We don't always understand the way God works. As a young Ukrainian girl I never imagined serving God as a missionary and teaching English. I've always had a desire to help people. About ten years ago, I accepted Christ and began to understand the desire I had in my heart. God did a lot of amazing things in my life during that time and last year I became a full time missionary with COI.

When a person decides to serve God with her or his whole life, it doesn't mean that everything will be easy. Not long ago my dad passed away. His death was unexpected and it happened because doctors were not careful or responsible in treating him at the hospital. It was obvious that he shouldn't have died and our family even requested an autopsy when he died, which proved that what the doctors told us was not what really happened.

In our country many important services work on a bribe system. People don't have a lot of money so if they become victims of corruption or injustice, there's really nothing they can do to defend themselves. This is what happened to my family.

"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15; NIV) This has been a difficult principle for me to follow, but I know that it's true. I've had to make a hard decision to keep serving God as a missionary, even though life without my dad has become burdensome for my family in many ways. I praise Him that as my dad was dying, he prayed to receive Jesus Christ and I know that one day I'll see him in heaven. Until then I believe God will give me strength to keep serving Him with my whole life.

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The ability for individuals to serve on a mission trip with Christian Outreach International has never been better! Three new trips for the 2007 season are very exciting and special.

Philippines
An outreach mission to Marikina! Support the local Christian community by helping in Nursing Homes and Orphanages. Medical and Dental professionals are need to help the people, but you don't necessarily need to be a doctor or nurse to help. All hands are needed to make this mission trip a success. You won't want to miss the opportunity for street evangelism and vacation bible school either. During your off-time you'll be able to visit the local sites like the Shoe Museum and Marikina Park. This trip has been cancelled.

Women's Conference and Mission Trip in Chihuahua, Mexico
Just for the ladies. Woman to Woman, Heart to Heart. Join Mary-Alice Isleib (Executive Director of Christian Outreach International) on this trip! We're expecting more than 1000 women to attend the conference. You'll be sharing the Gospel and evangelizing with 2 days of outreach work helping the local women and children.

Sports Clinics - Uzhgorod, Ukraine
Got Game? Football, basketball, soccer, volleyball - Coaches, players, and cheerleaders! Share your sport with the people of Uzhgorod. 30 to 50 people where there each day during last year's clinics. Many learn, for the first time, there is a loving, caring God and take Jesus into their heart. Share, drill, play!! We need at least 3 people from each sport. You'll find several blog entries here that tell the tale of the resounding impact C.O.I. outreach members have while in Uzhgorod. You'll even get to visit Budapest!!

These are great opportunities you won't want to miss. Take a step or two, outisde of your comfort zone, with the heart of an apostle. Checkout our main website at http://www.coiusa.com for more information and give us a call today to reserve your place.

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I am sure we know the words that will finish this sentence. He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it. I was reminded of this verse this morning when I received an email from friends in Ohio.

As many of you know I spent close to four months in 2005 helping those displaced by hurricane Katrina. One of the precious families we met in Bayou La Batre were Robin and Holly, the Barbour family. They had lost so much including their home which had many feet of sewer water flood in. I had made a commitment to Robin that we would see them through the process all the way to getting them back into their home.

Read the rest of this entry »

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"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another" (Rom. 10:12, NKJ)

God and I seem to be on a theme lately. Does God ever do that with you, show you lots of things that all relate to the same subject? For me, God's been showing me a lot about love: what it means, how it is expressed, the way He loves me, and the way He wants me to love other people. I came across this verse last week, and was struck by both the simplicity of the words, and what it might look like if it were truly carried out.

"Brotherly love." When I saw this, I immediately pictured my younger brother. He's 18, in college, and one of my favorite people in the world. I love him in a way that I love no other. I care about his wellbeing, but it's more than that. I don't only care about his needs, but I also care about his desires. I enjoy spending time with him just because he is who he is. We don't hang out because I want to influence him or change him, or because I think he's cool (though he is), or because I think it's the right thing to do, or for any other reason than the fact that, with all the depth and all the simplicity of a sister, I love my brother. But this verse says that this is the kind of love that I am to have for my brothers and sisters in Christ. God has adopted us all, and not only made us His children, but also given every believer a host of spiritual brothers and sisters, which we are to love just as much as our natural siblings.

I love the words "kindly affectionate." To me they convey the idea of, not a distant love or silent good regard for one another, but of a warm, caring, embracing, expressive love. In the Good News Bible, this is translated, "Love one another warmly…" It is a love not only felt in our hearts, but expressed in ways that make it easy for the other person to know that we love them.

I checked out a couple commentaries, and found these excerpts from Albert Barne's Notes on the Bible to be particularly helpful for me.

Rom 12:10 -
Be kindly affectioned - The word used here occurs no where else in the New Testament. It properly denotes tender affection, such as what subsists between parents and children….

With brotherly love - … The apostle Paul in this place manifests his unique manner of writing. He does not simply enjoin brotherly love, but he adds that it should be kindly affectioned. It should be with the tenderness which characterizes the most endearing natural relationship. This he expresses by a word which is made for the occasion (φιλοστοργοὶ philostorgoi), blending love with natural affection, and suffering it to be manifest in your contact with one another.

Isn't that cool?!

For me, this verse has been a huge challenge to truly love my brothers and sisters in Christ, and to try to find ways to express that love in ways that are specific and easily understood. I don't know, but maybe it will challenge you, too, to love others with the love that Christ has lavished on you.

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I recently heard a very interesting story that a preacher relayed in the church I attend. The preacher was telling us that God wants to use nobodies. His point was that we as Christians often look to the pastor or great evangelists as THE ONES God has chosen to see healings and other miracles. We often see ourselves as nobodies.

The story was as follows; A man who didn't believe in God one day decided he would test the idea of God's existence. He told God that he would believe in Him, if God would somehow prove to the man that He existed. This man had been reading how Jesus had healed people in the Bible. So, he decided he would go to the hospital to test God's existence. He chose the cancer ward for his test. He walked into a room that had several cancer patients literally laying on their death beds. He walked up to the first bed and ask the patient, "Do you want to be healed?" The patient's response was not very clear, but the man continued. He said "then by the power of God, jump out of bed." Nothing happened. So the man moved on to the next patient and did the same thing. The second time nothing happened. The man continued with his experiment on third patient. He asked if the patient wanted to be healed and said "by the power of God, jump out of bed". This time the patient jumped out of bed and screamed "I'm healed!" Then he saw the first two patients also jump out of their beds screaming "I'm healed!" The man excitedly shouted to God "I believe!!!" He then proceeded to walk through every ward in the hospital practicing the same procedure until the hospital was empty!

My head spins and I get so excited when I hear stories like these. Questions begin to fill my mind. If a man that didn't believe can see God's miracles in such a radical way, why can't I? What stops us as Christians from being so radical for God? What are we afraid of? This man was persistent. He tested his theory three times not giving up. Are we to quick to give up on seeing God's power move in our daily lives? This man at the beginning of his experiment didn't even believe in God, he was going on a theory. We know God, we love God and we want to see others healed spiritually and physically. So what is holding us back from this kind of radical faith????

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