all.

We visited several more houses that afternoon before returning to the small thatched roof church which was supported by a few wood posts. One of our teammates gave a short sermon to about 30 people before calling anyone up to the front who was in need of prayer. As I started to pray for an elderly woman I noticed a younger girl in her early twenties to my left who was being prayed for by one of my other teammates Amanda. The girl began to fall over and it was everything Amanda could do to assist her gently to the ground. She laid there quietly on the ground for about ten seconds when it started. Out of nowhere, the girl started screaming and her body flailed wildly. Frances came over to hold her down so she didn't hurt anyone around her or herself. As she continued to spasm more out of control I rushed over to assist him in holding her. She slowly rose up to her feet and then broke free from us and took off running and yelling. A herd of children followed her as she ran to a nearby house and disappeared into the dark doorway.

Bex and I tentatively walked over to the house following three of our other teammates along with two interpreters. To this day I am not quite sure exactly what actually happened inside that small concrete home. Our teammates prayed for the girl in the same way I can only assume Jesus did as recorded in chapter five of the book of Mark, when he cast out a demon from a man. Bex and I sat by quietly and comforted the girl as the translator interpreted the prayers from our teammates. After about an hour had passed the girl said she was feeling better after the violent vomiting had calmed down to an occasional dry heave. The girl's facial expression and overall demeanor had drastically changed from the two hours earlier when she arrived at the outdoor church. She now seemed to have a sense of relief and almost joy over her entire being.

We caught the kombi home just before a down pour hit the area, which has become pretty typical here in the rainy season. We arrived back at our camp just before dark and I finished off the day with one final surprise. My insulin pump was beeping out of control. I retrieved it from my pocket to read an alert informing me about a "button error". I had never seen this kind of alert before but true to form none of the buttons on my pump were working from that point forward. Luckily enough, Becky and I dug up my back up pump and put it into action.

So there you have it. Just another typical December 24th in Africa. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.

Childhood Dreams - Swazi-style

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Here is a video from our time with the children of the Remar Center in Swaziland. While working with the kids, we spent much of our time focusing on dreams and goals. So many of the kids at the center reignited their dreams and realized that God has a plan for each of their lives. Just in the short time we were there, they started encouraging one another and speaking words of motivation over one another each day. These kids have dreams, big dreams, God-sized dreams. These kids can change Swaziland by bringing God's Kingdom to it's people. However, many of them need our help to reach their dreams. They are not in school at the moment because they are in need of sponsors. They need your encouragement and love.

If you are interested in getting to know these children better, sponsoring a child or learning more about the Remar Center, please visit www.remarswaziland.org.

We apologize for the delay in posting this video. We have finally found an internet connection fast enough to upload for your viewing pleasure. We will be posting more videos in the next couple of days.

LOVE to you ALL!

The Road Less Traveled

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:24-25

Before coming on the Race, I knew that we would be living a life of poverty this year - camping in our tent for much of the time and eating less that we are used to. In fact, our team's budget for food is a whopping $2 per day, per person which, as you can imagine, is the bare minimum. Daniel and I have slept in our tent for several nights each month and in some countries for the entire month. This is the kind of life that Daniel and I needed to live to reprogram our brains from our lives at home. We have spent most of our lives up to this point striving to live out the "American Dream" and constantly desiring nicer cars, a bigger, fancier house and the collection of more stuff' in general. We have already learned so much on the Race and are finally getting used to our modified lifestyle here in the mission field.

With that said, God is showing me that even as poor' Racers, we still live such a life of luxury compared to a large majority of the world. To travel here to Malawi last week, we experienced our most uncomfortable transportation so far on the Race. We spent 42 exhilarating hours in the back of a flat bed truck. Every bump in the road, of which there are oh so many in Africa, felt like a Mike Tyson uppercut to each butt cheek. The idea of finding enough room to lay down to sleep was a long lost dream as any attempt to stretch out would immediately result in kicking one of our beloved squad mates in the face.

It was hot, it was dusty, and the word uncomfortable barely seems to scratch the surface.

It was exactly what many of us imagined our life would be like on the Race.

While we were driving we would tie our food bags to the top of the truck to create more space for our bodies. At one stop, Daniel and I bought chocolate milk (a truly rare item in Africa), roasted chicken (oh protein), and some cookies (we hadn't seen Oreos in more than 2 months!). I was so excited to eat our lunch - a wonderful treat in the face of uncomfortable surroundings. I tried to settle back in as we started moving and was even starting to doze off when...BANG!

...our food bag ripped off the ceiling, exploding the milk off of Daniel's head and fell out of the back of our moving prison on wheels! I was really sad, but we were in a truck with 26 other people, so I just kept my eyes closed and tried to let it go as the hunger pains dug in. We were faced with one final night of driving and no food.

