From Desk to Mission Field - Trinity Staff Short-Term Trips

The following testimonies are from staff members here at Trinity that participated in short-term missions trips over the past year.

"Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God." - Romans 15:17.

Cuba - "God gave us a supernatural love"

by Mary and James Giles

In Spring 2004, through Church of the Resurrection (Cranberry, PA), we participated in a seven-day short-term mission trip to Cuba. The trip was designed around the need to further cement relationship and companionship with the Cuban people — a lost concept to many Americans, ourselves included. Because of this, our prayers were that God would teach this to us.

To no one’s surprise, many of the plans scheduled for this trip were modified. (This is what makes placing yourself in God’s hands so exciting and rewarding.) The first of these was a change of housing. To answer our prayers of understanding relationship, God placed the team in the home of our mission host, Fr. Aurelio De LaPaz. He and his four family members, our driver and interpreter slept in one small room on the second level. What a humbling experience for us! This led to another answer to our “relationship” prayer: every meal was spent eating together as family around their dining table. No spreading out to be mesmerized by TV or any other distractions. We became close through the sharing of meals.

Another answer to prayer came in the form of an unlimited access visa to visit any parish we wanted. We believe this was a first — prior mission teams had been assigned to one particular location. In all, we were able to experience three parish congregations, a young adult leadership conference, a ball game between the Episcopalians and Roman Catholics (we won), and several nights of song and worship.

We were struck by the various means of evangelism expressed in a country where open evangelism is discouraged. Baseball is a passion in Cuba, so it has become one of the means to draw adolescents and young adults into the church. Also, with limited supplies of pencils, paper, etc., within the school system, the church has used these items supplied through missions to draw children into the churches to do their homework.

One fascinating phenomenon is the springing up of house churches. Property cannot be purchased specifically for building churches; so, as home groups get bigger, they are allowed to enlarge a resident’s home to meet the needs of the larger group.

So what did we learn? God gave us a supernatural love for the Cuban people. They have made a place in our hearts, and when we share their stories, tears of joy and longing form in our eyes in the hope of seeing them again. This transformational privilege came because we prayed for a better understanding of relationship…and God answered our prayers.

Mary Giles is Development Office Assistant; James is a senior MDiv student and a candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Central Florida.

Cambodia - "Your freedom to explore is limited by the land mines"

by Julie and Colin Larkin

For the past three years here at Trinity, we have been discerning a call to long-term overseas mission work. As we’ve sought the Lord, he has provided several opportunities for us to travel to South East Asia.

Our search began with a trip to Thailand and Myanmar where we visited children’s homes and performed evangelistic skits, shared testimonies and just loved the kids. Then recently we had the opportunity to return to Thailand and also to check out a new possibility: Cambodia.

We were given the privilege of being the keynote speakers at the Anglican Episcopal Church of Cambodia’s youth camp — the first since the devastation of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s. The kids came from Phnom Penh and the surrounding provinces, about 70 of them altogether. They gathered for four days for the purpose of learning, fellowship, and fun. The theme was “Living Lives Worthy of the Lord.”

Phnom Penh is a crazy place! A simple thing like crossing the street can present a challenge to the average westerner. Cars and scooters zip around haphazardly with few traffic lights to keep things under control. Our host instructed us that crossing the street is a bit like parting the Red Sea: “You step out in faith (literally), don’t shuffle but take very deliberate steps, and the cars will part around you.” We took his advice and tried it ourselves — and lived to tell about it!

During a sobering visit to a prison used by the Khmer Rouge, we learned of the loss and suffering of the Khmer people under this evil regime, who used this prison for torture and interrogation. To this day, little has been done to bring the guilty to justice. It’s clear that after 20 years, Cambodia still suffers from the effects of the Khmer Rouge. Thinking about the kind of spiritual, psychological and emotional impact this has on the people is overwhelming. But while attending Khmer church services, we were excited to hear the stories of the way the Lord is reaping a harvest of new believers, even in the midst of tragedy.

Nothing about Phnom Penh was familiar; it is very underdeveloped compared to western standards. The language is Sanskrit-based, so it is entirely foreign both to hear and to see. But the people are warm and charming, which makes us believe that the desire to connect with them would spur us on to learn their language. Of course, they’re always interested in learning English, and this would present opportunities to connect.

Coming home, we were faced with the realization that it would be a huge adjustment were we to live there for the long term. Both Colin and I are from Colorado and have always loved escaping into the great outdoors. In Cambodia, your freedom to explore beyond city limits is limited by the some three million land mines that remain from decades of conflict. But after learning what the people have suffered through, and the current economic and political challenges they face, we are compelled to try to understand them and offer them the hope and peace that comes from knowing Christ.

