The Story Of My Life

A Brief Update

2011-03-22T20:27:00.003+01:00

It's been so long since I've updated this blog and only God knows why. Maybe it's just that I don't feel too confident in which direction I want to pursue, or maybe it's just that I've been busy. Here's an update with what I've been busy with:

I got back to California (from Macedonia) on August 29th, 2010. Since then, I've started working as the interim manager at an A/G owned campground. They're looking for full time/long term managers but in the mean time, things need to stay operational, and that's what I'm doing. I'm running a small grocery/camp store, pumping propane, and renting out our campsites. Other than that, I'm helping to launch a children's ministry at New Hope Assembly in Garberville, California. It's still small but the church only launched it's re-plant last April, less than a year ago. The church in general has been growing but as far as the children's ministry is concerned, it seems to be pretty slow going and at times I find it hard not to get discouraged about it. But I do know that in order for it to grow, the general congregation has to be more committed to the church and then to its ministries and start reaching out to the kids of the community. All I hope is that I will possibly reach a few and leave a sort of template for how to lead the children's ministry so that someone else can come in and pick up where I leave off in the future.

So that's my life right now in a nutshell. I'm taking advantage of having a small income and smaller outgo, and am pursuing a couple musical instruments a bit more actively, with the newest being drums. Now I am playing: Saxophone, Bass Guitar, Accousitic Guitar, and Drums.

As far as my future goes, I'm praying for direction. I'm going to be applying to AGTS for next fall. I'm thinking about pursuing a Masters of Arts in Intercultural Ministry with a possible focus in Muslim Ministries. I'm not sure that's where God wants me but I'm fleecing Him out, knowing that if it's where He wants me, He'll fling the doors open and if it's not, He'll slam them shut. God speaks to us in so many different ways, and it's hard to see that sometimes, that we might limit Him to speak to us and guide is in the same way He did it for us last time. So with that said, I'm trying to keep an open heart about what it is He wants. All I really want to do with my life is go where He leads and do what He wants.

So, pray for me that He will lead, as He always does in His own ways. Pray for patience as I wait on Him.

The Writing In The Fog

2010-03-09T17:37:00.002+01:00

In the Bible, in the book of Daniel (chapter 5), there is reference to a story where a hand appears in a room full of people and begins writing on the wall...

Lately though, I've been learning a lot from the writing in the fog... Let me explain:

We have recently opened a new soup kitchen across the street from the poorest of the poor in Shutka. 90% of the 60-70 kids we feed daily are new to us and present a new sphere of influence for us to work in. Most of the kids come from very difficult circumstances that most Americans couldn't even fathom. We have amazing opportunities every day to shine a light of hope into their lives and have already started to see changes taking place. Their attitudes are changing and they are always full of joy, not to mention a ton of energy! The kitchen we are serving them from is being rented from a Muslim man, his only requirement of us is not to put a cross on the building, and it is full of windows. Every day we cook our soup on a wood stove, and for me that means that I get to play with fire, I mean, start and keep a fire going every day. As the water heats up though, it steams up the room and without a ventilation system most kitchens have, the steam clings to the windows. As most of the kids we serve there know less Macedonian than I do, I've started trying to learn Romani a little at a time. Romani isn't a written language, so taking a class like I did for Macedonian is pretty much impossible. Fortunately, there are 3 believers from our church that are paid staff and work with me every day, and know Macedonian and Romani. One of them has a 12 year old daughter who has probably gone farther in school than most of the other kids will ever go, and knows Macedonian quite well. She has started to teach me important words and phrases in Romani through writing them in the fog on the windows using Macedonian letters. It's so exciting! I've learned the basic greetings, basic counting, words for bread, water, juice, how to ask if the kids want different things. I know some languages can only be learned through full immersion but I never would have imagined that would mean learning a language from the writing in the fog! Hopefully, learning Romani little by little will open doors to changing the lives of these kids. I learned a long time ago that if you are trying to share God's love,you should try to do so in the heart language of the people, not the most common language. I just wish I had begun to learn Romani sooner, but at least I can learn it now, thanks to the foggy windows!

If you ever need to learn a language, just find a foggy window and start writing in the fog! It may take longer than a class, but in some circumstances, it may be the only option, and believe me, it works!

Children's Christmas Service

2010-01-07T19:54:00.002+01:00

Every year we hold a special children's service for Christmas. This year was a bit more adventurous than it was last year. Last year we were in the smaller building able to fit maybe 80 people total. This year, we didn't quite have as many chairs out as we could have, but there were many people standing. We packed in around 140 kids and numerous parents for the service. It was a blast to say the least, a little difficult to maintain order for those of us with the crowd control/security job.

The format was thus:

We opened the doors at 2 PM and Dustin and Britney, two other MA's serving in Macedonia, were playing Christmas songs.

The kids would enter a few at a time and get a plate of cookies and a cup of hot chocolate, then find their seats.

Then we started the service with some singing for the kids, lead by about 8 puppets and Brian.

Finally, the tradition at Shutka is to read and have some of the kids from the crowd dress up and act out the Christmas story from the Bible. We may have had between 15 to 20 kids involved this year so it was far more involving for the kids!

After the Christmas story, we had about 30 of the kids help perform a song. It was great, there was traditional dancing in a circle with the group of girls, some break dancing by the guys, and a couple of girls sang the song in Macedonian!

After all our activities, we passed out all the packets. After past experience, we waited 'till dark the night before and snuck in our van load of Christmas packets. It felt a little like Mission Impossible when we had to park the van at the top of the hill out of site and have me walk down (wearing my hood) and unlock the gate, then signal the van to come with a wave of my cell phone. The night watchman across the street wasn't even sure who was there last night until he asked me today if it was me! Any way, we got 150 packets for this year so it was a close call having 140 kids show up. Some of the kids left before the end of the program 'cause they still didn't know that we were giving the packets out! Praise God the word didn't get around this time! We gave a packet to every kid who showed up and stayed to the end, and we had only minor incidents with people trying to get packets after the fact, ranging to include one boy trying to jump the fence and ask for one when we were cleaning up. When we were passing them out, I stood guard at the door so once people went outside they couldn't try to come back in and get a second packet, and our pastor was outside at the gate holding the random other people at bay who thought they might be able to talk their way into getting an easy handout.

The kids loved the packets and enjoyed the service, it really was a great time. I think a lot of the kids really felt what is so special about Christmas this year. Thanks again to all who pitched in to help! It would have been so much more difficult without you!

New Year and Christmas Packets

2010-01-01T17:28:00.004+01:00

The new year will obviously bring changes to my life as it will to most people, and as others surely are, I'm looking forward to it, but am also a little apprehensive. God's brought me a long way but I begin this year not knowing a lot about what God will have me doing and where I'll be doing it at this time next year. Hence the apprehensive feeling. I've recently had a conversation with a friend where I somehow had this philosophical thought that we need to be passionate about where God has us now, and I know I plan on doing that. Hopefully I will only minimally be distracted by what will be and be able to thrive in what is.

On another note, the kids in Shutka are eagerly anticipating their yearly Christmas packets that people have taken the time and love to put together and send to them from places all over the world. Many times they come from the states, other times they'll come from some other place in Europe like Germany or Holland. Nonetheless, they bless the kids in many ways each year. If any of you have ever participated as a church or VBS or children's camp in something called Operation Christmas Child, know that it really does make a difference in kid's lives. I've had the privilege of seeing both sides of this project. I've seen kids and adults take special care, love, pride, and joy in packing the shoe boxes and I've seen the reception the shoe boxes. I've seen the kids enjoying it's contents for months after they've received them. Wearing the winter caps or gloves, or enjoying a special stuffed animal. They're always joyful. Many of the kids I see wouldn't know what a Christmas gift is without it as they come from Muslim families, not to mention they're often very poor.

Thanks to everyone who gives to this specific ministry. You're really being a blessing and this ministry touches thousands of children and parents around the world every year.

Please keep us in prayer as we give the gifts out. I'm not sure yet when we will but we always see people crawl out of the woodworks looking for a handout when we do give them out. Pray that we will be able to give them to those that need them most and have discernment with those that only come this one time a year for their quick handouts. Pray that those that receive the packets are truly blessed and will be moved by the love of Christ, and that they'll come back to see and hear about the love of Christ. Pray that even one or two might make that commitment to Christ and begin to make an impact in their communities to start the change we so long to see in that community.

Again, thanks for giving to our ministry and blessing the kids.
To learn more about Samaritan's Purse and their Operation Christmas Child program, check out the following link: Operation Christmas Child. I'm glad there's people striving to do ministries like this.

My December Newsletter

2009-12-28T09:18:00.002+01:00

This is what I sent out for my latest newsletter. I hope you enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! I miss you all very much and think of you often during this holiday season. I hope you are blessed as we approach the time we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
There have been many things going on in my life since I last wrote to you and there are many new things coming up in my near future. Changes are around the corner and personal boundaries and limitations will be broken as God grows and stretches me. But none of it could be possible without the love, prayers, and generosity of all of you! Thank you so much for investing in my life and my first steps in ministry. Thank you for your partnership in ministering to others, and also for your ministry to me.

Apologies…
I want to take a few sentences to address a few things that you might be wondering about: First, I want to apologize for the newsletter drought I’ve left you in. I realize my last newsletter was sent out in late April, and I am extremely humbled by the fact that you have still continued to pray and give to me and the ministries I am involved in. Where most people in my situation would see their support dwindle with the lack of communications I have given you, you have blessed me with increased support! It is an extreme blessing but is also extremely humbling. Thank you so much for sticking with me!
Second, I’ll update you on a couple of logistical things. I am no longer pursuing a Visa. We decided that it wasn’t completely necessary this far into my term. Things didn’t get underway soon enough and turned into more of a distraction. I am still here legally, but as always, prayer for favor with the government is always appreciated.
Third, I am also no longer searching for a vehicle. We spent several months looking and couldn’t find anything in the price range we needed, and our time frame for maximum effectiveness was missed. I have become efficient at getting where I need to be on time by foot, bus, or taxi when I need to, which is quite often!

Ministry Updates
Over the summer we moved our feeding program to the new church building on our campus. We now have a full kitchen space with running water and gas stoves, and a new dining area where we can feed more than 100 kids at a time. At one point we fed 120, but we are regularly serving around 70 kids a day, 5 days a week. Plans are also under way to open a second kitchen closer to the center of Shutka that will only be serving soup for the next 3 months. The second location will expand sphere of influence that we have in Shutka and will help us reach one of the poorest areas of town. It will be tied into the church so the kids will be able to plug into our other children’s programs at our main campus.
Our church body has seen significant growth. Only a few weeks ago we saw 30 people coming to the evening service. We’ve had some of our teenagers come, as well as several new families. Pastor Toni has also begun a Bible study from the Global University courses, and Colleen Thomas has had a lot of success with a women’s prayer meeting on Wednesday nights where they’ve also been able to teach a bit of English and Macedonian and Colleen has picked up some Roma. God truly is growing this church!

