PRAYING FOR THE ROMA

A gate called Beautiful

2012-02-13T05:12:00.000-08:00

Acts 3
"A man who was lame from birth was carried and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful so that he could beg from those entering through the gate on their way to the temple."

He sits outside the gate called Beautiful, invisable but hoping to be seen,

He sits and begs and waits for help as the religious pass by this man unclean.

From the womb he has been lame and without hope he daily survives,

And he sits by the gate called 'Beautiful' watching the religeous pass him by.

The religious are so busy as the walk pass him on their way to worship God and confirm their dignified place,

The begger contiues to sit at the gate called 'Beautiful' waiting for the day someone shows him grace.

Like this begger's story in Acts chapter three,

Every day people sit at a gate called 'Beautiful' and look for the hope that is found in you and me.

The world passes them by as they sit at the gate praying to be seen,

The world sees their dirt, their mistakes and contiues to walk past the lame and unclean.

But Jesus speaks and says "You are created with a purpose, open your eyes and see-"

"Sitting by a gate called 'Beautiful' won't bring you beauty because it is only found in Me."

Jesus continues "I lift up your face with my hands and silver and gold I do not give"

"My sweet child sitting at the gate 'YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL and MY life I gave so that you can live."

Every day someone is sitting by a gate called 'Beautiful' waiting to be seen,

Will you stop and tell them about life in Christ or continue to walk past the begger and unclean? -Jennifer Phillips

"..At the name of Jesus the beggar's feet and ankles became strong and he jumped up, stood and started to walk. He entered the temple complex walking, leaping and praising God. All the people saw him and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple."

My prayer is that God will continue to use us to stop walking past the invisable and that we will see the insivable people of this world leaping as they enter the Beautiful gates of heaven with praise and the world will be amazed that the hand of God overlooks no one and by the blood of Christ EVERY ONE is beautiful. God knows how to treat His bride and his children don't sit by a gate but get to walk through it leaping and shouting the praise of His great name!

When it melts...

2012-02-07T23:13:00.000-08:00

As you know Europe has really been hit with a harsh winter and new numbers are reported daily of lives lost to freezing tempatures or like in Bulgaria the dams that recently broke and claimed lives with flood waters. My prayer for our country is that the temperatures will heat gradually and not quickly. With so much snow we could see problems with flooding should the snow melt quicker than the rivers and streams can handle.
The group we work with live right by a small river run off from the mountain. Living by this water gives them supply for drinking, cooking and bathing but I have a concern that living so close can be very dangerous for them should the snow melt quickly and overflow streams and rivers. Above, the pictures taken before the snowfall show us crossing the area I am talking about and a glance at their homes right next to it. Please pray for our country, the homeless who are losing their lives to the temperatures throughout Europe and for the temperatures to be gradual as they increase in heat. No flash floods!

A big smile, a weak heart

2012-02-06T11:45:00.000-08:00

We have a little friend who goes by the name of DiDi in our Roma community who needs your prayer. He was born with a heart condition and had surgery as an infant but still needs at least a total of 3 more. Unfortunately he needs to be 100% healthy before he can receive the next surgery and he has struggled to stay healthy. DiDi is 3 years old and wears a huge smile on his face but his heart is weak. You can see him in the above picture sitting in my lap in during our Bible study and also with his mother in the other picture. (pictures used above were given permission to by used on this website by the mother of Didi in order to generate prayer support for his health needs)

On Sunday, the leader of the Roma group informed us that Didi has been unable to breathe well and had grown significantly more ill and asked if Beth and I could drive his mother and him to the hospital. When we arrived to pick them up, we noticed the shade of blue on his face and our hearts were heavy with concern. At the hospital the doctor said that she believed 100% without an x-ray that he had pneumonia and needed to be hospitalized however he would need a hospital that had a cardiology department. Unfortunately they could not help him and referred him to a different hospital. The problem is that Didi's mother had previously sought help from this particular hospital and stated that the hospital they referred us to had threaten to call social services and take away her son if they returned because she lived in a tent and not a home. I can say that I would prefer to see them living in a house somewhere too but that's not the case and since we are in their homes each week I can vouch that their homes are clean and warm on the inside. She lives differently than I do but we love our children just the same and I understood her fear of possibly losing him. We talked over different options and she decided to visit an urgent care center in a different area of town. The doctor there did not X-rays and very quickly diagnosed him with a sore throat and prescribed some medicines. I asked three or four times if his lungs were okay and every time I was told there was no problem with his lungs but only that his throat was swollen and was the cause for the breathing trouble and wet cough. Our heart is heavy tonight for Didi because we don't want an incorrect diagnosis to cause him further complications but also relieved that if it is only a throat infection then we should see our friend with a smile back on his face and healthy. Please pray for our little warrior Didi and for is heart to stay strong until his next surgery. Pray that the sweet hand of our Lord lay across his chest and help him breath tonight and that he would regain his health, especially in these unbelievably cold times across Europe.

Praise God for those who helped us collect some blankets for this sweet group of brothers and sisters in Christ. Praise God that we found three snow suits for three of our smallest kids in the community at a very cheap second hand store. Praise God for the honor we have to call the people of this group our friends and work beside them each week as they learn of the unending love of their Savior. Praise God for placing friends like Justin and Beth in our life to help with every daily task needed in this ministry. Our God is faithful and our God is good!

He Redeems!

2011-11-08T23:28:00.000-08:00

Last night I hosted a dinner/play date for a child and his mother from Benjamin's school. I was so excited and nervous. I cooked three different things and then decided spagetti would be best. Unfortunately she nor her child knew what spagetti was and seemed sceptical =) Whoopsie! Thought it was a universal meal.
The children played very well together and Micah and Ben were awesome listeners and followed directions whenever I needed to ask them to do something. My guest was impressed and asked "How do you get them to do that? You ask them one time and they listen to what you say." Then she started tearing up and I saw the feelings of a defeated parent surfacing. I admitted quickly that the behavior she was witnessing was wonderful but not always consistent and neither was my behavior. I told her how the night before I laid in bed crying because I had yelled at Benjamin two times that day and saw how it crushed him. I told her how Micah listens and is very obidient and so I therefore expect perfection from him and do not exhibit patience when he fails to listen. I told her of the behavior charts we use and how effective consistent time out is. But I failed to tell her that all the behavior charts in the world and all the time outs are not the results she is admiring in my house. What she is seeing is God's love and grace in action. She is seeing a family that prays over their decisions with parenting and children who know that God controls their home. How did I fail to mention this?! How did I dare take away from the amazing family life God has given us and instead give credit to a stupid behavior chart?! I felt so dumb and foolish after she left and prayed God would redeem my mistake.
The next morning when I dropped off Benjamin, she walked through the door. I've seen her less than five times in all the mornings I've taken Benjamin so this was not just a chance meeting. She walked out with me and asked if I would like to ride with her and I said yes. She started telling me about how wonderful last night was and asked if we could meet again next week and I quickly said yes. Then for one hour we sat in her car and talked (I guess being late to work is okay). Every question she asked was like God wrote it out and put it in her mouth and He was exalted! Pray for this relationship and for my speech to always be ready to give account for the joy I have.
"I will praise the Lord at all times, His praise will always be on my lips." Psalm 34:1

Pray for Micah

2011-11-02T10:43:00.001-07:00

Today was a wonderful day for me as a mama but it was also a day of some mixed emotion. This morning Micah was already running late to catch the bus, but he was running around determined to find his green Bible. "Mom, me and my friends are going to start a Bible club today. I have to find my little green Bible!" I tried so hard to help him find it, as I could see in his face how important this was to him. Finally the threat of the bus leaving him was too serious and so I gave him one of our picture Bibles and he took that instead.
Today Micah got off the bus and immediately began to fill me in on the Bible club's first day. He told me that he opened his Bible and would ask other kids if they would like to read it with him. He said "Mom they laughed at me. One kid stuck his tongue out at me and another boy told me the Bible was stupid. Mom they just don't know how cool it is." I told Micah that we could pray for those kids and he gave me their names and we prayed for them tonight. When Cameron and I got home tonight from the Roma community Micah proudly held out his green Bible and said "Found it!" Micah said "Mom do we have any Bibles in Bulgarian so when they want to read it with me they can have a Bible in Bulgarian?" So he has his little stack of Bibles ready to take to school tomorrow.
Today was a very proud moment for me because, Cameron nor I ever encouraged this with Micah, it is simply something he and his two friends decided needed to happen and he was determined to see it happen. I am proud that at the age of five God is encouraging him to do something that I once did. This is where the mixed feelings come into play. When I was in sixth grade I became a Christian. Because my stepdad was a self proclaimed atheist, he challenged my beliefs constantly. I can honestly say I wouldn't be the Christian I am today without his challenges because they forced me to take my decision to follow Christ seriously. I carried my Bible to school with me every day, not necessarily for others to see it but because I wanted to read it every chance I got. This of course was not a popular idea amongst my peers and one day I found my Bible with a pencil sticking out of it. Someone decided to stab my Bible while I was out of the classroom. =) My senior year I had very clear directions from God to tell my graduating class about Him before school ended. I did NOT want to do this and I would spend a good part of my lunch break shaking in fear and praying in the restroom for God to let me off the hook. Every lunch hour I would go from table to table telling peers about God's love for them. Seven of my peers prayed to follow Christ! One day, my darkest day of high school was when I was sharing about God's love and a bread roll hit me in the back of the head. Soon after, mashed potatoes hit my hair and shortly after that water got thrown at me as I walked by the group of girls that did all of this. I see Micah and I am so proud but my stomach actually turns to knots at the thoughts of what following Christ will mean in his life. I know how bad those girls hurt me during my high school years but I also remember how God was closer than ever in my relationship with Him during that time. Today when Micah told me about the kids who laughed at him, stuck out their tongue and told him what he was doing was stupid I had to take a moment to not immediately want to protect Micah. I have to trust God to take care of Micah just like He took care of me. God never calls us to do something without knowing the details of the job in front of us. Just as we follow Christ and trust Him with our life we must also trust Him with the lives of our children. I don't ever want Micah to be hit with food by his peers like I was and to be picked on day in and day out by their malicious gossip, but I also don't want to deprive him of those moments. It was in those moments of trials that I became strengthened to follow God wherever He called and in whatever I was called to do. So please pray for Micah and his Bible club. Pray that he would not be discouraged by those who will call him names or laugh at him but that he and his two friends would do what God has told them to do. Praise God for the little ears that hear His voice and follow without hesitation!

Oops, Did I say "strong"...HELP ME!

2011-10-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

You think I would have learned by now that my own strength and my own abilities will always fail me, but sometimes I feel the need to try it again and be reminded of my complete dependence on God! This weekend was one of those times. A little boy spitting in my face at a play center on Saturday should have been a hint that the weekend may not be as easy as I expected it to be =) But then again, I'm pretty dense. Since I had prepared very early in the week for Sunday's lesson I felt pretty confident that it would be easy and though I thought about spending time with God over needing His help, my actions displayed my over confidence. Sunday began with more children than I had expected and I began to rush to get things in order to help compensate for my lack of preparation. Once in the class room, children were very defiant and some were quite challenging. I remembered my over confidence and I realized it's just me today. At no point this week did I invite God to go before me on Sunday, at no point did I even pray about Sunday and needing His help because in my own confidence and strength I felt like "I got this" and Sunday was quickly letting me know I DID NOT. As with God's gentle nature He allowed me to have it myself as I initially desired. When the children sat down for the story I had difficulty reading it in the Bulgarian yet that week I had practiced it so confidently. The children were restless and few listened. I quickly moved on to the game I had prepared and arguing began between the children because they didn't like the team they were on. I quickly then moved onto the color activity in order to get the kids to sit quietly and calmly. As soon as we sat down and I thought, "finally things are going better" a little 3 year old decided he was a dog and began chewing my markers and growling. I attempted to take the marker from his mouth and he bit my foot and began barking at me. He then moved on and began eating everyone's art work. The calm sitting down turned into children yelling and hitting the dog boy in the head. I had lost complete control. I thought of new games to play, I thought of different activities to do and nothing worked. In my mind I thought "At least the service is only 30 minutes!" But unbeknownst to me, that day there was a guest speaker and children's church would be an hour. I wanted to cry. I felt so foolish to have taken a step in front of God and in my own strength and confidence, think my flesh could ever be strong enough for the work He has called me to do. After the children left, Cameron tried to make me happier and asked me "what do you want to do? I know you don't want to go home and cook, so do you want to go somewhere after church instead?" I thought 'Oh yes, this is perfect.' I will find my joy restored after a cheeseburger and latte from Mc Donalds. We went to Mc Donalds and I ate my cheeseburger and took a drink of my nice warm latte. I felt something in my mouth and thought it was food until I felt a "pop" It was a fly! There was a fly in my latte and it was now in my mouth! I was ready for the day to end! It's comical now but Sunday I wanted to get a tattoo that said "YOU ARE WEAK, NEVER DO THIS AGAIN!" lol, Oh the lessons we learn in the times we step in front of God. I don't think there was a fly in my latte because I didn't pray enough, but I do think that when I live in my own strength a fly in my latte will break me. My joy and my strength is from the Lord, it is not found in my own abilities, my ministry, or a cheeseburger and latte. We are to always be humble before our God and submit to Him daily and in all areas of our life His grace will be sufficient.
"Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up" James 4:10

May you be encouraged and reminded by my weekend to spend time with God today and follow a Sovereign God whose strength is always sufficient for us. He is gracious enough to allow us to step out in our own strength, only to find we will always need Him =) Guard your heart, your mind and your time and lay them at His feet.

