July 31 to August 10th

This Mission was preceded by prayer meetings twice weekly, as well as Bible study and prayer with the young Missionaries individually in the mornings and evenings. Ryan and Joey met for prayer and planning out details such as transportation, accommodation, menu, and budgeting.

In the week prior to departure, a very close personal friend and mentor to Ryan died. The funeral was scheduled for our day of departure and we sought the Lord on what we were to do. We decided upon changing our travel route so we might pick Ryan up after the funeral in Columbus near I-10 and take the Interstate 10 across to I-59. Cathy Leavel called the day before we were leaving and invited us to breakfast at the Leavel home. After arriving in Mandeville early in the morning and relaxing on the Lakefront we went and slept in the truck the remainder of the morning until breakfast. Ray woke us up and soon we were inside enjoying hot coffee, biscuits and donuts.

Departing around 8 AM we headed up through Mississippi with Joey driving, arriving in Meridian which has become almost a ghost town. It was shocking compared to years ago when it was a bustling city. Up through Alabama Ryan took up driving and just before nightfall we were in Chattanooga. We ate diner at Suga's, which has become a tradition in remembrance of the 2009 first Mission trip when the Lord provided for us in a very miraculous manner a dinner when we had no more food and little money. We pulled into a Motel parking lot to rest about midnight about 40 miles out of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. In the morning we continued on to the Smokey Mountain Cultural Center, just across the road we pulled into a tube rental parking lot, ate sandwiches, and took bathes in the river. An hour or so later we arrived in Pigeon Forge and pulled into a Park near the Christmas Store where we stretched our legs and gathered for prayer.

Immediately after prayer, an entreaty was made to me concerning the lack of comfort, the necessity of obeying traffic rules for our own safety being “over the top”, as well as other seeming discouragements. Much planning went into the trip, but in the end the tent was left behind, the boys sleeping bags were left behind, and other things left undone as well. Though this may have seemed like suffering, God was at work bringing the dross to the surface and changing hearts to pure gold. “Let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good....” 1 Peter 4:19 My counsel was simple, the boys planned well, but did little, now it was up to them to seek God about the consequences. I was not going to be “god” in this and rescue the boys and they had to recognize their own responsibility in the circumstances. “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him” Hebrews 12:5

Missions are often as much about God working in us as well as with us and through us for others. We each had a 300.00 commitment to the Mission, so the boys had any option that they may want to do within that amount, deciding on getting a Hotel room, we went to a Family Inn. The Clerk informed me that they only had one room left, a King with Jacuzzi, but the Parking lot had about 8 cars, and I could see the room cards in the office, so I asked him, “And I'm guessing its the most expensive room, right?” With a half sheepish grin, he responded “yes.” I responded that we would find another place. I didn't want to give the business to a sheister. Driving just across the street to the Capri Hotel, I went in to inquire about the cost and we got a room for 39.00 plus tax. As soon as we got in the room we saw an open Bible and an invitation to a worship service! We knew we were where God wanted us to be. At breakfast the next morning we saw free Sermons on CD and more posted invitations to Church and worship services. It felt as if we were in a Christian Camp. The boys were seeing the mercy of God. Many issues arose, homesickness, previous parental conflicts, misunderstandings in communication with girlfriends back home, but God showed Himself faithful in all circumstances. “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Matthew 8:26

The next day we made our debut at the student center. The boys met, and talked, to Bishan and Beck from Kazakhstan, some French young people, Alexey, a Russian young man, whom we would take to the Mountains with us, as well as some other Russian young people, who's names I have forgotten. Joey, Ryan and I went to the mountains, for dinner we heated up the Gumbo which I had frozen for the trip. As I cooked they swam in the cool river. They decided to get another night in the Capri so we slept well. The next day we picked up Alexey and took him to Cade's Cove hoping to see Bears, but that day we saw no Bears. This is the first time in my life I can remember being in the Smoky Mountains and not ever seeing Bears. But we had a good time planting seed, watering seed and being willing vessels in the hand of God.