Sad, sad, sad.

Once I got over the initial shock of losing our food, I started to ask God why He wanted us in this truck and maybe more specifically, why He didn't want our food in there with us. I was waiting for an answer as I started noticing people on the street behind us as we drove. I watched women carrying giant buckets of water on their heads, kids filling the potholes in the streets in the hopes of a few coins, and homesteads where way too many people are living without enough food or water. And I remembered one of the reasons I wanted to go on this trip: To learn not to define my life by the comforts that surround me and certainly not to think of blessings from above as my God given rights. Was I really going to complain about going a few more hours without having a few delicious treats that more than 90% of the world may never taste in their entire life time? Do I even know what the phrase roughing it' really means? I am so blessed.

A short fourteen hours later, we arrived at the Malawi border and were greeted with an early morning down pour. The pain in my rear started to ache from all the bumps over the past two days. My mind began to slip back into how difficult our travel had been over two thousand kilometers of Mozambican roadway. I glanced up and noticed a true' flat bed truck roaring by with women crammed in twice as tightly as we had been and no covering to protect them. For these women, today was just another Thursday in the rainy season. I have never even come close to living that. Wow, we didn't just rough it...we still live in luxury.

I feel that God has been teaching me to continue to let go of my rights of comfort and luxury. After seven months on the Race, I want my house back, I want to be clean, I want a bed with fluffy pillows, I want to eat what I want when I want it, and I want to watch movies and veg out. I don't want to walk everywhere we go - I want to ride in a taxi or my own car! I know that these last few months are going to be so important for me to cement in what I have experienced and learned thus far. I can choose to really change or just live this year out and go back to my comfortable life. I can use this year as a stepping stone into the beginning of a new life or I can finish up these final 120 days and remember it only as an awesome year from a few dusty pictures that we store in our attic.

Real change is hard. That is what God is teaching me.

God's Love Language - Part 2

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Love Language of "touch" has often been the one that I have always been convinced had no place in this conversation. I mean how can you possibly "touch" God? I had no idea of that answer until going on this mission trip. When I first touched the face of my friend Mynor at the cerebral palsy hospital in Guatemala back in July, I have the strange sense that God could feel it. When I think about all the handshakes, and hugs, and pats on the back in encouragement that we have given to so many men, women and children around the world I have to believe that God can feel our expression of love.

My primary LL is "Words of Affirmation". It would seem that God would be the last one who would ever desire these kinds of words spoken to Him as He knows all things as He is, after all, the creator of the universe. You would think that if you go by the name "I AM" then you probably don't need a whole lot of encouragement or confirming words spoken over you. As I read through the Psalms and see all the wonderful ways that God is praised I start to think that maybe this could be His primary LL. I mean David is typically regarded as having as more favor in the eyes of the Lord than any other man who has ever walked the earth. When I see the way David openly praised his Father and spoke words of affirmation out loud to Him I have to believe that God felt so much love from him. There may not be any other person in history who has verbalized their love for God to such an incredible magnitude. How great must God feel sitting up in heaven alongside His boy David who showered him with so much love while he was here on Earth.

And that brings me to the final LL of "Quality Time". This one has always seemed to elude me as I have found that I would rather spend a day filled with brief meetings with a hundred different people rather than spending some good old fashion QT with a single individual. The fact that my wife's primary (and she might contend only) Love Language is quality time means that I am constantly working on my ability to love her in the way that she naturally desires to receive love. I am led to believe that God may be left feeling this same way often times.

As human beings, and even more specifically as Americans, we seem to be so good at packing full our daily schedules. To most people out there, the idea of spending quality time with God is probably downright absurd. But the more I think about it the more I am convinced that this is how our Father best receives love. He wants us to think about Him, listen to Him, communicate with Him and focus our lives on Him. When Becky and I first got married, I used to think that if we spent a couple hours on the couch together watching a TV show or a sports game together that I was satisfying her love language of spending quality time together. Sadly, I was way off the mark. I wonder how empty God must feel when so many of His children neglect Him on such a regular basis. If God's lucky, He may get a half hearted hour of attention from His children on Sunday mornings.

We certainly won't have an answer to this question of what is God's primary Love Language until we are standing before Him in heaven. At that point, we will be blessed with eternity to pour every ounce of our soul into loving, praising and worshiping Him. Until then, I would love to hear which of the five love languages you believe God most deeply desires. If you have a minute to post a response I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts. Peace and love.

Lions, Rhinos and Camels...Oh my!

