...on the road in Price, Utah

We got into Price, Utah this afternoon, a little town of about 8,400 people.  This is where my wife spent about eight years of here life.  We spoke tonight at a dinner at Price Chapel, a church that my wife’s dad pastored and is still making a positive impact on the community.

I’m not sure how many people turned up tonight, but there was probably at least a hundred, interested in hearing how “one of their own” was doing in a land few people understand.  The church is actually located in a former health club building.  They’ve made super use of the structure, proving that church isn't about the building, it’s about the people.  Tomorrow I speak to the men’s group and the Sunday morning Melissa and I will speak again.

I really enjoy meeting regular people from regular Christian & Missionary Alliance churches.  These people are living out their lives faithfully in often difficult circumstances.  The folks at Price Chapel are a religious minority in this state.  They are great, especially the guy who apologized for leaving the meeting a couple of times to answer his phone, “the damn thing never leaves me alone.”  I love it. 

Moving on to Salt Lake City

We left Ottumwa yesterday afternoon after church.  We made some really good connections with the folks at North Gate and hope to see some of them in Kosovo one of these days.  Since we were flying out of Chicago at 10am for Salt Lake City, the next stop on our little tour, we decided to book a hotel an spend the night in the Windy City.  The alternative was to leave Ottumwa at about three in the morning, something I really didn’t want to do.  Incidentally, if you’re not familiar with Hotwired I’d definitely check it out.  We booked a room at the airport Westin, which normally go for $199 a night, for only $75.

We left Ottumwa about 3 o’clock, hoping to get to the Westin at around seven, in time for the girls to swim at the pool.  However, after a wrong turn at the Iowa-Illinois border which sent us on I-74 South towards fabled Peoria, we ended up checking in slightly after 10PM.  Not quite what I had in mind.

Our stay at the Westin was one of those good-news/bad-news deals.  I haven’t stayed at a hotel in the US for a long time, over four years in fact, but the Westin had a strange combo of luxury and el-cheapo.  The room was fabulous, the internet was $9.95.  Seems like internet ought to be free at a hotel like this, it was at the Super 8 in Ottumwa.  In fact, there was free Wi-Fi in the lobby, which we took advantage of from our 3rd floor room.  The refrigerator didn’t work, but if it had, there was a sensor on it that began billing you if any bottles were “moved,” not taken out, but moved.  We were trying to cool some venison sausage from grandpa so we had to order up a new fridge.  In the morning  I would a USA Today newspaper to our room which was sweet, but it was .75, though it was free in the lobby, along with the Wall Street Journal.

Anyway, we really slept well and the beds and bathroom were excellent.  We’re on our way to SLC!

God's good...speaking in a Baptist Church

We spend the day down in Missouri yesterday visiting my wife’s grandfather.  He’s an amazing guy.  The son of a Missouri farmer, he served in WWII as a gunner in a dive-bomber, went to college on the GI Bill and became an engineer who helped develop the guidance systems on the Tomahawk cruise missile, the F-111 fighter-bomber and a number of other aircraft.  At 82 years old magazines like “Aviation Weekly,” “Newsweek” and “The Economist” are still on his reading list.  I wish I could spend more time with him!

We also had the privilege of speaking at “grandpa’s” church last night.  The church is 150 years old and is part of the Southern Baptist Convention.  While they support their own missionaries, they’ve also been praying for us over the last four years.  It was great to meet some of these faithful people.  One lady had family in Slovenia, another had traveled around the world on different trips.  Some people might not think that a rural Missouri, country church has much to contribute to the Kingdom but they’d be dead wrong.  These people are a testimony to the faithfulness of God and God’s people, demonstrated in countless small churches around the country.  I thank God for them and for their partnership with us, though they’d never met us until yesterday. 

God is doing great things throughout the world and I”m grateful for the wonderful work that the SBC is doing both overseas and in the US.  They are one of the premier church-planting groups in the US and one of the few remaining missionary-sending agencies committed to doing missions through long-term, language– and culture-learning missionaries.

Thanks everyone for a great evening!

 

This is the Christian & Missionary Alliance...in Ottumwa, IA

We’re visiting my wife’s family in Ottumwa, IA this week and on Sunday we had the opportunity to speak at North Gate Alliance Church.  Maybe I’m just all excited about being on home assignment, but I haven’t been this enthusiastic about being a part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in years.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not down on my denom, but every group has its issues and it’s just human nature to focus on what’s wrong instead of what’s right.

