SJ6- First Sunday in Lushnje

Okay, first of all confession time.  I confess here and now that I am not as good as Andy Wall...by that I mean that I was so excited to meet people and worship with the church in Lushnje today that I completely forgot to take my phone or a camera.  Therefore, we have no photos from our first Sunday service with the church here.  If I were Andy I am certain you would have several wonderful shots, so just imagine and you will be able to make me look better than the photos probably would have anyway!

What I do have are photos of our time this afternoon and evening after worship - trust me, we did worship with the church here today, I just can't prove it.  When you think about it, that just means that I have blessed anyone who is interested with the opportunity to practice your faith - faith that the church in Lushnje met this morning and faith that we were there.  Next weekend I will lead a time with the teens on Saturday and preach on Sunday.  Will will probably have pictures of that, but without pics of today, it seems a bit self serving to take pics next week....what is a lame amateur photographer like me to do?

After worship services we drove to the lovely town of Fier where we enjoyed lunch at a beautiful mountain top cafe called Acropoli. The food and the view were both amazing!

Here are some pics from that lunch - there is more of today's story after the pics so scroll on down!!!

After a relaxing lunch - with way too much delicious food - we met with Altin, a former student of Tom's who now lives in Fier.  Altin and his wife have a three year old son. Unfortunately for us his son was napping so we did not get to meet him or Altin's wife.  Altin is currently the minister for the Church of Christ in Fier.  It was such a blessing to hear Tom and Altin talk about their memories of when they first met and how Tom brought Altin to the Lord.  The two also picked at each other and told jokes on each other just like long-time best friends. Altin is definitely one of God's success stories brought about by Tom's faithful years of ministry here,


Later in the evening we were able to go out for coffee with Olti and Sojana.  It was so good to sit with them for a couple of hours to talk over ministry, share stories, and get to know each other better. Their passion for the Lord and love for the church here is Lushnje is evident - especially for the youth. They are so full of hope and enthusiasm for ministry and service. They are in the process of seeking full-time support so they can continue to work full-time for the church while completing their biblical education.  Please pray for them in their marriage and ministry!

One note to Andy and Travis - I forgot to take my selfie stick to the cafe tonight, so I accidentally got my hand in the way of this selfie!  I will show you better pics because of the selfie stick tomorrow!

SJ5 - Albania Mania!

We left Istanbul in the darkness of early morning on our way to the Tirana International Airport in Albania.  The flight was just over an hour and a half. As we came in toward the airport we broke through some very thick clouds to reveal a beautifully green landscape of mountains, giving way to what looked like lush agricultural valleys.  Once on the ground we were happily reunited with Tami's Dad, Tom Bonner.

After stopping for a mid-morning fresh squeezed orange juice blended drink, we headed on to

Lushnje.  Tom has been a missionary here for 13 years now. After my extensive 12 hours of experience here in Albania I can tell you my first impressions. The people we have met are delightful.  It is clear that Tom is loved and well known in his neighborhod.  Those of you who know him will find that this is no surprise.  He has never had trouble making friends or drawing people in around him.


After a brief mid-morning nap ( making up for having gotten up at 3:45 a.m. in Istanbul to make it to the airport) we went to join Olti and Sojana, a young couple who are working with the church in Lushnje along with Tom. They are eager and hoping to be a ful time ministry couple with the church here.  Both have completed Master's Degrees. Olit's degree is in maratime engineering and Sojana's is in finance.  After their scholing they felt called to pursue ministry. They are currently attending Bible training classes and working with the youth of the church on Lushjne and hoping to find full support.

Olti takes a selfie!

From 4:30 to abut 6:30 we were with Olti, Sojana, and the youth group.  School starts up on Monday and the numbers tonight were smaller than normal.  Still, it was fun to get to know a few of the kids and watch Olti and Sojana teach and interact with them.  I look forward to getting more time with them this week.  They are eager for training and mentoring.  I am prayerful that we can have some engaging a fruitful ministry conversations this week.  Please pray for Tami and I so we can be effective sounding boards for them this week.