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Another Typical Christmas Eve

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On Thursday, we made it through a relatively boring, and for the most part, typical Christmas Eve. We woke up around 6:45am and got in a quick morning workout before heading out for a day of ministry. The sun comes up around 4:30am here in Malawi and by 9am the temperature is usually starting to flirt with the 90 degree mark. We headed out from camp for our standard 2 km walk before catching a Kombi, the local public transportation here. Bex and I left a few minutes before the rest of our team so we could swing by the one and only book store here in town and pick up what may go down as the most appreciated Christmas gift we have ever given. After picking up the freshly wrapped NIV bible which was printed in the local language of Chichewa, we nestled into the 8-passenger kombi van already packed full with 16 seated Malawians.

After about 20 minutes riding over roughly 5 km of bumpy dirt roads in a van that hasn't seen shocks since the turn of the millennium, we arrived at our destination. We had spent the past three days in a small village just outside of the capital city of Lilongwe, which is fondly refer to as Area 36. The trash covered dirt roads were lined with street vendors who sold everything from half penny candies to goat intestines packaged in sandwich bags. We met up with our contact, Pastor Chadrack, and we were on our way. As we walked along, I felt the Pastor's hand reaching over to hold mine. The instinctive shock of this practice has worn off since we been in African for almost two months now. The holding hands part as we walk really isn't all that strange at this point as one could compare this familiar African tradition to that of shaking hands in America. The thing that does still take be a bit by surprise is the whole grown men interlocking fingers thing, but maybe that's just me ;-)

As we arrived in Area 36, we met up with the rest of our team and divided up to head out for door-to-door ministry. Bex and I partnered up with our good friend Trish and our translator Francis. At the first house we visited we were welcomed by a group of four middle aged men who were sitting on a few jagged rocks that protruded from their dirt covered front yards'. Francis thought we should continue on and by pass these four who were clearly intoxicated at 10 in the morning, but we felt a specific calling that we needed to spend some time with these guys. After we introduced ourselves and found out their names and about their families I shared a passage from the gospel with them.

All four men told us that they knew about Christ, which is a pretty typical response here in Malawi, as Jesus bumper stickers, hats and t-shirts are pretty standard garb. I proceeded to ask them what they knew about heaven as another three men from the next house over started making their way to where we were seated. The group of seven now started openly discussing what they thought about "God's home", as they called it, and the conversation quickly arrived at a position that they all seemed to be in agreement. They explained that if someone was a good enough person and followed the Ten Commandments then they would be allowed into heaven. I was pleasantly surprised that this group of men had a pretty strong understanding of God's word, both New and Old Testament, although the smell of cheap beer seemed to ooze off their bodies. When we had first asked them how familiar they were with the Bible they humbly answered that they did not know very much but that was clearly an understatement.

I led them through chapter three of the book of Romans and we discussed how "all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God". I shared with them my same misunderstanding about salvation from five years earlier. I shared with them from the book of Ephesians in chapter two verses eight and nine how it is the gift of God's grace that we have been saved through our faith in Jesus Christ. That we will never be able to earn our way into heaven by our own efforts or actions, but rather by simply believing in the One who died for us on a cross and forgave us for all our sins, past, present and future. The men were taken back by this information. They asked several questions ranging from keeping the Sabbath a holy day to why Judas betrayed Jesus. I was astonished at their depth of knowledge, but saddened that they had never heard the most important truth of the Bible. The son of God had come down to Earth to give us freedom and salvation into heaven. As we began to close our conversation, which was pushing in on almost an hour and a half, I referenced one final verse of scripture. I shared with them Romans 10:9, who ever confessed with their mouth that "Jesus is Lord" and believes in their heart that God raised him from the dead, would be saved'. As I asked if any of them would like to start a relationship with Jesus Christ the youngest man, Weston, slowly lifted his hand. The other six men followed a few seconds later raising their hands as well.

To Be Continued...

Prayers from Romania To Mozambique

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Romania:

Denklen, Jim, Tony, Pat, Kerrigan, Bobby, Christov, Flower, Andre, Creov, Paul, Sake, Raul, Cristi, Eddy, Vlad, Vlad, Marina, Micky, Sobe, Jorge, Rosi, Yotso, Juse, Emoke, Etouche, Pastor Z, Ire, Yuni, Ani, Chubby, Irane, Yune, Dmtry, Diana, Illisa, Tatyana, Vlad, Astinec, Marian, Antonica, Liliana, Justi, Yefar, Virgil, Mari, Andre, Vali, Natasha, Nicolli, Danny, Alex, Marius, Marius, Maria, Nico, Miha, Manu, Gobi, Becky, Christi, John, Victor, Christina, Delores, Elaina, Florentia, Colla, Martinan, Connie, Estara, Juan, Maria, Tara, Storge, Florin, Valentina, Billie, Colin, Alex, Alin, Michael, Tony, Bayon, Mario, Vacit, Jean, Nicoleta, Mindy, Maud, Michelle, Catalin, Catalin, Alysa, Nicholas, Christo, Victor, Patrick, Doyna, Bogdam, Eon, George, Costel, Chinana, Roxanne, Jetta, Deedee, Katie, Milchav, Leigh, Peter, Tricky, Dr, Hanson, Danielle, Valentin, Carlos, Missy, John, Gary, Christopher, Jackie, Florin, Shannon, Linda, Dixie, Nancy, Tara, Dani, Bean, Chipre, 15 kids at the VBS camp