But after hearing from the heart of the president of the CMA and denominational leaders last week, and visiting North Gate this week I’m just really excited about what the CMA is about and where we’re headed. 

North Gate is a church that is committed to “the mission” both at home and overseas.  They’ve more than tripled their giving to the Great Commission Fund over the last four years, while at the same time undertaking an extensive building program AND hiring a Mexican graduate of Crown College to plant a Spanish-speaking congregation.  They also just sent their youth to work in the inner-city of St. Louis and have sent adult teams to Mexico.  They’re getting it done, and doing with grace and humility.

It is a privilege to be connected to a church like this, a church that models so well the vision and the history of the CMA.  Thanks to everyone in Ottumwa for making us feel at home and for making the CMA what it is!

The flattening of the CMA

I'm developing contrasting memories of Wheaton, IL. The last time we were here, which was the summer of 2002, we were in a grueling language acquisition course. We were tired, we were stressed, we were a little anxious about leaving for Kosovo a few short weeks later. This week we've been on the same campus, eating the same awesome food and surrounded by many of the same people, but it has been very, very different.

Last night marked the end of our first HAMS Conference, or Home Assignment Ministry Seminar (Conference...redundancy noted). It's been a great week of reconnecting with old friends and colleagues, seminars, worship and great messages and plain old hanging out.

One of the things that has really struck me is the the flattening, the de-corporate-izing of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. It is a welcome breath of fresh air. We had the priviledge of having the President of the CMA here with us this week, as well as a number of divisional Vice-Presidents, Assistant Vice-Presidents...a whole cornucopia of titullage. They all stayed in the same dormitory housing; we all used the same single large bathroom. Each morning I stood at a sink, towel-wrapped, shaving my face next to the President or other exalted personage. I can't speak for everyone, but that meant a lot to me. In past years the "headquarters staff" usually stayed in hotels, I'm told, while the missionaries stayed in the dorms. It may seem like a little thing, in fact some would mark it a "no brainer," but they are road signs of a movement towards what the president is calling "seamless ministry", the de-silo-ing of the corporate structures that have typified our organization.

Okay, my ride has arrived. God has been good. I have a lot more to say, but it will have to wait.

...loving life in all its various dimensions

Normally people get sick when they arrive on a mission field, not they return from one.  I’m having the exciting experience of a whopper of stomach bug the day after returning from Kosovo.  Yesterday morning I awoke jet-lagged and stupid, but relatively healthy.  By lunch time I was spending 15 minutes of every hour in the bathroom trying to exorcise the nasty bug that found me.

I’m better today, though I’m pretty sore from everyone’s favorite form of exercise, the dry-heave quiver.  I’m anticipating feeling better as the day goes on as we fly to Chicago tomorrow morning at 6:41 AM for an organizational conference. 

Back in the U.S.

We havebeen back in the US for about 16 hours, ten of which I've spent asleep. So far it is a little surreal. Here are a few of my initial fascinations:

-throwing toilet paper in the toilet.

- clean, new cars everywhere.

-my first shower...standing up, with a shower curtain, without holding the douche (sprayer)

-no trash on the roads... anywhere

-surreally clean landscape

-having to find a electrical plug adapter for my laptop, to the US standard

- my mind unable to grapple with what my body is suddenly doing here.

-I have no keys, to anything.

- there are a lot of fat people here.

Headed home tomorrow

I haven’t had much time to write this last week.  We’ve had a fantastic, super-servant-hearted group of 16 high school students and adult leaders keeping us busy until the very last day.

This group, from my home church in North Carolina has really made an impact on our little community.  First they ran our first-eve children’s program for the Ringjallja Center.  We had 20–30 kids each day from the community coming to hear about the Bible and God’s love for them.  Second, the group led a river-cleaning project.  There is small stream running through our town that is choked with debris and garbage.  In cooperation with the local youth Red Cross they cleaned our targeted stretch of river with joy and energy.  This may be a little strong, but I think they worked our local friends into the ground.  I’m not trying to be arrogant, but these American kids really know how to work!  For this project we were invited to the mayor's office and presented with a certificate of appreciation for the efforts.  They explained for the local news how they hadn't come on a “humanitarian basis” but on the basis of the love of God for the people of Gjilan.  The group also hosted three “cultural exchanges” during the evenings for the local high school students…

Anyway, this isn’t very good writing and I’m struggling to put into words what an impact this group made on the local people.  At the same time, we have been busily trying to pack, while feeding and boarding this large group.  They leave today, and we leave tomorrow.

