Greetings,



This week has been full of surprises and confusions, happy fun times and exhaustion. I've been running fast but now that it is getting warmer it is getting harder to be so busy, at least until my body adjusts to the heat.



One of the nice things is that we finally got the water pipes fixed and we are getting city water again! I don't know how long ago it was, maybe 2 weeks? Praise God with me for the ability to do laundry and properly water my plants.



Speaking with one of my students about the pattern of sacrifice in the Bible that leads up to Jesus Christ, he looked at me and said, "You make me believe in Jesus." Things really clicked with his mind and he fully understood his own sin. I used the example of a broken window where each crack is a sin and he compared his "window" as one that has been on a car in a serious crash where there was almost no space between the cracks. There is no way to make the window clear again, except by replacing it. That all said, he showed no interest in pursuing this further. He says he believes that Jesus is the only way, that through his sacrifice he can be saved. Pray that God would reveal to A-d what this really could mean in his life. Pray that he seeks God himself.



In the course of my travel plans I met the owner of a large business who graciously invited me and my friend Autumn to his office for tea. He then proceeded to get things worked out for me without charging me the fees that I should have had to pay even though I never was told about them. Anyway, the next day I went with one of my teammates and prayed for continued favor in the eyes of this man. God gave us the favor and costs were cut for some shipping that was going to be rather expensive. But this was not the surprise. The surprise was to find out that this Muslim man reads the Injil (New Testament) and has a group of Muslim friends that read and discuss it "all the time". He really likes Christians because he says they do not cheat and they do not lie. He actually offered an Arabic-English Injil to my teammate, Jeremiah, to help him learn Arabic. Things I never expected to hear in a Muslim country at all…



The other things that made up my week have been hiking through bat and gecko caves, teaching kids how to jump rope, cooking again for hoards of people (we'll be taking this coming Friday off), discussing "Till We Have Faces" by C.S. Lewis, reading Romans and journaling, grading mounds of rough drafts for my 7th grade research papers, and re-applying myself to my Kurdish study.



Pray for my students—those that believe, think they believe, want to believe, refuse to believe…



Pray for me—strength, wisdom, the Holy Spirit to fill me, to know what I should prioritize, to learn Kurdish…



Pray for Sh.—my team teacher who seemed open and curious for a while, but has backed off spiritual discussions, pray that she would seek out answers and seek God



Thank you all so much!

Colleen

Greetings,



Is truth stranger than fiction? Sometimes I think it must be. Fiction is by nature something that came out of our own heads, but truth is God's. That must be how such fantastic things come into my life. I do things I would never have dreamt of doing. But it all plays a part in the promise of more than we could ask or imagine.


I saw a magic trick show on the roof of my teammates' houses put on by a Bangladeshi TV performer for a group of us westerners and eighty to a hundred Bangladeshi men. It had music and singing and a great performance of several simple tricks. For this even I also went to pick up ten watermelons. I finally was able to get them after they tried to explain more than once that they had no ten kilo watermelons. That is one of the problems with looking the foreigner. Even if you say it right in Kurdish, they think you are saying it wrong and try to come up with something more reasonable.


This magic and music presentation was an extension of the Friday night events that several ministries in the area are working on together. We serve Bangladeshi food to thirty-five men who are working in the city as street sweepers and garbage men. Then they watch the Jesus film in their own language. It is an amazing ministry and God is working among these men.


At the school, things are wrapping up for a couple of the classes. My seventh graders are being teenagers and several ended up in detention this week. That has mellowed the class somewhat, and we are making progress. One of them, N-w, is reading and journaling Romans for me. I hope it will grow his newly professed faith and that he will be able to grow and that his belief is sincere. Please pray that he would grow and learn to walk with God.


And for myself too, I ask you to pray that I would more closely walk with my Lord. There are manifold enough temptations to distract and to confuse and to weary a person. Pray that I would live on God's strength and that I would follow him in every little particular.


Many thanks and blessings to you all,

Colleen

From Colleen--Iraq (all I've got is crayons)

Greetings,
He's a hurricane and I have crayons.