Israel:

Naseem, Khaleed, Fatima, Hanan, Manal, Shorok, Wessal, Saja, Dania, Saja, Walaa, Abed, Josef, Majed, Malek, Asmaa, Mahdi, Ahlam, Amani, Yasmin, Morejan, Rana, Sajod, Amera, Khalel, Misaloon, Baraah, Tharaa, Amane, Fatmeh, Sereen, Ahmad, Rana, Safaa, Warda, Serene, Sena, Rafala, Narmeen, Zenb, Vaxvan, Needaa, Salam, Towfeek, Terek, Andy, Mamoon, Taiseer, Maisa, Hesham, Saleh, Rabal, Kasem, Moad, Kadeeja, Sojod, Shaima, Leena, Mais, Abella, Ameer, Taha, Mais, Shereem, Yousif, Aseel, Hannan, Ahmad, Weaam, Lameems, Ismael, Yemen, Saeed, Ons, Daha, Josef, Saeed, Ola, Malik, Linda, Ward, Akmed, Nania, Ahkmed, Mama, Zina, Abed, Rama, Nicole, Nathan, Juan, Lydia, Eldon, Arik, Mohammed x8, Abraham, Dick

Egypt:

Mac, Mo, Medo, Megda, Marijuan, Omar, Haroun, Ahmed, Nourymusa, Mohammed,

Swaziland:

Lucky, Ayanda, Fana, Sibonginseni, Sibonginkhosi, Boyboy, Mpendeulo, Sabino, Juandile, Banele, Menzi, Ndumiso, Thulani, Simanga, Sibusiso, Vanda, Joseph, Liony, Beneli, Buhle, Sizwe, Sifiso, Sifiso, Thando, Mpendula, Phumie

South Africa:

Shay, Kent, Teri

Mozambique:

Nomeiado, Zemoriah, Ziah, Belardo, Estevao, Paulo, Augusto, Manuel, Alexander, Shirela, Thomas, Rita, Gustino, Arina, Arnoldo, Ronelo, Maria, Helton, Mario, Shane, Jeremiah, Pedro, Chavier, Kumbi, Juvencio, Armando, Albeno, George, Sabona, Fausteno, Ahmad, Zemo, Nunes, Jackie, Leon, Elisha, Jaco, Maria, Maggie, Rudo, Joseph, Elijah, Shiam, Douglas, Raphael, Socrates, Benedito, Sipriano, Menvo, Lewis, Joseph, Gildo, Matilda, Alphendo, Rachel, Adriano, Albertino, Lorencia, Mariana, Feleciano, Emildo, Raphael, Saphino, Titus, Salimo, Americo, Samitu, Mamoul, Sercio, Amiro, Ziglu, Horacio, Castigo, Paulo, Zigrui, Nono, Jomelo, Ussen, Jengo, Laura, Emilia, Alfonso, Simon, Afanso, Samito, Marcel, Nito, Rodrique, Nallory, Carlos, Jafar, Deto, Ernesto, Manuel, Adriano, Felix, Salimu, Adir, Izidro, Nitodjemba, Ernesto, Octavio, Edson, 20 people at the Jesus film, 10 people from Walking with Jesus sermon

God's Love Language

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I am going to go ahead and assume at this point that everyone, and their mother, has read the book Love Languages' by Gary Chapman. Since Becky and I have made this book our default wedding/engagement/anniversary gift of choice for the past few years we know that a significant portion of the east coast now at least has this fantastic piece of literature on their bookshelf at home.

For those of you who have not yet taken the few of short hours to read this brilliant book, I encourage you to stop reading this blog right now and go pick it up. The premise of the Love Languages (LL) is that we, as human beings, receive love in one of five different ways. Love can be felt from those around us who give us gifts, acts of service, physical touch, quality time and words of affirmation. If you haven't yet completed the short quiz in the back of the book you can click on www.afo.net/hftw-lovetest.asp to take an abbreviated online version. This quiz will allow you to identify which of the five ways you best receive love. The interesting dilemma that often arises once you've identified your primary LL is that it is often times differs drastically from the way your spouse, family members and even closest friends prefer to receive love. The obvious problem that arises from this enigma is that we all have a tendency to love others in the same fashion that we best receive love. If our loved ones don't speak' the same love language that we do then many times the efforts we think we are putting forth to love those around us often times result in limited reception.

