wait...I thought this was the easy day

Alright, to fill you in, we all have nicknames now, and Missy's has changed. We decided since Zippy is our team leader all our names should rhyme, sort of like the 7 dwarfs. So Missy is Skippy (still because of the long legs), Marilene is Yippee, for obvious reasons, Victoria is Drippy, because she's such a weepy puddle, Vicki is Trippy because of her coordination adventures, Marty is Nippy because she carries around a huge bottle of Purell everywhere, I'm Quippy, from the blogs, and Russ is Doc. It was sure nice to just sleep until we woke up, with no real agenda, though. But then, what a day! We walked to Old Town, which for your information, is totally different than driving, and if Zippy is giving you driving directions from only walking there, watch out, because you can walk the wrong way down a one way street, and down a path, and up stairs, etc. You get the idea, right? I think we may have done Russ and Marty in by doing all that walking. I hope they've got something left for one more day. The person who hates shopping the most (me) ended up with the most bags. Old Town is very quaint, and flowers everywhere, and beautiful views, and more lunch talk we're not allowed to repeat. It rained on us off and on, but that didn't stop us! There must have been 10 weddings within a span of 4 hours; they appear to have the tradition of driving in car caravans around town and honking their horns for several minutes. I do have to tell you that this has been an incredible team to serve with. God had His hand in the selection process, because we each had very unique and valuable gifts to contribute to the tasks we had to accomplish. Carolyn's leadership was top notch, and none of us could believe this was her first time to lead a team. Victoria's huge heart of love drew children and adults alike to her side. Marilene's ability to always be cheerful and make sure everyone's needs are met is absolutely amazing. Vicki's wonderful talent with children kept them engaged and having tons and tons of fun. Russ was invaluable in the assessment of needs of the facility and getting the 'messy' stuff done. Missy is playful and organized, so she was great with the kids and helped keep notes for future teams. Marty's servant heart enabled her to do much of the behind the scenes work that you don't usually notice, until it's not done. I was able to open doors with my music that enabled the love of God to be shared with many. And unless everyone's tired of me and I just don't know it, we have gelled as a family and are still enjoying each other every bit as much, if not more, than we did at the start of the trip. I'm pleasantly surprised that we're not even annoyed at each other after this much time. God is good! Tomorrow is worship in Estonian, worship in Russian, both at the Baltic Mission Center, a trip to the Lighthouse and a visit to Generation 2. Then packing and a tiny amount of sleep, then head home early Monday morning! Can't wait to see you all in person again, to share all the stories there hasn't been time to type!

Sheryl Bob

Friday is cry day

Today we very sadly left Parnu, our new second home. It was really tough saying goodbye to Kuuli, especially, because she's become such a good friend. I hope we get to cross paths soon again. We left 10 minutes early, much to Russ's surprise, traveling with 7 women. (OK, apparently I've been spelling Kulli's name wrong all week, too. Forgive me!) We got to Camp Gideon about 11:30 or so, and I've been corrected many times about its location...it's on the Gulf of Finland. It's actually only about 50 or 60 miles to Finland (or I may be wrong again, it could be kilometers, I'm all confused). The setting at camp is beautiful, but some of the buildings need a lot of work. That's why we keep coming back! We had lunch there...food of questionable origin and content. We're not allowed to say some words anymore because of the connotation with lunch there! Some of us did stick our toes into the water on the beach, and it was much colder than the Gulf of Riga at Parnu. I'm not sure why...I'll have to look into that when I get back and have time. Feel free to offer answers, then I won't have to do any work! :) While driving across the entire country in one day, we saw several storks, but always individually, not in a flock, and I expected them to be by water, I don't know why. Apparently, all babies come from Estonia originally, and Marilene says babies are small because storks are not really as big as the cartoon ones. We saw several moose crossing signs, but didn't see a moose. At one 'rest stop', the bathrooms were labelled rather questionably, with only triangles pointing different directions. Imagine 8 people staring at one door, then another, then the first, then the other...for several minutes. I'm not sure who the first brave one was, or maybe they just waited for someone else to come out! On the drive, I saw one very old windmill without its wings, but saw several newer windmills, like I've seen in California. And I swear I saw two fish crossing signs! Nobody believes me, though...We got to Tallinn around 3:30, checked into the hotel, unpacked the rental vans, ran to the store for chocolate and coffee, almost ended up on a ferry to Finland by mistake, almost got the rental car towed by mistake, went the wrong way on a one way street by mistake (no traffic coming, thank goodness)...when you have absolutely no clue or context to a language, driving can be difficult! I haven't had problems until today, because we've not spent any time in a big city. Oh, well! We turned the vans in in one piece, and full of gas! Three of us got separated from the rest of the group, and couldn't find them, and they never showed up at the place we arranged to eat dinner, but we had a great meal, and I hear them now, they've found their way back to the hotel. I'm sure they had an adventure! Tomorrow is tourist day! We'll go to Old Town and shop and stuff and I don't know what else. I'd like to visit the radio tower (I don't know what the actual name of it is) but it's where Estonia achieved its independence from the Soviet Union. Fascinating story from what I've heard, but I'll share it with you when I know more firsthand, so I don't get any facts misconstrued or unremembered. Missy's new name is Longlegs, and she and Zippy tend to end up well ahead of the rest of the group when we're walking. All week long, we've been referring to Artur at Camp Gideon, who was supposed to meet us today. All week long, Vicki thought we were saying "our tour" and just leaving off the word 'guide'...she didn't realize that was his name. We had a great laugh at that one. Vicki did, however, get very tired of her children in the van, with cries of "Are we there yet?" and "She's touching me!". We were disciplined appropriately. And then separated. Marty has been trying to read all the labels of the food we buy, and every label seems to say the same thing. In her words, "unpronoucable word, unpronoucable word". Reminds me of Tom's way of reading the Bible..."hard word, hard word". OK, so, I found out that there are TWO restaurants with the same name with 5 or 6 blocks of each other on the same street, and the other group was waiting politely at the other one, wondering why we never showed up, but not eating because they didn't want to be rude. Aren't they thoughtful? OUR meal was WONDERFUL!! Our starving lost children are safely home and eating bread crumbs left over at the hotel. :) Alright, back to the team. We had a wonderful tour of Rakvere accidentally on the way to Camp Gideon, thanks to Russ's copilot holding the map upside down. But it was a beautiful detour! We got to see a castle. Again, don't know how much computer time we'll get, so more later...?