That night the boys wanted to save some money and we discussed different sleeping options, and decided to sleep in the grass next to the Smokey Mountain Full Gospel Church. It was secluded, we had visited once and they would know who I was and be happy to have us. We headed out that way, passing through Gatlinburg and just minuted before arriving Ryan mentioned it may be better to turn around, go spend some time in Gatlinburg first before beddingdown thus saving gas. Nothing wrong with making plans, the Bible teaches, “The plans of a man are in his mind, but the Lord directs his steps.” In this case the Lord directed our steps very clearly. As we arrived and read the Church sign it said that a special service with a guest speaker was scheduled that night at 7:00 PM and we were arriving at 6:45 PM. So I said, it looks like we are going to Church! And we did.

As soon as we went in, a wonderful lady, as kind and joyful as Christmas, welcomed us in with these words, “Some round here calls us Hillbillies, but we praise God as good as anybody n yOour welcome to join us!” Singing began, and that same lady invited Ryan up to sing with them, and Joey up to play the guitar...as Joey said everyone was singing a solo.... the humility was so real, so tangible that it was angelic to my ears … these people were rich in love and the Holy Spirit was working as He does and bringing the Body of Christ into one accord. As the choir sat back down, individuals began to get up and sing, at some point Ryan was asked if he would like to get up and sing, he gladly got up and Joey accompanied him on the guitar, they passionately sent up “Amazing Grace” in real worship...much more than a song.

Ryan stepped down and Joey remained, as he felt the Lord was leading him to do, and began to sing a song that just had God all over it. It really had the peoples attention and they were truly listening and responding to every word, no habitual hallelujahs going on there. Joey went from worship into a prayer that I can only call a prayer of repentance. It was truly beautiful, the prayer the response, and more people got up and sang, we were in the midst of a true Revival. Not a staged, emotional talk it up but no follow up event, but a true Holy Spirit created Revival. After the sermon on Acts 20, a young lady spoke that she felt God wanted everybody to gather and pray for Revival, that God was doing it “up on the Hill” as they referred to their church. During this prayer, the fire fell, the prayer was so passionate and unpretentious that people were praying for the same things without intending to. It was loud and got louder, but totally spontaneous, it was clear that God was in our midst.

After the service ended and we had permission to sleep outside, everyone was leaving and our wonderful greeter pulled up behind us and asked if we would like to sleep in the building. We accepted, and the boys and I marveled at how God was providing. In a few minutes Pastor Carl pulled up and asked if we had dinner. The boys were a little shy, and said no they were alright, but Carl sensing this asked what we had, so I honestly spoke up and said we had a couple of slices of ham and a few cups of yogurt, to which he said “that doesn't sound like much dinner for young men.” Finally I spoke up and said we would be thankful for dinner. Carl left and in a few minutes his father also named Carl, drove up and brought us a fan. He spoke with us sharing a story that really applied to Joey's life. As we listened, Pastor Carl drove up with hot Chili and eleven hot dogs and buns, it was more than we could eat. Carl Sr. then remembered his wife sent food for us as well. He got a bag of bananas and oatmeal cream pies out of his truck.

We were thankful. God had brought us into His presence, gave us a place to stay, surrounded us with His love through His body of believers, provided a meal, more than we needed, a fan which quickly flooded the building with cool mountain air, and the kind of experience that teaches us that we CAN truly trust God. This is what Mission trips are all about.

The next day we met Alik, a Kurdish young man from Turkey. Alik was very homesick and missed his girlfriend. Joey could relate very well to Alik and the way he was feeling. We invited Alik to eat with us and went shopping for dinner. We decided upon a Turkish style dinner which Alik picked out. There was beef for shishkabob, whole peppers, eggplants and tomatoes which were roasted whole on the fire. As the boys were relating very well, I thought it a good time to leave them in God's hands and get out of the way. I went and got some tea to drink and stayed away for about 45 minutes. As it turned out, the boys prayed with Alik, and things went very well.

