Around the World in 8 Hours...

(Orlando, FL: 10 Feb 2010) In a one day excursion through Disney's Epcot Center we toured UK, Morocco, Italy, Norway, Canada, Germany, China, Mexico, Japan, France, and of course the USA. A Future World also exists in Epcot with venues for Land, Sea, and Space among others. It was a balmy 56 degrees in Central Florida with a gusty 10-15 mph wind. We lunched in France and then predictably had dinner in America at the Liberty Inn. One of our favorite attractions was The Sea with Nemo and Friends where we learned to talk Turtle with Crush the "dude" talking cartoon turtle from the movie Finding Nemo. The country attractions were cool; Canada was a hit with a 360 degree film showing the incredible beauty of our northern neighbor narrated by Martin Short. We enjoyed a cappella singers in the America Adventure building and watched amazing Chinese acrobats in the China pavilion.
A really cool nice touch of detail that only Disney could pull off; all the workers in each of the countries were not only in country costume, but had authentic accents. Imported ambiance.

A Holy Land Experience

(Orlando, FL: 8 Feb 2010) In the theme park Mecca of Orlando is a surprise and incredibly unique park called The Holy Land Experience. Trinity Broadcasting Corporation owns and manages the park which has been around for 9 years and, as the name states, tries to provide a mini experience of the Holy Land through a Christian and Biblical perspective. You enter through Noah's Ark like animal menagerie on one side and a manager scene on the other side; you walk through streets that are filled with characters in 1st century Palestine costume along buildings and displays made to look authentic to the time. There is a an outdoor 1/6th scale replica of Herod's Temple that existed in Jerusalem at the time of Christ. There are indoor exhibits/attractions like the Wilderness Temple, where a man dressed like a Levitical priest blows the Shofar horn and explains and acts part of the Passover sacrificial ceremony. In another building is a huge scale model of the city of Jerusalem at the time of Christ. A man stands in the middle of the model and explains the history of Jerusalem from the time of it's founding by King David from the City of Jebus to the razing of the city by the Romans in 70 AD. A building called The Scriptorium houses one of the largest private collections of Biblical documents and manuscripts in existence. Small groups of visitors are moved through 14 rooms of artifacts and displays every seven minutes, telling the story of the translation and preservation of the Bible over thousands of years. One room has a copy of Matthews Bible, which was an English translation done in the early 1500's in England. This was the period in English history of the oppression of religious worship and limited freedom. The copy of Matthew's Bible in the collection actually has a blood stain across the pages where the owner was attacked and brutalized for owning a Bible!
We saw an abbreviated street play of the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. The strangest experience of all was having communion with John and Jesus. After communion Jesus came through the crowd and touched each person and pronounced blessings on all (it was weird).
There were not huge crowds the day we went, but I will commend TBN for taking an opportunity to share the gospel at every opportunity.
This was truly an unexpected and pleasant surprise...A Holy (land) Experience in Orlando!

Catching Up in Greensboro

(Greensboro, NC: 2/21/2010) Had a great time catching up with nephews Michael and Chris Vargas and Michael's girlfriend Valerie. We attended their church, Central Community Church and then went out to lunch. The church is trying to reach people lost, unchurched or burned-out on church. They have a high powered band that leads the worship...they call it Ignite Worship (Chris plays drums). We appreciated them handing out ear plugs! It is the first time we ever had the preacher invite the congregation to text him during the service and at the end of his sermon he answered the questions that had been texted! Hey...whatever works...and this seemed to work. We were the oldest folks there by far, but we heard the Word preached, lifted our hearts in worship and met God....and that's what it's all about!
It was good to see how God is providing for the boys.The both have jobs and Chris is making plans to go back to college in the fall. Valerie is a delight and Joy now has a Facebook friend to keep tabs on the boys!

Welcoming Change

"All change is uncomfortable. Even when it is desired, change can be disturbing, for it disrupts your normal way of doing things. It introduces the unknown, the unexperienced. It can leave you feeling disoriented. It can call into question your strength and confidence. Strong emotions may arise within you, ones you'd rather not face, or ones you don't know how to face. Whatever this change means to you, at one time or another it will create a sense of unease. Or it may bring something even more unpleasant--a pain that won't go away."

A few days after we left Suffolk I found myself spiraling into a hole that I could not crawl out of. I felt lost, disconnected, disoriented, angry, confused, lonely, lethargic and a lot more. The more Ed prodded me the more angry and guilty I felt.

Staying in a little apartment at Wycliffe Headquarters waiting for the RV to be carpeted I came across a book, "Welcoming Change..Discovering Hope in Life's Transitions". The words I read expressed all that was happening to me and why I was feeling the way I was feeling. Even though this "new beginning" was something we had dreamed of, planned for, hoped for, waited for, it also meant something was ending. "The beginning of any transition is not really a beginning--it's an ending." I hadn't thought of that and it took me by surprise these emotions that came upon me and overwhelmed me.