Sheryl Bob

Wednesday on the Gulf of Riga

Have I told you we've discovered Estonian chocolate? We just can't get enough of it, so be prepared for an extra 5 lbs per person. Ice cream is actually a necessity, not a luxury, because it's the only really cold thing here (so maybe we should make that about 7 or 8 lbs!). They apparently don't believe in ice, or don't really like it, because it's very hard or next to impossible to find in the stores, and you have to ask for it specifically in a restaurant, and then they only bring you a few pieces. And they don't have ice cube trays, just these plastic bag things that are hard to fill. And the refrigerators don't get as cold as ours. Listen to me whine! Other than that, the country is perfect! :) Today we had almost 60 kids for VBS!! We were running around setting up craft stations at the last minute, but it was great! The smiles seem to get bigger and given more readily every day, and they just love when you remember their names - I think they have a sense of how hard it is for us to pronounce them and then commit to memory. We had even more adults come today than yesterday, and they stayed for most of the time, too. We're praying that all these people continue to come to events at the church, that will lead them to services at the church, that will lead them to Christ. This afternoon we went to the orphanage for a bell concert and to hang out with kids. We brought beanie babies for them, too. Not a big turnout, but that's OK. A couple of the kids there had been at VBS today, so that was great make a second connection with them. They seem to have a good life there, and they get lots of 'stuff' from people who want to make charitable contributions, but they don't get interaction with the same people on a regular basis, other than the teachers/house workers. One girl (she came to VBS with her 2 siblings) seems very sad all the time, and hardly ever speaks except to her brother/sister. She looks like the oldest of the 3, so we wonder what their home life was like, and what responsibilities she feels for the others. I'm sure there are many stories there, and things that only God knows how to heal. Please continue to pray for them. I hope they can find a way to connect with Agape regularly to get that 'love fix' that they seem to need so desperately. Tomorrow is the last day of VBS, then a concert in the evening, with each group of handbell kids playing their song, my duet with Rauno, etc. We of course hope for even more kids tomorrow. Kuuli and Meeli have been pleasantly surprised that most of the kids who came on Monday have come every day again, and we keep adding more new kids. Yay! Carolyn gave us bad news today...Monday we leave the hotel at 4:15 AM (yes, AM), have a 2 hour flight to Brussels, and then we're not supposed to sleep the rest of the trip in order to get back on USA time. Bummer! Oh, well, I don't have to worry about that for another few days. Please keep Vicki and Missy especially in your prayers, as their kids start school tomorrow and the moms are sad that they're not there for that. Speaking of Vicki, she wins the prize for losing the most stuff, but not on the trip here, just since we've been here in Parnu, at one place, where we eat, sleep and work all in the same building. At least so far she hasn't lost her mind. And here's a word of advice: don't say anything funny around Carolyn when she's drinking water, or at least wear waterproof clothing. This afternoon I saw Russ sitting down, watching Josep (an 18 year old Paul Newman look alike who does work around the church for free, just because he loves the church) do some tile work that we all thought Russ was going to do....hmmm.... Missy and Marilene have become my bell boys...bell roadies...bell caddies - I like that one! They tell me I have to say something bad about me, since I've tattled on them, so I will tell you that I'm ALWAYS the last one to breakfast. So much the last one, that I'm eating by myself, and they're waiting to have the prayer until my cereal is finished so it doesn't get soggy. We're going to have to find a white-chocolate-covered-almond supplier for Victoria's breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, evening snack and all those between meal times, too. And Mom Marty doesn't want us to eat ice cream at 4:00 because it will spoil our dinner. Plus she fusses at Russ and me for not eating our vegetables. Oh, mom! Oh! I have to tell you something funny about our trip to the orphanage. Marika is a 28 year old blind girl who is the youth leader for Agape. She went with us to the orphanage, along with her friend Moira. We wandered around trying to find the right building, the right entrance, the right room, until Marika said, "It's this way" and she led us back down the stairs, outside and around to exactly the right place. Then she got in the van with Marilene and I and gave us driving directions to the closest entrance to unload the bells. She doesn't speak English, so Moira interpreted for her. I don't know if it's more irony or a picture of God...someone who sees and speaks the polar opposite of you showing you the way. Ah, Lord God!

