“O our God will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
II Chronicles 20:12
That verse was the first line that Jeff wrote in his first journal on his first day in Kosovo almost ten years ago. O, how the time has passed. Again and again the Lord has shown His faithfulness and unfailing love through many trials, temptations and victories. But now again we have come to a great crossroads and there is an interesting perspective from here.
Looking back…
Without making this a novel, we just want to scan the road behind us. God changed both our lives after graduating high school and confirmed his call to missions to both of us individually. We met at Calvary Chapel Bible college in Murrieta and got to know each other praying and serving together for a total of 8 months in Kosovo at which time we got engaged then married 6 months later in the states. Our life after that was a whirlwind of working in the States and in Kosovo, having two kids (Isaac now 6; Pearl now 4) and learning how wretched we were in the process, causing us to trust Christ more and not ourselves. We spent a total of about 3 years serving in Kosovo and returned to Redlands, CA, four and a half years ago. The Lord called Jeff back to help his dad in the family septic business, so the first thing we bought when we got to the states was a pair of work boots. We had also been serving as leaders over the years in the high school ministry at our church, the Packinghouse, and through a variety of circumstances Jeff went on staff part time at the church to oversee the High School Ministry, which we did for three amazing and crazy years. A year and a half ago the Lord led us to a full-time pastoral position overseeing the children’s ministry and Jeff was ordained. We could never have imagined we would be where we are right now. Jeff has learned so much from the pastors at our church and from all of you with whom he’s had the pleasure to serve. We have had an amazing time settling here in the states and being close to the wonderful family and friends the LORD has given us. We have been blessed. We thank God for all of you.
Looking around us…
We knew we would eventually head back to Kosovo and the Lord confirmed the timing in the summer of ‘09 through a simple question: “What do you want to do?” This is a question we don’t often think about because we let our circumstances dictate our path. But if you could do anything and you knew you wouldn’t fail what would you do? It is a question that spit’s in the face of fear. “What if I fail?” “I’m not qualified,” “I don’t have the cash,” “ I don’t have time,” etc. So through that question we realized again what we were wired to do and began to head in that direction.
Since then we have seen amazing people who are wired (gifted) totally different than we are come along side of us. The Lord has formed us into a team to send the gospel and discipleship into Malishevë, Kosovo, and to use Malishevë as a base for ministry throughout Kosovo and Eastern Europe. This is our Care Team- people who have not heard the call to “go” to Kosovo, but have been called to serve as senders. Romans 10:15
The Lord has also lined us up with the vision of Dan Finfrock and Intensive Care Ministries, which is to go and teach pastors, church workers and Christians in general how to study and understand the Bible for themselves. So we will be teaching the Inductive Bible Study method in seminars in Kosovo and elsewhere as the Lord opens the doors.
Looking forward…
This brings us back to the verse in the beginning of this newsletter. As we pack today and spend time with our family and friends the reality that we will be stepping off the plane and setting our feet on the runway in Prishtina, Kosovo in a few days is almost unreal. The joys and pains of ministry there seem far away, but here we are, and the task before us is great. Kosovo is a newborn country with many complex issues about it.
On one hand their love for America and democracy is probably truer than that of our own citizens. They are a sweet hospitable people. Relationships are the highest priority to them and their sense of family is so strong. We are welcomed in this developing country, and as Americans, given a place of honor. There is a lot of interest in our culture and the desire to learn English is huge. There is so much opportunity for people with any skill to come and serve Christ among the people there. The door is wide open. The Mayor of Malishevë is personal friends with Rachael‘s parents, Randy and Lycia. He has been instrumental in the government giving them the land on which they built their house, and the plans are in place for the local government to give more land for us to build a “Service Center” where the church could operate from. By the way, they are currently building an apartment for us on the 2nd floor of their house with the donations you all have so generously given. We can’t say enough about the good things that the Lord is doing there.
And on the other hand unemployment is at around 80% in the Malishevë region and not much better throughout the rest of Kosovo. The Mayor of Malishevë came on vacation with his wife to California to visit Randy and Lycia while they were on their furlough and attended one of our Care team meetings. In the meeting he was asked the question by pastor Jason from the Packinghouse “What are Kosovo’s three greatest needs?” His answer was interesting. He said number one was jobs and number three was education. But number two on the list was “help to stop the influence of radical Islam.” Kosovo is 90% ethnic Albanian. We will live and work almost completely among the Kosovar-Albanians who are 98% Muslim. There is much to say about how that came to be and how it effects the culture and people now, but the bottom line is that they are very resistant to the gospel of Christ and the numbers are staggering. Out of the estimated 2 million people in Kosovo, Operation World# estimates there are only about 2000 evangelical believers. That equals 0.1% of the population.
The Vision
The Lord has given us a vision for Kosovo that is directly connected with those statistics. Just the numbers themselves (0.1%) should ignite our hears as we know the heart of Christ burns for these people. Our initial reaction to this knowledge was “it’s on” you know, “let’s charge!” But upon further prayer and discussion the Lord revealed His “vision” for Kosovo to us. Out of Matthew 7, Psalm 2 and so many other passages in the Bible the LORD basically says “Ask and it will be given to you.” As we line up with the Lord’s heart in His Word and in prayer we will “ask according to His will and receive.” So the vision we have for Kosovo is “JUST ASK.” It’s all about Him and as we come to Him and get involved in His life through prayer; that is the way that His kingdom comes and His will is done on earth and all the glory goes to Him because He does it all or it’s not real anyway.
“Our eyes are upon You”
In closing, we know that what the Lord is doing is beyond us. We are so blessed by our care team and all of you who have given your time, prayers, and finances. Yet, like that king of old, Jehoshaphat, whose history is recorded in II Chronicles 20, we hear the reports of impossible odds, armies coming against us, poverty, strong traditions, the evil power behind Islam, spiritual forces that have been entrenching themselves for more than 500 years with hate and fear rooted in the hearts of these people. We have no power at all against this great multitude on our own. We have no plan that will crack the code to their souls, but our LORD is mighty and our eyes are on Him. As we go about this work together let us seek the Lord, ask for His help and pray that we will not limit Him at all, but be a channel for Him to do all that is in His heart.
Together in Christ,
Jeff, Rachael, Isaac and Pearl Harry
Thank you
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