Support Letter

My excellent supporters, following is a copy of the support letter that my students sent out.  I include this copy so that you can have all the updated information and know how to give if you choose.

Making a difference, learning to serve, following a call to worship, loving people, and giving of myself.  Not your normal description of a college student. Yet for the month of January, I believe I will be challenged in all these ways!

Every January Interterm Taylor’s Lighthouse program sends student groups around the world to perform service-learning projects alongside carefully chosen host ministry partners. This year’s teams will share the love of Christ through service and witness in Ethiopia, Paraguay, Guatemala, India, Ecuador, and the Czech Republic. I am excited to tell you that I have been selected to serve on the Ecuador mission team!

The 14 million Ecuadorians have seen seven presidents in the past nine years, which has rocked the economy leaving 41% below the poverty line. I am grateful for the privilege to continue Taylor’s long-term partnership with the Verbo Church based in Cuenca, Ecuador’s third-largest city. This vibrant church has grown from 12 new believers in 1988 to a thriving congregation of more than 1,800 with many effective ministries impacting Cuenca, and several daughter churches in the surrounding region. We will serve with the church’s ministries that address the spiritual and physical needs of children and teens in crisis. We will also minister in a small village alongside one of the Verbo daughter churches through work projects and evangelism. In both places we are eager to stay in the homes of church families. We have much on the agenda, and it excites my team to serve in so many ways!

Lighthouse projects are once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for students like me to apply classroom preparation in real-life situations of need, challenging us in many ways. I know that through working with my peers, faculty, and this wonderful partner ministry I will be stretched to develop my gifts and abilities. I pray that when this is done, my life will show a biblical view of caring and justice toward others. This mission trip is academically challenging as we will merge the study of our host nation and culture in the fall with the service experience in January – a great and necessary combination.

First, may I ask that you please pray for us as we strive to move beyond ourselves, increase our understanding of the global church, and love the people of Ecuador as Jesus loves them? Please pray for:

• Our host ministry staff, that God will empower their work, and that we will be a help and encouragement to them.
• The people we will serve, that God will bring open hearts and minds to Christ’s message of grace, meet their needs, and work in and through us to build relationships and bring blessing. 
• Our team, that we will rely on God in unity, have our eyes opened to the needs of others, communicate the Gospel clearly, and serve effectively in the Ecuadorian culture.
• Our financial needs, that God will provide the support we need for this mission project. Our team of 13 must raise $33,475 for airfare, ground transportation, lodging, meals, and ministry supplies. 

Next, would you please prayerfully consider contributing to our mission project? Your assistance, no matter the amount, will help impact the lives of the Ecuadorians with the reality of Christ! Our team is also contributing to the trip to cover about 10% of the cost. If you choose to give, select “Give” at Taylor's Lighthouse webpage. If you prefer to give by check, please make your check payable to Taylor World Outreach and please do not list my name anywhere on the check. Include a note that it is for me and my trip and send it to Taylor World Outreach, Taylor University, 236 W Reade Ave, Upland, IN 46989-1001. Contributions are tax-deductible and will be used to fund this project. If there are surplus funds, they will go to other Lighthouse projects or the host ministry. All funds need to be received by December 9, 2011.

Thank you for your prayers and support. I am eager to discover more of God’s love for the nations and see what He will do as we humbly serve in Ecuador. You may go to tulighthouse.wordpress.com during January to receive specific prayer requests and trip updates.

The semester of preparation for Ecuador

This semester has been a very full one and preparation for this Lighthouse trip in January is no exception!  I last left you with an update on the fact that this trip exists and that we were in the process of selecting team members.  I am happy to report that we not only have a full team of 13 students, but we are well under way in our work to get ready to go and beginning our fundraising!

Our students are mainly upperclassmen (11 out of the 13) and largely have some handle on the Spanish language.  They come from a variety of backgrounds but all are passionate about ministering cross-culturally.  We have had a team retreat which consisted of dinner, some games, singing praise songs by the campfire and watching a Spanish-language movie.  We've already undergone around six weeks of class and are currently reading Serving with Eyes Wide Open by David Livermore.  We discuss the highs and lows of short term missions and look for ways to improve on past protocols.  Our students are divided into teams that help us prepare to go and to lead us while we are there.

