The beginning of a new journey

For several years now, I have had an inexstinguishable love in my heart for a country called Ecuador.  The first time I came here I felt as if I could live here forever and be completely content.  Well, after coming here three times on short-term trips to various parts of the country. The idea started to sink into my heart about coming here for a longer period of time.  For a while, I thought this was simply my heart´s desire and not in the will of God, so I began looking at other options for study abroad, a requirement to complete my major at my university.  But every attempt to look at different places failed.  Every single one. So, I gave in and knew that this had to be in the Lord´s plan for things to be like this.  So, here I am. I am sitting in an internet cafe in Guayaquil, Ecuador.  The country that I will call my home for the next five months.  I am so excited about the journey that the Lord has set before me, and I´m amazed at how he has already shown me His sovereignty in the details.

As I left on this journey, I began reading a book by Elizabeth Elliot called In the Shadow of the Almighty.  Elizabeth´s husband, Jim, paid the ultimate price for his faith as he was speared by the Waorani tribe in 1956.  One of the first quotes in the book from Jim has really set the tone for this trip and my attitude.  Jim said ¨He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose¨.  Such a profound statement and one that can be used to truly examine our lives.  Am I living like this?  Am I willing to pay the ultimate price for my faith?  I think this is a question we have to be ready to answer in whatever situation or place we are living in.  The truth of the matter is there are thousands of people right now around the world that are breathing their last breath and stepping into eternity without knowledge of our Lord and Savior!  This is a matter worth dying for.!  Oh, Lord, may we die more to ourselves every day so that you can be more visible in us so that Your mission can be accomplished!!

Already, in the few days that I have been here, I had the opportunity to see two precious girls give their hearts to the Lord and have shared the Gospel with several others as well.  God is SO GOOD!!!

Some prayer requests: Please pray for me as I am adjusting to the culture and to life here.  Please pray that I would keep the posture of a learner.  I am by no means an expert of Ecuadorian culture and I don´t want to pretend to be so.  God doesn´t get the glory when we act that way.  Also, please pray for my family as they adjust to life without me there.  I know it is hard for them and for me. 

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you in every way this week.

Blessings,
Amber

Reflections of an Unforgettable Journey

 As our journey comes to an end here in Ohrid, Macedonia, I can't help but reflect on everything that God has done while we were here.  I had so many wonderful opportunities to meet some of the locals and form, what I hope will be, lasting relationships.  I think I am probably amazed by the fact that so many of these conversations were so incredibly easy and I was able to share part of my story and a little bit about God with some of my new friends.

Yesterday, we had a chance to meet with one of the locals and she was asking us what we thought about boys and being single.  At the start of the conversation, she made the comment that she believed that one must help oneself before he or she can expect God to help.  We listened and at the end kindly said that we understood what she was saying, but that we didn't agree with her.  She then questioned us as to why we did not agree with her which opened the door for a Gospel conversation.  I shared with her that for the longest time I did agree with her and felt like I needed to take care of everything for myself and that if I didn't want to be single for the rest of my life, I needed to take matters into my own hands.  I then moved on to tell her that I know and believe that this is not the case at all, and thank God for that!  I told her that I believe He is faithful and merciful and if there is someone for me, then He will call him and place him in my path at the right moment.  I went on to say that there is a possibility that I may be called to live a life of singleness and I admitted that this would not be easy.  However, I have the comfort in knowing that I have God either way and He is truly the only fulfillment I will ever need in this life.  After hearing this, she sort of pondered and then quickly changed the conversation to the rain that was coming down hard on the lake.  This was discouraging to me, however, I do recognize the fact that I did have a chance to share my faith with her and a little bit about my struggles.  I guess I should take comfort in that she at least heard a little more about God and she did listen, which is more than I can say about some of the locals here.

I guess in closing, I just pray that I would take more away from this city and this amazing opportunity than its natural beauty.  I pray that I would take and use the spiritual growth I have experienced on this trip back to Birmingham for the present and wherever else God calls me to go in the future.  And I pray that God would just put this city and these people in a special place in my heart with the hope that I will never forget them and continue to pray for them, that more of them may come to know Christ and his everlasting love!

~Courtney

As this week in Ohrid, Macedonia comes to an end I am simply amazed at what God is doing here and thankful for the small part that we were able to play in His work.  If we were to measure our accomplishments by the measurements of man, it seems that we would have failed this week because we do not have a large number of souls saved.  However, we do not seek the satisfaction and approval of man, instead we desire the satisfaction and the glory of God!