If all goes well, we’ll spend the night in Prishtina tonight with some friends before getting on a 7AM flight for home tomorrow.  God has done some fantastic things over the last four years.  I hope I have time to process them in the weeks to come.  Right now I feel like our family has been running full speed, and will right up until we get on the plane.  “Back in the day,” missionaries had weeks to ponder their experiences, sailing on ships back to the homeland.  Today, we’ll be thrust back into American life before the wash-water has even dried on the kitchen floor.

We’ll be back in another year, God willing.  I’d like to do next term different from this one.  I’d like to be able to spend more time with my kids for one.  Anyway, I hope I can ponder and process a few weeks down the road.

Really, really light posting these few weeks

I haven't had much time to write lately.  We've got a couple of major things on our plate that isn't leaving much time to blog.  As I write this, a group of 16 American high school students and adult leaders are preparing for another day of fun and frolic here in Kosovo.  They're on a "missions trip" here until Monday and have been involved in running a children's program, ecological river clean-up project and a cultural exchange with local youth.

The second major thing is our return to the US for our one-year home assignment.  We're obligated to spend one year in the US for everyone four we're overseas.  We're leaving on an early morning flight on Tuesday, about 14 hours after our guests leave.   Sooo…we're busy packing up our house while hosting a team too!  We're having a lot of fun, but blogging will be sparse.

Vacation in Bulgaria P. III..oops a little late

*** Why I’m writing this: I’m writing this short little series to give you a window into the awesome blessing of a life of service.  When people think of a “missionary” sometimes they think of people serving diligently, under harsh conditions, dutifully suffering for their Master.  And that is true…sometimes life is like that.  But other times we are privileged to experience the unimaginable richness of life that comes from a life of stumbling obedience.  That is what I want to share with you in this little vacation chronicle.  I want you not to think of missionary life as foot-dragging resignation of life lived in difficulty, nor as a life of leisure in exotic locals, but rather of a life of beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, awesome contrasts which make missionary life a dance.***

After  a long day on the road we arrived in Nessabar, Bulgaria.  This isn’t a very big country, but the roads make you feel like it is!  Actually, it’s beautiful drive through the agricultural heartland of the nation.

Since we took so much time in Plovdiv we didn’t actually arrive in Nessabar until about 9PM local time.  That’s pretty early if you don’t have little kids with you, but with four children under seven-years-old, it was plenty late to begin looking for a hotel.  Nessabar, and especially the Sunny Beach area on the Black Sea, has incredibly active tourist areas where hotels are breeding like rabbits.  At the same time, its extraordinarily affordable.  Since we hadn’t made a reservation and just thought we’d “wing it” we stopped at a couple of 5–star hotels right on the beach.  We needed to get a base-line on prices and thought we’d start at the top.  At one brand new hotel, with marble floors, brass fixtures we found a price of a little over 200 leva per night.  That’s about $120 which included breakfast and dinner at a hotel with multiple swimming pools, exercise equipment and sits right on the beach.  Talk about affordable!  But this was still quite a bit more than we wanted to pay.

So we looked around for a couple of more hours.  The kids were tired but hung in there.  My oldest prayed diligently that we’d find something SOON!  In the end ended up at hotel about a block off the beach.  We found a two-room apartment, which over looks the swimming pools and central courtyard for $85 per night.  That includes use of all their facilities and a fantastic breakfast buffet as well.  The picture to the right is off our apartment balcony.  Not a bad deal, eh?

Yesterday we spent most of the morning on the beach.  The Black Sea.  Never in a million years would I have ever guessed that I’d be sitting on the beach in Bulgaria looking out over the Black Sea.  In my mind, growing up during the cold war, Bulgaria was always a darkly exotic place.  When I thought of of the Black Sea I thought of the Soviet Navy patrolling the cold waters of their own back yard.  I thought of pollution and poverty.  I thought of things that were just “other” and foreign.

