Do you want to support Eurasia Communications ministry? Read more!

At the moment, all our previous communications volunteers have completed their assignments and returned home from the region. I am now fully reliant on a network of Eurasian volunteers as well as a very short list of freelancers to keep Eurasia Communications ministry moving forward.

That means that other than myself, there is no one else on the Eurasia Region who is FULL-TIME dedicated to maintaining the ministry, let alone helping it to grow and expand. The network of volunteers are wonderful and we could not do without them in any scenario. Yet, they are limited by full-time jobs, family, education and other ministry commitments in the amount of time they can give to work full-time on the vast number of video projects and promotions, storytelling and publications, or requests for more support at the grassroots.

Here in Eurasia, we have churches and ministries in nearly 40 countries, representing almost 130 languages. Our churches are found across Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and South Asia.

It is not possible to support all the communications needs and tell all the stories of Nazarenes throughout such a large and diverse area with just one full-time person and our handful of volunteers.

Our team needs your help. Here's how you can partner with us:

1. Rebecca Moisio, who served with us for one year as a video producer and filmmaker, is in Ohio  raising funds to return in 2019 for another year. Rebecca testifies to a long-term calling from the Lord into communications missions. She strongly believes that God has called her to Eurasia, specifically (Yay!). We need Rebecca back, as soon as possible. I can't say enough positive things about her -- about her positive attitude, her clear sense of calling, her servant's heart, her flexibility and adaptability, her skills and passion for this ministry.

Rebecca needs to raise about $20,000 to return.

Currently she is looking for people who will partner with her by pledging a monthly gift to her living and ministry expenses. One-time gifts are also welcome.

Is God speaking to you about helping us in Eurasia Communications? Perhaps you feel drawn to helping Rebecca, specifically? If you want to know more, please write to me at gpottenger at eurasiaregion.org (symbol removed here to reduce spam emails). Or visit:
http://web.nazarene.org/goto/moisio

Watch her video testimony here: https://vimeo.com/249789157

2. Do you have skills, experience and expertise in video editing, graphic design or social media? We really need extra help in these areas.

You don't have to relocate to Eurasia to help us (although we are certainly looking for full-time volunteers who can give a year or more here with us). We can partner with you on projects from wherever you are. We are looking for reliable people who will meet deadlines, follow through on commitments, work well in a team, communicate regularly and consistently, and who have quality skills in these areas. You could pitch in on a one-time project, or in an ongoing way. Please contact me to learn more.

Perhaps you feel drawn toward serving cross-culturally with us for 3 months up to a year. We need that, too! Write to me to learn more about what opportunities are available, and where.

Thank you, most of all, for your prayers that God will continue to lead more of his mature, passionate, dependable and skilled/experienced people into communications ministry and mission in Eurasia (and globally), and provide us the resources to get the work done and support Nazarenes in their communications needs, training and storytelling!

Another use for salt

There are miles of blackberry brambles sprawling across England as weeds. They reach out their thorny branches into sidewalks, hiking trails, beside train tracks, in the back of uncultivated lots and properties.

As a fruit and berry lover, discovering thickets of blackberries all around where I live and stroll has become a huge delight. Late summer last year and this year I've been discovering the branches loaded with dark, juicy blackberries just growing wild! Having seen the prices for blackberries in the store, I have become all about picking them for FREE at the park or behind the college where I live.

Last year, when I first discovered there were blackberries everywhere for the picking, I picked cups and cups of them.

Having never picked wild blackberries before, I didn't know about the worms.

I had this plan to make blackberry curd, a type of creamy jam, with my precious, ripe -- and FREE -- blackberries. I ordered cheesecloth so I could strain out the little seeds, and while I waited for it to be delivered, I froze the blackberries.

After the cheesecloth arrived, I pulled the clear plastic container from the freezer to defrost my berries.

The interior of the plastic box was covered with tiny, frozen worms!

I was horrified! There had been worms in my blackberries?!? They looked fine when I had rinsed them off.

I threw them away.

I approached the blackberry harvest this year with sad caution, but when they started to be ripe, I went ahead and picked a container full. Then I came home and examined them carefully and up close under a bright light. They seemed fine. They were beautiful, dark, and juicy. Perfect on the outside! I rinsed them and did not see any insects or worms. So I put them in the refrigerator to enjoy with my yogurt the next morning.

This morning, I took the lid off the blackberries -- to discover two of those tiny worms crawling on the lid.

