Scott's Reformation

Conflicting thoughts

2010-11-22T02:24:00.001-05:00

Sunday, November 21, 2010, 7:45am local time – Minsk, Belarus

Sunday morning, time to worship and fellowship. The heavy lifting of teaching is done, and we’re on the down hill side of the trip. This is always kind of a bittersweet time for me, as I realize that my time here is drawing to a close. I was reading an email from my sweet wife this morning and had such an odd feeling, a twisting argument deep within. How can I so enjoy being here and doing this work, so live for the opportunities to walk in this part of my calling, and yet miss my family and want to be home with them? It’s such a dilemma. People have often asked me if I could see myself here on a long-term basis, even living here. I’ve always answered ‘no’ and still feel that way. God is not calling me to be a full-time missionary. And the same time, I feel like I could do this, in this short-term model, every month. Then, there is this fact that I think of my family constantly and long to be home with them. I can’t imagine being apart from them on a regular basis, and I’m eager to be home soon. It’s an interesting dilemma that I’m sure people who have served on the mission field or in ministry for much longer than I have wrestle with. More to come…

Heroes

2010-11-19T16:30:00.001-05:00

Friday, November 18, 2010, 7:15pm local time – Minsk, Belarus

I talked to a hero today. Very rarely does one have the opportunity to meet a true hero, to talk to one face-to-face, and see the spirit in their eyes. Today was such a day for me.

Picture yourself at 18 years old. You’re a rising star on the junior national soccer team and known by many across the nation. Unlike most of your friends, you have the ability and occasion to travel widely and enjoy the perks that come with semi-celebrity. Your story hardly ends there, however. During this time, you become a Christian and begin to drink deeply of the cup of Biblical worldview and discipleship. This leads in turn to a burning desire to protest the current political situation in your country and lead other youth in these protests and activism to affect changes in religious freedom. If your country is Belarus, you are now headed for deep trouble.

The person I talked with today has just such a story. Because of his public profile, his conversion, and subsequent involvement in reformational political activism, the authorities were infuriated. He was arrested numerous times and his belongings were searched and seized. He was summarily dismissed from the state university and stripped of his athletic position. These intrusions and arrests were accompanied by beatings so severe that he was hospitalized on more than one occasion. As a final insult and an attempt to bring him fully to heel, the state forcibly conscripted him into the army and stationed him in a remote outpost reserved for troublemakers and those soldiers needing severe discipline.

That might be enough to break one’s spirit, wouldn’t it? It certainly might break mine. This hero didn’t break, though. Even from his military isolation—which once again included beatings so debilitating they required hospitalization—he wrote of his faith and his vision for a free country built on Biblical models for law and respect for human rights.

If anyone has earned the hero moniker, it is he. He endured and even thrived under repression as he kept his eyes on the hills from where he knew his Help came. He is out of the army now, but bears permanent physical scars as a reminder of his dissent. He continues to struggle with the government and their perpetual harassment. Yet he eagerly involves himself in this reformation movement and seeks to learn so that he can more effectively lead in the future. It is an amazing and humbling story. Did I mention that this man, this hero, is still in his very early 20s? He is quiet and unassuming with an unnerving shyness that belies his inner strength and conviction. He is a miracle and gift of God to his nation. I talked to a hero today. …and, oh yeah, my teaching on economics went fine, too. More to come…

Themes

2010-11-19T16:29:00.003-05:00

Friday, November 18, 2010, 3:13pm local time – Minsk, Belarus

Each time our teams travel to Belarus and Eastern Europe, the Lord seems to give us a theme. It’s not something we ever purposefully seek or collectively talk about. It just tends to be something that emerges within a short time of arriving. Last night after we arrived and I pitched my hammock at the hotel (see previous post), we attended a prayer meeting at the church of our regular partners. It was a time of worship and prayer and similar to those meetings we’ve attended upon arriving for the past several trips. The pastor invited us to feel free to share any word from the Lord that we felt we were given during worship. I am not typically one who receives a direct communication from the Lord in situations like these, but the worship was just so good that I couldn’t help get lost in it. I was worshipping and praying when I was drawn to Psalm 116:7. Be at rest, o my soul. For the Lord has been good to you. This short verse was such an encouragement to me! I had been struggling still with my teaching time, what to cover, if I was truly prepared, etc. The verse and others that came along with it and were referenced in the footnotes of my Bible just crystalized things for me. The fantastic thing, though, was that the Lord was speaking similar things to the rest of our team and other members of the church that were in attendance. Within the space of 45 minutes, several people spoke words of encouragement and exhortation that God was providing a paternal covering to the people of Belarus and that they can be at peace as they continue in their spiritual and political struggles. The final word was from a women who encouraged the church here to provide a covering for the needy in society in a tangible way through meeting their physical needs. My heart absolutely leapt, because that was the theme that I felt the Lord gave me for my economics teaching just before we left home to travel here!

My writings here can never capture the experience our team has as we travel and minister here. Reading back over this post, I can easily see that I have failed to communicate what I really intend with this post. Rest assured that your prayers for us are being effective, and that God is already moving. We’ve been here only 24 hours now, and He is revealing His message for this people at this time. I’m up to teach in a couple of hours. I’ll let you know how it goes. More to come…

Camping

2010-11-19T16:29:00.001-05:00

Friday, November 18, 2010, 08:11am local time – Minsk, Belarus

Part of the thrill of travel is trying new things. Always one for a travel adventure, I had a brand new experience here in Belarus last night. I went camping for the first time. After so many hours of travel and activities our first afternoon here, my team and I were ready to turn in for some sleep before starting the heavy lifting of teaching this weekend. Things were to be a little different this trip, though. My bed was a hammock last night. With enough blankets, I figured I wouldn’t be too cold, and I was sleepy enough that any old bed would have been sufficient. So, I folded myself in thirds, tucked the blankets up under my chin to keep out the Minsk late November cold, selected a position that in which I thought I could be comfortably locked for about seven hours—I certainly wasn’t going to be turning from side to side in a hammock—and slipped quietly off into the land of hazy dreams and magical refreshment as crickets chirped happily outside.

My alarm chirped at 7:00 this morning, and I awoke to realize that I was in fact in a hotel room and my hammock was in fact a cot. You see, when we checked into the hotel yesterday afternoon our reservation had been messed up. Instead of a double room and two singles, they had listed us as needing two doubles…and no other rooms were available. When you have three guys and a single women on the team, that obviously isn’t going work out comfortably for everyone in any combination. It ended up with we three guys bunking up in one room with an extra cot for the lucky third occupant. In reality, the cot was plenty comfortable, a little saggy perhaps, but comfortable. I slept solidly all night and awoke with my back intact and functioning fully this morning.

Even getting back to the hotel from the prayer meeting last night was an adventure as our car battery died while on the main ring road (like our interstates). We waited for a while in the dark and cold for another ride but everyone was comfortable and the conversation was wonderful. Really, any journey is bound to turn into an adventure when you’re going where the Lord sends you, especially when it’s eastern Europe! (The prayer meeting was absolutely wonderful, and I have much to share about it.) More to come…

Not a self portrait…

2010-11-17T07:27:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, November 17, 2010, 7:24am local time - Virginia Beach, Virginia

I suppose one is comfortable traveling to a somewhat hostile foreign land when the thing you’re most concerned with is the security screening at the airport! I leave today for another trip to Belarus, and I’m very excited at what the Lord has in store. We will be putting up some framing on the foundations that we’ve laying over the past few years. Going to Belarus is always a bit of the adventure, but I really am not nervous about it. I’m not nervous about airport security either. That’s just about the only thing that I’ve thought twice about. I am so eager to get back in the game overseas! Remind me to tell you about the t-shirt I might have to get. More to come…

Home

2009-11-04T19:53:00.001-05:00

About 15,000 feet above and west of Vienna – Wednesday, November 4, 2009 – 11:31am local time

I’m on my way home. It’s been another wonderful time in eastern Europe with effective ministry and work, and I can’t believe that God has called me to a work so special. What a blessing and privilege.

The day in Vienna dawned cold but dry and clear. After the wetness of yesterday, I was disappointed. By the time we took off from Vienna a short time ago, however, the rain had returned. Not much of a better chance for photography today than yesterday.

A couple of weeks ago, I started feeling an urge from the Holy Spirit that some changes were coming my way. I’m not sure if those will be vocational, educational, or something entirely different. There continues to be upheaval at work, and I’m not convinced the general health of my employer is solid. Perhaps it’s time to make a change there. Then, there’s the educational front. A couple of years ago, while traveling to eastern Europe as a part of our team, a professor told me about a doctoral program in Vienna. The program is research based, would be self-directed, would not require full-time residency in Vienna, and would be fairly brief in comparison to many other programs. I’ve had that in the back of my mind since that time, and I wanted to come to Vienna to pray about these changes I feel are coming. So, yesterday, while walking the streets of the charming city, I spent some time in prayer. Every so often, I would talk to the Lord, just thanking Him for His goodness, praising Him for His greatness, and asking Him for direction about my future and that of my family. It made my time in Vienna special, to be sure.

So, did I hear from Him? Yes and no. No, I did not get a clear answer to my current struggles with my job and immediate direction. That will have to wait, I guess. I did get an answer, though, on something I need to do immediately as I seek His direction. At one point as I was walking, the Lord did speak to me that I need to seek Him more on a daily basis. I’m not to seek His direction right now as much as I am to seek Him right now. To really know Him is the highest and best calling I can have anyway.

I’m now heading home—home to my family, home to my job, home to everything I know and love. If I can also really seek Him and know Him more there, I will be even closer to my true home—His will—than I can ever imagine. Thanks for traveling with me this last week.

More to come…

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain

2009-11-04T03:40:00.003-05:00

Vienna, Austria – Tuesday, November 3, 2009 – 8:40am local time

…unfortunately, in Austria, it falls mainly on me! Yep. Rain, sleet, snow, any other form of precipitation has been falling since last night! I’m going to breakfast and then out to brave the downfall. As long as it’s not too rainy wet, I should be fine. Not sure about pictures, though…

The snow was more expected in Minsk, but all we got there was cold. Very cold! When we left our hotel on Monday morning, it was 20 degrees outside. It was also deep into the 20s most evenings and during our late night walks. I enjoyed it, though. We never had to be outside for more than an hour or so at a time, and it just contributes to the overall atmosphere of the city.

More to come…

Moving on

2009-11-04T03:40:00.001-05:00

Vienna, Austria – Monday, November 2, 2009 - 8:56pm local time

It’s Monday night, and I’m now in one of my favorite places in the world—Vienna! Austria was the first place I ever traveled overseas—on my honeymoon—and I love being here. There is something so special to me about Austria and Vienna that I can’t really explain.

I arrived earlier tonight from Minsk and determinedly took the train into the city center. Then, I stealthily checked my map, got my bearings, and did my very best don’t-look-like-a-tourist tourist walk…a mile in the wrong direction. I finally righted myself and made my way back to my room for the night. I’m staying in the most interesting place. The Deutscher Orden Guesthouse is attached to a Catholic order/convent a literal stone’s throw from Stephansdom, the huge cathedral that marks the center of old Vienna. The cathedral is the heart of Vienna is many ways, not just geographically, and I can hear the bells from my room. The room is great, even better than the hotel I just checked out of in Minsk, with a private bath and full breakfast included. I can’t wait to do some exploring and picture-taking tomorrow. That is, if it stops raining. The forecast is for rain tonight and snow tomorrow. Great for touristing.

We finished our time in Minsk with with some great experiences. Our team visited Smargon, a small city near the Lithuanian border on Sunday morning. There is a Calvinist church there dating from the 16th century. It was a Calvinist Protestant church, then a Catholic church, then an Orthodox church, then a warehouse during the Soviet times. Now it’s a Catholic church once more. The exterior architecture was fairly standard, very simple Calvinist style with hardly any decorations and simple curves and lines. Inside, though, it was completely different. The church is a functioning Catholic church, so there was an altar and stations of the cross. However, the most incredible thing was the ceiling. From the outside the building disguised a huge interior rotunda that rose approximately 75 feet to its peak. There were a variety of paintings around the circumference that depicted the life of Christ. The style was unlike anything I had eve seen! The type of art and the colors reminded me so much of American southwestern or American Indian artwork. It was fascinating, and I’ve never seen anything quite like it in eastern Europe, certainly not in Belarus! I only wish I could have taken pictures inside.

From Smargon, we drove the Zalesse to visit Auginsky’s palace. Auginsky was an early 19th century Belarusian composer who did much to try and restore the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Belarus’ historical boundaries and political alliances. Auginsky was a personal friend of Napoleon and Tsar Alexander, so his property was quite the impressive place in his time. It is fairly well preserved now with a the main palace, stables, chapel, and summer theater building still intact. A river and woods run through the property, and it was beautiful. We had an enjoyable visit and a great narrative from our friend A, a professional historian.

We closed our Sunday and our time in Belarus as we usually do. Security reasons keep me from giving any details, but those of you who have supported me these years know what I’m referring to. If not, please ask me. I’d love to tell you about it privately. It’s a powerful story!

I’m eager to tell you about one of the reasons I chose to spend a day in Vienna on the way home. Pray for me and the Lord’s direction for my family, would you?

More to come…

Vienna

2009-11-03T12:41:00.000-05:00

Vienna, Austria – Tuesday, November 3, 2009 – 6:07pm local time

I’ve had really a very enjoyable time here in Vienna today, the weather notwithstanding. There were a couple of disappointments. First, I had planned to go by train or bus 30 miles away to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Vienna and Bratislava are the closest capital cities in the world, and I wanted the chance to tick another country off the list. The bad weather here was worse in Bratislava, so I decided to skip it this time around. Ah well, maybe next time.

The bigger disappointment was not being able to take my camera out as I walked around the city for seven hours today. All the wet weather would have made it virtually impossible to get any picturesque shots, and I really didn’t feel like fooling with keeping the lens dry and free of water drops or snow flakes all day. So, I had to content myself with my cellphone camera. That means you get to look at shots like this:

Not terrible, but the Vienna Visitor’s Bureau is certainly not going to be chasing me through the airport to get a copy before I fly away.

I got to see a little of the Spanish Riding School and snapped one of the famous Lipizzaner as he poked his head out of the stable to catch a flake or two. I thought of my mom, as she’s always wanted to see them.

Whenever I travel, I love to look inside any old church I come across, be it Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, whatever. There are more than a few of those in Vienna, so I’ve been to many an altar today. Fascinating! The Capuchin Church here was probably my favorite today. As purposefully simple in design as it can possibly be, I almost walked right past it. It is very simple and very small, but almost all the rulers of the Hapsburg dynasty are buried (en-crypted?) there. A Mass was in progress, and I stood and watched and listened for 15 or 20 minutes. The general emptiness of much of Catholicism aside, such peace.

Most people think of Mozart when they think of Vienna. I saw his house today. Did you know that also he stayed one time at this very guesthouse where I’m staying? Maybe we shared a room. Probably not. I also saw a house today where Beethoven lived for many years. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin. That’s Vienna to me. Forget Freud!

Home tomorrow. I can’t wait to see my wife and children. This has been a short trip compared to some others I done, but I’m ready to be home. Thanks for your prayers along the way. They’ve affected much. Before I put the wraps on the blog for this fall trip, I’ll post about why I chose to spend a day in Vienna.

More to come…

We are tourists, right?

2009-10-31T16:44:00.001-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Saturday, October 31, 2009 – 10:08am local time

Over all the times I’ve been here in Minsk, one of my favorites things has become the late-night walks. One of my teammates and I have gotten into a routine of finishing out each day by walking around the city, talking over the day’s events, and just digesting everything together. I love the camaraderie, I love the exercise, and I love the brisk, cold night air.

Minsk is really an interesting city with an attraction of its own. It most definitely has that staid, oppressive Soviet feel with blocks and blocks of big, heavy buildings. Oceans of concrete must have been poured to re-build the city after WWII. Yet, there is a character. All cities have a feel and a character of their own, and in Minsk it feels like a struggling teenager—so proud to have its own identity and thoughts, growing up, maturing, while at the same time living under the shadow of its older brother who every once a while steps in to smack it on the head to remind it who’s boss.

Last night, about 10:15, we walked along the river and into the city center. It was about 30 degrees, and the cold air stung our ears and faces. But, we had a great time of talking about the day, assessing our work, and discussing plans, philosophy, and theology (I know. You wish you were with us for that part. Admit it!). It was a rich time. These walks I’ve come to treasure as experiences God gives me to learn much. I learn about myself. I learn about my teammate. I learn about the Lord and His plans. In the midst of our going and our serving, our teaching and our mentoring, God is always teaching us about His Kingdom. It can be a difficult but so rewarding place to be.

More to come…

Peace continued…

2009-10-31T01:57:00.001-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Saturday, October 31, 2009, 7:32am local time

…picking up from where I left off…

I had spent my time in preparation for my lecture on biblical economics focusing on an overview of the subject…and trying to cram 50 pounds of potatoes into a 20 pound sack. How can I possibly cover the topic of biblical economics in short time, including translation?! Nevertheless, I was set to talk about the ideas of God’s ownership of all, the dominion mandate, scarcity, private property, division of labor, etc. Then, Thursday night, after the praise and prayer service, I accidentally left my notes at the church when the team went back to our hotel. I realized it about 10:30pm. I fretted for about a second, and then it was as if the Lord tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Why don’t you let me take this one? Peace is not just for you.” You can hardly imagine the relief and release that came. The mighty hand of Providence was steering my ship of thought!

So, on Friday, after I was re-united with my carefully planned out notes, I figuratively threw them out and stepped before these people that I've come to love so much. I greeted them and tried to express a little just how much being among them is a blessing and honor for me and our team. Then, I simply tried to bring peace and encouragement. Romans 8:19 says, “Creation eagerly awaits the revealing of God’s children.” Can you imagine? All those people shuffling down the sidewalks of our towns. All those politicians from both sides of the aisle that frustrate us to exasperation. All those Hollywood celebrities who produce the culture-shrinking drivel that passes as entertainment. All those churches that are shriveling and dying from the spiritual dryness that has invaded them…or that they’ve embraced out of a desire to escape from the world. All of creation is just waiting for us to reveal to them the Lord’s plan for their lives in all areas. Economics isn’t some arcane field of science that people can’t understand or hope to grasp. It is the every day. How do I feed my family today? Why do I get up early and go to work again and again? What is the purpose of these giftings and abilities I think I have? Why does there never seem to be enough of this resource to meet society’s needs? That is economics and God gives believers the keys to understanding. He also gives the ability to rise above the muck of this world when we follows His principles. Economics is simply another way to show the love of Christ and bring peace by restoring man to right relationship with God.

Boy, did I learn a lot yesterday. I wonder what today will bring! After all, this corner of God’s creation is eagerly awaiting the revealing of God’s children.

More to come…

My peace I give to you

2009-10-30T18:00:00.002-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Friday, October 30, 2009 – 10:43am local time

It’s an interesting thing that happens when you attempt to really discern the will of the Lord and try to walk it out. Prior to my departure, a few people asked me how they could pray for me and my family while I was away. As I thought about it initially, the word that kept coming to me was ‘peace.’ When peace reigns at home, my children are calm and my wife can function each day. I can leave in peace knowing that Lord is taking care of my family. So, I responded that way to the people that asked.

We arrived yesterday afternoon and then attended a worship and prayer service last night. While at that service, I really felt the Lord impressing upon me this idea of peace, and He began to expand it in my mind to go so far beyond my concept of peace for my home and peace of mind for myself as I was away. Our team makes these trips out of a sense of call. And that call is not just to bring a message of some sort but to serve. Last night, the Lord showed me that my service this time is to be an instrument of peace here.

It has been a really tumultuous year back home in the States. In many aspects of public and societal life, Americans have been struggling. There is a real lack of peace and a real sense of tension. I arrived here yesterday, and began to feel the same is true of the believers here. Imagine if you can, a society that lived under a brutal and repressive system for 70+ years. Falsehood after falsehood was piled upon them until they simply broke. There was no hope in daily life. No hope that a change would be possible. Then, to everyone’s shock and amazement, the powers that had been in place all those decades went away overnight. “Freedom” rushed to fill the void and the people caught the faintest glimmer of hope for the first time in their lives. Now, fifteen years later, much of that promise and hope for a brighter future has not materialized. Economically, they haven’t succeeded as they thought they might. Politically, they don’t have the freedoms of most other nations and can’t choose their representative leadership. Spiritually, believers are repressed and consigned to the fringes as ‘sects’ and ‘cults.’ No wonder there is a little anxiousness and a lack of peace here!

…interrupted by the day… More to come…

We're here!

2009-10-29T16:05:00.001-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Thursday, October 29, 2009 – 3:53pm local time

We made to Belarus without a hitch. All of our luggage arrived with us this time (it helps to only have carry-on luggage!), and all us got good rest on the flights over. Our good friends B and V were there to meet us at the airport as usual, and it wonderful to be with them once more.

After a bit of rest this afternoon, we’ll jump right into things. I’m looking forward to seeing all of our friends here tonight and being a part of a great worship and prayer time to kick things off. Good to be back! More to come…

We’re here

2009-10-29T09:57:00.001-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Thursday, October 29, 2009 – 3:53pm local time

Hard to believe…again

2009-10-28T07:14:00.001-04:00

He will post watchmen once more on the crumbled walls…

I’m sitting alone at my kitchen table this morning. It’s still dark outside, and everyone else in the house is mercifully still sleeping. I didn’t have to get up early today—no work today for me—but I decided to anyway. Today is a big day, you see. Once more, I’m suiting up and getting into the pitched battle that is eastern Europe. Time for the annual fall trip “over there.” Because of what has transpired both here and there over the course of this year, I have to be even more cautious than before about identifying where I’m going and who I’m going with. Those of you who have been such faithful supporters and friends know, though, and continue to be amazed by the Lord’s grace and your generosity in enabling me to continue in this work.

Please pray for our safe travels today. One of our team members will take his wife to surgery this morning for a broken elbow…and then scurry to the airport to join the team while his wife is tended to by friends and family. Another team member has a son with a suspected touch of a mild strain of Swine Flu. A third team member has never been to eastern Europe and is in for shock, I’m sure. Then there’s me. God has protected me and my family in the lead-up to today, but you just know that the enemy would love to see that come crumbling down. I know, though, the my God is more powerful and will overcome! The word that has been on my heart over the last week of preparation has been ‘peace.’ I ask for your prayers for peace—for our travels, for our friends that we’re going to see and work with, for the country we’ll be visiting, and especially for my family while I’m away. This will be Karen’s first time with me away when she is juggling four kids (sometimes literally) and homeschooling. A normal day is a challenge. My departure, if only for a few days, won’t make that any easier.

God continues to do great things, and I look forward to sharing with you what He has knitted together this year. It’s very exciting. Let’s talk soon! More to come…

Love of life

2009-03-10T06:41:00.001-04:00

Somewhere over the North Atlantic – Monday, March 9, 2009 – 8:41pm Minsk time

Whenever we’re in Belarus, we attend church on Sunday evening. That leaves the morning free to spend some time with our friends and tour a historical site or two. This has become our tradition and has taken us to a variety of incredible places like old castles, 10^th century ruins, and churches that are hundreds of years old and significant to the Protestant history of Belarus. This year, we enjoyed something completely different. Our friends picked us up at the hotel at 10:00am. From there—and after I fell flat on my tail on the ice—we drove to the industrial part of Minsk and did a drive-by of some of the primary factories in Minsk. If Belarus is known for any manufacturing at all, it is known for the manufacture of heavy transportation machinery. We got to see a Belarus tractor factory. Belarusian tractors are used all over Europe and Russia, and not a few plow the fields of the U.S., too. Because of the economic crisis sales have all but stopped, so there tens of finished tractors parked on the factory grounds waiting for buyers. They are beautiful pieces of machinery, if one can call a tractor beautiful. Impressive at least.