The next day, Joeys brother, Travis, came to visit from Knoxville. We all went to Cherokee, a small town on the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina. We stopped at Mingus Mill, where corn and wheat were ground to flour and grits by the locals until the 1930's. In Cherokee we saw Indian dancers, visited shops, and our favorite Coffee Shop, Tribal Grounds, which is another of our traditional stops. We left Cherokee and went to make deer burgers, using meat from Ryan's first deer that he ever shot. We also roasted marshmallows, adding chocolate and graham crackers making s'mores. We shared stories and were greatly blessed by Travis's story of a woeful, yet wonderful event on a Mission over in Africa. The equipment kept failing, the people were loud, seemingly disrespectful and not wanting to hear what Travis had to say. At some point, with God sent help from a local who loudly demanded silence, Travis went on to share a message which truly resonated. Travis admittedly had been ready to throw in the towel three or four times prior to this. Joey later spent some one on one time with Travis which Joey later said was the best part of his Mission Trip.

We now had a few days left and the boys were very excited to go back to the Smokey Mountain Full Gospel Church. I had a quandary. I felt as if the Lord was leading that He had something else for us, but I didn't want to let the boys down. I had been praying all day about this when Joey came to me and said he felt that we weren't supposed to go back, but that god had something else, he just didn't know what. I was so relieved. Joey shared with Ryan what he felt and that I felt the same thing and Ryan was very disappointed, understandably so. I shared with Ryan that this wasn't about what we wanted simply sharing what we felt the Lord was leading and asked him to pray and seek God, because God wants to commune intimately with each of us. Ryan did seek God and towards the end of the day, said that he felt that God was saying it was time to go but not yet to Timpson. Well we all rejoiced that God was leading....that was enough. Being the first time that Ryan or Joey were in this position to seek the Lord in such a way, I was very pleased at their humility and God's response.

While we had planned to end the Mission trip with a two day visit with a Mennonite family, the Milton Horst's, Joey expressed that he would very much like to attend a Mennonite Church service. We couldn't make it to Tempson in time for Sunday, and the Lord brought the fact to mind that my introduction to the Mennonites back in 1981 was in Altamont Tennessee, about five hours from our current location. Milton had a brother Daniel who is a member of that congregation, so I called to see if they could put us up for a night. They were delighted to have us over, thus our plans began to come together. Pastor Alexei asked if we could join he and his wife Tanya for lunch the next day on our way through Knoxville. We greatly enjoyed our visit and they were very grateful for our efforts in sharing the Gospel, truly praising the boys for their willingness to do this with so little resources, echoing what I had been telling them, that Americans don't normally do this and if they do show up for a 'Mission” they are usually expecting, after a one hour sermon and some music, to be entertained. Tanya told us we the ONLY ones who did what was needed, and brought the Gospel!

After lunch we departed for Altamont, and this was very special for Ryan as well. We had been going through the Bible Books of Titus and Ephesians as well as reading a book titled “Worth Dying For” about the lives of some Christians called the Waldensians, who were the born again Bible believers of their day. The book was actually printed by Daniel Horst and Ryan got to visit the printer who printed his book, as well as tour the printing facilities, see a very old yet still working Gutenberg press, as well as share a wonderful time with the Horst family. We spent the night at the Glenn Petres, and Ryan got up early to help with the milking of the cows. We joined for breakfast and shortly thereafter went to church. The sermon was shared by a man whom I met back in 1981, he was a child at the time, now he is the father of nine children. Where does the time go? The sermon was one of the best I have ever heard on grace.