Through all of this, my co-sponsor, Kristin, and I have heard from our hosts in Cuenca who are helping us figure out what we'll be doing.  So far, the rough plan looks like spending a week in Guabo (a city on the coast where it's warm and tropical) doing things like painting and VBS with a satellite church of Verbo.  Then we head up into the mountains and spend the rest of our time in Cuenca working with Verbo Church and a program called Remar.  We'll be living with host families and we will get to see a lot of the colonial city as we move and work in Cuenca and have some rest time built in to the weekends.

The trip goes from January 5 to January 24 and will included another class that Kristin and I will lead.  We'll read a book on missions or ministry in general and reflect on the work we've been doing as we engage in service-learning.

Keep praying for us as we prepare and raise funds over this next semester.  I'll keep you updated as we go!

Heading to the Equator

If you can believe it (I hardly can), I have another opportunity to do a missions trip with Taylor!  This time I'll be making a major shift in latitude from Russia, all the way down to Cuenca, Ecuador. This trip is still through Taylor World Outreach but instead of Spring Break, I'll be leading a January Term trip through Lighthouse.  

It's kind of amazing that I'm getting to do two of these trips back to back, but I am realizing that as I look at jobs in student development, I really want to be involved in missions through a college and these trips are just what I want to do.  I enjoyed working with the students so much with Russia this last spring that I felt I was ready for a bigger leadership position and a longer trip through Lighthouse.  

I'll be co-leading the trip with an old friend of mine, Kristin Crosby.  She's been to Ecuador before and actually graduated from MAHE before I started, working in my assistantship in Campus Ministries.  My role will carry more responsibility this time as Kristin and I are the only two leaders, rather than when I was more of an assistant leader in Russia.  So I am excited about that opportunity, but anticipating being very busy this fall.

We're headed to Cuenca, Ecuador working in cooperation with a longtime Taylor University associate, Verbo Church.  Much of what we're doing will center around a medical center they have there, but I'm sure I will be learning much more soon.  

Right now, I am in the process of selecting our team from a pool of applicants.  Later in the fall, we'll be leading our team meetings as they walk through their missions preparation class.  I will appreciate your prayers as we begin the stages of this next adventure and I'm so glad to have supporters who I know will be excited with me about starting another trip.  Thank you!

Russia Finale

All in all, it was an excellent trip.  This was so different from my other missions trips because this time, I was in the leadership position. I appreciated more the aspect of being able to consider the team to be my ministry charge.  Watching the students stretch themselves and have all sorts of lightbulb moments was really cool.  I was very proud of them. The kids were cute and fun, our Russian friends were interesting: the classic European who sort of believes in God and yet got to tell the Gospel through us and then ask questions.  I think my friends had some new thoughts as they spoke for me when I asked the kids if they wanted to believe in Jesus.  

Also, our day in Moscow was great.  Seeing the Kremlin, Red Square and St. Basil's Cathedral was really cool and tickled my history bone quite a bit.  Then leading the team back through the airports and maze of international travel went well. 

It's things like this that make me love what I'm doing.  I'm not always super enthused about my classes this semester but when I look back on leading the Foundations Discussion group this fall, hall directing in J-Term and leading this trip, I know I could do this for the rest of my life.

Journal Excerpt: March 26

"Today was our tourist day in Moscow and our last (full) day in Russia.  We spent the morning in a great little souvenir land (in which most things were probably over priced, but oh well) and had some amazing roast lamb for lunch.  We then braved the Metro to see Red Square.  I was in awe of the history present in this place as I saw the Kremlin, Lenin's Tomb (not open on Saturdays unfortunately), and the 500 year old St. Basil's Cathedral.  It was all really amazing.
The evening held even more wonders as we went to the Russian circus.  They had some really incredible acrobatic, juggling, and high wire acts, but some of the animal acts were kind of sad because you knew the animals were drugged or mistreated.  But overall, it was some pretty cool stuff to see.
Our hotel in Moscow was much nicer than the one in Vladimir, so I have picture of each room, to compare the difference.  Russia's Daylight Savings Time came during the night before our departure so it was kind of inconvenient to lose an hour and have to worry about having the clocks right to make it to the airport on time. But we made it fine and are now travelling home!"

Journal Excerpt: March 25

"Our last day at Barskoye began with the Bible lesson on the Cross, Resurrection, and the basic salvation message.  The kids were actually responsive and as I explained that we were all sinners, but had to ask for forgiveness then asked if they wanted to ask Jesus to forgive them, they said, "Da!"  It was so great.
We had a typical day after that except at about 4:15 the kids left for tea earlier than usual.  They never came back and we missed saying goodbye when we left at 5.  We saw only tow of them as we left, so it was sad to miss out on the farewells.
This evening's meeting was great.  I was so proud of my team, how they have grown and they way they have spiritually matured.  Something extraordinary happened this week and I love it."

