Micah is 5, let the whip cream fly!

We began the month of February by sketching a picture of a birthday cake on the calendar on the 21st. The talk of a birthday party filled the house and the boys focused on what flavor cake "they" wanted for Micah's special day. One morning Micah came up to me and said "Mom, don't worry about my birthday. I don't have any friends to come to it, so it's no use." My heart melted inside me immediately! He has made friends since living in Bulgaria but friendship looks different right now and that lonliness is felt by all of us. I tried to reassure Micah that he had friends here and that a birthday party didn't mean gifts and kids filling a house, it was a time to thank God for his life and celebrate that gift of life with his family. The truth was my heart was aching for him. During Malta a wise woman comforted me by reminding me that he will not realize he is missing out on anything unless we live life like he is. I walked away from our conversation and realized the truth in her statment. I can stand with one foot in America and one foot in Bulgaria and always be looking back and forth but I will never be fully engaged in our new life if I do. Things are going to look different for us but it doesn't mean that the change is better or worse. Differnt doesn't mean we're going to miss out on what we used to do but rather we will gain a differnt way of doing it. There were alot of things that "weren't" at Micah's birthday but what was there were smiles and alot of them. Ben proudly decorated Micah's cake for him and presented it to him after dinner. It was a special time and we gained great memories and missed nothing =)

The next day the boys were pretending to be babies and I was feeding them a bottle of whip cream! (Micah was baby Hulk and Ben was baby Iron Man) =) Who wouldn't want to keep playing that game!? So what does a sweet cuddling moment in the Phillips's house turn into...a full on whip cream fight! We smeared whip cream on each other, in hair, on walls and eventually ended the game by landing two sticky boys inside a bathtub. Why not have a good reason to mop?! =)

Malta

Malta! Hands down the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. For history lovers like Cameron, Malta is engrossed in it. During World War II, Malta was the most bombed place in the war. At a church called Mosta a group of people had gathered inside to find shelter from the bombing. While seeking shelter and praying a bomb fell through the roof of the church and did not explode. A replica of this bomb sits in the church today as a reminder of divine protection that is unfortunately not attributed to the true Savior’s hand. Malta is also found in the New Testament. In Acts 27 and 28 Paul is sailing as a Roman prisoner headed to Rome. While sailing, a storm arises and the ship is destroyed leaving Paul, the other prisoners and the Roman guards stranded on a foreign beach they come to know as Malta! We actually stayed at a hotel on St. Paul’s Bay where it is believed their ship crashed. We went and visited the old cave area Roman guards used as their prison and where they believe Paul was held. We went to Mdina and saw the city that was very likely the same place Paul would have come to heal Publius’s ill Father. There was so much history and so much of it coming to life before your eyes as you walked, saw and relived what once was. It was by far the best trip we’ve ever taken and the most beautiful place we’ve ever seen. Oh and just to prove scripture’s truth once more: Taken from Acts 28:2 describing the people of Malta, “The local people showed us extraordinary kindness…” They still do! (Picture of cave above)
Malta provided a wonderful time of refreshment and allowed us to meet Roma team members from all over Europe. I cannot fully explain how wonderful it is to be at the beginning of this journey and hear stories from the people who have been running this race much longer. To hear of Roma who not only are transformed by the Word of God but who then comprehend what Christ commands and they in turn “GO” and become a city on a hill for those around them is so cool! To hear light jokes of those who have had a dollar stolen but not their smile or their call, gave me little boosts of encouragement. All in all I looked around the room, I listened to testimonies and I sat honored to be in the presence of those I look up to and hope to learn from. A group from New Orleans came to provide a vacation Bible school for the kids and Micah and Ben had an awesome time!! Some from the group brought a couple of treasures for our family from friends back in New Orleans and this gave us the opportunity to give Micah the perfect birthday present: Blueberry Pop tarts!! In addition they brought a chocolate cake mix and chocolate icing so that I didn’t have to make his cake from scratch on Monday. These were beautiful treasures to our family and Micah’s birthday was wonderful! We just want to make sure they all know how lucky we felt to get those things and how sweet those gifts were. (Picture and evidence of the excited boys with a pack of gushers above)
Another beauty about Malta is that almost everyone speaks English. It was spoiling to just speak! To say things in the moment, to tell jokes and laugh, to share my heart without searching for words and most of all to share Christ with others again! If you asked me what the hardest thing is about living in Bulgaria, I would say hands down it is the inability to tell people about what Christ has done in my life. To feed a Roma man today and not be able to sit and talk with him about bread that feeds the soul rather than his stomach kills me! To hand a tissue to an old lady who then wants to have a full blown conversation with me hurts my heart to only reply “I don’t understand” and all of this to walk away from these people who possibly think I am a nice person rather than it being known that it is Christ who is compelling me to love them devastates me! Don’t take this treasure for granted if you live in a place that you can speak fluently in! When your tongue disappears all you will desire to do is tell people about Him! To see people daily in captivity and walk by knowing you have the key to set them free should make you never Shut Up!! Speak, Tell, and Love through Him and don’t sit silently. When your tongue disappears, your heart will explode within you begging to speak words of life to others! Please don’t take it for granted.
Please take a moment to pray for the salvation of Mike and Jacob. We were able to share Christ with them during our stay in Malta. Other members from the Roma team were able to share Christ with Maltese and if you’ll pray for their decisions I would appreciate it.

