McAlister Mayhem: Travel

Eagles Nest Ranch

Sun, 31 Jul 2005 03:16:42 GMT

Wow - we have finished Europe and arrived home on July 18. On the 19th, after a few loads of laundry we headed towards Alberta and Eagles Nest Ranch. For the last number of summers I have spoken at their youth camp there - and this summer has been no different!

The camp has a high percentage of students who don't know Jesus - and that always is a challenge for me - to creatively communicate relationship with Jesus in ways that students would understand.

We went for it with the 160 Junior Highs - and the response was amazing. By the end of the camp almost all of the students had made a commitment for relationship with Jesus. It was soooo cool. It was also heartbreaking to hear their stories. As part of the camp Leanne and I do "Straight Talk" - Leanne takes the girls and I do the guys. We talk about sexual purity - but more than that. I started out by asking the question: How are things with your dad? The responses were varied - but over half the boys there had huge 'dad' issues... Dads who weren't there, my dad's in jail, my dad says I'm a loser, my Dad says I'm going to be a juvenile delinquent and I think he might be right. So we started in on what their Heavenly Father thought of them... and it was good. Many of those boys approached me after to talk or get a high five or a hug. With the girls Leanne and Kathy (great friend) were hitting similar stuff and seeing similar issues.

In Romania we saw abandoned babies. In Canada we see abandoned, broken students - and at this juncture I am wondering which was worse. Maybe we're just blind to the hurt and pain that's all around us. Maybe we're just comfortably numb - thinking that we can't do anything anyways.

During this past week - I saw God do amazing things. But am praying that there would be a breaking of the hearts of Christian families for the broken. I pray for moms and dads who would extend arms to the kids who have noone loving on them. Our backyard mission field is waiting.

PS - In debriefing with our kids after Europe... Robyn has decided to go there and be a missionary. She's charting her college and university plans! Ben's heart was broken by what he saw and he says that his heart got bigger. Nick's faith grew and he's asked if he could get baptized this fall. So... we're thinking it was a worthwhile investment!

Estonia

Tue, 12 Jul 2005 18:43:52 GMT

Well - we're now in Estonia...

And it's amazing to see the difference between countries. Both Romania and Estonia were under communist regimes until 1989...

Romania got out from under Caucescou's thumb by revolution and prayer.

Estonia left communism by the singing revolution... 500,000 people started singing banned songs (total pop. 2 million) and it led to the fall of communism in Estonia.

Estonia is going places - bright colors, new buildings. Even in the 2.5 years since we've been here we can see a difference. The country is looking forward.

In Romania - that is happening somewhat - but it felt like a nation with its best days behind it. I found myself incredibly sad for the people and the nation. But believe that with God's help it can go places.

Our last days in Romania were fascinating - we drove through the mountains, stopping at the Royal Palace - amazingly beautiful and Brasov (a beautiful city) to a small village of 700. The village is made up of half gypsies and half Romanians. It is like going back in time - the gypsies live in incredible poverty. It was weird - because it was like a hundred years ago - with a cell phone tower on the hill. In this small village we stayed with Albert and Alvera - 2 Canadian missionaries to the gypsies. They have been in the village for 8 years - planting a church and a small Bible school. They have lived in primitive conditions - the kitchen up until 3 weeks ago was original - about 100 years old... with a few modern appliances... However 3 weeks ago Albert finished building a beautiful addition with a kitchen. We were there for dishwasher cycle number 2.

We slept in the old part of the house --- and it was great for our kids to see not only gypsy kids in the city but in the country. We are indeed blessed - and loaded. Each village had at least one storks nest on a roof filled with storks... it was all of a sudden understandable why the stork legend existed.

One Romanian tradition in these villages - is that if there is an eligible daughter in the house - the father would place empty bottles on the roof to let suitors know which house to call on... Korina's response to this was that she would get a shotgun and shoot them off - she didn't want to marry that way.

In Estonia - there are storks nests as well... saw a couple on telephone poles today... the poles were covered with white ribbons... the custom there is that a couple on their wedding day - will take white ribbons from their wedding and tie them around the pole under the storks nest - as a symbol/gesture that their marriage would produce kids.

On our final day in Bucharest we visited the palace of Caucescou - wild opulence... 40% of their GDP went to the palace for 10 years... it still isn't finished. In 1989 after the revolution they talked about tearing it down, and Donald Trump offered to buy it - but the new government kept it and is using it for a parliament building.

Estonia is a bit of r and r for us with friends - Romania pushed the kids pretty hard and so we've gone to the beach for a few days in a row... it's also very hot and since Tallinn is north - it stays light for a long time!

Dream,

D and L

Soccer Camp in Romania

Sat, 09 Jul 2005 12:02:31 GMT

Hi all,

We are hot, tired and a bit sunburnt after completing our soccer camp! We have not posted for a few days because - the internet was down across the city of Bucharest for 3 days. We think it was something to do with the fact that the whole banking, money system was shut down for a change over in currency. It's amazing how dependent we are on the internet....

Our soccer camp was a huge success - though we had to flex with things...

Monday - we were rained out... so our family went to the coffeehouse that Nancy and Debbie and Korina operate and we cleaned for 4 hours - the kids rocked at that - except for Nick who ended up sick on the couch with a fever. He's now over it - but it stressed us a bit for the 48 hours it lasted. Korina was so relieved at the job we did cleaning - it was great to bless her.