Trying to capture the might and majesty and power and beauty of God with Microsoft Word is like trying to capture the sheer terror of a hurricane with crayons on a piece of paper. It's impossible. No matter how good your words are, or how tightly wrapped your ideas are, on some levels, you are left with a shadow of a shadow of a shadow.
(stuffchristianslike.net)

I realize it has been a while. A strange mixture of things kept me from writing last week. Part of it, I admit, was my own laziness and lack of scheduling. Part of it was busyness. And part of it was discouragement and a feeling that I was tired and had nothing to tell. This week I again didn't feel like writing. As the quote above says, "He's a hurricane and I have crayons". Now I am trying to capture something grand and fantastic with silly words on a page. I know nothing I will write will be able to truly explain what it is I see, what it is I revel in, what it is that daily beg God for.


My students are finishing "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" today and tomorrow. It has provided amazing opportunities to be bold with the gospel. It is amazing how clearly the story portrays the purpose for Christ's death and our need for salvation. Pray that it would go beyond mere understanding of vocabulary and concepts. My team teacher Sh. has been evaluating this specifically. I haven't been able to talk with her much because she took on another class. But next week I hope to get together with her outside of school for some final exam planning and conversation. But the softening of her heart and her understanding have grown in ways I never noticed and in areas I never consciously remember telling her about. My heart aches for her and yet I see God's hand working and cannot deny it.


Probably one of the things I am most excited about doing is a dinner this Friday. I and another girl here are going to be cooking for about 30 Bangladeshi men and maybe as many as 15 Christian workers as 3 homes show the Jesus film to 10 men each. Please pray that God will miraculously turn our food into something that tastes like home to them and that they are blessed. There are people from a couple organizations that are involved in this and the men have seen great softness and eagerness to learn. My teammate Jeremiah has given some of them Bibles and more are on the way; he could easily give away a hundred, I think.


I find it fascinating as I sit back and watch this unfold how God brought these men to the middle of nowhere, to the lowest of conditions, so that these men could hear truth and know Him. And even more astounding is that he brought me and others half way around the world at this time, to this place, and gave us contact with these people. No human would plan such a thing or even conceive of it. But God is so much greater.


I have so much trouble trying to explain all of this. I wish you could have stood in the hallway of the school this past weekend as a prayer conference was held there. The stark contrast between the school as a place of education and lost children and the same location filled with people praising God and praying. The fellowship was sweet and the meeting of new people and friends was a special blessing to me. The time in prayer for all of the Kurds and Northern Iraq was also so wonderful. God fills my cup.


Thank you all. Ask God to show you what is going on here and around you. I cannot describe it well enough. May he speak to you.

Sincerely,
Colleen

Update from Colleen- Iraq

Greetings,

Here I am again. A whole week has gone by and in many ways I feel no farther on in anything than I was last week. It is that time in the school year where you feel like the end should be coming sooner than it is, but at the same time it is rushing up on you and you don't have enough time to do all the things you want to do. It is a hard thing to explain.


I have had several good conversations with my team teacher and some of my students about the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I have realized that I really struggle to remember what it is that I talked about with them afterwards. I am so focused on what they are saying and what I should say… and praying through it all… I only end up with fragmented thoughts and memories. Today was about "the wages of sin is death" with my team teacher Sh. and the other day I was going through passages about Jesus being king with Hannah. The fifth graders are learning responsibility and teamwork as they run the jump-roping at recess each day. I hope so much for all these kids and the teachers. Please pray for them.

All those conversations have been an encouragement to me. I am happy with what is going on at the school. I miss my missing teammate terribly, though. Although my life at home has not been as lonely as I expected without Laura here. My dear family here in Iraq has been so kind. I even learned to make homemade tortillas today. There are still many things that are difficult and lonely and hard, but I am aware of God giving me special blessings and showing his love and care for me. Please pray that I would continue to see God's hand at work and that I would persevere.