After church we each went to a different home, Ryan back to the Horsts, Joey back to the Petres, and I went to visit the Ken Zyrgones family. Ken and I had a great visit. Ken being from an Italian neighborhood in Chicago and myself growing up around a lot of Italians we knew many people with the same last names. We talked doctrine, shared our testimonies and had a great time visiting over lunch. Afterwards I picked up the boys and was given a pair of suspenders by one of the Petres boys. I will treasure them always as these are made by mom until marriage and then by the wife. This gift was a true token of acceptance. After saying our goodbyes we headed for Timpson.

Arriving in Timpson we went straight to Brian's where we had been invited to join in building the new school for Shelby County Mennonite Fellowship. Both Joey and Ryan did their very best in helping. Ryan discovered he had a knack for using the nail gun. He seemed to have a knack for everything he tried prompting Brian to say as we were leaving that we had a “carpenter in the making.” We enjoyed conversation and fellowship at the Milton's home, being blessed by their warm hospitality. Our meals preceded by Bible study and hymns of worship and praise, were a place where the boys saw how a Christian family can live out their faith daily in a manner that children thrive in, modeling their parents lives rather than just learning “right from wrong,” as is the more common goal in Christian homes. Wednesday morning we prepared to depart for home and were blessed with sandwiches, cookies and apples that the Horsts put together for us.

Though the boys were happy to be home, this Mission and the experiences that they had will last a lifetime. Examples of family life, Christianity lived out faithfully by simple common folk such as the Mennonites and the Smokey Mountain Full Gospel folks and Pastor Alexei and Tanya, all extraordinary only to the degree that they live for Jesus, taking up their cross daily and following Him. It was truly an honor to have served the Lord with Ryan and Joey and I truly respect them both for heeding the command to “Go ye therefore into all the world preaching the Gospel, making disciples of all nations....” and seeing God provide in ways that they never would have experienced otherwise. In some ways they will never be the same again.

Mission 2011 was a display of the wonder and faithfulness of our God. Early on the Lord began providing, a guest whom we met at Greater Grace Christian Coffee House, Michael Branham and his wife contacted us and told us that they wanted to send a donation in support of our Mission's Work. They had attempted to do this online via our website but it wasn't working so they called and requested our address. I have to say I appreciate their faithful persistence. This was the first visible provision that we were able to grasp onto with our faith and see God's hand on this Mission trip. A cabin was offered to us but due to unforeseen circumstances the offer was withdrawn just a couple of weeks before departure. Upon seeking a rental cabin, it turned out there was no availability on the days we had our trip planned for. After calling several agencies I learned that those two weeks were the most quickly booked times of the year and most were booked a year to six months in advance. I prayed a little urgently, and the next day felt the Lord urging me to look online again. Amazingly there was ONE cabin, and I knew the day before it was marked as booked, but now the exact days we needed were AVAILABLE! I was amazed and called quickly and the lady told me that they had just had a cancelation the night before and she could book it for us!
 

Clearly God made His provision known, this was His Mission. We had several people show interest in the Mission, and at this point one felt it wasn't her time to go, and three others just sort of flaked out. This is always discouraging, but we thank God and go forward, even if none go with me, I made up my mind a long time ago to just do it even if it means I am the only one. Well just as this is happening, one of our Board members, Mary Ann Louis calls and tells me that God has raised her up for this Mission Trip. This may not mean a lot to many readers but earlier in the year Mary Ann was so sick, she had lost her will to live. I could hear a well and happy Mary Ann just hearing her voice! Still back in Fredericksburg, feet on the ground another donor gave 250.00 out of the blue! And finally two days before departure Michael Yeager came in the Coffee House and asked if I could give him a ride to and from the hospital for a procedure. I was happy to help and on the way Michael offered to get new tires for the truck for our Mission trip! Here we are on our day of departure and Michael brings a check for 750.00 and tells me to get the best tires! Little did we know, but we would really need these tires. Satan was not sleeping however. On the evening of our departure, our beloved brother in the Lord contacted me without warning to say he was not coming on the Mission. This brother having been present for four years in our Ministry, on our Board, having just had an award named in his honor, dropping out at the last minute was devastating to our entire team. But Satan was and will be defeated and God be glorified, even in this. Why would I include this in our testimony? because any real Christian, any real Missionary, any real Soldier of Jesus Christ will encounter opposition, discouragement, and we have to press on. No turning back for the faithful, no stopping for the called one's, but pressing on. There were lots of tears, we were just broken, and yet we looked through the tears to our Savior, and not for ourselves but on behalf of our brother. Everyday we prayed for him, and our last prayer as a team was for him. And as we kept our brother in our prayers we pressed on to what God had called us to.