Journal Excerpt: March 24

"A typical day at Barskoye... but the signature event of that day was our night out in local Russian homes.  Many of my team went with their interpreters but Amanda and I went to the home of some friends of the Boaz Project named Natasha and Ivan.  They were a sweet young couple (Natasha was my age, Ivan only a few older) who were very hospitable.  Over an enormous meal we chatted in broken English about sports, music, film, books, travel, current events, and nearly every other small topic.  They were so genial and fun.  When we declined their offer to drink with them, we told them that our school did not allow it.  In curiosity, the questioned what else our school disallows and we were able to explain that we don't drink, smoke, or do drugs so that we can focus on our studies and on our relationships around us.  They were impressed with this as well as the fact that we came to Russia just to help with orphans.  After many cups of tea, we ended the night by going to an interactive movie: the kind where your chair moves with the on-screen action.  It was an amusing end to a very fun night."

Journal Excerpt: March 23

"The schedule for today was very much different.  We went to a concert put on by disabled children at the invitation of the Barskoye director.  It was really fun and folksy, centering heavily on Russian national pride.  One act was a blind boy who sang about being able to see and feel the music.  It was a touching song.  He got the loudest and longest applause to which he gave the most enormous smile.
We spent the rest of our afternoon trekking through rain to see downtown Vladimir.  We saw the Golden Gates, an 11th century fortress and the Cathedral of the Assumption.  ...  Finally, we joined the teams who worked at the Vladimir Children's Home for their afternoon session.  I got to go with the three year olds who were very cute.  Knowing I had only a couple of hours, I just threw myself into playing with them.  We drew pictures, tickled, I carried them around, and delighted them by dramatically losing at tug-o-war over and over again.
The walk back to our hotel was a major slush-fest.  I remarked to one of our local friends that when I heard the kids in the concert this morning singing about the mighty rivers of Russia, I had no idea that they were talking about Vladimir's sidewalks."

Journal Excerpt: March 22

"Another good day at Barskoye: we played lots of games and bonded well with the kids. ...  We were sad to see that one of the boys, Max, would be gone for the rest of the week but got to play a bit of soccer with Arkasha.  We threw snowballs and went sledding for a while until we were all exhausted.  During the rest of the day, I made friends with Vika (the little grinning one) and tried to understand Anya and her spoiled ways: she would always cry and bite when she didn't get what she wanted.  I taught her some patience by playing War slowly and she laughed and got the hang of it.
Our team meetings each night are always incredible (despite sitting on the floor).  We always have a chance to have a few people talk about their day, then each person encourages another whom they've been assigned to for that day (which always encourages tears) and then we pray.  Those three agenda items always take two hours and it makes for some very important and appreciated team bonding time."

Pictures!

Journal Excerpt: March 21

"We arrived in Barskoya which seems to be an almost entirely residential town.  We were led upstairs to a small room with eleven students looking at us curiously.  There was no teacher.  So we awkwardly made our way to the front and jumped in.  Our interpreters were actually very helpful, eager to please, and ready to lead.  The lesson was a bit slow but that is expected for the first day.  After, we played soccer outside (I scored three goals!) but it was very difficult and tiring as we were playing on compacted snow and ice.  We played catch and threw a few snowballs at each other.  All afternoon was a sort of unstructured game time that we filled with Uno, Blind Man's Bluff, and various running around.  It made for an exhausting but fun day."

Россия

My team's trip to Russia was a time of stretching, understanding, and pouring out of love.  The Boaz Project ministers to the orphans that are abandoned to the state's care because they have been shown time and again that they are not worth caring for.  My team went not to change that in one week, but to join the long term work that is being done there and to allow ourselves to be broken by the things that break God's heart.

We arrived on Sunday morning (March 20) and immediately piled into a bus to drive the three hours to the city of Vladimir.  The Boaz staff introduced themselves and were great at keeping us awake to help us make the time zone adjustment.  Arriving at our hotel, we wasted no time in unpacking and meeting our interpreters for the week.  Mine was a young man named Yuri, a web developer who was studying English at his university.  We were to work together with my ministry partners Luke and Celeste (and their interpreters, Andre and Juliana) at the Barskoye Gorodiche trade school for agriculture.

