Posts Tagged ‘HIV/AIDS’

We’re on Our Way!

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

For those who regularly follow my blog, it’s time for me to switch it from devotional to travel again…

Look at the picture clues 

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

and guess where I spent Friday! Actually, the majority was on a 747. But having a 7-hour layover at Heathrow airport meant we had time to ride the underground train into London where we saw the sights – Buckingham Palace, Big Ben (we heard it bong at 5:00 P.M.) and the House of Parliament (you can see it, too, if you look on a bottle of HP steak sauce).  Then came the return hour-long train ride to Heathrow amidst commuters heading home to the suburbs. Oh my. Imagine standing…in the heat…squished by other passengers…after being awake for nearly 30 hours. Call it an adventure! We ended the day with a 2 ½ hour jaunt to Budapest, Hungary.

We reached our hotel around 1:00 A.M., grateful that the team’s 22 suitcases arrived intact and thankful for a room with air conditioning. It felt soooo good to crawl into bed. Talk about exhausted! And now we’re up and at it again, after about 5 hours of sleep. Today we’ll drive from Budapest to Resita, Romania. That’ll take at least 7 hours, I believe.

You might be wondering what we’re doing this time. My husband and I are leading a team of 9 volunteers to partner with five career missionaries. We’ll host a camp for young adults facing various challenges in life. We’re bringing craft supplies, hygiene items, snacks and Bibles. We’ve planned games galore. And we’ll be sharing insights from God’s Word to encourage the kids and reassure them that they’re loved and not forgotten. I can hardly wait to see the kids we spent time with last summer, and to make new acquaintances.

Re: craft supplies. I was especially blessed a week ago when a little girl named Joanne celebrated her 8th birthday back in B.C. In lieu of gifts, she asked her friends to donate money to buy soap and deodorant for these kids in Romania. The donations topped $180 so she bought candy and elastic thread for beaded bracelets, too. Then she came to our house with her mom, grandma and two sisters and helped assemble the bags of goodies we’ll give to each camper.

Last year we had wireless at the camp venue. I’m hoping the same will be true this week so I can continue posting about our experience. Stay tuned for more!

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Encouraging Words

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Proverbs 17:25 says, “Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.” I can attest to that!

When preparations for upcoming speaking engagements, writing deadlines or missions trips overwhelm me, I find huge encouragement if someone says to me, “I’m praying for you.” Those words bring added encouragement if that individual actually prays for/with me via phone, email or in person. The reassurance that someone cares about me lightens my worry-load.

I remember one instance in particular. Last July, I was one hour from leaving for the Vancouver airport enroute to Romania. My husband and I were leading our first volunteer team to a camp for young adults living with HIV/AIDS. The prospect excited me, but I felt a little anxious about details such as how the team would mesh, how travel details would work out once we landed in Budapest, how effective we’d be, etc. Then the phone rang.

The caller was a local pastor – a man with whom I’d attended Bible college in the late 70s. I’d had no contact with him since because our lives had taken different directions. He was calling in response to a magazine article I’d written about dealing with the fear of financial insecurity. “Thank you for addressing this topic,” he said. “Where did you gain your insights?”

“From life experience,” I said. “My husband and I are missionaries, and we deal with it all the time.”

“Really? Tell me about your ministry,” he said. And so I did. I started by telling him that we were headed for Romania later that day. Guess what he said? “Let me pray for you right now.” Those words, spoken at that moment, stripped my worry away. They were like a hug from heaven, a divine reminder of God’s presence and blessing on us.  

Perhaps you can relate. If you’ve experienced an encouraging word, please tell us about it. I guarantee – your words will be an encouragement to those who read them.

In the meantime, here’s a word for you today: “There is no one like the God of Israel, He rides across the heaves to help you. The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you” (Deuteronomy 33:26,27).

Have a great weekend!

It seems like forever, not a mere 12 days, since we visited the "Mother-in-Law" bridge in Odessa. These padlocks are posted by young couples to signify enduring love.

"Mother-in-Law Bridge" in Odessa, Ukraine

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A Flood of Justice

Friday, December 11th, 2009

This morning I read a heart-rending article about human trafficking. Words cannot describe the evil behind this industry. Imagine a 4-year-old being sold for sex because her parents or grandparents want a better television. Or a young woman bound by chains around her neck and limbs, given enough leeway only to move from a bed to the bathroom. The horror stories number in the millions – too many for our minds to even comprehend.

What’s often our natural tendency when we hear stories like this? We change the channel or flip to the next page. Surrounded by our North American creature comforts, it’s difficult for us to grasp what’s happening in the world at large. We can’t identify with the captives of modern day slavery. We can’t feel their anguish, or perhaps we feel it so intensely that we shut it out because we don’t know how to deal with it. We can’t fathom making a dent in the problem. And so, we do nothing.

“God, break my heart over what breaks Yours,” prayed Bob Pierce, founder of  World Vision. That’s become my prayer, too. I don’t want to live my life looking the other way. I’ve been blessed, so very blessed and God holds me accountable for what I do with the freedoms and material goods given to me.

For me, Christianity is about so much more than attending church on Sunday mornings, developing a safe place within my weekly small group, and knowing that I’ll go to heaven when I die. It’s about being the hands and feet of Jesus to those who are suffering here on earth. It’s about loving them in practical ways. It’s about walking the talk even when there’s sacrifice involved. This morning I read Amos 5:23,24, which served to reinforce my feelings: “Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears. I will not listen to your music; no matter how lovely it is. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry.”