As you read on through these final few paragraphs I hope that at this point you have done two things. First off, I hope you have been intrigued enough to take the +/- seven minutes of your life to identify your love language via the online quiz. Secondly, and I believe much more importantly, I hope that you have encouraged your spouse, family members and/or friends to identify and share with you their primary LL so that you can more effectively work towards accomplishing what Jesus considered to be the second greatest commandment, "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39).

With that said, I have often wondered how this concept of identifying someone's Love Language, and acting upon, applies to The Greatest Commandment'. When Jesus commanded us to love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind', I sometimes have a hard time understanding exactly how I am supposed to go about loving someone who I cannot see or touch. The bible goes on and on about how much God unconditionally loves us but how are we supposed to most effectively love Him?

My first instinct leads me to believe that God's primary Love Language is "Acts of Service". In the book of James the idea of performing deeds along with good works of service to support one's faith rings loud and clear. Paul's entire life was dedicated to loving God through serving Him as the original apostle. In chapter 25 of the book of Matthew, Jesus tells us that whatever we do unto the least of these we do unto the King. He describes that when we feed the hungry, provide clothing to the needy or offer shelter to those who are homeless or sick our acts of love are received by the Father in Heaven.

That thought quickly takes me to the idea that maybe God's most deeply desires to receive love through our "Gifts". Of course we all know that God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son', as a sacrifice for our sins. In the book of Ephesians (2:8-9) we are told that "it is by grace we have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God, not by works". Since God's single greatest display of love to us was by giving us the free gift of salvation, wouldn't that lead us to the obvious conclusion that He in turn best receives love in that same manner? In the Old Testament, we are shown on numerous occasions that it is right to give the infamous "10%" figure of everything we earn back to God as a tithing gift. When I think about my own heart, "Gifts" ranks at the absolute bottom of my preferred Love Language. Ironically, I have often found that I have a tendency to show love to those around me by giving them gifts, more than any of the other expressions, or languages, of love. I wonder if this same phenomenon is true for the Lord almighty. I have to believe that God smiles down as He looks at those who give generously to others, thinking to Himself, "well done, my good and faithful servant." But does that mean that He feels most loved by the gifts we give to others in His name?

To Be Continued...

Living the life in Mozambique

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We are working and living with a family this month in Vilanculos, on the eastern coast of Mozambique bordering the Indian Ocean. Jaco is the pastor of a church called "Jesus for Africa" which he founded almost seven years ago. He has been called to teach this community about the love of Jesus and is a phenomenal father, husband, friend and man of God.

We are living out of our tents this month, in the yard of our host family which sits next to a beautiful lake. We had an interesting experience with a certain belly-dwelling on our second day here in Mozambique but we'll spare you the details on that endeavor until we are safely on to our next country. Our group of 21 people includes three teams and our squad leaders. We have been volunteering in the local hospital and prison four days a week. We have also had the honor of showing the movie The Passion' three times a week as well as running the church services on Sundays and Wednesdays. It has been amazing to see how God is working in Mozambique and in this town. Everyday people on our team have seen God working in amazing ways, with so many people coming to know Jesus.

The hospital here was ruined by a cyclone in 2007. Since that time, most of the units are in UN tents - the hospital looks like it is straight out of the old TV show MASH. We have seen God healing so many people in the hospital especially in the burn unit where we spend much of our time. One man who was burned by an oil lamp over a huge percentage of his body just 2 days before we arrived has new skin growing on his back without any scars! Over the last two weeks, almost every person in the burn unit has been sent home, fully recovered.

One of my favorite things this month has been going to people's homes nearby and getting to know them. We play with the kids and help out with whatever they need. I have loved learning how to clean pots with sand while having a baby strapped to my back (which later peed all over me!). The families and individuals we have met have been incredibly welcoming and so kind to us. The people here in Mozambique have such enormous hearts.

One thing I have absolutely loved this month, is watching Daniel preach. He delivered a message at church last Sunday and then led a crowd of almost twenty people to Christ following a showing of "The Passion" on Friday night. When he speaks, I can see the transformation of him from the Dan' that started on this trip to Daniel' - a man of God. He is becoming truly obedient to the call on his life right now, a humble man who is doing God's work and boasting in the Lord!