More later...

-Sheryl Bob

Tuesday in Estonia

I figured it was easier to say the day than remember how long we've been here! Today was Day 2 of VBS, and we had more kids than yesterday! Around 45...many of the kids went home yesterday and talked it up among their friends. It was such a joy to see swarms of kids arriving - in their blue VBS T-shirts! We wondered if they would wear them the whole week. The theme for VBS this week is Noah's ark, but focusing on the boat as God's provision/protection, not the animals part. They put a big paper ark up on the wall in the sanctuary, and yesterday each child put their name on a fish and put it on the wall; today every child put their name on a piece of fabric that will become the sail by morning (Meeli is sewing all the pieces together...by hand! What a muti-talented woman!). They have some very creative ideas, and the children love having their very own name in full view of everyone. The kids are so well behaved, and love just being together, and practicing their English with the Americans. Still many, many smiling faces. We got to have tea and then dinner with Ullas & Meeli, and that was very enlightening. We talked a lot about the history and culture of Estonia in general and their church here in specific. Fascinating! Tomorrow we will be visiting an orphanage, but the only way to 'sneak us in' is for me to do a bell concert. So right after VBS, we'll be packing up the bells and going to the orphanage. We've been looking forward to that for weeks. According to Kuuli, most of the children there are not true orphans, but are children that have been taken out of the home by the government because the mother is an alcoholic. The parents have to pay a fine to get their children back, but they don't have the money because they spend it on drink. The government stops short by assessing fines and taking the kids away, but doesn't provide any means of treatment to get the adults out of this cycle. This means that many of the kids spend much of their childhood there, and are unadoptable because the parents are still living. Very sad! Needless to say, they deal with some difficult behavior problems there. Please pray for these people... Well, today was hotter and therefore more tiring than it has been, and we each seemed to have our own little (very minor) draining issues today, so I'm signing off. Marilene and Vicki continue to provide the giggles we so desperately need when we're worn out, Russ and Marty seem to be working longer hours than the rest of us, Victoria can't get enough hugs from the kids and their grandmothers, Missy has not stopped smiling since we got here, Carolyn zips from one task to another faster than anyone I've ever seen, and people seem to think I speak the language for some reason. Go figure! More later!

Love,
Sheryl Bob

Greetings from Parnu

Hope you all are staying somewhat cool in that Oklahoma August heat! It is warmer than usual here also, but still much cooler than you are experiencing. It's Saturday evening and we just returned from eating outside at a quaint sidewalk cafe. Then, back to the church to help Sheryl Bob set up her handbells for tomorrow morning's church service. She is playing 2-3 solos - what a amazing God-given talent!!!!!

I think we're all ready for a good night's sleep, but everyone is doing very well. After a wonderful tour in London (which included fish & chips), we caught our fly to Tallinn (capital of Estonia.) Arrived to our hotel room about 1:00 last night. Our rental vans are very nice - a bright, cheery red!

Thanks for your prayers - we are all feeling well, all the luggage arrived, no problems with any of our connections, etc., etc. As we encounter people in this lovely city, it is quite apparent the need so many have for Jesus in their lives. How fortunate we are to have the peace & joy of Christ in our lives!!