Coming Up…
There are a lot of changes coming up for me. First, I recently found out I will have to move before I finish my term. My landlady sat down with me and told me that she wants to sale the apartment and that I’ll have, at the very least, 2 months before I’ll have to move out. The up-side is that I’ll have a chance to move to a better apartment for the last part of my time here. I have learned a lot from living here and I now know what to look for, so it’s not at all a bad thing. Second, I am excited to be planning a trip back to the U.S. for my brother’s wedding in March! I’ll only be there for about 5 days, but I’m really looking forward to seeing all my family and maybe a few friends too!
The spring will be full of hosting short-term ministry teams from the states, holding outreaches in Shutka and other cities around Macedonia, and will be capped off with a retreat in Spain with all the AG missionaries from around Europe! The early summer, however, will see the Thomas family returning to the U.S. as their term here comes to an end. In the middle of June, I will be seeing them off and they’ll be heading to North Central University in Minnesota where their oldest sons are attending. They will be serving the university as Missionaries in Residence the next year or two teaching missions courses. There will be other missionaries here, but instead of starting other work, I will continue my work in Shutka.

Personal Updates
One of my biggest struggles lately has been in thinking about and planning for my future. Prayer would be greatly appreciated on this topic! I am quickly approaching the end of my original 2 year term here (which ends in August) and am seeking God’s plan and direction for what my next step will be. I have been invited to stay another year to continue what I’ve been doing in Shutka, but I still am not sure if that’s what God wants for me to do. I am also unsure about any other direction to take. I have a lot of ideas about what I could do, but am waiting for God’s direction and it’s not easy. When you pray for me, please keep this struggle in mind.
I have recently been inspired to get into more regular blogging to help people stay updated with what I am doing and the things that I am going through. I want to start doing a weekly blog reflecting on each week’s happenings so keep an eye out for it. If you have specific questions for me, email them to me and the blog would make a great place for me to address them! You can read my weekly blogging either on my site at www.crparky.blogspot.com or on Facebook.

*Attached Story…
I am attaching a story that I co-wrote that is a testimony of how God has been working in the lives of several of the Gypsy kids in Shutka. It was originally written to help report to Samaritan’s Purse about how their support has affected our ministry there, but I think it is more appropriate for you all to read because your support in prayers and finances has had an even bigger impact on the kids in this story, and many others whose stories cannot fit in this short newsletter. I hope you know that when you invest in me you’re also investing in the lives of the people I come in contact with. You are an integral part of this ministry, and I hope you are blessed by the attached story.

Prayer Requests
Please remember to pray for the ministries that are going on weekly in Shutka and the other ministries that are being planned in the rest of Macedonia this coming Spring. Pray that God will present us with opportunities to share His love and that our work would have a life changing impact.

Continue to pray that God will bless my finances and that I would have wisdom with where I spend my money.

Pray for my trip back to the states in March that God will protect me and that all the travel plans will fall into place without too much hassle.

Finally, pray for my future. Pray that God will show me the next step to take, and in the meantime that he would give me peace while I wait for His direction.

Final Thanks
I am thankful beyond words for all of your love and support. Please remember that nothing I am doing would be possible without each and every one of you. I’ve received a few cards and letters and each one is greatly encouraging. I would love to hear from you personally whether it be via snail mail, email, or whatever other way you can think of to communicate with me. I love you all and miss you very much, especially during this season. Again, be blessed this Christmas!

Yours in Christ,

Christopher Parkinson

*The story mentioned was posted on a previous blog, so to read it go back about 2 blog entries.

Christmas Music

2009-12-21T22:27:00.002+01:00

The last month or so has been flooded with Christmas music for me. I've found a lot of new music that I can listen to that gets me thinking and smiling about the season and I've been playing a lot of music on all three of my instruments for the first time ever. I had played some on sax when I was in high school, but have never been able to play Christmas music on my guitar and on bass also. It's busy, but it's a blast. I couldn't escape the music of the season if I wanted to, but it's fine because I'm truly enjoying it!

I've been able to transpose songs from an old hymnal to play on my sax, and have found the chords for most of those same hymns so I can play them on my guitar. It's really exciting for me. Both of these things means more stuff for my music students to play so other than just playing them on my own, I get to play them when we meet weekly for lessons. My sax student and my bass student get Christmas music, and I hope it is helping them to enjoy the season a bit more too. I'm also participating on the bass and sax for the International church's Christmas eve service this week. Don't get too excited, I'm only doing sax on one song right at the beginning (so if you're planning on being there and want to see/hear it, don't be late!). It's honestly the first time I've performed on sax since my sophomore year at Bethany when I played with a Latino worship band for the 24 hour worship chapel! It's exciting to get to play again though. I'll be playing all the other songs on bass though. Did I mention playing with this band is an amazing experience? I think if we really wanted to, we could record a pretty amazing worship album! That's how good it feels when we play together!

I've never really paid this much attention to Christmas music before though. I'm enjoying the Christian and secular music alike, some of it just makes me smile (like Brian Setzer singin' about Santa and his big block Chevrolet!). Others remind me of my childhood (like the chipmunks Christmas album!). Others are just beautiful to listen to (like Celtic Women's version of "Carol of the Bells"), and some just compel you to sing along like many of the traditional Christmas carols. I'm finding new favs left and right and mixing them with old favs.

I love this time of year, and living where I am on my own, the music really sets the tone for me. I love Christmas music, new and old, because all of it ultimately brings joy to my heart and reminds me constantly of the blessings of Christ.

What's your favorite Christmas music?

A Testimony of How God's Working In Shutka

2009-12-10T17:53:00.003+01:00

Brian Thomas and I co-wrote the following as a testimony report to send to Samaritan's Purse for some money that they donated to help pay for drinks for the soup kitchen during the summer. I think it puts some good perspective on what we do, why we do it, and some of the results we're seeing already. I hope you enjoy!

"Shutka is a suburb of Skopje, Macedonia, and is reported to comprise the largest “settled Gypsy” population in Europe. Part of our evangelical church outreach in this community is a children’s feeding program. We are currently averaging around 70 kids a day, five days a week. The purpose of the feeding program is to fill hearts with the love of God and stomachs with a meal where they may have gone hungry otherwise. The program functions as a draw to the church, and nearly 80% of the children come from Muslim families. They come, they sing Christian songs, they pray, and they eat, but in the process they get to know some Christians who want nothing more than to share God’s love with them. As a result of our seeing the children on a daily basis at the Kitchen, and the on going to a weekly Children’s ministry, kids have committed to following Christ and some of the parents are attending our Sunday services.

One such family includes 5 siblings. They have been coming to the feeding program from the beginning. They range in age from 14 down to 4. Their names are Erstref (14), Ramiya (13), Bajram (11), Jujemon (8), Zunka (6), and Adlan (4). They live with their Muslim parents and grandfather, as well as two younger siblings. Ten people living together in a house smaller than most American’s garages. The running water is outside, and so is the outhouse. The kids are bright but school is not priority one with so many mouths to feed.

Let me tell you what our programs have meant to these children’s lives. Erstref has begun to help with the feeding program. He used to be just another rebellious teen that gave the leaders nothing but trouble. Now he is setting an example in serving other kids and helping to set up and clean up. Ramiya, the oldest girl of the family, has changed drastically over the last year. For a time, she was rebellious as well, but then her parents sent her to live across town with other relatives. When that happened, she seemed to become angry and depressed, but she knew that she had a safe place to come to at the church and soon returned. Her attitude has since changed. Teenagers are still teenagers, and the same is true with Ramiya, but most of the time, she is joyful and longing for some way she can help. Bajram was awarded with the children church’s Student of the Year award last year. He is our most attentive listener when it comes to the Bible lesson, and he puts a lot of work in at home to memorize verses he learns at children’s church. Jujemon is still quite young, but he used to be quite a bit angrier towards others, but you can see God is softening his heart. Zunka, the younger sister has always been very timid. She would keep adults at a distance, hide behind her siblings, and would rarely speak. Now, God has given her a peace and joy where she will approach any adult at the church and walk hand in hand with them. She has one of the best smiles imaginable. Adlan is young and doesn’t talk much but has started showing some of the same signs of changes that Zunka has.

God is at work in their lives. And our expressions of love are making a difference. Each of these children stays as long as possible at the church each day, they know there’s something they get from the church that they don’t get often, if at all, from their home lives, and that is love. It’s not uncommon to see this group of kids waiting at the gate to the church before the workers even get there, and they are always the last kids to leave. They are being changed by God’s love, through the feeding program and through the love the workers pour out on them. It’s exciting to watch them grow up, physically due to better nutrition, but also spiritually due to the love of God. And their family is just one of many. Thank you for being a part of changing lives."

My Latest Newsletter - Mailed Out In lLate April

2009-06-27T21:53:00.003+02:00

Newsletter: Spring 2009

Growth In Macedonia

The Lord is doing great things in Macedonia. Outreaches have taken place, a team has already come and blessed the church, and growth is happening not only in nature but in our church! Life has been busy but such busyness is quite necessary in times of growth. Thank you all for your love and commitment to my ministry and spiritual growth through your giving. I have indeed been blessed to have such a group of family and friends supporting the ministry that God has allowed me to be a part of here in Macedonia

Recent Activities

In the past two months we have hosted a lot of activities a the church in Shutka. First, we held an outreach where we invited the parents of all the kids that we see at our feeding and children's programs. We wanted to show them just what they let their kids come to and also how much fun we always have. We had a turnout of over 130 people! It was a hugely successful outreach! We even saw some of the parents start coming to our adult service on Sunday nights.
The next outreach we held was on the International Day of the Gypsy. For this holiday we had a musical group from another gypsy church come and put on a concert. All the songs were in Romani, the gypsy language, and they were all Christian praise songs! It was powerful! The church was packed and everyone had a good time praising God in Romani. After the concert we also offered free food to everyone that attended the concert. At this outreach we had over 170 people attending!
In mid to late April we hosted a building team from a church in Naperville, Illinois. They worked with us for about 10 days and were busy the whole time working towards finishing multiple projects on our church campus. The team hung sheetrock in our church building and built a kitchen and classroom into it. The kitchen will give us room to grow in our feeding program and the classroom will be used for a multitude of things including an English class that I will get to later in this letter.
At the end of the Naperville teams time here, we held a large Convoy of Hope outreach where we put on a carnival and passed out groceries. Me and another MA were in charge of organizing carnival type games, and we had a bounce house and a merry-go-round. Some of the kids had never seen such things as they've never been out of their small community. There was also a band, and a short message was given. We had too many people there to count but we know it was a blessing to the community. Shutka is quickly learning that there are people here who care about them and God is slowly starting to grow His church amongst them.

Personal Ministries

I have continued managing the finances and helping out at the Soup Kitchen. We recently saw a new record of 90 kids come to be fed. We have recently been approved and are getting ready to move from being budgeted for 70 kids - 3 days a week, to 100 kids - 5 days a week. It will be a big change and will definitely keep us busy, but it will be worth it because we know that we will be able to love on and bless even more people. The new kitchen mentioned above couldn't have come at a better time!
I have launched the fist phase of our new youth ministry in the form of an English language class. As I am not yet fluent in Macedonian, and we dont have someone to start a full youth group, this seemed a good first step. I have been teaching English every Friday for the last 5 or 6 weks to between 10-20 young people. It's already showing results as we have all been able to build better relationships with the kids and that is the first step towards discipleship.
I am giving saxophone lessons to Sam, Brian Thomas' 13 year old son. He's doign well and soon I'll have my sax to be able to help teach him. I'm planning on starting bass lessons with another missionary kid, Caleb White. We'll probably start in June. On another musical note, I am scheduled to lead worship at our South Eastern Europe Area retreat in Greece. At this point, I'm scheduled for 2 sets, but I was asked to be ready for more. For one of them, I will be accompanied by Caleb's sister, Daniella White. So even though I'm in Macedonia, God is still using music as a large part of my ministry life.