Our first day of outreach resulted in Seth making friends with Beck and Bizhan, two young men from Kazakstan. The next day Seth took them white water rafting. We hosted a dinner back at our Cabin which God lavished upon us. Our conversations were warm, slowly embracing their hearts and hearing their stories. They were Muslims, at least culturally, we learned that one of them both hunted and ate pork. We planted seeds, and though in this case did not reap the harvest we will keep Beck and Bizhan in our prayers that the Lord sends someone to water the seeds, and someone to Harvest, and trust that we know the Lord will give the increase. Next we met a few French young people and an old friend we met in 2009 Louis. It was such a blessing to sit and talk with our old friend. Louis has a great heart, a gentle spirit and is very dynamic in organizing and helping people. Initially two young men Jean-Baptiste and Charles went with us to ride and see Bears at Cades Cove. it has become an annual Pilgrimage it seems, always so fun. Then later we hosted a BBQ and Seth managed the grill, roasting corn, squash, and chicken. It was delicious! Seth was sharing Jesus the best he could and at dinner, we were about to pray a simple prayer and explained that we would each pray and the say "I pass this on to...(who ever was seated to the right of the person)" so there was no awkward silence. If a person did not want to pray, then they could just pass it on. Well Jean-Baptiste being a very considerate and kindly young man made sure Charles understood he was under no pressure to do anything, and the we closed our eyes and began. The prayer got to Charles and Charles prayed the most beautiful, and heart felt prayer ever. God has really touched his heart. it brought tears to my eyes.

Over the next few days God did very personal things in each of our hearts. We prayed for one another, counseled one another, served one another and reached out together to the people God was leading our way. Seth learned that someone in a local Ministry possible had some French Bibles. He pursued this and on the next to last day before commencing this Mission trip, we had three French Bibles to give to the young men we had the privilege of serving and sharing with. On our way out the last thing we did was deliver these Bibles. This was very special to me personally because it was God repeating what He had done in 2009 when He provided 11 Turkish Bibles. God is always faithful to accompany His Word and perform it. As a team, I always have a goal of providing a time for reflection and further spiritual growth while God's actions and the memories of interacting with Him are fresh. Mission Team 2011 was no exception. We stopped at my friends Milton and Lois Horst. I should mention that their children, Dorreta, Milton Lamar, Amos, Karen, Melvin, and Susana were there too and as a family inspired us all.

We ate around the table, worshiped together, Milton as head of the home taught the Word, we sang hymns, worked in the garden together, and as Seth commented, loved the way they work together. Mary Ann having been on a previous Mission trip, had the opportunity to ruminate over what she saw last year for a full year. She was so affected by the purity and holiness in the home of Milton and Lois that she sought their guidance and mentorship. Mary Ann has literally returned home a new creation. She is learning more about the Word than she ever knew and obey what she is learning like she loves Jesus with all her heart. The result is so sweet that it is exciting to me see her becoming holy within and holy without. Seth experienced a refreshing and saw that another way of Christian living is possible and results in fruitful living according to the Truth. The example of Living the Gospel is better than 1000 words. We have all come home, better Christians, more mature and inspired to grow closer to Jesus, live according to His Word in truth and in deed. And... ready to go again!