God wants His people to get involved on behalf of the defenseless and less fortunate. He wants to see a flood of justice, a river that will never run dry. That happens when everyone does their part.

Some can sponsor kids through humanitarian organizations. We support two – a boy in India, and a girl in Nepal.

Grace and Gene with Ankit in India

Grace and Gene with Ankit in India

Some can pass out hot chocolate and sandwiches to street workers. Others can befriend seniors forgotten by family, locked away in nursing homes. Or write letters to persecuted believers in prison.

Last summer my husband and I led a team of 9 North American volunteers to work among Romanian young adults living with HIV/AIDS. Lord willing, we’re planning to do it again in 2010.

Our career missionaries visiting HIV/AIDS-infected youth in a Romanian hospital

Our career missionaries visiting HIV/AIDS-infected youth in a Romanian hospital

As I was writing this entry, a missionary friend emailed to say she’s handing out 500 blankets in two gypsy slum villages in Slovakia today. If I were to go downtown this morning, I’d see numerous volunteers standing beside Salvation Army kettles collecting donations. The options are endless because the needs are endless, too. “God, break my heart over what breaks Yours!”

 How can you represent Jesus to those who are suffering?

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Journal Entry for July 7

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Our chapel time this morning consisted of several kids’ testimonies. One spoke of how she witnessed God answer prayer after the car in which she was traveling broke down and no one would stop to help her. She and the others in the car prayed for God to fix the problem and He did. To her, that was a huge sign of God’s power and presence in her life.

Another spoke of the difficulties she’d faced since being diagnosed with HIV – especially the lack of proper medical care. One talked about his dad dying, and about nearly losing his mom. He said that he and his brothers prayed that God would not let her die, and He answered. Years later, she’s still alive.

Then the gal who committed her life to Christ last night spoke. With tears in her eyes, she addressed our team and said, “Thank you for coming. You came from so far away just to spend time with us. You have loved us and treated us like normal people. You’ll never know how much this camp has meant to us.”

How does one respond to that, except to thank God for providing the means and the opportunity to serve in this way? We wish the need for this ministry didn’t exist, but so long as it does, we pray that God will raise up the volunteers and especially career staff to build it and bless it.

Andy and Claudia drove the kids back to the day center – about 2 ½ hours’ drive one way on a very windy mountain road. At one point, they had to pull off to the side because everyone had to get out and throw up due to travel sickness. Poor kids! Poor Andy and Claudia!

They returned to pick up the team around 6:00 pm, and then it was our turn to travel on the windy road. No vomiting, but a few queasy stomachs. At one point after darkness fell, we drove through a fairly large town and I noticed that there were few lights on in the apartment blocks and houses. Tony explained that this area used to have a booming economy based on mining. Now the mines are closed and nearly everyone is unemployed and can’t afford to pay for electricity. Hence, the dark windows. Sad, sad, sad. Again, we in North America have much to be thankful for.

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July 2 — Timisoara

Thursday, July 2nd, 2009

Our four IM missionaries -- Andy and Tresha McKnight, Claudia and Tony UdreaYesterday the temperatures soared to 32 degrees Celsius. That’s mid-90s Farenheit. We’re very fortunate that our van had air-conditioning for 6-hour ride to Timisoara.

Funny how jet-lag hits mid-afternoon. I think nearly everyone took a nap enroute. My daughter Kim put her head on my shoulder and slept for about an hour; I must have slept, too, for suddenly I woke with my head on hers.

We went out for dinner with two of our four IM missionaries to talk about today’s agenda. Tresha, one of the wives, and her two wee children are home sick right now. They never get ill. Why now? Why am I not surprised?

Tresha’s husband, Andy, encouraged the team simply to love the teens to whom we’ll be ministering. And that’s exactly what we plan to do. Can’t wait to see these kids again – Gene and I have met most at the day center on two occasions already.

After dinner we walked in the city’s main square where the 1989 revolt began that resulted in the downfall of Communism in Romania. At the end of the square is a cathedral marked with memorials to the children who were shot and killed by army soldiers during that revolt. We sat on those steps where about a dozen children died only 20 years ago, for the sake of freedom. What a sobering moment.

Now it’s our turn to bless the children of Romania. Once camp begins tomorrow, we’ll be having two Bible lessons per day with a craft or activity to reinforce the message, crafts, sport activities, games, and boat rides. We brought marshmallows, Hershey bars, and graham crackers to teach them how to make s’mores. We have balloons, streamers, sparklers – to celebrate July 4 for the sake of our American team member, beads and hemp for necklaces, Mary Kay product for a spa afternoon for the girls, a rocket launcher built especially to blow off 2-litre pop bottles, and more. What a privilege to know and love these teens, all of whom have HIV/AIDS.

In the past 56 hours, I’ve had approximately 4 hours of sleep. Gotta do something about that right now! Good night, all.

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Romania Trip

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Our team of 9 volunteers leaves on Monday for Romania. Will be hosting a camp for teens with HIV/AIDS. We made the front page of the local newspaper yesterday!

http://www.bclocalnews.com/fraser_valley/abbynews/community/49044306.html

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