October 18, 2013

Sitting here staring at an empty page and wondering what to write. I have so much on my mind, and so much has happened since I last wrote a blog. I have no idea which part of life to write about, so maybe I will just write about them all.

It feels like it has been a hundred years since I last blogged, and life has been FULL of changes, ups and downs. I feel like I have aged immensely through it all, but I guess if I'm looking at the bright side, that could also be used to say I have matured in many ways.

With the winter coming up, I am trying to be positive about life. I HATE the cold hahaha. When I say cold, I am very blessed, because in my city it doesn't really get below freezing very often. I am just a baby when it comes to the cold. However, to make my point, it is VERY cold inside the houses here in Elbasan. They are build from cement, which when it gets cold STAYS cold for a very long time. Above and beyond that, the houses here are rarely built with insulation, so trying to keep a house warm is impossible. In winter, the way the Albanian people (and the missionaries among them) live is that they will heat one room and if you are in your house, you will stay only in that room. Its a good thing there are only two people in my house, because often times whole Albanian families will be found sleeping/living together in one tiny warm(ish) room.

With that complaint out of the way, let me get on to more important things...

There is a little girl that I have met this year that has touched the heart of both my roommate and myself. She is a two year old who was taken into the Catholic orphanage this spring. Her name is Dafina and she has a myriad of problems. First of all, she was born nearly deaf. I say nearly because very loud noises surprise her and make her jump, so our theory is she can hear very loud things. Above and beyond that, her mother died in child birth and her father decided he did not want her. Therefore, our precious Dafina got stuck with some distant relatives who used her to help them beg for money in the streets. She was swaddled and kept (probably drugged) in a stroller for hours upon hours each day, probably in the median of a busy intersection while her caretakers begged for money to care for "their" poor baby. Because of this, my precious little Dafina was forced to face the sun all day, and as a result of it has become blind.

In the spring, for whatever reason, her caretakers brought her to stay in the orphanage here in Elbasan. Upon medical evaluation, the nuns of the orphanage were informed that Dafina also has inoperable brain tumors and only has a matter of time to live because of them.

Today, Dafina in is one of the best orphanages that Albania has, however, that does not mean her situation is the best. Even in this amazing orphanage filled with wonderful staff, there just is not enough time for the workers or the sisters to have one on one time with all the children. So, Dafina ends up on the floor in a play room most of the day. She is with other children, but the biggest problem is that from being swaddled most of her life, from developmental delays because of her life, and possibly because of her medical condition, she cannot move around very well at all. So she lays on the floor of this room most of the day, except for when it is time to eat or sleep.

My heart cries out for this little one. My prayers for her are numerous, but here are a few:

- I pray that the God who I know is bigger than any sickness brings a miracle of healing into this baby's life.

- I pray that we can get a second opinion from more experienced neurologists about the real life expectation/operation expectations of these brain tumors. Please pray that God opens doors as both my roommate and I continue to stir the waters in this area, looking for someone who could help. Albanian doctors opinions are not highly valued for many reasons. I would like to have her medical records reviewed by the best of the best so that the best decisions can be made on behalf of this precious little girl.

- I pray that God will bring people into Dafina's life that can show her true love and value, as she has never been shown before. Her family never valued her and now the people who care for her have all but give up on her because of her prognosis, but I believe she is worth fighting for.


For another good read about Dafina, check out and follow my roommate, Kerri Nixon's blog: Click Here

Thank you for reading.

Julie

Welcome To Burleson

Burleson, Texas.

Population 37,000.

Home town of famous pop singer Kelly Clarkson.

Birthplace of the world wide day of prayer "See You At The Pole".


Burleson is not my hometown. I was not born there, nor have I ever actually even lived there. For five amazing years of my life, however, I did work there. I was the secretary of Freedom Church, you know... the one that met in the old Movie Theater/Bowling Alley? Ya... that one.

For five years of my life I had the extreme pleasure of working for a church in a community that not only values their faith in Jesus Christ, but that also values churches working together.

Unfortunately, these days, it is rare to see a Pastor's alliance that works well. I have even heard of some alliance meetings (not in Burleson) ending in fist fights. Yes. Fist fights between Pastors. Isn't that just lovely?

