Coinciding with my move back to Florida was a change in my job description. My official new title with Shepherd's Staff Mission Facilitators is Regional Mission Pastor.

Meeting with missionaries is the part of my job I love the most. While I enjoy the administrative side of providing missionary care, nothing beats sitting down at a table filled with lunch with a guy or gal fresh from the field. Today I met with Ken Dinnen, a missionary sent out from Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale.

Dinnen serves in Vajta, Hungary, at Calvary Christian Academy. The Calvary Christian Academy is the Eastern European outpost of CC Ft. Lauderdale's Calvary Christian Academy. Dinnen is a teacher at CCA, Vajta.

Dinnen is part of the staff that teaches the children of Pastors and Missionaries at Calvary Chapel Bible College. Not only is he working in the classroom, he participates in outreaches regularly and has launched a youth ministry serving both missionary kids and locals. He gives Bible teaching and godly guidance to both groups.

"It's the perfect environment for making disciples," Says Dinnen. "I'm being discipled while I make disciples."

Dinnen's excitement and passion are infectious as he shares about his work. "I'm a part of giving the students that come to Hungary a bigger view of the world."

Keep up with Ken as he update's his blog. Pray for his work and the lives he'll touch.

Well, the next time we write we will be in Costa Rica!  We leave tomorrow morning at 6:10AM from Columbia.  The Lord is so amazing---every detail He has orchestrated and the ways He has provided for us in such a short time.  He has made it so clear to us over and over that we are doing what He desires for our family at this time in our lives!  Thanks to all of you who have been fervently praying for us!   For those who have been asking about Daniel's medical bills, all of the bills but 1 were written off (PRAISE THE LORD!!) and we paid the last bill off about 2 weeks ago!  What joy we have had in seeing the Lord's hand at work with all of this!  It has definitely all been for His glory!  We are truly humbled at all of the love we have felt over these past few months as we have prepared to go.  God has used each of you in a mighty way to share His love with us and we are forever grateful for it.  We look forward to sharing with you weekly what the Lord is doing in Costa Rica so check our blog often.  Until then, Dios les bendiga y Feliz Ano Nuevo!  (God bless you and Happy New Year)  

The Barretts in Costa Rica: Hasta Luego

Barrett Missionary Page

Thank you so much to all of you who helped participate in our watch drive for the boys in the Sambir Juvenile Prison! We were able to bring enough watches for every one of the boys for Christmas! Because of your willingness to support and give, this enables us to be able to continue to do ministry in Sambir and brings a little bit of joy to these lost boys in prison. Thank you!

Another Yeremenko
Ira Yeremenko, age 23.
Ira is the oldest and the only girl with six brothers. We have worked with three of her brothers, Roman, Losha and Ivan, but had only ever briefly met her once. Upon returning to Ukraine, our translator got a disturbing call from Ira. She had been kidnapped and held in a nearby city for the last three months. She had been forced to work and beaten daily by a man who had a personal vendetta against her mom. After three months, she was finally able to get a hold of a phone and found a piece of paper in her pocket that she didn't know what in there. Ira had washed her pants seven times, not knowing that this paper, with numbers for her brothers and Sasha, our translator, was in the pocket. She found the paper and was surprised to see that it still looked like new, having no water damage to the phone numbers written on it. She tried each number and the only one that worked was Sasha's. Thanks to the help of a friend who works for the police, we were able to get the man to put Ira on a bus to Sumy and we picked her up at the bus station the following day.

Since arriving back in Sumy, the people in the local church have warmly accepted and showered her with God's love. Ira has now professed to accepting the Lord and has been filled with joy and a peace we didn't see when we first met her. Right now she is staying with us and looking for a job in Sumy. Ira strongly has it on her heart that her brothers, and even her mom, need to know that Lord and has spoken to them boldly about it from the moment they were reunited.

Upcoming Events
We will be making a trip to Pravda on the 6th to celebrate Ukrainian Christmas with the kids there. We will be bringing home-made American sweets and small gifts for each of the children.
Ukraine is the number one country for AIDS in Europe. We have been approved by the orphanage and the prison in Sambir to bring a small group and give a presentation on AIDS. An international organization called ACET - AIDS Care Education and Training - has developed a curriculum that we will be using. Both of the presentations will be some time in January.

