Monday, July 25, 2005




This past week we travelled into Northern Namibia, on the border of Zambia and Angola, to a place named Katima Mulilo. There is an orphanage there that I had made contact with and am looking at working at. They have fifty-four orphaned children and only four missionary workers to care for the children, who range from a couple months old to fourteen. It was a good trip, though quick (a day and a half), I ate Ostrich and Oryx, and camped near the Zambezi River.



Muse on the Loire
As I walked down the beach to the Loire River I wondered whether the river was made to fit the beauty of the rocks on the shore or the other way around. I have never seen such an assortment of interesting rocks. I picked up three, one for each of my young siblings - each one somehow reminding me of their characters. I don't know if I can send them now because I accidently put them through the wash and they were thrown out. But the river can't be so easily discarded - it will last for a long time yet. When the castle that now seems to protect the river and fortify it is in a rubbish pile or someone's cottage wall - the Loire will run by, peaceful as ever. The bridge ahead pretends to be it's frame, but it is merely decor compared to the Handmade bed that the river forever rests upon.
My uncle is a birdwatcher and as his quietly excited hand points here and there I see the striking blue streak of the King Fisher dart away. The sun's last rays spread grasping over the stillness. But the water doesn't move for it, not even a budge. The rays cannot even penetrate that expanse, rather they are returned in exact form. So precise that the object and the copy are self-reflecting, its a wonder which is the original. Strangely, I am convicted. How willing the water is to exemplify the image of the sun: unashamed, unabashed, unreserved. Where the sky meets the water I cannot tell, I know they are separate but right now they are bonded together. In the same manner, from that Holy side the water flowed with the blood, mingled but separate, showing not their own glory, but the splendour of their Origin. And this is the Son from which I came and through His cleansing flow reborn, became a mirror of the Rays. But how oft the peace which holds this river still is absent from my soul! How oft that radiating glory finds no imitation in the works of my hands. How oft that perfect Image is marred when reflected on my countenance.
As I rowed nearer the shore the current quickened and I realized that here too the wind would blow and disturb the quiet. Tumults would come and cloud that face that now so clearly shines - but it will always go to its rest in peace. That is what I must do, knowing that troubles will muddy the reflection but also being assured that the One Who stirs the winds with His finger also holds me in the palm of His hand. Thus schooled by the Loire, I learn to surrender and rest each day and each night as the horrors of this world whirl around me.

Friday, July 22, 2005


Pic 1: 14 year old gypsy girl who has been divorced already, though she is scarcely developed. Romania

Pic 2-3: Romanian friends



Orthodox Church by the Black Sea



The team at the Black Sea

Jon Kever, Jonathan Stevens, Me, Dianne & Alan Mezger

Monday, July 18, 2005

Romania
Pic 1: Gorgettia (18) and Nicoleta (15) local Christians (or "Repenters" as their called)
Pic 2: Just a wooden work cart

3: Stale bread that the children put on the bike to eat later


4: Jonathan with my hospital girl "Pina" (look at Romanian update for story)





5: Jaela, a gypsy girl



6: Jaela and her street friends

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Kosovo

Jonathan looking over Kosovo







Me taking a moment

New Orthodox Church





Wanderer

Friday, July 15, 2005

July 15, 2004

We were able to talk to Nicole at length this morning. She sounds very well, and she is in good health. She is now in South Africa waiting for God to lead her to her next mission. There are 7 orphanages which are possible candidates to work with over the next year. Five of these are in South Africa and two are in Namibia. She has asked that we pray:
1.) For clarity with Alan Mezger in planning and selecting an orphanage, and
2.) When, how and with whom, to travel to Namibia.

We appreciate your prayers and support for our dear daughter. May God richly bless you and graciously keep you.