That’s not what we’ve found here.  The beach here is as clean, white and beautiful as any I’ve ever sat on.  Okay, the service people don’t quite get the idea of “service” but the facilities are all first-rate.

Our God is a god of blessing.  I know that most of you will never sit on the beaches of the Black Sea.  I know some couldn’t afford to pay what we pay; $80–85 per night is just out of your price range, even for a one a year vacation.  But my point here isn’t to belabor the inequalities of life, but to praise the God who made it and to thank him for allowing us to share in it.

 

ECIKS - News and analysis about Kosovo Economy in English

ECIKS - News and analysis about Kosovo Economy in English.

 Prishtinë, June 29, 2006 - The South Eastern Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) will allocate € 154 million to Kosovo. Shefki Ukaj, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunication (MTT) said that €120 million would be used for the construction of the Pristina-Durrës highway, while the rest for upgrading Pristina International Airport (PIA).

This is good news.  Having traveled through all of the former Yugoslave states, I’m always amazed at how under-developed the infrastructure of Kosovo seems to be.  I hope ever cent of this project money goes where it’s intended.

Vacation in Bulgaria P. II

*** Why I’m writing this: I’m writing this short little series to give you a window into the awesome blessing of a life of service.  When people think of a “missionary” sometimes they think of people serving diligently, under harsh conditions, dutifully suffering for their Master.  And that is true…sometimes life is like that.  But other times we are privileged to experience the unimaginable richness of life that comes from a life of stumbling obedience.  That is what I want to share with you in this little vacation chronicle.  I want you not to think of missionary life as foot-dragging resignation of life lived in difficulty, nor as a life of leisure in exotic locals, but rather of a life of beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, awesome contrasts which make missionary life a dance.***

We took off from Bansko this morning at about 9:30 with Patrick, Julie and clans…only an hour and a half past our goal.  Not too back for a Balkan vacation.  We’re ultimately heading for the city of Nessabar today, but we’d be having lunch in Plovdiv, a town about a two-hour drive from Bansko.  And off we went through the twisty, two-lane mountain road. 

We drove through many, many little Bulgarian towns and villages on the way.  Some seemed quite modern, others were typified by old women in heads carves pitching hay, horse drawn carts and fairy-tale scenery.  Plovdiv is picturesque little town that is apparently home to the oldest human settlement in the Balkans.  It’s also home to an old Roman amphitheater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These places always kind of pole-axe me.  When I think of all the feet that have trod the stairs and bodies that have filled places like these I’m always touched by a profound sense of our “recentness.”  That is,Western culture such as it exists now is so very, very new.  This theater above was built in the early second century AD, during the reign of Emporer Trajan and is still used today for theater productions.  That is, it is about nine-hundred years old and still serves its original  purpose today. 

And while Plovdiv is home to the very old, it is also home to the new.  All the traffic lights in the town, whether on the main streets or back alleys, have count-down timers to let you know how much time remains until the light changes.  I love this feature! 

Being around old stuff like this always challenges me with this simple question: How can I make a “ten-thousand year” difference in how my life is spent.  I get that line from the old hymn, Amazing Grace which says:

When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun

we’ll have no less days to sing his praise than when we’ve first begun.

As a Christian I believe that I will live on and that ten thousand years from now the way I have lived my life will matter.  I wrestle every day to live up to that challenge.  The great thing about the challenge is that your life circumstances are irrelevant.  From the poorest slave-laborer to the designer of the theater above, each person played a part in its construction.  It wasn’t a highly paid official who cut the stone steps above; it was a lower-middle class stone cutter.  But his work remains.  The same is true for us.  Whether we are an unemployed executive, a stay-at-home mom, a recovering alcoholic or a preacher each of us has the opportunity to affect the people around us in ways that are eternal.  I love the Gospel for this…for the hope that it gives all people at all times for significance that lasts the tests of time.