Our typical day there (which took up Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) looked like this: the six of us would arrive around 9:30 and meet the kids in their classroom.  We would teach the Bible lesson, usually starting with some kind of game and ending with a craft with the actual lesson woven in between.  Then we would play games outside (mostly soccer) in the frozen tundra and later in the afternoon shift to games (like Uno) indoors.  We would play until about 5 when we would leave to make it back for dinner and a team meeting.  This schedule comprised most of our time there.

On Saturday we were able to spend some time as tourists in Moscow, buying souvenirs, seeing Red Square (including the overwhelmingly beautiful St. Basil's Cathedral), and even a Russian circus. Sunday we flew out and arrived back at Taylor at 2AM on Monday morning.

With this overview in mind, my next few posts with excerpts from my journal should make more sense.


Also, the title "Россия" is "Russia" in their Cyrillic alphabet.

We're Back!

My main official job was to see the team safely back to the States and I can now say that I have completed that successfully.  After near 26 hours of being up and moving, we arrived in Upland at 2AM last night.  It's still sort of amazing that we went so far for such a short period of time.  As we continue to process it and get back into the swing of work, I will be reviewing my journals and posting tidbits here for you to see how it happened.

Thank you all for your prayers!  They were deeply felt and appreciated!

Itinerary

Since we don't have internet access in Russia and I won't be posting until we're back, here's a rough itinerary that you can follow so you know how to pray for us each day.  All times are local times and seen on the 24 hour clock. 


Sunday, March 20
10:10   Team arrives Moscow

Monday, March 21
VBS Barskoye
VBS Seslavskoye
VBS Vladimir Childrens Home
18:00 Dinner at hotel cafe
19:00 team meeting

Tuesday, March 22
VBS Barskoye
VBS Seslavskoye
VBS Vladimir Childrens Home
18:00 Dinner at hotel cafe
19:00 team meeting

Wednesday, March 23
VBS Barskoye
VBS Seslavskoye
VBS Vladimir Childrens Home
18:00 Dinner at hotel cafe
19:00 team meeting

Thursday, March 24
VBS Barskoye
VBS Seslavskoye
VBS Vladimir Childrens Home
18:00 Dinner at hotel cafe
19:00 team meeting

Friday, March 25
VBS Barskoye
VBS Seslavskoye
VBS Vladimir Childrens Home

19:00 Interpreter farewell dinner

Saturday, March 26
7:00 Bus from hotel to Moscow

Sunday, March 27
12:55   Flight to Atlanta

Countdown to Departure

A mere two days lies between my team and our trip to Russia.

We've had our last team meeting on Monday during which we received our assignments of which orphanages we're working at, who our ministry teams are, and who our roommates are.  And unfortunately we found that one of our team members was unable to get the paperwork for his passport through the system on time and will not be joining us.  It was difficult for him to tell us and difficult to see him go.

But we are ready to get going and glad to get our assignments.  Two groups are working at two different orphanages in Vladimir one for younger kids, the other for older.  I am part of a small group that is working at an orphanage called Barskoye which houses children with mental disabilities.  We will all be working through a VBS curriculum that was specifically designed for these orphanages by my fellow team leader, Megan.  She has gone on this trip twice and I believe wrote these curricula as her Christian Ed major practicum.

In the meantime, we have plans to make a last minute trip to the store and then we head out early on Saturday morning!

Thank you for all the prayers and support!

Service Engagement

A part of our team's training branch's out of the classroom and allows to to get some hands-on experience in our area of service and in working with one another.  Since we are going to be working with orphans in Russia, our service engagement project took place at Real Life, an after school program in Marion, IN that attracts a lot of disadvantaged kids.
My team split up into different groups: some worked out a skit in which they told a Bible story, another group spent time with specific age groups, and a few people and I stuck around in the gym to help lead games.  It was a wild time.  Loads and loads of rambunctious kids, but we had lots of fun playing Sharks and Minnows and Dodgeball.  I enjoyed getting to know my teammates a little better by getting to see each other in action.  I was able to identify some people's strengths and see where other people might prefer to do more behind the scenes work.
Next week, we're meeting our leaders (Jim and April) for dinner in Indy and I think that will also bring about a different kind of bonding time for us as our date of departure now grows nearer.

Our fundraising is currently at around 45% (which is good) and thank you so much again for how astoundingly you have given! I am truly blessed to have such faithful supporters.  