Burleson, however, seems to me to be a very different kind of place. I was never directly involved in their pastor's alliance, but I was blessed enough to be able to work very closely with the Youth Pastor's alliance of the city. How cool is that? How many cities actually even have something like that?

I will tell you one thing, it was one of the biggest pleasures of my career to have worked with the LINC in Burleson. I mean, this was the very group that decades ago began the world changing prayer event that is called "See You At The Pole", an event that marked me for life on September 15 1999... but that is a story for another time.

From the very first meeting, I felt completely honored to be working with other youth pastors. We had a similar vision. We wanted to equip today's young Christians and evangelize their friends. It was simple, and we always worked peacefully together, even helping to steer and direct some major events, featuring names such as Mercy Me, Jeremy Camp, Skillet, Chris Tomlin, Francis Chan and so many more.

When I was a part of the LINC, I felt like I was seeing Christianity in action in the world I lived in. It was an awesome experience, and even better than that were the relationships formed with other youth pastors and workers in town.

You see the LINC is where I met great people. People like Sam Dallas who is an amazing theology and apologetics guy. People like Darin Brannon, who was an awesome youth leader and later went on to be an amazing worship pastor at Victory Family Church. People like Sandra Ruiz who helped connect us to the big names. People like Jonathan Moore, who is the youth pastor at the church I now attend. Had I not connected with him through a Battle of the Bands sponsored by the LINC, then I would probably not be in the church I am at today, Metroplex Family Church. That would be one of the biggest blessings in life that I could have ever missed out on. I thank God for the timely appointments during my time at the LINC, for the connections made and for all the youth (and more than likely adults too) reached through all the work during my time there and now.

Another person I met through my time at the LINC was BJ Jennings. I remember working with him on many events. He was always a great and encouraging guy, and all of us at the LINC had many a conversation over a box or ten of pizza with this amazing man.

Today in Burleson Texas, the Christians pulled together once again. We didn't want to do it in this way, but we did not have a choice in this divine appointment. Today we attended the memorial service of BJ Jennings. Early this Father's Day, BJ was killed in an accident while trying to help a stranded motorist.

The venue where the memorial was seats a thousand people, but still the overflow rooms were filled to capacity and people had to watch the service from monitors because there were already 1000 seats filled in honor of this man. Today I was reminded of a unity that I want to hold on to and remember forever. The unity of those believers in Burleson Texas who have fought for freedom in their own lives and the lives of others. Just the thought of it still brings me to tears.

BJ left this earth WAY too early, no doubt about that, but the impact he left will reach generations to come.

In honor and loving memory of a brother in Christ who fought the good fight and is now breaking it down "Hammer Time" style with his Father God in Heaven. He lived his life a good man, and he died helping someone out.

Brian "BJ" Jennings

This is how every Christian should go out. Leave a legacy so big that even the liberal media wants to be there to cover your memorial service.

Check out news coverage of the memorial service HERE

Also if you missed today's memorial service, you can see it all by clicking HERE

April 3 2013

It has been so long since I have blogged. I apologize for the delay, but life has been SO busy. It seems like every second of every day is a whirlwind and yet, somehow, there is STILL so much to be done. I guess I should just get on with it and tell you what has got my mind so busy these days...

It just so happens that...

Oh wait...

Maybe I won't let the cat out of the bag just yet...


So anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Life is so busy. Every day is full of things. I used to say things like, "Oh I have a really busy Saturday, so we better not make plans for that day." However, these days its seems like that Saturday has turned into my every day. I do not remember when I actually last officially had a whole day off. It is crazy. Church work, drum lessons, Roma school, English lessons, Albanian lessons, Worship practices, media, church events... and not to mention house work, friendships and everything that goes into that.

I was looking at my calendar today and realized that I am booked solid until the 8th of May, which is utterly crazy because thats the day when...

Oh wait.

I forgot.

I'm not telling.

So anyway, life has been crazy. It seems like the Roma school year will be ending early this time, because so many other things are going on in the next few weeks. I think this week will actually be our last official teaching week and then at the end of next week I have planned an outing for the girls. We will be going out for a shopping trip and play time to celebrate the end of the year. Its a good thing it is ending early because that frees up some time for me to prepare for...

