eastern_europe

Eastern Europe. There are no wrong numbers…

January 24, 2008 by Keith Seabourn 6 Comments

The phone rings. “Hello. Who’s there? Who is this? I hear you, why won’t you answer me? If you don’t speak, I’ll hang up the phone.”

No one will speak when our staff member answers. He hears breathing. But since the other person will not say anything, he hangs up the phone.

Later, the phone rings again. “Hello. Who is this? Are you calling me or ringing a wrong number?” No answer. So he hangs up again.

The third time, someone finally speaks. In a timid voice, the caller says, “This is Helena. I’m 17 years old. I’ve been asking God to help me. I want to know more about God. I decided to call the number that was in my mind and see if God will answer me and help me.”

What is the likelihood that a seeker could dial a random number and be connected to one of our staff who is attending a training to learn how to share his faith with others? When the God who created the universe (and who created telephone systems) is sovereign, it is a certainty that he will connect someone seeking him with someone who knows how to lead the seeker to him.

So, the staff did what he had been trained to do. He said, “Have you heard of the Four Spiritual Laws? Law One says that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life…”

And Helena invites Christ into her life.

The next day, the phone rings again. “Hello. This is Alex. I’m a friend of Helena’s. Can you tell me what you told her?” After hearing “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life…”, Alex says “This is something I must think about and we will talk more.”

Days later, the phone rings again. “Hello. This is Andrey. I’m a friend of Alex’s. Can you tell me what you told Alex?”

A few weeks later, the phone rings again. “Hello. I am the father of Helena. Please tell me what you told her. Can you tell me some churches in my city?” After hearing the Four Spiritual Laws, Helena’s father received Christ into his life.

Remember the story I wrote recently about our expatriate staff having to leave a country? Well, this story is happening in the same country! Amazing to see what our God can do.

This story reminds me of Chris Tomlin’s How Great is Our God:

How great is our God,
sing with me
How great is our God,
and all who sing
How great, How great
Is our God.

Eastern Europe. The hard times.

January 23, 2008 by Keith Seabourn 1 Comment

Imagine this scenario. Dad goes to the airport to leave on a ministry trip. Officials look at his passport and say his visa is no longer valid. He must leave the country immediately. He cannot go home. He must get on the plane and leave the country. His family is at home and doesn’t know this is happening. He is able to telephone them and explain the situation. He has to get on a plane and fly away from his family in the midst of tremendous ambiguity and confusion. It’s two weeks before the family can pack up their belongings and leave the country also.

Over the next days, other expatriate staff (Americans, in this case) are told their visas are no longer valid. They can no longer reside in the country. Family by family, they pack up and depart.

Young national staff are now thrust into positions of leadership earlier than expected. Dealing with ministry strategies, finances, communications, and relationships with churches and other organizations now become the responsibility of those who are just learning how to run a local ministry on a campus.

Stress is high for everyone. God is sovereign and he is never surprised. But this turn of events is difficult for all involved.

This happened recently in a country in this area.

2007 has been a year of trial around the world. Just in our organization:

5 staff couples were evacuated out of a Central Asia country, leaving behind their homes, friends, and possessions — essentially everything. They were under the threat of death by religious leaders in their country.
7 staff members in a communist nation are currently in prison.
2 staff members were martyred in a closed nation earlier this year, targeted by radicals due to their faith in Christ.
5 staff serving in Gaza, along with their families, were recently evacuated from the area after a Bible bookstore manager — with whom they shared a building — was martyred. That manager had come to Christ through the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.
In another nation too sensitive to name, 6 staff are in prison for sharing their faith.
More than 40 staff are imprisoned in a closed nation, sentenced to five years, for insulting the dominant religion of the country. They include several mothers of young children.

How do we think about these difficulties? How to we continue on when facing such persecutions and trials? Some thoughts come to mind:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39).

As one speaker here at the Eastern Europe conference reminded, “We’ve read the book! We know the ending! The good news is that God wins!”

Eastern Europe. Lake Balaton.

January 22, 2008 by Keith Seabourn 2 Comments

The site of the Eastern Europe Staff Conference is Tihany on beautiful Lake Balaton. The first days were foggy, but yesterday, the skies cleared and it was beautiful. The sunset was amazing. You can see the sheets of ice on the lake.

I’ve uploaded more photos. Click here to see them.

According to Wikipedia, Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe. It’s a popular tourist destination, but mainly in the summer months. That makes it a good place for a huge conference in the off-season.

Eastern Europe. Languages everywhere.

January 21, 2008 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Kay and I enjoy being in an environment where there are many languages. Overcoming the results of the tower of Babel take effort. Here at the Eastern European Staff Conference, there are translator booths where live translation takes place. Five booths: Polish, Bulgarian, Albanian, Romanian, and Russian. All speaking is done in English. Those who need translation are given FM radios and headphones. Translators do the grueling work of live translation for the many hours each day during main sessions.

Last night, we spent 2 hours in a concert of prayer. It was great. Kay and I prayed with a staff mom from Albania. She spoke good English, but preferred to pray in Albanian. This is very normal. I was never able to pray in Hausa either, so I completely understand! It’s amazing to sit in a small group of three at the foot of the throne of grace and mercy and know that God hears our prayers and understands our language.

Singing worship songs in English, Russian, Romanian, and Slavic was a challenge, but really fun.

Ahh, heaven is going to be a glorious place. I have no idea what language or languages we will speak, but I’m confident that we will all understand!

Eastern Europe. Amazing stories.

January 20, 2008 by Keith Seabourn Leave a Comment

Who is an evangelist? Anyone who feels the moral responsibility to tell others about Jesus. Anyone who recognizes people are lost without Jesus, that people without God are perishing. ( first national staff member in Poland)

Kay and I are attending the Eastern Europe staff conference in Hungary. We’re in Tihany, a resort area in the summer, but a lake of ice in the winter. [Click here for a map.]

We’re hearing tremendous things. We’re hearing amazing things.

(To see the countries mentioned below, go to LonelyPlanet. Move your mouse over the name of the country on this webpage and see the country highlighted. Very helpful!)

In Romania, a student shared with his roomate. The roommate received Christ and began going around on campus sharing Christ with others. The roommate was talking with his Orthodox priest. The priest asked “How do you talk to people about Jesus?”. The student explained the basic gospel using a simple presentation. The priest went with him witnessing. He saw people coming to Christ. Seeing lives changing has transformed his preaching and ministry. Another priest asked the first priest how to share his faith. They cycle continues, one-at-a-time. This is how movements are born.

In Moldova, 5000 people were contacted through surveys. This was exciting, but how could they followup all these people? Someone suggested using text messaging. So they created 8 messages. They found Christian students who wanted to be a part. The first message begins, “Hello. My name is __. I want to tell you news that changed my life. Call me.” People would call back to hear more. One girl called back and during the conversation, she received Christ. She’s now in a bible study.

Poland is exploring a partnership with Czech Republic. The director in Czech had asked the director in Poland to send staff. The Poland director wondered, “Why are your needs more important than ours here? We have a strategic plan. We have many unreached campuses. We need our staff to do our own plan.” Then he attended the Campus Mission 2007 conference in Busan, Korea. Someone there was speaking on the principle of giving. He talked about tithing. The director for Poland began to think about giving a tithe of his staff to help reach the world, starting in Czech Republic.

And on and on it goes. Our cup runneth over and it’s only Day 1!