Fundraising and preparations

As my team is raising funds together, we get updates on what our progress is together and individually. First, I must thank you gratefully because you are such generous supporters! Even more my team thanks you because you have donated to our whole team since as a leader I am not required to raise my individual funds. As a whole, our team is already 30% funded only two weeks into the process so we're doing great. A couple of team members were a bit late in getting their letters out so we should be having even more support coming in.

But the support that we need even more and that you can keep giving is through prayer.  Pray for us as we are still getting to know one another and learning about Russian culture and what we will be doing.  Next week (on Tuesday) we will be doing a service project together that will help prepare us for our work with the orphans in Vladimir.  We're joining a campus ministry that works with kids in Marion, IN so that we can get some experience working as a team and with kids.  The week after that we're all going out to dinner with Jim and April and hopefully we'll begin to bond after that,

Please join us in praying in advance for the openness of hearts in our interpreters and the children we will play with.  Also for healthy and safety for the team in the weeks leading up.

Thank you so much for always being available to read this blog, support me and who ever I'm working with.  it has really meant a lot!

Support Letter

My team has met once so far and they seem like a great group. One of the students is helping lead; her name is Megan Weinhandl and she has gone to Russia with this trip before. I have not yet met the Jurgensons (the couple with the Boaz Project who are leading the trip with me) but Megan has worked and lived with them here and abroad and I've heard great things about them.

Taylor World Outreach has equipped us with support letters which my students are mailing out to all of their supporters as we try to raise funds. Though I don't need to raise funds myself, I thought I'd give you a copy to see what it looks like. I am sending a few hard copies to people, but since I'm not seeking financial support those will be few. Those will be in the mail early next week. If you don't have one by next weekend and you really, really want one, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

So here's the official business:

February 2011

Dear Friends,

Annually, Taylor World Outreach sponsors short-term mission projects over spring break. This year (March 18-27), teams will be traveling to the Costa Rica, Daytona Beach, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Michigan, Poland, Russia, Tennessee, Indianapolis and Grant County, Indiana. I am excited that I’ve been selected for the Russia mission team.

I am grateful for this opportunity to serve with fifteen other Taylor students and three leaders from The Boaz Project. We will travel to Russia to help some of the 1,000,000 children who overcrowd the orphanages. Our team will work hand in hand with the Boaz Project (you can learn more about them by visiting www.boazproject.org) in the Vladimir region of Russia, conducting Vacation Bible Schools and building relationships with orphans through crafts, games, music and more. We hope to share Christ’s love with these orphans as we develop friendships and bring God’s Word to them. In addition, each team member will be paired up with a Russian interpreter for a majority of each day spent there. We hope to build friendships and share Christ’s love with our interpreters throughout the week.

I am inviting you to join our team by praying for this ministry. Here are a few ways in which you can pray with us:
1. Pray for those to whom & with whom we will minister. Pray that the orphans we meet will be open to the message of Jesus Christ. Many of them have endured tragic circumstances, hazing, and lonliness. Also pray that the missionaries and orphanage workers with whom we will be working will be encouraged in the Lord to continue their work.
2. Pray for our team. Pray that we will adjust to the time change quickly and have endurance, so that we may make the most of the time we are given. Ask the Lord to help our relationships with one another to be full of grace. Pray also that we will be able to present the Gospel in creative ways, and to communicate effectively with the people of Russia.
3. Pray that our team will be able to raise the support needed for this mission project. As a team of 20 we need to raise $44,000 to pay for expenses which include transportation, food, and ministry supplies.

Will you prayerfully consider joining us with a financial contribution? By giving a gift you will be part of this ministry, like the Macedonians who supported Paul’s missionary trips. It is clear in Philippians 4:17 that Paul took the blessing that comes from giving very seriously.

If you choose to participate financially, please make your check payable to Taylor World Outreach (do not list my name anywhere on the check). Complete and detach the perforated tab and mail it along with your contribution in the enclosed envelope. You can also give online by choosing the link to “Giving” at http://www.taylor.edu/springbreak. Contributions are tax deductible.

For more information about Taylor University Spring Break Missions and updates on the Russia project, go to http://www.taylor.edu/springbreak.

Thank you for your prayer support and gifts. I am excited to see what the Lord will do in the lives of the people and in me through this spring break mission in Russia.

Remember, I am not raising funds myself, but if you do give in my name, it will cover any deficit my team may still have so don't feel like you're not allowed to give. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support!