God bless you all!!
Marilene Long

Day 3 in Estonia

Today was the first day of VBS, and we had about 35 kids this morning, about the number they expected for the first day. Each child got a T-shirt, which completely overwhelmed them at first...that was a huge gift for these kids, and they didn't want to put them on at first...wanted to take them home and show their parents. But Kuuli and the others encouraged them to go ahead and wear them for the day, and hopefully the rest of the week, so we ended up with a room full of blue shirts...it was a great sight! We had fun playing outside, they heard the story of Noah and learned of God's protection with the ark (the Estonian language does not have a word for 'ark'...they just say boat.) We brought little wooden arks made by Dean Cox for them to color today, and they loved that. Then we broke into small groups; they could pick between games outside, art or handbells. My group of handbell kids learned really fast...they learned to play a song they knew (VBS theme song for the day), and I taught them a song in English and how to play it. Supposed to be a 30 minute session, and I thought it would be pushing it to teach them two brand new songs in that time, but they were so quick, I had time left over! Somehow, it was our two klutzes, Vicki and Marilene, who were elected to demonstrate the 3-legged race. You can guess what happened! In the big group at the end, my kids performed their English song, which they loved...each day's handbell group will also perform in a concert on Thursday night. Many, many happy smiling faces...hopefully they'll tell their friends and bring some more with them tomorrow. I think the grownups had just as much fun as the kids, too. The chime choir director asked me if I could do anything with one of her former ringers, who is a very talented musician, and loved the chimes, but is too old now to play in their choir (he's 16). Rauno is amazing! He came over at 4:00, and we worked on a duet that we will perform Thursday night. Then later this afternoon we went to the beach (Gulf of Riga), and I was surprised at how warm the water was. Kuuli explained that it's because it's a sea, not an ocean. Then dinner, team meeting, and here I am! What have we learned so far? Missy has learned that Spanish doesn't really work here, Marty found out that potato salad is to spread on bread, I found out that I can't read the traffic signs, but I don't think I've gone the wrong way down a one way street yet, Marilene has found a new use for the laptop case, Carolyn found out that we should probably tell people when we're going to stand in their front yard and borrow their wifi, Victoria learned that if she doesn't have enough to do, Russ will put her to work in the basement, Russ apparently learned how to paint without getting his clothes dirty, and Vicki has discovered how to make cleaning the yard of pinecones a game for the children! Can't wait until tomorrow...what a great trip this has been already!

Love,
Sheryl Bob

And the latest from Estonia

It's actually hot here...well, not like Tulsa hot, but hot for Estonia, even at this time of year. It's been around 80 degrees during the day, sunny, and with a breeze in the morning and evening, but pretty still in the afternoon. Although we're right on the sea, the humidity is only around 60+%, so it's a comfortable 80 (for me, the cold person on the team...Kuuli is melting!). Our 'dorm rooms' are really nice, but there's no air conditioning, which would have been fine for me if the weather had been what I planned for...and brought clothes for! Oh, well...we're flexible! Today we went to church and I played a couple of solo bell things and Carolyn brought greetings from Asbury. Victoria started crying during my songs (not sure what that means:))and never stopped the whole service. They have rotating preachers (a full time minister, but he doesn't preach every Sunday), so one of the deacons preached today (shouldn't that be 'praught'?). He was very energetic and emotional. The service was wonderful. Afterwards we had lunch with the whole congregation, and a VBS planning meeting after that. Then ice cream (that's a daily requirement here...and it's REALLY good!!) and then Russ made a presentation to the congregation late afternoon. He talked about Asbury's work in Tanzania, both the water wells and medical trips, which inspired Tonu to incite the congregation to mission work. I believe this is one of our goals for our mission trips...that the partner church would receive our help and in turn reach out to another group in need. This is the first trip to Parnu, and already they're thinking on that plane. That's awesome! So far we keep having great food. Tonight we went to a German restaurant, which the first contact teams have raved about, and their recommendation was absolutely on target. We couldn't all fit at one table, so Marty, Russ and I shared a table with Tonu and Kuuli, and learned some fascinating information about the Estonian culture and history. Let's see, so far I haven't crashed the car, Vicki hasn't broken any bones (although she keeps trying to trip on stuff), Marilene and Carolyn didn't suffocate in the back of the van, Victoria hasn't gotten hit by a car while crossing the street with her eyes closed, Russ hasn't come out of his room without permission, Marty hasn't gotten Kuuli to speak Okie, and Missy hasn't slept. But, we still have the week left! VBS starts tomorrow...I can't wait! More later...

Bob
(Sheryl Tomlinson)

Greetings from Parnu

Hope you all are staying somewhat cool in that Oklahoma August heat! It is warmer than usual here also, but still much cooler than you are experiencing. It's Saturday evening and we just returned from eating outside at a quaint sidewalk cafe. Then, back to the church to help Sheryl Bob set up her handbells for tomorrow morning's church service. She is playing 2-3 solos - what a amazing God-given talent!!!!!

I think we're all ready for a good night's sleep, but everyone is doing very well. After a wonderful tour in London (which included fish & chips), we caught our fly to Tallinn (capital of Estonia.) Arrived to our hotel room about 1:00 last night. Our rental vans are very nice - a bright, cheery red!

Thanks for your prayers - we are all feeling well, all the luggage arrived, no problems with any of our connections, etc., etc. As we encounter people in this lovely city, it is quite apparent the need so many have for Jesus in their lives. How fortunate we are to have the peace & joy of Christ in our lives!!