...that thing.

The one I am not supposed to be telling you about.

Hmmm......


OH YA! I forgot to tell you. One of the most amazing things happened yesterday. My mentor (father figure of sorts) came to Elbasan and I got to see him for the first time in nearly three years. I was beside myself. He will be here in Elbasan for about 10 days, and I hope to spend a little more time with him before he goes. I have to make that happen, even if I am busy thinking about...

You know.

Another thing you should know about is the amount of people visiting here in Elbasan right now. There is a lovely couple who has come from England to serve in our church for 3 months. Kerri and I are having so much fun hosting them and just having some time to hang out with them. They are awesome. There is also another couple coming in two weeks time to visit for ten days. They have been here before and Kerri and I are SO excited to see them again. Oh and speaking of Kerri (my roommate just in case you don't know) the person who introduced us (Looooooong GOD ordained story) will be coming back for a visit on the 9th and will be staying for 2 months! WOW! That means that before they go...

...something will happen.

Something I haven't told you about.

Yet...



Ok...


Here it goes...


Julie's BIG announcement:


I AM COMING HOME!!! That's right, I (your favorite missionary) will be home in May for a visit. I am so excited to be able to finally make the official announcement, and I hope you are all as happy to see me as I am to be able to see you!

Wow....

...it feels good...

...to let the cat out of the bag.


Thanks for reading,

Julie

The Ultimate Valentine

With this year's Valentine's day rapidly approaching, I find myself feeling absolutely blessed to be single. Don't get me wrong, I am not quite your bitter old cat lady (at least not yet), I am just using Valetine's day to point out that sometimes we allow the expectations of family and culture to be put in a more important place in our lives than the very God we say we serve.

I will gladly use myself as an example. See, I am a 27 year old lady, which in my own culture would be questioned often enough. For example, my mom might gently suggest her friend the 55 year old, beer-bellied doctor for me to "go out with" to see if I like him. Or, various other people in my life might ask why I haven't found someone yet or so on and so such, as all my single friends can relate to.

Even though this is normal and nearly expected in my own culture back at home in the good ole US of A, it never could have prepared me for the complete and utter pressure of being a single woman on the missions field in a nation where marriage is worshiped as was Aaron's golden calf.

You see, here in Albania, it is "turp" (shameful) to be a single woman living away from her parents. I am seen as a kind of "wild girl", with all that may imply and often times it takes people a long time to get around their pre-conceived notions and get to know the real me.

Put all that side, and take my closest of Albanian friends, and you will still see that they feel bad for me because I am the weakest link of society because I do not have a man to be the authority over my life, such as a brother/father/husband in the house. The hard part is getting them all to realize that I DO have an authority in my life and His name is Jesus.

Above and beyond all that, which I am fully capable of handling most of the time, comes the even more difficult pressure of working from time to time with the Roma gypsies. In this culture, a girl will marry between the ages of 12-15 (some have even been known to marry as young as 10) and they will work in his parents house, nearly as a slave until he or his parents decide they do not like the bride, at which time they may send her away. For a young girl to reach 16-18 and not have been married would be the utmost of shames. It would mean that there must be something physically wrong with her, such as a handicap that would prevent her from being able to work in her husband's home.

The saddest part of it all is that these marriages never originate out of some sort of school love story, but they are mostly arranged by the parents of children who have never even met each other. The children then have no choice but to marry (I know of cases where people have been physically harmed and death has been threatened because one of the parties was refusing to be married).

Working in this community off and on for over a year now, and forming deeper relationships with some of its young people every day, I see the extreme emotional challenges that this idea of marriage brings on their lives. It is unreasonable for a teenage boy to have to worry about being married to a young girl who is only 12 or 13, having never even met her and having no idea what to expect. Above and beyond that, they would be expected to consummate the marriage before the wedding party can even actually begin. I have known many a marriage to have been medically induced with Viagra in this particular community. It is unheard of in my mind to put a teenage boy, who is scared and sees his future being robbed from him, in a room with a nearly teenage girl while all the family and friends wait outside the door and expect the deed to be done. It is shame on the family and completely unacceptable for the boy not to consummate at this point. So, they by the boy a pill and make him preform. After all there are people who are waiting to eat dinner and have a party just outside the bedroom door...