Prayer Needs
Ira - Pray that God would continue to give her boldness in her new faith. Pray that she would be able to find a job and begin a new life in Sumy.

AIDS Presentations - Please pray that we would be able to find a couple more volunteers to help with the presentation in Sambir. Pray for the effectiveness of our times in both locations.

Finiancial Support - Continue to pray that we would receive the nessecary financial support for our ministry in Ukraine.
Local Church - Pray for God to work in the hearts of Ukrainian Christians as we reach out to try find more volunteers for our ministry.

Graduates - Please continue to pray for our graduates salvation.

Open Arms Ukraine

Open Arms Missionary Page

Last night we had our weekly service in Ica and in Los Pollitos. In the evening service I ask each person to share something from the past year that they were thankful for, something the Lord had done for them. Each one begin to share and one after the other shared how the Lord had used each of us that come from Lima each week to touch their lives. Three of them shared that they had really encountered the Lord last year for the first time in their lives. Before each of them had been "playing church" and now they said they have a new understanding of the Word and Christ purpose for their lives. Praise Him!! We haven't done anything out of the ordinary, we have stuck to the teaching of God's Word, sound doctrine and the breaking of bread together. How blessed we are to be used by our Lord to make a lasting impact in these lives. As I look back of 2008, I stand amazed at God's faithfulness in our lives. Last January is when I started teaching the group, it was my first time to teach in Spanish. Wow, since that time I have grown greatly in what it means to Pastor a flock and I have also grown in my ability to communicate in Spanish. In January of 2008 I didn't know that this is what the Lord was preparing us for and now in January of 2009 we begin our preparations to move there and sheperd the flock on a fulltime bases. Oh what does this new year have in store? Only the Lord knows, but we wait with anticipation and hope of the marvelous things that Christ will do in us and through us. How good is our Lord and how worthy to be praised!!!

Robin & Tracy Shelley: 2008, A good year in Ica

Shelley Missionary Page

I just received this email from Sharon Porterfield:

Please pray for Moe Moe Aye's surgery at 8am tomorrow morning here - USA - west coast 5pm; east coast 8pm.  It is MAJOR surgery - the attached photo shows two before & after pictures of what her surgery will be, including taking bone from one of her ribs & "attaching" it to her frontal skull (layman's terms).  It will be approximately 6 hours for the surgery.  Please pray for no complications before, during, or after her surgery - & for a very successful surgery & praise to the Lord!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!!!!!

Gratefully, 

Moe Moe Aye & all who know & love her! 

Gmail - Pray! - bryon.mondok@gmail.com

I seldom post much besides payer updates and occasional photos of interesting things within the ministry and our personal life living here in Africa. This is one of those exceptions and is just some random thoughts bouncing around my brain.

Occasionally someone mentions the sacrifice we have made to be on the mission field. Hah!

While in Turkana a couple weeks ago, after having already spoken in two churches in 43C heat, a friend and I decided to go for a swim in Lake Turkana. We needed to hire a couple local fishermen (for $1.50) to to paddle us out to a safe area. As we bobbed and cooled off in water flowing in from Ethiopia I commented that most people will never get the joy of doing what we were doing. It was just a simple joy to float with a friend. We only had an hour or so because we had to meet some Turkana pastors for an early dinner punda and damu, but even that is a joy to consider breaking ugali with pastors from an unreached people and enjoy a meal in their home.

As we were still enjoying the floating in Lake Turkana we both came to see that we feel sorry for those that have not experienced all we have been able to enjoy as we make this so called "sacrifice." Truthfully, we have great gain, not great sacrifice. I have to imagine it is similar, though only in the smallest of ways, to what the writer of Hebrews meant when he said of Jesus, "...for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross..."

Certainly the Father made the largest sacrifice by killing His only begotten Son. Surely Jesus sacrificed by making "...Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men." to humble Himself and become "...obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." I think it was C.S. Lewis that compared the incarnation to being a greater humbling than a man becoming a bug. And there is no doubt that that the Holy Spirit, being fully God, made a sacrifice as He indwelt Jesus. Even with the great sacrifice, the Bible speaks more of joy within the Godhead than suffering.

