Friday, August 31, 2007

Reflecting back... (Journal Entry)

Reflecting back…
There were days I missed home.
Days I thought it would never end.
Days I didn’t think the work possible.
Days I prayed for my neighbors, asking you to reveal yourself to them.
Days I rejoiced just because you are God and I’m your child.
Days I struggled to see that as enough to press on in spite of the difficulties.

2 years.

In 2005 I wondered where I would be, and what would have been accomplished 2 years from then.
Well, here I am.
There are the stories on cds and tapes and Kahani people are trained to tell them.
The next few months of my life are fairly planned out, and perhaps even the months after that.
Tentative still, but there are some good options.
And yet, do I not forget how hard it was during those times of missing home?
I’m crying knowing in some strange way that those goodbyes and times of separation are not over yet…
I’m not sure what lies ahead...
but know I’ll not always be able to be with my family, in spite of how much I never want to leave them again.

Seeing how He gave me a heart for these Kahani people, realizing his grace brought me through struggles with my partner, remembering how He provided story-crafters and back-translators even when we thought there weren’t any.
Looking back on His faithfulness in answering prayers for these people, thanking Him for the strength He gave when I wanted to be anywhere but there.
Knowing that He’ll do it all again…in the next place.
Knowing I can trust Him no matter what.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Last Update from "KAHAN" (Email Update)

Update- August 26, 2007

Short Version:
· Workshop Update…Dedication and distribution of the stories went very well!
· “They know the Truth now, I’ve done what I came here to do, their salvation is not my responsibility…” ~ Local leader and the apostle Paul also…
· During the month of September, I’ll be traveling to two countries, both of which are currently experiencing some civil unrest.

Longer Version:
Picture: Robin and I distributing tapes. This man (his wife is on the left) has attended all of our storying workshops and has been using storying to reach Kahani people.

“They know the Truth now, I’ve done what I came here to do, their salvation is not my responsibility…”
One of the local leaders and his wife shared these thoughts with us when we went to visit them last week. They have been working in a city for several years, and have seen very little response. And yet, they persevere and hold on to the fact that their job is to tell the Truth, and His job is to change their hearts. As I prepared to share the story for our church time this past week, I came upon Paul’s encouragement to the elders in Ephesus. As I ask God to care for my friends who now have the Truth but have not yet decided to follow Him, I was encouraged by what Paul wrote:

“… I have done the Lord's work humbly--yes, and with tears. I have endured the trials that came to me…Yet I never shrank from telling you the truth, either publicly or in your homes. And now I am going to Jerusalem, drawn there irresistibly by the Holy Spirit… not knowing what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus--the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love. And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. Let me say plainly that I have been faithful. If any suffers eternal death, it cannot be blamed on me, for I didn't shrink from declaring all that God wants for you….” Acts 20:19-27 (portions)

Travel Plans…
For the next month, I’ll be traveling – by bus, plane, rickshaw, taxi, train, camel…and who knows what else… I am looking forward to the places and people I’ll be visiting in two different countries. At the moment, both of the countries I’m planning to visit are experiencing some civil unrest. Please ask Him to guide my steps not only while traveling, but for whatever He may lead me to as a result of visiting these places.

I will be returning to the USA October 3rd. My plans are to spend some time with my family, as well as with you! The next best thing to serving the Kahani people is sharing about them!

As I mentioned, after returning to the states, I’ll start training for recruiting for One-Story (
www.onestory.org), as well as assisting my supervisor with developing some language learning materials. Both of these opportunities require continued prayer and financial support. Thank you for partnering with me in this journey and considering continuing to partner with me. This work is not possible without you!!

Till All Have Heard,

~ Elizabeth
P.S. Since I’ll be traveling a lot over the next month and am not sure how much email access I’ll have, please be patient with me as I reply to your emails!! However, please don’t hesitate to write! Now is a crucial time for me, as I get ready to “re-enter” my home country!! I need your support!

Friday, August 17, 2007

NEWSLETTER! (May to August 2007)

http://elizabethasia.googlepages.com/ElizabethNewsletterMaytoAug07fullpic.pdf

Here is my newsletter for May to August 2007.
If you don’t have a program to view it, you can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat in order to view the file.http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Back from trip (Email to Parents)

Back from our trip. The trip went well.
Back to our city now- no water, no electricity. Fun times.
It’s starting to hit me – we have less than 2 weeks left here – and basically next week is already gone with the workshop…..

~ Elizabeth

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

On our way. (Email to Parents)

Mommy and Daddy,

I had stomach pain again last night about 4am….I was able to go back to sleep, but it’s so annoying. And then again this morning. Weird. I haven’t gotten sick yet...we'll see what happens.

We have about 5 inches of water in our tanks….

Robin and I are taking a trip abotu 3 hours away to another village we've never been to before. We're going to visit a local leader and his wife mainly for encouragement to them, and also to give them our tapes/cds becuase they may not be able to come to the workshop next week. We have to go to the bazaar to find a taxi/bus. And it’s Independence day – so there might be some parades or who knows what…but we’ve heard that taxis and such still run….we’ll find out. I'll write when we get back!

~ Elizabeth

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Monster spider! (Email to Parents)

So, Sunday Ganga called me and said, “I’m going to my village for the day- can you meet me there?”

So I went. We were supposed to come back Sunday evening, but ended up coming back Monday morning. Interesting, I had my phone, my wallet, 1 small bottle of water, and the keys to the bike. That was it. But when I was trying to decide if I should stay or not, it never once occurred to me, ‘maybe I don’t have stuff, or maybe I will need something…”

Anyway, we had a good time…probably the last time I'll get to visit her in her village.

Anyway, I can write more later, but just thought I’d pass that on. Robin and I are going to a dukandar’s (shopkeeper) home today….we’ve never been there before. He hasn’t heard any of the Stories, but we plan to give him a tape/cd. We’ll see how it goes.

Love ya.

~ Elizabeth
P.S. Last night I saw the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in my life – yeah, bigger than a tarantula (I think)…in our bathroom. I used water to take care of it….but still, I was pretty nervous about it for a few hours after that…….I’ve never seen a bigger spider here or anywhere else….it was like a MONSTER spider…..

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

It's Tuesday isn't it? (Journal Entry)

So we went to the tape shop the other day to check on the tapes. We arrived and the shop was closed – with a sign outside saying, “Closed Tuesday.”

I asked the shopkeeper next door, “Why was he closed?”
The answer was, “It’s Tuesday, isn’t it?”

Somewhat confused, but accustomed to such answers, we left. Later, Robin and I were visiting another friend and his family and I asked him why the shop would be closed on Tuesday. He said, “Tuesday’s a bad day, right?”
I said, “Um, I don’t know, is it?”
He said, “Yeah, a lot of shops are often closed on Tuesday. Also, you can’t travel on Tuesdays. My father is away right now, and normally he would come back today, but he won’t because it’s Tuesday. He will wait and come back tomorrow. Same thing goes for Saturday- we won’t travel on Saturday.”
I proceeded to ask, “Who decided this?”
He said, “It’s our culture, isn’t it? I don’t know really why or how it was decided, but that’s just what we do.”