Away in a Manger

 

GOOD JOB YOUNG LADY!

Update

Yesterday Susan and I had lunch with Bill and Brooke (pastor and his wife).  We met at Jason's Deli and sat talking for a good while.  We talked quite a bit about our status, including support-raising efforts.  It was good to tell them that our monthly committments were up to 69%.  It seems we've been sitting on 67% forever.  Actually, we have been there for maybe 6 weeks.  I have been conflicted about the right tone to take with potential supporters.  Bill and Brooke were encouraging about our approach as was a church elder several days earlier.  We are seeking partners for a long term ministry. I hope that means that our supporters are excited about our ministry and see great value in partnering with us.  One who feels pressured or manipulated is less likely to stick it out for the long-term.  At least that is how I see it, but I do have moments of doubt when support-raising efforts yield little for an extended peiod of time.  I was very grateful to have wise and timely counsel from good friends.

The other big piece of news is that we are preparing to move back to Susan's hometown near the end of January.  We have been given a great living situation and an opportunity to meet with potential supporters in Southeast Georgia.  The hard part was telling my mom.  We went Christmas shopping on Saturday and stopped at Johnny's for lunch.  While waiting for our orders to come back, I brought the subject up.  It was tough for me to tell her and tough for her to hear.  She teared up and didn't really say much.  When we leave for Glennville we will not see my mom and Dad much before we head to Bulgaria.  Please pray for my mom and our entire family as the time to leave approaches.  Though we are excited about the road ahead, departing will be hard for us all.  

Bing Crosby & David Bowie (see previous post)

Surprised by joy

This morning I found myself inconveniently stuck between appointments.  I dropped Joshua off for school and soon I will be heading to the doctor, but the time between is just enough that it doesn’t make since to go home or directly to the appointment.  I decided to go to Starbucks, do a devotional and work on a draft for networking with Christian therapists.  As I sat working on Biblical references for some of the ideas I was trying to develop as they relate to caring for disabled children, unexpected joy overcame me.  You might be surprised to hear that God used David Bowie in my life this morning, but God is surprising and He can use anyone and anything for His purposes and His glory.  I had just read the verse in Revelation, “Behold I am making all things new…(21:5)” Then I found 1 John 2:17 and read of the reminder that this world is passing away, but that the things of God are eternal.  At that moment, in the coffee shop, the song “Little Drummer Boy” by Bing Crosby and David Bowie began playing.  Now I love “Little Drummer Boy,” but I’ve never really cared for that version because I didn’t like Bowie’s lines which always seemed to be an intrusion to an otherwise great song.  This morning was different, though.  When Bowie began singing “peace on earth” and men living in peace, the goodness of God just overwhelmed me and woke me up from the dullness of the last several days.  Just a little footnote:  The reason I love “Little Drummer Boy” so much is that it is a picture of a humble boy giving to God out of his poverty and God smiles on him.  Lest you think I speak of works righteousness, the boy in the song plays to honor his King.  He is given a place at the side of Jesus before he ever strikes the drum.  I want to live before God in the same way and I want to “play my best for Him….pa-rum-pa-pum-pum.”  Here's my favorite version (Jars of Clay):

The Sunday Paper

Click on the title to go to the Ledger's website.  Our family was featured on the front page of the Sunday paper. Now that a lot of people know what we are doing, please join me in praying that this new exposure will help us find new partners and increased support. 

our story on ledger-enquirer.com (click here)

Thanks to Joe Paull for putting this together. He did a great job! Also be on the lookout for our story by Andrea Hernandez this Sunday in the Ledger.

Goodtimes..ain't we lucky we got'em!

Over the past month or so we've been able to enjoy some good quality time with family and friends. Here's a sampling.

Recent activity

Yesterday our story aired on WLTZ News 38 here in Columbus. We were very pleased with the report. You can link to the video on their website. One note is that the blog address is mtwbulgaria.blogspot.com. The graphic on the screen during the report is wrong, but the written story gets it right.

Another wonderful thing happened yesterday. My former colleagues in the school system had a going away party for me yesterday. It was a very nice gesture. I was especially touched by a stack of notes I was given. It was a collection of encouraging and personal comments. I sat in my car in the parking lot reading the comments and though I am a man, I can admit to getting misty eyed. Thanks everybody. It means so much. Another thing they did was make donations to our ministry in the form of financial contributions and toys for use in the clinic. Lately I am spending a lot of time being thankful for the many blessings God has given me and my family - generous and loving friends and family, gifts that have encouraged good wholesome family time, and opportunities to share our ministry plans through mass media. Just feeling very grateful!

