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.