New Religion is My Song

Whitney: İstanbul has become my new favorite city. Even if I were blind I would still love this place. The smells, the choking humidity, hookah from every restaurant, the tea alone makes this trip worthwhile. But there is something here that makes us question who God is for a fleeting second. We are surrounded by İslam, something we rarely see in the states. İts amazing to see an entire nation sell their soals out to a lie that is so close to the truth...details off from the true gospel. But one thing ıs certain, they have more love for a lie than most Christians do for the truth. Some of our students have a hard time grasping how God can allow these people to go to hell when they are so reverent...İ think if we are honest, we can confess that we have thought the same thing now and again. But it soothes my heart to know that God is a god of love and he gives everyone the change. A religıon is just a religion without the gospel, but with the gospel its true love.

Pray for us as the Lord causes us to question and causes us to go looking for answers. İ love that he is challenging us here! Please pray for unity and that we could recognize real truth and help the people we meet to do the same. We love you all and miss you. The kids are shopping for gifts for all of you! Thank you for your continued prayer...we love you.

Istanbul!

Brian: Hello everyone! We are in Istanbul staying at the Big Apple Hostel. It is surprisingly nice. Traveling has made me very tired. So far we have had two 24 hour days. One flying across the Atlantic and the other driving to Istanbul from Sophia. It has been a little weird going from Bulgarian culture to Turkish culture in less then one week but seeing Hagia Sophia today made it all worth it. I was fascinated by the history that was represented by Hagia Sophia. I am a history nerd, what can I say. We also went across the street and visited the Blue Mosque. It was quite a difference! We went from a musium to a place of worship. One we had to pay money, the other, take off our shoes. I definatly learned the true meaning of the word decieved after leaving the mosque. The inside of the mosque was quite an exerience. First when we entered there was a line of seats where water faucets cleaned the feet and hands of those who wanted to enter. We of course did not use them. The courtyard was very busy with people walking about, and talking about various things, most of which, actually all of which I did not understand. It is incredible how much I can understand by simple opening my eyes and reading body language. Most people reviel what they are trying to say with their body language. Is there some statistic about 90% of communication being non verbal? Any way, Howard took a picture of a Turkish man playing with what looked like his grandaughter. The man was ammused that somebody was interested enough to take a picture of him. We then waited in a line to put our shoes into little bags. Shoes are not allowed to be worn in the mosque as a sign of respect for holy ground. A nice symbolic gesture. As we went in the smell of dirty feet hits me like a wall. The red carpet seems very inviting. All around us are people taking or praying. The visiters to the mosque are obvious. Everything in the mosque is geometric and pleasing to look at, and I get a strange pleasent feeling about the whole thing. Thats when it hit me that all these people are being decieved and it broke my heart. How appealing these old building are to humans! I am reminded of what Jesus said to the woman at the well. What a gift I have in the Holy Spirit, to have God with me. It seems like if that mosque or really any church like Hagia Sophia were the extent of my relationship with God, I would love the building more then the one who the building was for. But what does God really want, the kind gesture of a phenomenal piece of architecture, or a humble heart? How easily we are decieved.

Here in Sofia

Chase: Hey everyone, we are here and safe! It has been an ordeal, but fun nonetheless. We left on Wednesday at noon, and arrived in Sofia at about 1:15  Bulgaria time. It turns out that our 14 hours of flying turned into 24 hours of travel due to time zone differences. The funny thing is that it just feels like we have had a tough afternoon of travel, and the overnight part was just a blur. It really throws me off that it is actually Thursday afternoon, not Wednesday evening, oh well!

I have decided that jet lag is not very real. Sure I am tired, but once I go to sleep tonight, I should get accustomed to this time zone without any problems. I am rather happy about that. Our flights were long, but aside from Abby's troubles, we all handled it pretty well. Some have already gone and crashed upstairs, but that is discouraged as that will throw off our new schedule.

We have got connected with Marti and Didi, two super friendly Bulgarians who are connected to the Navigators. We are staying in some school dorms that he (Marti) teaches at. It is so cool to hear them talk about life and to each other in their native language. They are very neat people, already they have got us water, pizza, and watermelon, which by the way, was really good and fresh. yum. Luftansa was a really nice airline, and even though we only had a two and one half hour flight, we got fed a delightful amount. also yum.

We were warned about people trying to pull scams on us about money exchange and tours, and sure enough when we left the security at the airport, a man approached us and offered to show us around and how to have fun here and avoid, ironically enough, the people trying to trick us. It was good we were warned and were meeting people anyway.

Well, that's about it for today, as said abby, we are tired but happy, and mostly healthy. Prayer for our health and safety would be great.