Support Account Update

We are in need of approximately $3,000 in monthly support. If we picked up 10 churches at $300 per month or 60 individuals at $50 per month we could leave in February. Please join us in praying that this support would come in soon. Please consider joining our support team if you have not yet done so. We would love to talk with you or set up a time to meet with you and/or your church in person. If you are interested in pursuing a partnership with us, please shoot me an email at gregotr@hotmail.com

Newspaper interview

The Ledger-Enquirer came out to do a story on our plans for relocating and engaging in ministry in Bulgaria. Susan and I are very grateful to our boys for their good behavior while our visitors were here. We really enjoyed visiting with Andrea and Joe. Look for the story by Andrea Hernandez in the near future. Joe conducted a video interview. He said we could get a copy to post here on our blog. Andrea and Joe, if you are reading this, thank you for your interest in our family's story. As I hear when the story will be printed, I will pass it on.

Election day

During my devotional time this morning, my mind was on the election. God calls us to pray for our leaders. At the end of the day our country will have spoken and we will have settled on our next president, amongst other leaders. There is a good chance the person I want for president will be elected. I prayed for him and his family. There is also a good chance the person I want will loose. I prayed about the disappointment he and his supporters may face. I also prayed for his opponent. If my guy looses, the next president will need my prayers for wisdom and discernment. I cannot deny him this and still honor God. Whoever is elected will certainly do things that I don't agree with, but nonetheless, God calls me to honor him. I will be loyal to my president, though I may oppose his policies vigorously. There are many examples in the Bible that can guide Christians in serving leaders who do not hold the same values. Here are the ones that most quickly come to mind: Daniel faithfully served King Nebuchadnezzar and Joseph served Pharaoh. Honoring our leaders does not mean blindly following them, particularly if they are leading us away from the things of God, but I am committed to living by the words of 1 Peter 2:17,"Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." I hope you will make the same commitment.

Give me your heart my son

Last night Susan and I were pleasantly surprised to see an old friend in Target. She was there with her teen-age son and our whole family was there. Eli announced his plans when we walked into the store. He was going to be good and then he was going to get a toy. He was repeatedly told that he would not be getting a toy because that was not our purpose for stopping by the store. The idea died hard. At the checkout, where we met up with our friend, he decided to make his last stand. He began to have a tantrum for which he was warned there would be consequences. What made the matter worse (in my mind)was that Susan and I had always held this particular friend up as the one whose children are most well-behaved and of whose parenting skills we were in the most awe. She was there to see our family dynamic on display - warts and all. BUT a strange and wonderful thing happened as we departed. Just outside of the store Eli asked me to pray with him. He said he needed God's help to get it back together, so I prayed with him as we stood on the sidewalk. I was reminded that while behavior is not unimportant, it is my heart that God wants. It was Eli's heart I should have been most concerned over, though his behavior was personally embarrassing. He saw that he needed God's help and he asked me to help him get it. That warmed my heart and made me forget about the injury done to my "parenting righteousness."

Doldrums

One of the most frequent questions we get as itinerating missionaries is,"How's the support raising going?" For a long time we were able to give an ever increasing percentage of monthly support as an answer. However, we have been hovering around 67% for a while now. I have begun giving a different answer: We are following every lead and trying to make new contacts all the time - hopefully our efforts will begin to pay off soon. We really need prayer - for perseverance, for joy during the support raising doldrums, and for new supporters.

Followers gadget

Hey Everybody!  I just added a feature that helps our partners and others who are interested in our ministry to keep up with what's going on.  Look to the sidebar and click on Follow This Blog.  