After the factory detour, we drove about 30 minutes west of Minsk to a small town called Rakov. It rests in what used to be the Polish part of Belarus before WWII. It was also overtaken by the Germans at various times before the Soviets made it Belarus and a part of the USSR. In Rakov, Felix Yanuskevich owns and runs his own private museum. The man was quite the character. An artist by trade, Felix is a trained painter and ceramicist with a thousand stories to tell about Rakov and the history of the region. He is also a short barrel of a man who greeted us amidst the snow and ice wearing jeans, a button-up shirt, and a cardigan sweater. That’s it! No hat, no gloves, and no jacket, and he never changed to anything else. His lack of eyebrows or a single hair on his head only made his blue eyes stand out that much more, and his smile could probably light up the entire village. After vigorous hand pumps all around, he proceeded to spill forth with story after story for four hours, pausing only long enough for some quick translation in English for our benefit. We could just see his delight at having us there and having someone to listen to his stories. Felix was born in Rakov in 1954 to a Polish mother and Belarusian father. He has four brothers, one of whom is a sculptor who has pieces of art in galleries throughout Europe. Felix himself has paintings in a gallery in St. Petersburg, Russia, and has exhibited throughout Europe over the years. His real love is Rakov, though, and he decided several years ago to take it on himself to preserve the cultural history of the area via a private museum. We started outside and laughed as he showed us ancient clubs and sticks used by husbands of the time to “keep their wives in submission, but only on Thursdays.” We saw boxes for keeping and transporting gold, old farming implements, military hardware from Napoleon’s troops as they marched through Rakov on the way to Moscow, and myriad pottery with all sorts of uses among other things from the past several hundred years. Throughout his narration, our Belarusian friends were dying laughing. Felix’s eyes would twinkle, and we could tell he was thoroughly enjoying our company. Our interpreter laughingly apologized and said there was no way she could accurately translate everything he said. He used so many proverbs and innuendos that only a native would understand. After a couple hours’ tour, he led us into his house where he served us a terrific lunch of homemade village-style food. We had potatoes (of course), locally smoked meat, cheese, bread, cabbage salads, meat crepes, and the most delicious fresh cottage cheese with fruit jam that you could ever find. Other than the homemade birch tree juice (yes, tree juice), everything was delicious. Felix barely sat down for a bite before he was jumping up to serve us something else and encourage us to eat all we could because we’d “never eat food like this again.” He was probably right, in one way or another! J

We left after another hour or two in mid-afternoon with full bellies and giant smiles. It was a refreshing change of pace from the academic seminars, and we got to experience real Belarusian culture outside the capital city. Felix was a delight with a real love for life. We couldn’t tell what sort of faith he had. There was a lot of Catholic imagery in his art, but he talked a lot about the pagan history of the region. Then again, he insisted that we pray before sitting down to lunch. Who knows! I do know this, though. He loved life, and his passion about his life was contagious. It made me think about the whole of the experience in Belarus this time. We in the west would look at the culture of Belarusians and the daily life of the believers there, and wonder how we could be satisfied in that context. We probably couldn’t because we’ve grown comfortable in material wealth. If you know me at all, you know that I love my technology and American heritage, and I’m in no way saying that we should give that up to be happier or in right standing with the Lord. But, if there’s one thing that the Lord has been impressing on my spirit this week, it’s that this current crisis is being used by Him to strip away the “fluff” in the lives of believers. He wants to ground us back in Him and to truly value what He values. The believers in Belarus aren’t perfect to be sure. They fall and struggle as we do, as any human does. They have something we often lack, though. They are content and take shelter under the wing of the Lord. They are working hard to change their country and to realize true freedom and godly prosperity. While they work, though, they rest on the fellowship of believers and the Lord’s provision. We in America would do well to do a little more of the same. As evangelicals, maybe we’ve grown a little too comfortable with our programs, our church formulas, and our daily comforts. Could we give them up if God called us to or if He stripped them away? Would I give them up if He simply asked me to? These trips are always time to deepen my faith and serve others in a context where I don’t normally operate. This time, I come away having felt the great love of God and seeing in a new way the great love of life we can have when centered directly in His will, no matter our setting or circumstance. Thanks, Felix!

More to come.

Scott

Heading home

2009-03-09T01:49:00.001-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Monday, March 9, 2009 – 7:00am local time

The time here in Minsk always seems to increasingly disappear into the past. We land on Thursday, get settled in the hotel, start teaching on Friday…and the next thing I know, it’s Monday morning! I have to pack up and prepare to head home! It happens every time I’m here. The result is that I don’t have enough time to post like I would want and to fill you in on the things that have happened. I’m forced into reflection mode before I really have a chance to live through process mode.

Our seminars went very well. They are always fruitful and enjoyable, but there was a real sense of cohesion this time. As we plan our trips, we intentionally design the topics and presenters to be complimentary. This time, however, they seemed to be purposefully written with specific themes, even specific Scripture passages, in mind. When three people can teach about historical Christian reformers and their political theology, Christian roots of western law, and biblical economics and the current crisis and have them all focus on James 1:27, other passages, or the freedom we have as Christians as evidenced through the Lord’s Prayer, without even trying, ~~something~~ Someone bigger than us is at work! We saw the Lord move in many ways over the last few days. There was a unity and hunger of Spirit that was refreshing to experience. The current economic crisis has hit this area of the world much harder even than it has the U.S., and the result is that believers are returning to first principles and coalescing as the Body of Christ. What if God is using this meltdown just to flush out those things that stand in our way of realizing Him in His fullness? I believe that’s precisely it. 30-50% of American and world wealth has been wiped out. What if we never recover it? Scary as that is, perhaps God is not-so-gently nudging us back to Him and His Church. I don’t have those answers, but I know that the Spirit is moving in ways we’ve never experienced in our current generations. Let’s welcome this coming next Great Awakening, and let’s welcome the role that the emerging church in other countries will play in leading us into it.

Bags are packed and one last, good breakfast is calling before I head off to this last day of activity. I’ll write from the plane about the unique experience we had yesterday with Felix and his infectious love for life. More to come.

Scott

Not enough time to post!

2009-03-08T17:14:00.000-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Saturday, March 7, 2009 – 9:23pm local time

Our God is so good! There is a confidence that comes from knowing that God will show up when we are called to a work and are given a platform to carry it out. Nonetheless, it is our responsibility to prepare ourselves and be ready when that time comes. In light of the current economic crisis, I asked for a full teaching session this time to speak just about biblical economics and the current crisis. Bruce kindly granted that, and I began to ask the Lord what He would have me share. It’s one thing to know your topic in an academic sense. It’s another entirely to be able to relate it to real-life, especially to a people who are living through a terribly rough time. Imagine if prices in the U.S. went up by 20% and salaries went down by 20% and it all happened overnight. That’s exactly what occurred in Belarus in January when the currency was devalued by 20% on January 2. It’s frustrating and bewildering to the people, yet, while there are a number of causes to the global crisis we’re experiencing, biblical principles still apply! My prayer over the last month has been that the Lord would give me a specific word to bring. I wanted to be able to make things understandable at a basic level without watering things down. I also wanted to bring hope and not left them in despair. I’ll admit there was a little intimidation factor at work as well as many of the seminar attendees are academics, PhDs, and students. One is even a teacher of economics! Leave it to the Lord to bless my socks off, though, and give me more than I ever wanted. By the time my session rolled around this afternoon, I felt as if I was stuffing 50 pounds of potatoes into a 20 pound sack! It all came together, and I could tell by the expressions on the faces of the seminar attendees and by the questions they asked later that things penetrated. What a blessing!

We finished the evening with an enjoyable dinner and fellowship time sitting around the table at A’s house. 12 of us talked about geopolitics, Russian, Belarus and its president, history, and various other things sure to try anyone else to drink. For me, though, it was the meat and potatoes of everything!

Minsk, Belarus – Sunday, March 8, 2009 – 8:52am local time

My last posting was interrupted by another walk outside in the snow and ice as Bruce and I unwound from the day and talked through various things. It was a precious time of connecting about so much more than this trip. Our friendship continues to deepen and grow, and I grateful that the Lord has placed him in my life. We ended a wonderful day reflecting on the completed seminars, our lives, our shared needs and joys, and a unmatched time of prayer.

More to come.

Providence

2009-03-07T01:03:00.001-05:00

Minsk, Belarus – Friday, March 6, 2009 – 10:07pm local time

There is nothing quite like a brisk walk of a couple of miles in the cold winter air with ice and snow drifts all around. When I think of Minsk in the wintertime, I expect snow and ice. It was quite the delight to land yesterday and see the snow piled up on the sides of the icy sidewalks. I just love winter, so it was a special treat to get out and walk about a circuit downtown from our hotel and back. Bruce and I decided being cooped up in the hotel room after a day of seminars just wouldn’t do. The temperature was about 30 degrees, but with gloves and hat it was perfect!

Our first day of seminars went very well. The attendees were somewhat fewer in number than in the fall, but today is a work day after all. Tomorrow will certainly have more people in attendance. Today’s topics were political theology of the historical reformers (Luther, Calvin, Anabaptists, etc.) and Christian roots of western law. Fascinating stuff for a guy like me! Tomorrow we’ll have more of the same along with a Q&A time and my session on biblical economics and the current global crisis. I was very blessed with the chance for somewhat of a dry run at that at dinner tonight. We ate as a group with our interpreters, B&B (no names for security), and a couple of others from the seminars. Our conversation was wide ranging, but our hosts had some very stimulating questions about pastoral involvement in politics, illegal immigration in America, President Obama and his policies, economics, etc. It gave me a chance to run through much of what I’ve been trying to pull together for my session tomorrow, and I feel much more comfortable with what is important to them now. It’s fine to bring our ideas of what we should teach, but it is so much more satisfying to know that we are speaking to what they want to know. The Lord is good in allowing our team times like these when we can bounce around ideas in an informal setting before presenting them to the whole in our seminars. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. God is here and clearly directing us.

One bit of especially good news as I sign off. Our luggage arrived on the afternoon flight from Frankfurt! We got word in mid-afternoon that it had arrived at the airport, and, sure enough, two suitcases were waiting for us at the reception desk of the hotel. Fantastic! I was not looking forward to wearing the same clothes for the fourth day in a row, nor were my teammates looking forward to that unfortunate occurrence either. Prayers answered all around.

More to come.

Scott

Same clothes, different day

2009-03-06T12:42:00.000-05:00

Minsk, Belarus - Friday, March 6, 2009 – 7:52am local time

It’s so good to be back in Minsk again. It would be even better if I had clean clothes to wear! Unfortunately, my luggage didn’t arrive with me from the States, so I’m now wearing the same clothes for the third day. Yeah. Our very first flight from Norfolk to DC was delayed by more than 90 minutes on Wednesday. That necessitated a mad dash across two terminals in Dulles to make the flight to Frankfurt. They literally closed the plane door behind the two of us and off we went before we even got good and strapped in our seats. As you might guess, however, our luggage decided to amble across the tarmac and didn’t make the flight. We got to Frankfurt, ready to transfer our bags to our Minsk flight (no straight check-through this time), only to find that they weren’t there. Jim, my traveling partner and I, had a sneaking suspicion that would be case. It was only that much more frustrating to find it true. Our first shot at the bags arriving would be today on the 1:20pm flight into Minsk from Frankfurt. The great Lufthansa baggage tracing website has shown nothing so far, though, so we are a little anxious. Yet another reason to pray for this trip!

In some ways, I find that I’m struggling with things to write about this morning. It is so exciting to be here again and to have the opportunity to minister and share with these dear brothers. Yet, our relationships have grown so close with the Belarusians that they really are extended family to me now. And what do you write about family?! One doesn’t really blog about family and their everyday lives, do they? We’ve settled into a routine in Belarus now and our work is building upon prior trips, so there is not so much “new” to talk about. There is no way, however, that I can adequately express all that is happening here and what a great thing that God is doing in these people. It is an incredible privilege to be called to this work and to be able to travel here to teach His principles on a foundational level. You can feel a new tension here this year. The economic crisis is affecting things greatly in Eastern Europe, and Belarus has not been immune. The tension, though, is not just that. There is a spiritual tension here in the sense that something huge is about to break out. The believers here know they are on the edge of a great revival and new move of God. I sense that they feel all of the preparation they’ve put into being ready to reform society when the time comes is about to come to fruition. Things are moving here. Persecution remains great; the government is still oppressive; there is little true liberty, and Christian reformation of society is still but a vision with no legs. At the same time, though, the time is coming soon. It’s palpable.

So, there is not much to write so far today about details and new sites seen, but there is much happening. We attended a praise and prayer service last night, and the strand through all the music and words spoken was an encouragement to the believers to “thrive, not just survive.” As believers, we need not fear the churnings on the present day. As Psalm 46 says, nations are in an uproar, but we can rest on the Lord. Jesus said, “…take heart, for I have overcome the world!” Now is the time for Christians to demonstrate the love and great plan of God for mankind!

More to come.

Scott

From: Scott B. Walter [mailto:scottbwalter@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 5:57 PM
To: 'scottbwalter@gmail.com'
Subject: It's that time again...

Virginia Beach, VA – Wednesday, March 4, 2009 – 10:31am local time

Hard as it is to believe, I am preparing to head for the airport in a couple of hours to leave for Belarus once again! It seems like just a few weeks ago that I returned from my fall trip. I’m excited because our teams will be traveling to Belarus twice this year, once in the spring and once in the fall. That means we’ll be able to do twice the amount of teaching as we have previously, and we’ll able to take two professors with us with different perspectives and specialties in biblical worldview topics. A team will also travel to Belarus this summer to help with practical things like repairing a house and meeting place for our Belarusian friends, talk about Christian education and its practical implementation, and discuss effective pro-life ministry. I won’t be traveling in the summer as we’re expecting Wee Little Walter Number Four around that time, but it looks to be a great year ahead for our International Reformation ministry.

I am very encouraged and blessed by the outpouring of support I’ve received from you and others. My support funds have poured in. I have enough for this spring trip and am on my way toward my goal for the fall already. In addition, so many of you have asked about the trip and its preparation and assured me of your prayers. That is both humbling and encouraging. What a blessing you are!

All my bags are packed, and my stuff is ready. I’ll be flying today from Norfolk to DC and then on to Frankfurt, Germany, to connect to Minsk. The forecast in Minsk calls for highs around freezing with snow each day while we’re there. Interesting! As always, I’ll do my very best to post updates each day.

Please be praying for my family while I’m away. This is a short trip compared to previous years, but it’s still difficult for Karen. Pray for her peace and good rest. I’ll be presenting a session on the current global economic crisis as a part of our seminars. As hard as the economic downturn has been for us here in the States, it is even more pronounced in other parts of the world and especially Eastern Europe. I anticipate some difficult questions, and I covet prayers for wisdom, clear thoughts, and clear communication. A great opportunity is here to talk about God’s economy and the biblical ideals for economics, but our world is so complex and the problems so deep that it can be confusing. Please pray that God will make Himself known through me and that I can bring the truth while also being encouraging to them.

I’ll talk to you from Minsk! More to come.

Scott

It's that time again...

2009-03-04T10:56:00.000-05:00

Virginia Beach, VA – Wednesday, March 4, 2009 – 10:31am local time

I’ll talk to you from Minsk! More to come.

Scott

A final wrap-up

2008-12-30T20:15:00.000-05:00

Virginia Beach, Virginia – Tuesday, December 30, 2008 – 11:39am

For weeks now, I’ve been meaning to send a final email to wrap up my recounting of my trip to Belarus and Ukraine and to share with you the amazing story of the Vineyard Christian School outside of Kiev. Life and procrastination got in the way nonetheless, and so I figured that the end of the year was a good time to write. I can wrap up this year’s trip, talk a little about what is going on with the greater ministry, and present some plans for 2009.

First, let’s talk about Vineyard Christian School outside of Kiev, Ukraine. Whenever I travel to Eastern Europe and talk about the Christian worldview of business and economics, I start with a question about the purpose of a business. It’s to generate a profit, and profit is not bad or unbiblical. In fact, honest profits and their pursuit are very biblical! However, what’s essential to taking “doing business” to the next step of “doing business ‘Christianly’” is what is done with those profits. My understanding of the Bible through my studies is that profits are to be used to glorify God by empowering people, advance the gospel, enrich the community, and show His love by the example of responsible stewardship. Because Communism has stripped many eastern Europeans of the understanding of profitable business practice let alone Christian business practice, these ideas can be difficult to grasp. This year, though, I found in Ukraine a great example of what biblical business looks like in practice. In a small suburb of Kiev, there is a pastor whose full-time job is as the owner of a contracting company. He is a residential and commercial builder and is very successful. He and his wife have committed to using the profits of the business to develop the community and be the very best witness they can be as a result. To that end, they have personally financed road construction that enabled easier travel to and from Kiev and allowed for delivery of goods that were previously not accessible because of poor roads. New businesses have started as a result, and those have provided jobs locally rather than forcing residents to travel to Kiev to work. The couple has also built Vineyard Christian School as an offshoot of their church. The school provides jobs for a dozen teachers and staff and provides a first rate Christian education for the tens of students now enrolled in grades K-8. Two years from now, they will have enrollment for K-12. While in Ukraine, our team spoke about Christian education one evening in the school to parents and teachers. We talked about how parents can make their homes a center of Christian learning even if they don’t specifically homeschool their children. The building is physically spectacular, and the children enrolled are testing very well against their state school peers. Perhaps more importantly, though, the school is making a great difference in the community. Two property owners whose properties adjoin the school and who are not believers have deeded land to the school for future expansion because of the witness of the pastor and his wife, the schoolchildren, and the school faculty. Local unchurched residents have explored the church and some have even joined because of what they’ve seen from the school and those related. All of this is a perfect example of Christian business worldview and how this pastor and his wife are acting out what the Bible proscribes when it comes to business and the use of profits. They personally funded construction of the school and continue to fund its operations until it is self-sustaining. They run their construction business expressly for the purpose of using its proceeds to advance the Kingdom! It was incredibly gratifying to see and experience firsthand and a fitting end to our time in Ukraine.

Let me share a couple of things about this greater ministry I’m involved with. 2008 was a very exciting year. We are two-thirds of the way through the steps to officially incorporate as a non-profit organization, and we expect that to culminate with the registration of the Institute for Reformation in early 2009. In September, we had our first Board of Directors meeting and named six Directors to the Board. To my great surprise, I was nominated to serve not just as organization Treasurer and Secretary but as a full Board member. I was completely surprised and thoroughly humbled. It is a great honor and an awesome responsibility before the Lord. We also successfully completed our fourth teaching trip to Belarus and took our second Regent University professor to deliver high-level academic teaching. We have sustained and even deepened our relationships in Belarus and are moving well along in our multi-year plan to establish an accredited degree program in biblical worldview studies for Russian speakers in Eastern Europe. We delivered ground level introductory teaching in Ukraine and established new relationships that will enable future projects in the coming years. It was a very blessed year!

That leaves me approaching 2009 and with news of what’s ahead. For the first time in 2009, I will be traveling to Eastern Europe twice in once year. After much prayer and the Lord’s direction to focus our ministry sharply, the organization’s leadership has decided that we will concentrate our efforts on Belarus in 2009 and trim back on travel to other countries. Three teams will travel to Belarus for five days each in March, July, and November. Because Karen and I will be welcoming wee little Walter number four in July, I will only travel in the spring and fall. While the trips will be shorter, it is still a tremendous undertaking for which I pray I am equipped. Your support has been crucial to my participation over the past years, and I would ask that you prayerfully consider whether the Lord would have you to support me again this year. I am so very grateful for your prayers and your financial gifts. It will cost about $3500 for me to travel next year, and I am confident that the Lord is not constrained by our shaky economy! He will provide.

We serve a mighty God who has blessed us all tremendously over the course of 2008. Take time these next couple of days to reflect on His goodness and to thank Him for His constant watchcare. As you have time and interest, I would love to talk to you about your plans for the coming new year. How can I pray for you and your plans? What is God calling you to this year? Let me know!

Always more to come,

Scott

Kiev premiere parte ( little French lingo for my current location)

2008-11-09T21:15:00.000-05:00

Basel, Switzerland – Sunday, November 9, 2008 – 8:07am local time

I’m finally headed home this morning after a long but wonderful trip. Since the last leg of the journey is about to begin, I figured I should at least write something about our time in Kiev. Sometimes as we travel the schedule allows for easy times of writing and getting online to post updates. Other times, it’s not so convenient and I fall behind. I apologize.

Kiev was a fascinating city. I’d not been there before, and I anticipated another city of Communist-style block apartments as far as the eye could see and the typical Soviet gray everywhere. It wasn’t at all like that! Much of the city was beautiful and reminded me on some western European cities I’ve been in rather than a Soviet outpost on the eastern frontier. In the Soviet Union and well before, Kiev was one of the three primary cities of the Russian empire and thus it has always been very cosmopolitan. Baroque architecture is everywhere, and they use such fantastic colors on the buildings—yellow, teal, Carolina blue, gold, peach. The Orthodox cathedrals were the best. All painted up with brilliant gold onion domes shining for miles around. It really took me by surprise. Here’s the downside, though. The glorious past didn’t stop the decay. The city has definitely fallen into disrepair. It’s grimy, traffic is terrible (lots and lots and lots of new car owners in the last couple of years), and the economic crisis has hit Ukraine hard. That’s not to say that progress isn’t being made; it is and parts of the city shine like a coat of new paint. There is much to be done, however.

Our meetings in Kiev were all in the evening, save one day-time interview. So, we had the opportunity to play tourist quite a bit. We must have walked 20 miles in four days, but it was worth it! My favorite place was Mariinsky Park. The trees formed arching canopies over the walkways. The leaves were golden and orange and carpeted the park. It was peaceful and so enjoyable to stroll through on Thursday morning. Not too far from Mariinsky Park, on Wednesday night, we had perhaps the most interesting experience of the trip. A lady was stationed outside St. Michael’s Cathedral with a tableful of various souvenirs. Among them was a soccer jersey from the old Soviet team with CCCP emblazoned across the chest. We pointed it out and chuckled and she went off! She made sure in no uncertain terms that we knew she was born in Russia and spit on Ukraine! Arms gesturing wildly, shouting, “Down Ukraine! Russia big strong country!” A Ukrainian who was with us then made the mistake of saying that we were Americans. Oh, did she go apoplectic! She started growling at us, spitting, shouting, “Go home! Away! Away! Close door! Grrrrrrrr! RRRRRRRRR!” It was all quite comical really since we were in no danger whatsoever. Sad, too, though that she could be so bitter and trapped in the ideology of the past. I wondered what her life had been like. What had she been told about the world? Why was she in Kiev if she hated Ukraine so much? Memorable to say the least!

The reason for our visit to Ukraine, however, was to teach not play tourist. We had four scheduled events, and they all went off swimmingly. On Wednesday afternoon, we met a local journalist at a cafeteria for two interviews. He was a young guy, a Christian, and writes for two websites that are very popular in Ukraine. NATO is a big topic in the country these days as Ukraine ponders membership and the US ponders issuing an invitation. Apparently, most of the population desperately wants a greater relationship with the west instead of Russia, but they also generally oppose NATO membership. Seems a bit dichotomous to me, but who am I to know? One of our team members is a retired Rear Admiral from the US Navy, and he spent 35 minutes answering questions about NATO and geopolitics. I kept my mouth firmly shut and thoroughly enjoyed simply listening and learning. What a blessing to be able to hear that kind of insight from a godly man who knows what he’s talking about! The second interview was about Christian education in the US. We talked about educational history in the US, private Christian schools, homeschooling, secular and Christian universities, Regent University, MBA programs, all sorts of stuff. I think the journalist was a little overwhelmed with just how big a role Christian education plays in the American society. I really don’t think he even conceived of something like that in Ukraine.

Over three evenings, we had a chance to speak in a non-denominational church, give a seminar on making your home a center of Christian learning, and give a talk and participate in a roundtable discussion about Christian worldview and how it plays out in society. All three meetings were warmly received and we made some excellent contacts for follow-up work. The church service was particularly interesting for me in one respect. One of the Ukrainian university students who spent a lot of time with us as an informal guide and interpreter described the pastor as a “soft Charismatic or radical Baptist.” This was funny and very apt! We met him very briefly before he turned the entire Wednesday evening service over to us, and neither of us knew quite what to think of the other. New Life Church has about 1500 members in Kiev and has planted numerous other churches throughout the country. It is very influential. We met in the large auditorium at a local university, and the pastor sat at his own table during the service. It faced and adjoined the stage, meaning his back was to the congregation the whole time. On the table were an enormous laptop, two carafes of hot tea, and a complement of cups and sugars. For the entire message, he was buried in his laptop; I didn’t think he was listening to a word that was said. Bruce brought a great message about the four spheres of government and how the church must be involved in society, something new for Ukraine. At the end, the pastor took the mic to close the service, and I wondered what he would say. He then proceeded to speak for about ten minutes summarizing everything Bruce has said and especially urging his people to think about what the church could do in society to take back the authority that the state had usurped, what they could do to strengthen families, what they could do to empower self-government, and he repented for not being more involved civically. He even said that, “it was time that he visited the national administration and began to talk about the church in Kiev and Ukrainian society.” I was amazed and thrilled. An excellent night!

There is much more to tell, but this posting is already getting too long. Remind me to tell you about Vineyard Christian School. Fabulous testimony of Christian business and practicing what you preach. More to come.

Scott

I'm in!

2008-11-08T08:43:00.001-05:00

I think I have officially integrated myself in Europe. I'm standing at a train station in Mannheim, Germany, waiting for my train on to Basel, Switzerland. A local just came up and asked me, in German, if there was a train to Munich. It must be the greasy hair and jeans that have been worn five times now! :)

Sorrow

2008-11-06T01:37:00.001-05:00

Kiev, Ukraine – Wednesday, November 5, 2008 – 6:12pm local time

I have a heavy heart today. With the time difference here, we went to bed last night knowing that Americans were voting across the country but not knowing any results. Of course, we knew as well as anyone what the polls were saying and that they are often wrong. However, we also knew what the sense of America was leading into yesterday and that we were called to intercession but with the full knowledge that God might not choose to answer our prayers in the way that we hoped. We awoke this morning and turned on the TV before we even got out of our beds and held our breath as we waited for the results. Though we were fairly certain of the outcome, it still cut deeply to actually see and hear the words President-Elect Barack Obama. My Lord, what have we done in the name of hope and change? Americans have knowingly elected a man who has no regard for the unborn, a man who has little regard for biblical principles in any area, and leaders who scoff at the very founding principles of godly government and a moral people that have invited God’s blessings for so long. There is no doubt that we are in a mess, but Barack Obama isn’t the answer. Joe Biden isn’t the answer. Nor is John McCain the answer. Sarah Palin isn’t the answer. Democrats aren’t the answer. Republicans aren’t the answer. Liberals aren’t the answer. Conservatives aren’t the answer. Jesus Christ and a return to God’s law are the answer. Until America rediscovers the law of God and right moral standing before Him, it will matter not who is in the White House or which party controls Congress. My heart is heavy today for my country and for what it has become, what it has allowed. I tremble at the thought of a Barack Obama presidency, but I also trembled at the thought of a McCain presidency if he didn’t fall on his face before God each and every day. Are we at the point where we can say America is no longer great because it is no longer good?

