Love is the only way

Over the past few weeks we have been busy with an amazing teen conference, several women’s conferences, church services, and visiting a summer camp for orphans.  We try to share insights that we get during the month in our blog, and with everything that has happened, we have come away with many insights.  

A group from Kyustendil (our home town and the church we work very closely with) was able to attend the large teen conference called Love Bulgaria that we were privileged to help with this year.  The group was led by Roddy, who was responsible for five other people from his church. Roddy participated in the sports group for street evangelism.  This is when we go to a village and play soccer (football) involving the community with the purpose of sharing the Gospel.  Roddy was always quick to volunteer and anything he could do to help, he came with a heart of humility and love.  As we did the evangelism, Roddy was always obeying the leaders in charge of the groups and as a member of his team he also participated in playing.  Roddy made a point to pass to open teammates and play any position on the field that would help his team win.  Roddy showed no prejudice to any race and always made a point to praise any good play on the field.  Roddy was the first to volunteer to give his testimony, and he shared his testimony on the last day of evangelism in the city of Razlog.  While Roddy was involved with sports, he looked after his group from Kyustendil like a father looks after his children.  He made sure they attended all events , he protected them, and made sure every need within his group was taken care of with a heart of humility and love.  As I watched Roddy, I was very impressed with his behavior and the attitude he displayed all week.  The week ended a great success!

One of the last things we did this month was to visit a camp held each year near our town for orphans.  We got to see the Bible dramas being told to the young children and listen to them sing praise songs to God.  The staff was made up of teens and young adults from all over the world, coming together in love to share the Gospel of Jesus.  All the children in this camp were very poor Roma children.  They were getting to experience the Love of God for the first time.  The staff is from different countries, races and denominations to share their love with children who have never experienced love of any kind.  You may be asking what does this camp have to do with Roddy?  Well, Roddy is an orphan.  Roddy is Roma.  And Roddy’s testimony is that as a child he attended this camp when he was a young boy and experienced the Love of Christ for the first time.

The Love of God is the greatest evangelistic tool.  “By this all men will KNOW that you are my disciples, if you have LOVE one for another.”

Idols

I have been reading from the beginning of the Bible since I arrived in Bulgaria 8 months ago and I am in Isaiah now.  After reading through the Old Testament and how they would turn to idols and other gods so easily, I began to pray about the word "idol" and make it relevant to me.  I wanted to understand in my easy 3rd grade teacher mind, how this word would apply to my life.  I prayed and asked God to reveal this to me.
The other day as we were driving through the Thracian valley in the middle of Bulgaria in the most furtile parts of the country, I was talking and the answer just came out of my mouth.  I was talking about how we as humans put value on things.  Earthly things only are valuable in regards to how much value we place on it.  If we pay alot for something, we deem it valuable.  If it is a family heirloom, we may value it.  This is why we love to watch shows like "Antique Roadshow", because we see value in things we may not have valued before.
We, as humans, have this power of value that we can place onto things and also onto other people (or lack of value, however).
It causes me to think about the things and people that I value in my life.  As far as people go, of course, my faith, my family (my husband and our four AMAZING kids) and friends are the most valuable to me.  People I would die for...
As far as things/possessions, well, I've already let go of most things I valued already (like the Keiurig coffee maker and the Dyson vacuum cleaner).  You might say my laptop or some other thing of monetary value might rank at the top, but  I really would say my Bible.  I know, how cliche, a missionary loves her Bible....but I really do.  It is the most valuable thing to me...I really like it.  I lost it (or left it at the mission house we were staying at in the hussle and bussle of moving) and had to begin in a new Bible.  I like it ok, but the team brought mine back to me last week.  I liked the Dukes and the hot sauce, even the M & Ms, and the beef jerky they brought to us, but my Bible was back home with me.
Anyway, back to idols and the value we put on things.
This was just my assessment of the things I value.  We should all ask ourselves, what we value most...
I believe an idol becomes anything that we OVERvalue.  The idols of the Old Testament were old skulls put on a mantle and worshipped.  Graven images that became as gods.  They took ordinary things and overvalued them.  Made them worth more than they really were.
What have you overvalued?  If everyone else says, that's not really worth much, but in your eyes it's worth more than money could buy, has it become an idol to you?
Can you not sell your house because you have overvalued it?  Can you not let go of something because it is worth too much to you?  Has it then become an idol?  This, for me, is now my "idol test".  Have I OVERvalued an object, a person, or even a tradition?

Unique

We just spent a week with the Christ Community Church mission team in Kyustendil, Bulgaria. I think it would be impossible to describe all that happened in such a short period of time.  I could start with the two Sunday services we attended or the 160 Roma children that learned Bible lessons, sports and songs for five days.  I could describe working with the orphans, elderly or street evangelism, but I want to talk about is the uniqueness of our God.  I am reminded of the scripture:

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NCV)

22 The Lord's love never ends;

       His mercies never stop.

