Napping Buddies

I don't know who was there first, Whitney or Nike, but they both ended up at the same location...shagged out on the couch.

Youth's Night Out

Last night the some of the FBC Youth ventured out into the rainy evening for pizza, mini-golf ,and ice cream. A great time was had by all, especially the big kids that went along...for the ice cream. For a few photos and related commentary see Andrew's Blog at: http://pianowiz24.blogspot.com

Children's Camp Comes To A Close

Above Left: First timers, Vickie and Micky, counselors at Grand Oak's Children's Camp.

Above Right: Jay signs another t-shirt, and another, and another and...

Above Left: Closing ceremonies at Children's Camp.

Above Right: Jay taught missions and here he is announcing that by the campers contributing unused money on their snack cards they surpassed the goal of $200 for missions by $20. These monies will be used when the Heartland Association has the missionaries here in April.

The Gathering #2, At Wallace State Park

On the menu for tonight, fried catfish and slaw with watermelon for desert.

The evening entertainment a southern gospel quartet, 4 By Grace, from Blue Springs Baptist Church.

Now this is the only way to thoroughly enjoy the atmosphere of the evening.

A Night Out, Compliments Of Evelyn

As of late, attempting to publish any videos have been quite frustrating, but after struggling with it...succcess. These two videos were taken on July 10th after our youth attending Holy Trinity's youth meeting headed for ice cream with the youth from the church. Thanks Evelyn for the tasty treat...we all enjoyed your thoughtfulness.

Kairos Retreat

There was 48 offenders out of 60 total at the Kairos Retreat at CCRC today. Offenders from any of the three Kairos weekends were eligible to attend providing they were active in the prayer and share groups on Tuesday nights. It was good to see the guys from #3 as well as become acquainted with many from #1 and #2 Kairos weekends. This retreats theme was based on Psalms 118:1-4...four men on the Kairos team gave impromptu talks dealing with love as the central theme. The team this weekend was composed of 17 men that were part of Kairos #3 which took place in early May.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Camp We Go

Those adults and children attending Children's Camp at Grand Oaks Baptist Camp Ground circle up and pray before leaving FBC on Friday afternoon. Jay doing what comes most natural to him...fellowshiping.

A Great Past Ahead Of You

The front ticket gate to SDC.

Benny, don't worry about the bus situation...Clayton found this one for a great price. He is even taking it for a test ride with Darla and the kids!

Here Nancy imitates the three monkeys speak, hear and see no evil while waiting for Wildfire to begin.

You Can't Pass What You Can't Get Around

Guess what we did last night? Go Carts on the strip at Branson. riding in the doubles (above) and solo. Today Silver Dollar City...Yesterday we went after 3 pm, so today is free.

On the Way To Branson

Gas, $3.65 a gallon. A bottle of Coke, $1.19. Exchanging the girls for the guys...PRICELESS!!

We had dinner at the Pasta Grill...great food. Our server was from Macedonia...We practically needed an interpreter to order. I was having flashbacks of trying to order a few days ago in Galati.

Coming Home...From Boot Camp

We left Galati at 6:30 am for a "short" jaunt to Bucharest for our flight home. Casey. Whitney (top photo), and Taylor (bottom photo) catch a few winks before getting to the airport.

Flying over the southern tip of Greenland, this was the view from AA flight 0091 from 34,000feet high (three photos above). Andrew greeted by his parents late Thursday night at KCI Sheri's smile says it all.

Coffee and Chocolate (from Europe) two of my favorite things.

Hope you like this little slide show entitled, "Boot Camp."

The Last Night

This was our last night in Galati so we had a time of food and fellowship before saying our good-byes. Troy presented us with a couple of keepsakes, one of which will find its way into my Bible when I get home. This has been truly an amazing two weeks of my life, as I was privileged to be chosen by God to be in this place at this time. To cover the amount of turf we did these past few weeks was definitely a God thing. As we prepare to leave, our prayers are with the Geddes family, Randy & Teresa Meyers , and Justin & Marty, that God will continue to use them and bless them as they work here in the city of Galati.

I'm Walkin' In The Rain, Prayer Walkin' In The Rain...

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I will let this one speak for me. It was a bit on the wet side this morning as we set out to prayer walk zones 13 and 14.

Boot Camp Winds Down

Last night in zone 11 and 12 we had 12 contacts, one of which called Troy almost immediately to set upa a lesson. He will have his first lesson on Saturday morning, PTL.

I wish I would have thought to bring a pedometer to measure the steps taken the past 10 days...or perhaps it would frighten us to see how far we truely walked each day. Unlike Casey, I have dropped quite a few inches since arriving on the fourth.

Today we finish the city by going into zone 13 and 14, prayer walk at 10 am and street evangelism at 6:30 pm. Our prayer is the same, that those we speak with will be receptive to the gospel.

For more storiesand updates see: Andrew's Blog, Casey's Blog, Jeremy & Marty's Blog, or Troys Blog (listed under My Blog List ).

Two Daze, Two Zones Left

We are a bit battle weary, but there is only four zones left to go.

The photo above is of the kitchen here in the Training Center's second floor. Next you might ask, what is significant about this kitchen? Well, our contributions to Troy Geddes' mission fund (with the mission planning committees matching amounts) provided him with the funds needed to provide this in the Training Center. I thought you would literally like to see your gift of love at work!

Church in the Valley Sunday morning.

Justin and Marty are introduce in church this morning.

Sunday we prayer walked (the afternoon) and did street missions (evening) in zone 10. We had seven encounters to Share Jesus with the residents, about 19 total. One 19 year old young man named Georgie said he didn't attend the Orthodox church because of all the hypocrisy he witnessed...sounds familiar. He was very knowledgeable about the Bible and interested to find out what it said for himself and not what others told him it said.