Coming Soon

My parents will be visiting me from May 12th to May 21st. I will finally be able to show them at least a glimpse of how life is for me here. It will be my dad's first time traveling internationally and both of them will have to rely on me to get around as most people, if they speak any English, speak very little. Besides a little role reversal, it will just be great to see them again. I wish I could have all of you out here to see how God is using me here.
When summer comes, Brian and I will be traveling a little more than normal doing some evangelism ministry in the surrounding countries. We will be traveling with a team of Macedonian young people putting on a musical drama geared towards telling children about the love of Jesus. It's a powerful ministry and the proof is obvious since there's even a team member that was saved when she watched the drama as a child. We'll also be hosting at least 2 more American teams before the summer is up. One will be here for another Convoy of Hope outreach towards the end of May. It will be called "Days of Hope" and God has already used events just like it here in so many ways. Many of the newer Macedonian believers were either saved or baptized the last time such an event was held. It's a 3 day event so there will be plenty of time for all kinds of ministries.

Finances

I am going to need to make a trip to the states for my Visa soon. I'll be going to Detroit in the next month or so, hopefully, to complete my Visa process so I can stay a full 2 years. In order to do this, I will be needing a few extra one-time donations. This isn't optional for me. When I arrived, the laws changed here and foreigners will have to go the Macedonian embassies in the countries they are from to complete their Visa processes.
As my abilities increase with the language my responsibilities increase. One of the main things Brian would like me to do is to be able to multiply the things he is able to do. In other words, he needs me to be able to do things in his place if he is pulled to other responsibilities. In order for us to meet this need, we have decided to get me a vehicle. The vehicle will be purchased with money from a former MA's vehicle so that won't be an issue. As we all know though, having vehicles costs money. I will be needing money for gas and basic maintenance of the vehicle.
The trip to Detroit would only cost me airfare and food as lodging should be taken care of already. This means I will need around $1,000 US to go. The vehicle costs will only be around $30 US a month so any increases in pledges would be helpful in covering that. If any of you haven't given and would like to give a one-time donation towards my Detroit trip, please do so, it would be a blessing! If any of you that already support me on a monthly basis are able to increase your pledges a few dollars a month, or if you would like to pledge and haven't yet, that would be greatly appreciated as well. You are able to send pledges or donations to: AGWM 1445 N. Boonville Ave. Springfield, MO, 65803-1894. Please write the account number 2943561 in the memo line of your checks.
I hope you all know I am extremely grateful to all who have supported me thus far both in prayers and in giving. Without God using you in that way I wouldn't be able to do any of the things you've read about in this letter. You are all a tremendous blessing to me. Know that God is growing me in so many ways!

Prayer Needs

Pray for favor from the government. I am in process of getting my Visa and it is nerve-racking. I know if God wants me here, and it seems He does, He will keep me here.
Pray for my finances. My monthly funding has been solid and I thank God for every one of you that have given so that I can be here. Pray that they keep coming so I can stay here and do the work God has brought me here to do.
Pray for the ministries that we have going on weekly and the outreaches that are coming up in Shutka and the rest of Macedonia. Trust me, the effects of your prayers on the lives of the people here are tremendous!
Pray that God will continue to grow my understanding of the Macedonian language that I may be able to make an even greater impact in people's lives for Christ.
Finally, pray for my parent's trip here that they are kept safe and that they will be able to take a great testimony back to you all about the things God is doing here.

I can't tell you how much of a blessing you all are for supporting me while I'm here in both giving and prayers. You are making all of this possible. Thank you so much! I love to hear from people back home; it never fails to be encouraging. Please feel free to write me or email me. If y ou have Skype, you can find me on there and we can talk! I would love to hear from you and give you more details about my life here. You can contact my parents for my mailing info or send me an email and I will get it to you. I love you all, and miss you greatly!

Yours in Christ,

Christopher Parkinson

2009-02-08T18:17:00.000+01:00

I recently watched an episode of House (season 3 episode 13 if you’re interested) where the patient being treated was a Roma, or Gypsy. Most of the complications in the diagnosis of his condition had to do with the fact that he was Roma and the many implications that came with that fact. The main implication being that they didn’t trust outsiders, and thus didn’t trust the hospital. I am currently working and ministering in an area outside of the capitol city of Macedonia that is well known as a Roma area. We minister there by providing food for around 50 children (some of these 50 are teenagers also) every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We hold a children’s church service with somewhere close to 75 kids every Saturday. We are also making plans to launch ministries aimed at reaching and discipling youth, and hopefully grooming some of them for leadership in the church.

The Roma are a people that you can find all over the world, hence their appearance in the hit TV show mentioned above. Unfortunately, they are severely oppressed everywhere they exist. As a culture they are looked down on. We all know that some people tend to cut themselves short and put up walls and limits around what they can do or accomplish in life. Working to break down these walls and limits you put up around yourself is a hard enough task. What happens though, when you have walls and limits that other people or entire cultures put up around you? Now you have to work to overcome these walls and limits. Most people typically come to a point where they have to face one or the other of these walls and limits. They either have to overcome something they put up or something someone else put up around them telling them that they cannot advance beyond this defined point so they shouldn’t even try.

The Roma in Shutka, as the area outside of Skopje is called, face a tough cultural dilemma. They face both sets of walls and limits. The adults couldn’t get a full education because it costs too much, and they can’t get decent jobs because they don’t have the education for it. What do they do then? A lot of them go and beg for money or food. Most of the beggars you’ll see in Skopje, if not all of them, are Roma. Some of them have somehow learned to fix minor appliances and will go looking through the garbage to find such appliances, try to fix them, then resale them. Some of them go through garbage to find bottles or cardboard that they can take to a recycling center and trade them in for a small amount of money. Often times, if people need workers for a day, they know they can find Roma to help because there’s always Roma that need work.

One of the walls and limitations the Roma have put up for themselves is a lack of a desire to work. They know they need to in order to feed their families so they take the random odd jobs they may be offered. As far as a regular job though, they don’t want it. I don’t quite understand why as I myself am an outsider, but I do know it doesn’t make sense. If you need a job, and you are offered one, wouldn’t you want to take it? Well, most of them don’t. This is simply a wall that they have put up. They don’t really want to work.

One of the walls and limitations that has been put up by outsiders is that they perceive the Roma are liars, beggars, and thieves. They see them as being dirty and poor. Nobody wants to hire them for regular jobs because they think they can’t rely on them. Ultimately, people look at them as if they are worth less than everyone else.

If you think about it, the two sets of walls tend to share bricks in a way. The walls were built so long ago that the two cultures have become deeply rooted in their views of what the Roma are capable of. Part of why the Roma believe they are limited is because of what the outsiders think of them, and part of why the outsiders perceive the Roma the way they do is because the Roma have been told so long that this is how they are and this is the only way they can be. They have become stuck by their own acceptance of the walls.

Now, there has been ministry in this area amongst the Roma for maybe 10 years. Missionaries have worked with the national church to try and establish a Roma based congregation and have invested much into the church body and its facilities, both monetarily, physically, and spiritually. It seems, however, that there is little to show for all of the work amongst the people of Shutka. Or is there? Has the ministry effectively brought around cultural change? Can the results effectively be measured by change that can be seen? Should that even be a projected goal of such ministry? This is the question that has been churning in my mind for this past week and as I approach new ministries and begin planning such ministries, this question will help shape and guide my thoughts and plans.

I am a firm believer of helping those that need help; and I am also a firm believer in the age old lesson that if you give a man a fish he can eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he can eat for a lifetime; but most importantly, I am a firm believer that God changes people from the inside-out.

As I have been struggling to find my place in the ministry here in Macedonia, I believe that this last belief needs to be the focal point of my heart and mind in everything that I do. I have not been sent here to single handedly break down the walls that have foundations hundreds of years deep between two cultures. I don’t believe that I nor the ministry energy and money that have been invested in Shutka are here to bring around social change. Will it do so? I believe that it will, in time. Should it be our goal? I strongly believe it shouldn’t. It will come, eventually, but only after God changes the hearts of people on both sides of these walls. When the walls come down, it may be very subtle and gradual, or it may be quick and news of its fall may be bigger than that of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Only God knows. All I do know is that God wants me to share His love with people, and I’ll do that on either side of the wall.

What happens when the power goes out?

2008-11-25T17:46:00.003+01:00

So what happens when the power goes out in Shutka, a very large gypsy village on the outskirts of Skopje, Macedonia?

We have church.

This last Sunday night, November 23rd, due to whatever circumstances, the power was shut off to the gypsy village called Shutka. This village is where the church that I've been spending so much of my time is at. They hold their service on Sunday nights. If the power being off wasn't going to be bad enough, the caretaker of the church campus had unfortunately locked the church keys in his trailer and his key wasn't openning the door to the trailer.

There was a chill on the air and everything was dark except for the few houses that had enough money to have a generator or the shops that had candles lit. A few of the men and youth from the church had made their way for service any way. When we arrived, I was already planning on sharing my first translated sermon which I found out about maybe 2 hours earlier, but I had no idea what we would end up doing, especially if we couldn't get into the padlocked church building.

Well, to keep it short, we cut the lock, got inside and started a fire. We used cell phones to lite our way around the room. (This is exactly why I'm a proud member of the Facebook group that claims to use their cell phones to see in the dark!) Once the fire was going and actually making a dent in the chilly room, we circled some chairs around the stove and started worshipping.

I love the worship at this church. I've been to a lot of musically gifted churches. My home churches are not to be excluded, but I've had the privilege of being amongst some musically gifted South African churches and have been able to worship a-capella (without accompanying music like guitars or piano) and intensely enjoyed myself, but this took the cake. About 7 of us in all, we started to sing a few familiar songs, a-capella, in Macedonian. The most thrilling part was that younger boys were enthusiastically leading the singing over the older men that were there. Most of the time, boys and girls don't come to the service as a larger children's service is held on Saturdays, but they were there. Not only were the boys leading out boldly and enthusiastically, but they also insisted on singing a couple of songs in Roma as well. Even though I don't understand the language, I know they're far more passionate about singing in that language than in Macedonian.

As an English speaker, I think we take for granted being able to sing such a multitude of widely known songs in our own language for the purpose of praising our God, but for these Roma (gypsy) boys, they don't exactly have nor have had access to such a wealth of worship music. Any way, the worship in their heart language was very exciting for me to be a participant in.

After the worship, it was my turn. It was quite a different preaching experience and I'm still not really sure how I did, but as I prepared the message, one I was already very familiar with, God kept reassuring me that as long as I speak the message from his Word and not from my own view of how things are going, then it will be okay and it will work for any culture. I used my cell phone to read the passage I was sharing from and occasionally to check my notes, and as working with a translator for the first time tends to be, it was a little rough. Let's just say it didn't come out like my typical 3 point sermon, but it did come out fairly well. Oh, and the translator was my boss if the other things didn't present enough of a challenge. I kept waiting, for no other reason but lack of confidence in this new experience, for him to correct me on something and tell me it wasn't relevant to them or something of that nature. He didn't and I kept going without any interruptions. This to say, I don't consider the constant pausing for translation an interruption as, of course, it is completely necessary.