I think when when we consider the joy before us, the suffering and sacrifice seems to pass away. When I read 2 Timothy 4, I just want to weep, and confess that it has brought me to tears on multiple occasions. It is an incredible record of Paul's suffering in interpersonal relationships (read 2 Cor 11 for physical suffering). Even amidst the heaviness of Paul's last earthly written words of suffering are gems of testimony that he still had joy that the gospel was going out. I somehow think he did not consider it a sacrifice in the sense we use the word today.

I'm not sure where our personal and ministry lives begin and end and have absolutely no desire to investigate that issue. All I can say is we have absolute joy across our spectrum as Haley and Jackson go to a better school than they ever could in the States, we have deep relationships with people we could not meet in the States and we have the blessing of seeing God do amazing things daily. Until being caught up with Jesus, there will be no greater joy than seeing and taking part in Acts 29 being played out all around us. We have had the incredible blessing of watching firsthand and up close as God has planted two churches, seen hookers repent and "pastors" get saved. We would not trade that for the world!

As part of the Christmas holiday God gave us a gift of a couple days of camping near Lake Naivasha with our friends the Bascoms. It is another example of what we enjoy living in Kenya that we could never have in the States. We enjoyed sweet fellowship with Christians we love and respect and could talk about everything from dispositionalism to planning our daughter's joint high school graduation party.

Naivasha is about 90-minutes from our house and just inside the Great Rift Valley. It is mostly a community living off the lake by either fishing or using the water to irrigate huge hothouses of flowers to export to Europe. Though Kenyans do not understand it, all the Americans here love that we can buy roses for our spouses for about $3 per-dozen.

Part of our safari (journey) was to take small boats out to Crescent Island and walk among the animals. On the way we saw many islands of hippos and a pair of fish eagles near the landing on the island. Haley and Clair walked among the giraffes and Jackson, Sebby and Alex enjoyed seeing a half eaten gazelle carcase.

What sacrifice?

Calvary International Fellowship

Compean Missionary Page

“Douglas, No! Quick, fetch him!”

The sound of a screeching car and then a high pitched squeal, as a speeding taxi slammed its wheels over the furry body of our three month old puppy. Sobbing, the family rescued the puppy’s crumpled body from the road and gently laid him on the porch to die.

I prostrated myself face down on the porch, eye to eye with little bleeding Douglas. I cradled his tiny head in one hand while softly stroking his neck with the other.

“We all love you, Douglas. You have brought us so much joy these last few weeks. It’s all right, you can die in peace; we are here with you.”

I continued in my horizontal posture, singing the sweet name of Jesus to our family puppy, until his rigid body convulsed one last time, leaving his lifeless little form limp in my hands, his eyelids closed in peace.

We buried Douglas today under a tree in our back yard, and we thanked God for His beautiful creation which He had given us to enjoy for several weeks. Please pray for the Glaybo children as they deal with the loss of their little puppy. God bless you for caring.

“The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21

Gary & Ruth Newsletter » The Lord Gave and the Lord Has Taken Away

Luukkonen Missionary Page

We have struggled for the past several weeks with internet connections to give you an update. We now have mobile internet for our laptop, so we are looking forward to updating our blog more frequently. We are now enjoying our new apartment and neighborhood. We are still unpacking some of our boxes that we shipped when we first arrived in Uganda. We had forgotten many of the items we shipped, so there was some nice surprises. When we prepared to move we thought that we didn't have very many things, but as most of you have experienced if you have ever moved, you always end up with more than you thought and wonder how you accumulated so much stuff! So we continue to try to find a place for everything.

We started celebrating the holiday season early with our friends and family here. We are blessed to have friends that are from various countries around the world. It has really opened our eyes to the various ways that other countries celebrate this time of year. We stared in mid-December with having a wonderful breakfast with a MAF missionary family from Sweden. The Balter's moved to Uganda this year. They invited many of us to celebrate St. Lucia Day on December 13th. Special food was prepared by Samuel and Jenny for the occasion. St. Lucia was an Italian Christian that lived during the 4th century. St. Lucia Day is traditionally celebrated with a feast and a ceremony where a girl is elected to portray Lucia. Wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head, she walks at the head of a procession of women, each holding a candle. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take St. Lucia's life when she was sentenced to be burned. This Swedish festival of lights also helps to lighten up the long winter nights in December. Jenny and Samuel prepared some of the special foods for Lucia's Day like Lussekatter (St. Lucia Bun) made with saffron and spicy gingerbread biscuits along with a host of other traditional Swedish breakfast foods. It was a perfect start to the holiday season. Samuel also told us that St. Lucia Day is traditionally followed by 12 days of fasting before Christmas. We were not willing to take the holiday that far!