Yesterday I made contact with a few friends to schedule time to talk with them about supporting our ministry. I don't know what their plans are, but it was nice to be so well received. Support raising efforts have increased, but commitments have slowed. Even so, it felt good to get out and pound the pavement. Most everyone around here has been sick so we haven't gotten out much lately.
I have been told by friends to resist the urge to always talk about ministry in flowery terms and to be "real" when giving updates, so here's a dose of reality. I finished working with the school system last week. When I left, none of my collegues were around and because our kids were sick, Susan and I didn't go out as we had planned to mark this significant passing. It surprised me to find that my anticlimactic departure sent me into a minor depression. By Sunday afternoon, Susan sent me out to spend some time alone. I was instructed to return more joyful. I drifted around town and found the most satisfaction sitting on a bench with the sun on my back. It was a geat time of reflection and prayer. I realized during that time that I was not what I desire to be. I've tried to take a stance that in my work I wouldn't worry what people thought of me. I would just commit to doing a good job and let people think what they want. I had to acknowledge that my depression was primarily related to the long standing thorn in my flesh - people pleasing. No one was there, no one celebrated my efforts. It just ended.
I am excited about the road ahead, but also humbled by this situation and others like it. When I look to my own accomplishments, or in this case my desire to be recognized for them, they are never sufficient. They will always in the end disappoint. My savior is all-sufficient and ultimately satisfying.

Support Video - Please Watch!

Visit from our team leader

This was not lunch today.  This was two years ago when Susan and I had dinner with the team during our visit to BulgariaToday, Susan and I had lunch with our team leader, Jonathan Taylor.  We hung out and talked for 3+ hours.  Time really flew by.  We caught up on each other's families and talked about future plans for Bulgaria.  We have had questions about Lomidol Resource Center, so it was good to get an update from Jonathan.  Essentially Lomidol is sitting inactive and waits for us.  For those of you who were unaware, the center was being run by a Bulgarian couple, but for various reasons including finances, they have resigned.  I am personally excited about the direction in which Jonathan wants to lead our team.  He has been wrestling with a lot of ideas and as he talked I began wrestling with the implications and the questions that relate to my family's part of the puzzle.  We talked about setting a new departure date and strategies to raise the last 34% of our support.  We decided to aim for February 1st.  This was not as soon as I had hoped, but it is more realistic, if not aggressive.  I have my work cut out for me.  With a decreased workload with the school system, I am looking to spend a lot more time working on potential avenues of support. 

 Please pray for our ministry, that God would raise up supporters and lead us to them.   Pray that as we redouble our efforts, we will remember the God who has called us to this.  It is easy to get busy with ministry, but we can't forget to be still before God.  It is He who will sustain us and make our efforts  fruitful (Psalm 127:1-2). 

Reflection and looking ahead

Over the past few days I have been reflecting on the lessons of pre-field training and preparing for the changes ahead.  One of the last things we did in New York was develop a learning contract (LC).  Yesterday, I got away for a few hours of prayer, Bible reading, and planning.  A big part of planning involved reviewing Susan's LC, as well as my own.  I've looked at Susan's before, but this time I was looking for areas of commonality.  I made a list.  They included such things as reviewing Living in Grace materials to help us work on handling criticism biblically and being intentional about getting involved in the lives of others.  One of my "Thinking Strategically" objectives is to establish a review process to measure the success of our planning, so we established a schedule for achieving our objectives and regular review.  Accountability is very important.  We will be meeting regularly to help each other in that way.  Please feel free to ask how we are doing with our learning contracts - you can keep us accountable, too! 

As we sat down to talk, I asked Susan, "What is the most important thing we should be doing now?"  She said the thing that first came to my mind the day before, "Support raising."  It's not the most important thing, though.  We need to diligently work on support raising, but our priority is the same as that of any other believer - to remember God.  Before we went over our LCs, we read the Bible together and prayed with our eyes open.  

Praying with our eyes open:  If this has you curious, I would advise you to go to the following link and click the speaker or MP3 logo next to "Pastoring People to Christ 2006:  http://www.wts.edu/resources/media.html?paramType=audio&filterSpeaker=19 

It is a lecture by John Leonard from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia.  His talks during pre-field were some of the most challenging.  The link will take you to one that was very similar to one we heard in New York.  It will explain PRAYING WITH YOUR EYES OPEN.  I hope it impacts you the way it impacted me.

In the Midst of Change

As Susan sent out our last update with our blog address on it, I figured that I needed to get on here and give current information. We have sold our house and are very grateful to close friends who are allowing us to live in their pool house. I am finishing my last week of fulltime work with the school system and will be staying on parttime to alleviate the pressure of our department temporarily losing another therapist who has taken maternity leave. I am excited about moving forward with support raising. When I reviewed our update and saw the number - 37%, it shook me a little. This has been a long, time consuming process. Often it has felt like things were moving at a snail's pace, but seeing 37% was encouraging as it has shown us how far God has brought us and how close we are to going.