This experience was rich for me. I know sometimes these things are overglorified and fuel the stereotypes that many people have about missions and roughing it ministry experiences. But this is the situation that I and my colleagues are in and have been called into. Sure there are business type ministries here, and all different types of specified ministries in all different types of fields, but I've been put into this type of ministry in this type of field and it's a blessing on every side, even with the random challenges that may come up. It was and is very rewarding and an experience I don't believe I'll soon forget.

On another note, I have some updated pictures up on my Picasa site for those that are interested. You can find them at http://picasaweb.google.com/CRparky.

Expect a newsletter soon if you're on my mailing list, if not, it'll be posted here as well so don't worry.

Until next time...

A Brief Update on Life in Macedonia

2008-10-22T11:58:00.002+02:00

I have recently moved into the apartment that I hope to stay in for the remainder of my time in Macedonia. It is a perfect size for me I think. It has a small kitchen but just big enough for me, it is almost fully furnished and what is left will be furnished soon. I don't yet have internet yet so my updates and internet time will be sparse as I have to logon at a friend's home, at my language school office, or at a coffee bar somewhere. Be patient with me in keeping you up to date and expect a full on letter soon.

As of right now, I've been refocusing my time on learning Macedonian more than anything else. I have struggled this last couple of weeks as I moved and had my schedule interrupted by all the new things and am still trying to discipline myself into a good schedule. Right now I am trying to get up between 6 and 7, having my quiet time and prayer, eating and showering up till around 10. I then study Macedonian and read, eating somewhere in between, shopping for either groceries or other household items that I still lack, and studying Macedonian some more. Mondays and Wednesdays I have Macedonian class in the afternoon and on Thursdays I have a private lesson in the afternoon. I still try to go to Shutka on Fridays but was so caught up in other things last Friday that I forgot and missed the first time since I've been here.

Pray that God will guide me in how I manage my time and will draw me close to him as most of my time is spent right now between He and I. Pray for friendships and ministry opportunities to be developed and for boldness most of all to go out and be proactive in every aspect of my life.

I miss you all and hope God is keeping you well. I welcome and treasure your emails and other like communications, but please be patient in my replying to them. Keep me informed of any prayer requests you may have and I will be sure to lift you up as often as I can keeping me fully aware of how God's family stretches to every corner of this world.

Photos Online!

2008-09-01T14:31:00.003+02:00

I haven't taken a lot of photos from my time here in Macedonia or in the process of getting here, but I have found the way that I'll be posting them. I have a public page through google that is tied to all my google stuff. You can find my pictures by going to picasaweb.google.com/CRparky. If you don't think this is the best way for me to make my photos accessible, then leave me a comment about it and I may just put them on Facebook. Then again, my blog automatically downloads to facebook from blogger and picasa is a similar program as blogger. Needless to say, I don't know all the qwirks of picasa yet, so have patience and enjoy the current site as much as possible. I'll try to upload pix about once or twice a week depending on how frequently I take them. If you are able to make comments, and wish to do so, please use the utmost care in what you say. Macedonians will be able to see these pix just as easily as Americans. Please enjoy!

Prayer Requests

2008-08-31T21:07:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone! As you probably know now I am finally in Macedonia. I don't have a lot to write about or a lot of motivation to come up with something, I can't figure which, but I wanted to request special prayer for some things.

1) The Muslim fast of Ramadan starts tomorrow and will go for 28 days. Please be praying for this area because a good percentage of its population is Albanian Muslim or Roma (gypsy) which are nominal Muslims. I am working with a guy that works with Albanians so we'll be in the middle of it. Pray for the people that God would reveal himself to them.

2) I still don't have a place to live and am currently living in a small apartment at one of the churches. It's nice and everything but it'd be nice to be able to have my own place. Unfortunately the US dollar has weakened since we made my budget and it seems I'll be cutting it very close, especially in the winter to have an apartment. Pray that God will provide!

3) My body is getting used to everything here. My physical body is adjusting to the time still (naps are a very splendid thing!) and my stomache is adjusting as well, to put it lightly. It's not that the food is bad or anything, it's amazing. It's not even that different or spicy or anything like that. I can't tell you the exact cause but I think it's just recovering from the travels that I went through a few days ago. Pray that my body gets to a more normal state soon!

4) I long to understand what people are saying so I can communicate with them as well. There's been plenty of interaction with English speakers so that's been a blessing, but I really want to learn the languages. Yes, I did say languages. It is imperative that I speak Macedonian, but I'd also like to learn at least some Albanian. Pray that God opens my ears to hear and understand these languages and that he touches my tongue to be able to speak it as well.

That's it for now! I'll try to take more pictures so it will be worthwhile to post them soon! In the meantime, keep me in prayer and feel free to contact me if you have questions. I'm doing my best to keep up with emails and comments etc.

Last Newsletter from Stateside

2008-08-25T21:36:00.001+02:00

Newsletter: August 2008

Greetings in Christ!
Writing this letter brings me much joy, but I’ll get to the reasons for that joy later. First, I’d like to thank all of you for supporting me in preparations for Macedonia. Thank you for your prayers and your financial contributions. You have all been very encouraging.

From Home
Earlier this summer, Rebecca and I decided to break off our engagement. It has been a very joyful event because of our reasons for breaking up. We both desire to pursue and focus on God’s plans for our lives with everything we have and God is calling us to separate places so this is the only real option. God has blessed us in this decision, there has been no heartbreaking and we are both very much at peace.

What About Macedonia?
I finally received financial clearance and have purchased my ticket to leave for Macedonia. Praise the Lord! I am finally on my way! My ticket is for a flight on Lufthansa airlines on Wednesday August 27th from San Francisco at 1:00 PM. I’ll have a layover in London, another flight to Vienna, and finally a flight to Skopje, Macedonia. I’m scheduled to arrive there at about 3:30 Thursday afternoon. Brian will be in the states until late October so I will be getting settled in with another American missionary, Mark Orfila. I’ll be focusing on learning the Macedonian language and culture until Brian gets back.

Prayer Needs
1. Pray for me as I transition into the Macedonian culture. I have already felt anxiety and restlessness. Pray that God will give me rest and confidence.
2. Pray for Macedonia and the countries surrounding it. Pray for the missionaries and churches there as they continue to grow.
3. Pray for the church in Shutka that I’ll be working with. Pray for the church in Shutka to be completed and for the Bible school in Skopje to be completed and to open soon.
4. Pray for my finances. I am already going on a reduced budget. Pray that everyone that pledged will honor their commitment and allow me to stay once I get there. Pray that I will have just enough to do the work that God is sending me to do.
Thank you all for your support! This letter will probably find you after I’m already in Macedonia, but please remember to pray, and please remember to keep up with your financial contributions. You can still contact me via email as well as through my blog site which are both listed below.

Yours in Christ,

Christopher R. Parkinson
P0 Box 1012
Redway, CA 95560
Christopher.Parkinson@ma.agmd.org
www.crparky.blogspot.com

Sermon from July 13th

2008-07-14T17:11:00.000+02:00

This is what I preached yesterday. I hope it proves of some use to my readers.

I. Intro:

1. Greeting

2. Recap

A. Last week we asked the question “What Is It Like To Be Called?”

B. We looked at Samuel’s call and what he had to do to be prepared for his call.

C. We looked at how he had to be training, willing, and listening.

3. Today, I want to pose the question: How do we turn to God?

A. Do we just turn around or even look up? Is it that simple?

B. What do you have to do?

4. We’ll be looking at 1 Samuel 7:2-6 and the question of “How do we turn to God?”

II. Scripture: 1Samuel 7:2-6.

III. Open In Prayer

IV. Point 1: Seeking

1. Text:

²It was a long time, twenty years in all, that the ark remained at Kiriath Jearim, and all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the Lord.

2. Context:

A. Last week we looked at what was the first real mention of Samuel and his ministry. Since he was called, a good twenty or so years passed and the curse came on Eli and his sons, and both died.

B. The ark got taken away by the Philistine army but the power of God was on it and He killed many of them so they ended up sending it back. It never did make it to the temple though and stayed in Kiriath Jearim.

C. Just like almost every other point in Israel’s history, they had slipped into idolatry and weren’t following the ways of God. They had lost their motivation because the Philistines had beaten them. The ark had been misplaced.

D. They had been distracted from God but somehow they knew they needed Him and began to seek Him.

3. Illustration:

A. How easy is it for us to get distracted and misplace the Lord in the priority of our lives. We don’t even have to turn completely away from him or be completely lost not knowing God at all. We don’t have to be an unbeliever to be turned from God.

B. Distractions come at us in many forms. For me, it’s my busy schedule! Some, like my dad, might laugh at that but I believe I’ve had a pretty busy schedule the last few weeks. I found out I’ve got to start getting things in order for my trip. I need to start packing. I started learning guitar and am striving to be capable of leading worship on it. I work 5 days a week from 9-6. And I even preach on Sundays! But the last few weeks, I’ve had close friends come back into the area and have been trying to spend time with them as well! I don’t know about you but I think that gets to be a pretty busy schedule!

C. We as believers even get distracted from God so easily.

4. Application

A. We are going to have many distractions come at us in our lives. We are going to turn from God if only in little ways.

B. We need to come to a point where we are constantly seeking Him. This is our fist step to turning to God. We need to seek Him.

V. Point 2: Committing

1. Text:

³And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.

2. Context:

A. This text is the first that talks about any ministry done by Samuel since the day of his call that we looked at last week.

B. He calls out the Israelites in their seeking God and challenges them to do it fully and correctly.

C. Samuel challenges them to get rid of their distractions. For them their distractions were the pagan idols of Baal and Ashtoreth and many of them had several statues of each!

D. Only after they got rid of their idols, their distractions could they commit themselves to the Lord and serve Him only!

3. Illustration:

A. One thing I think of when I look at distractions is playing tug-of-war with a dog. You get them all excited and they’re totally focused and holding on with everything they have. They’re yanking when they think you’re not holding on tight and just keying in on what you’re doing. But the key to winning tug-of-war with a dog is breaking their focus, distracting them. You can poke them, or dangle another toy in front of them and they lose their focus and their grip and you’ve won.

B. It’s the same way with us. When we’re supposed to be fully focused on God setting everything else aside, all it takes is a little distraction for us to lose our grip. If you’re trying to read your Bible, all it needs to be is a quick glance at a picture to lose your focus. Or if you’re trying to pray, all it takes is a thought about what you have to do later. We have so many toys if you will dangling around us but none of them will give us the satisfaction of biting into God and really seeking Him above all else.

4. Application:

A. In order to really turn to God, we need to constantly be committing our attention to God above all other distractions. We can’t be coaxed away by all the pokes and prods or by the tempting but short-lived treats that are being dangled in front of us.

B. This is our next part of turning to God: We need to commit attention to Him.

VI. Point 3: Confessing

1. Text:

⁵Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” ⁶When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel was leader of Israel at Mizpah.

2. Context:

A. After Samuel challenged Israel to commit to the Lord, he instructed them to come together so he could intercede for them. He wanted the blessing of the Lord to come back on Israel once more.

B. They assembled and humbled themselves. They realized their faults and what they had done. They realized they had let their distractions become their focus and they confessed to God what they had done.

C. When you’ve been distracted and turned your attention from God, to really be able to completely turn and recommit your attention, you have to realize your distractions and confess them to God. You have to build that bridge back from that distraction so you can stay aware that it’s there!

3. Application:

A. True confessing can only stem from realizing where we’ve fallen short. Or just realizing when we’ve fallen! We need to be able to be seeking and committing enough to be able to see when we are starting to stray.