One thing that I have been blessed by lately is some music that a friend gave me. One of the songs by Rich Mullins struck me particularly because the lyrics seemed especially appropriate as I miss friends and family back in the States.

Well the other side of the world
Is not so far away as I thought that it was
As I thought that it was so far away
But the other side of the world
Is not so far away
And the distance just dissolves into the love
Into the love

And the New Jerusalem won't be as easy to build
As I hoped it would be
As I hoped it would be easy to build
But the New Jerusalem won't be so easy to build
There's many bellies to fill and many hearts to free
Got to set them free

And I know that the gates of hell
Are not prone to prevail
As I thought that they were
As I once thought they were prone to prevail
But I know that the gates of Hell
They have been destined to fail
I see Satan impaled on the sword of the Word
On the sword of the Word

And I see the people who have learned to walk in faith
With mercy in their hearts
And glory on their faces
And I can see the people
And I pray it won't be long
Until Your kingdom comes


I thank you all for your prayers. It strikes me as more and more important every day. Please also remember Laura (my team member that went back to the States) and her family as they adjust to a new way of life.

In Christ,
Colleen

another letter from Colleen

Greetings,



I have sat here for some time staring at the blank page on my computer screen, wondering how to sum up this past week. It has been ordinary and yet anything but ordinary. On the surface so many things are just what they always have been, but underneath there is something else going on. I suppose it is that way always and I just don't realize it.



I have been convinced that I need to spend more time in prayer. This began almost a week ago and I have so enjoyed it. The spiritual warfare is violent and I began to notice it in more and more places. Again, perhaps it has always been there but I just started to notice. But my teammate, Laura, decided to pray in each of our classrooms before school that God would give them attitudes of pleasantness, a desire to work hard, and hearts open and soft to the gospel.



I think it must be impossible to spend time with God without finding something that needs to be changed. Over and over this week, I have been convicted of my sins of selfishness and possessiveness. There are so many things I have considered "mine" that are not mine, and even if they were I should be most willing to give them up if God asks them of me. He has asked them of me this week. Pray that I would continue to find these areas and that God would help me get rid of them.



Another thing I have become convinced of is that I must work harder at learning Kurdish and especially to learn the spiritual vocabulary in the language. I must get further if I am to do any good to the many women that have no English. I met a woman who is a baby Christian, she knows no other Christian women. My Kurdish isn't at the point where I can explain Biblical truths and she doesn't know English. I know what I am to do, not just to communicate with her, but to be able to communicate truth to my several other Kurdish friends who don't speak any English.



I am so blessed, however, to be able to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ in English to my students. Please be praying for S-z. I have mentioned her before (she came to a Bible Study for a few weeks last year) but she seemed to lose interest in all things spiritual. But Tuesday she came to me with several questions about Jesus and Christians. At the end of lunch she asked if she could talk to me again, next lunch break, and ask some more questions. Wednesday was a holiday and so I figured she would probably have forgotten her question. But no, yesterday she came back at lunch and asked the question that I didn't have time to answer before.



"Why did Jesus let himself die?"



After some discussion and several other questions…(the gospel follows so logically, all you have to do is wait for the next perfect question!) she asked another one at the very end of lunch.



"So if a girl…or someone…anyone…not me, you know, believed Jesus and what he did, but was well afraid…people would say things like 'Why do you do that' and think that person is strange, would Jesus take her to heaven or leave her?"



Whoa! That's a hard question and I told her so. As I spoke, I referred to this "someone" as herself and she took it without comment. She is really struggling over this. Pray that her faith would grow and that I would have the wisdom in my words and actions. I love her and all my students so much.



Thank you for your prayers this week. My sleep has improved some, but I am still waking up once or twice in the night for no reason. I have discovered, however, that the rooster that lives across the street must be blind, for he crows all day and all night. Funny thing. But this morning I seem to have woken up with something or other rather icky; I hope it is short lived. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.



Many blessings on you all,

Colleen

From Colleen

Greetings,



This week was harder than I ever imagined it could be. I never approach my week and think, "Wow, this'll be easy!" But physically and emotionally I got beat up these last several days.