Our plan for this week is to just be with Tom and the members of the church in Lushnje. We are eager to see how the week unfolds.  I will be leading the youth group time along with Olti next Saturday and preaching for the church on Sunday morning before heading to Athens.  Wahoo!!!

SJ4 - Touring Istanbul

Today was a beautiful day!  The weather was perfect and we enjoyed the company of an amazing guide named Sedah.  She is the smiling woman holding the pink umbrella. 

First of all - an update on the hotel drama.  After spending the night in a very nice hotel just up the road from the Daphne Hotel, we went to breakfast at the Daphne and were warmly greeted by the hotel staff.  They promised us one of their best rooms and escorted us into a delicious breakfast. After breakfast, they got us on the way to our tours for the day and  put our luggage into safe keeping until our room was ready.  When we returned from the day of touring, our room was all set and even more beautiful and confortable than the hotel in which we stayed the night before.  I just realized that we did not take any pictures of the hotel room, but who wants to see that anyway!?!  Instead you can enjoy a couple of beautiful shots of our view from the rooftop café of the Daphne Hotel.  Our room is directly below this terrace with a window facing the same direction.  I know, you are probably jealous, but don’t worry, that doesn’t bother me.

On our tours we saw so many amazing and historically significant sites! These include, Sultan Ahmet Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque,  Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Little Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome.  I will give more details about each of these sites in the next couple of blog posts. For now I just want to share a few impressions and experiences from our first full day in Istanbul. 

One thing I didn’t really expect is that there are dogs and cats everywhere.  It’s not that I saw so many of them, but when I think back on the day, there was no place we visited today that I did not see at least one stray dog or cat, usually more, Sedah tells me that they are commonly cared for by the general public.  They are just part of the landscape.  The government even sponsors a recycling program where all of the proceeds go to feeding the dogs and cats that live around Istanbul!  Every dog I saw seemed happy and content to just be a part of the crowd.  The cats all seemed indifferent – what’s new?

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At the end of the day we enjoyed dinner in the rooftop café at the Daphne. This was followed by a leisurely stroll around our new neighborhood. We stopped at a café and had dessert. As yu could have seen if I had taken the picture before we ate it. . .  it was white chocolate baked inside a pastry and served with rich vanilla ice cream: decadently delicious! To accompany it Tami had a perfect selection of their finest bottled water and I enjoyed an exquisite cup of Turkish coffee.  Had I spilled the coffee, I am quite sure it could have taken the alluring red shellac right off of the chair I was sitting in, but it’s flavor was complex, rich, and nutty, with a hint of BOOM!  It was the perfect way to end a wonderful day!

Istanbul used to be Constantinople, but today it is just pretty downright amazing!  I have only seen a very small part of the powerful city. It is urban and yet welcoming. It has more to offer than we will ever be able to see in our short time here, but that’s OK. When the small part I am able to take in is already more than I can really understand it is humbling and inspiring at the same time.  We have another day here tomorrow – and so I sleep.

SJ3 - Arriving in Istanbul

Well we made it to Istanbul! Our first leg of the journey was successful. We landed in Istanbul with no problems and eagerly set out to find a taxi and get to the lovely Hotel Dapnhe. Upon arriving,  I paid the taxi driver and he immediately whisked away.

Once inside the hotel we  found that they had no record of our reservation. This would be no problem except that it was prepaid and they currently had no rooms we could move into. No problem, we are only in Istanbul!!! Well at least we weren't stuck in ancient Constantinople or somewhere like that . . . wait. .. . that's exactly what it was like.

After a couple calls to the states to re-confrm our reservation and an email or two - about 30 minutes into this exercise in circle running, they "found our reservation." the desk clerk quickly promised to put us up in a hotel just a few hundred yards away for tonight and get  us into the Daphne tomorrow. All's well that ends well, or so they say. . . and we learned that when in Istanbul you sometimes need to be able to withstand some bull.

