Several Things

I have several things to write about today, so here goes:

Serbia Updates:
We heard from Serbia today and there have been several changes, but only minor ones that don't really affect the big scheme of things. The girl who was going to go with us can't go now. She is doing an internship in Germany this summer and can't get away from that. So, now it will just be the two of us and our interpreter. The family we have been in contact with in Serbia has just been reassigned to England and will leave soon, so they will hand everything off to someone else. No big deal, that just means we get to meet more Christian missionaries in Serbia! Also, the economy has changed a bit and the cost of our hotels has gone up. But it only adds about $100 more to our trip than we had originally planned for. We can definitely work with that. So, everything is still on, we just had a few minor changes, but God knows what He is doing and we will continue to watch Him work through this mission trip!

Quotes from C.S. Lewis:
I'm reading a book by C.S. Lewis right now called "The Great Divorce", which isn't about divorce at all, but about Heaven and Hell. Two things the book says really struck me last night and I wanted to share them.

These are both quotes from a character in the book who is in Heaven:

"There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself...as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ. Man! Ye see it in small matters. Did ye ever know a lover of books that with all his first editions and signed copies had lost the power to read them? Or an organiser of charities that had lost all love for the poor? It is the subtlest of all the snares."

Wow! This quote cut right through me. It is so true for us Martha's in the world (Luke 10:38-42). I'm trying so hard to be a Mary instead of a Martha. I thought that quote summed it up well.

He also says in the book:

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, 'Thy will be done.'"

I think that one speaks for itself.

Fundraiser Update:
Saturday went really well at Kroger. I stayed out there for 5 hours and made $250! Some people were just giving donations. I met a lot of great people and got to share with several of them about our new church and about our mission trip. It was a great experience. We have now paid for all the cookbooks and everything from here on goes to our mission trip. We have $155 from them toward the mission trip now and there are a lot more books to sell. I'm having a yard sale this weekend and hope to sell some there. Also, some members of our church are working hard to sell them and we greatly appreciate their help. I may need to set up in front of Kroger again, but we will see how things go.

Prayer Team Needed:
We are about to organize a prayer team for our mission trip. We will announce it this week at church. If anyone reading this is interested in being one of our prayer warriors, please let us know. The team will meet several times between now and when we leave to pray, and they will also pray while we are in Serbia. We also want to ask everyone, whether on the prayer team or not, to stop each day at 6:19 (am or pm) to say a prayer for our mission trip(6:19 because that is the date we are leaving).

Have a Blessed Day!
Beth