Vacation in Bulgaria P. I

*** Why I’m writing this: I’m writing this short little series to give you a window into the awesome blessing of a life of service.  When people think of a “missionary” sometimes they think of people serving diligently, under harsh conditions, dutifully suffering for their Master.  And that is true…sometimes life is like that.  But other times we are privileged to experience the unimaginable richness of life that comes from a life of stumbling obedience.  That is what I want to share with you in this little vacation chronicle.  I want you not to think of missionary life as foot-dragging resignation of life lived in difficulty, nor as a life of leisure in exotic locals, but rather of a life of beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, awesome contrasts which make missionary life a dance.***

 

Missionaries don’t often get to talk about the great vacations they get to take.  Oh, it’s not because we make a lot of money…far from it.  But we tend to live close to interesting places and many of those places are really, really inexpensive.

Before we head home for our one-year “home assignment” next month, before the “big push” of a final short-term team, final packing, etc., we thought we take a week of vacation .  So we’re taking some time away this week with some good friends, Julie and Patrick and their two kids Koen and Kacja at the Bulgaria coast o the Black Sea.  Since we’re not in a rush we’d make the trip in a couple of days, spending two nights in a favorite haunt, Bansko, Bulgaria.

We’ve been there several times and enjoyed the hosptality of the Hotel Tanne.  The hotel is one many, many in this burgeoning little ski town.  Actually, some colleagues stayed here at our recommendation a couple of weeks ago and didn’t like it because of all the construction traffic and noise…something I’d have to agree with during this stay.  But it was still well worth it.  We got in a little late, about 8PM but completely enjoyed the following day.  The best part about the hotel, besides its location, is the price.  We booked a two-room apartment for $70, which included breakfast and the use of their indoor pool and health-center (sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, weight room, etc).

The last two times we’ve stayed in Bansko, we’ve taken a day trip up to the Rila Monestary (my Flickr pics), which is a beautiful tenth century Orthodox monastery.  This time, however, we just contented ourselves with a hike in the mountains.  We actually laughed a little because we were enjoying the hike without any concern for landmines.  While we don’t have many, if any, landmines in our part of Kosovo, it’s still a regular consideration when hiking in the mountains.  But not so in Bulgaria.  War has not come here recently.  After a long hike we headed back for the hotel for lunch and a rest.

Our kids love this hotel, with it’s beautiful walled garden, complete with running gazebo, greenery and land gnomes, or as my daughter calls them, “Orves.”

Good hike, good time laughing and playing with the kids.  What more can you ask for? 

Law on Religion Entering its final phase

I’ve mentioned the new Law on Religion several times over the past couple of years.  The Contact Group (USA, Germany, Russia, Italy, France and England)  have made July 1 the deadline for the Kosovar parliament to approve the new law.  The original law, was pretty decent…not great, but decent.

Today Norways’s Forum 18 picked up the news

Amid pressure from the international community to adopt a religion law ahead of talks on Kosovo's final status, changes continue to be made to drafts of the Law Forum 18 News Service has learnt. Discussion of the Prime Minister's draft and two other drafts has been postponed until Wednesday 21 June, when they will be considered as amendments. "I am concerned that there are so many changes each time," Artur Krasniqi, a Protestant representing a coalition of Protestant Churches, told Forum 18. "We fear there will be pressure to insert new discriminatory provisions on registration." Alfons Lentze, a legal advisor to the Assembly, told Forum 18 that "This has been a very difficult issue. We want to see a religious freedom law as soon as possible in accordance with the Plan on Standards."

The problem is that the law being proposed is changing rapidly.  First there were secret meetings in Vienna, to which the protestant community was not invited.  Now the current lasw is not being publically disimenated and there is little likelyhood that the public will actually see the draft-law’s language before it’s actually signed into law.

There are additional concerns as well.  The dominant faith community is apparently pressing for more changes.  According to someone I know close to the process, those requests include:

• Religion in public schools
• Imams to be paid by government
• Property to be free for mosques
• To have strong ties between state and religion
• The right to promote religion in public institutions
• Special criminal trial concerning religious ministers

We’re all looking for justice and equality here.  Please be praying for that.

Decision on Kosovo’s Status to Be Announced November 15th

According to “Focus English News,” a Bulgarian outlet, the future status of Kosovo will be announced on November 15th, 2006.

     Belgrade. The international community reached an agreement the decision on Kosovo’s final status to be announced at the UN Security Council session on November 15th 2006, Serbian newspaper Glas Javnosti reads today citing diplomatic source.
     According to the source it is very possible Kosovo not to receive full independence on November 15th but everything will be formulated in such a way so that in fact the Balkan country will be independent, the newspaper notes.

