The Seabourns

Travel

Only speaks English

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One person switched fluently between English, Arabic, and French. Another translated between Kazahk, Kyrgy, and Russian. Another switched between Farsi (Persian), French and English.

I feel so limited in these environments. This morning, people at the breakfast buffet are greeting me in English, not Dutch. How do they know? Do I have a sign across my forehead, “Only speaks English. Converse with caution.” Truthfully, it’s probably the clothes, the haircut, the eyeglasses. I know that subtle things like these give clues to national identity.

I’m in Amsterdam. I left Cairo Sunday morning. After a night in Amsterdam, I’m traveling by train to Schipol airport to connect with Roger Vann. We’ll go by car to Rotterdam and Doorn to meet leaders in internet evangelism and discipleship in the Dutch ministry. Roger is a 40 year veteran missionary, originally from Houston, Texas. He’s been in Europe “forever” and gives leadership to internet ministry across the continent.

Tomorrow, we travel to Paris for more internet evangelism meetings with leaders there. Eric Celiér is a former staff member who leads an internet ministry with global impact. Would you like to see some amazing internet action? Visit Joy in Heaven. You’ll see people coming to Christ around the world, country by country, decision by decision. Although not officially a part of our ministry, several of our countries partner with Eric’s team as part of this global ministry.

South Africa:: 30 years later

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Keith & KayKay and I are in Pretoria, South Africa. Pretoria is just outside Johannesburg. We are here with 33 leaders of our ministry around the world working together on building a stronger global ministry that can sustain the Great Commission in amazing ways.

We first came to South Africa 30 years ago. We had lived in Nigeria for about 9 months and traveled to the first All-Africa Staff Conference. It now has the distinction of being the only-ever All-Africa Staff conference. No other one was ever held. Jennifer turned 2 years old on the flight back from Johannesburg to Nairobi, Kenya. We celebrated on the airplane with the only cake we could find to purchase – a fruitcake! But I guess 2 year olds don’t know the difference! So we have very funny and interesting memories of our first trip to South Africa.

We have not been back in 30 years. Yesterday, Kay and I were walking around the beautiful gardens in the guesthouse where we are staying. Kay commented that the air just smells like “Africa”. There’s just something about being on the continent that we’ve not felt anywhere else we’ve lived or traveled. Whether West Africa, East Africa, or South Africa, it’s a similar feel – a “rural feel” even in a major city, the way people interact with each other, even the smells in the air.

Grammy KayWe spent Saturday visiting with friends Stefan and Marié Dell, and Kenneth, Monica and new baby Peter. Kay easily slips into Grammy-mode wherever she is. Monica thought Grammy Kay was great at reading books. Newborn Peter found Grammy Kay’s lap a great place to sleep.

I have placed some photos online. Click here to see some of the beauty we’ve found here at the Schoongezicht Guesthouse where we’re enjoying Afrikaner hospitality.

Eastern Europe. Lake Balaton.

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Sunset on Lake BalatonSunset on Lake Balaton

The site of the Eastern Europe Staff Conference is Tihany on beautiful Lake Balaton. The first days were foggy, but yesterday, the skies cleared and it was beautiful. The sunset was amazing. You can see the sheets of ice on the lake.

I’ve uploaded more photos. Click here to see them.

According to Wikipedia, Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe. It’s a popular tourist destination, but mainly in the summer months. That makes it a good place for a huge conference in the off-season.

Eastern Europe. Languages everywhere.

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Translator boothsKay and I enjoy being in an environment where there are many languages. Overcoming the results of the tower of Babel take effort. Here at the Eastern European Staff Conference, there are translator booths where live translation takes place. Five booths: Polish, Bulgarian, Albanian, Romanian, and Russian. All speaking is done in English. Those who need translation are given FM radios and headphones. Translators do the grueling work of live translation for the many hours each day during main sessions.

Last night, we spent 2 hours in a concert of prayer. It was great. Kay and I prayed with a staff mom from Albania. She spoke good English, but preferred to pray in Albanian. This is very normal. I was never able to pray in Hausa either, so I completely understand! It’s amazing to sit in a small group of three at the foot of the throne of grace and mercy and know that God hears our prayers and understands our language.

Singing worship songs in English, Russian, Romanian, and Slavic was a challenge, but really fun.

Ahh, heaven is going to be a glorious place. I have no idea what language or languages we will speak, but I’m confident that we will all understand!

Eastern Europe. Amazing stories.

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Who is an evangelist? Anyone who feels the moral responsibility to tell others about Jesus. Anyone who recognizes people are lost without Jesus, that people without God are perishing. ( first national staff member in Poland)

Kay and I are attending the Eastern Europe staff conference in Hungary. We’re in Tihany, a resort area in the summer, but a lake of ice in the winter. [Click here for a map.]

We’re hearing tremendous things. We’re hearing amazing things.

(To see the countries mentioned below, go to LonelyPlanet. Move your mouse over the name of the country on this webpage and see the country highlighted. Very helpful!)

In Romania, a student shared with his roomate. The roommate received Christ and began going around on campus sharing Christ with others. The roommate was talking with his Orthodox priest. The priest asked “How do you talk to people about Jesus?”. The student explained the basic gospel using a simple presentation. The priest went with him witnessing. He saw people coming to Christ. Seeing lives changing has transformed his preaching and ministry. Another priest asked the first priest how to share his faith. They cycle continues, one-at-a-time. This is how movements are born.

In Moldova, 5000 people were contacted through surveys. This was exciting, but how could they followup all these people? Someone suggested using text messaging. So they created 8 messages. They found Christian students who wanted to be a part. The first message begins, “Hello. My name is __. I want to tell you news that changed my life. Call me.” People would call back to hear more. One girl called back and during the conversation, she received Christ. She’s now in a bible study.

Poland is exploring a partnership with Czech Republic. The director in Czech had asked the director in Poland to send staff. The Poland director wondered, “Why are your needs more important than ours here? We have a strategic plan. We have many unreached campuses. We need our staff to do our own plan.” Then he attended the Campus Mission 2007 conference in Busan, Korea. Someone there was speaking on the principle of giving. He talked about tithing. The director for Poland began to think about giving a tithe of his staff to help reach the world, starting in Czech Republic.

And on and on it goes. Our cup runneth over and it’s only Day 1!