Nausea, Customs, and Sofia Taxi Drivers

Abby: It began in the last hour of our overseas flight from Washington to Frankfurt. I awoke from an uncomfortable attempt at sleep to Chase telling me that he picked up my gluten-free food for me and had got me coffee. Although the gesture was very sweet, the sight of it prompted me to immediately go to the bathroom. After about 5 minutes of fighting an upset stomach I returned to my seat. Chase was a darling. He went to the back of the plane to try and get me a cup of ice, but when it was unsuccessful he returned letting me know that he would help if he could. With roughly 10 minutes left in the flight, I told him I needed a Bag. With the swiftness of a fox he secured one from Whitney and I took care of business. Absolutely mortified, I started crying but Chase rubbed my back a little bit and encouraged me to not feel bad about it. Once we were in Frankfurt I was eager to wash off and feel better, but we had to go through security twice. As if my rebellious stomach wasn’t enough for my embarrassment, the second time through security I set off the detector. What, you may be wondering, set it off? Nothing other than the wire in my bra. So I was left to being frisked and poked by a German woman, humiliation continuing to overcome me. By this time, I was crying and I still didn’t feel well at all. We took a bus to our flight to Sofia and as soon as we were off the bus, I got sick again, but I boarded the plane feeling like it was all out of my system (or at least hoping). After arriving in Bulgaria and being able to really talk to my whole team, we realized that my case was the manifestation of the stomach battles inside us all. But for me, I knew this sickness was from God. As weird as it sounds, I prayed that God would humble me and help me to rely on my group, and rely on my group I did. Happy to take one for the team, we headed for Customs. Although we were warned that we should declare our business as “tourists” we weren’t even asked. We all got our luggage (praise God!) and we met up with Marty and DiDi, the couple helping us out for a few days and headed for the Pentecostal School where we are staying. Marty led us to two taxis, as well as his car. I hopped in a taxi with Whitney and Allison and rapidly learned that Sofia taxi drivers are NUTS. Though I’ve never been to New York, I imagine it’s much the same. Road signs? Suggestions. Lines on the road? Guidelines. Lanes? Laughable attempts at control. Through all the insanity of the driving, I looked out the window to see a fascinating sight around me. The mountains make you feel like you’re still in Colorado, but the streets are like nowhere I’ve ever seen. People living in dilapidated apartments, stray dogs roaming the roads, piles of wood that were once buildings. It’s like the collapse of Communism brought about the collapse of architecture as well. I could tell that Sofia was a rough place to live. We are going to tour the city tomorrow and we’ve been warned by Ed to be particularly on our guard about stealing. Theft is common in Bulgaria and beggars are good at it. So, if you would like to pray, feel free to begin with our health from our trip and for the safety of our money and possessions.

And I suppose that’s all.

Moral of the story? We are here. We are safe. We are tired. We are happy.

:)

Connection One

We made it to the Denver Airport...some didn't think it would be possible. Please be praying for patience, safety, and sleep! A Nav Missionary will meet us in Sofia to show us the town, win.

Abby: The past few days have been unbelievable. We started with two initiatives: one of which we failed, but for a good reason (we spent too long on communication and planning) and the other we did well on as a group if you exclude when we let AmberLynn fall on her face. Overall though, after our initiatives I think we realized that as a team, we are in a good place. We are open and honest with each other and in general, we all get along. Having such a solid unit is going to make the next month much easier.
Yesterday, we had two main things on the agenda. In the morning we hiked up to the cross and wrote our fears about the trip on rocks. After praying, we hurled them from the top of the cliff and watched as they shattered below. Powerful stuff, man. Powerful stuff. Then Ed Cox from the Navigators came and orientated us on Bulgaria. It was sort of information overload, but it was GREAT to finally have a picture of the culture in mind. I know especially for me, hearing about the country has made the fact that we are sitting in an airport getting ready to start this journey that much more real and exhilirating.

Meshing Begins with the Letters M-E

Sunday afternoon finally came. Four leaders stood in front of five young, strong faces, and none of us had a clue as to what we would be doing in a foreign country for four weeks.

I'm learning that everyone came with his or her own baggage, his or her own fears, his or her own weaknesses. And there is truly beauty in that. We sat in a circle trying to get a glimpse of the heart of each team member, trying to relay some of our own baggage, fears, and weaknesses. One thing is certain: Eagle Lake International Crew '09 loves to talk about feelings.

Yesterday afternoon we did team initiatives that bonded us from a group of individuals to a team. Its amazing to watch Jesus move us from an individual to a team over such a short period of time. And its amazing to see Jesus melt away the "me" and turn our pronoun usage into "we".

We leave tomorrow to travel for 24 hours straight. Please be praying for our team's safety. But also be praying for the spiritual growth of all of us. One specific goal we have is to find God everyday in the mundane. We want to see who God is to Bulgarians. And maybe a few practical things, Allison is terrified of shots and we are praying that she won't step on a rusty nail. And please pray that I won't have to find out what a Bulgarian root canal feels like...

Joshua 1:9, 2 Corinth. 12:9

The Stepping Game

These past few days have been a flurry of small tasks that so easily clog my ability to see the big picture. I leave for Eagle Lake tomorrow morning and there seem to be an annoying amount of details that keep me from the Lord. My prayer today is that God file down my excess thoughts. Yes, I need to make sure I packed my mascara, but Lord, remind me why I need to bring it in the first place.

This trip sets itself apart in the glaringly minute fact that our team has no idea of details. All we know as of now is that we need to get to camp. And eventually we get on a plane. I feel like that one Moses guy...he's got one step to take to get into the Promise Land. One step is all it takes and the destiny of the world will forever be changed. But that first step is a doozy. But some days, especially these days, I don't want any part of that steppin'. Its scary.

Lord, allow our team to let go of our expectations no matter how small. Give us one mind, your mind. Give us courage to go, and to go holding hands with one another. We'll see you on Sunday.


......and we will know what we need to know when we need to know it.