Quick Update

Hello Everyone. Wow, the past couple days have been packed. They have been really good days but just really busy. I have been busy editing a video that Lake Hills is going to play this Sunday while we are still in Armenia. I am just now uploading it to the Web. It's after midnight here and I'm pretty tired but I'll try to do a quick update as to what we are doing. Hopefully some of the other team members will post more detailed descriptions of the last couple days. Friday we painted at a Disability Center here in Yerevan. It was a really cool experience and I finally got dirty. It was just a really cool opportunity to serve others who are not as well off as we are. It is really a humbling experience. Saturday we went to visit a couple monasteries. If I remember correctly, one of them was built during the 4th century. The Church in the Rock was actually built into the hillside and it is absolutely amazing. The structures were just amazing. We went into one room and some professional singing group started singing acapela. The sound was just amazing. I may try to post a video of it that I took. I think that's about all I can write right now. I'm pretty tired and the upload is going to be done soon. I look forward to sharing more with you when my mind is a little fresher. Please pray for us as we are starting to get a little worn down. Thanks so much.

License Plate Numbers

Hi everyone -- Bet you're as impressed as Don & I with Jon & Joe's writings! I don't want to make this long, but just wanted to share something I learned about cars navigating the streets of Yerevan! Seems Armenians have a fixation with certain numbers on their license plates (especially high numbers like 777, 888, even 666!). Guess they can buy these numbers for a hefty price of $2000.00 or so which then allows them to pretty much disregard traffic signals. I've never seen such a mess at intersections with horns blaring, people yelling, cars within inches of each other -- but surprisingly few accidents or even minor scrapes! Amazing! The director of the leadership institute informed me that the number fixation began after the Soviets left. Hmmmm. The rewards of freedom? Thankfully, our freedom in Christ doesn't produce such a fixation! We're having a great time and are so proud of the team! Blessings, Lana

Driving Video

So, let's see if this works. I just uploaded the video of us driving. The taxi drivers were crazy. Jon and Tommy were in the Red taxi in front of us. Just because there are two lanes, doesn't mean there are two lanes (if you know what I mean). If someone is going too slow, then you can go around them (even if there is oncoming traffic). This video probably won't do it justice but it is an example of what the driving is like.

Photography Class

I just wanted to add a quick update on yesterday as the team visited different classes at NLI. While Jon, Anne, and Dani were helping out with an English class, Amanda, Tommy and I visited their photography class. 

It was pretty cool to see some of their work. One thing that I have really noticed while I was here is that there are so many cool places to take pictures. This country has so much character. Southern California has so few places with character. While walking down the street here I'll look down an alley and think "Wow, that would be a really cool picture." I envy all the opportunities they have here. In Southern California, all the buildings look the same and they are relatively new. One old church we went to yesterday was from the 9th Century!

It was just pretty cool to be able to share the same passion with others even though we don't speak the same language. We were able to share and appreciate each others art. It was a pretty neat opportunity. Thanks for your prayers and we'll update you again soon. 

Sorry..

That last blog was a lot longer than I thought. Read it anyway, comment, and make me feel better:)

In a nutshell...

I think yesterday got the best of us. We all had quite a nights sleep last night... except for Joe and Tommy because I snored so loud. I think maybe it was the seemingly never ending plane flight to Armenia the night before followed by the walking around all day in Armenia for our first day. I was out like a light. We're sitting down in the "hang out area" and, in the most literal sense of the phrase, we are hanging out doing nothing but sleeping (Tommy) working on a video (Joe) and typing away (yours truly). Overall, I would say it was a good day. NLI is quite the institute. Standing for the National Leadership Institution, it enables young adults to become more devout and knowledgeable disciples of Jesus Christ. This was clear yesterday and more today as we sat in on ESL (English as second language) classes. The folks in here were so eager to learn, and the teachers were eager to teach, allowing no questions in Armenian, but only in English. The people are fascinating! Each one listened intently as Dani, Anne and I told our stories of how we became Christians, are lives back home and what Christ means to us. If you have never had to explain something to someone of a different culture, you ought to try it. We had to form our words just right and stay away from colloquialisms that we so often use without even thinking what they mean. We then discussed terms of endearment for close friends which sadly, we cold Americans do not have many. The ESL students gladly told us some of theirs. "I want to eat your heart," was one which meant basically, "you are so wonderful, I could just eat you and your kind heart." Odd, definitely. But the way the one friend looks and treats another is astounding. Thus far, I feel the one being more ministered to as opposed to vice versa. Speaking of the way one treats another, we went to the Armenian Genocide Museum today also. Barbaric. This is the only word in our large dictionary that can explain what atrocities were done from the Turks to the Armenian people. 1.5 million Armenians were massacred over a period of (don't quote me on this) 4 years. It's always difficult to put things like that in perspective. I have never been in the midst of a genocide. Nor have I ever seen 1.5 million people die. How, then, can I wrap my brain around such heinous acts? As I walked through the museum, I could think of only one thing. How could one group of persons do such wretched acts to another? This dilemma has been on the minds of the greatest thinkers, yet still remains without answer. As Christians, we are told to have faith that all things that happen are because God wanted it to happen. As reasonable human beings, though, we have to question whether or not such things as the Armenian Genocide or the Holocaust are really in God's will. But, I digress. I know that God is a loving God. Thankfully, He is also a God that knows that true growth is done while struggling with such questions. I am reminded of a time when I was able to speak with Brennan Manning (yes, I am name dropping). He looked at me and said that true Christian growth is never done on top of the mountains where the sun is always shining bright. Rather, this growth, or perhaps, this augmentation of a relationship with Christ is done while we trudge through the dark valleys of life. When life seems at it's lowest, only then are we able to look up and see truly the graciousness and goodness of Christ. On that note, here are some funny things that happened today: 1) Tommy recieved yet more funny looks from the locals. 2) We were put on the spot to sing a song during worship with the NLI students. We were told to prepare songs for young children... quite embarassing. 3) There are literally no driving rules over here. Joe was able to film some of the driving mayhem we were able to experience. He'll try to put it up tonight. 4) I tried to learn Armenian... that should be enough explanation for humor. Again, thank you all for your prayers and support. These past few days, I feel that we have been ministered more than we have been ministering. I am hoping that these next few days will change, as we head into some local villages to paint and spend time with the needy. Pray that we become less so that Christ may become more.