One of my favorite moments this week was the opportunity we had to meet with one of the local believers here in Ohrid.  She invited us into her home and we were able to take part in discipling her.  The team leader's wife, Mandy taught from John 15 and talked about the necessity of abiding in Christ and continuously pointing others towards the cross and the sacrifice that Christ made for us.  Then, Jennifer, Courtney, and I were able to share our favorite verses with our precious sister and share with her how God was working in our hearts specifically through these verses.  Then, she offered to dress us up in the dress for a traditional Macedonian bride.  It was so precious and fun!  Language was a small barrier in our fellowship, because the love and the laughter that we shared was understood by all.

Praise God for the people that we have met here in Macedonia.  They have forever taken a piece of my heart and I desire so much that they would come to a place of repentance and intimate relationship with Christ.  I have learned much in my time here: about the Lord, about missions, and about myself and in particular the areas where I need to depend on the Lord for my strength.  Even though I am a redeemed sinner, there are parts of me that are wicked and I am thankful that God has revealed those areas to me so that I may grow to be more like Him.

Thank you for your prayers!  They were dearly appreciated.  Please pray as we begin the journey home around 12 AM tonight (5PM for you at home).

These are the Scriptures that have encouraged me the past few days and I would like to share them with you:  2 Thessalonians 2:16-17~ "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope though grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word."

Blessings,
Amber

Pancakes and Monasteries

здраво! (Zdravo) This means hello in Macedonian!

We have hade an amazing few days in Ohrid!  Yesterday we started out our day with a tour of Ohrid with Hannah and Ginna.  We went up to a really old fortess at one of the highest points in the city.  On the way there, we saw an old amphitheater that was turned into a gladiator stadium during the Roman rule.  Then, as we made our way up the hill towards the fortress we were able to tour some ruins that were located just around the fortress, such as the oldest university in Europe that was founded by the patron saint of Ohrid, Saint Clement.  We also had the opportunity to visit the monastery where he was buried.
Then, Hannah and Ginna took us to eat traditional Macedonian food and gelato, it was delicious!  They eat a lot of meat and bread here.

Then, last night we had pancake night at the coffee house!  The team taught Macedonians how to cook American pancakes!  It was so much fun and a great way to build relationships.  Mandy, the team leader's wife, shared with us during orientation that it is important to share "Gospel chips" with the people here, because with chips you just can't eat one.  This concept became obvious throughout the night as we began to have conversations with the people.  When God was mentioned, it was typical for the conversation to be steered in a different direction.  This is an important concept for all of us to learn.  Sometimes we want to force others to understand and know the whole Gospel all at once, and sometimes God has not brought them to that point yet.  So, it is important that we learn to sew Gospel threads, in other words, speak the Truth in any form possible throughout daily conversation.

Today was a new adventure!  We hiked 10 miles or maybe a little more while you were sleeping (it was about 2AM central time, haha).  One of our Macedonian friends led us on a journey to visit 3 monasteries, but we were only able to visit two of them because we discovered how out of shape we are, some of us anyway....that would be me (Amber).  We hiked way into the mountains and saw the beautiful city of Ohrid.  It was amazing to see the natural beauty and know that our God was the artist of this masterwork.  

So, we still have work to do this evening, but we wanted to update you on the recent happenings here in Ohrid!

Please continue to pray for our conversations with the Macedonians here, pray that God would give them ears to hear and give us wisdom in what to say.  God is good and is at work here..God bless!

Here are some verses we wanted to leave you with:

Luke 9:23-24~ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it"

Here are some other pictures of our adventures yesterday and today:

Greetings from Ohrid!

Greetings from Ohrid!!

We have finally made it to the city of Ohrid after several hours of traveling, and it has truly been a blessing that we have made it this far.  The city is absolutely gorgeous and the people are extremely friendly and hospitable.  While we were walking down a street with several shops, the storekeepers always greeted us and attempted to talk to us.  It was really cool to see how we were still able to semi-carry on a conversation with these people even though we did not necessarily speak the same language.  This is just proof yet again that language is not a barrier for our God.


The work that Hannah and Ginna are doing here is completely different from any other mission trip I have been on before.  Rather than physically doing something for people such as fixing a building or serving in a soup kitchen, they are actually focused on building relationships with people and sharing life with these people.  One particular story they shared with us really stood out to me and it was the fact that Hannah had invited a hitchhiker back to their apartment while walking home one day.  In our American culture, this seems like such an absurd thing to do, especially since Hannah had no idea who this woman was and had never even seen her before.  Yet, they invited this woman in, fed her lunch, and talked with her learning more about her life story.  They found out that she was hitchhiking all the way to Serbia and she had recently lost her husband as well as a family business they were running.  Ginna and Hannah also had the chance to share the gospel with her before she started again on her journey to Serbia.