B. We are all going to stray because you can’t avoid distractions from being there, you can only fight off the distractions.

C. Realize that we will be distracted but constantly be watching for and confessing your distractions, admitting and acknowledging your struggles so that God can help you regain your focus and continue to be turning to Him.

4. Illustration:

A. I’ve had several opportunities to share this with people but I want to share this personal realization with you today. To the world, I can tend to look like a slacker. I tend to get distracted and forgetful pretty easily. I can get wrapped up in stuff pretty quick and tend to over commit pretty often. The problem isn’t that I’m a slacker and am forgetful but that there are always going to be distractions.

B. If I get wrapped up in one thing and then finally realize that it’s not healthy for me, it’s no problem to get rid of that thing. But, soon enough I will get wrapped up in something else. I believe it’s how people are when they’re not focused on God and constantly fighting through distraction after distraction to get to what they need to do!

C. The real problem comes with not being able to see and admit the distractions because only after that can you fight them off.

VII. Conclusion

To really be able to say we are turned to God, we need to:

1. Come to a point where we are constantly Seeking God,

2. Be constantly Committing our lives to God,

3. Be able to be realizing and Confessing our distractions to God.

Close in Prayer.

2008-07-07T07:43:00.000+02:00

This was the sermon I preached this morning. Let me know what you think!

I. Intro:

1. Greeting

2. The Last 3 Weeks Theme of Examples

3. What is it like to be Called?

A. Is being called the same thing as your mom or dad calling you home for dinner when you were kids?

B. What is it like to be called?

i. What do you have to do? Do you have to do anything?

ii. Do you know what it would sound like?

iii. Do you know what you would say?

iv. What would you do?

4. Today we’ll be looking at 1Samuel 3:1-10 and the things that surrounded Samuel’s call to serve the Lord.

A. We’ll look at his Training

B. We’ll look at him Willing

C. And we’ll look at how he was Listening

II. Scripture: 1 Samuel 3:1-10

III. Open in Prayer

IV. Point 1: Training

1. Text:

¹The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. ²One night Eli whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. ³The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

2. Context:

A. Samuel had been given to the temple by his mother while he was very young.

B. Eli because of his sons was cursed by God along with all his sons.

C. Samuel was being trained up under Eli.

D. Clarification: You don’t have to believe to be getting trained in ministry!

E. This time in Israel’s history wasn’t one with many prophecies or miracles.

i. Just because you can’t see God working in major ways doesn’t mean He’s not at work. He works in everything.

F. You’re always training whether you are aware of it or not.

3. Illustration:

A. Everything in my life has been training for where I’m at and where I’ll be in the future. Everything I am doing now is training me for Macedonia, but for beyond Macedonia too! And everything I’ll do there will be training for whatever God has for me after that.

4. Application

A. God trained us our entire lives to be where we are now. The difference between us and unbelievers is that we are supposed to be active participants in our training!

V. Point 2: Willing

1. Text:

⁴Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” ⁵And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. ⁶Again the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. ⁸The Lord called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.

2. Context:

A. Samuel and Eli were sleeping when God first called Samuel’s name.

B. Samuel was completely willing to serve the one who was calling him. He even got up three times in the middle of the night to do it! He just thought it was Eli calling.

C. He had no idea it was God calling him.

D. It took three times for God to call Samuel before Eli even realized it was God calling Samuel.

3. Illustration:

A. As I mentioned earlier, in my personal life God has been continuously preparing me for where I’m at now. He’s trained me with the knowledge and wisdom to understand His word. He’s given me the desire to have a closer stronger relationship with Him.

B. He’s also been calling me over and over again into serving in Missions! He called me the first time in Junior High. I didn’t answer. Then, He called me again in my Junior year of high school. Then He called me to serve numerous times while I was at Bethany. Only now am I finally getting ready to leave for the field in August because I am finally ready and willing!

4. Application:

A. How many times in our lives have we done something or gone through something that only by looking back later could we see it was God working in and through us?

B. Samuel was blindly willing. He had been trained to serve God and all of Israel before he even knew God’s voice.

C. We need to be willing to answer God’s call but we don’t have to blind about what God is doing. If we are properly trained, we won’t just be indirectly willing to serve God but intentional about serving God.

VI. Point 3: Listening

1. Text:

⁹So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. ¹⁰The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

2. `Context:

A. Eli had finally realized what was going on. He saw that the Lord was calling Samuel and told him how to act.

B. Eli instructed Samuel how to respond to God.

C. Finally Samuel got to hear the voice of God and learn who was really calling him.

3. Illustration:

A. How many of us have been able to have the blessing of a spiritual mentor?

B. I’ve been blessed to have several of them. The most significant two have been my father and David Sanchez. They have shown me and taught me how to listen for God’s direction just like Eli taught Samuel.

C. It’s important to learn what it means to really be listening to God. It doesn’t just mean listening and nodding your head every now and then with a few single word phrases to make it seem like you’re paying attention!

D. Listening to God means having your heart lined up with what God is doing. It’s not just hearing. Spiritual listening is really extreme paying attention.

4. Application:

A. We need to be listening. We should consciously make the decision to listen for God’s voice. If we are already believers, we can and should ask God to open our eyes and ears to see and hear what He’s doing so that we can actively participate.

VII. Conclusion:

Samuel at this point in his life wasn’t an intentional participant in what God was doing. He was participating by default. The difference we have is the option to be active and intentional participants in God’s work on earth.

1. Training: We need to be actively and intentionally training ourselves…

2. Willing: We need to be constantly willing to serve God…

3. Listening: We need to be aware of God’s directions and be carefully listening for his voice and direction…

VIII. Close in Prayer

Abraham's Example of Faith

2008-06-26T15:55:00.000+02:00

This is the outline I preached from last Sunday. Amazingly, without planning it to come off this way, it became a sequal to last weeks sermon. It seems I have a little mini-series developing here! Any way, here it is:

Intro:

Greeting
Recap of Last Week:

We saw Paul's example of righteous waiting.

He Waited
He Got Distressed
He Acted

Today we'll be looking at Romans 4:19-21, and Abraham's example of faith.

Scripture: Romans 4:19-21 (18-22 for context)
Pray
Point 1: Face the Facts (vs 19)

Explain the context of the verses pertaining to the book verses the context of this story.
Context: Abraham was promised offspring as numerous as the stars. He was already very old and Sarah was considered barren.
Application:

We are like Abraham spiritually; dead.
We are as good as dead because of sin.
We need to recognize that without God, we're worthless.
We need to face the facts of our human state of being.

Illustration: Missions week @ Bethany 1st semester was a flop but 2nd semester was a huge success because I recognized I couldn't do it; it had to be God doing it all.

Point 2: Don't Waver (1st part of verse 20)

Explain Waver
Context: Abraham could have hesitated and not believed what God told him. He could've given up because of his age and walked away from the promise of God. Instead he was strengthened in his faith.
Application: We need to stand and act in confidence in what God is having us do, in where he is having us go. We cannot doubt or "waver."
Illustration: How many times does scripture tell us to not doubt, to have courage, or stand firm when we need to do something? If we doubt or waver it just makes things worse for us. (James 1:5-8).

Point 3: Give Glory to God (last part of 20 & 21)

Context: Despite Abraham's physical circumstances, Abraham believed God was going to follow through on His promise and gave God glory for it. Unfortunately, he had to be persuaded to believe this. Remember Hagar & Ishmael?
Application: We've seen many examples about God's faithfulness in fulfilling His promises. We need to stay constantly persuaded and give glory to God because He will do what He promises.
Illustration: How many of us have experienced God's promises being fulfilled? What about beyond the examples in the Bible? Most believers can share personal examples. Ways from our own lives that God has provided and fulfilled His promises. There's been a number of times God's provided for me just when I needed it most, especially financially! In fact when I learned I needed to preach and speak at churches to raise my finances for my trip, God provided that ability!

Conclusion: We need to follow Abraham's example of Faith.

We need to face the facts of our humanity and thus our own inability.
We need to not waver or doubt God's abilities but instead believe more fully on Him.
We need to give glory to God because we know He has the power to do what He promises.

Preaching Weekly

2008-06-17T05:15:00.000+02:00

A friend of mine, Pastor Tinsley Stetson of New Hope Assembly in Garberville has some stuff going on with him. He has a mechanical heart valve that was put in many years ago but he has lately had some complications with the aorta going into the valve. When they did the surgery, they just stitched the aorta back to the heart. Now that place has began to swell so he has to have it reattached because it may rupture if it keeps swelling. Thus, he cannot preach or do anything for that matter that may raise his blood pressure. Pray for him.

How this effects me? He needs someone to fill his pulpit until he's recovered from the surgery and has asked me to do so. I jumped at the oppurtunity because it'll be the first time I've preached multiple Sundays back to back and I need the practice to be able to put sermons together on a weekly basis. I'm excited! It's fortunate yet unfortunate circumstances so keep it in your prayers. Hopefully I'll be posting the sermons here so keep checking back here.

2008-06-15T21:00:00.000+02:00

I preached at Tinsley Stetson's church, New Hope Assembly of God in Garberville today. I wanted to post the sermon outline that I used for all to see and hopefully give some feedback on. I hope you like it and are blessed by it. If you want to put it a little more in context, go ahead and read the passage from the beginning of the chapter to the end and you'll understand more about what's going on here.

I. Intro:

1. Today, we’ll be looking at Acts 17:16-17. It’s a short chunk of scripture that’s going to illustrate how Paul acted in a situation of waiting.

II. Read Scripture: Acts 17: 1-17

III. Pray

IV. Point 1 : Paul Was Waiting

1. Context: How did Paul come to be waiting? What was he waiting for?

2. Application: We all go through times of waiting of all kinds.

3. Illustration: I’ve been waiting for my trip to Macedonia…

V. Point 2: Paul Got Distressed

1. Context: Paul was righteously distressed; not by waiting itself but by his surroundings.

2. Application: We get distressed by the wrong things when we’re waiting. We get caught up by waiting itself!

3. Illustration: I’ve gotten frustrated by the waiting…

VI. Point 3: Paul Acted

1. Context: Paul observed his surroundings, saw a need for God and acted.

2. Application: We need to be watching for opportunities in the midst of our times of waiting and be willing to act boldly, in confidence when the opportunity arises.

3. Illustration: Prayer event story…

VII. Conclusion:

1. Waiting: We all go through a waiting stage.

2. Distress: We need to be righteously distressed.

3. Acting: We need to act when the opportunity is presented.

VIII. Close in Prayer

Religious Mess in the Balkans

2008-04-29T22:56:00.000+02:00

I found an interesting article from a Balkans newspaper about the religious state of Albania. I think it's applicable to more of the region (including specifically Macedonia where I'll be serving soon) than just Albania. The lack of interest in religion yet the celebration of supposed religious holidays just because they are now allowed to celebrate them is amazing.

This article was taken from BalkanInsight.com

"Albania’s Muslim Easter
29 April 2008
For a long time, roughly half-a-century, celebrating a religious festivity was a pure act of rebellion in Albania. Former dictator Enver Hoxha in his attempt to create the homo-sovieticus had banned anything from Christmas to Carnivals. Any challenge to the rule and you could be drop-shipped to the gulags as priority mail.
By Besar Likmeta in Tirana
Otherwise what we had were tons of new-age, proletarian heaven celebrations, like Stalin’s birthday, Marx’s circumcision or the acid-stamped rave party for the electrification of Albania.