I think Tuesday was a real I Samuel 8 moment for America. Because self-government and personal responsibility have broken down, the family has crumbled. Because the family has crumbled, many, many churches and their leaders do not effectively operate according to God’s intended model. Because the church has surrendered its rightful role in society, the civil government has become an unwieldy and ungodly monster. Romans 13 tells us that civil government and political leaders are ordained and established by God. Civil government is biblical and has proscribed authority. That authority has limits, however, and we have allowed it to take a role so much greater than God intended. We also now look to it to direct and guide our country. Have we become Israel in I Samuel 8? Israel begged Samuel, “Give us a king… We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations with a king to lead us…” God listens to us and usually gives us what we seek. God, have mercy on us. Save us from ourselves and turn us back to You.

More to come.

Scott

Trees planted by living waters

2008-11-04T16:05:00.003-05:00

Somewhere between Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia – Monday, November 3, 2008 – 5:11pm local time

We’re on a flight somewhere between Minsk and Riga where we’ll overnight before heading on to Kiev, Ukraine, for the second leg of our adventure. Our team has shrunk by one as we saw Jim off at the airport in Minsk to head home. His portion of the teaching is complete.

Our time in Minsk came to a conclusion with a sobering time and then a great celebration. The plan this morning was to stop at Kurapaty forest on the way to our last meeting. I’ve written about Kurapaty before, but no simple retelling of a visit there can do it justice. Kurapaty lies now on the outer edge of Minsk, and the main ring road runs right through it. In 1937, however, the Kurapaty forest lay well outside of Minsk in the midst of a few villages. Beginning in 1937 and continuing through 1941, Stalin’s security forces used Kurapaty as a place of mass executions of the intelligentsia, upper class, and “wealthier” peasants, basically anyone who didn’t agree with forced collectivization and Communism. We had the privilege of having a trained historian with us today, and he gave us a moving recounting of what happened there. Because of the Soviet methods and years of non-acknowledgement, a true counting of victims buried there is impossible. However, estimates range from 30,000 to 250,000. In the late ‘80s, a Belarusian dissident began collecting stories of eyewitnesses and archaeologists and publicized what happened in that somber forest. Now, there are hundreds of crosses erected amongst the trees wherever bodies were found. Only two sets of remains have been positively identified. The national government of Belarus still refuses to fully acknowledge what happened there, despite the unearthing of grave after grave, and vandals continually try to ruin the site. Nonetheless, brave volunteers keep a vigil over the forest and refuse to let people forget what happened there and under Communism. The trees form a canopy overhead and a cold fog rises up amongst the crosses. Sorrow drenches the earth, and a heavy burden hits your heart as you wander and ponder man’s inhumanity to man. We stood quietly and listened to the history of the place and then prayed for the forgiveness of sins, the repentance of the nation, and that this place would be a marker in the future of how God can transform a nation that rights itself before Him. Powerful.

After such a heavy time in that place, we needed an uplifting celebration. We always spend the last morning in Minsk meeting with reformational leaders and discussing our joint plans for the future. We did just that, enjoyed a light lunch, and then we were presented with gifts from our friends. Their generosity is always so affecting. They spend hours and hours in preparation before we arrive. They run us all over the city and beyond from meeting to meeting to historical sites to the hotel and so on. They feed us so well at every meal and make sure we always have a fresh bottle of water or cup of tea at hand. Then, just before we depart to the airport, they always give us gifts. We were especially touched this year as they presented us with a special offering that was collected on Sunday night especially for our team. Wow. What a selfless act on their part to give out of their need simply to bless us. We decided that it would not be proper for us to accept the money, so we turned it right back around and gave it to their building fund for a new Christian school. It was only fitting considering that the school sprung over the last few years as a result of one of our previous trips. Seeds planted!

Those planted seeds also led to a great surprise just as we departed. On Thursday night, Bruce gave a brief message in church about planting seeds and trees that will grow many years in the future. As believers, we plant seeds in our families, our churches, and our society that we may never see fully prosper or fully grow but that will mature in future generations and bless our children’s children as we walk in the way of the Lord. To symbolize that, our Belarusian brothers had arranged for us to plant five trees outside the gates of the church just before we loaded up for the airport. What a joy that was! Each team member took a shovel and planted a pine tree in the rich Belarusian soil as a symbol of the great work that God is doing to put seed in the soil there and grow up strong trees with deep, deep roots by living waters. What a symbol. Our hearts fairly leapt with excitement and joy as we gathered together for one last time in prayer and fellowship before leaving Minsk for Riga and on to Kiev tomorrow. God is so good.

More to come.

Scott

Riga

2008-11-04T16:05:00.001-05:00

Riga, Latvia – Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 1:16pm local time

Ah, Riga. The good ol’ Baltic States, (semi-)western Europe. Thanks for Air Baltic and the cancelling of our flight to Kiev last night, we got to spend the night here in Riga and get a little respite from our hard pace of the past several days. We knew in advance that we’d be overnighting here, so I found a moderately-priced hotel right in the Old Town of Riga. It was within walking distance of everything we could need or want to see. It was thoroughly enjoyable to do a two-hour walking tour this morning. We were numb from the cold after ten minutes, and so we simply stood with our face to the wind and pressed on! I mean, really. How often do you get to stand in the nave of a church that was built in 1225 or walk cobblestone streets that were laid centuries ago and are hardly wide enough for a horse and cart let alone a car?! So what if it’s only 40 degrees and damp outside! Like any good tourist town, the hotels in Riga have little magazines with loads of advertisements, lists of restaurants and hotel, and a roster of points of interest. This little guide also provided us with the great walking tour. In about two hours we had covered most of Old Town, and I sucked in the atmosphere of the city. I love being in old Europe and seeing buildings that have stood little changed for centuries. Riga looks a little like Vienna, a little like Timisoara, Romania, and a little like something all its own. The colors, the style of the buildings, everything is just a little distinct from other places I’ve been. The walk ended with us going back to the hotel via the riverfront. The wind chill was about 25, and we fairly froze our noses off!

As quaint and fascinating as the old centers of Europe are, one thing hits you immediately. You can see it in the faces of the people and in the storefronts. Secularism runs rampant and is embraced with vigor. After checking in to Radi un Draugi Hotel (fantastic!), we set out to find an affordable dinner. We ended up at Čili Pica, which was both affordable and delicious, but we will hit full force with the worldview of Europe as we walked down the first street from our hotel. We passed a clothing shop called Faith Connexion. In the window, we could see shirts with the word ‘FAITH’ emblazoned across the front. Another said ‘GOD LOVES YOU,’ all in very gothic script. Curiously, we poked our heads inside, and Bruce asked the girl behind the counter what the idea for the shop was. She immediately shot back, “To be sexy, to be ‘rock and roll.’ It has nothing to do with God.” Here was the perfect description of the majority European mindset. God might exist, but if He does He’s simply a tool to be edgy. There is spirituality, but it is only an essence of being, a front you project to show that you have deeper knowledge of something and are “enlightened.” Never mind that it is really mockery of God and true faith. It’s sick.

The people in Latvia have grown wealthy quickly. They gained independence less than 20 years ago, and the economy and standard of living are already visibly high. It’s not Germany or France, but it’s getting there rapidly. It was nice to be back in a western country after the time in Belarus, but it saddened me to see the spiritual and moral decay that has already set in.

We’re off to Kiev shortly—a first for me. I can’t wait to drink it all in and absorb something new again! More to come.

Scott

Belarus, dosvidanya

2008-11-03T06:45:00.001-05:00

Minsk, Belarus – Sunday, November 2, 2008 – 11:19pm local time

I promise you a shorter posting tonight since it’s late here already and we have to get ready for our departure tomorrow to Ukraine by way of one night in Latvia.

What a wonderful day we had today! A, Y, A and O picked us up from the hotel for a morning and early afternoon of touring. We always make a point of visiting some historical sites wherever we go so that we can get a better context and learn what is important to the people we’re working with. In Belarus, in particular, this historical treasure hunting is important because the thrust of the group we work so closely with uses the teaching of the Christian history of Belarus to show the people what their modern day society can look like if they incorporate biblical principles in all spheres of life. If you haven’t heard me talk about it previously, there is a strong movement to expose Christians here to their Protestant past, the so-called “Golden Age of Belarus” in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. Protestantism came to Belarus through the royalty and transformed a warring, pagan backwoods into a thriving, wealthy, and peaceful power in Slavic Europe. Each year, our team likes to visit one or two historical sites and learn a little more about their particular significance. If we have a team member that is traveling here for the first time, as we do this time, we find that this is a very effective way to form relationships and educate ourselves. Today we had the privilege of visiting Kryeva and Zhshlava (phonetic spellings—don’t hold me to correctness!). We first tackled Kryeva to see still-standing ruins of a castle that was constructed when Belarus first became a Christian nation between 1385 and 1387. The walls are broken down and full of holes but still stand 12 or 15 high in spots and encircle an area of about an acre. The atmosphere was perfect to hear about the history of fighting factions and families—foggy, damp, and cold with a horse grazing right in the center of the walls. The story was typical of European history, queens who couldn’t bear their kings an heir, arranged marriages across religions and countries, brothers fighting brothers, uncles imprisoning nephews. All thoroughly delightful stuff!

We left Kryeva and drove about an hour southeast to Zhshlava. This was one of the first towns of Belarus with documented settlement since the 900s. Amazing. Our primary focus was a Calvinist church built in the 1300s that has since been transferred from the Protestants to the Catholics to the Orthodox to the Soviets (who used it as a warehouse) back to the Orthodox who currently occupy it. We poked our heads inside and watched a priest christen a little boy. From the sounds of it, I couldn’t tell if the baby was being christened or circumcised! Poor kid. We talked briefly to an older lady who was doing the Stations of the Cross in the church. She had a beautiful voice and was really sweet. She told us that she “knew a Protestant lady once but she moved to the States.” Orthodox is most certainly the primary religion here! We were finally driven out of Zhshlava by hurricane force winds and heavy mist that froze us to the bone. It was about 45 degrees today.

The highlight of the day, however, was something I can’t really write freely about. We had a late lunch with some friends that we work closely with and then went to a church service. Because of security concerns, I can’t say too much but it was such an encouraging and edifying time of praise and worship, a fantastic message, and a great time of being with friends. We went out to dinner afterward and spent two wonderful hours telling jokes, talking about church, telling of our observations from the trip, and just enjoying being together. What a delight!

We wrap up the Belarus leg with a meeting tomorrow morning, and then we’re off to Riga for a night! I’ll write from there. More to come.

Scott

Next time, I'm a garbage man!

2008-11-01T17:16:00.001-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Saturday, November 1, 2008 – 10:38pm local time

I knew it was bound to happen! At the end of our seminars today, our team did a panel Q&A time where we took questions from attendees about whatever they were interested in. Sure enough, the first question out of the box was directed to me, “the banker.” The questioner wanted to know what caused the global credit crisis and why it spread to Belarus! Before I even left the States, I knew that I was going to get that question. It was closely followed a few minutes later by another question about the Federal Reserve controlling the world and if I think that we as ordinary citizens are powerless. I’m not kidding. You know, the only thing you can do in that situation is pray that God will put His words in your mouth and go with it! On Bulgarian TV, I’m asked how a Christian can legitimately participate in business. On Romanian radio, I’m asked to explain globalization from a Christian viewpoint. In a Belarusian seminar, I’m asked to explain global finance and the Federal Reserve system. Unbelievable. I actually enjoyed the questions and answering them. What is so great about it, too, is that even these mind-bogglingly complex problems are simple when boiled down to their essence in the light of God’s Word and biblical principles. Nonetheless, I asked Bruce if he would please introduce me as a garbage man next time.

I joke about the tough questions, but I have no doubts that God has put me in this place at this time for a reason. His call is so very clear. We had another great day of seminars today with five more sessions expounding on yesterday’s topics and then wrapping up with our panel Q&A. Since it’s Saturday, the seminar attendance was greater than yesterday, and they were all very responsive. We probably could have carried on with Q&A for three hours. In fact, after we wrapped up the seminar with a sweet time of prayer from us for the Belarus Christians and them for us, we retired upstairs for dinner and more conversation with a few key leaders. A dozen of us crowded around a table designed for six or eight and enjoyed Belarusian pizza while we talked about political theory, whether the Church here should seek ways to work with the immoral and illegitimate dictatorship in Belarus to ward off an advancing Russia, the roots of the Protestant reformation, morality laws in the US, methods of child discipline and so on. These are the best times. We’re with old friends that we’ve met over the past four years and we add new friends to our circle each time. B&B are such wonderful hosts. V is our long-time interpreter since the first trip, and we added M (she was our second interpreter this time) & S (an attorney) to the circle this time. After dinner and a couple hours of chatting, we drove to downtown Minsk and three of our team took a great walking tour with M & S leading us to various sites, the old Jewish Ghetto area, and an underground shopping mall (literally under ground, not black market). We stopped at a café, and I ordered hot chocolate. What I got was essentially a melted chocolate bar or maybe chocolate pudding—delicious! We walked and chatted for two hours, took our pictures in front of the huge Lenin statue outside of Parliament (yep, that Lenin), took another picture on the steps of the KGB headquarters (yep, that KGB), and finished the night with a ride on the Metro. That was cool! For some reason, I have this odd fascination with foreign public transportation, and I’ve wanted to ride the metro here since I first came to Minsk in 2004. Box now checked!

Tomorrow morning we head out of the city for an excursion to some important historical sites north of Minsk and then we gather with members of many churches at a joint service. We did the same last year, and it will be a fitting and meaningful conclusion to our time here before we have a brief meeting with some reformation leaders on Monday morning and jet off to Kiev. The seminars exceeded our expectations over the past two days, and our team has felt your prayers. Thank you so much! I couldn’t be here if it wasn’t for your support in so many ways. So much is happening in this country. The persecuted church is overcoming and laying some great foundations that will bring reformational and transformational change to their society. Please continue to pray for them as well. Their zeal and passion will overwhelm you, and I am so humbled to be in such a place at such a time. More to come after I collect some trash.

Scott

Back in the saddle again

2008-11-01T02:30:00.000-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Friday, October 31, 2008 – 10:47pm local time

The first full day here in Belarus is in the books, and a fabulous day it was. This is my fourth trip to Belarus now, and the relationships we’ve formed over the years are precious. When we come back now, it’s like coming home in some ways. After getting settled in the hotel, our team went to a mid-week praise and worship and prayer service last night. That was great, but we had the best time afterward upstairs in the church office with B & B and A (not a good idea to use their real names). We spent about 90 minutes snacking and talking about B’s testimony, life in Communist days, and a general mix of history and politics. One member of our team had not been here before and has no experience in formerly Communist countries or contexts. He was fascinated by the discussion, and it instantly swept away his jetlag! Among the most special times on these trips are the sweet times of fellowship we get to have with other believers that have to walk out their faith every day despite real persecution that we in America really only hear about or imagine.

My head finally hit the pillow at 11:30 last night, and I was asleep at 11:30:30! I didn’t hear a sound until 6:30 this morning. We enjoyed the breakfast buffet above the casino in the hotel (really!) and then fought our way through Minsk traffic to the church for today’s seminars. They tell us traffic is something new to Minsk, and I have to say that I don’t remember anything as bad as now on previous trips. Suddenly, everyone has a car, and the roads here were designed and laid when only the Party bigwigs had cars. Things are choked in all directions now. It’s like the DC Beltway! Once we got that out of the way, we settled in for the first day of seminars—seven great sessions on political theology and constitutional structure. (Don’t you wish you were here, too?!) It was fantastic, and I loved every minute of it. Over seven hours, we covered definitions and surveys of periods of political theology, political thoughts of major streams of Christianity, Calvinist political theology, the Preamble of the US Constitution, separation of powers and its biblical basis, the three branches of government and their various powers, bottom up government versus top down government and how it enables a society to develop citizens best as created in the image of God, amending a constitution, and the full faith and credit clause and how states are forced to deal with certain moral issues when other states pass laws that differ. While we Americans don’t necessarily study our government in depth regularly, we sort of innately know much of this. In Belarus, however, this stuff is as foreign to them as the Russian language is to you and me. I could see light bulbs exploding on at various points during the day as those attending the seminar latched on to one part or another of the lectures. We’re trying our best to give them godly foundations for nation-building so that when freedom truly comes to Belarus Christians will be prepared to step up and fill the leadership vacuum that will result. What an amazing opportunity from the Lord to partner with a people to build their nation the right way and almost from scratch! Tomorrow, we’ll dive more into constructing a political theology for the Belarusian context, the Bill of Rights, rights in general, and using biblical principles to delineate and protect rights. (I know, I know, you want to be here for all fourteen hours of lectures, too!)

In between the lectures, we stuffed our faces with home-cooking Belarusian style. That means lots of potatoes, dark bread, cheese, fruit juices, cucumbers, tomatoes (I didn’t stuff those), pork sausages, cabbage, olives, hot tea, and cookies. It’s all good, too good, and I’ll be walking straight from the airport to the treadmill when I get home. After we ate, we talked more politics (this time American election politics) and history and then ate again. Really.

Tonight is Oct 31, Halloween. More importantly, it’s also Reformation Day when many Christians worldwide celebrate the Protestant Reformation. That is big deal here as the Christian community is big on looking back several centuries at the nation’s history to when this was a center of Eastern European reformation and Protestantism and using that knowledge to teach the present church what a biblically-based society can look like. Two years ago when we here on Reformation Day, there was a big concert with several Christian rock bands and historical re-enactments. This year, it was more of a traditional church service with praise and worship, a couple of choral pieces, brief words from several different pastors from various denominations (how ‘bout that!), and a drama with an adorable little girl and some historical figures. We all got a good laugh with her! What a blessing that they make something meaningful out of today. I wouldn’t trade my kids’ Fall Festival experience tonight back home for anything, but I always want them to know the true significance of the day as well.

I’m going to sign off for the night and get caught up on a little more sleep. Another action-packed day! More to come.

Scott

We're here!

2008-10-31T01:17:00.000-04:00

Minsk, Belarus – Thursday, October 30, 2008 – 3:27pm local time

We’re here! We landed in Minsk shortly after 1pm local time, and we’ve navigated through passport control, customs, and hotel check-in. I can now say that I am safely and securely in Belarus once again! Our flights were uneventful, even enjoyable. You have to hand it to the European airlines when it comes to efficiency of service and in-flight food. We flew Lufthansa from Philadelphia to Frankfurt and again from Frankfurt to Minsk. Two meals on the first flight and another on the flight to Minsk. Sure beats the US airlines’ policy now of pay-for-everything. On our flight to Philadelphia from Norfolk, even water cost $1! I’ve not been a big fan of Lufthansa in the past, but they were good this year. The flight attendants even smiled.

Minsk is the same and ever-changing. There is new construction everywhere, hundreds of new apartments going up between the airport and the city. We noticed the same thing last year. As ever, though, it’s always the same, just huge blocks of apartments with precious little diversity and essentially no single family homes. Apartment living is de rigueur for big city dwellers worldwide, but I sure wouldn’t swap having a lawn for city life! We’re getting a little rest in our hotel this afternoon before heading out this evening for a church service. Our seminars start first thing in the morning. It’s so good to see our friends again. More to come.

Scott

Wrap-up part 1

2007-11-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe that I returned from my trip a month ago today. In some ways it seems like yesterday. I suppose it’s just the way once you have a family and a job and all of those things that you have to dive headlong back into “real life” after taking ten days off to go a-missioning. Our team arrived home on a Saturday; I had one day to be with family and reorient myself to normal life before jumping back into work on Monday. The week after I returned, I was away from home for a night training co-workers at another office. The week following that, I spent another night away doing training for another group of co-workers. So, I’ve stayed quite busy since returning and have tried my best to grab snippets of time to reflect and catch up. Obviously, I haven’t done that too well. Let me try to fill in the blanks.

So our team had a great time in Oradea on Friday. We appeared on a radio program broadcast Europe-wide and then spent a very fruitful morning teaching undergraduate business students at Emanuel University. It was energizing and encouraging, but after our obligations were done around noon, we were eager for a few hours of leisure before the trip home on Saturday. Oradea lies only twenty minutes or so from the Hungarian border and about an hour from the second largest city in Hungary, Debrecen. It just so happens that Debrecen was once a hotbed of Protestantism in prior centuries and is often called the “Calvinist Rome.” So, you can imagine how excited we were to have a chance at seeing some great Christian history while getting another stamp in our passports. Since Romania and Hungary are now in the EU, the border crossing was a breeze, and we were in Debrecen by 1:30pm. We spent a delightful afternoon walking around this beautiful city and enjoying the architecture and quaint feeling of an old yet modern city. You know, it’s quite remarkable to observe cultural differences. Debrecen and eastern Hungary were the far reaches of Protestantism in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, and Calvinism never leapt the border to take hold in Romania. Instead, Romania clung to its Orthodox roots, and the effects are clearly seen. There is so much to be said of the Protestant work ethic and the economic gain that comes from the application of biblical principles in a society. In Hungary, the Calvinists did their best to live all of life in a biblical manner, and the country was and remains leaps and bounds beyond Romania as a result. As soon as we crossed the border we could see the difference. Whereas Romania still struggles to overcome its Communist past and is desperately poor and corrupt in many ways, Hungary was clean, orderly, and prosperous even in villages. Even our Romania guide and friend said so. It was stark and amazing! Of course, Hungary shook off Communism sooner than Romania and has been a part of the EU for a short while longer, so that naturally has as affect, too, but one simply cannot discount the Calvinist and Protestant influence on a country.

While in Debrecen, we visited the Great Church and the Calvinist College and meandered around downtown for several hours. And how’s this for providence? I was amazed by the very few people, almost nil, that spoke any English. We were visiting Calvinist College and their museums and as we were leaving we attempted to ask the curator to point us to a bookstore. He had no idea what we were talking about but grabbed a professor-type who was walking down the stairs and out of the building just as we were and asked him to help us. The “professor” turned out to be the Vice Rector of the school and spoke great English. What’s more, he studied at Austin Seminary in Texas and had as a professor there a man who was also a professor of Bruce’s on our team and is a member of our church! We were dumbfounded! Here we are in the corner of Hungary for four hours at the most, and we run into a fellow believer who knows someone from our church. Just wild.

We also took a chance and asked a representative at the Tourist Information office in town to recommend an authentic Hungarian restaurant for dinner. We didn’t know if she would send us to her brother’s restaurant or some dive that paid kickbacks to the Tourist office or what. Instead, we were most pleasantly surprised with a fabulous dinner at Flaska Vendeglo, a wonderfully atmospheric restaurant in the basement of an office/retail building. It was decorated like a Hungarian farmhouse and served us perhaps the best meal we had on the whole trip. I had mushroom soup, cucumbers, and pork chops “peasant style.” The pork chops were delicious and topped with sausage, cheese, pickles (sounds weird, I know), and a great sauce. My mouth is watering even now just remembering it!

We drove back to Oradea around 6pm to get a little sleep before our trip home thoroughly relaxed and having enjoyed a great time in Debrecen. I can’t wait to see it again in the future!

More to come…

Headed home

2007-10-30T17:59:00.001-04:00

Saturday, October 27, 2007 – 1:37PM – over the Atlantic Ocean

Seat 36F on Northwest flight 93 to Detroit is not so bad. The legroom is sufficient, and the standard issue pillow is fairly comfortable. International travel is always interesting. I’m in the window seat of a three-seat row sitting next to a Philippine medical doctor who lives in Holland and works in Germany. She is sitting next to a Sri Lankan agricultural development PhD who now lives in Dallas after living in Serbia for seven years. He travels alternately on a Serbian or American passport and is on his way to the Caribbean for a vacation with his Serbian wife. Meanwhile, little old me is just waiting to get back to my simple life in Virginia Beach. Amazing.

Dr. Bom departed from Timisoara on Thursday morning in order to fulfill some teaching obligations at Regent this weekend. The rest of the team traveled to Oradea after dropping him at the airport and spent two fruitful days there. First, we met with Silviu Tatu, another contact that Bruce knows from OCMS. He looks like something that just stepped out of a story of Transylvania with his piercing eyes and jet black beard. He spearheaded a meeting with four other local pastors, and Bruce took the lead in explaining a lot about KPC, the EPC, its church government structure, KPCLU, and what we do in our biblical worldview teaching. Apparently, the pastors we met are struggling with some church organizational issues and also desire some broader training in societal interaction for their people. It was a good meeting but the lunch with Silviu afterward was even better. It turns out that he and his wife have chosen to homeschool their children this year and are among the first in Romania to do so! As we talked about that, we quickly discovered that his views of education and family align perfectly with our typical teachings in those areas. God was so good to arrange such a conversation, because Silviu completely relaxed with us and we were able to delve more deeply into our views. Divine appointments!

Shortly before we left on this trip, my Dad mentioned that a choir member had told him that he sat next to a Moldovan pastor on a recent flight. In their conversation, they talked about our International Reformation ministry in Eastern Europe. The pastor was excited and suggested that we contact him to see if a visit to Moldova was possible. Of course, this really excited me because Moldova is the missing link in a completely filled 20/30 window and it is in a perfect position to benefit from the Reformation Institute we’re setting up in Kiev with and for the Belarusians. Moldova is situated between Romania and Ukraine with easy road access to Kiev. The people speak Romanian and Russian, and the government is still officially Communist. The trifecta! I shared my thoughts on the opening with Bruce, and we chalked it up to another nice idea if God should open the door. Well, in Oradea one of the pastors at the small morning meeting was Adi Stanciu. We met him in 2005 on our first trip to Romania. He has recently stepped down from his pastorship and is now the Executive Director of the Romanian Missionary Society. They have a publishing operation and while we were in their bookstore looking at the great publications they’ve translated and made available, we stumbled upon a conversation about Moldova. Adi lit up and said, “You have to go there! There is a great reformation movement underway there.” What an amazing confirmation! He has some contacts there as does Florin, our Romanian friend and regular guide/driver/interpreter. So, perhaps we’re headed to Moldova next year. Again, amazing!