The wrong side...

2011-10-04T05:59:00.000-07:00

We had a meeting in Germany last week and decided to take a vacation while we were there. We made our way to Holland to visit the former home of my hero, Corrie Ten Boom. Her book "The Hiding Place" changed my life and understanding of sorrow. After losing our fifth pregnancy, a friend gave me the opportunity to read this book and read about this amazing woman who ended up in a concentration camp for hiding Jews. The thing I always remember from the book is: When Corrie was an old lady sitting in her chair, a woman asked her about life's sorrows and how sorrow could truly turn around and be something beautiful. Corrie sat in a chair and while cross stitching lifted the under side of what she was working on and said "Does this look beautiful to you?" The woman replied "Well not that side. I'm sure it's beautiful on the other side but this side doesn't show the complete picture, just threading." Corrie laid it back in her lap and said "So is the same with life sorrow, you are looking at it from the wrong side. One day we will stand next to Jesus and see the beauty of the picture. Right now you just see the threading." I take that example of her's with me always, treasured in my heart, always reminding myself that I am looking at the picture from the wrong side and one day I will be so blessed to know I was one of those threads that helped make that beautiful picture. Right now in my sweet country of Bulgaria, there are alot of threads. There are scared and hurting people. There is anger and there are angry words. There are alot of threads but I know that My Jesus is able to redeem all things for His glory. May the prayer for Bulgaria be that we can find ways to be part of the picture of beauty that is being weaved together for His glory! Our personal prayer is that we can one day look at the picture from Heaven's side and say that little insignificant piece of string right there is me =) God is an artist, a mighty creator but no one ever stands back and admires the paint jars or the unused threads, but rather the masterpiece! We can make a choice today to be left on the shelf, unused for His glory or be part of the picture. We serve a God that is so awesome to let us be a part of His work!
Please pray for our country and for our family as we work beside the Roma, equipping this people group to desire and train others to be part of the picture for God's glory.
"May God be gracious to us and bless us; look on us with favor so that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations." Psalm 67:1-2
And you may be reading this from the other side of the world but I BEG you, do not under estimate the power of prayer! You can be a mighty part of ministry taking place all over Bulgaria by praying for the Christians here who are constantly showing others the love of Christ. Be part of the picture!

When it rains??

2011-08-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

Each week we have gone out to the Roma community on Wednesday for discipleship and life skills training. In the past when it has rained in the city it has miraculously not rained in the field we work in. One time Cameron and I decided not to go because it had been raining and we honestly just didn't feel like dealing with the weather. Our translators went out without us and reported back that it rained all around the field but never rained in the field while they were there! We were so disappointed that we missed out on seeing God's hand in such an awesome way and now try to only miss going on a Wednesday if someone is sick.
So this Wednesday it was pouring all day and we knew the car couldn't get back far in all the muddy landscape and we would need to walk part of the way. We didn't even know if they would want us to come out to the community with the weather being colder and wet. Beth and I decided to stay home with kids and only the husbands went to visit. They knew there wouldn't be an option for a time of discipleship due to size limitations being that only two adults could fit under a cardboard tent. Even though their visit was good, it made us wonder what church planting looks like in this situation, outside and vulnerable to the weather. The group has expressed a desire to meet in the field they live in for church. Outdoor churches have been done successfully and my mind takes me to groups meeting under trees in Africa. I am open with the leadership of our Pastor to plant a church where a group of believers wishes to gather but I have questions. How does an outdoor church plant meet in the snow? We sit on the ground under the best tree we can find now; do we sit on cardboard in the snow? I can't wrap my mind around what church looks like with the weather elements. I don't want church to be dependent on the weather but I don't want to doubt God either, especially after He showed Himself in control over the weather the day we decided not to go out because of rain. If you can help with experience you have had or with suggestions please post on the blog or send me an email at Jencammicah@hotmail.com Please continue to pray for us as we just take each step one at a time, going forward down the path that God illuminates. Pray also for the pastor of our church, Steve, as we will look to his leadership and guidance in this matter.

"You are real"

2011-07-28T08:15:00.001-07:00

Every Wednesday Cameron, I and others go to the Roma community to do discipleship with the adults and life skills training and scripture memorization with the kids. Last Wednesday the community was being forced to move from the area of the field they had been squatting in and were unsure where they would move next. We were happy to find them in the same field this Wednesday when we visited. They were allowed to stay in the same field but had to move to a different location within it.
We walked through and talked to familiar faces and were shown the new area they're living. The children and I were about to leave the area to play when a woman called me to come over her tent. The woman's mother was sitting next to her with a pot of vegetables and some bread. When I approached the woman told me to sit and eat with them. I sat down and took some bread from her hand and dipped it into the vegetables and began to eat. Immediately the older woman began crying. I was completely taken off guard and asked my friend to translate for me and see if she was okay. She began talking and said "I see you all come here and you play with the kids and you smile at us but I wanted to know if you were real. And you are real! You are willing to eat from my dirty hands and eat my dirty food! God bless you sweet girl! I know you are real now. You don't look down on me!" I am crying as I type this out and relive this moment. Praise God! We had a very sweet conversation and I was able to share with her my story and how God loves us without hesitation. When Jesus sat at the tables of men, he looked past the hands that served Him and whether they were clean or dirty but rather looked at the heart of man. It's the stain of dirt from sin that Christ looked at and came to clean. Praise God for last night!

More pics of our last day!

2011-07-15T07:31:00.001-07:00

More Pics of our last day of VBS

2011-07-15T07:18:00.000-07:00

VBS!!!

2011-07-15T06:33:00.001-07:00

I want to apologize because though I know many of you prayed and want to see everything, you will see only pictures from our last day. From our first month after arriving in Bulgaria we have been confronted with presumption that we will only stay here long enough to snap pictures to send home and then will be back in America in a blink of an eye. We know our heart and our dedication to be obedient to God, but others do not know us in this fashion and so for the sake of image we almost always leave our camera at home. The issue of taking a picture is not worth jeopardizing ministry opportunities, so please be patient with us as we know you desire to see what God is doing. We will always try to find a way to meet both needs; the needs of supporting churches back home and the needs of people here wanting to see someone who is genuine and not someone with a camera.

VBS was amazing! The first day was spent organizing groups and expectations before enjoying the activities that were planned. We managed to find an area of the field that had very little broken glass but the trade off was stinging bull-nettle plants! =) God answered our prayers for wonderful weather and the benefit of the field provided us the opportunity to share the stories with those who didn't come to church. God also answered our prayers for workers! There were 4 couples who helped man the group activities, pass out snacks, and help with worship time and crafts. God is faithful!
We saw two salvations during our week. One was a 14 year old boy who is an "adult" in their culture and the other was a 68 year old man who always seemed stand offish but was drawn in by a merciful Savior.
On Saturday we will have a family movie night to watch the Jesus film. At this time we will have adults ready with translators to help those desiring to follow Christ understand their commitment. We approach salvation slowly because we are very committed to giving the clear Gospel message and in seeing real transformations come from authentic relationships with Jesus Christ. Those who decided to follow Christ will be involved in discipleship training on Wednesdays at 6:30. Please pray for Saturday, we feel it will be a great time of harvest after much work!

It's a God thing!

2011-06-12T23:34:00.000-07:00

I can't explain all that is happening in this Roma community but all I can say is it's simply and ONLY God! This Sunday was our first split service where Bulgarians came first and Roma attended in the afternoon. I will say Sundays will be an exhausting day for the families of the church who are dedicated to ministering in both services. Please pray for the children of our families because the Roma service starts at 1 and for alot of us, we have children who are spent by that point and need naps. God is good and He will allow us all to adjust to the needs of His church, but you can pray for our families. In addition, alot of these same families work at a church plant in the evenings and for us it meant waking up Ben during his nap and going again. With limited rest, you can imagine the sweet sounds of whinning that grace our ears all day. So pray for the workers to not grow weary and that we would see Sunday as just one day in a week that requires all of us to press ourselves a little further for the good of the body of believers and seekers. Pray also that co-labors would rise up with a heart for ministry and we can hand off some of these tasks.

Each Sunday more and more Roma come and each Sunday more accept Christ. Yesterday 5 adults accepted Christ, one being an elderly man =) Thursday of that previous week a woman who came to disipleship class accepted Christ. We are excited to see adults looking at Jesus, not as their children's God, but as their own Savior and friend.
Like the description of this blog states, it is absolutely nothing our pastor, our refreshments, our workers are doing, but is only God alone drawing people to Himself! We are just all honored to see it happening before our eyes. The neat thing is hearing testimony and seeing that the work we labor over and see no result of, can be witnessed by others years later. The Roma Christian leader who invests so much reading of scripture and evangelizing in the field during the week, became a Christian when he was introduced to Christ by a Bulgarian believer years ago in a different town. Your labor will always yield glory to God even when you do not get to witness the harvest for yourself.
Children's church is growing by leaps and bounds! Everytime we plan for a certain amount of children, twice as much show up. Every Sunday about 25 children show up for children's church. Saturday I went and purchased paint supplies for 25 kids, Sunday morning 41 children were anxious to paint! lol Our church is blessed to have people who have a heart for children helping in this ministry! I can not express how thankful I am that we are a team filled with love for kids coming to know their Savior.
On Thursdays we have discipleship for adults who have recently accepted Christ and who are seeking to know more about Jesus. Cameron and our Pastor have been faithful to meet each week, but our Pastor will be leaving for the states soon. Please pray that someone will rise up to help translate these discipleship classes with Cameron.

My Lord's Blessings

2011-06-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Since our first children's church it did not take long for opposition to begin. There are a few things you have to understand before I begin to update you on our last three weeks. First of all, Bulgarians are different and it would be wrong to assume based on this blog that they all act like the few I will mention. Second, these problems of racism still exist in America and in American churches so it will be wise not to cast judgement on the few who will be represented in this blog. The most important thing we can all do as Christ following Christians is to continue to have a willingness to check our own hearts with the Word of God and to reach out to all people, all nations and all tongues with the gift of eternal life.
So the second Sunday of children's church was just as wonderful of an experience as the first except this time I was made aware that some issues were beginning to stir regarding the amount of Roma attending the services. That evening, I was told that in two weeks the services would be divided, one for Roma at 9:30 and one for Bulgarians at 10:30. Though I had mixed feelings, I knew this decision wouldn't change anything for me, I would just have one more extra children's church. Unfortunately some approached the pastor for a meeting at the next service and proposed that Roma not be allowed in the church at all. This information resulted in prayer and fasting by some of you reading this blog and by some of us here in Bulgaria. I was heart broken by the information. A meeting was held last Wednesday and despite really poor arguments why Roma shouldn't be allowed in church a decision was made to have Bulgarians attend the first service and Roma attend the second so the Bulgarians do not come behind the Roma and catch their germs, lice and diseases. =( With this being the case, I don't know that we would have felt comfortable following John the Baptist who was a filthy wilderness dweller or Jesus who touched VERY contagious people with leporsy, spitting, foaming demon possesed individuals, a woman caught in adultry or a woman with a blood disease. Oh the depth of scriptures that flood to mind right now! With just a small reading of scripture we find evidence of God's love testifying to the contrary of this fear to love the unlovable! May we see people with eternal vision and see their lostness and not their dirt!

Well speaking of dirt, dirt and more dirt. We went to the Roma community last Wednesday. Those sweet woman were continually wiping dirt from my knees and off of my children. It was okay for them to be filthy but they continually served us by making sure we weren't! Unfortunately their attempts were lost on our two boys! The children who live in that field day in and day out were 10 times cleaner than our boys by the time we left!! The bath tub water was BLACK! lol Though we tried, we just could not clean their shoes and have dedicated them to be the shoes they wear when we go out to visit their community.
The picture above is of dirty hands holding life in them! You know, if you could have seen the dirty heart God had to take in His hands to bring me life when He touched me, then how could I ever attempt to keep my hands clean after that! I did not deserve a HOLY PURE God to get His hands dirty to save me and bring me eternal life, so how can I now expect to keep my hands clean? May I enter His gates one day with filthy hands and feet! I will serve Him even if it's hard and dirty because it will never compare to what He did to bring me life!
Since the short period of time the Roma have been attending, two men accepted Christ last Sunday and tonight a woman who came to the discipleship training accepted Christ! God is so amazing!

Two added to the Kingdom!!!