It's moments like this that Ginna and Hannah are living for at this moment in their lives.  They just take one day at a time and focus on the people that God placed in their lives.  It didn't matter that Hannah had never seen or met this woman before, but she trusted in God and used this wonderful opportunity to share more about Him.  Hearing this story has truly opened my eyes to a different side of missions that I have never seen before on any of my other mission trips, and it only makes me more excited to see what God has planned for the rest of this trip.

We are so thankful for the time that we have shared with them so far and for the encouragement that we have shared.  God's family is a precious thing, there is a love that goes much deeper than any other typical friendship can offer.

We love you guys!  Thank you for your prayers!

Flexibility

If there is one thing that Courtney and I have learned on our journey so far it is to be FLEXIBLE!  We started out our trip at the Birmingham airport at 10 AM yesterday morning thinking that we would be in Ohrid, Macedonia at this point.  Well, God had different plans in mind.  We are currently sitting in Rome, Italy (where we have been sitting since 9:00 AM here or 2:00 AM for you folks at home) awaiting our flight that will take off at 9:30 tonight.  From here, we will meet a colleague of the field partners in Thessaloniki which is where we will spend the night. From the moment that our plane got delayed in Chicago, Courtney and I began to prepare ourselves to miss the flight.  It is not easy for a person like me who is used to running a schedule that is non-stop to have no clue what will happen next and what the next step should be.  When we arrived in Rome, we attempted for 2 hours to contact our field partners to tell them what had happened, but somehow we had the wrong phone numbers.  In short, I talked to a man who only spoke Macedonian and could not understand a word I spoke and when I tried another number there was continuously no answer.  Finally, by the grace of God, a woman who spoke English answered the phone and was able to give me the new phone number to reach our field partners.  To say the least, God has shown me continuously throughout the day that when man makes plans we will continuously fail, but His plan is purposeful and will always carry through.  There was nothing I could do in these situations but to put my trust in God's hands because I know we are where God wants us to be.

~Amber

Oh my goodness, what a journey it has been so far!  Just to go along with what Amber said above, we have been traveling for an extremely long time as of now, and we're not really even close to our final destination.  There have obviously been a lot of bumps along the road, but I know that my God is faithful and that this was already a part of His plan.  I think for me the most challenging thing to grasp is the fact that hardly anyone speaks English.  This afternoon, ordering lunch was an interesting ordeal since we couldn't communicate with words, but somehow we managed.  In the end, I am simply reminded that language will never be a barrier against our God.  Even though we may not be able to share words with these Italians, we can still glorify God by being an example of Christ to them in our relationship with each other and just our general manner.  With this in mind, I am reminded of the verse in Revelations declaring that every nation, tribe, and tongue will glorify God and sing praises to Him.  And that's truly all that matters in the end-being flexible for Him!

Courtney


Ways you can pray for us today:
1. Our flight to Thessaloniki that leaves at 9:30 PM our time (2:30 your time)
2. Pray that our rest would be multiplied so that we have the energy needed for a full day of ministry tomorrow!


Verses to leave you with:
2 Corinthians 4:16-17~ So we do not lose heart.  Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison

Ohrid, Macedonia

Tomorrow morning, my friend Courtney and I will step out of the US onto a plane headed for Ohrid, Macedonia!  This is a new part of the world for me, but I am super excited to see what the Lord has in store.  We will actually get to fly into Rome and Thessaloniki (Thessalonians ring a bell?) before we reach our destination!

At this point, some of you are probably thinking, why in the world Ohrid, Macedonia?
Well, that is a good question.  Many of us from reading from Scripture would assume that Macedonia is a very reached region, considering the amount of work that Paul and other disciples poured into that region.  However, today the country is considered to have between 0.01% and 2% Evangelicals and the number of professing Christians is above 5%.  This is not as unreached as some parts of the world, but it is a mere shadow of what it could be considering the work and evidence of the Spirit in Scripture.  Sadly, many Macedonians are caught up in the traditions of the Orthodox church and in believing that works are necessary to earn salvation.  This is so contrary to what we know to be true.  We are all sinners and completely incapable of achieving salvation through any work by our own hand.  We desperately need a Savior who can reconstruct the bridge between us and God.  Because of this, God sent His only Son, Jesus to humble Himself by becoming human and dying the most humiliating death on a cross.  His life and death were sufficient to pay the penalty due us for our sins if we repent of our sins and trust in Him.  Therefore, it is urgent that we speak this Truth to the Macedonian people!!

There is another good reason for going and it involves the two beautiful ladies in this picture.  Hannah (left) and Ginna (right) are two friends that have sacrificed two years of their lives to live amongst the Macedonian people in Ohrid.  Courtney and I have had the pleasure of meeting Ginna through our small group.  Last year we shared life together before she started on this journey.  Courtney and I have such an amazing opportunity to join in ministry with Hannah and Ginna and then we have the opportunity to encourage them and uplift them.  When spending an extended period of time on the mission field, it is so important to be encouraged because so much of your time is spent pouring into and investing in others.  We are so excited about getting to spend time with our friends and work alongside one another in order to further the Kingdom of God!!