We finished our work for this year on Thursday and Friday at Emanuel University, a Christian university in Oradea. On Thursday afternoon, we were participated in the chapel service for students and community business leaders. Dave spoke for a about an hour and half on Christian leadership and his business background. He did a great job on short notice. Bruce spoke briefly about globalization and worldview, and we took questions from the audience. The chapel was a soaring room with what must have been a five story sculpture on the front wall representing the trinity and the crucifixion and a beautiful stained-glass window. Dinner was with a business professor (younger than 30) from the school who immigrated to the States from Romania when he was twelve but has now moved back to minister in his native land. This guy was really fascinating. He bought his first business at 17, financed solely with his mother’s credit cards, and went on to be a Fulbright scholar and PhD! A great immigrant story of America’s opportunities.

On Friday morning, we were scheduled to teach junior-year business students for their regular management course class. Before that, though, we were invited to appear on a half-hour program on Radio Vocea Evangheliei. Dave, Bruce, and I took about ten minutes each answering questions on leadership and respecting authority, globalization and Christianity’s response, and banking and economics. It was really fun, and I was so pleased with the answers that the Holy Spirit impressed upon me. Bulgarian TV last summer and Romanian radio—also broadcast by satellite all over Europe—this year! Media moguls, we are.

So, we entered the classroom on a bit of a high and had a great time teaching the students about God’s dominion covenant with man and how that plays itself out through stewardship in economics and business. The professor had asked be at dinner the night before to speak to the students about the necessity and importance of accounting—a near universally hated course in business school. The students and our team all had a good laugh as I talked about how much I, too, hate accounting! I explained, though, its necessity in the stewardship mandate and economic fulfillment, and I think they really caught the idea. These smaller face-to-face teaching times are usually the most productive, and this was both a great opportunity and great fun. We left Oradea very fulfilled.

Work was done. Time for some fun before we headed home. Hungary is only 30 minutes from Oradea. Why not?! More to come…

Trying to catch up

2007-10-27T00:05:00.001-04:00

Thursday, October 25, 2007 – 2:42AM EST – on the road between Timisoara and Oradea, Romania (9:42AM)

I’m so sorry that it’s been a while since I updated you on what’s been happening. It’s funny that in Belarus where our Internet access is limited that I can update more easily than in Romania where we Internet access in our hotel room. Since we arrived in Romania late on Monday night—actually early Tuesday morning—we’ve been pretty busy, so I haven’t been able to write.

I wish that I could give you all the detail of what we’ve seen and done over the last few days, but it’s not really possible to fully describe everything. One really has to be over here to get a feel for how these people live and worship. The wealth of western Europe is slowly creeping over to eastern Europe, and Belarus and Romania have gotten just a small taste. Each time we’re here, things have changed a little, and it’s encouraging to work with Christians here who want to not just change but reform their countries.

We finished our time in Belarus with a great church service Sunday night and meeting with various leaders Monday morning. Both were sweet times of fellowship and sharing our hearts for the future of Belarus. It always seems that our time in Belarus is never long enough. I just love being there. It’s a throwback to the Soviet Union, and the language is difficult, but the spirit of reform is so strong and our friends there are so wonderful. God has opened incredible doors for us there, and the Christians of the country are so zealous and seeking of reform. I’m already missing it and waiting for the next opportunity to go back.

On the way to our Monday morning meeting with key leaders in Minsk, we had the great privilege to stop and absorb a little of the spirit of a really sacred place. Just off the ring road in one area of Minsk is a place called Kurapaty. Between 1937 and 1939, Stalin and his henchmen in Belarus, took the Jews, the elites, and others they deemed undesirable to the forest and shot them execution style. Today, Kurapaty is a memorial site maintained by private donations and volunteers in honor of the nearly 200,000 people that were exterminated there. For hundreds of yards through the forest there are memorial crosses and markers. It was cold, the air was misty, and we could hardly speak as we pondered what occurred there. Pits are all around where mass graves were found and the earth caved in on the piles of bones. The government of Belarus won’t officially acknowledge what occurred there, they purposefully built a highway through the center of the site, and there is near constant vandalism from nationalists. So many volunteers have worked to keep it as a reminder of man’s inhumanity to man and as a caution to never let it happen again.

Following our departure from Belarus, I had another chance to visit one of my favorite places, Vienna. We had a four hour layover between our flights from Minsk to Timisoara, so Bruce and I hopped the train into Vienna for a little sightseeing and leg-stretching. It was briskly cold, perfect for walking around an old European city! We poked our heads into Stephansdom, the huge cathedral in the center of the city, and St. Peter’s Church, a beautiful slightly smaller cathedral around the corner. On the way back to the train, we saw part of the city wall from the 1500s where the Viennese fought off the Turks and stopped the spread of Islam into Europe into the 1600s. Very cool. Minsk is an interesting city, but I certainly wouldn’t call it beautiful. Vienna is beautiful and stunning. I love it more every time.

That takes us up to Romania where we’re into our third day and second city. More to come…

Romania surprises again

2007-10-27T00:05:00.000-04:00

Thursday, October 25, 2007 – 2:49PM EST - Oradea, Romania (9:49PM)

It seems that it’s always with a little uncertainty that we travel to Romania. We’ve been here each year since 2005, and every time there has been at least one end left untied when we arrived. This year was no different. Dani Raducanu, the mayor of the small village of Baru Mare that we met in 2005, was very eager for us to come and teach on the biblical worldview of politics and how to do government “Christianly.” We talked to him about bringing some local politicians from his county (equiv. of our states) and from his political party headquarters in Timisoara. Things were set pretty well for that before we came, and then for about two weeks before we departed the states, silence. We had no more contact from Dani. Things went great in Belarus, and I wondered if we would flounder our way through the first couple of days through Romania. Of course, God had other great plans for us.

We arrived just after midnight Tuesday morning and stumbled to bed about 2AM. On Tuesday, we gave Dr. Bom the nickel tour of the sites of the Romanian revolution that began in Timisoara in 1989. That afternoon, we met with Corneliu and Cris from Elim Theological Seminary. It was a very satisfying meeting sharing what we do in our ministry and learning of their desire for more training for local pastors and lay leaders on biblical worldview basics and church/society interface. Bruce knows both of them from his studies at Oxford, and our hearts were really united immediately. Following the afternoon meeting, all of us went to the Areopagus Center, sort of a Christian cultural think tank. Dr. Bom and Bruce gave a presentation on biblical worldview, European politics, and human rights. We took questions from the attendees at the end, and I shared a bit about my experience using both biblical morality and solid analytics to solve problems and make recommendations from a sound business and moral footing. I was also able to give a few examples of biblical economics regarding taxation and private property to demonstrate that the Bible does indeed speak to economic matters. Good stuff and fun!

So we came to Wednesday when we scheduled to meet with Dani Raducanu and teach a political seminar. We finally reached him midday on Tuesday and found out that his village had flooded from the recent rains and that he had to play mayor and couldn’t leave to come to Timisoara. Certainly a worthy reason for not meeting us but it was a little frustrating since keeping our commitment to him was the primary reason that we came back to Romania this year! Nonetheless, God had other plans for us that were beyond what we could have thought, and today showed us that.

Before I get to Thursday, however, I want to share a little about Dr. Philip Bom. He is a professor at the Regent University School of Government. He is Dutch-born but a resident and citizen of America for the last 50 odd years. Dr. Bom will be 70 next year but remains a spry and hilariously engaging chap. It was a delight to have him travel with us through Belarus and the first couple of days in Romania. On Wednesday night, we met with members of the Christian Democratic People’s Party in Timisoara. At the meeting were the vice-mayor of the City and the Vice President of the county (again, like our states) who is a candidate for the European Parliament. Dr. Bom’s specialty is International Politics, specifically Europe, and he really had that rapt with an hour long presentation. It was fabulous. I thoroughly enjoyed his company the whole trip—he reminded me very much of my grandfather—but was especially struck by the stories he shared at lunch on Tuesday about growing up in Holland during WWII, the liberation of his town by Canadian troops, and the Christian witness of his father. One of the more meaningful moments of the trip for me was when Dr. Bom, over a lunch of grilled chicken breast, choked up and couldn’t speak for a moment as he recounted how his father would give up sure and more profitable sales as a fisherman on Sunday in order to faithfully observe the Sabbath. It was a tremendous testimony and a touching moment of watching a son, albeit one of 70 years of age, show genuine love for his father. Moments like those are among the most cherished of my times ministering here over the last several years. More to come…

The Sixteenth Century

2007-10-22T11:36:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 22, 2007 – 11:36AM EST– somewhere in the air between Minsk, Belarus and Vienna, Austria (6:36PM)

You might remember from previous blog entries on my other trips that our teams always make a point of visiting some historical sites of cultural and/or religious significance in the nation we’re visiting. Our time in Minsk on other trips has always been so packed that we’ve not had much of an opportunity to do that outside of Minsk itself while driving from one place to the next. In 2005 when we visited, we did get to go to a place called Niasvizh, but it was a very out-and-back trip and it was dark shortly after we arrived. We ran quickly past a couple of sites and then hoofed it back to Minsk for a meeting of some sort. This time, we specifically set aside a full morning and part of an afternoon to see some sites.

Since our commitments on Sunday were not until the afternoon, we planned a good tour of some historic cites. Part of the impetus for the reformation movement in Belarus is the reconnection with the Christians there to their “Golden Age,” that time in the 1500s when the Protestant Reformation reached Belarus, and its leaders embraced Protestantism and Calvinism and saw tremendous improvements in their society as a result. It was to a few notable sites from that period that we went. Our tour guides were A. and Y. (no names for security sake), history professors, A. (pastor and doctoral student), and O. (a student). All are active in the New Reformation Movement and have attended our seminars. We left first thing in the morning. The temperature had dropped considerably overnight, but the 33 degree temperature outside was quickly forgotten as we climbed into the van and talked about history and laughed about funny translations and jokes. We even had historical Belarusian folk music playing for part of the time!

We traveled first to a small town where a Calvinist church has stood since the 1600s. It’s in pretty bad disrepair since no one has taken care of it for years, but it was remarkable to hear of the history of that town and its one-time embrace of Protestantism. From there, we went to Niasvizh to see the statue of Simon Budny, the first publisher of Protestant literature in what is now Belarus, and a large church there. This was the site that we visited in 2005.

One quick aside on the drive to Niasvizh. We started down a down road that was a supposed shortcut. After a while, the road was deteriorating to the point where it was not passable. We turned around, but as we did, we hit a pothole and the back end of the van lurched and made an awful moaning sound like something had seriously broken or we had hit a large animal or something. Several of us looked at each other startled and then cracked up as we realized that the awful noise was simply the beginning of another folk song—timed perfectly with our jolt! Hilarious!

From Niasvizh, we drove to a real historical highlight and one we’ve waited quite a while to see. We made it out to Mir Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but better yet a jewel of the reformation history of Belarus. The castle is relatively small as medieval fortresses go, but it dates from the 15th century and is in remarkably great shape. It was home to the Protestant branch of the Radziwil family that ruled Belarus at the time of construction and brought the reformation to the land. We had a great time climbing the incredibly steep stairs from level to level and enjoying the pictures from all around Belarus that were mounting inside. Some pictures later.

After a tremendous historical tour, we made our way back to downtown Minsk and ate at the Lido cafeteria, a popular eatery. Nine of us ate a two or three course afternoon meal for $25. Can’t beat that! More to come…

Home sweet home... of sorts

2007-10-21T00:28:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 21, 2007 – 12:28AM EST– Minsk, Belarus (7:28AM)

What a delightful time we had last night! After the seminars, we drove down through downtown to see the lights on all the buildings and then to an apartment of a local pastor for dinner. The downtown area is so impressive with all the imposing buildings, and it’s even prettier at night. 99% of Minsk was wiped out in WWII, so there are literally only three or four original buildings. That means that most of the buildings downtown were built by German prisoners of war or in the ear of Stalin. They are huge stone edifices that stretch for blocks and blocks. The architecture is appealing to me. Most of it is not the typical Soviet cement block monstrosity-type that you see from pictures. It is very German/Austro-Hungarian with some ornamentation. Nonetheless, everything is overly huge and screams authoritarian.

We also saw the new National Library building that was completed within the last couple of years. It is a far departure from the typical stone government buildings around downtown. The Library is a very modern building with a towering cylindrical structure that goes up probably fifteen stories. The cylinder is covered with colored lights that change continuously, and there is an enormous sign out front with scrolling messages. Fascinating.

At the end of our drive through town, we arrived at the apartment of Valery and his wife. He is a local pastor, and it was a treat for us to dine with them in their home. Boris and Bella were with us as well as Alex, a seminar attendee that we met on Friday, and pastor Pavel and his wife. The food was delicious, especially the main chicken dish, and we enjoyed a fabulous time of discussion and conversation about education, politics (both current events and theoretical principles), and general “in America…” and “in Belarus…” type questions. There was much laughter at times, much seriousness at times, and I so enjoyed the opportunity we had to talk to ordinary people in their environment and to get to know them a little better. This is the first time we’ve been in a Belarusian’s flat over all of our visits here, and it was very special. It made for a later night than we anticipated, but it was well worth it. More to come…

The first two days

2007-10-20T02:13:00.000-04:00

As I write, Bruce has just begun the first session of the day at our seminars in Minsk. This is day two of the seminar. We had about 50 people in attendance yesterday at first day of the seminars. It was a closed session of select people in order to minimize publicity and the possibility of interruption by the authorities. There were eight 50 minute sessions, four by Bruce on theology and the importance of theological study in the pursuit of nation reformation and four by Dr. Bom on democracy and democratization. The response of the people was very good, though were some comments that some of the subject matter was a little abstract and hard to grasp. That was not surprising to us, but we knew that this year would bring things at a whole new level. As we move to the formation of the reformation institute here, our teaching will take a more and more academic tone and move to a more “university” level of thought. Based on the questions and response at the end of the day, it was apparent that most in attendance really enjoyed everything and appreciated the material.

One of the more intriguing questions asked of us at the end of the day was the difference between reading the Bible devotionally each day and studying it exegetically for deep theological study. Very interesting. Bruce answered it well, but it was a demonstration to me of the true attentive paid to the seminars by the people here and their desire to really learn.

One of the best parts of these trips it the time we have to fellowship with each other over meals. We’ve enjoyed two great dinners in the evenings we’ve been here. On Thursday night after we arrived, Boris and Bella took us to The Beatles Café. It was a hoot! Pictures of the Beatles everywhere, life-size cut-outs of the band posed on a stage in the corner, and Beatles music playing in the background. Bruce and I especially enjoyed it, and we both ordered the “Paul McCartney,” supposedly Paul’s favorite meal of fried chicken, French fries, and bacon. I also had a Greek salad with fabulous sharp feta cheese. Also with us were Vitaly, our interpreter, Benjamin and his wife Nelly (the first pastor of the church we’re partnered with), Dima and his wife Marina (associate pastor the church), and Boris and Bella. It was a great time of getting caught up on what has happened since we were last together and sharing our vision for the next few days and the future. Following dinner, it was back to the hotel where I crashed for a good eight hours. Nice!

After the seminars last night, we went to Bergamo, a fancy Italian restaurant nearer downtown. With us were Boris and Bella, Vitaly, Yuri (a seminar attendee and local small business owner), and Dmitry (a pastor from Grodno in the western part of the country). The food was great and the service was good, but the kitchen was sloooooooooowwww. Whenever we’re over here, we simply accept the fact that service is different than back home and the patience is truly a virtue. This was something altogether different, though. Dave and I sat together at one end of the able, and we waited 90 minutes for our food after ordering. What’s so strange, though, is that others at our table waiting only 20 minutes or so and one guy was served his meal and dessert long before we got our meal. So, put the wait together with the waitress’ refusal to let me order what I initially requested, and it was an interesting experience. But, we really had a great time of fellowship. Lots of laughter and joking mixed with very serious conversation and discussion of history. It’s so good to be back in Minsk! It’s an intellectual and cultural experience I treasure. More to come…

Minsk is booming!

2007-10-18T09:43:00.000-04:00

After three flights and eighteen hours of travel, we’ve arrived in Minsk safe and sound. We were last here in 2005, and the city is booming! There is new construction all over, roads are refurbished and resurfaced, and apartment buildings and single-family houses are being built everywhere. It’s really something to see. Everyone knows that the official government figures for economic growth are padded and baloney, but perhaps there’s more to the bluster than it would appear. “On the ground” evidence would point to some real strength after all. There is no denying, though, that this remains by and large a command economy with little sanctioned free market activity without oppressively heavy red tape and taxes that are higher than gross revenues in some cases. I just hope that when freedom does come and the economy blossoms for real that it doesn’t grow too fast and result in the huge disparity between the “haves” (the oligarchs) and the “have nots” (everyone else) as in Russia. I suppose it could be a blessing in some ways that Belarus does not have the tremendous natural oil and gas resources that does Russia so that that windfall will not be available to the select few to hoard for themselves.

We’re sitting in our room in the good ol’ Orbita Hotel resting a little while before dinner with some of our friends and other leaders here. Even the hotel has been spiffed up and renovated since we were last here in 2005. The rooms have carpet, and the reception desk has been totally redone. It actually looks nice instead of like a mafia den.

I slept about five hours between the flight to Frankfurt and the flight to Minsk. Not too bad, and I feel pretty good. By nine o’clock tonight, I’ll surely be ready for bed, but so far, so good. We flew Northwest Airlines from Norfolk to Frankfurt (via Detroit), and it was fine. Nice flight attendants, typical American airline “comfort” which is basic but fine. Then we flew Lufthansa, the German airline, from Frankfurt to Minsk. Everyone jokes about German efficiency, but it’s a very real thing. The only problem is that the attendants and customer service staff are almost robotic. Helpful but not exactly friendly. Not my favorite airline, but our choices are limited when flying into Minsk. I don’t think that Delta will be bidding for a NY-Minsk non-stop anytime soon.

I exchanged a couple of text messages with my wife. Jonathan had a bit of a difficult evening with me being gone, and Karen said that she can sense some spiritual attack to discourage her and against the kids’ health. I’d appreciate your prayers. More to come…

Under way

2007-10-17T16:22:00.000-04:00

I’m sitting in the Detroit Airport waiting to board flight number two, the long one across the pond to Frankfurt where we’ll connect onward to Minsk. The first flight was uneventful—just a quick hop in the wrong direction away from Europe toward Detroit. Isn’t the airline hub and spoke system interesting? As we have a three hour layover here in Detroit, we made our way to the chapel—excuse me, “Religious Reflection Room,”—to take the opportunity to pray together as a team for the first time today. It was tremendous. Very interesting, also, I might add. Since the room is in the middle of an airport and the airport lies in the middle of the largest concentration of Muslims in the United States, we had several Muslims keeping us company while we prayed. Prayer rugs and the whole bit. When we first got into the room, there was a married couple on their prayer rugs. She was not in a burkha, per se, but had a full head covering and long robe. He was dressed like any other urban black man in sweats. The four sides of the room was clearly marked with compass points, and there was an inlay in the rug pointing eastward (Mecca).

All of that was very intriguing to see, but I was amazed at the spiritual atmosphere in the room. The Muslim couple was in the room when we arrived, and it was extremely difficult for me to focus on the Lord and pray until they left. Wow! I haven’t felt anything like that before. I intended to pray for them, pray that their spiritual chains would be broken and that the bondage of Islam would fall off of them, but I struggled mightily to do so. It left me feeling a bit inadequate, but it was such a good reminder that I am indeed inadequate without Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, now and especially on these trips. The spiritual warfare is intense, but we have been given the power to pierce the clouds of darkness and deliver the word of the Lord. I guess I should have expected that the warfare would start before we even left the U.S.! More to come…

Belarus and Romania Update #6

2007-10-16T17:40:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is the day we depart. Visas are in hand, bags are almost packed, and just a few loose ends to tie up. I wanted to thank you all again for your support, both in prayer and financially. I will leave tomorrow 95% funded, and that is huge! God is so good, and I appreciate so very much all that you have done to make this year’s trip a possibility. Just a few quick things today:

The weather forecast for our entire time in Minsk is mid- to high-30s with snow possible on several days. Lows in the 20s overnight. Yikes!
Going forward, I might just post updates to http://scottsreformation.blogspot.com rather than emailing to each of you individually. It depends on our setup and Internet access.
Thousands of people crowded the streets of Minsk to protest the current government and to demand freedom last weekend. The police were out in force to break things up. It will be interesting to hear some of the firsthand accounts. Check out http://www.charter97.org for more info.

Some prayer requests as I depart:

Please pray for peace and protection for my family
We are having a little trouble rounding up the audio-video equipment we need to carry with us still. Please pray that we can get what we need.
Safety on our long travel day tomorrow and the ability to rest on the planes as we’ll hit the ground running when we land.
Please pray for servant’s hearts, Godly wisdom to impart, discernment for every situation, and divine appointments.

Thanks again for all you do and your interest. I couldn’t go without you behind me! More to come…

Scott

Belarus visas are here!

2007-10-13T21:14:00.001-04:00

It’s been quite the twisted and sordid journey, but our Belarus visas arrived this afternoon. Saturday! We’re all set to go. Our first team member can proceed on his travels tomorrow, and the rest of his will leave Wednesday for Belarus with much peace of mind. Praise God for His faithfulness and always right on time. I’ll to fill you in on the story sometime. It’s too long for a simple email. More to come…

Scott

Belarus and Romania Update #5

2007-10-11T20:07:00.001-04:00

Good news! As of Wednesday evening, we still had not received our Belarusian visas back approved and processed from the Embassy. The five business day timeframe we were promised has passed, so I’ve been a little worried. Well, we contacted the Embassy this morning and were told that our visas were approved and issued yesterday (Wednesday) and should arrive back to us today or Friday. This is a tremendous answer to prayer, and I am slightly relieved. We absolutely must have the visas and passports back tomorrow so that one of our team members will have his passport to travel internationally on Sunday before meeting us next week in Belarus, so I will feel better when I hear that the visa package has been received by the church and we’re all set to go. Pray with me, won’t you?

There has been a flurry of activity in the last week. All seminar outlines have been sent to Belarus for translation ahead of our arrival. The Romania seminars have stretched from three to four days, and we’ll be dividing our time evenly between two cities. A Christian university (how’s your Romanian?) in Oradea has invited to address both faculty and administration and students. We are thrilled at the opportunity and are confident that this will lead to more divine appointments. As you may remember, the emerging focus of this ministry and desire of our hearts is to establish institutes in strategic spots in Eastern Europe that will train pastors and lay leaders in all disciplines in the principles and practices of biblical worldview. These meetings in Oradea could go far to planting that seed in Romania.

I thought I’d try to make things a little more interesting this time for the armchair globetrotters. Here’s the route we’ll take:

We’ll hit at least five countries—the U.S., Germany, Belarus, Austria, and Romania—and do our primary work in three cities: Minsk, Timisoara, and Oradea. When we get to Romania, we’ll be only a couple of hours from both the Serbian and Hungarian borders. If have any free time after seminars, we may try to get another stamp in our passports from one of the neighbors!

Six days to go, and I’m starting to turn my thoughts to packing and logistics. I’d appreciate your prayers for the following this week:

Pray for safe and timely delivery of our passports and visas. The primary hurdle has been crossed; we just need to get everything back.
My funding is up to 89%! Thank you for your selfless generosity. Please pray for full support.
Pray for good time management for all the team members in this next week. We need to make sure we pack everything we need and nothing we don’t—weight limits!—and we still have normal lives to lead before we go.
Pray for open hearts where we’re going and servant hearts for us as we teach.
Pray for safety in our travels, protection for our families while we’re gone, and peace in our households with us away.

I am so very blessed by your support, gifts, and words of encouragement. More to come…

Belarus and Romania Update #4

2007-10-04T17:58:00.000-04:00

I am typing this with a joyful cramp in my hand. I have just finished writing numerous thank-you notes in hopes of expressing even a small amount of my gratitude to you who gave so generously toward my upcoming trip in just this past couple of weeks. As a result of those gifts, my funding is up to 87%, and I am overjoyed! One of things that God has been impressing on me is not just His faithfulness to provide but also how amazing is the body of Christ that so many of you would give so sacrificially. As I began this ministry journey four years ago, I was astounded at how quickly gifts flew in the door to support my first trip. Since that time, I have been consistently humbled more deeply as so many of you have supported me again and again in successive years. I really don’t know what to say, and I pray that I will be ever faithful to God’s call for me and your expectations. I am also representing you as I attempt to carry His banner in the dark places.

The first few days after my last update were quite the flurry of activity. After telling you that our team’s Belarusian visas were approved and received, I found out that our application packet was simply returned to us unprocessed. We hadn’t received correct instructions and left out the primary visa application document. As a testament to God’s providence, the one member of our team who does not live locally in Hampton Roads was in town last weekend and was available to sign his application and provide the necessary information. I ran around the church on Sunday and on email over the weekend to compile everything we needed, and the full applications were signed, sealed, and sent off to the Embassy for processing late on Monday afternoon. There is a real time crunch on now, and we’ll need the prayers.