Please continue to pray for our family. While this has been an exciting time, the frequent changes have added stress. Our kids seem to be handling it well, but they need your prayers. Our time in New York really highlighted for us the need to have regular family devotions and so we have fought for that time. Being still before God has become an important part of our days. We need it always, especially when life is moving fast.

That's Amore Pizza was our favorite place to get a bite to eat in the neighborhood. It was just around the corner from our apartment in Washington Heights.


Joshua became a Snapple addict while in NY. He has since gone cold turkey and kicked the habit.











We were in class most days at Evangel Church. Guest lecturers were brought in through out the month and really challenged our assumptions about missions. The speaker here is Mark Reynolds from Redeemer. He shared with us the Redeemer model for planting churches in NYC.

A few images from NYC

Greg's Pre-field Reflection Paper

Pre-field Training NYC 2008
Reflection Paper
How would I describe my experience in NYC at pre-field training? Much of the time it felt like living on the edge of chaos. Navigating the subway system with my entire family was quite an adventure. We rushed around and made split second decisions to jump on and off of trains. We never lost a child in the process, but we did head off in the wrong direction more than once. After a while it occurred to me that making a good decision (even if made slowly) was better than a quick, bad decision. We never got the hang of what was the most efficient, energy saving approach. To bring strollers or not to bring them – that was the question. Strollers were great for long distance walking, but not so great for carrying a sleeping boy up two flights of stairs. Either way, Eli and Paul were going to get a good long nap in the subway and be up late. What’s the take-away? Organizing our days and activities should include consideration of the impact on our kids, as well as family health and rest.
How were we supposed to support the ministry of New Life Fellowship? They wanted us to help with VBS. Great! What did they want me to do specifically? Oh….manage the behavior of a child with special needs. Not a problem – I do that all the time. “Here’s your kid,” I was told. I thought, “He doesn’t seem so difficult.”
“Wait – change of plans. We need you to take care of Keanu.” I heard he was out of control on Monday, but he hadn’t been back until Thursday – the day we arrived. Things went well for the first 15 minutes or so. Then, I think Keanu figured out what was going on and why I was there. I hung out with him and did what I knew to do, but I didn’t feel very successful. Still, I kept hearing how much better he was doing – that he seemed like a different child. I couldn’t keep him on schedule and though it seemed we made a connection, he was very clear about what he thought of me. He said, “I hate you….You’re not my friend.” To prep him for the next day, I planted a seed of expectation that he would participate in all of his activities. His response, “I don’t want you to come back tomorrow.” But I did, and so did he. Susan and I sat watching him interact with the music director, Rachel. He really had quite an affinity for her and seemed to love music. We speculated on why he might be so attracted to Rachel. Whatever it was, this presented an opportunity. I got a chance to speak with Rachel before the start of Friday’s activities. She was thrilled to hear our observations and she said she would be glad to let Keanu assist her during practice. What a change! This kid was in his element, anticipating Rachel’s needs, checking mics and even making suggestions. The take-away? We have to love the people we serve, even when they don’t appreciate us because God is at work and happy to use us for His purposes. During our last week of work with New Life, Linda and Myra (from New Life) invited me to share strategies for working with children who have special needs. It was a very good conversation. They asked a lot of good questions. We talked about reaching the heart and not just managing behaviors. I complemented them on the community atmosphere that has been cultivated at their church and told them that it was my opinion that a grace-centered community is a great asset (maybe the best) in reaching this population and their families. I’ve given Linda my contact information and hope to continue collaborating with New Life as they seek to serve this very special group. In preparation for the meeting I wrote up a rough draft of my philosophy for caring for children in the church who have disabilities. Myra made a copy of that draft, which was a good summary of the issues we discussed. Take away? This happened naturally, but on reflection, my best advice was based on weeks of observation of the life of this church community. I’ve spoken to people about touching the hearts of disabled children in a one on one context, but a piece of the puzzle I had been missing (without even knowing it) was the impact of Christian community. So the take away? Observe and never stop being a learner. Also, I need other members of the body of Christ, even when I come in as the so-called “trained expert.” I was taught new things that I will carry with me and hopefully use to benefit families in other places, such as Bulgaria.
“Know yourself and know God….” Understanding how I think and interact within groups has been a valuable process. For one, the ongoing process of understanding my tendencies – both strengths and weaknesses will help me to work on deficit areas and benefit others as I better understand my strengths. Also, it serves as a caution against judging the motives of others who may simply have a different way of processing information and engaging issues.