The illness made me feel terrible for a few days, but harder to deal with was the sudden death of my teammate Laura's father. He died probably of a heart attack, a seemingly healthy man in his prime. Please pray for her, she left last night to return to the States to be with her mother and younger brother and sister. There will be many things for her to sort through emotionally as well as ways to be a support to her family. I can't imagine the difficulty for her, but her father is rejoicing in heaven. We do not mourn like the people of this world mourn.



There is a selfish request related to that as well. I have lost a dear friend and someone with whom I have spent nearly the whole of the last 2 and a half months. We ate, prayed, worked, drove, walked, prayed, and laughed together. I mentioned prayer twice in that list because she blessed me so much during our times of prayer together. We also spent much time laughing. Please pray for me that I would be encouraged, comforted, and that I would continue to laugh. A lot of things become a lot harder here without another single girl.



I remind myself, however, that God knows what he is doing. This wasn't some random accident from his perspective. So, I have begun looking for the possibilities of new things or old things that I could invest in that I didn't do as much of these last few months. I am going to work harder on Kurdish and specifically learn the terms and vocabulary for spiritual conversations. In addition, I hope to spend some more time with our neighbors, a new Christian girl, and another family here that I know, none of whom speak English. As I studied this afternoon I realized that this will not be an easy thing to attempt, but how often do I counsel my students to push through and persevere through difficulty? Nearly every day.



My work at the school has not been abandoned, however. I am still blessed by conversations over the last few days. Ron (if you remember my astrophysics/quantum physics 6th grader) approached me again today with questions about diversity in Creation and Evolutionary theories, he was very sure and thought that he must have me pinned. God is the giver of grace and words. But I left him thinking about absolute truth and how the basis for truth according to him is a random series of chemical reactions. He said he'd have to chew on that one for a while.



The struggles I have draw me closer to Christ. The dilemmas I come across make me re-evaluate the truths and things that I have taken for granted. God has proven himself faithful. Please continue with me in prayer.



Sent to serve,

Colleen

Update From Bekah Rust in Romania

An update from Bekah follows:


I am standing outside of Rehab. Across the street, down a driveway and behind a small white
building is an empty playground. At the far end of the playground is a yellow bench being
showered in sunlight. In the middle of this bench is a small child, he is too far away to see
clearly, and wearing a large yellow winter coat which causes him to nearly blend in with the
bench. This little boy is steadily rocking back and forth, which is the only reason I saw him in
the first place. They rock to comfort themselves. This child belongs to the small white building
next to Rehab, a place for children who are disabled and have AIDS. I want to walk over
there and sit down next to him. I want to put my hand on his back and comfort him so he will
stop rocking, but I don't. I am afraid. I wish I had the courage Jesus had when He
approached the lepers, those stories take on a whole new meaning to me when I am faced
with similar situations. I am a long way from being like my Savior, and I have become even
more amazed by His actions while on this earth.


I started painting at Rehab this week, and I have a lot of work to do. This is my last week in
Bucharest. I plan do most of the downstairs painting in the afternoon when the kids have
naps. I was reassured this was the best plan today. I was just finishing up for the day when
the boys were waking up. One of the boys was hiding behind the doorway, and peeking out at
me every few minutes, while another was sitting precariously close to the power chord to my
computer, (which I used with a projector before starting to paint) and a third was watching my
every move and every so often would jump up and try to touch something that I was carrying.


Luminiþa (a young girl I have been working with) was fitted for braces for her feet today. Her
feet are turned out, and hopefully this will help her be able to walk straight in the future. It is
encouraging to see progress in the orphanages because it seems that things change so
slowly here. Thank you all so much for your prayers. Please continue to pray for change in
the orphanages in Romania, as well as for strength for the missionaries here who are
reaching out to these lost children. The children often suffer from many psychological
problems because of the way they grow up, making it very difficult for them to succeed in life.
Their is so much work to be done here. Pray especially for the children, for God's blessing
upon them, that their hearts will be turned to Him, and that many would be saved.


~Bekah