Samaritan's Purse in Ohrid

We had to privilege of working with Samaritan's Purse to distribute wheelchairs to people in Ohrid who needed them. The director in Skopje called me, after talking to our teammates, Jeff and Amy Williams, and asked if they could use the coffeehouse for the distribution. A group of specialists from America, working with Hope Haven, brought the wheelchairs here with them and custom fit every person with a wheelchair. A week before the distribution we called each person on the Samaritan's Purse list to invite them to the coffeehouse. I made it clear that I had no idea what I was doing and explained that a group of professionals was coming to do it :).

As a result, I got to know the director of the Handicap Association (Zdruzenie na Telesni Invalidi) in Ohrid. He has invited me to speak at one of their big meetings. This is one of the reasons why we do outreach or ministry with other organizations. We always meet people who are interested in what we do and want to hear what we have to say. Also, they normally give us access to other places as well. This association has 120 members and although all 120 do not always meet at the same time, there is a chance I will get to meet a good percentage of them and hopefully get a chance to share the gospel.

Below are some pictures from the distribution.
Above is the director of Samaritan's Purse in Macedonia (left) and the director of the handicap association (right).




Now the people above don't look too excited, but that is because the director was explaining something when I took this picture. Please be in prayer for follow-up and new relationships with these new contacts. We were able to hand out More than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell, Jesus our Destiny by Wilhelm Busch, and a New Testament.

Not a Single Picture

Jennifer and I "made a party" for mothers today at the coffee house. It went REALLy great, but we didn't take a single picture. Urgh. I'm sorry!!!

I was able to share a little from Proverbs 31:25-31 about how we feel versus what is truth. We had a great time getting to know the women, most of whom have young kids like us, and we are planning on starting a group with these ladies much like a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group in the states. We are thrilled to see what God has already done just by bringing these ladies in and we can't wait to see what He is going to do in the future.

I will leave with a picture of my Mother's Day breakfast. WOWzaas! I ate MAYBE a fourth of it.

And this is a picture of the gift the kids got me.

It is a painting of our old neighborhood--where we brought Kate home from the hospital and where we brought Thomas home from America. The hint for it was "From Kate and Thomas, to remember their beginnings." I love it! Brian, I mean, ahem, the kids are so great!

CNN in Our Little Corner

If you have questions about this or about why we are here, please ask us!!!

And One More

Yesterday morning when I was writing out Mother's Day blessing to all the dearest moms in my life, my husband was trying to run me out of the house to take me to lunch. So I didn't forget one special mom, I just didn't have time to write about her. To Gommie Poe ~ I LOVE YOU! You are so wonderful. You are so much fun to be around. Your sense of humor is so great and you know how to laugh and love in spite of life's ditches. I love your sweet spirit and your tender heart. And I love your daughter. She is the best friend a girl could ever ask for. You did an awesome job raising her. Happy Belated Mother's Day! Love you!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there.

To my sister in law, Tabatha ~ Happy First Mother's Day. Your faith and perseverance is such an amazing example to me. I am so very thrilled for you as your celebrate your first Mother's Day. Nathan is such a blessed little boy to have such a tender and kind woman as his mommy. I love you!!!!

To my sweet sister, Elley ~ You are an old and experienced mom by now. ;0) I am so proud of you. You are such a strong woman. You have taught me so much about keeping your head up in spite of circumstances. I love you so much! Happy Mother's Day!

To my Mother-in-Love, Thank you so much for your son. ;) I am so grateful for you. Thanks for letting me be a part of your family, for sharing old Polish family recipes with me, and for loving my kids so much! I love you! Happy Mother's Day!

And last but certainly not least, to my Momma ~ Words cannot begin to express my gratitude to you and love for you! You are such an amazing woman and you served as example for who I want to be when I grow up. One day maybe I will be there. Thank you for putting up with all of my drama through the years, headbands through the nose, sucking hair with vacuum cleaners, open-heart surgeries, a move overseas, I could go on. You have been there as my care-giver, support and helper through all of it. I love you so much! Happy Mother's Day!

It's Official

Yep, it's official. We stink at keeping our blog up to date. I am so sorry. These days I get on the internet during nap-time and late in the evening after the kids have gone to bed and I am done folding laundry, etc, and when I am on the internet it is so much easier to just read other people's blogs and, ahem, facebook statuses than it is to actually write one myself. Sorry. I will try and do better. I am not saying that from here on out I will update every week, but I am saying I will try hard. HA. We'll just have to wait and see.

Things here are good. It has been a semi- long and semi-hard couple of weeks for our whole team. After the awesome volunteer team left (see below), we had so many plans and intentions to follow up with all the new people we met, and then sickness set into the whole team. The entire Dover family got the stomach virus, since then three of the five of them have been dealing with viral cold mess. Their littlest, Noah was put in the hospital in Greece on Monday night and has been there all week. They should be coming back today. We hope. Pray for them.

And our poor Thomas got the stomach virus on top of second degree burns that covered his entire left thigh and a spot on his arm. He had to spend two nights at the hospital in Greece. And about the time, things were looking like we were going to be able to start going full force again, I got sick with the viral cold mess.

It all kind of just makes me want to scream a little, but that is only when I think about it apart from Christ--when I take my eyes off of Him. He is sovereign. He is good. And He is working in spite of us and all of our sicknesses. There is a big chance He is doing more of a work in our hearts than in the people around us, but His arm is not too short. He is not deaf to our needs. He has been here, right where we are. He walked this earth long before we did and we can take heart because He has overcome the world. He continues to show me things that confirm "He is here and He is not silent" (Schaeffer).


Brian has been meeting with one of the guys we met when the team was here. He has had some good conversations with him about his worldview and his "Christian view." He has agreed to start coming to our Sunday night Bible study.

So like I said before God is working....in spite of us. Praise His Name!