On the trip front, we made some great progress in this week in firming up the Romania portion of our trip. We have accepted invitations to speak at a seminary and a university in addition to our planned seminar with local and national politicians. Great! We are excited at these new opportunities, and they will connect us with people in Romania who are true leaders among protestant Christians. God continues to open amazing doors for us, and I know that even more divine appointments will transpire once we’re in country.

Here’s what you can be praying for this week:

My family. Karen is anxious about my time away. Please pray that there will be peace in my house and that the children will not react negatively to my being gone. The boys know that daddy goes on ‘big trips’ but it’s never easy for us to be separated for so long.
Visas! We absolutely must have our approved visas back in hand by Friday, October 12, as one team member is going out of the country ahead of the rest of us. This timeframe is feasible but tight. Please pray for no more hang-ups.
Safe travel. We will cover about 12,500 miles in the air and on the ground (thankfully mostly in the air!) during this trip. Please pray for smooth connections, safe drivers, and clear roads from place to place.
Preparation of our hearts and minds. Each of my team members has a life outside of this trip and ministry, and we’ll all be busy with the day-to-day right up until we leave. Please pray that God would be preparing us for the message we have to bring, the people that we will meet, and the servanthood that we need to demonstrate. Pray for humility, wisdom, and effective communication.

Thank you all so much! Only two weeks to go now—wow. More to come…

BIG prayer request for the trip

2007-09-28T18:03:00.000-04:00

Well, it turns out I jumped the gun a bit yesterday with the praise report about receiving our Belarusian visas and being approved. As it turns out, the instructions we were given weren’t right and all of our applications were sent back unprocessed because we didn’t submit full paperwork. We should have time to complete and re-submit the required paperwork, but I would ask for your prayer for this. Time is getting short, and the visas are a must if we are to travel to Belarus! More to come...

Belarus and Romania Update #3

2007-09-27T21:30:00.000-04:00

Only a very brief update this time as I approach three weeks out from my trip to Belarus and Romania in October. Lots of planning still going on, and we are making solid progress on finalizing all of our seminars and meetings for our time in Romania. I appreciate very much your prayers and encouragement.

Praise reports and items for prayer:

1. Fantastic news! I was informed today that our visas for entry into Belarus have been approved, and our passports have been received back from the Belarusian Embassy. This is a huge hurdle cleared and a large answer to prayer. Please pray for safe and smooth entry into the country.

2. My funding is at about 75%. I am so encouraged by God’s faithfulness and your ongoing support.

3. We have made some key new contacts for Romania that could open tremendous doors for future ministry. Pray that we would go in with humility and with hearts to learn how we can serve, not just teach.

4. Of course, I continue to ask for prayer for my family while I am gone. They will need supernatural support, and they always welcome a phone call or visit from you while I’m away.

Thank you all for lifting me, my family, and my teammates up in prayer. I’m getting very excited about what’s ahead! More to come…

Belarus and Romania Update #2

2007-09-20T18:04:00.000-04:00

Down to four weeks now. We leave Wednesday, October 17, and preparation continues for our trip to Belarus and Romania. Just a quick update this week on my trip and the ministry that you have been so faithful in supporting:

Many of you had the opportunity to hear Yaroslav Lukasik speak at KPC last summer when he was visiting from Belarus. He is the dear friend of ours from Belarus who has since been deported from the country for his steadfast refusal to close down his church and temper his message of reformation in Belarus. He has since relocated with his family just over the border in Poland and continues to be a steadfast worker on behalf of Belarus though he has been barred from re-entry for five years. He has been visiting in Virginia Beach this week, and I had the opportunity to share dinner and breakfast with him on a couple of days this week. What a joy to see him and hear of his unmatched zeal for the Lord’s work in Belarus! He encouraged us so much ahead of our trip.

Some things to praise the Lord for and pray for this week:

My funding is up to 70%. Thank you!
We are finding ways to trim our costs in Romania, and the Euro is coming down ever so slightly against the dollar. (You didn’t know international money markets were a part of missions work, did you?!)
Our visas for entry into Belarus have been sent to the Embassy and are in process. Pray for smooth approval and a quick turn-around.
As always, I would appreciate your prayer for my family as I leave them for this extended period.

You are the best, and I am always blessed by your words of encouragement to me. Thank you! More to come...

Belarus and Romania Update #1

2007-09-13T17:59:00.000-04:00

Five weeks from today, I will land in Belarus with my teammates for another round of ministry and teaching in Eastern Europe. I wrote to you a couple of weeks ago with an update, and I wanted to share the latest about our journey and plans. The plane tickets are booked, day-to-day itineraries are settled, and now we simply work on filling in the daily schedule.

Belarus has come together extremely well. We are quite excited about the seminars to be held there, and some fantastic teaching topics have been arranged. There will be 16 hours of intensive teaching over two days on topics such as “Sounds Methods of Biblical Theology,” “Constitutional Democracy,” Introduction to Economics,” and “Worldview Conceptions,” among others. During the other two days there, we will have extensive meetings on the formation of the training institute I’ve told you about and several meetings with local pastors in order to encourage them in the midst of their persecution and introduce them to a holistic Biblical worldview. This will be my third trip to Belarus, and my heart has grown so attached to the country and people. The zeal of the Christians there who live under the daily threat of real physical and spiritual persecution is amazing to see. I really can’t wait to go back!

We are making headway as well on the Romania portion of our trip. The primary focus of the time there is the teaching in the city of Timisoara of biblical principles of government and politics. Our seminars have been expanded to include national politicians from the Timisoara area and certain pastors and laypeople from a large church that we’ve worked with previously. These are in addition to the local political leaders from a small interior county (equivalent to a U.S. state) that we originally planned to teach. We will also be going to the far northwest of the country to meet with pastors and Christian academic leaders to discuss potential partnerships and find how we can best serve them with our ministry in the future. God is ever expanding our tent!

A few prayer requests:

Because a majority of the expenses for our trip is in euros, the weak dollar has caused the total cost to rise. Please pray for favorable exchange rates while we’re traveling and for the ability to reduce expenses without sacrificing safety in our room and board.
My personal fundraising stands at about 60% of my goal. Please pray that I would reach 100% soon. Thank you for all of your generous gifts!
While travel to Belarus is not dangerous, per se, it’s not a walk in the park either. Please pray for our safety and protection and for the peace of mind of our spouses who anxiously await our return.

You all have been such wonderful supporters of me and this ministry, and I am deeply grateful. I’ll be updating regularly from now through the end of the trip. More to come…

The McCain Decimation is America's Decimation

2007-07-11T09:36:00.001-04:00

Marc Ambinder - The McCain Decimation - The Inside Story

I read this story this morning and just shook my head. I'm no big fan of McCain and think that while he is a genuine American hero, he is no defender of conservatism. What really got me though is just how illustrative the McCain campaign is of the disaster that is our political system.

I suppose that we might never know the real story behind the shake-up in McCain's campaign but the article highlighted the frustration of McCain's campaign manager that was not given total control over messaging, spending, and the like. That amazed me. If you listen to regular Americans, conservatives or liberal, on talk radio or read them in print, it's pretty quickly apparent that what everyone longs for is principal--a politician that actually has an overarching set of principals and lives them even after they get to Washington. Now I understand that politics is a hardball sport and today's campaigns require large staffs and nimble managers to coordinate media, financing, etc. but how pathetic is it that a campaign manager demand control over messaging? And how equally pathetic is it that a candidate would even entertain that demand? Where is the politician, be they an incumbent or a newcomer, that puts his foot down and says, "this is what I believe, massaging it for the media be damned."

For too long, America has put up with grand talk from our politicians with no principled actions to follow. Even a desparate situation like immigration has been pushed to the back-burner because it's too politically volatile to debate this close to an election! Ridiculous. McCain is imploding for a number of reason but maybe he's simply just another politician who relies on a campaign manager to tell him what he believes and how to express it. Decimation, indeed.

More to come...

Communism continues to obliterate

2007-06-19T08:47:00.001-04:00

Struggles as breadwinners head West - Frontier: Europe - MSNBC.com

Here's another of your standard "husband leaves family for a time in hopes of a better life for all" story. It's about a Latvian family enduring a temporary separation as the husband/father works as a skilled construction worker in England so that he can support his wife and two children back in Latvia. Something struck me, though, in the telling. The wife and children "live(s) in one of the bleak Khrushchev-era apartment blocks known as “khrushchovki” that litter cities across the former Soviet Union. It's a step up from their previous home, a desolate cabin in the woods."

Isn't it incredible how communism continues to exert it's insidious ambition over countries that broke away more than 15 years ago? The damage wreaked by the Soviet Union on its satellite states in an attempt to Russify and communize them will be seen for decades to come. Today, it is manifesting itself in families splitting apart and populations leaving in droves because of the inability for the economies to recover in some nations. These are countries with rich histories going back centuries! And families are consigned to living in crumbling concrete tombs, a testament to the limits of man's power when he strives to create a "better man" apart from God's plan. More to come...

The right way to go about immigration

2007-06-08T10:15:00.001-04:00

James Jay Carafano on Immigration on National Review Online Annotated

Mr. Carafano's article is spot on regarding defeat of the immigration bill and how the issue ought to be handled. Here's the core thought:

===
Rather than just throwing up its hands, throwing around blame, and throwing out the hope of comprehensive reform, Congress should try an alternative approach: (1) Deny amnesty to people here illegally that will help deter future illegal migration and make the point that we insist everyone respect the rule of law. (2) Enforce workplace laws on the books and gain back control of our southern border. (3) Create more practical and flexible legal opportunities to come and work in the United States. Together these measures offer a real strategy for breaking America’s addiction to undocumented labor.
===

This is exactly right! Those of us who opposed the immigration bill didn't oppose it on the basis of denying more immigrants the chance at the American dream. We opposed giving them a free pass for their illegal actions upon entering the country in the first place. Following this three-fold approach makes perfect sense. Of course, it doesn't fit the political agenda of those in Washington, so we'll probably never see it done. I don't know about you, but I'm getting real tired of politicians elected to represent--not lead--us in Washington totally ignoring the screams of the American people regarding important issues. Perhaps this bill's defeat is the first hole in the dike holding back some real change in how Congress responds to 'we the people.' More to come...

The evolution of faith and reason

2007-06-01T08:34:00.001-04:00

What I Think About Evolution - New York Times Annotated

A very good article by Senator Sam Brownback addressing evolution via the intersection of faith and reason. Senator Brownback is a Catholic, so much of his philosophy mirrors the Church's teaching on the faith/reason scale. It's no less valid to me an an evangelical, though. I've excerpted a portion that especially expresses my feelings on evolution. More to come...

===
People of faith should be rational, using the gift of reason that God has given us. At the same time, reason itself cannot answer every question. Faith seeks to purify reason so that we might be able to see more clearly, not less. Faith supplements the scientific method by providing an understanding of values, meaning and purpose. More than that, faith — not science — can help us understand the breadth of human suffering or the depth of human love. Faith and science should go together, not be driven apart.

The question of evolution goes to the heart of this issue. If belief in evolution means simply assenting to microevolution, small changes over time within a species, I am happy to say, as I have in the past, that I believe it to be true. If, on the other hand, it means assenting to an exclusively materialistic, deterministic vision of the world that holds no place for a guiding intelligence, then I reject it.
===

Nicely articulated! This captures extremely well what I believe. More to come...

Our newest blessing has arrived!

2007-05-30T21:51:00.001-04:00

Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord. - Psalm 127:3

The Lord has blessed us again and our newest gift, Rachel Joelle Walter, has arrived! She was born Wednesday, May 23, at 4:40pm. Rachel weighed in at 7lbs 2oz and is 19 1/2 inches long. She also has a fine set of lungs that were exercised freely upon arrival! Delivery was a little rough this time, but Mom and baby are doing fine. Thank you for all your prayers. God is good, and His blessings are abundant! More to come...

Cool!

2006-11-07T18:23:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick note as it's been a while since I was around. Two things:

First, last Thursday night I had the great privilege of attending a free concert by Chris Tomlin at Regent University. It was a wonderful time of worship, and Chris is really funny to boot! Another remarkable note from the night was that I sat directly in front of a WWII veteran that saw action on Iwo Jima! Wow. I shook his hand, thanked him for his service, and talked briefly. That was really cool.

Second, our Reformation trip is set (as of now!) for next year. We'll be going back to Bulgaria, Romania, and Belarus. Of course, there are lots of things to be ironed out, but I'm very excited! I can't wait to get back to Belarus. I miss it!

More to come...

Reflection

2006-08-22T18:36:00.000-04:00

It's been a month now since I left for my most recent trip to Eastern Europe, and though I hadn't intended to take this long, it's a good time to reflect on the trip. It's always helpful for me to reflect by comparison. This time round, an easy comparison was made via our return trip to the States. We left Romania early Monday morning, July 31, and flew to Frankfurt, Germany, for our onward connections to home. Arriving at 7:30am, though, we had almost six hours until our flight to New York, so our team stowed our bags for a while and hopped the train to Mainz, a nearby suburb. Mainz was a great little diversion. It was the birthplace of Gutenberg and still has a fair amount of medieval charm to it. Of course, it's a little touristy, but not too much, and we really enjoyed spending a few hours poking around the cathedral, the Gutenberg memorial, and just walking around western Europe for a while as somewhat of a reintroduction to "the West." It was this time in Germany, however, that provides my basis for comparison and really got me to thinking about the trip that we just completed.

When I've traveled in Eastern Europe, I often find myself thinking that these trips are somewhat "exotic," because everything could use a good scrubbing, some new bricks, and a good coat of paint. It's no knock against the people, because they're wonderful. Eastern Europe simply is run down and crumbling in a lot of ways. It's a testament to the effects of decades of non-Biblical thinking and that way of running a society. Western Europe on the other hand is much like the States, only with smaller cars and funny electrical outlets. When we stepped onto the streets of Germany, things were shiny, clean, new, and familiar. And that is a testament to the economic and cultural might of a historically Christian nation and portion of the Continent. Germany is sad, though, because it is at the forefront of the secular humanist debacle that has become Western Europe. As I walked the streets of Mainz, I thought of that. The churches are simply museums now and the praise that Gutenberg gets in town is not because he brought the Bible to the masses but because he was a technological innovator for his time.

I am in the middle of a great book by George Weigel called "The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics without God." The book chronicles the last couple centuries of intellectual history in Europe and America and the devastating consequences that have been wrought by removing God and Christianity from society. Western Europe is literally dying demographically and killing itself spiritually in an effort to "free itself" from the constraints of Christianity. Rather than finding their freedom within and because of Christianity, Europeans have become rabid secularists. America is only but so far behind, too. But Eastern Europe still clings to the hope found in Christianity in many ways. Sure their mindset (collective) was molded by the Communists for seventy years, but there are definite roots of a previous era still firmly planted, and that's the contrast I see. There is some hope left there for solid change and revival.

I'm excited but trepidacious at the same time. Whenever I travel to Eastern Europe, I see God doing wonderful things. However, my human weakness always questions whether we're too late to make a large-scale difference. As poor, desperate, and hungry as the believers in the countries I've visited are, I wonder if the influence of western investments, globalization communication and entertainment, and ascendancy to EU membership has already pushed them over a precipice from which recovery is all but impossible. But with God all things are possible, right? I know they are, and I must continue to pray that way and pray for Him to change my unbelief. Pray with me, won't you?

More to come...

Somewhere over the Atlantic

2006-07-31T14:37:00.000-04:00

After a dynamic and blessed ten days, the team is headed home. We are just south of Iceland aboard a Lufthansa A340-300 and have about five hours to go. Yesterday, Sunday, was another day of ministry in Galati, Romania. We started the day at Holy Trinity Baptist Church with Pastor Ovidiu. Bruce preached the morning message and brought his Watchman on the Walls Godly wisdom sermon. It was the same church where we taught the youth on Saturday night. The people were a little hard to read but a few approached us afterward and told us how encouraged and inspired they were. Of course, this is a big vision we're casting and it's not really fair to expect everyone to leaping from their seats in immediate agreement. The pastor was very receptive and encouraging, though. He is a member of BIG Impact with Mihai of Emanuel Christian Church, Adi Stanciu from last year, and Isaac Matei. There are definite possibilities and tentative plans for some broad training next year for both pastors/church leaders and youth.

After the morning service, we did our best to entertain ourselves for the afternoon. We did a little shopping for Florin's daughter and got her some shoes, bought ourselves some blanks DVDs to burn pictures from the trip, and got some chocolate for our wives and children waiting for us back home. The afternoon really seemed to drag on as there wasn't a whole lot to do, and we knew that our journey home today was waiting for us just a short night's sleep later!

Our final event was a youth service at Emanuel Christian Church. It was the group's standard Sunday meeting that we were invited to. Darin crammed his "Four Questions to identify one's worldview" lesson into 25 minutes and did a great job (as always). Of course, he again felt that he did it no justice. Bruce followed that with his exhortation and "you are the hope" of Romania message. The youth were very receptive and encouraging with their responses both during and after the services. During the entire message, Pastor Mihai was listening very carefully and taking it all in. I could tell that he was really checking us out, not in the sense that he was looking for something with which to disagree but really just to figure out our hearts and vision for his country. Can you blame him? Afterward, he was so complimentary and gracious. I really think we have some opportunities with him. He is a leading figure in the church in the southeastern part of the country and garners a lot of respect. I got the impression that if Mihai gives his stamp of approval, others will fall in line pretty confidently. God definitely blessed us with contact with him. If was a chance thing really as the trip down to Galati instead of Deva was not planned until just a day before we left Sinaia and was one of those unknowns that tend to face on these adventures. Should we really have doubted, though, that God would deliver? (Plus, the worship at the youth service last night was tremendous and so ministered to me after this long time away from
home.)

Immediately following the youth service, we piled in the car and drove back to Bucharest for a short night's rest at Florin's apartment. We slept for about three hours before having to get up and go to the airport for our 6:00am flight to Frankfurt from Bucharest. Ugh! We're all pretty tired, but it was a good end to the trip. It said a great deal about the trust that we've built with Florin that he would invite us to his house. We've found that the people we're working with in eastern Europe are typically very hesitant to invite us to their homes, simply because they are so very small and modest compared to the riches of the U.S. Praise God that Florin was so comfortable with us! The ride back to Bucharest was a hoot, too. We were doing our best to keep Florin awake, and so we spent much of the ride giving him various American idioms for various categories of words. Hilarious! Our favorites from him were "Home, James" and "Put down the crack pipe!"

Another great trip, another set of miracles following miracles. God is simply too good to us. Over the next few days, I'll try to think about the bigger picture that came from this and analyze a little. More to come...

The home stretch

2006-07-30T08:33:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting at the desk in my room at the Hotel Galati in Galati, Romania. It's Sunday morning, and we're getting ready for our final day of ministry before we head home. Only a day ago it seemed, we had five more days to go. Now the end is very close. I have to admit, I sure am ready to see my family! Ten days is along time to be away, no matter how supportive ones family is.

We arrived in Galatia on Friday night. It is one of the ten largest cities in Romania and sits on the Danube River in the southeastern part of the country. It has the largest steel factory in Romania (the 5th largest in Europe) and the second largest shipbuilding yard. The population of the city is nearly 340,000, but the people to church ratio is 16,515:1. We spent yesterday meeting with Mihai Dumitrascu, the pastor of Emanuel Christian Church, and Ovidiu, a Baptist pastor.
Both are members of the BIG Impact group that we became familiar with last year and are dynamic church planters. Mihai's church especially is fantastic in this regard. They have developed some great programs to plant churches and then disciple, equip, and train believers for doing the same. Our meeting with him was very profitable, and God led us to several concrete ways that we can connect with them and provide
specific areas of training next year.

In the evening, we went to the Baptist church where we talked a little with the pastor and then shared at the youth service. There were about 30 youth present, and while they weren't nearly as responsive as the Sinaia youth, we felt like four or five of them were really penetrated by the worldview definitions and Bruce's exhortation to them. Darin was disappointed in the outcome, but Bruce and I really
saw it as a successful seed-planting night that will pave the way for follow-up. Plus, we had some really good dialog with the pastor that will almost certainly lead to future training opportunities.

Between lunch, after our meeting with Mihai, and the evening youth service, we had a few free hours in the afternoon. Darin went back the hotel to take a nap while Bruce, Paul, Florin, and I visited a 15th century Orthodox cathedral and the local history museum. In the cathedral, a wedding was in progress, and we were able to watch and take pictures. The priest crowns both the bride and groom as a symbol
that they are the king and queen of their marriage and must rule over it. Interesting. The fascinating part of the afternoon, though, was the museum. We took about an hour-and-a-half to walk through, and the history of Romania was presented from Paleolithic time through WWI. It gave us a real sense of the flow of people groups through here and how the country has come into being. The museum encompassed 13 rooms over two floors, and it cost us a total of $2.40 to go through!

I finally got my shaorma! Those are the fabulous wraps with pickles, french fries, roasted meat, and sauce that I've been craving. We stopped at a stand to get them after church an then walked along the Danube for a while. The funniest thing happened down there, too. Darin was determined to touch the river so that he could say he had touched the Danube. In the process of trying, however, he stepped right into the mud, and his dress shoe-clad foot sunk up to the ankle in mud! We all screamed with laughter! So, he tromped along the riverwalk among the hundreds of people with a muddy foot and pants leg. What a memory.

Today, Bruce is preaching at the Baptist church and then we share at the youth service in Emanuel Christian Church. God's going to work again. I know it! More to come...

The past two days

2006-07-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

I haven't written since we arrived in Sinaia late on the 26th. It is now late on the 28th, and we are in Galati ("Galahts"), but the last two days have been indescribably fantastic. Our purpose in Sinaia was to bring two days of teaching at the youth camp run by Florin's church. We met many of the youth last year when we were in Bucharest. When we arrived on Wednesday night, they rushed up to us with big smiles and hugs, thanking us for being there and giving us the most wonderful welcome. We had dinner at the camp on Wednesday and then moved on up to our the Vila Camelia, the hotel in the mountains that was our base for the last two days. It was nice with in-room high-speed Internet access and spacious though dated rooms for $50. The highlight of the trip thus far, though, was the time we got to spend with the youth in Sinaia. They were so receptive, so eager to learn. Of course, the worship was so wonderful, as it was when were among them last year, and we also got to meet the pastor of the church for the first time. (He was visiting the States last time we were in Bucharest.) What a sweet, sweet man. He looks like a rugged guy but is so warm. When we arrived, he grabbed each of us one by one, called us by name, and gave us each a big bear hug! Just great.

There were two sessions on Thursday and one longer on today, Friday. Darin and Bruce brought some deep philosophical and theological worldview basics and comparative worldview teachings. Much of it was tough, deep stuff, but the kids soaked it up. They asked some really intelligent questions that showed that they really understood. God really showed Himself in the first sessions.

On Friday, we wanted to give them some real practical stuff to go along with the theoretical, so Darin, Bruce, and I took questions about their concerns and immediate issues that Romania is facing. Again, the kids really showed themselves as understanding and searching. They really grabbed what we were presenting, and, at the end, when Bruce exhorted them to be the transforming generation for Romania, there more than a few lumps in throats and tears. What a sweet time of the Holy Spirit's move!

Between the sessions and after meals we had the tremendous opportunity to hang out with the kids and just do things like talk and kick around the soccer ball. Of course, we always got out into the mountains a little bit. Florin, Bruce, Paul, and I took a cable car up near the top of the mountains (we're in the Carpathians) and then hiked back down. We walked from the cable care to the summit, and my GPS unit said we were out 6900'. Then we took only 35 minutes to walk, slide, roll, and tumble down to 4500' at the parking lot. Some of the way was so incredibly sheer, but it was beyond wonderful to be out in the fresh air of the mountains in the thick meadow grass. My legs are killing me today, and I sprained my wrist pretty badly, but it was just incredible!

After the last teaching session today, we took about eight of the youth with us to Pelisor a local castle/museum. We paid their admission and enjoyed seeing a slice of Romania's royal past. We went back to the camp for lunch and had a group picture with us and the youth. Hugs all around and then "hit the road not the lady" for Galati. We arrived around 8:00pm and are now safely ensconced in the Hotel Galati for the night after a dinner of pizza. Of course, this journal could never fully capture our experience of the last two days. They were truly indescribable. But God moved powerfully in and through us, and it was an honor to be among such zealous youth that want so desperately to be salt and light to their country. Wow! More to come...

Look at me, I'm on TV!

2006-07-26T23:28:00.000-04:00

Today was a first for us--we were on Bulgarian TV. And not once, but twice! As we were planning this trip, we found out about an opportunity to be on a couple of shows hosted by a Christian guy named Zarko. Zarko was at both of our meetings yesterday and told us what to expect. The first show was in a small but very nice studio and was shot to tape for editing and broadcast later this week. All four of us were on set but all of the questions were directed to Bruce and Darin (by design). We were given a BBC piece last night to view about creation versus evolution and we commented on that and then further about our mission in Bulgaria and reformation/biblical worldview. There is no specifically Christian TV in Bulgaria, so this show is one of the few Christian-themed shows available to people. It was a great opportunity to explain what we believe and give a direct evangelistic call as well. After that show was done (1 hour), we went to another nearby studio for the broadcast of a live show, "Sports, Religion, Culture." For this show, we all talked about the sports we participate in and about reformation/worldview. What a bizarre but edifying and tremendous experience. Zarko was really good at asking direct and penetrating questions that set up some great answers where we were able to share reformation truths and our beliefs. This show is typically more "spiritual" than Christian in nature, so the Word was definitely put out there to those that might not otherwise hear it. Very cool!