I went to the Internet to find out where these little worms are coming from and what they are. It turns out that these almost microscopic worms are actually fruit fly larvae. The eggs are laid inside the ripening berries --inside the tiny, juicy little globes. Once the eggs hatch, the little larvae begin to crawl out.

The way to get rid of them, the article said, is to soak the blackberries in saltwater. The saltwater forces the larvae out from the berries where they die in the salty solution, freeing the blackberries from the (harmless) infestation.

So I mixed up a solution of saltwater and poured it over the berries.

Almost instantly, I could see tiny white heads emerging from the berries, squirming and pushing their way out. Once out of the berries, they writhed on the bottom of the container, drowning in the toxic saltwater. I'm not sure if this video will play here, but I tried to record the tiny white larvae emerging from the fruit. If you look very closely you can see the movement of the worm coming out.

This scene brought to mind the scripture in Matthew 5:13-16, when Jesus tells his followers: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot."

There have been a variety of devotionals and commentaries to interpret and explain the application of this verse based on the contemporary uses of salt during Jesus' time.

The website, gotquestions.org, says, "Salt had two purposes in the Middle East of the first century. Because of the lack of refrigeration, salt was used to preserve food, especially meat which would quickly spoil in the desert environment. Believers in Christ are preservatives to the world, preserving it from the evil inherent in the society of ungodly men whose unredeemed natures are corrupted by sin."

It goes on to add, "Second, salt was used then, as now, as a flavor enhancer. In the same way that salt enhances the flavor of the food it seasons, the followers of Christ stand out as those who 'enhance' the flavor of life in this world. Christians, living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and in obedience to Christ, will inevitably influence the world for good, as salt has a positive influence on the flavor of the food it seasons. Where there is strife, we are to be peacemakers; where there is sorrow, we are to be the ministers of Christ, binding up wounds, and where there is hatred, we are to exemplify the love of God in Christ, returning good for evil."

(https://www.gotquestions.org/salt-and-light.html)

Today, I found a third application for salt: To force to the surface hidden infestations and to kill them, purifying a contaminated product.

In other words, like the berries, some of us might look good on the outside: we say the right things, display the appropriate attitudes, know the approved actions to take in any given situation. But on the inside, we may suffer from a hidden infestation of sin and corruption that even we are unaware of.

The salt of the scripture, the Holy Spirit, and of the community of Christ can help us to push those hidden sins and corruptions to the surface of our awareness so that the Holy Spirit can then help us to purify ourselves from them as we allow God to remove them from our lives.

Understanding and grace for our own cultures

There is a great deal written and discussed in the missionary community about cross-cultural conflict, and about the effort needed to more deeply understand people in other cultures, and to extend grace and be humble where understanding is still lacking.

I only wish we had the same compassion, grace and commitment to understand each other in our own cultures.

After 8 years of living in cultural contexts other than the one where I grew up, I've noticed that I am much more prepared and consciously intentional about trying to give grace, have patience and strive to better understand the people of the culture I live in than I am with people from my own country and culture. I've seen the same in others from my country, as well.

Why do we offer less grace and compassion to people from our own cultures than we do to people of other cultures? Why do we have so little desire to understand the peoples from our own nations who think and live differently than we do?

I've started reading the book Cross-Cultural Conflict, by Duane Elmer, and almost everything I have read so far pertains no differently to my interactions with people of my own culture than to my interactions with people of a different culture.

When I think about the polarized political climate at home, in which many people from each political camp suspect the worst of those they disagree with, treating them with contempt and derision rather than a humble desire to understand why they believe what they believe, I find that the passages of this book have direct application. I feel convicted in myself.

In a way, we could imagine that people with different political beliefs are actually people from different cultures -- because in a lot of ways, they are. When we take that approach, we can more easily develop the mindset of realizing that we simply may not understand why the other thinks or lives the way they do, and that making an effort to understand them will bring greater peace, reconciliation and the ability to work together -- rather than against one another -- to find solutions and implement them effectively.