God bless you all!!
Marilene Long

Pitorreal, Mexico • July 2007

We have arrived back to Creel at the edge of Copper Canyon after a week in Pitorreal. We had a mission team of 4 men and 8 women. We did construction on the new larger church that will be used starting August 4th. We built pews, hung sheet rock on the ceiling and closed in the roof gables. We also had Mission Bible School at four different locations.

We were working mostly with the Tarahumara Indian people and a few Mexicans. The children were beautiful, but oh so poor. We noticed that their shoes were soles crafted from car tires with homemade strings for laces. Some of the people we were serving live in caves in the side of the canyon! Sometimes you had to wait until later to cry over the circumstances. The MBS was music, puppets, crafts, Bible stories, crafts, snacks, and a take-home gift. We gave extra food to those that seemed hungry. Everyone would walk from great distances to get to us. The mothers would come and sit outside and weave baskets that they sell. The Tarahumara people are very quiet and do not look at you when you first meet them. When you turn away they are always looking at you. The smiles and eye contact would come after several days of getting to know us. We all wore name tags to help them. Some of the older children and parents have become believers. We trust we planted clear Bible stories of God´s love and care for each one of them.

We left lots of supplies and sports equipment for them. The mission church pastor Obed, and his wife, were of great help and guidance to us. The other couple are the Parsons from Claremore who helped connect us to this mission. They live in Pitorreal from March until October each year as they have for the last ten years. They show a level of Christian commitment that is not seen often. They are retired and just volunteer. We ate all our meals at the Parsons home. It was all very good.

What is Pitorreal like? It is a community of about 200 with horses and cows roaming the streets. It would rain every afternoon and stay cool at night at 7600 feet. The Copper Canyon train comes thru the middle of town in a horse shoe turn as it climbs to the west. Pitorreal is in a pine forest and looks a lot like around Durango, Colorado. The mission church has no power so Linda played on a battery powered keyboard. She could hardly see the keys when it got dark outside with thunderstorms. The men and women sit separate in the worship service. It is no big deal to have dogs sleeping under the pews. When I was leading our group in singing to the church members I could see a pig moving by the open doors! The pastor preaches in Spanish and a Tarahumara translates in into their language for those that don't understand Spanish.

We saw the rest of the team off this evening from Creel to Chihuahua on the train. They will fly to Tulsa tomorrow. We will go west on the train on Saturday to El Fuerte. Thank you for your prayers as we believe we made a small impact.
We had no notable injuries and stayed mostly well.

Jennifer you would be proud of me as I organized a soccer game in a apple orchard with the kids. I had to keep score and referee the games. They just love soccer!!

Linda can tell about cleaning out many outhouses one day!

Much more to tell all of you later, Rob and Linda

Arrived in Chihuahua

The team has arrived in Chihuahua City late Friday night.
The train left Creel very late in the afternoon around five. The ride was enjoyable but all were ready to get off by the time we got here. The work at the mission church this past week went very well and the MBS grew from one on the first day to over 30 at the end. Both were quite successful.

Jack and Merie were very gracious hosts and made our stay quite enjoyable.

Just a note to let you know that all is well with the team.
Rob and Linda left us this morning and then we saw them again in Creel.

See ya manyana

Mike

Notes from Pitorreal

The group called this afternoon as they were returning from a sightseeing trip to Diversadero in the Copper Canyon, which is 4 times as large as our Grand Canyon. Clyde Doyle told me that everything is going extremely well in fact the anticipated rough spot, the transfers in Chihuahua, Mexico, went as smooth as glass.

The team is working in the sanctuary of the new church during the day and then doing MBS in the evenings. On Monday, the team had done all the MBS preparation work including setting up soccer field with goals and numerous outdoor activities when a sudden torrential downpour swept across the mountains. As a result, only one child and her mother were in attendance but what an event it must have been for those two as they were the group's center of attention. On Tuesday night they faired better with 27 children in attendance. Now the team is planning to run two MBS sessions on Thursday, one at the lodge and other at Pastor Obed's local church. Sounds to me like they are making a major impact for Christ in that community.

Everyone is in good health and enjoying the mountain mission in working with the Jack and Marie Parsons (their hosts), Pastor Obed and his wife (the local Methodist pastor) and the warm Tarahumaran people of Pitorreal. We can't wait to hear of their adventures and experiences as they witness for Christ in our newest mission, Pitorreal, Mexico.

Dave Wuellner

Asbury VIM Team arrives in Pitorreal, Mexico - July 8, 2007

Well we have arrived safely with a minimum of incidents. We had one problem with passports left at home fortunately this was remedied because of the early arrival at the airport and aid of Sandy. The ten of us left and met up with the Marshalls at Chihuahua. The entire team then travelled to Pitorreal. All of our baggage made it and only a little toothpaste got confiscated by theTSA.

