Saturday, April 02, 2011

She's Going to Turkey!

{Below is a letter from Krista, our 23 year old! We covet your prayers on her behalf.}



Dear Family and Friends,


                Thank you to all the people who have been supporting me throughout my life with  prayer and wise mentoring.  I am GRADUATING! Yes, the time has finally come when I will be able to walk down the aisle and get a piece of paper! No, not a ring. These past two years at New Hope C** College have been a whirlwind of opportunities to learn, grow, and strengthen others. I will be graduating with a BA in intercultural studies.
                The Lord has been laying on my heart the desire to spread His love and truth to unreached people groups. A great opportunity has opened up for me to go to Turkey with The Evangelical Alliance M**(TEAM). The country of Turkey is in great need of the message as less than 1% know our Savior. I, and another short termer I have yet to meet, will help resident workers plan and execute the Olive Grove camps. We will also be counselors at the camps and participate in outreach ministry to the poorer Turkish youth.

                Olive Grove, a camp designed to help children and youth grow and develop as individuals, as friends of God and others, and as followers of our Savior, is two full weeks with well over 100 campers and 30+ staff members, representing nearly 20 nationalities!  Olive Grove is located alongside the Mediterranean Sea, in the peaceful village of Çıralı, at the base of Mt. Olympos. Ex-patriot children living in Turkey attend along with a growing percentage of Turkish campers.

                During the month of July we will be doing outreach clubs to poorer youth in Turkey. These will involve teaching English, playing sports, and doing crafts with the kids.  We will also be teaching Sunday School and doing some activities with their youth group.

                 I can’t do this alone! Above all I need your prayers, for changed lives, opportunities to share, receptive hearts, and yes, safety. I also need financial help. This commissioned, minded trip will be from May 20th – August 8th (I might possibly be spending two of those weeks in Japan). I must have $6010 raised my May 7th to pay for the Turkey expenses. All donations are tax-deductable and should be sent to TEAM at “TEAM, P.O. Box 969 Wheaton. IL 60187-0969.” Checks should be made out to TEAM, with a note specifying it is for Kristina Goecker. I would love to hear from you and know if you are able to be praying for me.
                Cell Phone: (541) 337-7320 (will not be working after May 17th)
                Email: kokobean1@gmail.com
                Blog: http://awalkinthewild.blogspot.com
                Facebook: facebook.com/krista.goecker

Sincerely,
Krista Goecker
P.S. Do not use the word “m*ssi*n” or any other religious type wording when corresponding through electronic means. 


Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...

Home Move In Kits for Japan

Our Chapel (Misawa Air Base) is working with CRASH to provide Home Move In kits to families moving from evacuation centers to small apartments. We are starting with one city that has asked for help. I have no idea how many kits we can donate....they'd like 50 a week. Overwhelming, but we'll never know what we can do, if we don't try. The need is great. The center/town will provide families with bedding and food. Many clothes have been donated. The idea is to provide what a Japanese family would deem essential for the first 2 - 4 days in a new place. 


Michael asked me to go buy all that was needed on the economy for a move in kit. This will help tomorrow when he tells others all the details. 


Armed with our list we hit the stores. The toughest thing we ran into was deciding if we had hand soap, shampoo, or toilet cleaner. It also took faith to buy electrical items without being able to read the fine print. We aren't allowed to buy things on base to donate.  The local stores say they can meet our need...I'm not 100% sure they can...but I'm all for giving our local economy our business...and bless families too...win/win. 




We were able to buy almost everything at Sundays. We headed to the 100Yen store for plastic drinking glasses. I would love to know if anyone local finds  plastic plates. We were asked to buy plastic over glass.  



This is sort of like Operation Christmas Child - but we really overshot our box. I'll have to look for something bigger.  I bought most everything at Sundays and got the last really good price on a rice steamer....it came to $238.50.  I'm guessing a kit will cost between $200 (if you don't buy the electric rice steamer and hot pot) and $300 depending on the rice steamer you find. We're hoping some families will be able to give several kits, or maybe several families can go together and buy one kit. As many wives are gone I think I may need to arrange a merry band of shoppers. The chapel cannot accept cash, but they can accept these kits to be delivered. 

The only thing I don't have in our kit yet is the Japanese Bible. I'm working on a source to be able to buy or receive Bibles. I even translated the list to Japanese for us to tape on the outside of the kits as they're donated.  I'm begging to be allowed to be one of the drivers when these are delivered. I think I excel at adventurous Road Trips. 

Interested in what has been requested (sorry the formatting will wrap)?

Item                             Quantity                      Notes
Rice cooker                 1                                  electric, small
Rice ladle                    1                                  usually included with new rice cookers
Hot pot                        1                                  electric
Fry pan                        1                                             
Cooking pot                  1                                  medium size               
Plastic cutting board      1 small
Spatula                         1
Ladle                           1
Kitchen Knife               1
Rubber gloves              1 pair                           for washing dishes, etc.          
Plates                          3
Rice Bowls                  3
Drinking glasses           3                                  Japanese prefer small sizes
Tea or coffee cups       3                                 
Chop sticks                  3 sets
Soup spoons                3
Long chop sticks         1 set                             for cooking
Hand soap                  1 bar
Dishwashing soap       1 bottle
Laundry soap              1 box (small)  
Shampoo                    1 bottle                                   
Kleenex                     1 box
Toilet paper                2 rolls
House slippers             3 pairs
Toilet slippers              1 pair
Kitchen sponge            1
Kitchen towels             2 small
Bath towels                  3 medium
Cleaning cloths             1 small package
Clothesline                   1  about 5-6 feet long
Japanese Bible            1                                  

Choosing Joy!
©2010 D.R.G.
~Coram Deo~
Living all of life before the face of God...