After the country emerged from a burka shaped lifestyle behind the iron curtain, religious festivities and ceremonies returned. Gone were the glorious military parades, where you would line up at the break of dawn to challenge NATO with carton-box missiles, and spook all the so called “draconian” democracies that mistreated the glorified worker.

Now, if you ask any Albanian on his religious affiliation; most of the time you will end up listening to a diatribe that sounds like this:

“My grandmother from my mother’s side was a Muslim, so was the grandpa from my dad’s, though my father does not believe in god. My other grandfather is Greek Orthodox, but I really don’t take religion that seriously. I think there must be a god.”

Well, quite devout as it may seem! However, such a long draught in religious festivities has turned them in something they would never dream of. Yes, to Albanians they are sexy, mystified by a long absence and a good reason to go out and enjoy yourself.

One such occasion that is drifting and lingering everyone’s attention is certainly the Greek Orthodox Easter. Taking part on the ceremony of the re-birth of Christ is somehow a good occasion to stretch for a walk at midnight, jabber with your friends and certainly light a candle in omen for good fortune.

So Muslims, Catholics and Greek Orthodoxs, are all the time celebrating and participating in each-others religious festivities. It’s a win-win situation. You could have colored eggs for Easter, baklava for Eid, and a glass of wine for Christmas- actually a personal favorite.

Albania still classifies as the only country in Europe with a majority Muslim population. With some “reliable” statistics from the 1930s the emotional split between Allah and Jesus facing east or west is as follows. Approximately 70 percent of the population is Muslim, 20 percent Greek Orthodox and the remaining 10 percent is catholic.

Having survived the Cold War, 50-years of a satanically styled communist dictatorship, not to mention some 40-years of being the first country in the world to proudly call itself atheist that stubborn little pile of numbers still defines us in the eyes of the others.

Theodor Billroth, the father of abdominal surgery, once noted that; “statistics are like women; mirrors of purest virtue and truth, or like whores to use as one pleases.”

Hmm, that’s a moral dilemma to ponder on-70 percent baklava, 20 percent colored eggs, a 10 percent glass of wine..."

For those of you that don't know, Macedonia is in large portion, Albanian Muslim so this will reflect greatly on the state of Macedonian people as well as Albanian.

Psalm 13 Sermon

2008-03-19T16:31:00.000+01:00

I recently preached this sermon on March 9th at Tinsley Stetson's Church in Garberville. More to come soon.

I. Intro:

1. To Series:

A.Since I’ll be preaching here again in about a month, I thought it would be good for me to see if I could prepare a series of sermons to preach on. I have decided to call my series “Practicing the Psalms.”

B.So often our reading in the Psalms is distracted from the wealth of helps we can get from them by the beauty of its poetry. Sometimes when we read them we might try to picture what the Psalmist or David was going through when they wrote them. But there is so much we can learn from the Psalms beyond these areas. I believe that we can take the Psalmist’s attitude and humility that is illustrated through their poetry and use them as an example about how to live a life in the faith.

C.Practicing the Psalms isn’t a new concept that I’ve come up with. Many have put them to practice in every day life. In fact, medieval Benedictine monks were required to read through the entire book of Psalms every week at least. They even used them as prayers in their daily chapel services.

D.While I was in college, I learned to use the Psalms to help me pray. When I knew I needed to pray but couldn’t keep my focus or even ran out of things to say, I learned to use a Psalm. I also learned that when I prayed through a psalm, I gained new passion for the words I was praying and the people I was praying for even if I wasn’t in a similar situation as the psalm described. It even drew me closer to the body of believers because I knew that the prayers I was praying were the same prayers that other believers throughout history had already prayed.

2.To Sermon:

A.Today we’ll be looking at “Practicing the Psalms” through Psalm 13. Through the Psalm we will be able to see the importance of praising God through the worst of circumstances. We’ll see the pattern of going throughout a struggle in life, the pattern of “Shouting, Speaking, and Singing.”

B.First, let us Pray.

C. How many of you have ever felt distant from God or maybe even like He’s left us or abandoned us altogether? Have you ever been depressed or felt like there was no hope in a situation, like the world was closing in on you? Maybe a family member died, or a relationship fell apart. Maybe you were in some sort of financial trouble. Imagine the worst situation you’ve ever been in and remember how it felt as we look at Psalm 13 this morning.

D.Psalm 13:

¹How Long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? ²How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? ³Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; ⁴my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. ⁵But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. ⁶I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me.

E.I only hope the way I read this psalm gives it justice because I believe that the way it sounds represents the three different attitudes that the psalmist uses to approach God in his situation. The three sounds you should have been able to hear were shouting, speaking, and singing.

II.Shouting: vv 1 – 2

1.Passage:

A.As we look at the first two verses of this psalm I envision the psalmist screaming, shouting, crying out in agony to the Lord about what’s going on in his life. He’s been going through something terrible for a good period of time and he wants relief. We see him talk about God turning from him, an internal struggle, and even enemies defeating him.

B.We don’t know exactly what the psalmist was going through, but we know that he felt alone, stranded, desperate. We know he was pinned or cornered in some sort of extreme circumstance and that he wasn’t able to see that God was with him so he cried out to God.

2.Illustration:

A.All of us have witnessed a baby crying for its mother right? Even when the mother sets the baby down do something else only for a moment, the child will feel like it’s all alone. This type of feeling happens especially when the child is put to sleep in a room and the mother leaves to go do other things around the house. The child will inevitably wake up and see that nobody’s there. They think they are alone and fear seeps into their mind, not to mention the complete dependence they have on their mother so they cry out.

B.But it’s that same cry of desperation and loneliness that the baby feels that we can all go through at times. We all go through similar times in our adulthood with our family, with our friends, and even with God! Sometimes we feel like the entire world is against us and that maybe God has even left us. We can lose hope quickly. We can lose sight completely of God’s big picture when we’re in this type of situation too.

C.But that’s not what the psalmist does here. This is not the end of the road for his situation and since we’re looking at this as something we might be able to put into practice in our lives, we know it doesn’t have to be the end for us either. There’s more to it!

III.Speaking: vv 3 – 4

1.Passage:

A.As we move to the next two verses, we can almost hear the psalmist’s tone change. He moves from crying out or shouting out to God, to speaking with God and pleading for relief. Instead of continuing with his worried questioning of what God’s doing in his life, he turns to specific needs.

B.The psalmist shows that there is at least some possibility of getting out of his situation now. He knows that God has the solution and asks specifically for it. However, he still knows that there are circumstances that will take place if God doesn’t get him out of the situation.

2.Illustration:

A.Now earlier, I related the psalmist’s cries to those of a baby. Now though, it seems our psalmist has aged a little more. He’s moved to negotiating almost like a teenager would if there was something they wanted desperately. Now I know we can all relate because we’ve all been teenagers, seen teenagers do this, or been the people that they’ve done it to. They’ll ask very specifically for what they want and then make some big dramatic story for what will happen if they don’t get it.

B.Have you ever caught yourself doing this with God? You’ve passed the stage of complete despair and entered a stage of specific need. Even though we’ve grown out of the stage of desperation and into a stage of reasoning, this still isn’t a good place to be.

C.We’re still the ones telling God how things are going to work even though He’s the one writing the script! However, the psalmist doesn’t end here and neither should we. We still have more growing to do!

IV.Singing: vv 5 – 6

1.Passage:

A.Finally, the last two passages give us yet another tone we can hear. He gives us singing, or praise and worship! He shows us that despite everything that he’s gone through up to this point and everything that he was probably still going through, he trusted in God to keep him throughout it.

B.He illustrates to us the characteristics of God that we can always and must always rely on. God’s unfailing love and salvation are always there. We cannot let our circumstances fog up the window and hide these facts from us. So this is how we can practice this Psalm.

2.Illustration:

A.The cries of a baby because of complete despair, and the reasoning of a teenager because of lack of confidence are both places we shouldn’t be in our faith. The psalmist moves past these phases and into one of a grown man and his father. In fact, the perfect example of this would be Jesus and his father. When Christ was struggling with the fact that He had to die on the cross, He constantly humbled himself and recognized that His father was in control. He said “not my will but yours.”

B.Christ knew that God had everything under control. The psalmist came back to this understanding. He grew up into it. We need to constantly be growing up into it as well.

V.Close:

1.We all go through a growing process in our faith. For the most part, it’s not just a one time process either. It happens over and over again every time we hit a brick wall in our lives. We end up going back to an age of infancy filled with doubt and fear. Then we might grow into an age of adolescence and try to reason or bargain with God and tell him what to do. This isn’t really a problem though. As long as we keep growing.

2.The way that we need to put this Psalm into practice is to keep growing into confidence in God. We need to always come back to a place where we can trust in His unfailing love and rejoice in His salvation. A place where we can always sing to the Lord because we know He has been good to us.

Posting Sermons

2008-03-17T01:10:00.000+01:00

I've decided that I'm going to post the sermons that I preach here. This will serve several purposes. First it will help show my supporters exactly what they're investing in. Second, it will provide insights that may help other readers understand the word or prepare their own messages. However, if you are in the position of a leader or teacher in the church, I request that you don't take these sermons and preach them the way they are written already. Please, use them only as ideas or references for your own studies and create your own sermons from them. I hope this will be helpful. I'll start posting the sermons I've already preached within the next few days and of course post more as they are prepared.

Latest Newsletter

2008-02-20T06:56:00.001+01:00

Newsletter: February 2008

Greetings in Christ!

This letter has been long in coming. I want to thank all of you that have been encouraging me despite the length of time since my last letter. It’s that encouragement that brings me to write again. It’s that encouragement combined with the passion in my heart that keeps me pushing in my pursuit of Macedonia.

From Home

As most of you know by now, I am now engaged to be married. I met my fiancée, Rebecca Washburn, here in Redway the summer of 2006. She was here as a summer missionary serving the Humboldt/Del Norte churches. Our friendship took off that summer and developed over the next few months. We felt God drawing us closer and started our dating relationship long distance. This last summer she spent her time here with me so that we could have a time of courtship. At the end of the summer we got engaged. We’re planning on getting married as soon as I return from Macedonia. Until then, she’s studying Public Relations at Greenville College in Greenville, Illinois.

I’ve been traveling all over northern California preaching and sharing about my trip in efforts to raise support for my trip. I’ve traveled as far south as Fresno, as far east as Loyalton, and all the way down the coast. I’ve also been filling in for local pastors as needed and have been able to develop my preaching skills quite a bit.

From Macedonia

The Thomas family has been hard at work since they returned to Macedonia late last summer. They’ve had the opportunity to rebuild relationships and start several new ministries. One of them is a bussing ministry to take kids from all around the garbage dump area to church. Another new ministry is a soup kitchen based out of the same church.

Macedonia has seen many struggles in the last few months. There has been squabbling in the political arena that’s overflowed into the streets in the form of fist fights. There’s even been a police clash with armed men in the streets which led to a discovery of a weapons cache that was enough to arm a large battalion of soldiers. Macedonia is also working to conform to the requirements of the European Union so that they might gain membership in the near future.
Financial Update

First, thanks to all of you who have already contributed to my trip in pledges or in a one-time donation. It is much appreciated. Unfortunately, I am still in need of more financial support. At this point, I still need to raise about $900 in monthly pledges for my trip. If I were to raise a lump sum equivalent, I would need about $22,000. I need your help to get to Macedonia and serve the church there. I am reminded of the analogy of the church being a body and each part supporting the others. I believe that I need the rest of the body’s support to be able to go to Macedonia and do the work that God has called me to do. I need your support! Please pray about how you might be able to contribute if you are not already. If you are willing to help me get to Macedonia, please send a note stating how much you’re willing to give to: Assemblies of God World Missions, 1445 N. Boonville Avenue, Springfield, MO 65802-1894. If you would like to give towards my trip, please send your tax deductible checks to the above address and put the account number 2943561 in the memo line. I can’t do this without your help!

