Some News

Dear Faithful Prayer Partners,

Again, forgive me for not being very good at keeping you updated on what has been going on with me. Much has happened since my last update, and big change is coming up.

This is not an easy letter to write this time around, but after much prayer and consideration, and after talking with many wise people, I have decided that it is best for me to return to the United States. I believe that this is the best thing for me right now, as I will have the opportunity to grow back in to the person I was before I left the States, only with more hard lessons learned and this experience behind me.

I am not giving up on my calling, nor am I copping out. I believe that this upcoming chapter in the States, though I don't know how long it will be, will help me grow in to a person who can be more effective in future ministry.

I thank you for your fervent prayers for me, as I know that they have brought me this far. Please continue to pray for me as I wrap up these last two and a half weeks here in Romania and get ready to go home. Pray that the Lord would provide the perfect job for me. Please continue to pray for my colleagues here in Romania and all of Europe, as this is a very difficult place to penetrate with the Gospel. Please also continue to support my colleagues who work for IMB and remain here doing the task that they have been called to.

Blessings,

Angela

My Current Favorite

So my current favorite album to listen to is called "Waves of Grace" by Grace Community Church in Brentwood, TN. The worship team from this church came and led myself and almost 1000 other colleagues in worship last month in Greece and they definitely did an amazing job. They taught us my new favorite song (I think I had sung it or heard it before, but now I really remember it...) and so now I can't stop listening to the whole album. It is available on iTunes for $9.99 and it is well worth the 18 tracks of old songs, new songs, and Scripture.

My new favorite song is "Never Cease to Praise" by Jeff Bourque:

May we run this race
May we keep the faith
May our eyes be fixed on Jesus
That we'll not lose heart
In our struggle with sin
And through suffering know endurance.

May we arm ourselves
With the mind of Christ
To rejoice in trials and not be surprised
May our hearts be so consumed by you
That we never cease to praise!

May the words we share
Be your grace and peace
May our tongues speak your proclamations
That the many parts
Of the Body of Christ
Be affirmed in their right relation.

As we long and wait
For the groom to come
May we learn to love and spur eachother on
May our hearts be so consumed by you
That we never cease to praise!

When that day arrives
And the race is won
When our friefs give way to deliverance
We will fully know
As we're fully known
All our groans will end as new songs begin.

And a multitude
From every tribe and tongue
Wearing robes of white will stand before your throne
And our hearts will be so consumed by you
That we'll never cease to praise!

A Very Belated Post on Greece...

Well, friends, the last time I posted I was getting ready to spend 2 weeks in Greece. The first week was big conference for those of us working throughout Eastern Europe for a time of fellowship, meetings, and worship. The week was amazing and it was so wonderful to worship in English and be able to know fully and understand what we were singing and know every word that was being spoken over us. The speaker was really good and brought us some good messages, as well. I loved every minute of the fellowship I shared with some old friends, new friends, colleagues, and even met some distant relatives!

After the week of meetings and fellowship, two friends and I took off and went to Crete for a few days. We spent a couple of days in Athens on either end of our trip, then took an overnight ferry to Crete. The overnight ferry was THE WAY TO GO. We were able to get to Crete and not have to pay for another night of a hotel room. We took the overnight ferry back, as well, though the second one was not nearly as nice as the first one.

On Crete, we played lots of cards, took a bus to a sandy beach because the one we were staying by was only rocks and pebbles, and took a three and a half hour boat tour of two small islands right by the north coast of Crete. We had so much fun relaxing and had a great vacation.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few pictures....Ok more than a few...

Inside a tunnel at the ruins of ancient Eretria, Greece. This was close to our hotel for the conference.


God gave us some beautiful sunsets...this was only one of them!!


The Theater of Dionysos on the way up to the Acropolis.


What? I was there? For real?!?! Yes, me in front of the Greek Parthenon. It was incredible. My favorite part was when the wind blew, it sounded like music coming from the way it blew through the columns. The scaffolding may have had something to do with it, but I don't know. I like to think that the wind blew long ago through the marble columns and made "music" the same way I heard it in 2009. Amazing.


The other side without as much scaffolding in view. It still amazes me that this was built so long ago without machinery. Also, I never though I would walk on or see anything older than the Mayan ruins I used to visit as a child in Central America. This was like a dream....


The city of Athens behind me. The Acropolis is on a hill almost in the middle of the city and the city goes on forever it seems in all directions. Amazing....


The Olympic Stadium. The old one. There were two pigeons here having a race that we watched. Yes, Pigeon number 1 won, even though we don't know where they were supposed to be going. Haha, it was quite humorous.


The view of Mars Hill from the Acorpolis (Acts 17).


This is said to be the exact spot where Paul stood and saw the temples to other gods in Acts 17 where he was so moved to speak to the men of Athens, including Dionysos, who was saved and this contributed to the further spread of the Gospel throughout the known world at that point. It was neat to stand there and see what Paul would have seen, hear what he may have heard, and appreciate that he was so moved to speak God's word....


Funny story. If you have ever been to Guatemala you will recognize an item in this picture. The orange quilt made of guipils (Mayan blouses) sewn together and dipped in orange dye. I had an interesting conversation with the vendor about that particular item. I told him I knew where it came from and that it came from Guatemala not Greece. He asked me how I knew and I told him how I had grown up there and knew how they were made. He would not let down and tried to convince me that "they make these in Northern Greece, too!" I decided to let him think what he wanted but still wonder how many Guatemalan quilts people have bought thinking they are from Greece.....


The Port of Pirraus and the city of Athens at dusk from our boat headed to Crete!


The old Venetian port/harbour at Chania (pronounced Hania) town in Crete early in the morning. This was beautiful.


The lighthouse at the interance to the harbour.