 23 They are new every morning;

       Lord, Your loyalty is great.

Definition of New

1.   Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent: 2. Still fresh 3. Not previously experienced or encountered; novel or unfamiliar:

I wanted to share about how God surprised us this week, which was new or not previously experienced.  We laughed about how these surprises brought us encouragement and even joked how we (Chance and Dee Dee) had arranged all these strange consequences.  I thought of the movie “Funny Farm” when Andy (Chevy Chase) and Elizabeth Farmer had compensated the town in order to sell their house.  As a prospective buyer looked out the window of Andy’s house he said, “Que the deer!” and the deer ran across the yard in order to impress the buyers.  We, as a team, could never have arranged all the unique experiences God had in store for our group.  I know by now you want to know what happened, so here we go:

1.    One member of the group was baptized in a cold river on Mt. Osogovo during our end of the week picnic.

2.    A shepherd walked up with his sheep during this picnic and explained about his sheep and goats.

3.    A missionary from South Africa came and gave his testimony about his daughter and their work with orphans in Bulgaria.

4.    The Pastors of a church in Kyustendil came by and delivered ice cream for the mission team.

5.    A local pastor’s wife gave a testimony about Bulgarian churches during Communist times.

6.    A former Bulgarian solider testified about Communist times and how the church was tested.

7.    We got to experience the Roman baths.

8.    How God moved on the hearts of the Roma people while we were praying during street evangelism.

9.    Americans singing “How He Loves” to the Roma during street evangelism.

10. While in Sofiia on our last day, a Bulgarian always showed up right on time to show us around town which was not scheduled AT ALL.

11.Washing the feet of the Roma that served us lunch all week was more than words can express.

We as a grouped cried…. And… cried during all the happenings during this week.  We are thankful for God’s love and grace during this trip and we know that without organization you cannot have the power of the Holy Spirit.  Even if the same group came next year and we planned things exactly the same, because of God’s uniqueness or new mercies it would be completely different.  I am reminded as a member of the Body of Jesus Christ we desire the same, but we need to embrace His unique new mercies everyday and experience His love and grace.

The Rila Monastery

Monday we picked up our first summer guest, Gantt Bone.  He is a 17 years old that decided to forgo his summer and come spend the entire 9 weeks in Bulgaria with us.  We are so excited to have him here to join us with all God has in store for this summer.  We will definitely be keeping him busy with all the activities we have planned this summer and we will keep everyone posted as we go.

We decided to introduce him to Bulgaria this week as his sleep patterns get "adjusted".  Plus the fact that I've wanted to visit the Rila Monastery for 5 years and have just not been able to get there yet.  When we arrived in November it was too cold, and when the snow finally melted last month, the rain started in.  So, needless to say, when I saw the slightest ray of sunshine today, I said, "Today is the day!"

It was so beautiful and entirely worth the wait.  If you would like to learn more about the monastery, you should look it up!  A monk came to these mountains and lived in a cave up here in the 10 century.  It is one of Bulgaria's most famous and important landmarks.  The colors in the church and in the paintings are amazing!

The Rila is also the tallest mountain in the Balkan region.  I can't wait until it gets a little bit warmer and we will be hiking up to the Seven Lakes even higher in elevation than the monastery.

There is also a beautiful river up there and you might even get to see some pigs along side the road on your way back down the mountain!

My friend

A few days ago, I had a thought about an old friend of mine when I came across a song that he liked so much back in the day.  I’m almost too embarrassed to mention the song but it was Neil Diamond’s “Hello Again”.  The song references “I just called to say hello” and my ole friend would always call me and say hello.  I have some very fond memories of him because we grew up together.   We would talk for hours about football, girls, and every other subject meaningful to a boy growing up in the south.  We also argued about church things, especially the Methodist and Pentecostal movements (he would be surprised I’m a missionary today).  I was with him through many of his girlfriends and a couple of his marriages, with him through the death of his dad and brother in law.  After the divorce from his first wife, these pains took their toll on his life, and he began to battle with alcohol.  We both had our struggles with alcohol, but dealing with the grief, guilt, and failure of his life was very hard for him to handle.  We had many conversations over his last days, and he was consumed with his past (before all the tragedies in his life had occurred).  He just did not want to talk about the future or face the reality of today.  He had such a fear of the future and did not want to take any more chances, because he did not want to fail again.  He was such a big part of my life, and I still miss him to this day.

Years before his death, my life was spinning out of control.  I was struggling with alcohol and drugs and unable to let go of the past and face the future.  I had made a mess of my life with my family and friends.  As I happened to be sitting in jail as a result of my actions (solitaire confinement to be exact), it was the first time I was able to think about all my actions and deal with the guilt.  I knelt down by the cot in the jail cell and told the Lord, “Not my way anymore, but Your way!”  That was the day the Lord forgave me, and I forgave myself.  I still, to this day, ask people to forgive me for all of my actions.  Please forgive me.  I let go of what had been holding me back all those years and gave it to the one person who could take it, Jesus.  I was ready to face the future with no fear and no guilt.  Now, giving to God is the easy part, but walking it out everyday, was, and still is the harder part.  I do not want to limit God in my life anymore.