Chrystal

July 16, 2005

We arrived safely in Johannesburg, South Africa yesterday morning. Now that I am here we are trusting that the Lord will make abundantly clear where I am to be. There are some different options for orphanages in both South Africa and Namibia, but as it is the weekend we must wait until Monday to make any contacts. Please keep Alan and I in your prayers as we travel a great deal in the next week, but primarily for wisdom in my decision. I talked to my family last night, and it was wonderful - family is a wonderfully blessed thing.
Though I sent out a letter called Kosovo I, of course logically implying there would be a Kosovo II, I haven't been in Kosovo for seven days now and at this point only my journal remembers what happened eight days ago. This is very good news for many of you because 7 days ago I walked in front of the OSCE building and leaned on the UN cars that were blown up in Pristina last week. May your minds be at ease on that accord, and thank you for the concern

Kosovo did end well, we saw the Lord use us in more ways than we had hoped, including using us as instruments of reconciliation between a family and the missionaries there. I spent some time talking with two thinking pagans about peace. They are both involved in peace restoring efforts between the Serbs and Albanians. We talked about what peace is and why people would be motivated to make peace with one another, and that lasting peace must be a result of something else changing. This lead into a discussion of Christian peace and how peace works from the internal out, giving a reason to love your neighbor, and if that motivation is not there, why go through the painstaking selflessness of loving the son of the man who killed your father? It was good.
What about Romanian parenting? The short answer is that apparently there is none. The first day after our arrival in Hersova (near the eastern border of Romania, 2-3 hrs from Bucharest) we went to a program that the missionaries have started here for the children. A woman in the church opens her yard/house for the street children to draw pictures, drink water, and eat some bread. Resources are such that they can only be there for two hours, after which time it is back to the streets for them. I went to the "program" that first day, walked in and immediately had the destitute and filth-covered hands of children all over me. One of them shoved her little sister into my arms, she was about 2 ½ maybe, walking though it seemed her tiny body would collapse under her own weight. There were about twelve children between 2 and 15 there, most of them gypsies, but some Romanians. The boys ran to Jonathan because he’s a giant to them (they call him "Hercules") and the girls just longed for a mother’s touch. A 15-year-old girl that I’ve gotten to know over the past week is named Nicoleta, and with her 4’10", 80# body she clings onto me. Through the week I’ve seen the other children on the street during day and night, and they come to my apartment to visit. They just stand outside my window yelling, "Nicoleta! Nicoleta, veno!". Yesterday there were eleven of them waiting out there to play, to talk, to touch. This morning there was a small tapping on the door and a small bunch of flowers on the mat awaiting me.
I visited the Hospital, where they will accept infants and "take care" of them until they are seven years old (at which time they are kicked out). The missionaries here, Marshall and Marta, try to visit these forsaken children every day. There is one family in the church that "checks out" some of the children for seven days at a time, they go back for a day and they check them out again, it’s the only way to get around the system. I went into one room, it had stark white walls without a single hint of colour, 4 white cribs without blankets, and one window. Marshall picked up one of the girls, Pina, who always wants to be held by the men and not the women. Pina is four years old but is contained within that crib every hour of her life, and is therefore the size of a 1-2 year old. When I walked into the room she squealed and jumped in Marshall’s arms, she reached for me. When I took her she just put her arms around my neck and held on for dear life, Marshall said he had never seen her go to a woman like that before. Pina moved until she was in nursing position, and just rested her head in my arms, clinging still to my neck. The time to leave came too soon, she put her dry and peeling lips to mine and I put her in the crib that will be her only home for the next three years, and she just sat there – no cry, she just let go - because that’s what she’s used to. In three years they’ll kick her out of that crib and put her on the street, maybe the other street children will take her in, maybe someone will "check her out" once in a while so she will know what colour grass is. My prayer is that God will provide a family who will take her in without making her a prostitute.
On the positive side, the native’s I am working with are great. The cooks have been my favorites. Every time I go in the kitchen without shoes, they yell at me, "tu papuchka!" because they are convinced that I am going to get sick if I don’t have my shoes on. One of them has taken to spanking me whenever I go in there just for good measure (by the way, they’re both women). Last night the other cook came up to me, grabbed the waist of my pants and pulled up as far as they would go. I was shocked to say the least, but realized that she didn’t like that my pantlegs were dragging on the dirty ground floor, and she figured she would either pull them up or roll them up – unfortunately she chose the former option. These two cooks have given me quite a bit of rest and laughter after the turmoil I find every time I go outside and see the children.