After the TV shows, we hustled around some of the main sites of Plovdiv like the old town and the amphitheater, another 2nd century Roman site. It was mind-blowing to walk around the theater and up and down the same stairs that Romans walked on! It really is almost more than one can take in. We left Plovdiv in a rush and drove back the almost two hours to Sofia for our flight to Bucharest, Romania. As we arrived at the airport, it absolutely poured down rain. Absolute deluge. Marina pulled under the awning, we jumped out (we were late), gave her our profuse thanks and blessing, and ran inside. We made it on the flight with plenty of time to spare after all, and, after an uneventful hour in the air, we landed in Bucharest. Florin was there to greet us with a friendly smile and a hug. It was great to see him again and be back in Romania. We drove directly to Sinaia where the youth that we will be teaching are encamped and ate dinner among the glorious chaos of 20 or so teenagers and younger kids running in and out of the same room. This will be a fun couple of days! We can tell that Florin is very excited for us to be here and many of the kids are familiar to us from last year. God is good! More to come...

The Roman Road

2006-07-26T17:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was fabulous and just built on the great time we had in Sofia on Monday night. We left Sofia about 10:30am and traveled by car not quite two hours east to Plovdiv. This is truly an ancient city and was the seat of the Roman empire in this area centuries back. It has a much older feel than Sofia. There is even some scholarly debate, apparently, that this city was the Philipi that Paul wrote to. The Roman name for Plovdiv was Philipopolis, and the geography of the area matches the Biblical description as well. Evidence of purple dye making has even been found.

We met Marina Dimitrova who took us her own renovated apartment where we settled in and had a break for an hour or so. I liked her right away. She has been remodeling the place for two years, and it is beautiful. After she gets a refrigerator and washing machine, she will move in in September. So, we felt pretty special being able to stay there. About 2:30pm we met with a group of pastors from in and around Plovdiv, laid out our purpose and vision, and took questions. As always, a big area of interest was home-schooling. It is not legal here, and there was much interest in what could be done to both change the law and homeschool in spite of it.

After that meeting and another dinner at "Happy," we went to Life Through Christ Church near the old town for another meeting with interested lay leaders. There were about 25 people there including business people, teachers, and even a judge. Bruce and Darin shared briefly and then we all took part in a panel discussion taking questions and expounding further on what was said. There were some good business questions that I was able to address. It was a great meeting. About a dozen people gave us their contact information for follow-up, and we were really charged up when we left.

As I said, Plovdiv is a very old city. We left the evening meeting and drove to the old town. After stopping in a fantastic Internet cafe, we walked down the main street of Plovdiv. To start, you walk >past an archaeological museum that houses a Roman mosaic floor, intact, from a house that has been excavated. That lies directly next to a Roman road from the 2nd century! And that road is a part of the main walking street. We walked right down a 2nd century road! It was amazing and we were all sort of in awe. As we walked past all of the shops, we came to part of a Roman stadium, also from the 2nd century and well-preserved. Incredible. Another late night but the day was worth it. It was fabulous! More to come...

Thoughts on Bulgaria and Bulgarians

2006-07-25T17:43:00.000-04:00

The stereotype of the Bulgarian weightlifter that we see from the Olympics and such is true. The men here are very stocky and swarthy. Most have heavy beards and are very dark, though some are less so. The women tend to be very pretty in younger age but don't necessarily age too well! Of course, life is a bit harder here than at home. It is interesting, too, that most of the younger women very thin but most of the middle age and older women are heavy.

Having eaten the food here for the past three days, it's a wonder that everyone doesn't weigh three hundred pounds. The food is a lot of meat (of all kinds) and potatoes with heavy sauces and cheese. Meat is typically served either in the form of skewers or in patties with cheese and bacon/ham pressed in. The main cheese is much like feta but slightly different. It is creamier and little sharper. Of course, I really like it. It's cheese, isn't it?!

Sofia and Plovdiv are very busy big cities--much like other European capitals and cities back home. In Sofia, however, the traffic and flow of things seems much more orderly than we saw in Bucharest last year. That was pure chaos. Right now, I'm writing from Plovdiv where we have only just arrived within the hour. So far, it is a little more disorderly on the streets.

A few more thoughts:

* - Lots of underground passageways in the center of Sofia with shops, archaeological markers, etc.
* - Loads of advertising on everything, most very sensual
* - Many casinos in Sofia. Theodore explained that they are popular for money laundering.
* - Most municipal signs are written in Bulgarian (Cyrillic alphabet) and English (Latin alphabet).
* - Very little mineral water with gas, most is without.
* - Not quite as much juice as in Belarus but still very plentiful and popular.
* - Many of the women are very short and petite.
* - Bulgarians are extremely proud of their country and concerned about the Islamic influx.
* - On the whole, things seem much wealthier here than in Romania (even in the small rural towns we drove through), though on average they are statistically not.
* - Not as many Russian-style skin-tight jeans with spike heels on the women.
* - Many people wear shorts--the first time I've seen that in Europe!

It's going to be a busy couple of days in Plovdiv. More to come...

Oh happy day!

2006-07-25T08:29:00.000-04:00

Oh, what a tremendous day was yesterday! We've discovered that Bulgarians are very friendly, but that they hang back a bit at first until they see if they like you. Once that initial wall is down, they are fantastically warm. And so it was with Victor Virchev. After the rush, rush, rush of Sunday, we had a mostly free day yesterday. Theodore took us to see the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, the largest and most significant Orthodox cathedral Bulgaria. It was incredibly impressive with its soaring domes and gold covered interior. Every square inch was painted with images of icons, saints, and Biblical scenes. On the boulevard leading to the cathedral were scores of kiosks selling all sorts of souvenirs from t-shirts to old miltaria to old photographs and instruments to handcrafts and jewelry. I bought a few handmade trinkets to take home.

We walked around the city for a couple of hours and then headed a couple of hours south to Rila and the Rila Monastery. What a fabulous place! It is one of the most visited sights in Bulgaria, and there many, many tourists on the grounds when we were there. But, it was up in the mountains, the weather was cool, and the grounds were amazing. The monastery was founded in 927 and moved to its current location in 1335. So we were walking around a monastery that has stood there for more than 650 years! It was arranged kind of like a castle with four stories. In the huge central courtyard was a magnificent cathedral with four domes and a tall brick watchtower. The monastery doubled as a fortress and the monks defended the area on several occasions from invading Turks. We really enjoyed being there and seeing some of the countryside and small villages on the way. The countryside looked a lot like rural Romania and western Virginia.

After returning to Sofia in the afternoon, we had a meeting at Victor Virchev's church with several lay leaders. We didn't quite know what to expect and we were amazed at the people God had in attendance. There were three professors, a leading media figure, the President of the Rule of Law Institute, the President of a Pro-Life organization, a medical doctor, the leader of a Christian political party, and so on. We spent two-and-a-half hours laying out our reformation vision and answering their questions. We found that they were very well along in their thinking already and asked questions about things like reconstruction versus reformation and the like! We especially connected with the Rule of Law and Pro-Life people (they were husband and wife). Our conversation with them spilled out on the sidewalk and street afterward. The whole evening really confirmed that God has connected us to the right people here and that there will certainly be future opportunities here.

We ended the evening with dinner at "Happy" with Victor and Theodore and said our farewells. What a wonderful and family! More to come...

A good day with a less than compelling ending...

2006-07-23T15:17:00.000-04:00

It's the end of a long, tiring day of ministry and guess what our team is doing? We're all gathered round a laptop watching Napoleon Dynamite. I have to say that I think Napoleon is among the stupidest movies ever, but Darin and Bruce think it is so wonderful and profound. Paul's never seen it so we're initiating him, and Bruce and Darin are convinced that a second watch will convert me. I'm not so sure.

Actually, watching a movie together is a good wind-down after the last couple of days. It's 11:00pm on Sunday, and we still don't have our luggage. According to the baggage service at the airport, our bags are expected in on the 11:00pm flight from Frankfurt (right now, in other words) and will be delivered to us at our rooms around 1:00am. We'll see!

Speaking of our rooms, they're really simple but very nice. We're staying a guesthouse in downtown Sofia. The owner and his wife are Christians and attend the church of Victor Virchev, our host here in Sofia. We have two double rooms with two bathrooms off of a little private common area. Breakfast was served in our common area this morning and was quite the spread. We had various sausages, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheeses, breads, jellies, nutella spread (yum!), peanut butter, meuslix, milk, juices, tea, and coffee. Wow! The rooms are remarkably cheap, only $38 per night.

Now, on the real stuff of today. We attended two different Pentecostal churches, one in the morning and one in the evening. These were the two largest Pentecostal churches in Sofia and quite influential. Victor Virchev is the pastor of the largest (the morning church) and the head of about 500 Pentecostal churches in the country. Bruce preached his Watchmen on the Walls sermon (Isaiah 62:6-7) in both. The message is far-reaching and so new to many of the congregants, but there were many specifically positive responses and the pastor of the evening service, Rumen, was very positive. He had some tremendous remarks as a follow-up to Bruce that showed that he was really listening and took to heart the message.

Rumen, Pastor Virchev, and several other business, political, and church leaders will be with us tomorrow night at another meeting. The meeting is rather informal but will allow us to really expand on the message Bruce brought today and see where the leaders feel the nation is and what we might be able to help them with. It will be really helpful.

Another answer to prayer today was on the Romania side of the trip. We were able to finalize some plans that have been hanging out there for a while. As it turns out, we will not be heading to the central city of Deva and Hunedoara County after all. The planned seminar with political leaders just wasn't coming together. This time of year is hard to plan around in Europe because so many people go on holiday. As a result, Dani Raducanu wasn't able to pull together an effective teaching opportunity for us. Instead, however, we will be going to a couple of cities in the eastern part of the country near the Black Sea. Last year we met with a representative of BIG Impact, a cross-denominational organization that is developing a teaching and retreat center. We had been hoping to converse with them some more, and now we have a chance. I'm disappointed that we'll miss seeing Dani, but it seems that God has other doors for us to walk through this time. It will be good to see another part of Romania and connect further with influential organization that can give us a real sense of ministry opportunities in Romania.

That's all for now. I think I'll have to relent and watch Napoleon Dynamite for a while. Yuck. More to come...

In Sofia... minus a few things

2006-07-22T09:54:00.000-04:00

Well, we made it to Sofia. Unfortunately, our luggage did not. Apparently, our mad dash through the Philadelphia Airport was not equaled by our luggage, and it did no arrive on our flight from Frankfurt with us. We filed the claim and it was handled very professionally, but in the mean time we're all without bags. We're due to preach of the largest evangelical church in Sofia tomorrow morning, and we'll all be in two day old clothes! All of us except Darin who thought it would be a good idea to be ultra-casual on the flights here and wore a t-shirt and old sweat pants. After we got situated in our hotel, we went out and scoured the downtown area for some decent clothes for him (and a shirt and tie for Bruce). It took us more than an hour-and-a-half, but we found something!

After we took care of that, we spent the better part of two hours walking around the center of the city looking at the old churches and buildings. We saw two churches from the 11th and 14th centuries and one from the 4th! Yes, the 4th! Next to that church are a whole variety of Roman ruins that you climb on and around at your leisure. It was fascinating; my wife would have loved it. Sofia is a very interesting city. It feels progressive, the stores can be very expensive (even by our standards), and the advertising is very western, even overtly sexual. The feel of the city is very old but definite traces of western influence and new development everywhere. We went to a mall today that would rival most in the States.

One interesting connection as I close. We were met at the airport by Theodore, the 20-year old son of Victor Virchev (our host in Sofia, pastor, and head of the Bulgarian Evangelical Alliance). He lives in studies in Wales, and his sister lives in Australia. She attends Hillsong church and is married to the youth pastor there, Scott. Scott is one of the best friends of Steve Kelly, pastor of Waves Church in Virginia Beach. So how 'bout that?! More to come...

Dispatch from Seat 40K

2006-07-21T21:46:00.000-04:00

Finally in the air to Frankfurt and on to Sofia! After a 45 minute delay leaving Norfolk because of weather problems in Philadelphia, a literal sprint through Philadelphia International to catch our flight to Frankfurt, and then sitting 60 minutes in the plane on the ground because of weather holds, we're finally in the air headed east. Bruce and I have had some great conversation already about this ministry and the direction we see God taking it. I'm excited! More to come...

24 hours before leaving

2006-07-20T15:41:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting at my desk at work eating lunch and thinking about tomorrow. About 24 hours from now, I will rendezvous with my team, and we'll travel together to the airport for the first leg of our journey to Bulgaria the Romania. This trip has been on the horizon since early spring, but it has only come together in the last few weeks. Emails have been flying back and forth between our team and Europe, especially the last few days. God has been faithful, as He always is, and we have a full agenda ahead of us.

At this point, I'm most excited about visiting Bulgaria. It's a new country for our team, and our primary contact there is really first rate. Marina has really worked hard to line up our itinerary and connect us with influential people. What's more, she offered us her own newly renovated apartment as a place to stay while in her city! Most importantly, though, she has demonstrated some very good spiritual discernment and steered us well with regard to the spiritual climate of Bulgaria and the dynamics of the Church there.

Bulgaria will be fascinating--a true mix of cultures from the Roman to the Ottoman Empire and Turks to the Soviets. I can't wait!

As always, however, my excitement is tempered by the thought that I'm leaving behind my precious family. Karen is in denial mode, denying that I'm leaving tomorrow while trying to put on a brave face as reality slowly seeps its way into her psyche. I know that Jonathan has only a limited grasp on the fact that I'm leaving him for ten days. He knows that my trip is coming up in "one more wakeup," but he doesn't really understand that I won't be there at bedtime or in the mornings for the rest of the month. And poor Andrew is going to be so confused! He won't have any idea what happened to Daddy. I know without a doubt that I am called to this ministry and that I will be traveling again in the future, but I must admit that it is very hard to leave my family behind for such a long stretch. Please pray for us. We could use it.

it's time to get back to work if I can actually focus on work instead of tomorrow. The next time I check in may very well be from the window seat of Lufthansa flight 427 or maybe even from Bulgaria itself! More to come...

One week to go...

2006-07-15T11:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday marked one week out for my trip to Bulgaria and Romania. Things really started to fall into place this week, and I'm getting excited. It always seems like our trips will never get scheduled in time, but God always shows Himself faithful in the end. We travel to Bulgaria first and will spend time in Sofia, the capital, and Plovdiv, the second largest city. We have confirmed that we will have several meetings in both cities with pastors and various lay leaders to share our vision and seek their input as to what they feel the Lord is doing in Eastern Europe. On Sunday, we'll bring the morning message at a large church in Sofia. Also, we have the opportunity to be on two Bulgarian TV shows in Plovdiv! These shows are more "cultural and spiritual" in nature as dedicated Christian television is unheard of in Bulgaria, but it will be a fantastic chance for us to share our hearts to a large audience. Isn't it interesting what God makes available to us? If you remember our trip last year to Romania and the brief interview we had with a local TV reporter, the people we come across can be quite surprised at our message! Bulgaria has one of the oldest cultures in Europe, and Sofia is older than Athens, Rome, and Constantinople (now Istanbul). It was the center of the Thracian and a portion of the Macedonian empires long ago. The Cyrillic alphabet (those funny Russian letters) was invented in Bulgaria by a monk named, oddly enough, Cyril. All of this will make for a fascinating journey, and God is throwing wide open many doors.

After Bulgaria, we make our way onward to Bucharest and then the rural mountains of Romania. As I said before, our first target in Romania is a youth camp where we will teach on the basics of a Biblical worldview. From there, who knows?! We are still trying to line up the remainder of our week and chase down the various opportunities that have opened to us. This time two weeks ago, we had invitations to return to Romania but no real confirmations beyond the first two days. Now, we have offers and opportunities from all over the country, and we're just trying to sort through and pray for God to direct us toward the most effective ministry points. Our time is limited, and it takes twice as long to travel distances in Romania as it would back home. Please pray that we are targeted and effective in our time.

Of course, there is always prayer needed for various things. Please pray for the protection of my family while I am gone. Also, our team is still somewhat short financially for the trip, though my support has come through almost completely (thank you!!). One thing in particular that I would ask prayer for is for my heart and growth during this trip. This is my third trip in this ministry now, and I remain as excited as ever about it. However, I want to be sure that I continue to grow in what God has for me to do. Please pray for a fresh word for me to share with these people, for increased effectiveness, and that I not go as simply "a well-intentioned tourist." I want to learn/impart whatever it is God has for me this time around, and I would covet your prayers for a deeper walk with Him within the context of this ministry.

Thank you so much for your support, prayers, and words of encouragement. We leave Friday, July 21, at 3:45pm, and I will carry you all with me! More to come...

Romania and Bulgaria Update #2

2006-07-07T07:17:00.000-04:00

Two weeks from today! That's when we leave for Bulgaria, and things are starting to hop! Yesterday was a big day as we booked our airline tickets. We knew that traveling in the summer to Europe would likely make things more expensive, but we were shocked to find out that our airfare alone turned out to be about $200 more per person than we had anticipated for the entire trip budget! As you can imagine, this has necessitated some prioritizing and I would ask that you please continue to stand with me as I seek to raise the remaining funds that I need over the next couple of weeks. God is faithful, though, and I know that He will provide.

We're beginning to finalize things, and our schedule has us flying into Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, on July 22. We will spend four days there forming relationships and doing some introductory teachings before moving on to familiar territory in Romania. We arrive in Bucharest, the capital, on the evening of July 26. The next day, we will travel a few hours north to Sinaia to be a part of a youth camp sponsored by one of the churches we spoke in last year. We will spend two days there talking to high school/college-age youth about Biblical worldview and comparative studies to what they are being taught in their public education. Some of the kids will be believers and some won't, so it will be a good time to stretch our worldview legs and talk practicalities with those that can truly put it into practice as they prepare for the "real world." From there, we will head on to Deva and Hunedoara County, the site of us of our most enjoyable and effective times last year. In Deva, we plan to teach a seminar to elected officials at all governmental levels about the definition, function, and application of Biblical government. It will be a challenging time as most of these people are totally unfamiliar with such a topic. Yet they are eager to learn and eager for us to come.

Please continue to pray for finances, for my family, and for team unity. Four of us are traveling this year. Three of us have been a part of teams in the past and one is new this year. It's a good team with diverse and complimentary gifts, and I feel that God has big things in store for us. More to come over the next couple weeks, and I would remind you to check my website at http://scottsreformation.blogspot.com for more updates and a running trip diary as things progress. Thank you so much for your continued support. I couldn't do it without you.

Romania and Bulgaria Update #1

2006-07-05T06:35:00.000-04:00

All of you have been such solid support for me through prayer and giving as I've embarked on this journey into International Reformation ministry over the last couple of years. As you know, I have another trip upcoming, and I wanted to update you on what I'll be doing. Our team was thrilled to receive invitations this year for a return trip to Romania and for a first-time visit to Bulgaria!

If you had the opportunity to read my journal entries from last year, you know what fertile ground Romania is for reformation and the implantation of a Biblical worldview. We are excited to return and begin to really work there. We are finalizing plans to teach basic Biblical worldview in a church youth camp, hold an in-depth teaching seminar on Biblical government to elected politicians, and to meet with local pastors about shepherding their own flocks in reforming the country. It is an exciting opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what God is doing in a country that has been truly decimated by Communism!

Shortly after my trip to Belarus and Romania last year, I really felt like the Lord was saying that Bulgaria was going to be one of the next places opened to our ministry. Bruce Anderson, the head of this ministry at my church, agreed with me, and not a week later he was contacted by a lady from Bulgaria who had heard of our work in eastern Europe and wanted more information! The end result is that we will be traveling to Bulgaria on this trip as well and will spend four or five days meeting pastors, evangelical leaders, and politicians and getting to know Bulgaria a bit. More spying out the land!

You can see that God is working, and I can't wait to be on the ground again and watch it all happen in person. Right now, our team of four is scheduled to leave for Bulgaria on July 21 and will return home from Romania on July 31. Those dates are rapidly approaching, and I would covet your prayers for a few things:

* - We are still trying to finalize our dates and appointments. Please pray for a smoothed calendar and quick confirmations of everything in the works.
* - I only need about $500 more to be fully funded for this trip! I am so grateful for those of you who have so generously given financially. Please pray for full funding in the next couple of weeks. I know that God will provide.
* - It has been a challenging year for my family spiritually and healthwise. Please pray for good health and the Lord's protection over Karen and my boys while I'm away for so long.

I've run out of new ways to thank you for all of your support. I hope you know how much I appreciate your prayers and gifts; they have truly humbled me.

I'll keep you up to date on the latest. It's only a little more than four weeks away now! More to come...

Still alive

2006-04-07T06:33:00.000-04:00

It's been how many months now since I've posted? Too many! Believe it or not, I am still alive, still interested in all those things I talked about previously, and still with the best of intentions of posting here regularly. However, life is getting in the way, and I'm simply too lazy to sit and post. I guess that part of me is still reforming! More to come...

The red states are really green? Not really, just living IT out...

2005-12-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

Generosity, Red and Blue Style
-Michael Medved

A Massachusetts group called The Catalogue for Philanthropy just released its 2005 "Generosity Index"--comparing each state's ability to give (in terms of average adjusted gross income) with the percentage of taxpayers who actually report charitable donations. The results reveal a stunning political pattern: all 25 of the most generous states are red states that gave their electoral support to President Bush.

But of the bottom 12--the stingiest states of them all in terms of charity--11 of 12 are blue states that backed John Kerry--with Massachusetts itself second to the bottom.

The reason GOP states are so much more generous is both obvious and profound: conservatives view compassion as a personal responsibility, but liberals tend to see it as the government's job. One approach leads to individual commitment, while the other encourages the belief you can best help others by leaving it up to tax collectors and bureaucrats.

====

You know, this doesn't really surprise me in the slightest. But, I don't really think it has anything to do with Bush v. Kerry or politics at all. Those are simply analogous side effects of the underlying cause. If you look deeper in this study, you'll find that the poorer Southern citizens are by far more charitable than their wealthier, and dare I say "more sophisticated" Northern brethren. And therein lies the crux of the issue. In many parts of the South, and in red states in general, IT still exists--religion. The church is stronger in the South, evangelicals more numerous. It follows, therefore, that those Christians would, by and large, be following the teachings of the church to personally give and provide for the downtrodden. In the North, many of the elite and sophisticated among us feel that they have learned to get along pretty well without religion. Knowledge and worldly understanding have taken the place of Biblical methods. Thus, charitable giving has tanked in the blue states as that international elite mentality has increasingly turned to the government, UN, etc. to meet the needs of the "less fortunate." (Don't you just hate that term!) Those poor, ignorant red staters still don't mind getting their hands dirty to help people, just like Jesus would. The blue staters are too smart to be bothered with doing IT themselves. My two cents.

More to come...

What's next?

2005-12-05T17:27:00.000-05:00

When I started this blog, I thought, "I'll be bursting with ideas all the time. Keeping this up-to-date and fresh will be a snap!" Well, as you can see, I have been woefully lacking in that department. Most days, I scold myself for not posting something, but I simply can't drag myself to the keyboard to coax out an interesting thought, much less a profound one. So, if you eagerly await a new post to my blog every day, I apologize.

Since I got back from my trip, I've been extremely busy. It seems like every spare moment has been taken up with life in general. This weekend past was a good one, though. My wife and I celebrated our sixth anniversary on Sunday, December 4! I really cannot believe it's been six years already. We have been so blessed that it's indescribable. Both of us kind of agreed that this year has been the hardest in our relationship as we endured more than our normal (for us, read 'not many') amount of marital hiccups. But, we sat down last night and looked back over the calendar from the last year and realized that it has really been a VERY good year, full of blessings and wonderful experiences together. So much for our pessimism!

Our big OSL weekend at church was this past weekend, too. All of the team members from the various trips taken in 2005 shared their stories and impressions. Plus, the 2006 sites were revealed. In 2006, I'm heading back to Romania and on to Bulgaria to further our International Reformation work! Cool! We're going to try to build upon our foundation laid in Romania this year and work with the contacts we made. In Bulgaria, we will scout things out much like we did in Romania this year. Another Cyrillic alphabet country! Yikes. So, Sofia for me in '06!

More to come...

Missing Minsk and Romania

2005-11-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

I talked to Bruce today, my traveling partner through Belarus before we joined up with Dave and Romania and my roommate for the whole trip, for the first time since we returned. We had emailed a couple of times but not talked since my return from Romania alone as he traveled onward to Turkey for several days. As I talked to him, my mind was flooded with memories of our trip and what an amazing time it was. I am really missing Minsk and Romania today. It's not quite the love and adventure of travel that I'm missing, although that sparks in me always, and I wouldn't dream of leaving my family again any time soon. It's somethingdifferent...

Here's why I'm missing Eastern Europe: I felt so close to God. Each day while we traveled, Bruce and I started our day with prayer and sharing what we thought God was telling us for the day and what we expected Him to do. At the close of each day, we huddled in our room and talked over the day, what God actually did versus what we anticipated He would do, and prayed. Every day was such a wonderful time of walking in God's presence and direction. That's what I miss. I suppose that I can't really describe how it felt. Our team was having such a good time, laughing with each other, taking in all of these experiences, and God was almost tangible to us. His discernment was given to us all the time, and the prayers that we offered up each and every day seemedeffortless and answered swiftly. Amazing.