Dinner on the road was an experience as none of us could read the menu. Surprises were had by many upon receiving our meal. The weather is overcast with some rain each day predicted. Temperatures are very nice somewhat cool in the evenings, particularly for the ladies. We got settled into our quarters without any problems. Water is limited so we must learn some conservation.

We will attend church this afternoon. The service will have many children in it because this the end of their week of camp here. We will see many of these children in the MBS during the week. Our first project will be to repair some guttering on the clinic where we are staying so that we can colllect some rain water. Tomorrow we will start with a project at the church. All are well and we have all of our stuff "great beginnings". The local ladies are aware of our presence because there was one selling baskets on the back porch when we arrived for breakfast this morning. It appears that sales will be brisk.

We will not be able to email often as we must come into Creel to have access to the internet. We may have more reports but mostly like not.

Blessings to all Pitorreal team Rob, Linda,Judy, Clyde, Jeannie, Kaye, Paula, Nancy, Les, Stacey,Jan and Mike

Final VIM report from Tanzania

We are in Dar! Grant dropped Marilene and Janie off at the airport and we are all settled in the catholic guest house.
John Simmons finally received his luggage (on Friday) but no word on the rest.

Clinic went well on Friday. It was sad to say good bye to everyone. We spent the rest of the evening packing. The next morning some of us brought rice and sugar to the orphanage and spent time playing with the kids.

Raymond rode with us to Dar and we spent the time eating at Spurs restaurant (i had a hamburger, some had pizza,
steak!!!!!) Then we went down the road to see the Indian Ocean! Oh, how beautiful. There were many large ships in the distance, sailboats, i saw a lighthouse across the way (i love lighthouses!) Janie kept thinking she would love to have time to scuba (she is a dive master).

We then went to Slipway, an outdoor shopping village, and made our last minute purchases for you back home. Grant thought we could be done in 1 hour, I told him there were alot of women here and we needed a little more time. He laughed at us and gave us a little more time. He had to get Marilene and Janie to the airport (they are on another
flight) and David wanted to check on the missing luggage.

The rest of the team checked into to Catholic Guest House (Hostel). Right after all of us were in our rooms and the sun had gone down, all of the electricity went out. It was pitch black in the hall, the internet, fans etc were not working. Can we handle any more fun! Well, we did and have yet another story to tell.

Some family members are worried about the London layover.
Please keep our team in your prayers for safety and security. There hasn't been any activity in a week and security is high in London. There will be more security and passport checks but we do not leave until 1pm so our team will have enough time to get thru.

Can't wait to see everyone Monday evening,

Deboria

Guatemala Update

Fresh off of a month of Spanish Immersion language school
in Antigua, Guatemala, I've moved down the road to
Guatemala City, and I'm anxious to see what the next month
will bring. I'm staying with Tom and Kerry Jones, who are
originally from Liberty Church in Tulsa. They've been here
three years working with Shalom Church, which is a church
reaching out to people in some of the poorest parts of
Guatemala City. On Sunday I went to church for the first
time here, and I got to meet many of the people I had been
hearing about for the past few months, such as Pastor
Alvaro and Kenneth Sese. I received a warm welcome from
both of them, and they, along with Tom Jones, have helped
me to feel very comfortable here after only a short time.

Shalom Church also has an outreach to single moms and
families that has developed into a ministry called Manos de
Amor, or Hands of Love. They have a medical clinic, dental
clinic, and pharmacy that provide services to the poor of
Guatemala targeting mothers and children. I'll be working
there, and also with some of the kids at the church (which
also has a school) during some of the afternoons. I can't
wait to see the work that God will do over the next month.
My only fear is that I could be more trouble than help.
I've learned quite a bit of Spanish over the last month,
but I'm by no means fluent. I can get around pretty well
but I just don't want to hold anyone back. For those of you
that have been looking for specific things to pray for,
this will be the first of many requests that I'm sure I'll
have in the next month.

For the past week, I've been working at Manos de Amor, the
clinic that has sprouted off from Shalom Church. In fact,
Paster Alvaro's office is at Manos de Amor - that's how
closely affiliated these organizations are. I've been
assisting with eye exams, helping with the initial test and
then doing random tasks and filling various roles within
the office. There are three men who are doing the eye
exams, and I'm mostly working with Mario, the director of
the clinic. We've been seeing about 100 patients each day -
and while some of the day is spent doing other
administrative tasks, the majority of the eight hour work
day is spent doing exams.