Undaunted by our slight delay, we headed out to explore the area.  We found a wonderful little cafe where we enjoyed a delightful Kabab dinner. After eating we strolled around and found the Blue Mosque, the German Fountain and several other interesting sites we look forward to fully exploring in the daylight tomorrow.  Stay tuned, the adventure is only beginning...

Sabbatical Journey (SJ)2 - Thanks at the Outset

I am writing this on the eve of our long- awaited trip to Turkey, Albania and Greece. As we spent the last few days packing and pulling everything together, I have been reflecting on how blessed we are to be able to make this journey which lies ahead.

I want to take just a moment before the trip starts to acknowledge those who have been instrumental in making this possible or in helping us prepare to get the most out of the experience. These may sound a bit like Jimmy Fallon's tongue in cheek "Thank You Notes." but I assure you, these words of thanks are sincere.

• Thank you Elders at Conejo for holding to your promise for this sabbatical. I know that some of you will think, "There's no need to say 'thanks.' Sabbaticals are a policy - of course we stuck to that promise." I still want to say "Thank you." This is a policy you put in place and honor because you recognize the importance of these times for spiritual and personal renewal for ministers at Conejo. I am very grateful for that. Tami and I would likely never go to the places we are about to see without your faithful partnership and support. 
• Thank you David Jack for being a good friend and a terrific travel professional.  It is so good to have a friend like you I can count on for solid guidance and direction.  Your advice and expertise have been invaluable as we made reservations, plans, and asked 1,000 questions.
• Thank you Jim and Penny White for lending us your big sturdy luggage which has been travel tested and approved. This was such a thoughtful gift. Our luggage would have made the trip, but it may not have survived the entire journey there and back again. You saved us from having to buy new luggage now and gave us peace of mind for the travel process.
• Thank you Ty and Kindy DeLong for the travel books on Istanbul. We are even more excited having read through them last night.  Your generosity in lending them to us and your enthusiasm about what awaits us there have us even more eager to go and explore on our own.
• Thank you to all of you who we have had conversations with or who have given us advice on where to go and what to see. Many have wished us safe travel and good adventures. You are all too numerous to name here.  We are very grateful for your well wishes and even more grateful for your prayers on our behalf.  

Tomorrow we embark on what we believe will be a grand adventure! Thank you for supporting us and continuing to pray for us on our journey. God has blessed us with 23 wonderful years of ministry at Conejo.  Please join Tami and me in praying that this sabbatical journey will give us renewal, energy, and fresh eyes and enthusiasm for the road ahead.  May God empower and prepare us for even more effective ministry together with all of you in the future.

AWtheBean

I don't exactly know when it happened, but sometime in her early years I looked at my beautiful, fun-filled little girl and dubbed her "Alicia bean." There were lots of nicknames for my kids over the years. Most were just thrown out at the moment and then forgotten.  They were just little verbal hugs in the moment: It might have been "goofball," or  "Drewboy" for Caleb Drew or "B-dub" for Brendin or any of a hundred other little names I would call them by while we were playing around.  For some reason this one - Alicia bean - seemed to stick. I don't know why or even really where it came from. There is no back story other than it means "I love you and I think you're amazing." There is no logic to it. It's just my name for her and it means something that can't be logically explained.  Please don't call her that - it's just between us - and perhaps her beautiful mom too.

Anyway, I am writing this because my beautiful girl is 20 years old today!  That is so hard to believe. More than that, in the past year she has grown so much emotionally and spiritually  that I can hardly believe it. She left us last September to go to Buenos Aries to study for one school year. She boarded the plane capable but uncertain - even a little shy and afraid.  When she came back she had plans to go away all summer for another experience as a ministry intern in Albuquerque, NM. Alicia has been such a gift to us for years, and now after her time in New Mexico, many others know what a blessing she is.

