Macedonia Mission Trip

Judy and I just returned from a 10 days mission trip to Macedonia with 6 other members of Mt Bethel.  Macedonia is a country that was occupied for 500 years by the Ottoman Turks and then another 50 years by Communists.  As you can imagine their national slogan is misery loves company.  It was unseasonably cold plus the monastery we resided was in the gypsy part of town.  They were all Muslim and were celebrating the end of Ramadan every night below our bedroom window.  We literally had a one man band walking up and down the street nightly passed  midnight except for the 2 nights when it rained.  I have never prayed more fervently and selfishly than I did that week for the 50 year flood.

However, the ministry of the Methodist church that we supported was truly inspiring.  Monday through Friday a hearty band of 3 men and a woman prepare and cook meals for more than 100 people, deliver them to their homes, and then clean out the returned containers.  (There are 2 sets of containers for each person that allows for one container to be left and replaced the next day with the second container.)  These people really hustle in the true sense of the word.  We would go along on the route as they delivered the meals and they were gracious enough to let us meet some of the people.  I say gracious because their delivery was like a paper route and the faster you make the deliveries the sooner you are done with the task.  There is a certain momentum that develops in making the deliveries and allowing us to deliver all the meals would have delayed the meals for these people.  This wonderful mission made me think about the early days of the Christian Church when we were known for our acts of kindness for the sick and dying.  These missionaries have a special place in heaven.

We also had a couple programs for children led by Nancy Naidu who was awesome.  She didn’t speak Macedonian and they didn’t speak English.  It didn’t matter; she jumped right in and had them singing and working projects in no time.  The second meeting we made S’Mores which were a big hit.  The children had never seen marshmallows before.  Their reaction when the marshmallows caught fire was worth the trip alone.  City kids.  They are the same everywhere.

We finished up the trip by visiting Philippi and Thessaloniki.  Imagine being able to retrace literally the steps of Paul on the Via Egnatia in Philippi.  You get a real sense of what Paul was going through while he was imprisoned there.  As I was walking in the Palaestra near the Agora, I could almost hear the shouts of the vendors selling their wares and the sounds of hoofs and chariots along the cobble stones of the Via Egnatia.

As is my experience on mission trips, I go to help and instead I am the one who receives the help.  The Christian message is evangelized in a special way in Macedonia by some very committed Christians.  Our partnership with them is another special part of the Mt Bethel Community.

Braves Night

On a cold, blustery night, more than 1200 “brave” souls from Mt Bethel “braved” the icicles and frigid temperatures of the nose bleed section in Turner Field to watch the Braves bunch their hits in a timely manner to beat the Oakland A’s 3-2 on Friday night, May 16th. This annual event organized by the Recreation Ministry once again kicked off with the parade of Mt Bethel athletes and parents around the warning track and some crowd pleasing t-ball play on the outfield grass. All of this was viewed with great interest by more than 30,000 fans in the stands on the Big Screen behind center field.

Chipper raised his .418 batting average with a 2 for 3 night and Brian McCann continues to demonstrate that he, not Frenchy, should have been on the cover of Time magazine in 2006 with 3 timely hits. This is definitely not the Braves of 2007 as the bullpen held the lead for the win. Also the game clearly proved that Tom Glavine will get into the Hall of Fame because of his pitching skills, not his bunting efforts.

Almost as much fun was watching all the fans in shorts and t-shirts suddenly realize around the 3d inning that summer has not arrived in Atlanta. They flocked to the stores to buy “bargain” Braves sweat shirts or sneaked down to the lower levels seeking defilade and protection against the arctic blast that kept our drinks cold for the evening. Atlanta was confirmed that night as the prostate capital of south; I have never seen so many men make so many bathroom trips in the course of a 3 hour game. I’m sure that the fact that the wash rooms were heated was strictly a coincidence.

Those hardy souls who stuck it out were rewarded with an incredible fireworks show sponsored by Publix. Of course those who rode the bus were forced into staying for the show because the director of Men’s Ministry didn’t answer his cell phone (yes you can queue 48 voice mail messages) from whiners who wanted to leave after the 4th inning. His very credible defense was that he couldn’t hear the phone ring over the howling of the wind.

A tip of the hat to Pam “White Shoes” Skelton and the Rec Staff for again organizing this wonderful event.

Blessings

Mike