Day 2 dawned clear - so we were on for a day of football with 6-12 year old girls. It was quite a sight to see them arrive in flip flops - most played in bare feet. They had a great deal of fun! Robyn shared a bit of a testimony, I told a story and the day flew by. There were about 20 girls who came out. At the end of the day we gave each girl a pair of shorts, a gift and a certificate. That was amazing to bless these little girls - who live in small rooms and may not have had encouraging words often. When we dropped them off at the end of the day - it was to the same street we had visited with Nancy in November. We showed the kids - and it really sobered Ben. I asked him what he was thinking - and he said... it just kinda hit me how rich we are. hmmmm.

Day 3 was a combination of boys 8-12 and teenagers... 3 fights in the first fifteen minutes and we hadn't even started. It was absolutely crazy... very passionate kids about football - so lots of arguing about everything. Finally got them somewhat settled by lunch time and then it was just straight youth ministry and trying to speak to hearts. I asked one teen what his parents did and his serious answer was - they steal. Some parents were in Spain and had been for years. By the end we were exhausted and sunburnt! Ben shared a bit and Nick shared a bit on this day. We were incredibly proud of our kids for stepping up and doing the stuff. At the close we presented each girl with a gift bag and then each boy got a soccer ball from LGSA = our soccer association. They all received shorts and certificates. We are talking one very proud group of kids...

That night we did a dinner with our pooped out, happy volunteers. That was a highlight as we celebrated what God had done and cemented our friendships. Ahhhhhh.....

We have so much to write - but have not been on the net.... we slept in a gypsy/Romanian village on Thursday night... but that's for next time.

We are safe, doing well and about to head to Estonia.

The McAlister clan....

Canada Day in Romania

Fri, 01 Jul 2005 14:15:45 GMT

Today is July 1 - Canada Day... every year here in Bucharest the Canadian Embassy hosts a function - and this year they turned it over to the Canadian Businessman's Association... so our friends went to the Canadian Embassy to ask when the function was - they were told that Canadians were not invited... the girl at the counter actually said that Canada Day was not for Canadians. Wow... sponsored by our embassy for Romanians! Needless to say our friends were pretty choked and one of them is sending the info to Reader's Digest that's outrageous.

So no function for us. Our Romanian friends here are going to host a Canada Day party for the 9 Canadians around - we'll be leaving in a few hours for that. At present we are chillaxing in Korina's apartment. This morning Leanne got up early to go back to the baby hospital. We had permission to get video footage and Leanne wanted to spend more time with the abandoned babies. In her words - there is something wrong with this... She got about 20 minutes of footage that we'll try and play around with when we get back to Canada. She also walked babies for four hours. In the night - there is noone to care for them - noone comes when they cry - so they are HUNGRY to be held. And the weird thing is that Romania has laws that prohibit foreign adoptions and prohibit infants going to orphanages until they are two - so they are stuck in 2 hospital rooms about the size of one of our kids' bedrooms. aaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhh - I can't stand injustice. Yesterday Ben walked them and sang Delirious' song - Every Little thing is going to be all right - over them. That is the theme song of our sabbatical I think.

The rest of our family went to the Ministry Centre of Debbie and Nancy and Korina's church in Bucharest. The ministry centre is moving and they needed help packing and cleaning. 5 flights of stairs and no elevator - and off we went for 5.5 hours. Within an hour I was soaked with sweat from head to toe - as were the youth and young adults who were there to help. The kids worked non stop except for the lunch time pizza break - seems that is standard moving fare in Canada and in Romania! The kids worked really hard, I was really impressed with their attitudes and ethic. The last thing we had to pack was hundreds of new testaments in Romanian - it was cool - knowing that they would be used throughout the next year for new believers.... sweet.

Last night I spoke and did games at the Impact youth group. North American games work in Romania... thank you Jesus! And apparently in Romania - they don't tell you you did a good job unless they are really impacted - unlike polite Canada (apparently!) - And there was a great response.

ok - supper has arrived - authentic Romanian chicken... so must run and dine!

Dream,

McAlister's.

The kids

McAlister's in Romania

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 14:42:03 GMT

Well we have begun our missions trip in Romania! We are here in Bucharest - this afternoon we spent some time in the baby ward of a local hospital. We met a hero there today... her name is Jen Lee and she in 1998 discovered the abandoned babies section of the hospital. A number of mothers' leave their babies and walk away. Jen saw this - got a little fired up about it and went back to Canada to get a nursing degree. During Christmas and summer breaks she would pay her way to make it back to the hospital to spend time with the babies. Up til that point NOONE would spend time with them... they were all staring into space with a vacant look in their eyes. She now has her degree and is here full time... she has two rooms max 6 babies each... today there were 6 and 8 babies... and has organized a ministry to love on the babies. There were some babies in there that were 8 months old. So we got a tour from the head doctor today of the whole obstetrics (prenatal, labor rooms, nurseries, premies - etc.) Leanne and I did the tour and our kids loved on the babies. We toured the labor rooms AS a baby was born - some major screaming and a successful delivery - legs in the air. My word - we had bible college student Cornel with us - and he was pretty shaken! It seemed like we had some real favor in doing the tour - as we got taken places that Jen had never seen. We will be suggesting to Dreams Unlimited to help with her ministry I think... that's a no brainer to us anyways... ok gotta run as supper is served and after that we are off to do youth group where I'm speaking with a translater...

Darcy