We have more stories about the people we are working with here this month which we will post as soon as we can. We haven't been able to post many blogs or send/receive emails because we have no internet access where we are living. We are headed to Malawi later this week and are not sure what our access to internet will be, but we will try to get some blogs up before we head out.

LOVE!

Our new friend Juvencio

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Our first Sunday in Vilanculos, Daniel and I sat outside the church before service and talked to people who were walking by.

A young boy sat with us for a while on a break from his daily work of selling hard boiled eggs. At thirteen years old Juvencio wakes up before 6am each morning and must sell each of the two dozen eggs to passerbyers on the street before heading to school at noon. Each egg costs 5 metacals (about 16 cents) but it is not uncommon for it to take Juvencio until well after 6pm to make his final sale which means he isn't able to attend school that day. Juvencio is in middle school and he speaks a little English to go along with his fluency in Portuguese as well as the local dialect of Sitchwa. Amazingly, Juvencio actually understands my questionable Spanish, which we've been able to get by with here in Mozambique, where their primary language is Portuguese. He loves to sing and spend time at the church. Since we met Juvencio, he has joined us for almost everything we have done here. Every movie showing, every service, and even when we visit the hospital his smiling face can always be found hanging around.

Juvencio reminds Daniel and I of Kevin, the boy we met in Kenya in 2007 on our honeymoon. God placed Kevin in our lives and used our friendship with him to change Daniel and my hearts forever - which eventually led us to a year of full time missions on the World Race. It has been incredible for us to build another relationship as strong as the one with Kevin.

Juvencio loves God, he prays with us, and reads the Bible before church and listens to each service. He has an amazing heart, a gentle spirit and loves playing with the boys. Our prayer for Juvencio is that in the next few years he will keep his heart with God and stays focused on the blessings in his life (an opportunity for education, a mom who loves him, and two amazing brothers).

LOVE.

Rallying Around the Remar Center

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

This month our team, Illumoonations, is volunteering at an orphanage called the Remar Center, in Manzini, Swaziland. For more information about Swaziland and the crisis facing this country and the wonderful people here, check out our last blog: The Funeral Business is Booming.

Our work at Remar includes running teacher training sessions, starting a garden, developing a database of the orphans, creating a website (www.remarswaziland.org), playing football (soccer), and Bible studies. We are working with kids who are either true orphans or come from families where the parents couldn't afford or were abusive to their children. We know that God put these children and this Center in our path on purpose. Our hearts are so filled with love for all of the orphans, the teachers, and the leadership of the Remar Center.

The children here are so blessed to have beds, clothes, and food, but the needs of the school are staggering. The Remar school uses books that have been donated by other local schools. However, there are only one or two textbooks for entire grade levels and the books are typically more than twenty years out of date. The library has only a few books that are very old and many of them are in Spanish - which is good, but not very useful when the kids are struggling to grasp reading and writing in the native language of Siswati and also English as a secondary language. Thankfully, the students have basic supplies such as notebooks and pencils however, there are no resources for crafts or even drawing. The children here could desperately use construction paper, crayons, glue, scissors and most importantly updated text books (in all subjects and for all levels up through high school).

If you feel called, we would love it if you could pray for the children, teachers, and leadership at Remar. Also, if you feel a greater calling to action and want to send supplies directly to the Center by DHL or UPS, the address is: 70 Lagusha Street, Trelawney Park, Manzini, Swaziland.

If you have any questions about donations, please contact us by email or contact Wanda at Remar directly at remarswazi@gmail.com.

Thank you so much and we LOVE you ALL.

The Funeral Business is Booming...

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

We are living and volunteering in Swaziland this month. Swaziland is a tiny country located mostly within South Africa and bordered on the east by Mozambique. Of the 1.1 million people living in Swaziland, 26 percent are HIV positive or have AIDS. This is the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world! We knew these figures before we arrived in Swazi, and since arriving have met people that have shared their stories of loss. Each individual story is so heart-breaking and truly gives a face to the HIV/AIDS crisis this country is fighting. What's even more heartbreaking is that certain areas of this country have infection rates of as high as 70 percent.

Many of you know that much of my graduate school research was focused on the economic impact of HIV/AIDS on the business community. I spent time researching programs that companies in HIV/AIDS impacted areas could introduce to reduce the spread of HIV, help employee's obtain medical care, and also keep businesses open as significant portions of the workforce become sick and/or die.

Now that I am here in Swaziland, I am seeing the true reality of how economies change to reflect social crisis. Funeral insurance billboards plaster the highways and businesses advertise that they cater for not just weddings and parties, but also for funerals.