We continue to pray to discern if Cambodia is the place where God is calling us. We’re thankful to have had the chance to see first-hand the opportunities and challenges that ministry there would present to us, and we look forward with anticipation to wherever he leads us next.

Julie Larkin is Payroll, Benefits and AP Administrator in Trinity's Accounting Department; Colin is a senior MDiv student and a candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Romania - "Their joy far outshadowed any gloom"

by Jim Krizan

This past summer I was privileged to join 15 other Christians from First Presbyterian Church (Beaver, PA) in organizing an evangelistic youth camp for 60 children in Romania. My group worked in conjunction with the Phillip Foundation, an organization that provides roughly 300 underprivileged Romanian and Gypsy children from Bucharest and Nehiou with basic necessities such as food, clothing, education, dental and medical care.

The camp theme focused on the promises of God. The morning vacation Bible school lessons demonstrated the character of the God who redeems his people from the bondage of slavery, while the evening Bible lessons focused on the God who frees his people from the bondage of sin and offers a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).

I am in awe by my experience in Romania. I was heartbroken to witness some of the brokenness these children are experiencing by living in fractured families, often in overcrowded, small abandoned apartment buildings without heat or running water. Yet, I was pleasantly surprised and encouraged to see the love and joy that radiated from these boys and girls. Their joy far overshadowed any sense of gloom. It is apparent that God is holding true to his revealed character dwelling in the midst of the poorest of his children.

Listening to the stories told by those at the Phillip House concerning how this camp impacts the lives of the children is humbling. To learn that these kids are sharing their Bibles and newfound faith with others, namely their parent(s) or relatives, shows that God is using children as young as five years old to be missionaries in their own backyards.

During camp, the Lord miraculously opened doors for evangelism in ways I had never imagined. On our first night, I had the chance to share my testimony, which produced a variety of one-on-one ministry and discipleship opportunities throughout the week. It was an honor to be able to share my faith and the Gospel with these young people. I am grateful to see that the fruits of four years of study at Trinity helped me to articulate the love God has and the immense value he places on each child we encountered. It was a precious gift for me to have had the opportunity to tell them that through faith in Jesus we are adopted as children of God, becoming His sons and daughters, in essence being valued as princes and princesses of the Great King.

Since returning home from Romania, I have continued to stay involved with this ministry by serving with 4SCOR — “For Serving Children of Romania” (www.4scor.org) — working to find sponsors for the children through whom the Lord so graciously blessed us during camp…and others like them.

Jim Krizan (MAR ’04) is Director of Information Technology.

Uganda

by Suzanne Perkins

Ours was both a sobering and encouraging trip over the summer. Charlotte, Christine, Conn, and I, made a timid foursome as we made our way to Kampala, Uganda, in order to visit Dr. Sylvia Tamusuza and her Love and Care Family home for orphans. It was sobering to see the “dailiness” of life and death for the average Ugandan. It was painful to see the scourge of AIDS and the impact of war on citizens: an unbearable number of orphans, widowed and abandoned women with no social status or financial resources, and extremely limited medical and educational resources for children and families. But we were encouraged to see an AIDS clinic and Sylvia’s Love and Care Family home. All these were founded by Christians in order to reach out to the most vulnerable of the community.

Some 15 years ago, Sylvia (then a single woman) asked the Lord for a more loving heart. Right after that the Lord brought to her attention an infant who had been abandoned. She felt compelled to adopt him. Other orphans came into her life. Sylvia’s desire was for these children to grow up in a Christian family knowing the love of Christ. She now has 17 children in the Love and Care Family home. As these children grow up, complete their education, and start their own families, they will always be a part of the Family, and by God’s grace, will return as fellow caretakers.

Why did we (representatives of the Love and Care Family Support Group) go to Uganda? One goal was simply discernment: is there a future need for short-term mission teams that could support the work already being done so aptly and well? Our main goal was to affirm what God is doing through the Love and Care Family and to collaborate with that work as prayerful partners. We were eager to meet the children and the board members and to tour the new Love and Care Family house being built on the outskirts of Kampala. Having known Sylvia during her doctoral studies in Pittsburgh, we were also eager to meet Justinian, Sylvia’s husband, and their four natural and two adopted children.

In light of what I’ve seen and experienced among the people of Uganda, Psalm 91:1-6 has new meaning for me. Those who abide in the Lord have hope even in the face of AIDS and many other challenges. Those who do not abide in the Lord have, quite literally, no hope at all. I am challenged to ask myself what more I can do as a Christian with the resources I have been given. I am encouraged to continue to work alongside Sylvia. She could easily have taken an Ivy League teaching position in the West but feels called to stay in her native Uganda demonstrating the love of Christ. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in Uganda, for His “love and care family” that connects two continents and brings hope and healing for all.

Suzanne Perkins is Coordinator of Program and Planning for TEEM.