The line-up of guest presenters were at the same time both challenging and encouraging. The first of the speakers was Mark Reynolds. He talked to us about Redeemer’s church planting model. I remember him talking about getting behind other church planting efforts, helping others who have shared goals to have a greater impact. He presented the image of being a large platform from which others could launch out into the city. Another thing that Mark said was a bit shocking. He shared his experience of being a missionary on a team, but wanting to limit bonding with team members. The point he was making was a good one. It is not our purpose to go overseas and become a closed community of missionaries. We are being sent out to reach the people of that particular country. However, it seems to me that bonding with one’s team is healthy and a commitment to fellow believers should not be neglected.
Having been a poor high school Spanish student, I came away from the time with Dwight Gradin and Misha Marlowe excited and confident about my potential as a language learner. After a very short period of time, I was able to follow commands in the Ja language to sit down, put my pencil on my head, and pop myself firmly on the forehead. Before Dwight showed up, I had never even heard of the Ja language. I eagerly anticipate using Dwight’s approach to learn Bulgarian.
There were two big take-aways that I got from Pete Scazzero. “Be still and know that I am God” is a command. Sabbath rest is important. Pete is the pastor of New Life Fellowship so I had the opportunity to hear him preach the first Sunday we were in New York. During his sermon, he introduced the concept of “daily office.” It is a simple strategy for short moments of “re-centering” and resting in God’s presence done 2-3 times per day. Susan and I began doing a daily office independently and a modified version with our family. Finding a few minutes of solitude with God (even on the subway) made a world of difference in my ability to care for those around me. I have come to see it as a tool for equipping me to face spiritual warfare on a daily basis. The other big take-away from Pete was to take seriously the responsibility to minister out of a healthy marriage and healthy family relationships rather than neglecting family for ministry. I’m not sure if Pete said it, but I heard more than once during the month that family is the first mission field.
John Leonard’s challenge to share the gospel in context and to do so boldly really resonated with me. I want to be more like that. I have had opportunities to engage people from around the world through the practice of cultural interviews. I see in myself a hesitancy to dig deep and ask probing questions, but I was encouraged by John’s stories of boldly, but compassionately entering into the lives of strangers. I like what he said about being a pastor to the entire community, not just a church. He was so challenging – Disciple nonbelievers and evangelize Christians? I think I agree, but it really turned my thinking upside down. It will take time for this to sink in and impact the way I engage others.
Barbara Jones came and talked with us and shared a video about child abuse, particularly sexual abuse. We had a discussion about our responsibilities in protecting children and how to protect ourselves against false accusations. Advanced training is available for those who are interested in becoming advocates. Susan and I are considering volunteering for such training because of the nature of the work in which we plan to be involved while in Bulgaria.
Then there was Bill Yarbrough challenging our assumptions about church planting and reviewing “emotionally healthy spirituality.” If a subject is covered twice and emphasized so strongly, it tells me that this is something to which I really need to invest time and energy. Susan and I bought the book and study guide when Pete Scazzero was with us and we each without consulting the others included studying Emotionally Healthy Spirituality on our learning contracts. Liz suggested we study it together. Bill also pressed the point with the group and then with me personally to always be a learner and enter a culture with humility. I think it was Bill who used the example of Peter and Cornelius to show that God works beyond our narrow assumptions about Him. Bill said we should use the words peterine, apostilicity, and ecstatic in our reflection papers and so I have.
Initially I was a bit nervous about the cross cultural interviews that we were to conduct, but this became one of my favorite activities while at pre-field. I don’t think any of the interviews I conducted lasted long enough and I didn’t probe as deeply as I could have, but I loved getting to know complete strangers and finding out about their lives. This is a big deal because I am not normally one who engages people I don’t know, especially if I don’t think we have anything in common. I knew that this was a requirement so I jumped in with both feet and began talking with people whenever and wherever an opportunity arose. Being given questions to ask was extremely helpful. I was surprised at how many people I found who wanted to talk. Most of the conversations began very naturally. The first opportunity came when Joshua and I got lost walking through the city and a couple of ladies from Ghana helped us find our way back to the subway. We just started talking about why we were in NYC and one of the ladies shared that she had been here for three years and the conversation went on from there. Another time an African man stood up on the subway to give my kids his seat. There we were holding onto the same pole standing face to face. It would have been awkward not to have a conversation. His name was Sinko. My conversation with him has stayed with me. Though the time was very brief, we connected. I told him I would be praying for him and I have.