I know this because they told us over and over as we went there to surprise her last week. This past summer was not an easy one for Alicia.  Ministry is often full of challenges and Alicia saw more than her share of challenges in this past summer in Albuquerque.  She walked with students through hard times and loved kids who felt unloved. She struggled with how to help hurting families and kids who felt that they didn't matter. She was a blessing in the midst of long-term darkness with kids who felt abandoned and lost.  In short she sought to show Christ to kids who desperately needed to see him  - and they saw him in her.

In 3rd John, the Apostle of love writes: "It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth." When I reflect on Alicia and the journey on which she continues, I understand what John meant.  He speaks of faithful disciples as his children. In my case my beautiful daughter is a faithful disciple. I could not be more proud or happy to call her my own.

None of this comes as a surprise to me.  I am overjoyed that she has continued to be the person I have known her to be.  Alicia, you have stretched me and continually challenge me to hold on and practice those values  that your Mom and I have prayed would be yours.  It wasn't that long ago that I found myself on Thanksgiving Day driving around town looking for some random homeless people to invite to our house for Thanksgiving dinner.  This was only because of Alicia's prodding.  It was a great idea . The meal we shared with two men that day was richer than if they had not been there. The football we watched together and the pie we shared that afternoon were a milestone of experience for me.  Alicia was the reason because she wanted to honor Christ by giving back what we were blessed to have.  That's my Alicia bean!

My eyes well up and my throat has a lump thinking about how God has blessed me with 20 years of you!  I am grateful and excited to see what adventures the next twenty years will bring. To say "I love you" doesn't seem to capture enough of what I feel, but it is true and I do!

Happy Birthday to my amazing daughter!

Sabbatical Journey

Several years ago the Elders of the Conejo Church adopted a Ministerial Leave policy, whereby full-time ministers are entitled to a 12 week sabbatical once every 7 years. I am very grateful to take advantage of this time for leave and personal renewal.  I am also truly indebted to the Elders for the amazing flexibility they have afforded me in the process.

In April and May of 2014, I took 8 weeks of my 12 week sabbatical to finish writing my dissertation for the Doctor of Ministry degree. At that time I negotiated with the Elders that Tami and I would take the remaining four weeks as a trip to visit my Father-in Law on the mission field in Albania.  Another goal in this trip is to visit biblical sites – something we have always wanted to do but have never been able to.. Tami and I are thrilled that this time has now come.

Tami’s Dad, Tom Bonner, has been a lone missionary in Lushnja, Albania for the past thirteen years. Tami and I are so excited to join him and then take him with us into Greece to several biblical sites. A loose itinerary for our travels is listed below:

• Monday, September 8 – Fly from LAX to Istanbul, Turkey
• Visit sites in and around Istanbul        
• Saturday, September, 12 – Fly to Tirana , Albania
•  Visit with Tom Bonner and the church in Albania
• Jack will preach and teach
• Monday, September 21 – Fly to Athens, Greece
• We will take Tom Bonner with us
•  Embark on a Mediterranean cruise including stops at several biblical sites such ancient Ephesus and the isles of Crete and Patmos
• Friday September 25 – Arrive back in Athens
• Tour sites around Athens including the Acropolis, Mars Hill and the Parthenon
• Attend church with family friends in Athens on Sunday
• Monday September 28, Fly from Athens, to LAX

For obvious reasons, Tami and I are very excited to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. We are very grateful to the Elders and to our wonderful Conejo Church family for making this possible.  During our travels you can keep up with us as I will post on Facebook and through this blog. 

I can hardly wait to get on the plane and begin this adventure.  It is even more wonderful to be able to make this journey with my beautiful. amazing wife. Tami you are the greatest blessing God has given me in this life.  That is more true as each year goes by! I am also very blessed to be able to share this trip with my Father-in law, Tom Bonner. Tom I admire you more than you know. You are truly one of my greatest examples and a Godly hero in my mind.  

Ready...set...let's go!!!