2011-05-22T11:28:00.000-07:00

One of my requests from the Lord has been to get a children’s church started here. I hadn’t found my place in church here and I really wanted to work with children. Last week our Pastor asked Cameron if he would ask me to do a children’s church this Sunday. OF COURSE was my answer and I have been excited for this day all week. I prepared and got my supplies and brought enough stuff for ten kids. When I walked into church I saw about 25 kids that would be coming to the first children’s church! Whoopsi!! =D Today at church 26 Roma attended the service and when we went into the room for children’s church the Roma sat on one wall and the other children sat opposite of them. I began reading our story of Elisha being fed by the ravens in 1 Kings 17. We learned about King Ahab and the rain not falling due to their worship of false gods and then each child participated in acting out each character in the story. It was amazing to see the children interact and see their laughter overcoming cultural barriers of race. Oh how I love how children can make love the simplicity it is meant to be. Afterwards we divided into discussion groups and the older kids dug deeper into the Word. We talked about Matthew 6 and how God will provide and knows what we need and our need not to worry. Teaching on Matthew 6 was a huge reality check for me because most of the children I was teaching spend time with their parents digging in dumpsters to make ends meet. There was a weight of responsibility teaching something so relevant that I had to check my own self and ask “Do I really believe this?” because I’ve never had to rely on this scripture like the children I am teaching do. Despite that, I could teach Matthew 6 in confidence because I know when we seek God first all of our needs are met!
At the end of our service, the translator was speaking with a boy who was very attentive during all of the teaching. She brought him to me and said “This boy wants to know God and believes in Him. He wants to be saved.” After speaking with the boy and gauging his understanding of what he said he wanted, he and another boy accepted Christ. They made a commitment to study the Word and be discipled and so this Tuesday they will meet with Cameron and begin to study.
Tonight we had our first children’s church at a church plant across town and it too went amazingly well! Only due to the glory of God because He has truly stripped me of anything I was ever confident in! Both churches desire to continue the children’s church and in the next month or two I will start classes for women who want to be trained to take over this ministry so that I can fade out and hand it over to them. The church we attend will begin a Roma service at 9:30 and a Bulgarian service at 10:30. Though this idea still seems foreign to me and I would love to see them all together worshipping as one body, I know that I am the foreigner who has no understanding of culture and will trust God to change hearts in His time and will focus on just simply loving all and following in obedience my One True Amazing God!

Please pray for the two boys who accepted Christ today. They live in a tent community in a field with their family and other Roma. Praise God for the Roma believer amongst them that brings them to church! (FORGIVE me! I have too many names swimming in my head and I am not going to write down names that I’m not sure of! I can’t remember their names right now)

Please pray for their spiritual growth to be strong as they study the Word with Cameron.

Pray for all the other kiddos who are attending children’s church in the morning and at the church plant in the evenings.

Please pray for God to put desires in the hearts of His people to take over this children’s ministry so that it can prosper under their leadership and under the sweetness of their cultural knowledge and language ability that I will never be able to fulfill.

Please pray that each door God opens, we will walk through with discernment, wisdom and NO confidence in ourselves!

Can you say APPROVED!!!

2011-05-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

A quick update to let you all know that God answered our prayers and our visas were approved! They will put the final stamp in them next Wednesday! There were interesting events taking place as we headed to hear we were approved....on our path to the visa office a huge riot broke out clear in the middle of town. Rocks, eggs and all sorts of non-sense were being thrown and clearly hate filled the air. God placed a stamp of approval on our visa and satan was forced to create his trouble elsewhere! Praise God that our visas were approved but also praise God that our children and us were kept safe during this horribly sad day. Pray for those who are so filled with hate that they attack people in their rage.

A thank you and tears

2011-05-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

Today was like any other, I had language class. It was a walk to my bus and metro like any other and like always I was hungry. I was thinking about lunch and I had 10leva in my pocket and this was my lunch allowance for the next two weeks so I was hanging on tight to it. I decided to go home and eat. Like any other day a beggar was on the sidewalk as I made my way to the bus. Unlike any other day I didn't have extra money with me for beggars ONLY my allowance that I didn't want to use! Of course if you know me, you know I couldn't just walk by even though today I really wanted to. I went to a store and fresh baked bread had just been put out! It smelled wonderful and even more than before I was struggling not to just buy it for me! Instead I purchased only one and some water and returned to the lady. Everything about my day was like any other, except the lady was about to turn it all upside down.
God has given me a heart that refuses to overlook people in society that normally get overlooked. I love these people with a passion. With this heart comes a lot of disappointment when you know you just got taken advantage of. When the beggar turns down the food you just bought them and ask for only money or like one guy who told me "Umm I only eat organic" HA! But I will never stand before Christ one day and have Him tell me "I was hungry but you didn't feed me, I was thirsty but you didn't give me a drink, I was the least of these but you didn't offer or do anything unto me" So disappointment or not, taken advantage of or not, I won't pass an opportunity to show love to the least of these.
As I returned to the woman who was dressed nicely and somewhat out of the ordinary looking for a typical beggar, I figured I was about to continue my ordinary day and she would take the food and it wouldn't really matter to her. As I gave her the food she began tearing up and say thank you to me over and over. I kissed her cheeks and hugged her but her tears squeezed my heart. I had a hard time swallowing the guilt of my selfishness that wanted to walk past her and not look back. The guilt of wanting to feed my own hunger and eat the bread I bought her. The guilt of wanting to hold on to money in my pocket and miss the biggest blessing of my day.
Praise be to God who didn't overlook this woman when I wanted to. Praise be to God who released my selfish grip on 10 Leva. Praise be to God that in my life someone always stopped to feed me, yet I sometimes find it inconvenient to show that same blessing to others. Praise be to God that I have the bread of life and I pray that she will one day have it too!

The indoor adventure of Ben and Trike...

2011-05-15T01:20:00.001-07:00

While Cameron and Micah went to church this morning, Ben and I stayed home to do some breathing treatments and try to move forward from this lingering cold. I gave him permission to ride his bike, "I just wub my new bike mommy" he would keep saying.
He packed the back of the bike with his blankie and superman chocolate milk and he was off doing laps around the house.
Every now and then he would get cold and warm up by "Ben's heater" and then he would be off again.
The snow is gone and now with spring the ants have arrived. I have a feeling ants won't stand a chance with Ben and his new trike! The ant guard is holding his ground with his new ant killing bike! If they try to run away, he will get off his bike and pull them out into the bike killing zone.
It was comical when he saw a few ants high on the wall while using his 'hand Binoculars' and was seriously considering how to run them over with his bike. I reminded him that our bike won't fly despite his little attempt yesterday to make it do so! Enjoy the pics!

Update on Visa and Life

2011-05-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

VISA:
The paperwork has been submitted and we will return to the visa office on Friday to see if we have an answer. Please pray for an answer.
Once again, THANK YOU so much to the Simmons and to the contacts that were made through them to acquire these documents in miraculous speed! I am not sure you will ever know the gratitude we hold in our hearts for your service to us for the glory of Christ!

LIFE:
These weeks have been extremely busy with visa issues, language and ministry opportunities. This week was particularly full. On Monday Ben had a runny nose and on Wednesday it was obvious he needed to see the doctor. He had conjunctivitis in both eyes and a sinus infection that was contributing to his fever. I will take him back to the doctor on Monday for a follow up.
On Friday, we took both boys to the park and ate dinner at a cafe close to the house. When we returned home the boys went to bed and within 30 minutes Micah was calling for us. Cameron brought Micah into the living room and his face and back had raised whelps all over it! It was shocking to see and confusing. The whelps itched him horribly and so I quickly dressed him and ran down to a local pharmacy. I purchased some ointment and by the time we returned home the whelps had almost completely disappeared. The allergy medicine we gave Micah before bed had been perfect timing because it helped whatever allergic reaction he was having come to a halt. Praise God!
Today, (saturday) we joined friends for a "Spring Fair" at the US Embassy. There was food and embassy workers’ selling household goods before they leave the country. I didn't know we would encounter such a mad dash and aggression for the items being sold but it was a competitive market let me tell you! lol We were fortunate to walk away with an umbrella stroller and a small bike for Ben. After the embassy sale we took the boys to a friend's house to get haircuts. They live on the sixth floor of their apartment and as we were leaving Ben asked to ride his trike to the elevator. I lifted him over the door's threshold and he peddled to the elevator but then out of nowhere decided to ride his bike down the stairs! My friend and I both screamed and before a step could be taken he was flipping down the first flight of stairs head over feet! I have to make sure you understand that we aren't talking about a flight of thirty steps but it was big enough for him to make 2 to 3 full flips. To be honest I didn't know what I was going to find when I got to him. I fully expected broken teeth, crack head, blood and/or broken bones. When I picked him up he was still doing the silent scream, the one where the mouth is open, lips are blue and no sound is coming out and no air is going in. He finally took a breath and started talking about blood on his arm but there was nothing. We looked him over and absolutely nothing was wrong! I can only say that we bought a bike that came with free assigned angles with it!
So it's been a packed weekend, times of smiles, times of relief and times of tears! Thank you for your prayers over our family because there isn't a time I don't forget to acknowledge the saints around the world who contribute to the times of mercy we encounter. Praise be to God who hears the voices of the saints!
With Love,
The Phillips

That's my God

2011-05-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

Lonliness, insecurity, body changes, inability to do everything I once took for granted...I could write five pages in detail on each of these and tell you what God has done but I think my most recent experience would be best...home. We applied for our long term visa and quite frankly I felt confident that we didn't have anything to worry about. Everything we knew they may ask for we had done our homework before hand and had brought with us. The day we returned to the visa office our paperwork was pending because they needed more documents. The three documents that were listed were already sitting at home waiting to be called for duty. The lady in the visa office informed us that if we couldn't get the required documents by our visa expiration of May 5th we would have to leave. No worries, we have everything at home. We brought the documents promptly the next day only to be told they wanted all new documents in origional form with apostils and then translated and legalized here! The paperwork from our company would be easy, but the FBI background check!? Were they kidding us? This took 6 weeks to get the first time around and we were in the states! How could we get everything they wanted in a matter of 7 days when Cameron's mom mailed us a package a month ago that still hasn't reached us? We called the FBI and they wanted new fingerprints from us and a new money order with a new payment of course. They said they throw away the finger prints so they couldn't recycle the ones we've already submitted and I laughed to myself and thought "Right, let me commit a crime and we'll see how quick they pop up in your system!" lol There was no budging either on the time it would take to get the new report, 6 to 9 weeks and it did not include the time it would take for the apostil. I began to worry about the inevitable...we would have to leave. Leave the place that's become home. Leave the language we're just beginning to speak and the relationships we've just started, FINALLY just started! Leave the home group that has only met one time and God so graciously laid in our laps. I don't want to leave...AND THEN in beautiful God fashion I heard His words whisper into the depths of my heart, "When did I give you permission to stop following me?" Home is not found in Bulgaria, America or anywhere else He calls me. My home is with Him and I need not tie myself so strongly to a place that I hesistate in protest if He whispers "Go" We are called to Bulgaria, this I know, but we are called to have our minds on our REAL home and never stop along the journey to say I can't or I will not follow anymore. God has amazingly made the impossible happen: We are allowed to stay pending the arrival of our paperwork, in 2DAYS we will have a state background check completed with an apostil and on it's way here b/c of the body of Christ back home working hard AND a senator in Washington told us to call when we send our FBI paperwork and he will personally see to it that he intervenes to move it quickly through the process! And that's my God! That's my God!

A beginning and an end...

2011-04-29T21:49:00.001-07:00

Beginning...
Yesterday evening was our first home group! Banana nut muffins filled the air and God's sweet Spirit of fellowship filled the room! We talked about God's word in our lives, looked at scripture, shared prayer concerns and came together to lift those concerns to God. It was a very sweet time together and Friday will be one of my favorite days of the week!

An End...
Our visas will come to an end on May 5th and we need your prayers. We applied for a long term visa in the beginning of April and last week received the results that it was not approved. The application needs to be submitted with more documentation. At first glance we noticed everything they requested was paperwork we brought with us from the States and was only concerned with a new law that would require us to have a Bulgarian bank account with $3,000 Leva per person in the home. This amount for us would mean $12,000 Leva which is the equivalent to around $11,500 dollars. In addition we were told if the paperwork and bank account could not be acquired before our visa ended, we would have to leave the country. The next day we met with the consulate that makes the final decisions and brought the paperwork we had with us. She said we would not accept our paperwork but would require it to all be new originals with apostils and legalized and translated here. The good news is that she will accept a letter from our organization showing financial support and will allow us to stay in the country until the documents are received. Our concern is that when phone calls were made to the States, the FBI said a new back ground check will take 6 weeks to acquire and this does not include the time of mailing things back and forth for apostils once they are acquired. Our prayer is that this amount of time will not change the status of us being allowed to stay.
Here is how you can pray:
1. We need the paper work from the States to be miraculously fast and for the postal system to be very quick.

2. We need a background check showing we are not criminals and have no warrants for our arrest from the FBI and from the general police department. These documents will need an apostil and a stamp from the departments showing authenticity.

3. Pray the length of time it takes to acquire the documents, will not jeopardize our permission to remain in the country.

4. Pray that the new law requiring such large amount of money will have a permanent loop hole with it. Providing proof of income by a company will hopefully be enough for us in the future and for others who apply after us. Unfortunately this law would force a lot of people to have to leave the country if such amounts could not be obtained.