Swaziland is a tiny country, a beautiful country, with people that are created and loved by God - for His glory. There is a purpose for their existence, but if nothing is done by 2050 the Swazi people will no longer exist. As the hands and feet of Christ here on earth, we are all called to help - specifically widows and orphans as is described in James 1:27. Please pray for these wonderful people. We will be posting another blog soon about the place we are volunteering this month called the Remar Center, an orphanage for 130 children here in Manzini, Swaziland.

LOVE.

Trying on Jesus' Sandals

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hezekiah's Tunnel - A 2 km shaft
carved into the bedrock to run spring
water under the City of David in Jerusalem

The Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed just before being arrested (Mark 14:32)

Mazada - a desert palace atop a 1,200 foot mountain next to the desert where Jesus spent 40 days being tempted (Mark 1:12)

The Pool of Shiloam where Jesus

heals a blind man (John 9:7)

The Holy Septicure - the believed location where Jesus was crucified on the

cross and then buried in a tomb before resurrection (Luke chpts 23 & 24)

We visited the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on water and miraculously feed more than five thousand with five loaves of

bread and two fish (Mthw 14). On right are remains from a 2000 yr old fishing boat .

Dome of the Rock in the center of Jerusalem

Sudanese refugees in English class

Bex, Trish and Leigh floating in the Dead Sea

David's waterfall where he hid from Saul at En Gedi (1 Samuel 24)

Casa Mateo Needs Your Help

Thu, 5 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hello Friends and Family,

We received an alarming message just a few days ago from our friends in Nicaragua. The below email is from Lynne and Glenn Schweitzer who founded the Quinta, the teenage orphanage in the slums of one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. If there is anything you can do to help their ministry stay afloat during these incredibly difficult times they would be so appreciative. For those of you who don't recall these incredible individuals whom we spent the month with back in July here is a link to one of our earlier blogs. Our teammate Rachel, who left the World Race back in October has now rejoined the ministry efforts in Nicaragua to support our good friends at Casa Mateo (and the Quinta). Please keep them in your prayers and if you feel God calling you to support them financially please contact Lynne directly at casamateo2000@yahoo.com. God bless.

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, my husband, Glenn, and I moved to Nicaragua in 2001 to work with needy and abused children. We came down without any backing and God has miraculously made a way for us to move forward in our ministry. In 2005, with no money in our pockets we were able to move into what was then known as Casa Grande, changed its name to Casa Mateo and gradually made it into the lovely haven that it has become.

Casa Mateo has been an immense blessing to hundreds of people as they have traveled to Nicaragua to bless others. Our ministry has also been blessed as the hotel has allowed us to meet different teams and individuals who have come to know us and believe in our integrity and commitment.

For the past several months, due to the economic crisis in Nicaragua and abroad, we have had virtually no business at the hotel. Many national groups who would normally meet and hold seminars at the hotel have been unable to do so because of government cutbacks. Consequently, with much heartache, we have been forced to release some of our employees and drastically cut back the hours of others. Nevertheless, we have fallen behind on our financial obligations and, unless we do something within the next two weeks, we may have to close our doors. If this were to occur, it would have repercussions which would affect every area of our ministry.

We are, therefore, asking you our friends and patrons of this hotel for your help. Our landlord has been very tolerant with us but we owe him $10,000. We also owe an additional $15,000 and have no way to pay it.

We have put this before God and now, following His leading, we put this before you for your prayerful consideration as to how you can help us.If you feel that this hotel has been a blessing to you and you feel that our work here has been of value to the kingdom of God, would you please search your hearts as to how you can help us?

Thank you in advance for your blessings in whatever form they may be.

In His service always,

Missionaries Lynne and Glenn Schweitzer

Hotel Casa Mateo /Asociacin Ministerio

Mateo 5:16 en Nicaragua

Jinotepe, Carazo, Nicaragua

casamateo2000@yahoo.com

011-505-8-648-4316 /Intl. 410-878-2252

For Holly Havey

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dear Holly Bean,

We met a little girl named Rama who reminded us of you. Rama is the daughter of the principal at the school where we taught English for a week. She is a sweet sweet girl who lives in Dabburiya Village, Israel, which is an Arab village. We ate lunch with her and spoke English to her. She didn't understand English, but she understood and told her Mom that we spoke English to her. We think that if someone spoke Arabic to you - you would probably say the same thing to your Mom. Rama was so happy and smilely and loved to laugh - just like you! She is not a big sister yet, but she will be someday. She is a little sister like Kerrigan!

We gave her the Curious George doll just like the one we gave you before we left! She loved it and loves you Holly!

We love you so much our sweet niece. We miss you so much. Please give Kerrigan a kiss from us.