Here are some ways you can pray for us as we begin this journey:
1. Travel: We will leave midday tomorrow and arrive in Rome just after midday there (8 hour time difference).  Pray that we will be rested when we arrive and so that we can hit the ground running
2. Pray that we will be intentional in every opportunity to share the Gospel and speak Truth into those around us.
3. Pray that we would see at least one person come into a trusting relationship with Christ
4. Most of all, pray that God would be glorified in everything we do

Here are some verses that I would like to leave you with: "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'  But they have not all obeyed the gospel.  For Isaiah says, ' Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?' So faith comes comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ"  Romans 10:14-17

my Granddad

My Granddad, Albert Franklin Smith, went to be with the Lord February 5, 2008. He was 84 years old. My granddad was an amazing man and one of my biggest heroes. He did not become a man of God until about two years ago, when God gave me the awesome opportunity to lead him to Christ. Before this time, God had used so many situations to get my granddad's attention.
My granddad was beaten several times as a teenager because he tried to protect his mother from his father. There were several times that granddad was beaten just short of death. He was also shot at by his father for deciding to marry my grandmother. God saved him.
My granddad was a radio operator in the army air force during World War II. He told me of one distinct instance where he could have died. All of his buddies had gotten onto a helicopter to travel to the bomb sites (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). At the last minute, my granddad was called back to duty. Later, my granddad discovered that the helicopter had gone down and there were no survivors found. That could have been my granddad.
He was having some health problems about 14 years ago, when the doctors discovered an annurism the size of a grapefruit in my granddad's abdominal cavity. The doctors said that if this had errupted, my granddad would not have survived. God saved him.
The weekend before my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary, a tree fell on their house, but there is more to the story. My granddad had been sitting in the rocking chair on their back porch when he realized the lid was off of the dog food can. My granddad got up to put the lid back on, and the tree fell to hit the exact spot where my granddad had been sitting. God saved him.
My granddad suffered a major stroke. A stroke that at first claimed a lot of his motor abilities, but he recovered more than any man his age should have recovered. At the age of 81 or 82, my granddad endured open heart surgery and recovered in about a month and a half.
Up until this point, I had attempted several times to talk to my granddad about Christ. However, my granddad believed that no amount of power could forgive his sins. He believed that everything that he had done in the war and thereafter were unforgivable. He did not realize the absolute power of the blood of Jesus. There is no sin too great for the power of Jesus' blood. My granddad finally realized that all he had to do was ask for forgiveness. At this point his whole life changed and it was such a blessing to me and my family.
This past February, my granddad became the victim of a nursing home fire. Thirty-three percent of his body suffered third degree burns. Right after it happened, he was rushed to the hospital and we rushed there as well. He was stabilized in the burn unit. Fortunately, the first night he was conscious and once again he was able to affirm to me that he was going to heaven if anything happened to him. He also told the pastor that Jesus was his only hope. After a few days, his right leg was not responding very well to the skin grafts and the doctors decided that amputation was necessary. He lived for two weeks in the hospital, but after that first night he was not able to audibly respond to us. The only response that we got from him was him squeezing our hands or occasionally looking at us. It was a very trying time for me and my family. We loved my granddad so much and it killed us to watch him suffer like he did. We would visit him every night and we would pray over him before we left. The night that he passed away, my parents went to visit my granddad. I had taken a break for the night, because I was having such a hard time emotionally. When my parents got there, the nurses told them that they had not been able to get my granddad to respond to anything. My mom began to sob and beg my granddad to look at her. My granddad looked at my mom and squeezed her hand really hard three times. That night, my mom did not want to leave. She wanted to stay more than anything. But she had to leave, because visiting hours were over. My parents came by to see me and tell me that my granddad was doing alright. A few hours later, my mom got a call on her cell phone and she knew that he was gone.
It is so hard for me to think about that night and about my granddad's sufferings, but I know that when my granddad took his last breath, he heard the sweet call of his Lord Jesus calling him home. I know my granddad is running the streets of gold right now on TWO legs! I know he is probably fishing in the crystal sea. I know he is spending time with all his sweet relatives that went before him, but most of all I know he is worshipping God with all of his might.
I miss my granddad more than anything. I miss his stories. I miss the smell of his after shave. I miss the feel of his whiskers as he gave me a kiss. I miss being called grasshopper. I miss him saying I am fine as frog hair. I miss his laughter and his beautiful smile. But I know that it will be a sweet sweet day in heaven when I will see my granddad waiting at Jesus' side for me.
Thank you God for the life of my granddad!