As you can clearly understand, that while I love the idea of being married and having a family one day, after the past couple of years of working in a different culture and learning about tradition, I am very happy to be spending this Valentine's day single.

Please pray over the nation of Albania, that the Christians will start to be able to put God above the tradition of marriage. Also, pray for the Roma community where there are children being abused by being forced into marriages and therefore sexual relations, at very tender and young ages. Pray for the people who are already working in this community to have the wisdom of God in how to love the people while gently bringing the truth of the culture of Christianity.

I am happily single. I will lay it all down for the sake of the cross. Everything.

I leave you with the ultimate Valentine:

1 John 4:9-10 
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Thanks for reading,

Julie

January 26, 2013

For a while now I have been wondering what to blog about this month. I have thought through heavy topics such as "the culture of Christianity" all the way to light, heartfelt things, such as a bunch of pictures of the kids I work with each week. As time goes on, I am sure I will find time to blog about both of these things, and I am very sure you will see MANY pictures. However, as I spent many hours thinking about what I should write and trying to guess responses and analyze how my words will affect my readers, I decided to be very real with you all today.

You see, many times, we as people, try to put things in the best light possible. For example, when writing a report for a supervisor, we may try to highlight good things and only name a few down-points while trying to point out the solutions we have already thought up to resolve said "challenges". We have a tendency towards the positive when opening up our lives to people, and that is ok, because I choose to think we are trying to form relationship. No  matter what anyone's opinion is of all of this, I have decided to just tell you how my day REALLY was yesterday. After all, we all know from relationship experience, that there are good parts and challenging parts of every day. I am going to share with you a rather "challenging" part of my day yesterday.

It all started on a rainy Friday morning. I was so busy that I felt like I was spinning in uncontrollable circles from the moment I opened my eyes. We had a house guest staying with us and everything just seemed extra busy. I tried to get a little house work done (and believe me I only got a LITTLE done) before I rushed off to my teaching time for the day. I figured since it was Friday and I only had a small amount of time to put together a lesson plan for the day, that the Roma girls I teach would go over their multiplication tables (which we are currently trying to memorize) and then after that we would have some fun playing the card game "UNO" together.

So, I thought I had it all figured out as I left the house..... Hahahahahaha.... ya right.

When I arrived at the place where I teach, lunch was still being served to the children (YWAM runs a church and a feeding program with the children in the Roma area and I help teach some of the girls basic schooling three days a week after they finish their lunch). So, I stood in the front hallway of the building, watching and waiting for lunch to be finished. When the girls finished, I corralled them into our school room, only to realize Suada, our deaf girl, was missing although I had seen her at lunch. I left the room to investigate and found Suada leaving the premises, with her small (2 year old?) cousin in hand. I asked her why she was leaving and she said she had to take the boy  home. I said ok. I gave her 5 minutes to get back (she lives very close) so we could get started with our class as promptly as possible.

After much waiting, all the girls were in place and we started going over our times tables. To my surprise the girls did VERY good (even Suada who sometimes takes longer to learn because of her hearing disability). After we finished our multiplication practice for the day, I began to start explaining to them how to play UNO. This is when things got interesting. First of all, I had to threaten them to make sure they took proper care of the cards, because I had borrowed them and my desire was to return them in tact. Fair enough right? After that we played one game of UNO and I realized that Suada was not understanding at all. So I took up all the cards, shuffled and put the girls in teams of two to play together. This way I figured Suada could learn by seeing how the other girl was playing her cards. In the middle fo trying to divide them into teams, I get interrupted by a couple who was there visiting the YWAMers, just checking out the missions work that goes on there. This was absolutely cool with me, as I do not mind visitors at all, in fact I often ask people to come be a part of our class. However, this turned out to be a little different, because they just wanted to ask me a million questions. On a normal day this would have been fine, but I was in the middle of struggling to explain a game (you should try to explain a game like UNO to completely uneducated 11 year old girls in a language that is not your given tongue.) and this just made everything a lot more difficult than necessary. So, in the end, I had to, probably less than politely, ask the girls to be completely quite for a few minutes so I could at least hear the questions this poor couple was trying to ask about our class. After much ado, I got all their questions sorted out and they went on their way. I was happy to have had them and I am very happy that people are interested in the work that is being done in the Roma area. However, as I hope you can understand, this was not the best time. In the end it all worked out though...