Love,
Bubba and Bibi

Baptism in the Jordan River

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As most of you know, I gave my life to Jesus when I was seven years old. I prayed a prayer with my Dad one night right before I went to sleep. I was baptized when I was nine years old. Then as a teenager and young adult, I was not walking with the Lord. By God's grace He made a huge change in my heart in 2006 - a permanent change.

Last week, Daniel felt a calling to be baptized in the Jordan River, where the bible tells us Jesus was baptized (Matthew 3:13). Daniel went through a Catholic baptism as a baby but this was his first baptism as a Christian since he gave his life to the Lord four years ago. I was so excited for him! Before we headed to the Jordan, we were out with Warren, William, and Tiffany eating pizza for lunch. Everyone was telling their stories about being baptized and I started feeling like it was time to make a new public proclamation of my commitment to the Lord. For the past few months, when I have told people my story they have asked if I had a specific moment when I renewed my covenant with God publicly - each time I had a little stirring in my spirit. I knew each time that I needed to do something, but I didn't understand what. All these thoughts came back to me in this moment at the pizza shop. I knew it was the right time to be baptized, but I didn't say anything then. I just sat there with tears in my eyes.

We arrived at the baptism site on the south side of the Sea of Galilee just before it dark. It was absolutely beautiful and completely different than many of the other religious sites in Israel as the Holy Spirit can vividly be felt there. Daniel was baptized by Warren. Then each of us were praying individually. Warren came up to me and asked how I was doing. He confirmed the feeling that had been stirring inside of me for the past few hours. I walked over to Daniel to pray with him and when I turned around, Warren was already in the water waiting for me. I entered the water and asked him to baptize me. He explained that it would be his honor to baptize me, but he felt like someone else was supposed to do it. He called Daniel back into the water. Warren explained that there was nothing in the New Testament that says you have to be a minister to baptize and he referred to Matthew 28:19 in which Jesus commands us all to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit". After Daniel prayed over me, he submersed me in the Jordan River!

Back to High School

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

For the past five days we have been living in a small town in the north of Israel. Dabburiya Village is an Arab community made up of roughly 10,000 Muslim inhabitants. Every two hours starting at six in the morning the call to prayer' could be distinctly heard over several loudspeakers which projected from the half dozen mosques positioned throughout this hillside town.

We spent the week teaching at the local public high school. Every morning we would be picked up at 7:30 by the high school's principal, an incredibly kind man named Abed. Becky and I were placed into various 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grade classes throughout the day and asked to work with the students on their conversational English. After teaching as many as seven classes in a day Abed would then drive us back to his house and host us for a late lunch around 2pm. His wife and four children would join us for the daily family get-together. It was an absolute pleasure to get to know Abed's family and it was amazing how much they welcomed us into their home.

After a hearty lunch each day, we were driven back to the high school for a one hour special after school English program for a select group of students. During our first night in the village we were treated by our host family to an authentic Arabic BBQ cookout which consisted of grilled beef, chicken and lamb along with hummus, olives, fried potatoes, eggplant and pita bread. Unspeakably delicious. Our second night Abed called in a favor for me by contacting one of his good friends who happened to manage the local semi pro soccer team and was able to work me into one of their training sessions. I managed to play just well enough without majorly embarrassing myself to get invited to their team dinner. You guessed it...another authentic BBQ. On our final night in Dabburiya we were treated by an invitation to the home of one of the high school student's for yet another Arabic cookout feast. I cannot remember the last time we have eaten so well.

The generosity that was shown to us in this Arab village was unlike anything we have ever experienced. We were blown away by the relationships we were able to form in such a short period of time. As you can imagine we did need to be very careful about sharing our faith with our new Muslim friends. The law in Israel is very specific that no one is allowed to openly discuss religion with someone under the age of 18 so we had to be especially careful about what we shared, specifically with the high school students. However, we were able to have a very interesting conversation with Abed and his wife during our final lunch at their house. Abed shared the five pillars of the Islamic faith with us which include making a hadj to Mecca, respecting and being kind to others, not drinking alcohol, reading the Koran and praying five times each day. He was very specific to point out that the infamous 6^th pillar, which is only believed and practiced by certain sects of Islam, includes the act of Jihad, or sacrificing one's life as a martyr for the faith. It truly does sadden me to think how persecuted many Arabic and Muslim people are in the US, but also in many other areas around the world, due to the stereotyping of this entire people group based upon the extreme actions of the minority.

I will probably never be able fully express what an honor it has been to work with the several hundred students and dozens of teachers, as well as the local town members over our past week here. With that said, I am even more deeply heartbroken that this wonderful group of people has not yet come to know Jesus Christ and what He did for each one of them on the cross for their eternal salvation. Please keep the residents of Dabburiya village in your prayers.