Prayer Needs

1. Pray for me as I prepare to go to the field. Pray that God continues to develop my ministry skills while I remain in the states.

2. Pray for my relationship with Rebecca. Pray that God grows and matures our relationship and continues to prepare and grow us towards marriage.

3. Pray for Macedonia and the surrounding countries in Southeastern Europe. Pray for the church there that God would bless them and their ministry. Pray for the missionaries that are striving to build the church.

4. Pray for the Thomas family and their ministries to the gypsies. Pray for their safety and health. Pray that God will prepare them for my arrival.

5. Pray for my finances. Pray that I will be able to raise the rest of my budget. Pray for the technical details of my trip like where I’ll be living when I get there. Pray that God will continue to open my mind to understand the Macedonian language. Pray that God will prepare me to transition into and understand the Macedonian culture. Pray that God will get me to Macedonia soon!

Thank you all for everything! I really do appreciate every one of you!

Yours in Christ,

Christopher R. Parkinson

Recent Events

2008-01-12T04:13:00.000+01:00

There's been a lot of interesting events recently. I'll list two of them here. One was a dream that I had that got me a little excited. I won't list the person's name here so they won't get embarassed but I had a dream that someone close to me was a Christian. This person isn't right now, but in my dream they were. Not only that, but they had someone else with them. But they had a phone and had came to me urgently asking me to talk to the person on the phone and as I took the phone, they sat down and fervently began to pray. If you want to know who the person was in the dream, you should message me and I might tell you, but you can see that for a Christian man as myself, this type of dream is hopefully a vision of something to come. The hope that it is a vision, and the person that it was about is why this dream was so significant to me.

Second, I had a recent breakthrough in a hard part of my life and realised that the only solution no matter how much I want to take control and figure it out, is that I have to TRUST GOD! I know, I know, it's basic stuff in a Christian lifestyle. It's the only thing that seperates us from the rest of the world. We have someone that is true that we can put our trust, our hope, our faith in! It's so hard to do sometimes though! So praise God that He revealed that to me again, and pray that He continues to do so, 'cause it's so easy to forget when life starts happenning!

Current Status

2007-09-19T23:12:00.000+02:00

I have had a lot of stuff going on throughout the summer. I apologize to readers that were awaiting updates along the way. The most significant update would probably have to be with my relationship status. Rebecca and I had a very quick but rich summer of growth. God truly grew us in so many ways and the culmination of that was in our getting engaged on August 14th. As nothing is truly final until it happens, our plans are to get married shortly after my return from Macedonia. She is currently attending Greenville College in Illinois and will be there for two more years. Time frames work out amazingly. More recently though, I came down with Tonsillitis a little over two weeks ago, and in the course of treatment had bloodwork done to show me the root cause was that I have Mono! So I have been resting since I've found out. I believe God gives me strength to do what I need to do though and am thus in Morgan Hill to speak at a Missions Week service tonight, not only to work towards raising my support for my trip but also in an effort to motivate students to seek after God's calling on their life. So all in all, even though I have been sick and having a hard time being away from my fiance, I am still doing well.

Tough Issues

2007-07-02T08:51:00.000+02:00

I've been dealing with a lot of issues in the past month. Everything from juggling work with speaking appointments and house sitting for a couple from my church to worrying about money in several ways (phone bills that are outrageous, finances for my trip, and food and gas for two instead of one). It's been a struggle. I've struggled over my devotional life, which is wonderful now. I'm finally back on to a regular devotional schedule where I read a few chapters a morning and spend serious time in prayer. I've struggled over time frames in my relationship with Rebecca, including whether or not to go to Macedonia first followed by marriage or the other way around. Then once I realized God's call on my life (again really) to got to Macedonia first, struggling through Rebecca's calling for that time with her. It's been rough. Ever heard of growing pains? I think there's such a thing 'cause growth really does hurt sometimes. It's straight up painful! In the end though it is rewarding. God has really pulled us closer to him through everything that we've been through. It's funny though 'cause it seems Rebecca and I change perspectives almost on a weekly basis and are stretched in a different area. I guess that happens when you have a short amount of time in your relationship to be physically with someone and learn about them (physically observing and getting to know them) before you have to revert back to a long distance thing on the phone and over the internet and snail mail or whatever other long distance communication option there is out there (I'm sure if we don't know about it and yet it exists, we'll find out about it soon!). Things get overwhelming so easily these days. Every thing said or done has potential to be a negative issue that we have to struggle with, so I thank God for the times of quiet. Especially those times when I get to just hang out with Maggie (a small border collie), Finneus (a schnauser), and of course my beautiful girlfriend down at the house I'm house sitting at.

Before I go to bed I thought a rundown of my next week's schedule should be included.

I am house sitting and will be for the rest of this week and only Lord knows how long into next week.

I will be travelling to Castroville, CA on Saturday (a 7.5- 8 hr drive) to speak in a church Sunday morning. After that service, I'll travel NW to Morgan Hill to speak at a church's small group sessions (3 to be exact). Then on Monday morning I'll be driving home.

Monday night, I'll be doing night security at a teen camp for a friend of mine's camp. I'll be doing that at around 8PM-2/3AM every night through Thursday. In the day time starting Tuesday, I'll be working either part or full time.

On Friday, Rebecca and I are going to try and go to Clearlake for the weekend with my aunt and uncle. We'll probably kayak on Saturday then come home.

On Sunday we'll be teaching the pre-teen class again that we started today at church, then on Monday I'll be at work again full time.

That's it for now, but I may end up scheduling something else in there. Yeah, I know... you're wondering how I might manage that, but you're not alone. I'm wondering the same thing already!

Rebecca and I

2007-06-02T07:55:00.000+02:00

My beautiful girlfriend finally arrived last Tuesday. It's been over a week now, and it's been simply amazing. We have done a lot together and even though we've only been together here for about 10 days, I can already see so much growth in our relationship. Things will be difficult at times, but God's growing us together. We started a wonderful devotional for couples on Monday and it's challenged us and stretched how we think and perceive things. I am so excited for what's going to happen this summer.

Airplanes, Airports, and Heroes?

2007-05-17T02:34:00.000+02:00

Yep, I've been on 3 flights today and I still have one left to go. I'm on my way to my Montana, but I have 3 hours left in Seattle before we will be heading there. I've been in four airports so far. Eureka/Arcata, Redding, Portland, and now Seattle. Now I am watching an episode of heroes on my computer sipping on an iced vanilla late from Starbucks. This is turning out to be some day! I can't wait 'till we're finally in Montana!

My foot is hanging in mid-air...

2007-05-12T05:41:00.000+02:00

Take a moment and picture a giant...

Good, now picture him walking along a road. Imagine how long it takes for this giant to take each stride, how long it takes for him to lift his back foot off the ground and bring it out in front of his other foot and lower it to the ground. Now keep this picture in your mind and you'll understand quite easily the state I am and have been in for a while now. You see, I have taken my foot off the ground and began stepping into this wonderful new part of my life. This current step is the one that will land in my being in Macedonia for two amazing and life changing years. While my foot is off the ground, it hasn't quite landed yet, but some how I feel as if this step is somehow completed and my thoughts constantly go towards where my next foot fall will land. This next footfall is what will happen after my journey to Macedonia. Where will I go? What will I be doing? Who will be involved in it? Although some would warn against me looking so far ahead at this point, seemingly neglecting the 2 years I'll be in Macedonia, I feel somewhat content with it! I surprise myself with that point, and almost scare myself with that point. Then I remember, this trip began as something not my own. It was something that I was called into, something pre-determined for me. When I decided after nights of tears and struggling over a measly application to go ahead and do it, I had to decide to let go of it at the same time. I am the type of person who likes to have some say in how I do things. I like to organize priorities, even though I don't appear like I do at times, I do! I like to have some control. With this trip, I knew from the beginning, and for the better, that I had no control over it. I didn't know where I was going to go, who I was going to serve with, how I was going to get there, what I was going to do! I had no say in it from the beginning. Of course, yes, I did decide in a sense to go to Macedonia with this specific missionary but it was only because God led me to this point of security in it. So should I be thinking of the next giant stride of my life even though my foot hasn't even fallen to end the stride I'm on yet? I don't think so, but I do think I need to be focused more on this stride to be completely honest. I think that's the balance of walking...

This past week

2007-05-11T07:11:00.000+02:00

I have been sick for the last few days. Because of it, I have been trying to medicate myself so that I can get better as rapidly as possible. I leave next Wednesday for Michael's wedding in Montana and am looking forward to it quite a bit. I like the idea of being able to support a friend by being one of his groomsmen. I've known Mike since about kindergarten so it's nice to be able to be a part of and see him starting the rest of his life. In the meantime, Rebecca made it safely home to Highland, Illinois. She'll be flying out here on May 22nd, only 2 days after I return from Mike's wedding in Montana. This next week will fly by so fast, and she'll be here before I know it!

In the meantime, I am still waiting for my financial update to come from Missouri for the last month's donations and pledges. I know a lot of people have contributed and I'm really excited to see how much people have given to my trip. I have also sent out all except about 8 of my newsletters so that's also exciting. I only have one more to write before I am scheduled to leave for Macedonia.

That's life for now.

A Cool Saturday Morning in Redway

2007-05-05T18:46:00.000+02:00

I'm sitting in my living room on this beautiful cool Saturday morning in May. My living room is freezing and I'm sipping on a cup of Starbucks Sumatra roast to kick my day off right. I have a day of cleaning house and yard work ahead of me, but I thought I may just write a bit before I get it going. It was brought to my attention by my beautiful, loving girlfriend that I haven't written in a while so I have decided to do just that.

A little while ago, I went to the Nor Cal Nevada district of the Assemblies of God's district council. It's a set of meetings for all of the pastors in the district to come together and take care of the business issues that face the district, to worship together, fellowship, and share their ministry with eachother. They even have breakout sessions/seminars to encourage the pastors in different areas of their ministries. I went to see some old friends that are serving in full time ministry and also to possibly make new friends. I stayed with Scott Tuttle, who is the youth pastor at a church in Morgan Hill but he's a good friend. He helped me make a few contacts with pastor friends of his so I might be able to visit their churches and gain their support for my Macedonia trip. The trip turned out to be like a family reunion because I saw a lot of my dear friends from my life at Bethany and catch up with them a bit. I know that they are friends for life, and that's exciting as I sit here in Redway with fairly few friends close by.

In a few weeks I'll be making my way up to Montana to be in another friend's wedding. I look forward to my time away from Redway. It will be a sort of vacation from the repetition that seems to consume my days this spring. Only two days after I return from Montana, Rebecca will be arriving and I can't wait to see her. I want so much to get to know her in person instead of over the phone. We can talk until we're both blue in the face but it doesn't allow us to truly know eacother until we can experience each other in person. I look forward to those times so much.

This summer is shaping up to be a busy and exciting one. With Rebecca, ministry, visiting churches around the state, and of course work on the side, my summer is not going to be lacking much excitement!