It's been quite challenging to adjust to some of my new
tasks, as some of the men are difficult to understand, and
I can only perform a limited set of tasks. I don't
particularly like feeling like my abilities are limited,
and it's tough to feel helpless at times, but sometimes
they have to walk me through things, mostly just because I
don't understand everything they say. Needless to say this
has been a hard adjustment for me (this should come as no
surprise to those who know me well), but it's getting
better every day. Each day I've felt more comfortable in my
surroundings, and I'm able to do a little more. All of the
people I've met have been quite receptive and very
friendly, so it's been encouraging amidst some of the
frustrations. Pastor Alvaro even said when he met me that
his biggest goal for me in the next month is that God speak
to my heart. Those were some of the most comforting words
I've heard in my 4+ weeks in Guatemala, and while it's a
tall task, I'm trying to shift my focus to listening to
God's instructions while I'm here.

I have many more stories available on my website at
ryanhuey.com, including many from my month spent in
Antigua. Thanks so much to those who have supported,
prayed, and emailed me over the past few weeks and I look
forward to writing and sharing with you again soon -
Ryan

Tanzania 2007 Medical Team Report

Hello, all is well in Tanzania. Our 4th clinic day is completed. This was our busiest day yet. I guess word got around!!!

Last night (Wednesday) we attended church services with the students at the Jr. Lutheran Seminary. This gave us an opportunity to see Grant "in action". The students sang to us and played the drums. They sounded wonderful. Grant then offered us the opportunity to sing for them......we did.......and we sounded wonderful too!!!!!!

Grant took a group to St. Mary's Hospital to tour tonight. Tomorrow is our last clinic day. :( Our medicines and eyeglasses are running low (eye drops ran out days ago), the luggage hasn't shown up yet, two are
meds and one is eyeglasses and drops. BUT that hasn't kept us from
helping hundreds and hundreds of people. We love the challenge!!!!!!!

Lance brought a soccer ball to donate to the village and Brett and Conner have been on the "football" field playing with the kids. Boy are they good soccer players. The soccer ball they had before was cloth tied up with string to make a ball. How excited they were. Many brought trinkets for the sick children, they will hug onto them while receiving an injection. I hope it helped comfort them a little.

A lot of malaria, worms, abcesses, dry eyes...... some sent to the hospital for further treatment (at no expense to the patient). But still many, many happy faces after being told their baby will get better with the treatment we will give them today. What a blessing the people of Tanzania have given to all of us.

Keep up your prayers for safety, security, stamina of the team. And also, as always, keep Grant and the others here in Tanzania in your daily prayers.

Deboria

Happy July 4th!

Happy July 4th! We had pizza for dinner that we all appreciated very much. We also had peanut m&ms for dessert so we had an American meal to celebrate the occasion.

We spent the first of three days in a new village called Fulwe. The patients had already filled up the benches waiting for us when we arrived. We set up, listened to hymns and a short devotion, and saw patients continuously from 9-1. We broke for lunch that was cooked by the village women, most of which were evangelists' wives. We passed out our last prescription around 4, after treating 165 patients, meaning about 825 different prescriptions. The eye clinic dispensed over 170 glasses, and Deboria pulled 21 patients' teeth, with 22 more patients awaiting her arrival in the morning. Obviously, it was another busy day!

We are really seeing God move in these people. This morning, a woman going through triage asked Conner and his translator to pray for her because she wanted to become a Christian. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support.

Please continue to pray for our team's health and energy.
Also, the
lost luggage has still not arrived. David is improvising with a piece of cloth that he has made into a toga. The cloth is red, white, and blue, however please send your prayers his way! We love you and miss you!

-Suzanne Area

Habari (hello) from Tanzania

All is great here. 2 days in the clinic. We have seen and treated over 400 people and dispensed between 2000-2500 prescriptions. The 5 missing pieces of luggage still haven't arrived. Some are medicines and some are team members personal luggage. Please pray for the luggage to arrive quickly.

Adella, a young teenage girl that was treated by our team 2 years ago came to the clinic today. She is thriving and wanted to spend time with everyone from the team. Keep your prayers coming for the health and safety of the team. Keep the weather as great as it is is now. And as always, pray for Grant and the people of Tanzania.

Lance Gill

Tanzania

Friday - June 29
We are here! Everyone has a great room with an awesome view. No problems with customs or immigration! Prayers are the key!! We are missing five bags - should arrive on Sunday. Thanks for the love, support & prayers. Tomorrow is exciting trip to Mkumi Game Park. Bishop Jacob Mameo is coming to dinner this evening.
Bwana Asifewe (the Lord is to be praised) Marilene

Saturday - June 30
An update from my conversation with Grant:

The team had fun visiting the game park this morning. The bus got stuck briefly but it just added to the adventure.
They saw a lot of giraffes and zebras as well as other animals. They are still awaiting the delayed luggage, so please pray that it will be delivered soon. This is some personal luggage, not medical supplies. (Shopping options are limited for those who don't have their toothbrushes:)

This afternoon the entire team accompanied Grant on a forty-five minute walk to the Catholic orphanage. He said it felt good to "stretch their legs". When they arrived, the Catholic Sisters were doing their monthly weighing of all the children. Apparently they use a scale somewhat like what you used to see in the produce section of the grocery store. Grant said they just lay the babies in the basket to weigh them, but for the older children they remove the basket and the the little kids grab the overhead chain, draw their knees up to their chest and hang on until their weight is registered. He said the kids all knew the routine well and seemed to enjoy it as they went through roll call.