And finally pray for our hearts to never stop following God. It's easy to come to the place God has called us and start calling it "home" but our home is not of this world. Heaven is our destination and life here is just our journey. When we heard that we may have to leave the country by May 5th I started wondering "what if” What if our visa isn't approved after we give them everything!? "What if".... And then I heard God's voice ask me, "When did I give you permission to stop following me?"
This world is not our home and we never have permission to stop following God where He beckons our feet. I pray we don't have to ever leave Bulgaria but I pray even more that I never settle so much in this world that I hesitate if He whispers "GO" in my ear.

A week of blessings!

2011-04-25T10:11:00.001-07:00

This week has been an amazing week of blessings! It started out with some co-workers letting us use their car while they were out of town. The blessing of just getting to take a break from daily public transportation and having the ability to leave the house in the time frame you need to get somewhere rather than leaving an hour early so you can catch one metro and two buses was so wonderful. The gift of the borrowed car came perfectly too because just the day before, Micah had the bus doors close on his foot and I needed a break from buses and children! (he was fine)
Another blessing of the week was on Wednesday. A friend that I introduced to you in a previous blog post, "Awesome", was participating in a Bell Choir program at First Baptist Sofia. I remember having to sit through Bell Choir programs in school and though I wasn't a fan as a child, I wanted to go desperately. When the bells started playing their songs (familiar hyms and worship songs) the tears started rolling down my face. I had missed hearing the songs I would commonly sing on Sunday mornings and the gift the bell choir unknowingly was giving me at that moment was beyond their knowledge.
After the service "Awesome" and I went to dinner and talked about our week. As the evening came to a close and "Awesome's" bus was arriving she asked me a question that was a direct answer to my prayers! The night before, I asked God if it were possible that I would love to use our home for a house group. A place people could come together and dig deeper into the Word of God and have fellowship and prayer. As the bus was approaching "Awesome" said "Hey would you be interested in having a home group at your house?" Now I know it's not very Bulgarian of me to jump up and down on the street in excitment but I said "YES!" and I know I jumped! I don't know what I looked like walking home but I would confess I probably looked crazy! I couldn't stop smiling, laughing at God's awesome way He loves us and praising Him.
So Friday we will begin our home group and ask you to pray for growth, discernment to know what God wants to teach us and for His love to dominate our lives as we fellowship together! I am SSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praying for our visas

2011-04-15T04:09:00.000-07:00

The month of April is slowly fading away and we are hopeful it will take the glimpes of random snowfall with it. The month of May will mark six months in our new home and also the end of our visa! We have the renewal application submitted and are now waiting for word of it's approval. We went to the office today and they informed us that it is still being processed. If you don't mind making this request for a renewed visa as part of your daily prayer we would greatly appreciate it!
What six months looks like:
We can speak in general Bulgarian conversation as long as it stays in present tense!
We know what taxis to take and which ones to avoid.
We know how to properly order something from a waiteress but that doesn't mean we know what we're ordering all the time!
We have routine! Our days have an agenda and we longer feel lost.
We have two wonderful language teachers and we are improving each class.
We still LOVE the zoo and expect something crazy from the animals each time we visit.
We are very ready for the spring!
We don't struggle with illness as much.
Jenn can cook confidently in her new culture but is always looking to learn more.
We have travelled around Bulgaria and are beginning to see glimpses of God's direction for us.
We have been on several dates (we didn't know how to go on dates or who would watch our kids when we first arrived)
We no longer hear dogs barking at night.
The boys can walk longer distances now and public transportation is beginning to feel normal.

Thank you for your prayers and for covering us these last six months with LOVE and support! We love you all so much and hope you can hear the "THANK YOU" our hearts scream out!

A boy named "Mother"

2011-04-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

I was nineteen and had been married a whole year when two beautiful lines clearly revealed themselves to me on a pregnancy test! I never imagined the difficult road that lay ahead of us and the tears and prayers that were waiting in our future on the journey to become parents. It was after our third loss that Cameron and I found a scripture in Micah 7 verse 7 "But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me." When we became pregnant again we vowed to name our child Micah if he was a boy in honor of the verse we held on to and for the glory of a Savior who always hears His children. Micah was born February 2006
Five years later....We arrive to Bulgaria and within the first week we realize Micah's name is the same word used as 'Mother' We suggested to Micah that he might consider going by another name and he tried it but insisted on just being "Micah" and we agreed. When Benjamin was born we almost named him Luke and decided against it. In Bulgaria the name Luke would have been the same as onion! So we laughed and would say "God You knew You were going to send us to Bulgaria, why did you let us name our child 'Mother'" and then follow up with "Well at least you helped us not end up with a 'Mother' and an 'onion'!
We have now lived in Bulgaria for five months and have shared our testimony over and over because of sweet Micah's name! One day in a taxi I told Cameron "We need to hurry and go pick up Micah" and the taxi driver said "Well where is your mother now?" We laughed and explained he was our child and then the driver wanted to know why we named him mother. We told him our testimony and of God's faithfulness in our lives. He then shared with us that his wife had had three miscarriages and was in the hospital that moment possibly losing her fourth pregnancy. Cameron asked him if he would allow us to pray for her and he said he didn't believe in God and didn't need Him. At the end of the taxi ride he told Cameron that he could pray for his wife.
On another occasion a woman didn't believe Micah was in the Bible. Cameron then showed her where the book of Micah was and showed her the scripture God lead us to. She was amazed that she had never seen that before and promised Cameron to study it.
I could go on and on but I am just reminded with sweet Micah's name that God knows where we are headed in life and when we live in obedience to Him we can rest assured that even times of "My son's name means MOTHER?!" that God perfectly Orchestrated every detail to bring Himself Glory!
It is Micah's name of "Mother" that has opened so many doors to introduce the lost to their FATHER.
Pray for opened doors, open ears, and hearts that are willing to receive.

Some pictures from today's post

2011-03-24T15:07:00.001-07:00

The park and romping through the woods!

A need for a cattle prong!

2011-03-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

HA! Public transportation is a fine art and there are unspoken rules you must know before taking part in this art. Rule 1: Know the language of your country so you know the spoken rules! Rule 2: If you don't know the language you will find great comfort in not knowing when you are being cursed out =D Rule 3: When the bus is so full that the doors won't close just squeeze in tighter because at least ten more people are going to get on! Just be happy you aren't the one hanging out of the bus! Rule 4: If you would have allowed your wife to purchase those cool numb-chucks she saw the day before then she could have taken care of the man who very rudely shoved her husband around when he couldn't squeeze further. Rule 5: Walking is sometimes the greatest gift of all and should be taken with pleasure during a beautiful day~
LOL oh the joys of learning new things =)

This week has been a great week. Ben started a little day school Monday through Friday and Micah attends with him on Tuesday and Thursday. Two of their friends already attend there and so it gives them plenty of time to learn language and play with kids they love. The teacher is wonderful and takes her time to give one on one learning time with each child. During the summer the kids can sign up for fencing lessons, cooking lessons and field trips. This was our first week and everyone did great with the new schedule. Cameron and I found moments in the day that we could actually have lunch together between or after language class or explore a different part of our city without having to worry about little ones. The week ended with a beautiful day spent at the park and exploring a wooded area. We then decided after all that romping around in the woods that we should spend some time googling poisionous snakes in our country and made a plan to stay only on the trails from now on! HA!

Cameron will be going out of town on Saturday with a church from Louisiana. Please pray for the ministry opportunities that will take place this weekend and next week and for their safety as they serve the Lord in northwest Bulgaria.
My sweet friend Ginna is also coming into town next week to spend some time with us and I am SO SUPER excited to see her!
Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement from our last post! We are very blessed to have such a great body of believers that will faithfully lift us up!

Will I be a watchman or will I watch myself?

2011-03-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

On a scale of 1 to 10, the last two weeks have been the hardest weeks we have faced since arriving. The enemy went after our hearts by attacking our son. Unfortunately there was an older boy at school who had been inappropriate with Micah and thankfully Micah told us about it before it got any further. We know you can respect us to allow us to spare the details and I assure you that everything will be okay, but no one wants to have to even deal with shallow issues regarding this topic with their kids. There were a lot of tears and sadness for everyone involved.
This sweet boy was adopted a year ago and more than likely has experienced some darkness in his fragile years of life living in the orphanage. Thankfully he has been given a gift of hope and placed in a loving Christian home but this family needs your prayers for strength, wisdom and healing for this boy. I am sure that as they seek God's wisdom and counsel they will rise above any of his past pains and have a mouth of praise for a Savior who restores and makes all things new!

Last Wednesday was our hardest day and after spending some time in prayer and tears we decided to get out of the house and look for a fun distraction. We ended up at the mall in a big game room and waited for our turn to play a game the boys love. While waiting, I noticed two roma boys playing with the air hockey machine with a ping pong ball. They were having a great time with their 'free' re-invention of air hockey and I would retrieve the ball when I saw it fly through the game center and give it back to them. They were surprised at my continuing to give them their ball and I noticed the puzzled look on their face as to why I was "wasting my time" doing that for them. I took a moment to say hi to them when I gave them the ball and smile every chance I got and they took the chance to ask me for some change to play a real game of air hockey. We only had a game card and so I couldn't give them any change but I invited them to play with our boys at the game we were waiting in line for. They agreed and all four boys played their hearts out. While Micah, Ben, Mitko and Rauko were having a great time, I went and bought Burger King for everyone. We all sat down for dinner and I noticed the oldest boy take a bite out of the burger, then a chicken nugget and then a french fries. It was as if he couldn't decide what to eat first and feared getting too full before he was able to enjoy the taste of everything. Mitko told me about his 6 sisters and 3 brothers at home and I told him I had a lot of children too. He looked confused at that statement and then asked if my other children were at home. I told him they were at home with God. It never ceases to amaze me how God can use our biggest heart aches to turn other hearts to Him when we allow ourselves to choose to use our grief for His glory. As Mitko listened he began to see me as a human rather than just an American. Mitko said he believed in God but he didn't go to church. Dinner was coming to an end and Mitko became insistent on telling me something and this is where my language hit a brick wall. To my shame I assumed he was asking me for money for his family. He was using hand motions and repeating the same thing over and over. When I told him that I couldn't give him money I very clearly understood his body language of frustration with me and the sentence "I am not asking you for money." I was embarrassed! I asked Cameron to call a Bulgarian brother in Christ and get him to translate for me. Our friend translated to me that Mitko was saying "Just like God doesn't like us to waste anything; I don't like to waste either." He didn't want me to throw away any leftovers but instead wanted to take them home to his family! Talk about feeling worse! At that moment I wanted to apologize and give him all my money! lol Since our friend was on the phone I wanted to invite him and his brother to church with us on Sunday. Our friend translated the request and told him to meet us at the mall at 10:30. Mitko said "Maybe. Probably not." We told him whether he came or not, we would be there waiting. On Sunday Mitko and Rauko were waiting for us! =D After church I asked them if they would want to come again and Mitko said "Maybe. Probably not" =) So once again we will pray and see if they meet us on Sunday.

As I said in the beginning of this post it had been a horrible day but each day we all have a question to answer: "Will I be a watchman or will I watch myself?"
Judgment is coming. Our Lord will return and the Bible says that EVERYONE will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. There are some who find comfort in denying Hell's existence but there is no way of getting around it in scripture. We know there is eternal life and there is eternal death and the sword of judgment is coming to separate those who are covered under the grace of Jesus Christ forgiveness and faith in Him and those who cover their eyes and ears to the truth of God's Word. To be blunt the last three weeks in Bulgaria have been the hardest and we have cried a lot, but it does not excuse us from being the watchman God calls us to be and overlook sharing the truth with those who have not been told.
"If the watchman sees the sword coming but doesn't blow the trumpet, so that the people aren't warned, and the sword comes and takes away their lives, then they have been taken away because of their iniquity, BUT I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood." Ezekiel 33:6
We had lifted the issues of the day to God in prayer before we left the house and felt His peace cover us and assure us everything would be okay. It would have been easy to continue to wallow in the situation as I have done so many times before and miss what God was doing right in front of me but it is in those times I am not allowing God's grace to be sufficient for me. Pray that there is never a day I spend so focused on me that I miss an opportunity to share Him with others. Only God is the great "I AM" and so when I find myself defending my day's choices with "But I am..." I need to ask myself which 'I AM' I am serving that day. In the game room I almost said "But I am sad" "But I am going through something right now" and the list could have continued. Praise God for a heart that says "You are and by your grace and as your child you are the only I AM I will serve today and I know Your grace is sufficient in this moment!"