Here are some great passages from Elmer's book that I read through a lens of applying to my own culture, particularly the political climate and disagreements:

"I learned it is unwise to make quick judgments about people's motives and character. It takes time, conversations, questions, listening and the whole range of learning skills to form accurate perceptions about people who are different from me. I must suspend judgment, maintain an open mind and seek more information (especially from those people I am prone to judge) before drawing conclusions. If I am too quick to judge or draw a conclusion, my mind closes, learning stops, and the potential for building a relationship is lost. My assessment of others must be a conscious, intentional process, or I am likely to slip into my old habits and to do an injustice to people whom Christ loves and for whom he died." (17)

"To celebrate creation is to celebrate diversity, including diversities of people (including diversity of viewpoints -- my comment). And we cannot celebrate out of ignorance. Genuine celebration comes from genuine appreciation. This requires learning and understanding, and these are incompatible with egocentrism and superiority." (13)

"We are called to love all people. But can I truly love someone I do not, at least in some measure, understand? Love requires some understanding of its object...." (13)

"A measure of security comes when I know which 'box' a person fits into, because then I know how to treat him or her. I do not need to get acquainted with the person before I judge him or her. At that point I have begun to treat people like objects and no longer see each one as a unique, esteemed human being designed by God and worthy of my individualized and respectful attention." (19)

"The interpretation we provide virtually always attributes a negative characteristic and motivation to the other person. We rarely give people the benefit of the doubt when they do something we don't understand.... Westerners are especially quick to attach some deficiency to the other person whenever confusion arises. You can easily see how this creates conflict when there was none, or aggravates minor conflicts into major ones." (20)

How much conflict, hostility and gridlock would be brought to peace and reconciliation if we all would internalize the ideas presented here, and begin to intentionally approach with more grace, humility and understanding those people in our own nations and cultures who are different from us in political viewpoints, economic statuses (I'm including the rich or successful people who are often treated with contempt, suspicion or objectification), or regional areas of our own nations. What if we worked harder to give grace and seek to more deeply understand our co-laborers in ministry, our neighbors, family members and friends?

"Avoid the cycle altogether. Learn to put on that other set of lenses. It takes patience, but it's not hard to do." (17)

The trolley: A story of cultural ignorance

This is my "shopping trolley."

It's one of my best friends. That is because we do not have a car here in Manchester, so when I buy groceries, I need to do so on foot. I also need to haul them a 10-minute walk back to our apartment and up two sets of stairs.

Having this trolley with wheels means I can carry a bit more in weight without hurting my arms or shoulders. Without it, the walk back home would be pretty miserable.

I noticed these trolleys for sale at various household supply shops when we arrived, and I saw a few people coming and going from grocery stores with them. It seemed like a genius idea. So immediately I went out and got one for myself.

For months, I was running back and forth to the store with my lovely little wheeled shopping bag, usually with an additional lighter bag on one shoulder.

One day, as I approached the college with my haul of groceries, one of the faculty passed me on his bicycle on his way home. He grinned, slowed down and said, "How cute! You remind me of my grandmother with your little shopping trolley."

I wasn't sure why it was his grandmother he specifically thought of. But we both laughed and went on our way.

A week or two later, the scene repeated itself, but this time with another faculty member -- an American -- who was coming toward me on foot. His grin was mischievous when he said, "You know that only old ladies use those shopping carts, right?" As an American who had lived here for years, he already knew something I didn't know, and took great pleasure in teasing me about it.

I didn't quite believe him, though. It seemed ridiculous that people of all ages who walk to the store wouldn't use these convenient and inexpensive devices to make transporting groceries much easier.

Later, I spent some time with a friend who had once lived in the UK for five years. I wanted her to take my side, to bolster my belief from her own experience as a foreigner that she and plenty of other young adults use shopping trolleys. So I broached the subject with her one day.

"Hey, you know those rolling shopping carts you can get, so you don't have to carry groceries home from the store?" I asked her.

"Oh yeah, the ones old ladies use?"

*Face-palm.*

I thought back to the people I'd seen using them, and couldn't remember who they were. But now that I was paying attention, I didn't exactly remember seeing a lot of healthy, robust young people rolling them around.

But, why? I wondered. They're so convenient and make shopping so much easier!

No one can give me an answer. It seems to be one of those cultural things that as an outsider I failed to anticipate or notice, and which has no logical explanation when one stops to think or ask about it. I wondered how many other people were smiling or smirking at me all those times I jauntily rolled the cart to and from the grocery store, being decidedly NOT an "old lady."

Since it seems that my mistake is only a little personally humiliating, and not a serious cultural taboo, I've decided I don't care if I do look like a little old lady. No way am I going to haul liters of milk and water and heavy cans of vegetables from bags on both shoulders all the way home every time I stock up on food.

And I still have a suspicion that somewhere, there must be clever younger people who refuse to conform to societal taboos and are making use of shopping trolleys when they don't have a car.