I hope someone took photos of this for us!

Tomorrow morning they will go to Mhungamkola (I believe) for worship together.
Donna M

Estonia Lighthouse VIM update - Thursday

Ok, so I hate to break the news to you, but this is going to be my last e-mail. Camp Gideon does not have very fast internet. But anyways here is the interesting stuff that happened to me today.

Stephen and I headed on a little adventure to the grocery store. We picked up a few things as well as a little present for Ben Dalton as he arrives tomorrow. It was really chilly this morning and a little bit rainy, but it turned out to be a very nice day.

We jumped on the tram and headed over to our last day at the Lighthouse. Today was a very special day for them because they have three students that are graduating from primary school. So pretty much all morning and afternoon we spent getting ready for a party that we put on for them. It was great and I think that it was a very special tme for them. We stayed at the Lighthouse til about 5 o cock today and headed straight into Old Town. We ate at a very good resteraunt called the Turg (You guessed it, compliments of Sergei). I got a very tasty pork roast. UMMMMM....so good!

Today was one of our friends 23rd birthday. His name is Denis but some of you might know him as Tahiti. He always keeps us laughing. So we headed over to Apteegi and it turns out that it was a surprise party. We played some very fun games and just enjoyed ourselves. We had a very good cherry cake and bread of course. I had a very fun surprise....I think some of you know a guy named Andrei. He is from Finland and is the cousin of Erkii and nephew of Artur. I met him the very first time I was here and ran into him at the party tonight. And it turns out that he is going to camp Gideon this week! I am sooooooo excited!

After the party we headed back to the church with all of our Generation 2 freinds and stopped for some Italian Ice Cream! It was amazing. We got to the church and played jungle pong for about 2 hours. (Jungle Pong is a very intense type of ping pong game played with about 5 players.) It was a very fun night. And some of you might have seen us go and pose for the webcam.

It is very late right now and I am about to head for bed. I have REALLY enjoyed writing these e-mails and hope that you have liked reading them. This has been such a great trip and there is still ONE WEEK left (for some of us)!!!!!! Thank you so much for your prayers, I am so excited to share all of my stories with you guys! I love you all and thank you so much for the continuous encouragement for me on this trip. Pray that God will do amazing things this week at Camp Gideon.

In Him,
Dave

Estonia Lighthouse Update, Wednesday afternoon

Hey Guys,

So today we woke up with a suprise. Stephen could not find his wallet! So he called the credit card company and put his card on hold while he began looking for it. And being the great friend that I am, I rolled over and went back to sleep for an extra 30 minutes. It turns out that it slipped into one of the action packers. But he did find it after about an hour.

We really had nothing to do this morning so we went to the Lghthouse at about 11. We had tea (my favorite) right when we got there. We discussed our plans and it sounds like Stephen and I will be going to Camp Gideon on Friday with the college kids. And guess who is driving???RACHEL!! Ya, very, just imagine a blonde American girl driving in the streets of Estonia in a huge Deisel engine astro van type monster! It will be an experience.

We had a great day of just relaxing with the kids and just getting to know them a little bit better. There are some very sad stories coming from these kids pasts. The Lighthouse is such a great place for these kids to grow in the adolesence years aswell as developing a relationship with Christ.

We left the Lighthouse and went to a GREAT resteraunt. Once again, compliments of Segei. It is called a "pancake" place but I think its more of a crepe type place. I got a crepe stuffed with Bacon and smoked cheese....hmm..hmm.hmmm..TASTY!! It was very good. After dinner with the entire crew, Rachel, Stephen, Emily, and I went to Apteegi (this is what we are calling the Generation 2 House) and we went to a prayer. It was very neat but difficult because after hearing an hour long prayer in Russian while standing up, you just start to notice your legs a little bit more, and then you feel the back get stiff, and then your mind starts to wonder, and before you know it, you forget that you are talking to the creator of the universe. Well maybe I can try it again sometime. Rachel and I went for a little walk around Old Town afterwords and then returned to the BMC. The guys went to pose for the webcams in our "suits" (if you get curious about suits, just ask my dad, he can explain). Lets just say that it was an experience for us, and all the people around us. Not to mention a great way to end the day.

Tomorrow is our last day at the Lighthouse so I want to ask you all to please pray that we can bring Christ's love to them tomorrow and really change some lives.

I love you guys and I am so excited to see you all. We have so many stories so we might have to have a story/dessert night at our house when we return....mom and dad, this is me asking permission???

God Bless You All,
David