A girl named "Awesome"

2011-03-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

When Micah first met my friend this weekend, I told him her name and he thought I said her name was "Awesome" and so we keep her named "Awesome" as a running joke. Out of respect for her privacy on this blog, we will keep her real name private and use Micah's name for her instead, "Awesome"
Awesome was one of the first people I met in December when I accompanied our church during their holiday orphanage ministry. It was a breath of familiar air when this beautiful girl started speaking english to me! Awesome had lived in America for a little while when she participated in a program offered in Bulgaria to work in a forign country for a specific amount of time. During her time in America she was drawn to take a Tae Kwon Do class that she couldn't afford or easily travel to. Something was pulling Awesome to this school and while she thought about the limitations of it being a practical choice, an employee came out and asked her if she wanted to sign up during their One Month Free offer. She immediately signed up!
While taking this class she met a Christian woman that befriended her and sought her friendship. Awesome has told me several times that she knew she was a Christian (she had no idea what that meant or what they really believed) but the woman witnessed with few words and with alot of deed! Awesome had to be admitted to the hospital and the woman stayed by her bed side the whole time. When Sunday came, Awesome realized that she stayed beside her and did not leave for the hour to go to church. Awesome said that it was then that she realized that being a Christian wasn't a religious thing but it was instead relational. Awesome moved to another state and found herself feeling like she needed to find what the woman had so passionately demonstrated towards her. It was during her visit to the local Baptist church in her new state that she met her Savior, Jesus Christ and it was Him who she had been missing! Awesome did not get a further work visa permit and had to return to Bulgaria. The church in America made some phone calls and got Awesome in touch with the Baptist church in Sofia. Awesome is faithfully sharing her faith with family, friends and co-workers. Please pray for the people she has purchased Bibles for and who she continues to witness to.
You never know where you will be or who you will meet when God places someone in your life who needs to know Him. Bride of Christ in America, you are a melting pot of all people groups coming onto your soil for work. Go out of your way to befriend those who may look different, talk different or seem culturally different. When we get out of our comfort zone we may possibly have the opportunity to introduce someone to Christ who will then return to their country and be a light for those they know best. You can send out missionaries all the time, but it just might be YOU who God wants to use to introduce all peoples, tongues and tribes to Him! Open your eyes and see the multitudes, they just might be living next door!

Micah is 5, let the whip cream fly!

2011-02-24T03:57:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-06T01:56:00.001-08:00

"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.

The LORD guards the inexperienced...

2011-01-29T10:39:00.000-08:00

"The LORD guards the inexperienced; I was helpless, and He saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you." Psalm 116:6-7

God saved me today from being a victim. God placed His hand over the hand of one who meant to do me harm and prevented his hand from evil...PRAISE BE TO OUR GOD!!
"The LORD protects you; the LORD is a shelter right by your side" Psalm 121:5
Thanks to the Lord who was clearly right by my side, I was not pick pocketed tonight.
We've been sick for the last two weeks and we have been couped up inside longer. We needed groceries and we needed to be outside and so we got dressed and got on the bus. The buses are at times super busy and at times very light, it's a gamble on what your bus will be like when it arrives. Our first bus was light and Ben talked in Bulgarian to three new friends he made! He made sure he told Cameron and I that he made "three" friends over and over and he was very very proud! Our second bus was very crowded and our family got divided up. I was with Ben and Cameron had Micah. Luckily I found Ben a seat and I stood in front of him as a shield from falling or being fallen on. As we rode people are smushed against you and I felt someones hands on my hips. I then felt as if those hands were trying to touch an inappropriate place and as I was registering what was going on I realized that my purse was in the area I felt the hands wondering around. I couldn't pull away because there were too many people smushing around me but I jerked as hard as I could and looked at the man and yelled "NEY" which is Bulgarian for No as loud as I could and over and over. I then apologized because that's what I do for some reason and the doors to the bus opened and he jumped off. I really was confused and shock and felt badly that I jumped on him until I looked down and realized my purse was completely open and he had indeed been digging in it! Then the rage filled me and I felt stupid for feeling bad for second guessing my instint that made me yell at him! Oh it was all so confusing and frusterating but God protected me, NOT ONE THING was missing out of my purse! My passport was right there, my wallet was right there and somehow he ended up with nothing but the flu because all of my snot tissue was also there!! We got to the mall and immediately found a corner to kneel down and praise God in! We were so thankful that what was intended to be our misfortune became our song because it confirmed the verses above that God is with us!
We got our groceries, we came home in a taxi that was honest, I got all the meat I needed at the market, and there were no stray dog attacks...It was a good night!

2011-01-25T04:05:00.000-08:00

We are sorry there hasn't been any recent postings. We have all had our share of sickness these past two weeks and simply getting out of bed has been a challenge. I don't think we've been that sick as a family ever!
We are currently getting better one at a time and right now Micah would be the worst out of all of us. We have experienced our first bout with culture shock and with tears came smiles of God's comfort and goodness. The culture shock hit when the doctor prescribed medicines in the wrong dosage and for the wrong body part twice. Being sick and having to look up every medicine before giving it to our family was exhausting but God was good to show us the need for this and therefore we avoided potential problems.
Last week Bulgaria announced a flu epidemic for the area and this news only made me want to hole up in our apartment and not get sick again. I began to wonder if my obsession with my anti-germ campaign was more culture shock than anything and part of it was. I guess I was hesitant to put our trust in the medical care here again and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. God softened my heart and reminded me that we dwell under the shadow of His wings and Psalm 91 brought me hope and faith to step out into our lives here again. I got a text message this morning telling me that Micah's school is cancelled for the next two weeks due to the flu and a man from my Mom's church has offered to check all the medicine we're prescribed with and look it up and the correct dosages for us. God spoils us and is prompt to take care of all the details! I love Him so much and He amazes me all the time with His love and goodness!
So what does a family who is just about well do when they live under the shadow of His wings...Go Sledding for a little bit!! Don't worry we stayed warm and only outside for a little bit! The pack of stray dogs helped bring us inside!! EEk!
Love you~!

Reason 202 to visit the Zoo...Cotton Candy!!!

2011-01-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Now who wouldn't want to visit the zoo and eat cotton candy that is the size of your entire body?! Just another reason we love the zoo here in Sofia!
On another note, Cameron and I seem to be allergic to Bulgaria and keep suffering from allergies that make us feel horrible! Please pray that this will be resolved.
Since we are limited in our language we have tried to show God's glory in ways in which we live. We have language home work every meeting and part of our homework is to create sentences with the things we have learned. One word I learned this past week was "Love" in Bulgarian and what better sentance to write out than John 3:16:
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son so that who ever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life"
I translated this verse to the best of my ability and my language teacher was able to correct my translation with her favorite red pen and begin her unexpected travel through scripture. I will continue to follow her home work expectations by using scripture as my sentence structure and include my new bulgarian words I've learned.
Acts of kindness in this cold cultured climate is another way we are showing God's glory. It is amazing at the reaction you recieve when you simply hand someone on the street a tissue for their nose, give a piece of candy to someone sitting next to you on the metro, or simply smile and say hello in your broken Bulgarian.
Thank you for praying for us!
Jenn

The answer to how many deer are now in the zoo after last winter's stray dog attack...#3! Micah and I are happy to display that number in the picture above! =)

THE ZOO

2011-01-07T06:11:00.001-08:00

Today was Micah's second day of school and it started off with the usual egg sandwich! He rode the school bus for the first time today and daddy rode with him. At first he was very shy and daddy said he just laid his head in his lap and seemed a little bit scared. Soon another boy got on the bus that Micah recognized from his classroom and Micah quickly warmed up. Cameron said soon after he was sitting in the back of the bus with his other "new" friends having fun. The pictures are above and Micah's friend, the boy sitting next to him in the picture is a Roma child! Isn't it cool how God works?!
When Cameron came home from dropping off Micah, Ben and I took daddy to the zoo! We have heard stories of the zoo but have not actually made it there. Last year the zoo lost their deer exhibit to a pack of stray dogs who broke in through a hole and ate all the deers! (actually one male survived) I wondered if they had been replaced this winter or not and unfortuately did not get to find out.
The zoo was massive and covered in snow. Alot of the animals were in indoor exhibits. The wolves were amazingly friendly and seem more like the dogs we're used to. They wagged their tails and begged for affection, unlike the stray dogs who roam around the streets outside the zoo. The lions and tigers were extremely loud when they roared and since we were indoors the sound threatened to burst one's ear drums! Only a bar keeps you arms length from touching their cage so eyes on children must be practiced diligently! A zoo keeper didn't make the job of warning children of danger very easy when he went past the bar and pet on the lion treating him more like an indoor pet kitty~ The whole experience was extremely cool and we only saw a small fraction of the zoo due to time restraints of needing to pick up Micah and go to language school. We hope to return tomorrow and take Micah and the sled! Two other things we noticed at the zoo: A stray dog is roaming around and so the deers should be warned! As seen in the above pictures...The zoo will feed the lions dead horses from the Roma and you can have a full experience of smelling their food and seeing them enjoy it. I don't believe we had the enjoyment of a dead horse but we did enjoy the left overs of another animal that the wolves and foxes were feasting on! Ben loved this! gross boy!

Wednesday

2011-01-03T12:36:00.001-08:00

Micah starts school on Wednesday! I was so excited for this day, so excited for him, and now I am sitting on the couch crying! I want the desire of his heart to have friends to be fulfilled and I know he will be fine but I am wavering in my strenth. Today he watched a Bulgarian cartoon and called out to me from the bath tub that night "Mamo" which sounds like 'Mom-Mo' (means mom) and it was this moment in our day that I keep finding peace in. He is picking up Bulgarian everyday on his own and when he is in a class setting being taught the language I know he will thrive! It is important for him to go and it is equally important for me to let go and trust God. Pray for our family as we begin making life adjustments that will equip us for ministry in Bulgaria.

Hide and Seek

2010-12-30T12:38:00.000-08:00

There is alot to update on and by this weekend we will have some new posts. I thought Ben's little hide and seek adventure will help you understand one of the lessons we have learned during our short time here...Not everything is as it first appears! As seen in the pictures above, it looks like there is a simple guitar case laying on our bed but as you come closer you discover it just appears that way. The guitar case is really just a great hiding place for a 3 year old who is small enough to climb in and stay there quietly! Bulgaria has been alot like that guitar case sitting on the bed. Things seem as simple as a guitar case laying on a bed, but when you get closer to what you assumed was something you've seen a thousand times you realize first appearances are not always what they appear to be.
The other lesson that is reflected in the pictures above is what we are learning every day and what Ben learned today with the guitar case...Sometimes our expectations are bigger than the reality at hand. No matter the passion or determination, Ben could not get Mommy into the guitar case!

It's been one month!

2010-12-16T04:37:00.000-08:00

When I looked at the 7-day weather projection for this week I asked "Hmm, I wonder what a snow shower is?" It's raining flakes of snow in a "down-pour" fashion! So my question was answered. Some may think this question to be silly but growing up if I heard the word "snow" I was jumping up and down excited and didn't care if it was a shower or one flake in the midst of sleet! The kids have enjoyed the snow too! Yesterday Cameron and the boys threw snowballs and the snowman was unsucessful but attempted. I will apologize now for any grammar mistakes in our blogs. During language learning I have found the letters begin to turn backwards and your brain struggles to figure out what language you are attempting to speak and you end up horrible at both!
In a facebook post yesterday I mentioned that our organization provides training for those who are moving overseas and to the best of their ability they will prepared you for the things you will encounter while living abroad. I mentioned that our organization should include training on how to ice skate on sidewalks as I learned through falling three times that I'm not good at it! It was amazing to see children who have grown up here literally skating down streets and doing tricks as they show off for one another. I asked Cameron if he fell on his way to class and he said no. I asked him how he managed to keep from falling and he said very simply "Stay off the ice." Hmmm, if only I would have thought of that! lol He's a nerd and ended up falling his fair share while taking out the trash this morning =)
Please pray for Cameron as he will travel this weekend with a member of our church and their band out of town near a mountain range towards Turkey. The group he is traveling with holds Christian concerts and will be holding a concert for school aged children this weekend. Schools here, much like in American schools, do not allow religious education/influence into school and this is a way to gather kids and introduce them to the gospel. This trip will also provide Cameron with an opportunity to explore other places in Bulgaria and look for Roma clusters to possibly work with in the future. Please pray for Cameron's safety, ministry opportunities amongst the kids that are gathered, and knowledge of the area that Cameron travels to for potential ministry opportunites.
Yesterday we looked into a school for Micah and should we gain approval he would start January 3rd. The school is a Bulgarian Christain School and is perfect for what we were looking for. The teachers are Bulgarian and teach in Bulgarian however his teacher has an English degree and can address and understand any needs Micah should express. The school also adheres to Bulgarian national standards and when Micah eventually transfers into national school he will be on target. He will finish the remainder of this year at 3 days a week and then will re-do kinder for next year at 5 days a week in the same school. This will give him an introduction to Bulgarian school without being overwhelming and then he will be ready for full-time September 1st. He already made a friend at the school named Grace and it seemed the perfect name of his first friend because it truly was by God's grace that we feel this school has been provided!
The pictures above are of our crazy hair game. I make my hair crazy and chase the boys around trying to poke them with my hair horn. The other pictures are of us on the balcony watching the first snow fall.
We love you!!!
Thanks for praying!

