Ridiculously Short update...But...

Hi~ I'm checking this from Bucharest, Romania!!

We just left Iasi, Romania and I cried for 30 minutes because I became surprisingly close with my 21 yo translator, Laura, and the Pastors wife, Denise. I met Pastor Florin and Denise and their 3 children, David (16), Andrew(11), and Estera (7) and have been amazed at how their WHOLE family serves Jesus Christ and shares the TRUTH of the gospel in such a dark country. I have had some amazing experiences this week and I've never felt so much like family with anyone in such a short amount of time as I have with Laura and Denise. These Christians have so much struggle for Truth in such dark blackness of Orthodox religion. It blankets the country with such a heaviness...and yet the Christian Evangelicals are strong in faith and passionate in missions...it's utterly amazing. I'm speechless.

I will blog more about the specific amazing stories from my trip when I get home. For now, I still can't get my head around this trip...it may take a while.

I get back in the states Sunday night. Please pray for our safe travel...

And we are bringing a young Romanian guy, Raoul (21) back to the states for his first time. He's studying to be a worship pastor and will be spending time at the church of Brookhills and with some friends in SC and CA. Pray for him...he has a lot of adjustments up ahead!!

With Love and Brokenness,
Karen

My heart in my hands

So, I leave in less than three days for another country, where I will be stepping into a completely different culture with a rich, deep and dark history, in an attempt to communicate the love of Jesus Christ through my hands in the form of daily medical clinics in rural towns outside of Iasi. I feel rather unprepared.

As a team, in preparation for the trip, we are going through a personal prayer journal called "ignite3 your prayer life" by Jim and Kaye Johns. They are e3 missionaries that have printed some simple prep materials for the e3 teams. This journal uses the five fingers of our hand to walk through the Lord's prayer, ascribing an WORD to each finger to accompany the principles taught by Jesus in this model prayer from Matthew 6:
"Our Father...(v9)" - our palm, as RELATIONSHIP
"hallowed by Your Name..." - our thumb, as WORSHIP
"Your kingdom come, Your will be done..." - our pointer, as SURRENDER of our lives to Him.
"Give us this day..." our long, as ASK for God to meet our needs.
"Forgive us..." - our ring, as CONFESS our sins daily to Jesus.
"Deliver us from the evil one..." - our small, for PROTECTION.
"for Yours is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory forever. Amen." - returning to the palm in WORSHIP.

At first, I felt it pretty basic. But as I continue to work through the daily devotions on each page, I am being challenged, humbled, and encouraged to truly evaluate my heart.

- page 5 "As we begin, let us recognize that active service for God is not the same thing as spiritual intimacy. Empowered service...is the result of an intimate walk with God, not the cause."
- page 11 "Name some of the ways you want to yield your mind, heart, will, attitude, dreams and goals to God in surrender." Ephesians 4:22-24
- page 16 "Need to forgive: We are to ask God to forgive us as we forgive others."
Does anyone come to mind? Do you have anger, resentment or grudges? Ask For His grace and strength to forgive unconditionally..." Ephesians 4:26-27,32

And finally, pages 28,29, is where I'm camping out:

- "We must all grow in our understanding of the faithfulness of God to find the persistence and boldness to continue in prayer-sometimes for years-without giving up. Jesus said we must not give up (Luke 18:1)
- "God honors obedience (1 John 3:21-22) The apostle John makes it clear that we cannot separate the lifestyle we live from the prayers we pray. This does not mean we have to live perfect lives, but obedient lives - confessing our sins so that our prayers are not hindered. (James 5:16)


I'm thankful for the time to prepare my heart to serve. I'm excited though apprehensive because of the element of the unknown. I'm looking forward to seeing the light of the Truth of the Gospel Message break through the darkness of a post-communist country to bring New Life in Christ to those who had no hope (Ephesians 2:11-13).

Thanks for your prayers!

T-minus 9 days and counting!

Salut!

A while back I wrote a blog about a medical mission trip opportunity to Iasi, Romania through the Church of Brookhills and E3Partners. Well, we are just around the corner from our departure date, and the trip has changed faces multiple times....

We’ve had a few obstacles to overcome but it seems that things are finally smoothing out. The Lord is providing and I am finding peace!

We began with about 25 interested people. After the economic downturn and the difficulty in finding a doctor to sponsor our trip, we are down to 13 people, leaving only 9 on the evangelical team and 4 on the medical team...an optometrist, two nurses, and myself, the "nurse" PA. I was very discouraged and unsure of whether even to go. As I prayed and waited though, the Lord began to move. In small ways at first... At our second meeting we were asked if anyone played a musical instrument to help with team worship while there. I was the only one who raised my hand and turns out, will be taking my guitar (those of you who know me, know that one of the main reasons I learned to play was for things like this). In a subsequent meeting, we were told we still didn't have a doc and therefore couldn't even take prescription medicines....again, discouraging. Well, through waiting and more prayer, we have found a Romanian doctor to work with us! And when we prayed for money to purchase the prescription meds, we learned a week later, someone had donated $700 to buy prescription medicines and eye glasses. Our team leader got some great deals and we even came in under budget for these items!

On the home front, we’ve had generous donations of over the counter medicines and supplies from friends like you. And, I just found out last week that we have some Romanian medical students eager to join in our clinics, as well!

I've learned so much already about depending on the Lord to provide, move, show up, and take control! It's been convicting and a powerful reminder that stepping out in faith is an act of Trust in the Lord and an act of Worship as well. He is Who He says He is, and He will do what He says He will do...

I can't thank you enough for your generous support, faithful prayer and sweet encouragement.

Multumesc! Dumnezeu sa te Binecuvinteze!

(Thank you! God bless you!)

Karen Connor

kconnor7@yahoo.com