The following week we attended the MAF Christmas party held at the Kajjansi Airport. All of the MAF missionary families as well as those employed by MAF Uganda and their families attended the party. It was nice to finally meet many of the spouses and children of the people we work with daily. The turnout was more than expected. The highlight was a puppet show following dinner. Several MAF families have created a puppet ministry to share the gospel with international and national children here. Their puppet show was fun, impressive and well received.

We went to the Wunderli family's house for Christmas Dinner. We had turkey, ham, stuffing and all of the fixin's. The only thing missing was some good ol'e American Football to watch between the main meal and desert! Well we are planning on staying home and having a quiet evening for the New Year. May the Lord bless you and keep you; may His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; may He lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace in the new year!

Equipping the Saints: Happy New Year!

Fellman Missionary Page

Happy New Year! I hope your Christmas was a great celebration.
Just a thought on flying during holidays.

You take off excited to climb out of the airport mess. It's a fresh and new adventure, new faces, new experiences. Then you settle in for the ride, maybe take in a movie or play a game. Joy is still looming in the air and you're enjoying friends and family. But somewhere along the way your body tells you "You've been sitting too long like this. You aren't supposed to sleep in an upright chair...against a window (or a stranger)...with the sound of jet engines blaring around you!"

At that point a baby cries and reminds you you're not in Kansas anymore. The man next to you decides to go to the bathroom and climbs over you. The lady in front of you passes the time with alcohol and now is extremely loud as she sings "Deck the Halls". And that little boy running the aisles never stops passing by you hitting your arm!

You begin to break down mentally, physically, emotionally as weariness overtakes you. Then the captain says in that reassuring voice, "We are now descending." You think, "It's finally going to end." Then you feel the plane ascend back up, go in circles for another hour. When you finally touch ground you wait another 30 minutes in line to get to the gate! At this point you have forgotten even why you came until you see your family and hear once again, "Welcome home!"

2009 may be full of STRESS... may be a MESS... but in either circumstance we can REST. And next time you're on a plane for a long trip remember to have mercy for the parents of that little boy running down the aisle. (His name is Jack by the way.) :)

We are set to leave February 15th! It's 17 hours on a plane, 4 hours waiting in an airport, 1 hour of driving, and loss of a lot of sanity!

Claycamps: I'll fly away

Claycamp Missionary Page

On Sunday night we were invited to attend a Hanukkah lighting ceremony, which was held outdoors in Heroe's Square in Budapest. It was a very moving sight to behold. It was absolutely freezing outside, but there was not a cloud in the sky and the air was crystal clear. When we arrived, there was already a fairly large crowd gathered and they were lighting torches. The entire area was surrounded by police and security. We made our way through the security and Larry went to grab us a few torches while we waited for our friend, Andi. We immediately saw several groups of the opposition which sent chills down my spine. There was a group not far from where Larry and I were standing - the police was between us and them. We lit our torches and then a rabbi climbed up the steps of the museum where we were all gathered and began giving the blessing in Hebrew. Then he spoke in Hungarian. That was followed by the "Hava Nagila" - which means "let us rejoice"! It was very moving to see the torches all lit up against the dark sky, while throngs of police and security placed a shield all around the group.

The was no violence! We know it could have turned out differently - it was expected to be so - so we are thankful for the shield of the Holy Spirit last night. It was sad to see the hatred of the opposition groups represented. It's heartbreaking to realize that after centuries and centuries of bloodshed and hatred of the Jews - God's chosen people - that it still continues today and is only going to increase as the days go by. We know it is a spiritual battle of course, but it doesn't make it any less heartbreaking.

Along the Road With Larry & Dede: Hanukkah Celebration

Miller Missionary Page