From December to December

2010-12-12T09:24:00.001-08:00

It was last December that I was laying in bed crying over the loss of our fifth and last baby. I cried out to God and then my mind started to ponder our work in Bulgaria and the orphanages I would have the opportunity to visit. I immediately began thinking of the babies and children who needed a mother and how I was a mother who longed for another child. It was at this moment that God interrupted my thoughts and demanded my attention. He clearly told me that I would follow Him to Bulgaria with my eyes focused on Him and nothing else. If He added to our family while we were there it would happen while my eyes were focused on Him. He told me to quit trying to fix the broken pieces of my heart with a baby. I cried some more and rededicated my thoughts and focused my eyes on Him alone. The next day at church Pastor Lee told a story about an orphanage in Russia and of some missionaries that helped the orphans recreate the manger scene. They were confused when one of the orphans had two symbols for baby Jesus in the manger. The orphan explained that unlike the wise men who brought gifts for baby Jesus, he had nothing to give. The orphan then explained that Jesus told him that he could get in the manger with Him and if he got in His manger he could be with Him forever. At that very moment God spoke to me and said "Jennifer quit focusing on putting babies in your crib and focus on putting them in My manger. Even if you adopt forty children and put them in your cribs, there are still hundreds of thousands who have not made it into my manger." Oh I still get teary eyed recounting those tender but needed times with God and the focus He gave me!
This week I have had the opportunity and privilege to visit several orphanages around and outside the city of Sofia. It was so sweet reflecting back from last December until now. Last December I could only imagine the orphans that I so longed to work with and this December I was playing with their hair and holding their hands as we exchanged smiles and love. I cannot tell you how badly they need the hope of Christ and what that baby in the manger means for them. I cannot tell you how squeezed my heart was and how overwhelmed I felt at the capacity of needs that overflowed in each situation. One day we may be given direction from God to adopt, but at this moment my eyes are focused on how God wants to move amongst the Roma in those orphanages and put as many of them in His manger as possible. Pray for the orphans around the world who need the hope of Jesus and the Roma who seem to dominate the population inside the orphanages I visited. As you sit around your tree opening presents this year keep in mind those who still need to meet the greatest free gift of all, eternal life and a relationship with Jesus. He is the only one in life who will never leave them nor forsake them! If you attend a church that takes up a Lottie Moon Christmas offering please consider donating to that offering. Lottie Moon is essential in funding and sending missionaries overseas to do the work God has called them to do. Thank you for giving to this offering, it is because of those who give that we are able to be here in Bulgaria!

"The rich man and Oranges"

2010-11-26T05:09:00.000-08:00

So today we took a trip to the park, the OMV for lunch and then to the market. Saturday we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with team members and I am making a few dishes. Every recipe I thought of making lacked one thing that I could not find in Bulgaria. As I spent the last two days hopping from store to store and market to market, I've no clue what I will make tomorrow! On the upside I have a few additions to the kitchen pantry! =) We've posted pictures of the park and the boys outside our front door. The pictures are of some graffiti painted on our door and the first day we arrived the boys nicknamed our house "the pumpkin face house". So they took a picture next to our landmark "pumpkin face" =)
After lunch, the boys were getting too tired to continue on to another market so the boys went home and I continued on. I returned to a market that Ms. K introduced me to the first time we went out. There was one vendor we purchased from that was very honest and patient even though we had a language barrier. Today I had to purchase from the vendor next to her for some red onions and cabbage b/c she didn't have those. WELL I mentioned I would also like some oranges with my purchase and the man loaded up a bag of oranges and as I motioned to the best of my ability that I needed no more, he continued. He quickly took my items around the stand and said 20LEV is what I owed. I tried to fix this obvious error and no matter my attempt he became more determined to collect the 20LEV. These are the times I beg for language to come quickly so that I can communicate and not look so easy to take advantage of. Choose your battles. So I paid my "rich man" dues and took my overflowing bag of expensive oranges and walked to my familiar vendor and purchased the few things I still needed. She once again took her time and wrote out prices and at the end of our transaction I hugged her and we kissed cheeks. Without language, I love her. I wanted to talk and talk to her b/c I feel such a pull to her but at this time I can only hug her. I went to the food vendors close by and bought her lunch and a coke and took them to her for another hug and kiss. I will buy from her alone and continue to build on our voiceless connection until I can speak to her.
On my way home there was "Lazarus" outside my gate begging from the cars that drove by. So if the Biblical story were retold it would say that the richman stopped and gave Lazarus alot of Vitamin C!! He was happy to receive a share of the $20LEV oranges and who knows between the market vendor and the begger, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship that all started with being ripped off on some oranges =)
So in the morning we will celebrate Thanksgiving with team members. I will cook something to take with me and have an adventure to talk about. I loved reading what other people said they were thankful for and to be honest I am thankful for most of the same things. I think the most amazing thing about having a relationship with Jesus is that should all of the things I'm thankful for be stripped away, I still have HIM and nothing can strip that away...That is what I am most thankful for. I have more than I could ask for and I have at times lost more than I desired, but all in all I have the priviledge of holding the hand of my Creator and calling Him friend. Praise be to my Savior who gives me everything to be thankful for!
With Love,
Jenn Phillips and Fam

Pancake bandits

2010-11-23T02:00:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot to include our precious pancake bandits!!
You will notice how they had a perfect assembly line going as they had a dipping station and taking station. The pancakes are gone and the floor is sticky! =)

Prayer Requests

2010-11-23T01:03:00.001-08:00

You've read of our first week in Bulgaria and now you ask what can you be praying for?
* A schedule, a routine with some structure. We want to have productive days after this week of unpacking and organizing that will assist us in knowing for ourselves and for our boys what our days look like. Productive days would include time with the Lord first, time in language learning, time in the community learning our way around town and having quality time playing and enjoying our children and not losing focus of them in the midst of newness and business.

* Continuing good health for our family.

* Times of ministry and giving God glory even in the midst of language barriers.

Thank you so much for the love and support you give us through your prayers and words of encouragment! We love you all so very much and we are so happy that you are in this ministry with us!

pictures described in the post below

2010-11-23T00:56:00.001-08:00

Bulgaria week 1

2010-11-23T00:22:00.000-08:00

This picture is a view from the balcony in the kitchen. Bulgaria celebrates Christmas and decorations are in full swing for preparing for the holiday.
Yesterday Cameron went with one of our coworkers to get us registered with the police so now we are official and can get things like a cell phone. When they returned we all rode the metro and took a bus to get to their house and have dinner. They have children (a boy and a girl) around our kids ages and they enjoyed playing with each other. The kids ran around with flash lights and hid under beds. We had a bulgarian meal and it consisted of egg, potatoes, ground beef and other things and we topped it with bulgarian yogart. It was absolutely delicious! Afterwards we enjoyed bulgarian ice cream that would put Blue Bell out of business! I thought of my father in law who always eats a bowl of ice cream at night and thought of how he would enjoy that bowl we had! =)
We talked to Micah about possibly using the name Michael or Mike while we live in Bulgaria. The way you say mother in bulgarian is "manka" which is pronounced Micah. So kids might wonder why the boy in their class is called mother. It's just a thought we tossed his way last night and he didn't like the idea so we will just wait and see how it goes.
Last night Micah said that he missed our old house where he could eat pancakes. I told him that I could fix those in Bulgaria but we didn't have syrup (syrup isn't something sold here. Most would eat them with nutella or jam). He said he really would like them with syrup. So this morning we had pancakes and I got a recipe from allrecipes.com and we had pancakes with home-made syrup. Praise God for providing the little things that help even our children adjust. Breakfast has been over for an hour but every couple of minutes Ben has grabbed a piece of pancake and come running to me saying "A pancake mommy!" I just looked in the kitchen and now both boys are grabbing and dipping pancakes so breakfast was just "over" as far as I thought!
There are some pictures above of the kids playing in costumes. This is their favorite thing to do right now. I've also included a picture from the grabbing pancake fun! The other picture is of a storm that just blew in this morning. It was amazing to see how much trash flew across the sky! It was crazy!! If you dare open your door (as I just learned) to take a picture, that trash comes into your home.

some pictures of our first metro ride

2010-11-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

Our first time on the Metro

2010-11-21T13:03:00.000-08:00

Today was our first time to ride the subway. We met with Ms. K, who has helped us translate language, give us rides around town and generally survive our first week in Bulgaria. Ms. K went with us on our first trip to the center of town and help us with any questions we had while on the metro.
We addressed alot of safety rules with the boys regarding waiting and riding on subways while we waited. We entered the subway and had a good ride (meaning we all got to sit down). The center of Sophia is beautiful and has vendors on the street selling goods, people singing or playing instruments for money, and elaborate buildings that are beautifully aged.
We stopped for coffee and it was far better than any coffee I've enjoyed in the last several months and definately would put starbucks out of business =) Micah and Ben also shared a hot drink called a "vanilla dream" and Micah said "This is the best drink of my life!" He is also known for being dramatic at times so I can't say if it indeed was or not.
We made it home safely and did last minute shopping and a grocery run since Ms. K leaves in the morning with her "Phillips family taxi" car. I can't tell you how grateful we are she came to help us out! So from here on out it will be walking, the bus system, subways or occaisionally a taxi.
I did a little language learning today and realized how consuming learning a new alphebet, grammar, sounds, ect will be! We take each day as an opportunity to learn something new and smile rather than cry hopefully! =)
Exciting finds: Dr. Pepper @ a gas station (may not carry again but while it's here we're grabbing a few!) Some M&M's! Peanut and Plain!
We love you all!
Jenn

Park

2010-11-20T13:36:00.001-08:00

Just a quick photo that a team member took of Jen and Micah at the park after going to the market.

A quick update

2010-11-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry we have not written in a couple of days. It is very very busy right now. Everyday has been spent shopping going from one confusing store to the next and then back to the same store again. Apartments here do not have closets so we have to buy wardrobes for the rooms. The wardrobes are made of particle wood and run anywhere from 200 to 600 Lev which is equivalent to 140 to 420 US dollars. The more money the thicker the particle wood! Real wood is out of the question! Everything just takes longer in general. For instance going grocery shopping without the ability to read what you’re buying. If the picture explains the product then you better know how to cook it because you won’t be able to read the directions and the cooking measurements are in metric measurements. You can’t buy a carton of milk. It comes in a bag or a box. The largest amount of milk I have been able to find is 1 Liter, so that lasts about one day in our house =) Vanilla is sold in small packets and you add water to it for your recipe. It’s one serving and is sold as such and is pricey (for my taste). We did find Nestle chocolate mix and so we had our first glass of chocolate milk today! This was a huge victory for this chocolate milk loving family! All in all, we have not adjusted to the time change so we are very tired and buying all household goods is tasking!

So the kids. The kids are doing exceptionally well. They are still adjusting to time changes but seem to be catching up quicker than we are and this could soon be a problem if we have exhausted parents and well rested active children! =) We are in our apartment for the first time tonight
(It is 10:00pm right now for us) They were excited to see all their toys we packed up in May today! It’s been a little like Christmas today! If we were smart we would have wrapped up those toys from May and passed them off =)

There is so much to catch you up on but I am really anxious to get into bed! The people in Bulgaria were tickled at the sight of the boys sleeping and we hope you enjoy the pictures too. We will definitely post some pictures of our area and apartment soon!
With love!!!
Jenn

Phillips in London falling down, falling down, falling down

2010-11-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

The Phillips are in London for the night and we are falling down in praise to our awesome God who is Soverign of all things and timing! (all the boys in this family have plain fallen asleep!)

Hello friends and Family!!
Well the first leg of our jouney was beautiful. There was a hiccup at the gate when boarding and they checked Cameron's guitar and our stroller all the way through to Sofia. This unfortunatley required us to carry Ben, hold Micah's hand and drag 4 backpacks and three small suitcases as we made a dead sprint through security and the airport. While waiting in the security line Ben declared he was carrying a liquid and since he knows the security rules quite well he decided to release it all before getting to the counter. Unfortunatley for passengers behind us, this unknown liquid trailed us all the way through the security check before the janitor arrived. Yeek! =/

So you may have guessed it, we missed our connection! Fortunatley since it was British Airways fault they have booked us hotel to stay in for the night. We are waiting in the airport for 4 1/2 hours until our hotel can check us in at 12. We will fly out for Bulgaria tomorrow at 8:30am and our prayer is that all 16 of our bags will be waiting for us. We are very exhausted but also running on some adreniline so it is balancing out for now. I think Ben will not make it for our 12pm hotel check in. They took a 2-3 hour nap on the flight but it was from 4-7pm and so they were awake all "their" time zone night. It is 4:18 for them but they seem to be waiting for the sun to set in their new time zone. Oh well, that makes transition fun I guess =)

I just looked over at my boys and Cameron is holding a dvd player in his lap asleep, Ben is multi-tasking by playing with a squishy dog he got at his birthday party and watching the video that sways with Daddy's sleep patterns. Micah is next to me and he has taken over my game on the nintendo DS and should be happily occupied for a while. We are sitting in an area of the airport that is not crazy and so we will relax until we take a bus for the hotel.
Thank you all for your prayers, please continue them and lift up flights, rest, luggage, and arriving tomorrow!
Love you all so much!

So a couple of London things I have noticed is the word "Cheeky" spoken everywhere. Also people watching doesn't go over so well because they just watch you back and it gets a little uncomfortable and weird =) This of course is just my observation and I do not speak for London as a whole. I do not understand the change I got back from my coffee in "Pounds". Since we didn't understand the currency, we asked a man what the appropriate tip would be for carrying our luggage and he said "We aren't like Americans, Brits are stingy and tipping little is not considered rude." So I'm not sure what the amount actually was that was pulled from our pounds but I guess it was the right amount? =) I am realizing just how big the little changes will be in our lives! =)

I know a secret...