I have found ethnographic observation to be a valuable tool for beginning to understand unfamiliar cultures and understanding their values and customs. I have made assumptions from observations conducted in my neighborhood in Washington Heights that Dominos is a favorite social activity within the Dominican culture, and that it is a man’s game. I also found the people in the neighborhood to be very social. Spanish was spoken almost to the exclusion of any other language unless I or other members of my family were being addressed. Should I engage in ministry to Dominican people I would need to learn their language and figure out how to play dominos, including understanding the social structure involved in who sits at the table versus who stands around and watches. Of course, there would be many other things I would need to learn about the culture as well and so ethnographic research would need to be an ongoing practice and not something I would put away after I have been in the culture for a few months.
Another field experience involved leading the team assigned to New Life. Liz was our mentor and encouraged us to discuss who should lead our group or if we just wanted to let a leader emerge naturally. We talked about sharing leadership depending on the issues involved. I said that I saw one immediate need for leadership and that was organizing our team meetings. I was willing to do it and was very quickly agreed upon as the person who would take on that role. With input from Liz, I came up with the agenda for each meeting and guided the discussions. This was a familiar role for me, but because of the limited scope of our work and our time, I didn’t find it particularly difficult. This is probably because other members eagerly followed through on our original agreement to share leadership. David took responsibility for organizing an activity at New Life where we put together craft activities for Sunday school classes. The biggest issue I could see emerging if we were to do this for an extended period of time, would be to more clearly define the roles of our interns. In reflection, it would have been a really good idea to assemble everyone, appoint a leader and discuss what each team member saw as his or her role. I was unclear what interns were supposed to be doing. Were they responsible to us? Did they have their own agenda? We debriefed the team experience in our last meeting and heard from Cara, Michael, and Ethan that they would have liked the opportunity to do some of the things we were doing such as cultural interviews and ethnographies. They also felt that their roles with New Life were ambiguous. We all felt that way. If we were starting again, I would favor a more proactive approach in defining our relationship with the church. They seemed unsure of where to plug us in. Perhaps it would have helped if we told them some of the things we could do. I think it was Cara who said she could have asked about singing in the choir.
I know that I did more on my learning contract than I was supposed to do. I didn’t follow directions well, but I am glad to have spent so much time on it and I am grateful to Liz for her patience in looking through it and spending an excessive amount of time sitting with me in the park going over it. Identifying weaknesses is never a fun process, but coming up with goals for improving and then putting together a realistic list of strategies and resources is encouraging. I am excited about the books Liz recommended. I think I am going to enjoy this process.
I intend to further explore the process of developing a rule of life. I like the concept of being intentional about how I live my life. My favorite from the handout was “Savor the sacred in all I do – at work, rest, or play.” One that I have been convicted about in my time in New York, and thus one that I intend to include as I work through this process is, “Remember the poor and marginalized.” I think of Bill Yarbrough’s emphasis on reaching out to and caring for the poor and how that is a sign of healthy ministry.
I almost forgot to mention culture shock. I am not sure it ever hit Eli or Paul, but I remember one day in particular when Joshua just fell apart. We didn’t know what to make of it until a few days later when culture shock was discussed in class. Susan described hitting a wall and wanting to go home. I remember walking to New Life and began complaining to Joshua. He showed a lot of compassion, but I told him I was having a hard time dealing with the reality of our situation and that I was just going to have to deal with it. It seemed at that time that all that could go wrong would go wrong. I was thinking about checking out emotionally from this process. God really worked on me during that day’s worship service and reminded me that I was in His triumphal procession. It seems that the three of us all had a short bout of culture shock. It is good that we experienced it during pre-field because it will help us to recognize what is happening when it reemerges in Bulgaria.
I am very grateful for this learning experience. I am excited about getting to Bulgaria and employing ethnographic observations and cultural interviews to begin understanding the people there. The combination of challenging teaching, fieldwork, and mentor support has really helped to stretch me beyond my previously perceived capacity. One last take-away. The busyness of ministry cannot be allowed to drown out time with God – devotions, prayer, Bible study. We are in a spiritual war. God would not have us march to the frontlines without armor and without weapons.

Experiencing New York

We got Saturdays off during pre-field training. The video below highlights our ride on the Staten Island Ferry on one of those off days.