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another." Anatole France

As I enter this new beginning I'm learning to let go of what is ending. But just as I'm leaving a part of myself behind I'm also taking a part of those I'm leaving with me. Good memories, great conversations, wonderful times of sharing, laughter, spiritual refreshment, crying, holding one another accountable, praying for one another through hard times, studying God's word. Thanks ladies, we'll do it again!

A Worthy Crusade...

The only tour offered by Campus Crusade introduces groups to The Jesus Film Project, just one of over 40 ministries under the umbrella of Campus Crusade for Christ International. But what a ministry it is. We were a little familiar with the Jesus Film, but the tour and presentation gave us a whole new appreciation for this amazing presentation of the life of Christ and how the Lord has used this tool over the past 30 years to tell the old old story of Jesus and his love for the world.
The project started with a vision to reach the people groups in the world with the gospel who have no written language. Over 50% of the world has only an oral means to hear and learn about the world. The first class film production was first made in English in 1979. Since then the film has been translated into 1082 languages and over 200 MILLION people (that's right MILLION) have accepted Christ as their personal savior through viewing the film. There are over 500 Jesus Film teams working in 72 countries around the world today. Almost every flavor of Christian denomination, Catholic and Protestant and many ministry organizations have effectively used the film. Many missionaries in countries with hard to reach people groups are using the film to plant churches.
The tour is about 45 minutes and explains the technology behind recording the sound and doing the dubbing and lip synching necessary to make the film a credible presentation in one's own tongue. It's amazing what they do.
The most humbling part of the tour is seeing the Wall of Honor. The wall honors the names and stories of those who have been killed...martyred, trying to show the film or get the film produced in their own language.
If you're interested in a meaningful missions trip, check out the 2 week trips that you can take with a Jesus Film team showing the film to people who have never heard the story of Jesus and the good news of salvation in Him.

Small World...BIG God

Joy and I went to a really small college in Portland, Oregon. There were maybe 800 students at Multnomah School of the Bible (now Multnomah University) in the 70's. Our class size was all of 150-175 students. We have a handful of close friends from those days we keep up with, but they all live in the Pacific Northwest. The last thing in the world we expected while getting some work done on our RV and checking out the sights in and around Orlando, Florida was to run into a friend from college.
While here we didn't just want to do the Disney tourist thing, but also to check out a couple ministries we have supported over the years. Campus Crusade for Christ and Wycliffe Bible Translators both have their headquarters here in Orlando. We have a friend who is a Bible translator and I have always been fascinated by the work and challenge of Bible translation, so we went there first (they are actually right next door to each other). Wycliffe has put together a fantastic hand's on display and interactive experience called WordSpring Discovery Center. There you learn about the long history of Bible translation as well as the relatively young history of the Wycliffe organization and ministry itself. We timed it to get there for the one time a day they have a face-to-face time with a missionary, before going on the self-guided tour. We arrived a little late and the missionary had already started. It was a small group and he was asking all of us where we were from, we said, "Virginia, but moving to Oregon". He made a comment about having gone to college in Oregon and having fond memories of it. Initially we didn't think anything of it and settled in for the fascinating presentation about the work of Bible translation around the world. As the guy got going we realized we knew him. "That's Gary Peterson", Joy elbowed and whispered to me (not in that order). The "Gary" on his nametag helped, but his expressions, mannerisms and look (though the years have been kind to him) was familiar. When the session finished up we had to wait while others cornered Gary to get their own questions answered. We finally got him aside and asked him if he had gone to Multnomah. He said he had and then looked at us with a closer knowing look. When I re-introduced myself after 35 years, he said, "I thought when you guys came in that you looked familiar". We had a great time that day catching up and sharing about our spiritual pilgrimage since Bible college days. We went back again the next day and had lunch with him, shared family pictures and did the "who's who" update of who we have kept up with since college days. It was a special and unexpected blessing and just like God to give us this gift of blessing as a token of what is to come on our Oregon Journey.

See ya later...Not Goodbye

(Suffolk, VA 1/26-27/2010) We made some great friends during our 7 years in Suffolk. Some of them threw a Bon Voyage party for us on our last Saturday in town. There was even a cake decorated with a toy car (representing our motorhome) and tow-truck. I asked if the toys were prophetic symbols like in Isaiah and Jeremiah...of impending doom, or something that was going to happen and they were indicating we would have many breakdowns along the way. The car and tow-truck are on opposite ends of the cake, I was informed, so the implication is a blessing and a prayer that God would keep us from breakdowns.
So, when you cut a cake at a going away party for people who are getting ready to travel for months on end, what is the appropriate song to sing? Happy Trails, of course. So, our friends sang, "Happy Trails to you, until we meet again".
The next day at church we ran into someone who doesn't like saying goodbye. As we hugged he reminded us that this is, "see ya later", not "goodbye".
And so it is...