CCW Family Letters (Page 5)

Dear CCW Family, The commanding statue of Lenin in front of the Communist Headquarters building towered over us as we walked by. We entered this imposing building in what was then called Kosice, Czechoslovakia. In a short time, the building was packed with a thousand intrigued listeners, including the mayor of the city, and the television crew for the evening News. “You’ve taken the curse off this place,” the mayor said, indicating that many people had been sentenced to die…

Congratulations. You are now reading the very last of our updates from Jerusalem. Why? You guessed it! We are leaving Jerusalem. I’ve finished my studies here at JUC and we’ve decided to set sail for home. For a long time, we had considered staying an extra year or half-year in order to study some more, but as things stand now, we feel that there are better opportunities for God to use us in Kansas City. We actually leave in less…

Below are a few points from life here. But, the most important comes first: Beautiful, sunny, 70 degree weather. With flowers included. That means more picnics, more studying outside, more walks with friends, just all around more goodness. Other than the weather, life carries on as normal, except for a few changes. Bryan’s parents, sister, and 4 good friends from our church in Kansas City are here!! (Ok, actually this is the most exciting point.) They are doing a 2…

We walked to church last night, with plastic bags over our shoes. When we arrived, we found something missing from the picture. People. Well, there were two people. They also had plastic bags over their shoes. Aside from these two, pretty much all that we could see was the 15 inches of snow blanketing Jerusalem. Clearly church was cancelled. As we slogged back home, nodding to the few other pedestrians on the road, our hearts were filled with grim solidarity…

“You know what I love about living here?” These were the first words I heard from Bryan’s mouth this morning. I peeked my head into our tiny bathroom area where Bryan was carrying out his morning bug massacre to hear his answer. “I love how many problems we have here. It’s great.” You might think this answer sounded Pollyannish, but I understood exactly what he meant. Of course, unlike our escalating bug problem, a few weightier ones we’ve been dealing…

I just finished an outstanding lunch at the missionary guesthouse—mashed potatoes, cooked carrots, dressing, chicken, and a unique salad that included bananas. It was like Thanksgiving in Ethiopia! Not surprisingly, the attendance at this lunch was higher than most days. We hope the people we served in Hosanna this past weekend enjoyed the food for the soul that we gave them. Our plan is so simple: teach the Bible. What else do they ultimately need? And what else has God…

While driving back from a weekend of ministry in a town called Goha Tsion, we learned from a church planter with us that just yesterday (Sunday) a mini-bus crashed into another vehicle on the same route we were taking. 13 people died and 4 are in critical condition. I was able to get a picture of the vehicles as we drove by, although the picture doesn’t illustrate just how devastating the crash really was. It was a reminder to us…

Elliff October Update You know the feeling. You stop paying much attention to the paths you walk (or drive) every day, you go to the same stores and buy the same foods, you see the same people and grow to enjoy their company . . . it’s the feeling of settling in. Though surprises still often tap us on the shoulder, this welcome feeling has been growing in us this last month. Lately we’ve found that a good way to…

“Hello, hello.” “Excuse me, please come in.” To the thousands of tourists swarming through Old City Jerusalem every day, these words, spoken in heavy accents by every Arab shopkeeper lining the narrow streets, may seem endearing and inviting. But now we hear them multiple times a day, on our way to school, on our way to work, everywhere we go. They’re almost offensive to us now, because although we look like every other tourist passing by, the Old City is…

Studying hard with pastors in Romania on our last trip. We’re holding Bible Intensive retreats like this all over the USA also with eager leaders these days. These three day experiences are reminding us all about the amazing power of the Scripture when we seek to understand it diligently and together. Please pray for our work in this area.