Olives and Tzaziki sauce. Yumm...it doesn't get any better than this!! We ate all of those olives between the 3 of us, by the way!!


The little white church on a pier at the sandy beach we went to. We walked out there and it was beautiful.


The first glass of orange juice I ever remember enjoying. I guess back in the day sometime I experienced some bad orange juice, and have never liked it since then. But I figured that since I was in Crete, which is known for oranges (and olives), I would at least give some of the local faire a chance. Man was it good!! I loved it!! Now the problem is that no orange juice that I drink ever again will live up to this!


And finally, our poor map of Athens when we were finally finished with it.

Greece so far...in a nutshell

A week of grown up meetings.
Lots of fellowship time.
The Acropolis and Mars Hill.
Athens and an overnight ferry.
A Venetian harbor.
A quaint hotel.
A Yaya with olives.
Octopus and a nice waiter.

All this and more when I get back to Bucharest!

I'll post lots of pictures later!

Happy Father's Day!

I just wanted to take a little bit to wish my dad and my grandfathers a very Happy Father's Day! For those who read my blog and don't know this, I am the third generation in my family to do what I am doing now. Both of my sets of grandparents are retired from the field, and my mom and dad have been on for 23 years and are still going strong...

Daddy, I love how passionate you are about storying and am so proud of the way that you have influenced the way that some people do ministry. I know that it has not been easy over the last many years, but also know that you are gifted in what you do and God has blessed your efforts. Thank you for being an example to Tim and me over the years and for teaching us to trust and obey the Lord. I love you!

Grandpa (Stanley), I can rarely be in the same room with any Baptist from Ecuador, Honduras or Mississippi where someone knows my last name and doesn't ask me if I'm related to you. Every time, I proudly reply, "Yes, he's my grandfather!" I'm thankful for the many years you put in to ministry and for the example that you are to all of your children and grandchildren of serving God. I love you!

Grandaddy (Ray), Many times, people also know that I'm your grand-daughter, and I'm proud to say that I am. You are a wonderful example of taking care of yourself and your family, working hard, and enjoying life and living it to the fullest. You know how to make people laugh and enjoy themselves, too. You are a Godly man and a great leader. I love you!

It's been a long time....again.....

So here’s another long over-due update. I don’t know where to start, but I guess I have to start somewhere.

The team from North Greenville University is long gone, except one girl who had asked if she could stay on a few weeks. Those guys did an amazing job and were troopers in Braila introducing the National Bible Reading Campaign to the streets of that city. God truly opened doors there and now workers are needed there to follow up on the contacts that were made.

After a series of events and conversations with various people, I decided it would be better for me to come back to Bucharest and pray for a ministry to become involved in. I have found that I became so frustrated with waiting and dissatisfied with where God had me that I sought another option. I didn’t have peace about it from the very beginning, but went ahead with the plan to move to Galati because I was so frustrated here in Bucharest. Why I didn’t have peace about it, I have no idea. Only God knows. I was raised to obey God and to do what I believe He has for me, and a way of discerning this has been to make the decisions I have peace about. I have peace about being back in Bucharest, so I guess it’s all right.

So after 3 nights in Galati and 3 weeks in Braila with the group, I decided to come back to Bucharest with a fresh start, a new perspective, and no expectations. I have found that every one of my colleagues here in Bucharest are in the same boat. Trying to find their niche, exactly what it is that their ministry will look like while trying to dodge the distractions that the devil is sending our way.

I apologize for not updating sooner, as I’ve been back in town for almost three weeks. I just haven’t been inspired and really haven’t sat down to try and put in to words what I have experienced in the last six weeks.

On Sunday evening, all of my colleagues in all of Central and Eastern Europe and myself will meet together in Greece for a week of meetings, worship, and fellowship with each other. At this time, I will sit down with a few people and try to come up with what the next half of my term will look like. Please pray that I would have clearness of thought, that I would seek Him first, and that I would trust the Lord to speak to me and those with whom I will meet clearly and precisely about this decision. My heart desires to be available to take some of the load off some of my colleagues that would help their lives be a little bit easier. I also want to be actively involved in a ministry, and the beginnings of something will be happening this Fall.

Above all, I know that He is in control, He is sovereign, and He sees all of my days. I know that He will take care of me and He knows what is in store for me.

After a week of meetings, I’m taking vacation with a couple of friends. We will be spending a couple of days in Athens, 2 nights on an overnight ferry to and from Crete, and 3 nights in Crete. I am so stinking excited about this opportunity to relax and see something new. You can for sure count on seeing pictures of that trip. Please pray that we will be safe as we travel, and that we will be wise in every decision that we make.

Oh and I just remembered I still haven’t posted photos from my trip to Poland. That will be very soon. Hopefully by the end of this week I will do that.

Last thing, I have not had internet service now for more than a week, and don’t have any word on when it will be repaired. I’m thankful for a dial-up connection that allows me to check the essentials and make a post on my blog. Sometimes when I have this internet problem, I think maybe we would have been better off if Mr. Gore never even invented the internet, because then we wouldn’t know what we were missing! Just kidding. But not really.

Have a blessed week.

The Next Three Weeks...

Today is the day that my group from North Greenville University arrives. We will be saturating the city of Braila, which is a 20 minute drive from Galati, with prayer-walking and some street evangelism trying to make contacts and find people who are interested in studying the Bible with us. Please pray for the 10 students, 2 professors, myself, my supervisor, Troy, and others who will be joining us in this effort.

I will do my best to update you all as much as possible with pictures and stories from the upcoming weeks. Also, hop over to Troy's blog here for probably more updates than you will get from me.

Thank-you for your consistent prayers and support. I appreciate you all more than you know.

Once I get a few minutes, I will give a run-down of my time in Poland. I will say for the moment, though, that it was excellent.