I tried my best to reach my friend and tell him that there is another way and let’s face the future together.  He knew his destiny was heaven, but he was not willing to face the reality of today.  The lesson I’m sharing today is to always humble yourself (submit), repent (change your mind), confess everything (and give it to God), take the limits off of God in your life and see how everything changes!

Paperwork

Fun day!
We have been going through paperwork here in Bulgaria since around January.  It is always fun to find out what you need, how it is not enough, or how it has just expired and you need another one.  We truly give our lawyer plenty of work to do.
We recently had to get FBI criminal background checks processed and sent from America to Bulgaria.  (I won't bore you with the details and length of this process, but began back in Feb.)  They were finally obtained in America and sent to Bulgaria via my amazing parents.  We were on a time crunch, but we had gotten an extension so we had three weeks to get it here.  Priority mail in the states costs around $17 to get it here and states that it takes 6 to 10 business days.  DHL or UPS is about $130, so we opted for the cheaper and figured we had time.  I should also state that we are not familiar with the mail here and how it works.  We just put up a mailbox with our name on it for these documents specifically and checked everyday for the notice they said would get placed in the locked mailbox.  They were sent Apr. 24 from Atlanta.  On May 7, I went with a friend here to the post office to check on them and was told they had not arrived.
By May 14 the lawyer called and said the police stated that they must be here by the 23rd (and apostilled and translated) or we would have to leave the country.  This is when you send prayer requests to prayer partners :D
The next morning (thanks to prayers) the police officer told our lawyer that if we sent the unofficial copies he would accept them and give us another extension, praise the Lord! (but of course this meant more paperwork)
So, our lawyer comes to our town (I've lost count of how many times she has had to take the bus to our town from the capital to help us), to help us submit the extension papers.  While we are there I am apologizing for not using the faster service, thanking him for his extension, and made a joke, "Wouldn't it be funny if they are sitting at the post office right now?"
So afterwards, I asked our lawyer if she would go to the post office with us just to check.  Guess what?  They were there!  And had been there since May 7!  (The lady said someone must have stolen our notice.)
We ran them back to the police officer and we all had a good laugh!  We are currently getting them translated and sealed and go back Monday to present them.  Please help us pray for the finalization of these documents.  This will give us legal residency status until next year.
This reminds me of how God has provided for us "Everything pertaining to life and godliness" (2 Pet. 1:3), but how the enemy or people or circumstances sometimes make it seem we are at a loss.  The good thing is that we weren't emotional or fearful about the situation in any way.  We knew God called us here, and He would see it through.
The documents were there the whole time...sometimes we just need a little wisdom and persistence to see it.

Catherine

A little over 16 yrs. and 4 months ago, I found out that I had cancer.  If having cancer in your lymphnodes is not bad enough, I also happened to be 4 months pregnant at the time.  Many doctor visits, tests, and a biopsy later, the option was given to me, one option...terminate the pregnancy and receive treatment immediately.  The cancer would infact, "spread through you like wildfire" due to your pregnant condition because your body is built to protect the baby at all costs and not you, therefore, all of your immunities will be going to this baby and not you.

Being a young mother of Mitch already and fairly new at all of this Christian stuff, there were many things to think about and consider.  Much advice came from all around.  It wasn't until I was driving in the car and heard a scripture that I gained all clarity.  Deut. 30:19, "choose life, not death, blessings not curses, and both you and your seed will live."

I figured if I am truly doing this Christian thing, if God has my back and He says this....there is truly no other way to go.  I will be true to my faith, my convictions, to who I say that I am.  

Chance and I thanked the doctors for all of their help and advice, but told them that we had made our choice.  Catherine and I both would be in God's hands.  He told me to go home, that there was nothing they could do...not even an xray to see how far the cancer was in my body.

Prov. says that the word is medicine to your flesh, Psalm says the righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all of their troubles.  He says He is near to the broken hearted and saves those of a contrite spirit.  I lived all day taking my Word medicine.

Catherine Elizabeth Galloway was born on the National Day of Prayer in America, Thursday, May 2, 1996, weighing 5 lbs. and 6 oz.  She was a little ball of fight and muscle.  She is turning 16 today, and I have to say that God is so true to His Word.  He is not a man that He should lie....and His word does not come back void.

I am so proud of the awesome young lady that she has become!  Still a ball of fight and muscle.  Loves her friends and family and softball with great passion, is so strong on her convictions and draws children in from all around no matter where we are.  She has one of the greatest sense of humors I know.  Your dad and I love you so much and are so proud of you for sacrificing so much to come to Bulgaria with us.  You are the awesomeness of Catherine!  Thank you God for your faithfulness and thank you for blessing us with this gift.