Things you could pray for me about:
That I continue to be diligent about my time with God,
That I would continue seeking God's guidance with my relationship with Rebecca,
That God would keep me safe in travels
That God would provide what I'll need for my trip.

Projects of Late

2007-04-17T22:45:00.000+02:00

I have writer's block so bare with me as I work through the thoughts I have just to get at the ones I need to get down on paper. I've been busy and I am a little overwhelmed. I'm sure that I'll be feeling this way a lot in the near future, probably until about a year into my Macedonia trip. That's life I guess. I have been trying so hard to finish writing my second newsletter. I have one or two paragraphs left before it can be sent out or at least proofread. In the meantime, I'm working full time and that's exhausting me, not so much the work as opposed to what goes on in that environment. Other people exhaust you without much effort. Sometimes it's just their personalities, other times it's the baggage they carry with them. Sometimes it's a combination of both colliding together to create an amazingly beautiful piece of chaos (think on that for a while!). Besides work, I've had my missionary visit me, I've spent my first Easter Sunday at my Redway church, and just this weekend I visited a church in Shelter Cove that decided on the spot to give me a one time gift of 500 dollars and pray about pledging a monthly commitment. I praise God for small bodies of believers like that one because that's what is going to keep me alive in Macedonia for my two year term. I know they'll be praying for me and that's exciting! I mean, for a little while I felt like I was in a small house church in some other country or something. I think I can see the faithfulness of those small groups of believers that gather against much opposition and minister in ways that seem impossible because of their size. I had a glimpse of another part of the body of Christ and it was beautiful. I also had a glimpse of a beautiful day at the cove, of which I took a few pictures in attempts to be artistic. I hope they're good. Last night though, I got a call from David saying that he had to go visit some people today and that "Tag!" I am "it" for tonight's Bible study. Gosh, I know I need to be prepared in and out of season, but that's short notice if I've ever seen it! I couldn't even fall asleep and get up early like I wanted to in order that I could work on it. Here I am with a direction to talk about Characteristics of God from Psalm 18. Mostly from the first part, but I may have someone read the depiction of how God rescued the psalmist from the raging torrents to illustrate how this person saw God in their circumstances. I hope it'll work and be a good discussion topic. I am stressed about it though. I almost feel sick and I'm sure it's because of that or something that I ate at the gourmet kitchen of True Value. Well, pray for me as I continue to strive towards raising my funds for Macedonia. Soon I'll be going to the Nor - Cal Nevada District of the AG's District Council in Sacramento. I'll get to participate in the Missionary parade for the Tuesday night cultural dinner. I'll be trying to arrange dates that I may be able to go visit other churches that I have connections at too. Pray that I might get a few dates and a few pledges even through this. I'm exhausted but now I think my writer's block is gone. Even if it's not, I need to work it out elsewhere any ways.

Current progress

2007-03-28T21:26:00.000+02:00

I am doing well. I preached for the second time this Sunday. Yes it was on Joshua 1:1-9 again, but it was a totally different congregation and a slightly different sermon so it's okay, I promise! A lot of missionaries tend to preach the same message tons of times when they come back to the states because they're typically in so many different congregations that they all need to hear the same message. Any way, Brian Thomas, the missionary I'll be serving with in Macedonia is flying in from Michigan this weekend to meet me and speak at my 2 home churches. I'll admit that I'm a little nervous to meet him. He'll be the authority over me for the next 2 years and that should put a little righteous fear in any man I think. After this weekend, I'll be at my church for Easter Sunday (more than likely at least), but the following Sunday I am scheduled to go visit a church in Shelter Cove. I won't be preaching per se, but I will be assisting the pastor with his sermon illustration. He's preaching through Acts and he will be at the part where Paul gets his call to Macedonia. I don't really know what I'll be doing, but I know I'll be allright. I'm really looking forward to it. After that, I don't have anything scheduled until the 29th where I'll be teaching Sunday school for 2 Sundays. Then I have another bye week, and then I'll be in Montana for a wedding. The following Sunday, my girlfriend will be arriving (a few days before of course). This takes me through May with only 2 weekends off. It's exciting to be doing this kinda stuff. I haven't even called the pastoral friends that I have in Fresno, Stockton, Castroville, and Morgan Hill. Wow, I'm going to be busy! But hey, that's how God is working and raising up support for my trip and I'm very grateful!

So much happenning!

2007-03-27T07:58:00.000+02:00

If I were to write about everything that I want to, we would be here a while. To sum it all up, God is amazing. Psalm 139 says:

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in - behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. If only ou would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent' your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

I don't want to go into details yet, perhaps over the next few days I can make notes about all that is going on with me. Know that I am growing in Christ. I have done many new things and will do many more things on the horizon. I am busy, and as such have found that each minute thing has a purpose and I am striving to be purposefully loving in each place. It is hard, but God knows me. I love this psalm. I think I may try to memorize it...

Until tomorrow perhaps....

I Will Be Busy!

2007-03-05T07:07:00.000+01:00

With the current events taken into account, I have rescheduled my preaching time at my parent's church. I will be preaching there next Sunday. The following Sunday, I will be in Missouri. After that, I believe I will be preaching at the night time service at my Redway church. After that, Brian Thomas, the missionary I will be serving with while in Macedonia, will be preaching at my parent's church Sunday morning (April 1st) and my Redway church on Sunday night. I still have to call Rohnerville Assembly and schedule a time to go up there and speak. Oh, and I need to send out a second newsletter in the end of March! Needless to say, I will be busy!

Trial By Fire

2007-03-03T19:21:00.000+01:00

When you preach for the first time, it is hard enough. You are responsible for bringing the word of God to the ears of the congregation and for challenging them with God's truth. A daunting task and responsibility indeed. Tomorrow, I will be doing this. I will be speaking the truth to the congregation. It gets harder though. I'm not just being put through this trial, but I am going to be doing it to a congregation that has just last night, lost their shepherd. He passed away after a heart attack. This is God's will, but that doesn't mean that it won't be hard. I've shed my tears. It hurts, but these people still need to be shown God's love through His word.

Pray for grace and God's guidance in my words. Pray that I can speak with compassion and use wisdom in how I would best approach the situation. I am not sure what will happen at service tomorrow, but given the pulpit, I will be ready to preach. It is my trial by fire. Everyone goes through one and this is mine.

God, take my mouth and anoint my words that they may bring comfort and love to this hurting congregation. Help me to be able to point them back to you if I am indeed called on to do so.

***Update***
I won't be preaching tomorrow. I got a phone call and they have other things they want to take care of. I will be rescheduled, but I know it still won't be easy going back there any time soon. It will still be a tough place to preach for me. I still think it will be a trial by fire.....

God's provision

2007-02-24T03:16:00.000+01:00

God is providing!

I sent out my newsletters to many many friends and family. There are more names than I can remember on that mailing list! God is faithful though and people have been seeking him about giving to my help support my trip. In the last week, I've recieved promises for a one time donation of $250 and $50 a month in pledges towards my monthly budget. I also recieved a donation today for $200! I'm amazed at people's generosity and at the encouragement that the Lord is giving me through them. I wasn't even expecting the people to give that gave today! Praise God for his provisions and for being constantly faithful... When He leads, be sure that He will provide as well!

Sermon Preparation

2007-02-21T21:31:00.000+01:00

I am currently working, rather diligently too, at building the first sermon I will be preaching to an actual congregation. I have struggled for a while on how I should go about it and how it will be an effective, exogetical sermon. I have been certain on the passage I should use. In fact, I lead a devotion with a basic 3 points from the same passage just over a month ago. I have been feeling that what I said there wouldn't be enough. It doesn't have enough meat to it, it isn't solid enough to build a full 20-40 minute sermon on. After reading the passage over and over, practicing some of my hermeneutic techniques on it, I still wasn't satisfied. This morning, I pulled out my Biblical Preaching book from one of my classes at Bethany U, and just started skimming the pages again. I soon realized that I had missed what many people consider the most important step, seeking the "Big Idea" of the passages as a whole. I've been thinking since this morning on what the big idea is for my passages, Joshua 1:1-9, and have weighed the "Be Strong & Courageous" theme, I've weighed the "Joshua stepped out and filled humongous shoes" theme, and every other thing I could think of. Unfortunately, I just didn't think any of them fit the entire passage. God has finally shown me something. The common thread is on the Lord's presence amongst his people. I finally have something that my sermon can be built on. Constantly, the book of Joshua comes back to the point of the Lord's presence, not only in 1:1-9, but in the entire book! From the beginning, it shows that the Lord is stepping in to move his people. I'm comforted and I know that this message will be one that is easily preached!

Encountering A Memory

2007-02-19T04:38:00.000+01:00

As I still have many things stored in many places from my 4 years at Bethany, I have been slowly putting things away that I would like to keep. Today I was going through my art box where, in the rushes of packing up after finals week, I threw a bunch of random things in with my painting supplies. As I was putting stuff away in my current bedroom, I found a couple pieces of paper folded together almost as if they were sent to me in the mail. Naturally I wanted to see if indeed they were a letter from someone from my past and I found that yes they were, but the best part about them is that they were written by me.
In my sophomore year at Bethany U, I went on a missions trip to England. During the trip every team member lead a devotional before we left to do whatever we were going to do for the day. The letter was two fold. It contained my notes for the devotional that I lead, and a journal entry that I wrote beforehand. As I read through both pages, a flood of memories came back to me. I was challenged by my own writing too. The devotional challenged our team to be focused on what Christ did for us and what it meant to us. It challenged us to do everything with a greater passion so as to illustrate to the kids we were teaching how much Jesus means to us.
As I read my journal entry, I remembered the England team and what that trip meant to the rag-tag group of us that went. I'm amazed to this day by the bond that most of us still have and take to heart. We all went through a lot before the trip and this trip was a renewing experience for all of us. Sure we went to London and Paris, and yes we saw Canterburry and a bunch of other south-eastern English towns. The most impacting memories are still the ones of Christ changing us and illustrating his love for us even through our own dramas and lessons that we taught the kids. I want to go to England again, but not for the same reason as most people. I want to go see the people that impacted me while I was there to impact them. I want to tell them how much the experience that they were willing to host has changed my life. I want them to know that they are valued. They wouldn't believe that I'll be going to Macedonia soon to serve as a missionary. I feel as if they're part of my family, distant, but still part. Still important. I sure hope I'll never forget times like those that I had in England. I sure can't wait to be able to look back and enjoy memories from other experiences like them too!

The beginning of a blogsite

2007-02-15T04:02:00.000+01:00

Since most of my readers will be those that know me, I am beginning a brand new blogsite that they can come to. The main reason is that I won't be too interested in logging into myspace when I start serving in Macedonia as a Missionary Associate come September. In fact, I wouldn't mind not having it now if I could avoid it, but for now it's a valid way of communicating to those around the states that I know and love. When I am in Macedonia however, I don't plan on taking a lot of time on the internet to check emails, post on myspace and wade through all the posts, messages and comments that will eat up my internet time! I do desire to give my friends and family a way to keep up to date on what I'm doing while I'm there. I will reflect here on many things. Things I encounter or go through that are physical, spiritual, or just plain interesting to me. I may take the time to converse with God through this blog, or I may just rant. Then again, I may just express my loneliness as I am sure there will be some of that for me to go through. I hope this can be both informal, informative, and interesting to all who come by and read my new blog. This is the beginning of my telling of The Story Of My Life.