Today the team splits, half in zone 11 the other in zone 12...pray for those we encounter, that their hearts will be receptive to God's Word.

The "Concrete Jungle"

Today we are in zone 9...affectionately dubbed by Troy as "the Concrete Jungle," and rightfully so. At times this zone can be overwhelming with all the confusion, noise, people, traffic, heat, and high rise buildings all around you. Of all the zones this is the one I am most familiar with having spent a month in it last year.

Justin sharing scriptures with two boys in zone 9.

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We just returned from three hour s of evangelism in z9. The team had 14 encounters sharing Jesus with the people there. Casey and I met a couple of boys we played soccer with last year, so we told them to go get their friends and we would go play. They did what every kid would do when invited to do something they liked to do...we went to the school and and played in about 90 degree heat for an hour, then presented them with Share Jesus Without Fear while we cooled down in the shade.Tonight we go out with the youth group and several leaders to once again share Jesus with the residents of zone 9.

For related stories, see Casey's Blog or Troy's Blog.

Zone 8

Left:  Andrew snapped this photo at the piazza today of all the fresh produce...tomatoes 1 kg.  1 Lei (.40 in American currency).  

Right:  Looking from zone 8 across the smaller of the soccer stadiums is the "Concrete Jungle" (aka. zone 9).  This is where we go tomorrow, less than 20 square block containing 32,000 plus residents:  All high rise apartments, no houses.

Tonight in zone 8 as a group, we had 22 encounters in which the gospel was shared with well over 60 nationals...All praise given to God for what HE did through us.

For related stories see My Blog List of:  Andrew's Blog, Casey's Blog, Justin & Marty's, Blog, Randy & Teresa's Blog, and Troy's Blog.

Shorts, Surveying, Soccer, Serving, and Sharing

Left: Bogdon and I are sporting the new look for street evangelism, neon shorts...we don't want anyone to confuse us with the Mormons here in Galati!
Right: Surveying zone 4...we were ok until Bogdon said, "I think we are here." But he didn't know where "here" was!

Left: Before the our late night soccer match, Casey met Andre (blue shirt) again from last year in zone 9 (when we played soccer)...He was very excited to see Casey again here in Galati.
Right: I have not never played soccer , it was fun...I guess there is a first time for everything.

Yesterday I hit at Dachia courts with Georgia, a very talented 17 year old player. We hit for a couple of hours and during that time he informed me that he remembered me from the past three years...then he ask the question I was waiting for. "What are you doing here in Galati again?" So I gave him a short explanation...on Monday, God willing, I will tell him the rest of the story.

This morning, Andrew and I were paired up to Prayer Walk in zone 8. We walked through

an apartment complex, and at the end was an elderly woman outside with her dog. As I walked by in my best Romanian dialect I said, "buna zuia." After that, we attempted to communicate for about five minutes...until out of the corner of my eye I saw a young man coming our way. I yelled over to him, "Hey, Dude! Do you speak English?" He replied, "Why of course." For the next thirty minutes I shared what the Bible said with Catalina (lady in blue) and then Stephen (red shirt). In the conversation with Catalina, I gave her my Bible , she didn't have money to get one. She kissed it and put it next to her heart and walked away with her dog. Steven was next...I quoted the scripture passages to Share Jesus Without Fear with him. At the end of our conversation, he took a card with Troy, Mihai, and Bogdon's names on it...he kept telling me how hard it is here in Galati and that I probably didn't understand. So, I circled Bogdon's name on the card, gave it back to him, and told him that this is the guy you need to speak with, he understands what the word "hard" means." It is so neat to watch God work through the Holy Spirit right in front of your eyes as He sparks an interest in the Word of God.

For other related see: Andrew's Blog and Casey's Blog .

Zones 3, 5. And 7

Gabbie, Casey, and Me after we shared the Gospel in zone 3.

Troy a true missionary...his two course meal simultaneously eaten,pizza and ice cream. At least this year the ice cream isn't melting ALL over his hand!

Our youth met with Holy Trinity's on Wednesday...32 total.
Then we went for ice cream, followed by a 10:30-12:00 soccer match.

Today two young men from Georgia arrived to work here in Galati for the next three years. Justin (red shirt) and Marty (blue shirt) arrived in Galati at 4:15 am this morning, and were on the streets with us today.

As We Moved, God Moved

God moved in a mighty way last night as we blanketed zone 2 with five teams. For the rest of the story see: Andrew's Blog, "Awesome Work In Zone 2," or Troys Blog, "Zone 2 Hit By The "A" Team," listed under My Blog List.

Stormy Weather

It is almost 5:30 pm, as we get ready to go to zone 2, this is what blew in...Hope we don't get too wet.

Working in Zone 2

This morning we entered zone 2 to visually see this area of Galati and to prayer walk through it. When all was said and done, we had 12 people divided into five teams in this zone for one and a half hours. The teams had several encounters with the Romanian people living there, even though our main task was to prayer walk the zone. Tonight we go back to keep divine appointments God has scheduled for us.

Casey walking the peremeter of zone 2 and 4

Road work in progress in the streets of zone 2...

there were many streets under repair.

As we were walking down the street passing out tracks, this lady responded to us in English...so we pursued the chance to speak with her. Her name was Danna, she sold pet food from her shop on one of the main roads in zone 2. Danna was raised Orthodox, we talked with her for quite a while about what her beliefs are.

Troy sharing Jesus with a family in zone 2...Whitney and Taylor was with Troy when he had an interesting encounter.