I haven’t seen this reported in the local news this morning, or in other international news, but I’ll post more as it develops.  That date would be well after Ramadan and well into the cold winter months, which would make lengthy protests unlikely.

Oh, for the difference a preposition makes

I’d seen this story in the different paper so I knew what the headline meant, but this is what I saw this morning:

What is missing is the “at.”  That is, “Two British tourists shot at in Kosovo”  It seems a couple of brits were wandering around western Kosovo in a car with Belgrade license plates on it.  Their car got shot at, but they were unhurt.

I too “condemn” the shooting, but somewhere there is a friend or tour guide that needs a good thrashing.  They sent these two out into the wild country with a big sign saying, “Shoot me first” plastered across their car.   Dumb.

It’s the little things in life that make the difference…like a missing preposition or the wrong license plate in the wrong place.

 

Doing it their way

Sometimes it’s challenging being an American.  We’re almost hard-wired to think we know the best way to do everything.

In a couple of weeks we’re going to  have some visitors, a group of 15 high-school students and their adult leaders.  While here they’re going to be doing a children’s program, an high-school cultural exchange thing and they’re going to be serving the community by helping to clean a stretch of trash-filled river.

I’ve never cleaned a river in my life, and I’ve never been a professional trash-picker-upper…but I’ve seen a lot of them on TV and hence my confidence about what kind of tools are necessary.  And so I issued forth instructions to my faithful friend and co-worker, Kadir, a very faithful, but very poor man from a village near-by.

I explained to Kadir exactly what I wanted…the classic wooden stick with a nail on one end whereby trash may be spike and bagged without bending over.  Kadir looked around town, but couldn’t find anything.  He suggested he find some re-bar, cut it to length and bend a hook on one end.  Then he’d put some hose over the hook to protect the sensitive American hands and grind a sharp point on the other end for the easy impalement of garbage.

I was skeptical about this design.  Re-bar?  A hook on one end?  But, after some thought I leaned back on my instincts and thought to myself, “I’ve delegated the job to him, he knows what we’re trying to do…let him do it his way.”

I’m really glad I did.  As he cranked out 15 of these pieces it occurred to me that the design is simple genius.  We’re going to be working in a river bank.  A hook is going to be perfect, not only as an aid to climbing in and out of said river, but also for grabbing trash, tires and junk just out of reach.

I’m a little embarrassed that I was resistant…and am glad I let him do it his way.  Quite often I discover that my national co-workers know far better than I do exactly what will work and what won’t. 

 

Orthodox Pentacost Celebrated in Graçanica

While on our way to Church in Prishtina Sunday we passed throught the Serbian town of Graçanica.  As we drove through we were stopped by large procession bearing banners, icons, flowers and happy looking people.  We didn’t know what it was at the time.  Unforunately, unlike our colleagues in the Slavic countries, we have little interaction with the Serbian Orthodox minority in Kosovo.

It turned out last Sunday was Orthodox Pentacost and these happy worshippers where on their way to the 14th Century church and monestary that is the focal point of the city.

Congratulations and God bless!

Second Founding Meeting of the Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church

Today I spent several hours at the founding meeting of to Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church. For several years the national evangelical believers have attempted to come together and form a national church organization. All of these attempts have largely failed for one reason or another. Everyone here has felt a keen sense of failure to live up to the biblical ideals of unity.  But today was different.

Today’s meeting was encouraging because after a couple of years of wrestling and significant attempts at reconciliation, we ratified statutes and by-laws for it new organization. Twenty-eight Evangelical churches and organizations gathered in Prishtina today.

We’re all hoping that a new day is dawning for the Protestant Community in Kosovo.  Today was a major step in that direction.  As far as I know, never before have as many evangelical, both national and international, come together with the same vision and hope for unified national church effort.

 

God working among Albanian Muslims in Macedonia

My good friend David posts up a great story about how God used our Macedonian national church partner to free a young Muslim Albanian from spiritual bondage.  Check it out here.  God is sovereign over his creation, he’s still powerful, he still responds to the prayers of his people.  Praise God that the walls of ethnic hostility are falling…so great is the love of God on one side, so great is the desperation on another.