Wednesday

I woke up this morning a little early but it gave me a little time to reflect on yesterday (and listen to the Boston Celtics/Detroit Pistons game online; I love technology).

Yesterday was our first full day here in Armenia. We started the morning with a breakfast of fresh bread, peach jam, and some assorted fruit juices. Then, we were taken over to National Leadership Institute (NLI) to meet the staff. We are going to be helping out with some English classes and photography classes with them. 

We then traveled to Kor Virap, which is the place where Christianity started in ARmenia. It was pretty amazing to be in a place that is so old. It just really opens your eyes as to how "young" our own nation is. I was in a building that existed before our nation was founded. It was just really amazing.

After that, we helped out with a beginners English class. That was a pretty interesting experience. When the class started, everyone was pretty quiet as the language barrier was pretty evident. We started out by introducing ourselves and telling a little bit about each of us. However, that wasn't really helping out too much and they were still pretty quiet. So, we decided to teach them some American phrases if they would teach us the equivalent phrases in Armenian. This brouch about a good amount of laughter that really opened up the communication and before we knew it they were singing their national anthem. It was pretty amazing to see how God opened up the communication.

Oh, I almost forgot one of the best parts of yesterday. Tommy is a celebrity here. Yes, his hair is attracting a lot of attention (it is funny to walk behind him and see the reaction of other people walking by). He's had multiple people (yes, even young women) come up to him and ask if they can touch his hair or take pictures with him. It is pretty funny.

We'll keep you updated. The Celtics/Pistons game is almost over and it's getting pretty close so I'm going to bring this post to a close. We'll continue to keep you updated.

A few pics

Here's a couple pictures from before we left. Nobody brought a USB cable to get the pictures on a laptop. Hopefully we'll be able to get a solution worked out tomorrow. All is going well. We should have another update tomorrow morning.

Wednesday Morning

We got in safely last night at about 11:30 last night. All in all it was a good flight. I was the only one who didn't sleep on the LAX to London flight (I did get some sleep on the London - Yerevan flight). Can I just say that planes weren't made for people over 6 feet tall. 

All the guys are awake and downstairs talking and browsing the web. I haven't seen any of the girls yet this morning. We hope to post some pictures to this blog pretty soon; we have to find a usb cable to connect our camera to our laptop (there's something I forgot to bring). We hope to get those up soon. 

Today we are meeting with the people from NLI and we're going to St. Gregory's (where Christianity started). We'll update you soon. Thanks for your prayers.

Short and sweet

Yes, we are here in LAX just about to board. Donny boy just interviewed us as if he was a reporter for CNN. So far, every foreigner thinks were idiots because of it. I just bought a bottle of water and a bag of trail mix for $7.25. It had better be the best water and trail mix I have ever had. I got my computer out to write a blog, and Tommy used it.... then Don used it... then Lana used it. So, I have to cut this a bit short. You'll hear back from one of us as soon as we touch down.

Thank you, Lake Hills Church!!!

Words simply can't express our appreciation for all the support you've given toward this Armenia mission team project! What a blessing to be part of a church that longs for God's Kingdom to come all over the world!!!

Please pray that...

• God will strengthen each one's sense of humor and ability to "go with the flow."
• God will bless us with strong stomachs, healthy immune systems, lasting endurance, and wisdom in getting adequate rest.
• we will daily experience the joy of obedience.
• God will maximize our patience and minimize conflict.
• we will make the time both during and after the trip to reflect on our experiences and apply what we have learned.

Trusting in God's Leading, Tommy Dumont, Jon Frey, Anne Guffre, Don Gray, Lana Gray, Amanda Hunt, Dani Sage, and Joe Sonnenburg

First entry

Here is our first post. Someone on the team will be updating this throughout our trip with updates and prayer requests. Thanks for your support and prayers.