Since I've been home, I've had moments of that same thing, and I take that as evidence that God really did a work in me during the trip. The Godly fog that I was able to walk in "over there" has stayed with me in part. However, real life has certainly taken its toll now that I'm back home. It makes me disappointed that I don't seem to have the same grasp on God and His direction for my daily activities back home as I do when I'm on one of these trips. Perhaps that's just the nature of missions and reformation work and others have experienced the same thing. I don't know. I do know one thing, however. The emails I've received with prophetic words and the confirming devotional times I've had have certainly encouraged to reach that plateau here at home as well! I knowthat's what God desires for me, and I know that's what I want, too.

More to come...

Time for reflection

2005-11-14T16:39:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, as is often the case when one returns to real life after a vacation or trip like the one I've just completed, the piles that accumulated while I was away from home and work have left little time for reflection on what God did in the last two weeks. Until yesterday, I honestly hadn't given more than five minutes' thought at a time to my trip to Belarus and Romania. Perhaps now is the time to start.

Over the extended Veteran's Day weekend, my family and I went to Lynchburg to visit my younger brother, Christopher, and his wife, Bethany, and their little daughter, Rylee, who was born only six days before Andrew, my youngest. Also in Lynchburg is my youngest brother, Kent. We didn't have as much time with Kent but did see him a few hours around mealtimes. On Sunday, I attended their church, Brentwood, and it was during the worship time that I really began to reflect on the trip. You know the typical, "one week ago, I was..." Well, one week ago, I was in Timisoara, Romania, delivering a "sermon" at one church and participating in a wonderful worship and communion time at another. The worship there was so rich, and I found myself there thinking that this Reformation work is exactly what I am called to do. When you go to a guidance counselor in your high school or college years to plead for help in determining a career path, they usually ask you what excites you, what are you passionate about, etc. That is supposed to be the thing that you should pursue and will be the happiest in. As a Christian, it would follow that this is perhaps also the calling God has for you, and it is natural that it should be the most fulfilling. Well, that is exactly what the Reformation ministry I've been able to be involved in is for me! You know that crossroads ideal I talked about in my previous post? God used my education, work experience, and all of my strongest interests to prepare me for the calling He has, and I'm only now starting to walk in it. All of that starting hitting me at church yesterday.

Shortly after I returned from my trip, I emailed the address of this blog to the administrator at my church who booked all of the travel for this trip and handles all of the missions admin for KPC (Kempsville Presbyterian Church). She evidently passed it on to others in the office, and I received an email from a lady who has been designated the Prayer Liaison for KPC. She had been reading my posts about the trip and felt that God was giving her a word and showing her a picture for me. Her words were:

"And God has given you a "taste" of what lies ahead and stirred a new passion up within you! You will return to this country and people that you have grown to love. You will be stretched and God will begin to use you in mighty ways that you could not think or imagine..."

"For, as I write this the Lord has shown me a picture--and rather than having physical properties like a pitcher, you have become more fluid in nature and God is pouring you into a new vessel that He will use to reach new people. This vessel you are being poured into is bigger than the 'container' you once were. I hear the words of Jeremiah 29:11--I know the plans I have for you--new plans, says the Lord."

Wow! And to top it off, on the morning that I read that, I read in my quiet time Isaiah 42:1-16! Go read that passage, and you'll see how it spun me up quite a bit. It seems that God definitely has more for me to do and is beginning stretch me even more! It's the stretching that can be painful, though.

I am now facing some turmoil at work that I see as a part of that stretching, and it could be very unpleasant to resolve. I saw so many amazing and good things on my trip and things that encouraged me to return and continue the Reformation work. I came home extremely happy to have gone and fired up for more work! I remain that way despite things that have come up. I covet your prayers for a favorable outcome, for the Lord's favor, and His continued work in my life. May I stretch without breaking!

More reflections as I have time. I've only scratched the surface.

More to come...

Still here

2005-11-10T17:23:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, I did make it home safe and sound on Monday night. I've been trying my best to play catch-up this week and am just now finding a couple minutes to write.

My trip home was much more eventful than I thought it would be. I flew out of Timisoara on the 6:00am flight. On that flight were two other Americans, a middle-aged guy from North Carolina and a younger guy (mid-20s) who was a Romanian native but has lived in California for the last 14 years. He was going back to California to visit his fiancée. I didn't sit by or talk to either of these guys but took note of them as they chatted to each other while we waited to board our flight to Vienna.

I enjoyed Vienna thoroughly as you no doubt read, and I boarded the flight to Washington along with all the other passsengers for our scheduled 10:40am departure. Everyone was aboard and waiting for pushback from the gate when the captain came on the intercom and said that a security situation had arisen and that a "suspicious person" was refusing to fly to Washington. So, everyone had to deplane, all baggage was removed for re-screening, and the whole plane had to undergo a full security sweep! While all the passengers were waiting at the gate for everything to be completed, I found myself close to the North Carolina guy who had traveled from Timisoara to Vienna on my same flight. He was continuing on to Washington, too. As it turns out, the "suspicious person" was our other American friend! Mr. North Carolina relayed the whole story. Apparently, Mr. California was quite agitated all morning and was talking to Mr. North Carolina all the way from Timisoara and during the wait for the connecting flight in Vienna about how he wasn't sure if he wanted to fly, didn't know if he would board the plane, etc. Well, he did board after all, but as the door was closing, he jumped up and said, "I'm not flying on this plane!"

As a result of his boneheaded move, my flight from Vienna was delayed for two hours. We didn't take-off until 12:35pm, and landed at 4:10pm instead of 2:50pm in Washington. I knew that I was going to be pushing it, but thought that I had enough time to make my next flight at 5:16pm. Ha! Oh ye naïve fool! When one arrives at Dulles on an international flight, you have to take a bus from the plane to the Customs hall, then you go through Passport Control, pick up luggage from the carousel, take it back over to be re-checked, go through regular security, and then go to your connecting gate. Passport control was snap and took only a minute. The luggage carousel was a different matter, though. My suitcase was literally the last one off the plane, and I stood there 35 minutes before getting it. I rushed over to re-check my bag and boogied upstairs. I reached security and then had to wait another 15 minutes. After undressing and redressing, I made it past the TSA and pushed onward to Terminal C. But wait, there's more! To get to Terminal C from security, you have to take another bus across the airfield--ten more minutes! I finally arrived at my connecting gate at 5:25pm, and the flight to Norfolk left at 5:15pm. I nearly cried right then and there!

After a couple of phone calls to my wife and working with a couple of United customer service agents, I was re-booked on US Airways flights connecting through Charlotte to Norfolk. So, instead of arriving back home at 6:30pm on Monday evening, I got home at 10:30pm with an extra flight thrown in for good measure. At least it wasn't on Tuesday! That looked to be the only possibility with the first customer service agent I worked with. What a day! It's like the old axiom says, never travel with a shifty Romanian who has lived in California for fourteen years...

More to come...

All good things must come to an end

2005-11-07T17:34:00.000-05:00

When one has to get up at 3:30 in the morning to get to the airport in time to catch three flights across Europe and the Atlantic Ocean for twelve hours, it's a little tough to remember that the last week and a half have been life changing! I've known since the start of this trip that my last morning was going to be a toughie and start really early. Fortunately, I was able to block out that little bit of misery to enjoy my last day in Romania and in Timisoara.

After Dave and I finished at House of Worship yesterday, successfully conquering our test for substitute preacher, we were hustled back to Agape Church to rejoin Bruce and Florin as they finished up the service there. Agape was incredibly responsive to Bruce who was, as always, very fired up about his message of reformation! It was encouraging to see all the people who came up to him after church with questions. One was an especially key contact, though. Calin is a lawyer and trial attorney in Timisoara. He told Bruce that he doesn't typically attend Agape Church but just "happened" to be there yesterday. He has been waiting for years, apparently, for the reformation and Biblical worldview message to be preached in the churches of Romania and was thrilled that Bruce was there to deliver such a message. Cool! Calin, Bruce, and Dave are supposed to meet today to talk about further opportunities to work together. Exciting!

We said our sad goodbyes to Florin Suciu who was nothing less than a Godsend to us and then went to lunch with Florin Dorobant, the associate pastor, and his son. I had goulash, cucumber salad, and chicken cordon bleu. It was (too) filling and delicious!

In the afternoon, we had a couple hours to ourselves to re-walk the main square of Timisoara and see the revolution sites in the daylight. I got several pictures. We'll see...

We wrapped up our time in Romania with an absolutely perfect worship and communion service at Agape Church. On the first Sunday of every month, they have an evening service to serve communion. Last night happened to be the night. The worship was just what I needed. It really ministered to me after being away from my family and my church for two weeks. (I tried my best to sing it all in Romanian and finally started to wrap my brain and tongue around the pronunciation. Easy? No. Standard and without exceptions? Yes.) I really enjoyed singing some choruses I already knew and some that I didn't. God showed up for me in a powerful way.

The church ordered pizza for us after the service, and we spent about half an hour eating with the pastor's wife, a few associate pastors, and a few staff members. Very sweet people, and, of course, the video of Jonathan and Andrew was again a big hit! We got dropped off at the hotel by 9:00pm, very early for this trip, and I was out like a light by 10:00pm. Just what I needed for an early morning!

The trip is over, but, alas, the updates are not. I want to post one about initial impressions of Belarus. I know that this was my second trip there, but still. I also anticipate at least one update sharing my overall thoughts about what God did for our team and in me with the whole trip.

More to come...

Timisoara part two

2005-11-07T15:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, back to Timisoara after a short Vienna excursion. So I went to bed on Sunday night knowing that my first go-round as a preacher was forthcoming. A few years ago, I began to grasp this Biblical worldview stuff, and God began to work into me the desire to teach others based on my experience and education. Then, early last year, I got thrown in with a wonderful group of people from my church that provided me with the opportunity to see in Lithuania and Belarus just exactly what this teaching would be like. Even then, however, my role was primarily one of support, taking part in some panel discussions, maybe even speaking for a few minutes. There was no direct teaching from me, though, and that was okay. Last summer, I had the chance to start in on the teaching role by being a part of a team that taught Biblical economics at church. That really wet my feet and got me excited. Then came this year's trip. The structure of the trip didn't really include much opportunity or obligation for me to teach directly. My role this year was to present ideas in the midst of meetings and answer questions as they came up. I was, in my mind, trying to run not walk through the doors that God has opened to me, and I anticipated, even looked forward to helping in a primary role this year.

None of that prepared me to preach in a church, however! To be fair, I wasn't expected to do it alone. Dave and I were pairing up while Bruce was at another church. I went to bed on Saturday very nervous, but not terrified. It was a two or three hours before bed that I found out about the preaching, so I had time for God to prepare me, and He did!

I Peter 1:13 and Colossians 2:8 have really been on my mind during this trip, and I felt like God was giving me the word "crossroads" as a theme to share at House of Worship. A few years ago, I was at a personal crossroads. My Christianity was intact, my family was wonderful, my career was fine, I wasn't struggling with any moral failures, but my worldview wasn't fully and Biblically formed. I am thankful to the Lord that He had led me in conservative thinking and education my whole life, so there was not a lot of garbage to sort through. Nonetheless, I needed to fully inform myself about how the Bible speaks to every sphere of life. I have traversed a personal crossroads.

Secondly, I felt like the members of House of Worship and the Christians of Romania are also at a crossroads. The revolution was 16 years ago, but there is still so much work to do to make Romania a free and prosperous country. They stand at a crossroads between Communist bondage and Biblical freedom. It is time for the Christians there to rise up, prepare themselves, and change their country. They are at a crossroads.

Finally, Timisoara is a crossroads city. Like I explained in my previous posting, the city is a crucial gateway between east and west. It is a true example to the rest of Romania and can be likewise for the rest of Eastern Europe and the continent in general. It is a crossroads city that can be a city on a hill.

So that's the message I brought. The people were responsive, and I felt like God really gave me a good speaking ability and the words as I needed them. All in all, not too bad for my first day in the pulpit. Not that I'd want to do it again. I'll take teaching over preaching. But, in season and out of season, right?

More to come...

A short excursion

2005-11-07T12:54:00.000-05:00

Ooo, but I do love Austria! The Vienna Airport has a City Airport Train that leaves right from Terminal B and arrives at the center of the city in 16 minutes. I bought my round-trip ticket before I even left the States and had an opportunity this morning to spend a couple of hours tromping around Vienna between my connecting flights.

For us Americans, most of Europe is like stepping back in time without leaving modernity behond. Vienna is just that. It is an enchanting place. I left the train station, walked two blocks, and I was in the 19th century. A few streets more, and I was in the 18th or 17th century. My planned destination was Stephansdom, a enormous gothic cathedral whose spire I could see from a half mile away at the train station. I just love cathedrals--Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, it doesn't matter. Stephansdom was no disappointment. It has obviously been scarred by fire at some point in its history and much of the exterior is black. Hopefully, the pictures will turn out. The morning light was just peeking out of the fog and clouds, so we'll see.

I have always appreciated the Catholic church for their reverence and awe of the Lord and they way that permeates Mass. Obviously, the theology of the Catholic church is way off, but I've always wanted to sit in on a Mass in Europe. Well, this morning was my chance. There was a Mass in full swing when I got to the church. Two priests in beautiful cream and pale green robes were saying Mass to about 30 congregants. It was kind of sad to see this massive cathedral so empty inside. But, the interior was absolutely beautiful.

I headed back to the airport and everything was sailing smoothly along until everyone was aboard the plane and waiting for pushback and take off. All of a sudden, there was an annoucement that a security situation had developed. A passenger had checked in, checked their luggage, boarded the plane, and then told the crew that they refused to fly today. The passenger was removed from the plane, and everyone else had to de-board while Austrian Airlines did a full security screening. Aargh! Two hours later (!), we were cleared and allowed to re-board. While we were waiting, I talked to a guy from North Carolina who was on my flight from Timisoara. The suspicious passenger turned out to be another guy who flew with us from Timisoara, a friend of the N.C. guy. Apparently, he is Romanian but has lived in California for 14 years. He was flying home to visit his fiancée but decided to bail out and leave us all in the lurch!

Austria has certainly sold its soul to the EU and is as morally bankrupt as the rest of western Europe. But, I'd like to think that it is a little different in some way. Today was my second visit to Austria, and I am smitten. I'm flying on Austrian Airlines right now on the way to Washington. Great airline; they handled the security situation perfectly--plenty of announcements, drinks in the waiting area, and information regularly. The airline is just a reflection of the country. Hopefully, I'll see both again soon.

More to come...

Timisoara

2005-11-07T05:45:00.000-05:00

I'm writing from seat 7F on the plane headed to Vienna, the first leg on the journey home. This is really the first chance I've had to remark on Timisoara, and I'm only now collecting my thoughts on the trip as whole. A few more updates will surely follow this one.

We rolled into town about 7:00 on Saturday night, having reached Timisoara after a 3+ hour drive from Hunedoara County. While Timisoara wasn't exactly a shock to our system, it was readily apparent that we were back in the west again. The city lies just inside the western border of Romania and only a three-hour drive from Budapest, Hungary. It boasts the largest mall in Eastern Europe, several Romanian universities, and is the primary entry point to Romania from Western Europe. So, you can imagine how it looked to us after traversing the countryside for most of the week. The hairstyles were western, the clothes were nicer, the cars were newer, and the city itself was more modern and clean.

Timisoara is also the most progressive and prosperous city in Romania (though Bucharest probably has more total wealth), and that was visible in the building of Agape Church. The church has a great story, though they've struggled, too. Fifteen years ago, they began to build a large, really large, church on the corner of a vacant field at the edge of town. Since that time, a major bank has been built (four or five stories) almost abutting the church, many apartment buildings have risen, and that large mall has been completed directly across the street! This all makes for great exposure for the church, though it has brought some unwanted headaches as well.

The church building sits uncompleted, because the church ran out of money before they could complete it. It rises six stories with a huge red tile sloped roof and a tremendous prayer tower at the top. The auditorium seats 2500 now and could be expanded to 3000 if necessary. Because the building is essentially only rough concrete with electricity--no interior finishing--only summer services can be held inside. In the winter, the church crams all of the people back into their original building which seats maybe 300. You can imagine what that does to their attendance.

Upon our arrival, we met Florin Dorobant, an associate pastor at the church. He got us to our hotel--the nicest yet, by the way--and then took us on a short waling tour of the Revolution sites around the main square.

If you're not up on your Romanian history, here's your chance. In 1989, Ceausescu, or "the dictator" as everyone here refers to him, was ruling with an iron fist. However, in early December, a priest has begun preaching freedom from his apartment. He was arrested, released, placed on house arrest, etc., but he continued to preach from his window. Between the days of December 16-25, there was building unrest and riots in Timisoara. The military was called in, and upwards of 40 people were killed, many on the steps of the Orthodox Cathedral, which we visited, at the head of the main square. On the 22nd, it got so bad that Ceausescu flew from Bucharest and gave a speech from the Opera House. That was the final straw. Instead of quelling the revolution, it threw it wide open, and Ceausescu broke. He ended up fleeing Timisoara but was caught, tried, and executed with three days. Romania was free!

The Orthodox cathedral is beautiful, all lit up at night with a chill in the air. It was remarkable to stand on the steps and look 200 yards down the square to the opera house, knowing that I was standing where someone gave their life for freedom. We continue to walk down the square and saw the hotel and buildings that still bear scars from the bullets of tanks and military fire to scatter revolutionaries.

We stumbled to bed late and prepared ourselves for church on Sunday. In the midst of it all, I got a surprise. Dave and I were scheduled to deliver the morning message at House of Worship! Just the two of us, without Bruce. He was to be at Agape Church, and the sermon times overlapped. Gulp! Just a little nerve-wracking.

More to come...

On the road again...

2005-11-05T17:47:00.000-05:00

We're in the middle of yet another late afternoon/early evening drive between towns. This time, we're traveling from Deva to Timisoara, our final stop before heading home. I'm so glad that this trip enabled us to travel to several towns and cities rather than staying in one place. By doing that, we've been able to get a better feel for Romania overall and meet a variety of people. The neatest thing about the drives themselves, however, has been the opportunity to see a real cross-section of the country that we wouldn't have seen if we simply stayed put in Bucharest or Timisoara. Our journey has taken us through countless small towns and little villages. Each looks similar, but it is always such an experience to come upon a new one and enjoy the "national geographic" feel--as Bruce said--of everything. This current drive is the second we've made through rolling hill country with the sunset off one side and the air filled with smoke from the wood fires of peasants in the villages. It gives the whole land a mystical feel that can't be described fully. Magical.

There is true poverty in Romania to be sure. We've estimated that the villages are about 60 years behind us when it comes to infrastructure, utilities, etc. Some of the places we've gone through still have only gravel roads. They have electricity, but many lack indoor plumbing. Most people have some small amount of livestock for sufficiency not just enterprise. The towns here are about twenty years behind. Really rather mind-blowing when you think about our busy and technologically advanced lives as Americans.

This morning, we traveled throughout Hunedoara County, visiting several sites of importance to Dani Raducanu. First was the House of Hope, a home that he and his wife started to care for children who have been abandoned or are from broken homes. They currently care for nine kids besides their own three. What a giving heart they have. They opened the home simply because they felt like that's what true Christians would do for a community they love. The government has shut them down at least once in the past, but they are thriving now. After seeing that and having a great breakfast, we went a few roads over to see a church that has stood in the village since the 1700s. It really sits in someone's backyard and has as much wood as stone in its construction, so it's wonder it still stands at all.

Leaving Baru Mare, we drove back through Hateg and on back to Deva. Along the way, we passed a true Communist graveyard. During the Soviet era, Hunedoara County was one of the industrial centers of Romania with mining, refining, steel production, etc. Now, all of that has collapsed. There is a half-mile stretch of road that is surrounded on both sides by decaying buildings, half-toppled cement structures, rusting hulks of machines, etc. It is eerie driving through there, and it really looks like a nuclear holocaust zone. What a testament to man's failure when he tries to do things his own way instead of the Biblical way.

Before reaching Deva, we stopped at Corvin Castle. Very cool! It has stood there since the 1300s--this is a very old land--and it remains in great shape. We spent about twenty minutes climbing all over it and visiting little chambers here and there.

Our time in Deva concluded with a 30-minute meeting with the President of the County. He is on par with a state governor as we know it, so it was a rather crucial and "divine appointment" meeting. He thanked us profusely for visiting his county and was very excited about the prospects of our return with teams to teach Biblical principles of business, leadership, and politics. I don't know that he was a Christian, but he certainly recognized our principles and resonated with their value. He also repeated an interesting line that we have now heard three times now. He said that we as Americans are 60 years late in coming to save Romania, meaning that we failed the country when we gave it to the Soviets at the end of WWII. Interesting. There is some disappointment here toward the historical relationship of the States and Romania, but there is also a tangible excitement about the prospects for the future relationship.

More to come...

This is the guy!

2005-11-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

There are so many things that I want to write about from today that I really can't decide what to start with. So, let me start by describing my surroundings right now. I am in a private room with a private bath in a homey inn. The room has a double bed; the bathroom is bigger than my bathroom at home. I'm on the second floor with live modern Romanian folk music pumping up from the restaurant/bar below me. Our team just finished a tremendous meal of spicy pork with mushrooms, potatoes, cucumbers, bread, juice, and ice cream. Yet, we are in the midst of all of this in a little town of a few thousand called Baru Mare. It's described to us as not quite a village, not quite a town. It's really out in the middle of nowhere and quite surreal. Our inn is the only one in town, and our waitress tonight is the wife of the vice-mayor!

Isn't it just like God to bring encouragement right after a time of frustration?! Yesterday brought some frustrations, as I wrote, so we didn't really know what to expect today. The whole trip has been one of figuring out the plans for the day about 24 hours ahead of time. We don't know any of the people we're scheduled to meet with, and they don't really know us. It's been a real faith walk. And yet today was so good.

The day started with Bruce, Florin, and me leaving Brasov for a two hour drive to Sibiu to pick up Dave who went there last night to speak at another military academy. The booking service for the pensione tried to overcharge us by $27 but Florin was watching out for us and corrected the clerk's "mistake." The drive to Sibiu was really pretty but bone-jarring on terrible roads. We passed countless peasants working in fields in traditional dress or driving around on horse carts. We arrived at Sibiu around 10:30, picked up Dave and headed to Deva, our next scheduled stop. Along the way, the throttle cable of the van broke twice. We finally fixed it with some strategically placed packing tape that we had stuck in my suitcase upon leaving Norfolk! Deva was a really pleasant little city of about 75,000. We had lunch in a fancy restaurant with the County President, City President, County Vice-President, and County Secretary of the Christian Democratic Party. Two of them pretended to be interested in what we discussed with them, but it was pretty apparent that they really only wanted business investments. The County President was great, though, and he is genuinely interested about teaching and changing the Romanian culture through principles like the ones we bring.

When we first got to lunch, a reporter and cameraman from the local TV station were there to interview us. Look, honey, I'm on TV! They taped about a minute of interview footage and asked questions about us for about twenty minutes. It's supposed to air tomorrow evening. Interesting, huh?!

After lunch, the County and City President led us, along with a member of the Christian Democratic Youth Party up to the citadel overlooking the city. It sits on a hill 500 feet above the city and was built in the 14th century. But it was blown up accidentally by the townspeople in the mid-1800s! Oops. Anyway, the ruins were cool and the views were spectacular. Plus, we got a good look at the Romanian national gymnastics training academy which is in Deva. Pretty cool!

We left Deva to head to Baru Mare where we are now and wondered if the meeting we had just had was genuine or profitable at all. We had a real sense that the County President, Emil Danci, was a Christian and genuinely interested and simply set our sights ahead to meeting the mayor of Baru Mare, Daniel Raducanu. Well, about 2/3 of the way to Bare Maru, Florin got a phone call from Emil who was in a car directly behind us. He got in our van and led us the rest of the way to Baru Mare. I talked to him a little bit about the Party, and he joined us for dinner. We really like him; he's the real deal.

Dani Raducanu! What a breath of fresh air! He is the mayor of Baru Mare but also a pastor and evangelist. He just returned on Thursday from a one month vacation in the States where he had an invitation to remain and take a pastorate. He turned it down because he was born and raised in the Baru Mare area and knows that God has called him to be mayor and minister here in Romania. As he started to share about his town and his view of governance and ministry, I really felt like God was saying to me, "This is the guy for Romania." By that, I mean that Dani is the guy that gets it, Biblical worldview, here and that we can work with to do great things for the Lord! It was so encouraging. And this feeling came before Bruce even began to share about us and what we teach. That just brought further agreement, and I think that Dani and we were getting more pumped up the longer we talked. We will be meeting again tomorrow morning before heading on to Timisoara. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our partnership with him. What a tremendous encouragement after a rather unsure last 24 hours!

More to come...

Good bookends

2005-11-04T09:51:00.000-05:00

I didn't plan to write this update in the way it has come about, but it will be appropriate. I've written already about our afternoon meeting yesterday when we had a little resistance in the feedback, but I've not written about the morning and evening. They made good bookends to the day.

We woke early to find that we had no hot water (or heat during the night before). We stayed in a pensione at the crest of a hill and the top of a very narrow road. It was a cool setting, and we were assured that we would have hot water. Oops. So, no shower for me yesterday, only a frigid shave and a scalp freezing shampoo under the sink. We drove down to town and had chicken sandwiches for breakfast. They were enormous and had french fries and shredded cabbage in the bun with the meat. A little different for us but typical here. The saurmas that we had in Bucharest that were so delicious were the same way--french fries and pickles all in the wrap. I suppose there is some efficiency here after all.