2010-10-21T13:33:00.000-07:00

Corpus Christi: Day 19

Cameron called the embassy today and they informed him that our visas are still in the application process. If the embassy schedule is true to their forty business day timeline then our visas should arrive by November 19th and we can process our flight arrangments.

We have enjoyed our time with family but it has also been exhausting going from house to house. After this weekend we will take some much needed time to rest and pack. Some highlights during the last two weeks were beginning a house church ministry to shut-ins in my grandparents neighborhood. Our first meeting was beautiful and we had scheduled to meet the following weekend, however my grandfather was placed in the hospital in San Antonio and we spent some time driving Granny up to see him. Another highlight has been reconnecting with churches in the area that were instramental in our christian growth. I have been attending a Bible study during the week at one of these churches and it has been a tremendous blessing.

During this third week in Corpus, Cameron and I have shifted to what we call "survival mode" and have needed some rest and attitude adjusting. We said quite frequently this week, "When we get to Bulgaria..." "When we have a house of our own again we will..." "When we have a schedule again..." and the "When we" goes on and on and on. God has revealed to us that there will always be those "When we get there" or "when this or that happens" and that we need to rest in the shadow of His wings here and now. We are called to live each day in the present and not look to tomarrow. God's grace is sufficient for us today and God reminded us of the words of Paul in Philippians 4:11-13
"...for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know both how to have a little, and I know how to have a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content-whether well-fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. I am able to do all things through Him who stegthens me."
In times of exhaution God reminds us that He will not give us more than we are able to carry, however we "super-humans" can add to our load when we choose to take on more than He has given us or when we do not set boundaries in our lives. We serve a God that tells us to dwell in the shadow of His wings and he will lay us in the green pastures, He will lead us beside quiet waters, and He will restore our soul, EVEN in Corpus Christi on Day 19, 20 or 30.

Be Blessed,
Jennifer and Cameron Phillips

Goodbye

2010-10-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

We arrived to Corpus Christi on October 3rd and we have started the process of saying our goodbyes with family. We were given the priviledge of staying with friends as we travelled and getting to say goodbye to them along the way. We have put alot of miles on the car and all that driving gave me time to reflect on the relationships we have left behind. Each relationship added so much to our lives. Every mile on the road was filled with a thought of what we left behind and a prayer that we added to their lives the knowledge of God's love. My heart is squeezed when I consider what I "added" to their lives. I cringe at the thought that I might have failed some of them by only leaving behind laughter, good memories, or a sweet friendship. All of these things are great, but if I didn't add to their lives a knowledge of Jesus and His gift of salvation to them then I have failed them as friends. So as we drove away from each home I knew I could reflect and regret or reflect and remain striving towards purposeful relationships that lead our friends to a knowledge of eternal life through Christ.

We are spending the next two weeks dividing our time between our parents and waiting for our visas to arrive. We do not have an exact departure date but we have been told that we could receive our visas in two weeks or two months. So with a time frame like that we are living as if we only have two weeks left with family and should extra time be given to us then we will embrace it and use it! We are thankful for so many things in our lives and mostly thankful that we serve a God who is leading us on a journey to share His love with everyone we meet!
Thank you for praying for our family!
Jennifer Phillips

Count your blessings!

2010-09-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

We are ending the "Power Boots" journey hopefully on Sept 27th! It will be here in no time and we are praying Ben has made a full recovery and the bones are healed correctly.
This "Power Boot" journey I admit has been very easy. I thought it was normal that Ben has done so well or that maybe he is just an exceptional kid but the truth is I over looked the power of answered prayers and God reminded me.
Last Saturday I went to a hair salon and while I was being dunked in the shampoo bowl I listened to the conversation next to me.

"Our family is finally going to be better! We have been prisioners in our home since my two year old went into two walking casts. He has been so miserable since he broke his legs. Always complaining about itching and whining about his casts has driven me insane! Anyways we got them off finally after six weeks and we're going swimming."

I kind of laid in my shampoo bowl wide eye'd and amazed. We haven't had anything similar to her complaints and life has hardly had a hiccup since getting the casts on. As I continued to lay in the bowl I started to process our good experience...Was Ben just stronger and braver and an exception to the norm? Did we just handle things better or are our casts made of top line material? The answer to all of these thoughts was a definate NO. The truth is prayers were answered and I had failed to notice and/or give God thanks for them. So to correct a very sad oversight I would love to take a moment to say THANK YOU GOD!!! You are amazing, faithful and this girl LOVES YOU! Second THANK YOU to everyone who took time to pray for our family, you're prayers were answered!
With Love,
Cameron, Jennifer, Micah, and Benjamin

An AMAZING GOD size Recovery

2010-08-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

Ben began walking on his own Saturday and played at the park and went out for yogart that afternoon. He has been on Motrin all day and has not complained of any pain. The Loratab was causing some constipation issues and so we are using only Motrin unless Ben needs something stronger which fortunately hasn't been the case. I am posting some pictures of Ben from surgery to Saturday so you can see the answers to prayer for yourself. Thank you so much for the prayers lifted to our Mighty God!

Ben is out of Surgery!

2010-08-27T12:25:00.001-07:00

Thank you for the prayers lifted up today and this past week for Benjamin. He cried going into the hospital and we assumed he knew too well what a hospital was and didn't want to visit again. Eventually he calmed down and we checked in.
Ben's surgery took a little over an hour and we were able to console him during his recovery time. He slept for a little while and then asked to take off his "socks". I told him that his casts were not socks but were Super Kid Power Boots and they had blasters. He LOVED his new blue Power Boots and shot all the nurses who walked by and giggled at his enthusiasm.
Since arriving home he has been annoyed with occaisional itching and has complained twice of pain. He has attempted to walk twice which is amazing due to the doctor's prediction that he wouldn't desire to get out of bed until Sunday at the earliest. His first attempt to walk was very discouraging for him and he didn't understand why his legs weren't working like they used to. He asked to go back to bed and we just hung out on the bed for two hours. Cameron and Micah were going outside and he wanted to join them. He got down from bed yelling in a please don't leave me voice "I walk, I do it, I can walk daddy." He held Cam's hand and then asked to let go and took several steps by himself. We all clapped and were very proud of his achievments! He and Micah are in the stroller cruising around with Daddy and I'm off to chase them down for Ben's next dose of Loratab! We will update again soon.

With so much Love and Appreciation!!
Jennifer Phillips and Family

Please Pray for Benjamin!

2010-08-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

First a praise or quite a few...God has been very gracious to us and we want to say a huge thank you to a God who is active and attentive to our lives. From showing us an inefestation of brown recluses at a home we were staying at during our time of transition and thus protecting us from harm to showing me a problem of bursitis in my hip that I am now receiving treatment for. And now I praise God for showing us our little Ben Ben's problem through the insight of my father in law during a visit in May.

While visiting family in May, my father in law expressed concern over Benjamin's toes on both feet. He noticed a slight tendancy for them to cross over the other toe. I somewhat dismissed it but determined to keep an eye on it because at the time we didn't have insurance and it would need to be an issue worth spending alot of personal money over to get it checked out. I determined that when we received medical insurance in July I would have it looked into. When we arrived at our learning center in July I noticed the toes had crossed over even more and concerned me.

Cameron and I took Ben to the orthopedic doctor on Saturday but we were referred to see a pediatric orthopedic today, August 18th. During the appointment they took x-rays and the doctor informed me that he definately needed surgery. Ben will have surgery next Friday and it will be outpatient procedure. Here is the procedure:

The toes in concern are on both feet. They are the toes next to the big toe and are crossing over the middle toes. The x-ray shows all three toes from the pinky toe forward are growing in the correct direction but the concerned toes are growing in the opposite direction and will eventually cross over and cause more severe problems and pain. Since it is a bone structure issue, they will break both toes, place pins into the toes and he will be in leg casts. The healing procedure will be 4 to 6 weeks. Being aware and sensative to our lack of time left in the states he has graciously scheduled Benjamin's post op appt for Monday Sept 27th to check the healing process. If the toes have healed he will remove the casts and we can head home to texas on the 28th. If the surgery does not take we will have to re do the surgery again, requiring another 4-6weeks of healing. So prayer request are as followed:

1. Surgery will be sucessful and the emotional well being of Benjamin. He is a little guy in transition and has to deal with emotions he is unable to communicate. Unfortunately being in leg cast the rest of the time we are here and thus keeping him from enjoying his much loved play ground may cause a few more tears. So please lift his little heart up, God's grace is sufficient even for little guys like Ben =)

2. We would love for Ben's healing to be complete at the 4 week mark so we can come home and visit five sets of parents before leaving on a tenative flight
Oct 11th.

3. We will need to rearrange two sets of immunizations for Ben as his surgery conflicts. I am sure the medical team here will be more than understanding but it does throw a wrench into things.

4. We need to stay an extra week in Virginia even though our schooling will be completed. Once again I am sure that our learning center will possibly accomodate this extra time but we can't ask anyone until the morning. It will also be kind of sad being the only family left at the learning center because it is the body of Christ being around you everyday that makes it so enjoyable. And knowing that we were previously planning on being home as soon as our learning center was over kind of makes us sad but we definately wouldn't want it any other way.

Thank you so very much for praying for Benjamin and our family!

In His grip,

The Phillips Family

Praise God for toe nails!

2010-08-15T09:55:00.000-07:00

Our small group house church consist of six adults and Micah and Ben. We begin our time of worship with prayer and then scripture reading and songs. The kids have been a delightful addition to our worship services and their perspectives on God are always enlightening. During a moment of praising God, Cameron said "Does anyone have a specific praise they would like to share and thank God for?" Micah exclaims as he pulls something out of his mouth "Praise God for toe nails!" and then places the toe nail back into his mouth. Everyone was momentarily astonished! lol Cameron then told Micah "Spit that out, that's gross." And in immediate obidience he spits it out and the toe nail goes flying and lands in the middle of the floor. So there is never a moment in our lives that we can't find something to praise God for, even if it's repulsive to the rest of the world! Praise God for toe nails!
Love you all!
Jenn

A new way to love

2010-08-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

There are times in my walk with Christ that God begins to pour out a new direction in my thinking and former attitude. Maybe it is conviction I have suppressed and have become hardened to or perhaps it is that I was not ready to receive the changes He desired to show me. Whether it be one or the other or both, I always share my revelations with others in hopes that they too will benefit and hopefully avoid having to walk down the same path of my mistakes.

So here is what God has been doing:

It all started with the parable of the lost son in Luke 15 (you can read here www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2015&version=NIV if you do not own a Bible). I’ve always hated this parable! I never identified with the parable from the lost son’s perspective or the father. I always felt pity for the other son. I identified with the other son and agreed with his argument. So the other day I was reading this parable and just told God how I felt about it and asked Him to show me why I hated it and show me this parable from a different perspective. So that afternoon I received the thought of me as a mother and my two boys. I tell my boys constantly to stay away from strangers. So hypothetically one day Ben and Micah go out and a stranger approaches; Ben listens and obeys the commands I have given him but Micah does not and gets kidnapped. Though I am grateful that Ben has obeyed, I would be heartbroken over Micah! I would be like the father who waited and watched for his son’s return and upon seeing him would “run to him throw my arms around his neck and kiss him” and I too would throw the biggest party for a son who was lost and in danger but is now found and safely home! The other son would be like if Ben, upon realizing his brother came home, went straight to his room and pouted because Micah was getting a party and not him. It was at this moment that I realized the parable from the other perspective and saw my pride and foolishness for being like that pouting son. God revealed to me that I chase His love with my works and abstinence from things I think would be evil in His sight but my pride is just as wretched! I realized that I have always hated that parable because it reminded me of another relationship in my life that I have always chased with good works in hopes that I would achieve that person’s love, yet have never achieved it. I have transferred that relationship’s attributes to my relationship with God. I try by good works to earn more love from God, more affection and approval, to be better than that Christian and thus be the apple of God’s eye. The truth is that there is already an apple of God’s eye and that is His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. It is by grace that anyone of us is loved by such a Righteous Holy God and that He would even think to run to us is more than humbling. I’ve always known that parable to be that the father is God and the lost son is us and that God ran, but I could never see past the other son and his lack of praise for obeying. So then God showed me a new parable and it humbled me well. Luke 17:7-10: It explains a slave in the field obeying his master and doing his daily work and goes onto ask that when the slave comes in from the field would the master say to him “Oh come at once and sit down to eat?” out of appreciation that the slave did what he was told or would he rather tell the slave “Prepare something for me to eat, get ready and serve me while I eat and drink”? In the days of slavery a slave did what he was told because he was a servant to a master that he was not equal to. So the verse says in the end “In the same way when you have done all that you were commanded, you should say, ‘We are good-for-nothing slaves; we’ve only done our duty.” Now God wasn’t saying I am worth nothing because He sent His Son to die on a cross for this “good-for-nothing slave”. What I am saying is that at that moment God said “Jennifer quit chasing My love with your obedience. Obedience to Me is doing what is right because I am your Master, NOT so you can receive my praise, my pat on the back or gratitude for doing what you’re told." I cannot work for God’s love because then I could boast that I have earned something that Jesus paid a very very high price for when he paid the ultimate price for our redemption. “It is by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—not from works; so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 So then rereading the parable of the lost son is even more humbling! To know that a Righteous and Holy God ran to me! The Creator of the universe ran to a created “good-for-nothing” slave to welcome me home! My tears well up at this moment as I relive this very humbling experience with a very patient and awesome God!