Trafficking Meeting

"For Rent" when we see a sign like this we think of apartments, houses, or a building for business. For some women "For Rent" is a sign they carry around on their chest, placed there by a pimp.
Saturday I went to a meeting that was held by a group of evangelical women from different back grounds. Some were social workers, others were lawyers, some were Americans and many were Bulgarians. Some were from Sofia and others traveled to Sofia from outside cities but all had a common interest: How does the Christian community help prevent trafficking in our area and help restore the women who want to get out? With every suggestion that was made, there were laws to be considered, there were financial burdens to be considered, and there was the topic of safety to be considered for workers and for the women who would flee.
Here are some of the things I learned and have taken away from this meeting:
Trafficking is a well organized network and most women are not taken by chance, it is planned or they are given to the network by family or friends who sale them. Some women, most with a back ground of childhood abuse, go into this field willingly with the expectation of doing it for a short time until they financially change their lives and can get out. Unfortunately for these women who willingly volunteer for this they don't get out and they don't make the money that is promised. They like the picture says they are "for rent" and will continued to be owned by someone else.

We learned of a 37 year old woman from northern Bulgaria that went to have coffee with her friend and he slipped something into her drink. When she woke up at the border of Greece, she had been sold by her friend to a pimp. This woman had a 13 year old son at home and was past the age that you would assume a victim would be taken. After some time she was able to escape and she came to a church in northern Bulgaria for help. The church did not know how to help her or how to provide the emotional restoration she would need and so a member of the church was at the meeting looking for resources. While the woman was sharing this story, another woman raised her hand and asked "Is this the same woman who escaped and seven men came and kidnapped her a second time?" My translator stopped and I didn't get to hear the answer but I was left with a deep sadness for whoever this woman was. I can't imagine how hard it would be to escape one time, much less ever get the chance to do it again.
Another woman raised her hand and was at the meeting looking to advocate help for a grandmother who had a grand daughter taken and exported to Germany on January 1. The grandmother had been to the police and to lawyers but had received no help. The meeting provided information on how to help this grandmother who had been previously told that "Your granddaughter is 21. She is of age to travel and should be able to take care of herself".
It was explained to us that many times police do not help and often close their eyes. Sometimes the police are given payment to close their eyes. The underground network of trafficking is well organized, well financed and supplied with lawyers and other officials that help keep the organization functioning.
Here are ways you can pray:
1. Pray for the laws to be changed in Bulgaria. Currently 14 is the age of consentual sex. This gives an older man the right to engage in activity that she would then have to prove is not welcomed. This age increase would also put a block on the child marriage market amongst the Roma.
2. Pray for churches in Bulgaria to see this problem and act. Many of the churches across all denominations turn an eye to this problem and don't believe it to be a problem until a prostitute comes to them for help or until it is one of their family members.
3. Pray for the court systems to not drag their feet when a woman is willing to testify and for the law to better define trafficking so loop holes can be minimized.
4. Pray for a Christian center to open in Bulgaria that will provide a safe house and rehabilitation emotionally and spiritually. There is currently only one place like this in Sofia and they only offer one month of free shelter and counseling.

It is my goal to attend these meetings and gather information and know how God can use me amongst the Roma to help prevent girls in the community from becoming potential victims.