Anyway, we met after breakfast with Adi Stanciu. He is a pastor in Brasov as well as a leader of the Romanian Missionary Society in Oradea. Plus, he is a member of the board of BIG Impact Romania. Everyone we've met here wears multiple hats. BIG Impact is a pastoral training organization that gives training on church leadership, organization, and planning. It equips pastors for the other side of pastoring besides the theological.

The organization has purchased about 22 acres of land on a mountainside above Brasov near a little village called Sacele. The land cost $50,000 (for 22 acres!), and they have begun efforts to construct a training center. The goal is to create a Master's and Doctorate school for pastors from throughout the country. Another big vision these people are operating within!

We drove up to the site and talked for a while with Adi. It was a tremendous visit as, at the end, through normal conversation, we found out that he has some very key contacts that would fit perfectly with our ministry. Divine appointments! Some are in the States and some still here in country. He also told us of a publishing house that the Society runs. When we visited a bookstore in Brasov later in the evening, we saw some of the books they publish. Most are authors and resources that we have recommended in our travels to people who want more information on Biblical worldview. God really encouraged us with all of that.

After our afternoon pastor's meeting that I wrote about earlier, we had the late afternoon and evening free. So we took the opportunity to visit the old town center of Brasov. Just beautiful. It's the stereotypical European town, big central square, old baroque buildings and houses, and a massive central church. The Black Church sits in the middle of it. It is a still-operating Lutheran church built in the 14th century. Huge! The name 'Black Church' comes from the appearance of the church after a fire in the 17th century. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we could only see the outside. Good enough for a first visit, though.

We walked the main street of the city and stopped in a bookstore, a traditional crafts store, and finally made our way to a restaurant for pizza. All during our stroll and at dinner, we were talking to Florin about worldview, Romania, his studies, the EU, Western Europe, etc. It was a tremendous time. We even found a copy of "Intended for Pleasure" in Romanian in the bookstore. Florin got so excited as he had been looking for that book for a while. He pulled back a little at the price and was going to wait to buy it cheaper at the book fair that comes to Bucharest twice a year. So, we bought it for him as a gift which he humbly and reluctantly received. It cost all of $6.

To finish our night, we went to an Internet café. I was able to check my email and respond to Karen. She sent some pictures of the boys from the Harvest Party at church that were adorable! I miss my family lot, and I feel so bad that Andrew seems to be having a very hard time with his reflux while I'm away. Karen is worn out, and I pray that God will give her rest and encouragement.

One more quick thing that I keep forgetting to add. On the way from Bucharest to Brasov on Wednesday, we passed a horrific traffic accident. Two cars had apparently hit head-on at about 60 mph. The fire and rescue crews were swarming all around trying to free a person from one of the cars. Lying on the road in the middle of everything, covered with a thin blanket, was a man who was obviously dead. His arms and legs were sticking out from under the blanket. Chilling.

More to come...

Initial impressions of Romania

2005-11-04T08:52:00.000-05:00

A few quick impressions of Romania after three days here:

The people are very polite but very direct. Florin is unafraid to talk to anyone about anything and ask questions for anything.

There is zero efficiency in any commercial transaction. Ten minutes to order a simple dessert in a cafeteria with five extra workers standing around doing nothing. Other stores are the same way.

Pink toilet paper; bathrooms that have separate facilities for the sexes but common wash areas.

The language sounds very much like Italian to my ear, only not as pretty. Not very pretty at all really.

Most of the people look very Italian, only with slightly darker complexions. Many have jet black hair.

The people are either very attractive or very not, not too many in between. A good number of the women are rail thin but very shapely at the same time. A good number of the men are swarthy but some are very mousy.

In Bucharest and Brasov, the two cities we've stayed in, the women were very natural with little hair color or makeup. But, in the little villages and town we've driven through, some of the women are very made up with ghastly reddish hair dyes and too much make-up, trying to play "big city," I suppose.

Lots of stray dogs in the streets, though apparently many have been "removed" in the last few years. Not too many street children visible, though that is a big problem here. We did see one girl at the train station who was obviously homeless sniffing glue from a bag.

Once out of the cities, a lot of horse carts. Not something we see everyday at home!

Beautiful countryside. Our drive between Bucharest and Brasov looked a lot like the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Most of the roads here are terrible. Just another reason most people take the train.

Very orderly, if dilapidated, villages and towns.

More to come...

The first resistance

2005-11-03T22:58:00.000-05:00

Today was a very interesting day. We had the first meeting that could be construed as resistant. Going into this trip, we knew that Romania was going to be just plowing and seed planting. The idea was to come here and make relationships to see if there was anyone in the country that shared our vision. To enable us to do that, Isaac Matei arranged meetings with those he is connected with that he thought would be supportive of our vision and the reformation message. So, we met at lunchtime today with a group of pastors who pastor several churches from around the country. They meet together two or three times each year to share what is happening in their congregation and ministries and to lean on each other as pastors. As it turns out, we probably caught them on an off day which didn't help our cause or theirs. Prior to this meeting today, they had been having twelve to fifteen pastors in attendance. Today there were only four, and the opinion amongst them was that their little group is withering. That certainly had to be discouraging for them.

Lunch was fantastic with traditional Romanian food, a chicken and vegetable soup, a potato and ham dish, shredded cabbage with vinegar (almost slaw-like), and breaded chicken breast. Umm umm! After lunch, they wanted us to share who we were, why we were at their meeting, and what we were all about. They were exceedingly gracious and welcoming, but it was obvious that they knew practically nothing about us or our mission. Bruce gave his testimony and the basics of the reformation message that we teach. I suppose resistant is a little strong of a word to use for their reaction, but it was apparent that they couldn't wrap their heads around just how they could implement the things we teach in Romania. A German is sort of the head of the group, and he had some encouraging words to share about his agreement with our principles and our vision. But he and another pastor were concerned that we were proponents of "Kingdom now" theology, that of a Christian takeover of the world immediately as this is the kingdom of God on earth now and we have forceful dominion. Bruce did an artful job of explaining how we don't have that idea but stress instead self-government and bottom-up change of self, family, church, and state and long-term transformation of the nations through the example and witness of the successful application of Godly and Biblical principals. That explanation helped and we ended on agreement, but it was just apparent that they had more questions about our theology than a grasp of the vision. All promised to email with questions, and that should be interesting. There was one pastor who seemed really open in private, and I pray that he is a spark for this group and Romania.

More to come...

It's just one day after another

2005-11-02T06:42:00.000-05:00

This morning after I got out of the shower and got dressed, I took a moment to open cards that Karen had packed for me. They were intended for me to open at the halfway point or when I needed encouragement. I'd reached both. My wife is the most wonderful woman in the world, and she had written such sweet words of encouragement that truly lifted my spirit. Thanks! Then, I opened the cards from my boys. Karen had made one card from each and put Jonathan's handprints on his and Andrew's footprints on his. Of course, I got all teary over all three cards. i can't wait to be home with them!

But while I'm here, it is just one day after another that we see God moving and His message of reformation taking root. We had the privilege of ministering at two churches last night. The first was a gypsy church pastored by Pastor Calin Ion. The gypsies in Romania are much like the most impoverished of inner city dwellers in America. They are highly discriminated against, very poor, and mostly uneducated--even to the point of never attending school. Some of their reputation is justified by their actions throughout history and today, admittedly. However, Pastor Calin is doing great works within the gypsy community. His church has about 100 members. Last night was a special service, and there were perhaps 30 people there. Bruce gave a timely message affirming their worth as people while still pointedly challenging them to reform their communities, live differently from the world, and use their unique identity to change gypsies throughout Romania. It was powerful and being amongst them was certainly eye-opening. They were a very emotional people, and the message we brought was certainly challenging for their circumstances and mindset.

We left the gypsy church after 45 minutes and went a few streets away to New Beginning Church, a small house church under the umbrella of Agape Church, the main church in Timisoara we are working with. They are connected with Isaac Matei. On a regular Sunday, they cram 100 people into a room about 12x20 and an adjoining courtyard. The attendance last night was a mix of youth (early college age) and middle age parents/grandparents. They were incredibly responsive to Bruce's message and several of them came up to us afterward with questions about law, creation science, etc. The idea of an all-encompassing Biblical worldview was somewhat new to them, but they grasp the basics already and were obviously eager for more. So uplifting! Florin, our guide, is a member of that church and preaches on occasion. (The regular pastor and his wife have eight children!)

More to come...

Welcome to Romania!

2005-11-01T14:47:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Romania--land of crazy traffic! It is unbelievable the way people drive here. People part on the sidewalk, literally! Whole cars entirely on the sidewalk! Traffic lanes exist only in theory, though stop lights are fairly observed. There is no way I would attempt to drive here.

We arrived from Vienna late last night amid confusion about who was meeting us and how we were to got to the hotel reserved for us. We ended up taking a taxi (which we overpaid for-$15 should have been about $6) only to find out after several unsuccessful calls to Florin Suciu ("suit you"), drive/guide/interpreter, that he had been waiting at the airport for us for an hour! Oh well. What can you do? The hotel was only moderately helpful but nicely furnished. About the same as our Comfort Inns or such.

We've spent the morning touring Bucharest while waiting for Dave Bottorff to arrive from home. The city is interesting. The architecture is very Baroque, a throwback to the Austrian influence and rule. In combination with that is the Communist influence evidenced in wide boulevards, monumental buildings, and endless apartment blocks. I wouldn't say that it is pretty overall--a lot of disrepair, dirt, and grime--but it is enjoyable.

Part of our morning included a brief tour of the Palace of Parliament. Indescribable! The building is the second largest in the world behind the Pentagon and was built by Ceausescu in the late '80s as the "Palace of the People." It was billed as a testimony to the greatness of the Romanian people and land but was essentially a monument to meglomania and insanity. More than 1,000,000 square feet with halls that are easily 10,000 square feet. The galleries run 500 yards on each floor, and the rooms have an average of 15 chandeliers each, that I could count. Carpets that weigh four tons! It is almost unfathomable. If totally functional and used, the building would consume enough electricity in one day to power a city of 400,000 people! However, full construction remains incomplete, and the building is virtually unused. It is just too big and too impractical to maintain. Ceasescu had executed any architect or engineer connected to construction (to preserve security and secrecy), so many of the building's design secrets and features remain unknown. In fact, with the floods Romania had this summer, secret, and hence unknown, tunnels were discovered leading from the palace to the subway stations nearby. 16 years later! Amazing.

More to come...

A sad goodbye to Minsk

2005-10-31T18:37:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday certainly lived up to its expectations. We had a wonderful time of fellowship at Pastor Jaroslaw's church. Bruce brought the morning message at John the Precursor Church, which literally meets in a renovated garage! It was a wonderful service celebrating Reformation Day, all in Belarussian not Russian. The church is very nationalistic in their approach to recognizing the historic and reformational past of the country. They had special music, skits from costumed adults and children, and, after the service, everyone sat down to cake, sweets, and fruit in celebration. Wow! We don't even celebrate reformation like that in our American churches. Bruce's message was well-received, though he was worried later that he spoke below their level when we were reminded that 80% of the congregation was college-educated and 20% were university professors! Both percentages are extremely high for Belarussian churches and society in general. But, it was really just fine, and there were many church members who approached us with excellent questions. I was approached by two physicists (!) who wanted my opinion on 1) President Bush's assistance and benefit to evangelicals in America and the world; 2) the war Iraq; 3) human cloning; 4) movies like Terminator and Lord of the Rings; and 5) heavy metal music like Metallica. Yikes! Just your run-of-the-mill conversations in the course of reformation ministry! But what gracious and curious people. We loved it.

After church, we drove with Jaroslaw, Antonin, and Mikhail, our interpreter, 100 kilometers to Njasvizh. After two police stops within 15 minutes of each other, we arrived unscathed. The second stop was merely a license check. The first stop was for speeding, and Bruce and I cracked up when Jaroslaw said, in all seriousness, that he simply told the officer, "Forgive, and you will be forgiven." Apparently, he was convicted, because Jaroslaw got off with a warning! Njasvizh is a small village in western Belarus where Radziwill the Black built his palace, and where much of the reformation of Belarus in its golden age of the 16th century was begun. Simon Budny, a local priest, was also instrumental and had the first publishing house that turned out Protestant works. There is a statue of him outside the Farny Polish Cathedral that we toured, Polish because this whole region of Belarus was Poland until WWII. Just beyond the church is the original gate to the Radziwill Palace Fortress and the start of a long driveway up to the palace itself. We arrived around sundown, and it was simply beautiful to walk the long drive, around the lake, and right up the doors of the palace. Built at the end of the 16th century, it still stands and is being restored to its former glory. During Soviet times, it was commandeered and made into a sanatorium. Isn't that something?! The palace of a believer and reformational hero made into a mental hospital! Just like the Soviets to stick it in the eye of Christians. Now, however, its history is better known once more, and it was a marvelous thing to see. The only problem was that it was freezing! The temperature was about 25°, and the wind blowing off of the lake made it even worse. But, we survived. On the way back to Minsk, Mikhail, who is a 21 year-old university senior majoring in teaching with specialties in English and history, peppered Bruce with questions about what he feels is his real calling, attending seminary and becoming a pastor. Pretty cool.

After we arrived back in Minsk, we went back to the church house and spent three-and-a-half wonderful hours having dinner and talking about the Lord, homeschooling, Belarus, and all things reformational with Jaroslaw and his wife, Natasha, Antonin and his wife, Natasha (pattern?), and Andrew and his wife, ?. They are so hungry to know how to homeschool and continue this work of reformation in their country. They also served us wonderful and traditional Belarussian food! Mashed potatoes, breaded pork chops, cold sausages, fruit, fruit juice, bread, and salads. The salads are unlike anything we have at home and take a little daring on my part to try some of them. For this particular meal, we had a mayonnaise-based salad with little bits of ham, carrots, peas, and cheese--not so bad--and/but another that was diced carrots, red peppers, and tomatoes. Yeah, that one was interesting, but I can proudly say that I ate all of my portion without an instant chasing of water to get it down! The evening was just great.

As I write now, we are on the plane to Vienna, connecting on to Bucharest. It was another sweet time today with Jaroslaw, Boris and Bela, and the staff of Church of Jesus Christ. We spent about three hours with them in the CJC office answering questions, offering suggestions, and getting a feel for where they stand in the reformation implementation and how we can help going forward. We ate another wonderful lunch with similar food as last night, and then got to tour the new music studio that they have built in the basement of the church building (really just a very large house). It is just another outreach center for them, and they are allowing Christian bands to use it as a base of ministry. Dima Petrovsky from Psalmyary designed and runs the studio, and he was there. So, it was very nice to see him once again and get to talk for a little while longer. The band is coming back to the States in the spring of '06, and we are going to try to work it out for them to perform at KPC. Excellent!

After that, it was time to leave for the airport and on to Romania. It was a bittersweet goodbye with our dear friends here. I would like to think that I will be back in Minsk very soon, but I never know what the Lord has and how His calendar lines up with mine. I have really come to love this country and its people. It is very often that I think of Minsk in my daily life and wonder how the churches and pastors that we've met here are doing. They are just so passionate about the Lord and His work. This land will be reformed, because they are setting it in motion each and every day, and in every sphere of life. I wish that you all who are reading this could join me on a trip to see their wonderful spirits, their incredibly passionate worship, and their love for their own land. It is repression that builds desperation and desperation that builds passion. I admire them so much and wish that we in America could have only a small portion of the zeal that they carry. I can't wait to be in Minsk again.

More to come...

A crucial shift

2005-10-30T07:44:00.000-05:00

Another good night's sleep last night, although we forgot the time change and got up an hour earlier than we had to. Darn!

While we at dinner last night, Pastor Boris told us of a crucial shift that his church and church network had made in their reformation work. When we were here last year, much of our teaching, and much of their focus, was toward Christian government and politics. We taught on family life, education, media, etc. but the bent was definitely toward government and politics. The church here had determined that they were going to work to get Christian politicians in positions that could help to bring about the freedoms they desire in Belarus. Last night, however, Pastor Boris told us that they made a conscious decision to shift that focus toward the end of last year. Now, they are primarily teaching about self-government and a reformational view of family life and education. The thinking is that they didn't have mature enough Christians who were grounded in a Biblical worldview. To expect large political changes when the hearts of believers weren't ready or their families weren't strong enough to handle it would be detrimental. Newfound freedom without Godly restraint and foundations to employ it would be dangerous. When he shared that, Bruce and I were so excited. Boris is exactly right! The grasp of a Biblical worldview begins with self-government and extends to the other spheres such as family, church, society, and government. It showed remarkable maturity for the church here to realize that when they have a much larger and loftier goal of wholesale governmental system change. They are starting with the reformation of self, families, and Christian education. It was also a wonderful caution to us as teachers not to put the cart before the horse. Praise God!

This morning, we go to the church of Pastor Jaroslaw, a reformational fireball. We met Jarsolaw last year when we came and he visited with us in Virginia Beach earlier this year when he traveled to the US to preach at various Slavic churches in our country. He is married and has three children, one of whom is named Martin Luther! How's that for serious about reformation?! Jaroslaw and his wife pastor a local church, and he is the leader of local efforts to spread the reformational history of Belarus, which is quite deep actually. He publishes articles and newspapers regularly on the subject and produced the concert we went to last night. He's a young guy, maybe mid-thirties, and totally sold out to the Lord and the work of reformation. Really, he's a radical and proudly so. I told Bruce last night that when revolution finally comes to Belarus, Jaroslaw will be the one standing on top of the tanks preaching! This weekend is the celebration of the Day of Reformation, so Jaroslaw is all excited about church today. Should make for an interesting morning!

More to come...

What a day!

2005-10-29T23:25:00.000-04:00

Do you know what it's like to sit across the dinner table from a pastor and watch him tear up as he thanks you for flying across the ocean and Europe to visit his country and minister? Bruce and I had that experience tonight, and it was overwhelming. Pastor Boris Chernoglaz has got to be one of the most humble men I have ever met. He and his wife Bela pastor the Church of Jesus Christ in Minsk and battle unbelievable things that we American believers could never imagine. First, they are Jewish in a formerly Communist land, so that tells you something right there. Boris' father escaped the Stalinist pogroms only because some co-workers shielded him. Boris was a boy at the time. He was then an engineer for 30 years for the State under Communism before becoming a pastor. Now, he fights the State for the right to pastor a congregation and have it meet regularly as a body. He is absolutely passionate about reformation in all spheres of life, and he is teaching this word all over Minsk. And he thanks us for what we're doing? Please! I wish that you could sit down with this man, for half an hour--fifteen minutes even. He's barely five feet tall and speaks almost in a whisper, but he is a giant in my eyes.

Today was incredible all around, really. Six solid hours of teaching on Christian education, and the people soaked it up. Their questions were so insightful! As it turned out, the primary interest of many here is homeschooling. It was a foreign concept to most of them until recently, but they are ready to run with it. If it's like anything else the people of Belarus do, they'll have it down pat in no time! Right now, they are simply trying to grasp the concept that parents can teach their own children. Bruce taught about the whole principle of Christian education and making your home a center of Godly education even if your children attend a public or private school outside the home. The teachings and the response were fantastic. The Lord is moving here!

After the seminar, we had the pleasure of attending the Concert for the Day of Reformation, a celebration of the religious and reformational history of Belarus. It was held in a large hall with probably 500 people in attendance. There were actors portraying significant Belarussian reformational historical figures, dancers to traditional music, and three bands playing contemporary music. The first band was Psalmyary, the band that came to KPC last spring! It was great to see Dima Petrovsky and the band again; we got to talk to them for a few minutes afterward. Bruce and I also really liked Antivirus, the third, "rockiest,' band. They reminded me a little of Linkin Park--great! All of the songs the bands played were written just for the concert and spoke of reformation. Several of them were traditional Belarussian poems set to music. Of course, we couldn't understand a word and had to be filled in later!

After the concert, we went with Pastor Jaroslaw and his wife, Pastor Boris and Bela, and Vitaly, our interpreter, to the Mirski restaurant. Mirski is the name of a famous castle in Belarus (especially for its reformational connection), and the interior of the restaurant looks like an old castle. It even sports suits of armor, maces, battle axes, crossbows, and shields on the wall! I had "Belarussian peasant food." Fried potato pancakes served in a crock with what is essentially beef stew, only the beef was pork. And for desert, fruit salad with whipped cream. Delicious! We had a delightful time of talking about our ministries and churches. Of course, when I brought out pictures of Jonathan, Andrew, and Karen, the conversation shifted to stories of our families, funny anecdotes, and general enjoyment of life. We got back to the hotel about an hour ago, and Bruce and I have been gabbing and laughing about anything and everything. It's about time for me to call it a night, and I'm so excited to say that we get to sleep until 8:00 in the morning!

Tomorrow, we go to Pastor Jaroslaw's church and then have an afternoon tour of important Belarussian historical and reformation sites from him. He is the premier reformational historian in Belarus, and it will be fascinating! He and his wife are precious people. I can't wait!

More to come...

Finally, some sleep!

2005-10-29T07:46:00.000-04:00

After being up for 33 hours, Bruce and I were finally able to get some sleep last night! We both crashed about ten o'clock after a wonderful night of teaching and a three-hour seminar. These people in Minsk are amazing. When I was here last year, I was so taken by their zeal and desire to reform their families, their society, and their country. And last night was further evidence of that! People have traveled from all parts of Belarus to attend the seminar; there were probably 100 there last night, and more are expected today. Most of them were diligently taking notes and passionately agreeing with points as Bruce went along.

Bruce spoke so well, as he always does, about the Biblical role of parents in education in the first session and about Christian principles and methods of education in the second session. The role of parents in education is namely that they have the primary responsibility for educating their children, or as I call it, they have a mandate to 'oversight and ownership' of the process for their children. That includes providing an educational atmosphere in the home, take full advantage of "teachable moments" when they occur, and, in some cases, directly providing the day-to-day teaching for their kids. We found out yesterday that there is a burgeoning homeschool movement here in Belarus. Surprisingly, it is legal to homeschool, though regulations make it such that the children must really be "attached" to a registered school for exams and such--much like back home in the U.S. And last night revealed that parents are parents everywhere in the world, and they struggle with inadequacy when it comes to homeschooling. Many people here lack real formal education beyond the compulsory Communist dogmas and primary schooling, so they are terrified to homeschool for fear that it will wreck their children. Sound familiar? That was a stumbling block we uncovered last night along with the need for further clarifying that homeschooling a wonderful Biblical ideal, but it is not the only Biblical ideal. That's a misconception back home, too, when one teaches about Christian education. It can come across that homeschooling is the only answer. But, it's not. So long as the parents are deeply involved in the educational process--oversight and ownership--and take great care to insure that their children are being taught Godly principles and within a sound Biblical framework.

Today, it's back for four more seminar sessions and then a "Concert for the Day of Reformation" this evening. October 31 is Halloween, but it's also Reformation Day, celebrating the history of the Reformation in the Protestant church. The churches we're working with here do it up right with a public concert and celebration in a city park. Should be fun!

More to come...

Back in the USSR!

2005-10-28T16:34:00.000-04:00

Back in the USSR! We made it safe and sound to Belarus. Travel was a snap with three good flights, and passing through customs was really a breeze. The Frankfurt Airport was frustrating; there wasn't a single place with two chairs together so that we could sit down! I did see some cool airlines, though--Vietnam Airlines and QANTAS among them. Once in Belarus, Bruce went first at Passport Control. They asked the reason for his visit, who he was working with here in Belarus, and how long he planned to be in country. After that, he was waved on through, and when they realized that I was with him, they pretty much just checked my passport and cleared me. Praise God! The first hurdle cleared...

One bad news nugget, though. Somewhere between baggage claim at the airport and checking in at our hotel, I lost my cell phone. I'm thinking it was in my pocket and slipped out. You'd think I would hear it hit the floor/pavement, but I didn't. Please pray that it turns up, and that no one runs up astronomical bills on it in the mean time.

We are settled in our hotel with great views of the tributes to Communism, block after block of concrete apartment buildings. The Orbita Hotel really isn't bad at all, a bit dated and worn, but nice and clean. There's even a McDonalds a short walk away, of which we took full advantage at lunch! Not a bad way to ease into a foreign country, but, yes, the food is just as bad for you here as at home.

We're enjoying a much-needed but brief respite before a three-hour seminar tonight. Christian education is the theme, and we're excited to share our reformational view!

More to come...

Thoughts from Seat 54K

2005-10-27T18:46:00.000-04:00

Seat 54K! Yikes! You have to love an airplane that has 61 rows. As I type, I'm aboard United flight 916 from Dulles to Frankfurt, a Boeing 747-400. I've been so excited to fly on this plane! Once aboard, my first thought was, "man, I'm already a long way from the ground, and we haven't even started taxiing yet!" This is one tall, heavy plane. It lumbered into the air on take-off, but we're now cruising at 698mph and 35000'. Just waiting on dinner to be served so that I can get a few hours sleep.

The flight from Norfolk to Washington was as you might expect--short and uneventful. We barely got airborne before we began our descent into chilly Washington. Good to be traveling again!

More to come...

Miers withdraws!

2005-10-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

What a stunner this morning! Miers has withdrawn her name for consideration as the next SCOTUS justice! I feel badly for her but I'm thrilled!!!! Now, President Bush needs to seize the moment and nominate Janice Rodgers Brown or Michael Luttig and ram them down the Democrats' throats! Conservatives rejoice and unite!

(It is very interesting that President Bush cited the Senate's request for internal White House documents as one of the reasons for the withdrawal. This very strategy and "cover" by the certain Senators to give Bush a legitimate out was posited just last week. Very interesting…)

More to come...