So today I am studying in 1 Corinthians 13 and outlining everything God says love is and then cross referencing each attribute in my Bible and making a lot of confessions! God is teaching me a new way to love Him, His way and reminding me that I never chased Him, He chased me! So let me describe His love from
1 John 4:9-10:
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins.

Thank you for letting me share. Please pray for me that pride will decrease and a new way to love my Creator will increase!

Week 2 of Training

2010-08-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

“It is good to praise the LORD, to sing praise to Your name, Most High, to declare Your faithful love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night.” Psalm 92:1-2

We are in Week 2 of our Field Training in Virginia. It has been such a wonderful experience. We are completely busy but in all the right ways. It has been so nice to enjoy a roof over our heads that we can temporarily call “home” and that has been nice for the boys too. We share a living room with four other families/singles but it seems very normal for our kids. If you ask Micah where he lived before, he describes the seminary housing as: “A really big house and some people had bedrooms on the second floor and some on the third. Our bedroom was on the first floor. I miss living in our house with all of our friends.” =) One day he’ll realize that we lived in a small apartment in a big complex but until then we lived in a huge mansion with all his friends!

The boys started school last week. I was so afraid that this would be a much bigger struggle for them than it was. Kids always prove parents wrong! Ben was a concern for me because he has always been with Micah but he too has handled this transition with great stride. Today (8-2) he is the class leader and I’m sure he will tell us all about it when we get him at 3:15. Micah will sing songs to us that he has learned and has done well at making new friends. During our small group church service on Sunday he led us in a new song called “Jesus was a Child Just Like Me” and taught everyone “Jesus Loves Me” with sign language. It was so awesome to see our four year old taking a part in the body of Christ. He also opened his Bible and told us about Heaven and “Well”. He let us know that Heaven is a good place where all our tears are wiped away and there is a deep “Well” where Jesus will knock out satan and there is hot lava and none of our tears are wiped away. So I’m not sure when we will explain that there isn’t a deep well and that it’s a place called Hell but for the time being its really cute!

Cameron and I have been in deep training and it can be emotionally and physically exhausting as the Lord deepens us, stretches us, and molds us to be His bond-servants. The training for spiritual warfare will begin Wed. 8-3 and it will be enlightening yet intense. Please pray for us during these next weeks of training. I personally would ask that you pray for continued emotional healing over Cameron and me. The last baby we lost was due July 11th and the month served as a reminder of what was missing from my arms. I praise God because I have been healed and restored in a lot of ways since our journey with pregnancies has come to an end, but it is a scab that is covering a deep wound. This week especially Cameron and I have felt satan strongly trying to pick that scab and make that wound bleed all over again. We just want to abide in the healing God has started in us and the peace He has perfected over our lives and in no way want to go backwards in our healing process. Please help us in praying 2 Peter 4:10 over our lives. If you do not have a Bible present it says: “Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.” God has been ever so faithful to us after each loss and has never left us crumpled at His feet in our shattered state. It is in His restoration of my heart that I deny satan access to dare pick apart what God has previously restored in me. So please pray because this is a very sensitive part of our lives and satan is attacking where he knows it’s sensitive.

Thank you all who are coming on board to partake in a ministry that God is also calling you to. Please don’t ever underestimate your part in this ministry by your prayers. Your time in praying for the Roma is essential to advancing the gospel to this people group so THANK YOU!!!!

Count down!

2010-07-17T13:13:00.000-07:00

Well this road trip of excitment is quickly coming to a close and we are welcoming the end to a this house to house transition. It has been enjoyable to visit family and meet new friends as we spoke at different churches, thank you all so much!
We are now in Maryland and upon arriving we spent our first night caring for our oldest child with fever and vomit and feeling a very rare 3.6 earth quake! It is a very fitting situation for the Phillip's family to have this sort of night =) Those of you who are just getting to know us will enjoy praying for some of these rare situations and you will ask "Can all of this happen to one family?" The answer is yes and though we don't always enjoy it, we know you will find it interesting and at times amusing.
Cameron and I enjoyed our ten year anniversary on July 15th! We enjoyed traveling to the smokey mountains and spending the day with our little boys. I will include a picture of this trip.
This coming week Cameron and I will be working on aquiring our visa for Bulgaria. Please pray that this process will go smoothly and our application will be accepted. We have received a tenative departure date of October 11th and ask for prayers regarding the airport process: packing, customs, lay overs, active toddlers, saftey, and overall adjustments. Pray for Cameron and I to have the ability to be flexible to any changes that will be out of our control and an attitude that will be pleasing to Christ and not to our flesh. I am aware that when traveling, exhausted and trying to manage two small boys our tempers can be short and we want to begin praying for our mindset to be one of calmness and love towards each other and those around us.
Thank you for your love and support and we really appreciate everyone who opened up their homes and hearts to us during this

Sad Goodbyes

2010-06-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

It's always hard to say goodbye. The word goodbye is often met with sadness in our English language. Goodbye, the word is derived by the phrase "God be with you" and means an act of parting or leave-taking. In the English language a goodbye could mean a short departure or a long one. Our family is having to come to terms with the long version of this word this week and the tears that are falling show that they would gladly erase this word from our English language. This week if you will remember to pray for our parents: Kenneth, Melynda, Clelleen, Joe, Mike, Pam, Brenda, Richard, Jeri, and Bobby. If the multitude of names confuses you, don't worry there isn't a mistake! =) We are not from a divided family, we are from a well loved one and our kids thoroughly enjoy Christmas time!

Cameron and I are handling the transition from Corpus okay for now. There is a knot in the bottom of our stomachs that business is currently pushing aside, but we know our emotions will come to the surface soon and we too will shed our share of tears. The neat thing about God is that He never puts a call on one's heart without preparing them for the destiny He's calling you to. I surrendered to this call on my life at the age of 15 and Cameron knew God was calling him to foreign missions when he was 19. When we married in 2000 we quickly applied to go overseas to Japan and because of my young age of 18 we were denied. Cameron felt God continuing to push him towards service in the Air Force and though we didn't understand why, we followed. I can give you 1,000 testimonies of what God did for us during our seven years of service to prepare us for this moment, but for this post I am focusing on one. When we joined, we first served for three months in San Antonio and drove two hours to Corpus to see our families every weekend. Our second duty station was Wichita Falls, Texas and we drove one to two times a month to see family. Our third station was in Shreveport, Louisiana and further distance only allowed us to make every holiday and special occasion. When we moved to New Orleans it was the furthest distance we had lived from home and with two children in the back seat, we only came home two times a year. God has given us and our parents baby steps the last ten years to say goodbye and get used to distance. These ten years he has gradually moved us further and further away from home. He has been so sweet in giving us all time to prepare for this journey He is calling us to. We praise His sweet nature and kindness for the last ten years...our ten year goodbye to our families. Our second prayer request is that you allow our parents to see the sweet goodbye God allow them to have with us and us with them. He called their children to this journey, yet allowed them abundant time to say a sweet ten year goodbye.

This week will include packing our belongings again. This time we will organize what we want to take with us to Bulgaria and pack it in our luggage cases. In addition we will need to pack for our time in Virginia. During our last packing process we lost three very special things and have yet to find them. One of these items was a brand new I-Pod. This may seem trivial to some but it had Bible study stuff on it that I planned to use during my time overseas and music that I loved to listen to during any season of life. Ah, if we could somehow come across the special things that seem to have been lost during this transition I would love it! As we pack our things for Bulgaria we are hoping to avoid repeating the same mistakes that lead us to arrive in Corpus short handed. Please pray for us during our time of packing.
We are leaving Corpus on June 29Th or 30Th depending on my step-dad's schedule. From there we will have destination stops in Shreveport, Monroe, & Kentwood, LA; Tennessee, Connecticut, Cape Cod, Massachusetts and arriving in Richmond, Virginia by July 26Th. Please pray for travel mercies! The boys should be a bundle of energy at each stop and when we arrive in Richmond for our 8 weeks of training they may send us back home and skip the whole process because the kids are so wired and FUN! Just kidding. I am hoping for alot of car naps and giggles as we drive in peace and quiet with low gas prices at each stop. Look! It's a prayer request I can ask whatever I want here~! =)

On a side note our adventure walks have included a LARGE walking stick, two snakes and some locusts. Micah was thrilled that daddy killed a scorpion that in his words "Was coming straight for our car! It didn't know that Daddy and me were standing outside the car and daddy surprised him when he squished!" South Texas critters will be the only ones celebrating our departure!

We love you and appreciate you taking the time to check on us, pray for us and love us!

misconceptions

2010-06-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

Week 1: This journey to Texas to visit family and friends before reporting for training in July has been much different than what we imagined it to be. When we lived in New Orleans Cameron had three jobs: Hiller, full time school, & serving our church as the music minister. I was a full time mommy to my little guys and worked at Kenneth's part time. When we packed what little bit we had left and departed from New Orleans we had an idea that life would be very relaxing and welcomed being "bored" for the first time in our married life. This was our misconception!
Texas welcomed us with a virus and a scramble to get Benjamin into a doctor and since our insurance didn't cross state lines with us we had a challenge on our hands. God is good and provided a doctor free of charge! In an attempt to keep things interesting, Micah followed with a virus all his own =)
Week 2: We headed to Austin, Tx to visit my sister and her family. It was a great visit and the boys were fasinated with picking all of their dinner vegtables straight from her impressive garden. They picked quite a few things they didn't plan on eating for dinner too; beets, bell peppers, ect A dinner at ChuckECheese resulted in Jennifer and her sister acting like children and hitting every ticket jackpot they could, ending the night with 1,600+ tickets and leaving the facility with three very impressive dollar store level toys for the kids.
On our way back to Corpus we stopped and made a visit to the Snake Farm. Cameron and I had been there before but felt obligated to share our reptile passion with our boys. We are proud to say they have inherited this wonderful genetic gift! Micah and Ben were fascinated with the petting zoo but did require being reminded to stay out of "green" mud (yes disgusting). Our next stop was to the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. It amazes me what I think my children will be excited about and then they end up could care less about. We drove through the safari and the boys would hop into our laps and feed some African Deer and then jump into the backseat and play with a toy. We would exclaim "Look! A buffalo is coming to the car to eat!" And the boys would not be phased by the exclamation as if buffalo have visited our car on a regular basis!?
Week 3: We are now in June and I can't believe how fast our time is flying. There are still so many people to see and spend time with! This week has been really fun. The weekend was spent seeing my grandparents. They have a huge place in my heart and have invested so much into me spiritually being the woman I am today. I don't think they will ever understand HOW much they impacted my life! In addition to sweet visits with family, I caught some cool wildlife. Cameron and I have started running together every morning with the boys. In part this is exercise that we both desire and enjoy but the real reason for this passion is Cameron doesn't trust me going alone! Cameron knows the real reason I'm out running is to see how much wildlife I can encounter and catch! Part of the "for better or for worse" part of our marriage is that he is obligated to run 3 miles with me inorder to keep me safe! So we've caught and brought home two turtles. The first one Micah named "Micah'Angelo" in honor of Ninja Turtles. I 'thought' I had found a shady spot to put his box but the sun has a tendancy of moving through out the day and killed our "Micah'Angelo." To redeem myself I found a tiny baby turtle and set it up inside in a box. It wasn't eating and the same fate was closing in quickly so we let him "play" in the garden and make his great escape! The highlight of the week was the huge Tarantula!!! Now I am scared out of my wits of spiders and this was huge for me to catch it! The boys have a book about spiders and tarantulas and have been wanting to see one badly. I was driving home the other day and saw a big furry circle in the road and as I came on it I realized it was a huge tarantula. I jumped out of the car with a zip lock bad and a flip flop and got it to run into the bag. It wasn't easy and there was alot of jumping and screaming on my part but I got it! The kids loved it and I did actually pet his booty and was surprised at how soft he was. We ended up giving him to my little brother's friend as a pet.
Unfortunately Ben has managed to encounter another virus and has been running a fever of 103 today. Fortunately not as high as the last virus but 103 is yucky still. So a few prayer requests from us would be:

Healing for Ben and protection for Micah from getting sick
Spiritual growth as Cam and I feel days flying by without a moment to sit and study God's word. Discipline to MAKE time!
Busy days of repacking and reorganizing what we will take with us, what needs to stay and who will keep it for us.
Travel mercy on our family as everyday we are driving to see somebody or making appoitments somewhere to speak with churches.

2010-05-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

You have found the Phillips Family! Cameron and I are busy packing all day today and we will not begin blogging until next week when UHaul is returned, bags unpacked and a deep breath is taken! Please know that we love and appreciate all of you and your desire to follow our adventure and pray for our family! It has been a joy feeling the love of our friends in New Orleans! All of you made an impact on our lives!