SO.... we said goodbye to our guests and went on with our "team" UNO. From this Suada learned the idea of how the game goes. I was very happy with the turnout, EXCEPT for the fact that at one point two of my girls decided they were no longer a team and split their cards amongst themselves, thereafter being the best off two people in the game cause they had less cards than everyone else (if you have played UNO before you get this). So I had to explain that until we are done, they have to play as a team, otherwise its not fair. They giggled mischievously and we managed to carry on with our game.

Ten games later, the cleaning lady came in the room and told me that she was leaving and it would be just me and the kids left in the building. She asked me to come lock the gate behind her so that people couldn't get in. I agreed and reached in my pockets to retrieve my keys...

Suddenly, I realize I have no keys on my at all and I am rudely reminded that I left my keys at home, so my roomie could lock up because she couldn't seem to find her keys that morning. I am then very angry with myself because I KNOW I need those keys to lock up every day after school, and I have no idea why I so willingly and mindlessly left them behind that particular morning.

So, I then realize I have no keys to lock up and I reach into my pocket for my cell to call the head YWAMer to ask him to come back because I have forgotten my keys. Only then do I realize that I do no have my cell phone with me. So, I am left behind in a neighborhood where people wait for the house to be left empty so they can try and steal things and break in, AND I have no keys to lock up AND I have no phone to call for help...

Where was my mind that day?

So, I thought quickly and asked one of the children to run to the cleaning lady's house and ask her to call the lead YWAMer. A message was sent back to me that she does not have any money on her phone (Albania is a land of prepaid cell phones). Then she came into the school room and looked at me as if I had absolutely lost my mind and proceeded to rake me over the coals for being so mindless. I just listened and agreed before asking her to wait there while I ran home to get my keys. She kindly agreed to do so and I literally RAN the road home, got my keys and quickly bicycled back. Thankfully all turned out well, and I locked the door. However, I feel like school really ended in a bit of a mess and I left feeling extremely frustrated at myself and about the whole thing.

My life here might look awesome (and I am not denying that I love every minute of it), but things happen and I have days that are far from awesome just like anyone else. I suppose this has been just another day in the life of a missionary.

Thanks for reading....

PS- This month has been a particularly difficult one financially. Please prayerfully  consider a financial gift towards the work here. I promise not all days are as scatter brained as yesterday. Many of them are quite remarkable. =)

If you would like to give, click the PayPal link at the top of this page. Is is very simple to give online. If you need a tax deductible receipt for your giving, please mail any gifts to Julie Shelley c/o Metroplex Family church. Email me for specific mailing address.

Again, thanks for reading,

Julie

January 1, 2013: A Roma Christmas Party

2012 has come to pass and a new year is before us. I am so grateful for all the love, prayers and support shown to me by all the friends, family and supporters back at home and all around the world. Your thoughts, kind words, prayers, contributions and love have meant more to me than you could know and have helped the mission here continue to be possible.

2013 looks like it holds a lot of exciting new ministry opportunities, as well as continuing many of the ones already started. I am super excited to listen to God's leading and walk in the ways He is directing this year. More news will be coming on what's to come later in the year.

As many of you know, one of the works I do is teaching Roma gypsy girls basic schooling. On our last day of school before Christmas/New Years break, I decided to throw them a party to celebrate Christmas and Kristina's birthday (she's the one in the wheelchair) which is on Dec 31. You will see there are also two boys in the photos. They are cousins of Kristina and they played with us outside during our little celebration.

A big thank you to YWAM Elbasan and the Hunte family for letting me teach these girls, and a big thank you to my dear friend Kerri Nixon for helping organize the party, hanging with us and her photography. 

I will leave you with photos of our Christmas party. To all of you who contribute to and pray for the ongoing work here, remember, YOU helped make these moments and smiles possible. Thank you for all you do and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!