There is so much more to say, but for now I just ask your prayers for Marshall and Marta, Pina, the church here, and for someone to take in the street children. For me, after twelve adopted children, two crazy cooks, 18 marriage proposals, and one case of lice, I say "la revedere" to Romania.
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Subject: Kosovo I
Date: Thursday, June 23, 2005 7:16 AM
Greetings from Kosovo, Kosova, Kos'ovah, and Kosva (those are the different pronunciations depending on who you are and where you're from. We are having an amazing time here, and learning books worth of education every day. This is a country where the most popular conversation and the most common is one about war. We are staying outside the capital city of Prishtina about thirty miles, in a city called Mitrovica ("mit-ro-vits-a"). This city used to be the economic center for the country, having metal mines all over. The mines were destroyed in the war and since the unemployment rate here is around 70-80%. Among the Albanians (who are the people who live here), so many men died in the war that 70% of the people are under 30 and about 50% under 18.
We are staying on the South Side of Mitrovica where the Albanians live, and near the downtown there is a bridge that is armed by French soldiers/UN workers that separates the North and South sides. The Serbs (Serbians) live in the North side and the Albanians in the South, and never the two shall meet. These two peoples hate each other so much that the Serbs have thugs on the North side of the bridge watching everyone that crosses over, and should an Albanian cross they will follow them and then punish them. We met a man yesterday whose son was killed (it's a fairly well-known story, but I'll let you know how it happened). There were four Albanian boys (under 10) who crossed the bridge, and the Serbs sent their dogs on them (one being a pitbull), the children tried to run from the dogs and ran into the river, three of them drowned. One of our translators was near the bridge the other day and saw some of his Albanian friends try to get over the bridge (they remove their license
plates so that they can get across) and the Serbs started throwing rocks at the windows, breaking them. One of the Albanians was a kick-boxer and got out and started to defend himself. At that time the soldiers (aka "peace-keepers") who had watched the entire encounter, came up and forced the Albanians back to the South side. The war has racked this country, and there is noone to turn to.
On a 'eppier note, the people are wonderful. They are relaxed and some of the most hospitable people I've ever met and they're beautiful with dark hair and skin but often light colored eyes - they are quite striking. The first day we walked in downtown we got invited for coffee three times by people who had met someone who had met us. We have had dinner and tea and coffee and cake up to our gills with different people throughout the day, and that is mainly what we are doing here - building relationships that the missionaries that we are working with can continue to grow after we're gone. Beyond that, I think one of my main privilages here is to simply encourage Maria, the missionary we are working with. It is hard for her to be here working as a single woman and so many opportunities to minister and devote her life to people without seeing grand results. She has said that God is using me to give her hope and joy in the medial tasks, you can pray that God will provide
encouragement through the course of her ministry.
There is so much that could be said but not enough time. But since I promised a story in every email, here is one from last night:
It came out that I have done construction work when a family asked if we knew how to make plans for a cow barn, and I hesitatingly said I would try to draw something up. Jonathan and I visited the farm and took some measurements (and for those of you that find my math skills questionable, imagine me working entirely in meters and centimeters to order materials - oh yes....), after the specifics were written down the father Humbdi asked us to stay and have coffee and smoke with him. It is, of course, rude to turn a host down, and so we sat on his porch and began talking. Humbdi started talking about smoking (which they do in abundance - everyone, everywhere, all day) and how Amricans smoke much less than they do, he caringly only offered us one cigarette each. The reason they smoked so much, he said " was because in the 13's the Albanian king smoked fifteen packs of cigarettes a day, and if our king could do it, we try to keep up." About an hour and eight cigarettes later we
bid farewell.
For your prayers I am thankful, they are often a source of assurance and encouragement for me. I have received emails from a few of you, thank you for them. I hope to write again soon,
In the Universal Name of our King, Nicole de Martimprey
A few matters of business:
- Is there anyone that can easily set up a webpage for me to put pictures and updates on (something that is fairly easy on this end to update and things). That would be wonderful
- Jon has put a few on his page that you can see at: http://photos.thekevers.com/thumbnails.php?album=5
To tell you who you're seeing: The "Parents of the Trip": Alan and Diane Mezger, the "Old Married Men": Robby Mezger (pic 2) and Jon Kever (photographer), and seminarian Jonathan Stevens (background pic 1)
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