I saw the answer in Novi Sad after a pastor’s wife dared to think it. She launched Serbia’s first “Choose Life” Centre. This has been the inspiration for two other women to do the same in other cities. The goal: “To Make Abortion Unthinkable ” in a nation where over 300,000 abortions are performed each year.

It found its way into the heart of a wife who abused her husband to the brink of divorce. Together they want to bring spiritual peace and physical healing to the millions of abused women in Serbia. Their ministry’s motto: “Stable woman. Stable family. Stable church. Stable nation.”

She was raised in an abusive household where the option was often to run away to avoid being sold…yes sold. He was raised in poverty and shame. They moved in together yet still turned to alcohol and sexual relationships to ease the pain. They managed to start a family, but in an atmosphere of such hopelessness their 9 year old daughter was ready to commit suicide as her escape. Now, they want to pour their lives back into the gypsy culture and communities that almost killed them. Why? Because they asked, “What if we could break the cycle?” The answer is building a church in reverse.

After being labeled as a cult, being threatened with physical harm, and having his church firebombed, a young pastor wondered how they could make a positive difference in the face of so much adversity. The solution was a dream of a place in the town where they could bless the people. A place where they could share the Gospel, start a food bank, maybe a clinic, or a place for concerts or movies. A safe place in which all would be welcomed. The dream is now a community center currently under construction.

So where do we start? With which of these wonderful ministry opportunities do we become involved? Who makes the list? Who doesn’t? Or, be careful here, do we dare think…”What if we could work with them all?” What if we could find the resources, time, and energy? What if we could find those willing to help make all of these dreams a reality? We think it is worth the risk. How about you?

Paul and Mary

We are running on faith, but we are not running alone.

One voice could be a Moldovan orphan, laughing and giggling as they are shown just the smallest amount of attention and love. Another voice could be an elderly homeless man from Romania as he taunts his opponent over a game of backgammon in a church-run safe house. Sometimes it is a chorus singing praise to the Lord in Bulgarian or Slovene. Other times it could be as simple as someone praying a blessing over a meal in Albanian.

What do they all have in common? Because someone cared enough, because someone sacrificed enough, because someone loved enough, these voices now reflect a spark of hope in once hopeless lives. There is joy even in the darkness. There is comfort even in the cold. There is a touch of the love of Jesus in their minds, spirits, and bodies.

It is something amazing to hear. It is something truly awesome to see. It is something humbling in which to be involved. It is also something in which you can play a part. It is something in which you can make a difference. There are so many opportunities to support these works, serve these people, or partner with us. Why not you? Why not now? Maybe no one has ever asked you before?

So here is your chance. You are invited to be part of the solution by being:

>part of a short-term mission team
>willing to share your talents
>a prayer partner
>a financial partner
>a developmental partner in a new project
>an advocate
>an intern
>something not listed (fill in the blank) _________________________

Need details? Have ideas? Want more information? Ready to help change the world? Want to let us know how you filled in the blank? You’re on mouse click away for being part of a great adventure.

Be blessed. Be a blessing.
Paul and Mary

  We are running on faith, but we are not running alone. 

Stay in touch via email: mary@going4the1.com pjt@going4the1.com

or snail mail: Paul and Mary Triller 202 Hospital Lane Bedworth UK CV120JY

We are also on Facebook and Skype.

Some great highlights about what Jesus is doing in Europe.

Constanta Romania: Where else would you find a group of Nigerian medical students announcing the first anniversary of an English speaking church by organizing flash mobs around their city’s shopping malls?

Mangalia Romania: While out in the Turkish ghetto evangelizing a pastor asks a man about needs in his life. The man’s reply; “I need someone to tile my bathroom.” The pastor’s response was to go help tile the bathroom. Guess what the two spoke about while working?

Chisinau Moldova: After being abandoned by their parents and surviving years of neglect in the state-run childcare system, a group of now young adults respond by organizing a community of believers. They want to share the joy they have found in Christ with their friends. They want to change the future of their nation.

Nuneaton UK: In an effort to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless a church sponsors a fund/food-raiser. The participants don’t walk or ride or spend time on a trampoline to raise funds/food. They ask people to sponsor them for a sleepout, on the streets, on what turns out to be the coldest night of the year. So wrapped in blankets and sleeping on cardboard, over 20 people of all ages got a taste of what it is like to have no roof over their head.

These are examples of what “church” is all about. This is how the world is transformed. This is what excites us about being part of NLI. This is where we work.

Prayer requests:
Would you please pray for a continued spirit of innovation and imagination to inspire the churches of Europe?

Would you please pray for our upcoming trip? This trek will be a mix of family time, ministry work, and part fundraising, as we look to engage with those who will be helping us stay here for the next three years.

Be blessed. Be a blessing.
Paul and Mary

After delivering a truckload of clothes, food, and supplies to an orphanage the driver is asked if he can also leave the pallets. He says no. He is asked again, and he explains he cannot. The third request is more a plea than a question and the driver has to ask why they need the pallets so badly. He is taken into a small work shop and told ”we need the pallets to finish some caskets, 3 children have died this week, and we are out of wood.”

Every Sunday for nine years a young girl walks from her room to the front gates of the orphanage. She always tells her friends her mother is coming to visit.  Every Sunday for nine years a young girl walks to her room from the front gates of the orphanage. She always tells her friends some lie as to why her mother didn’t come.

A visit to a state-run orphanage for the mentally handicapped further opened our eyes to the plight of unwanted children in Moldova. Not only was the location so remote that those whom we asked for directions were unclear as to how anyone would get there, the facility was also without a source of water. Their well is no longer working. The director has to somehow allocate funds between food, fuel for heat, and medication against the extra cost for a delivery of water. Currently the children can only shower once a week.

In front of their 3 children a couple have an argument while in a drunken rage. The father knives his wife to death and throws her body in the nearby river. The oldest son recovers the body, not realizing their mother is dead. The authorities have no choice but to bring these children to the local orphanage.

At the gates of an orphanage a car slows down, the door opens, and without exiting the car, someone lifts two children from the back seat and leaves them standing there. Never to return.

Never has James 1:27 rung so true. “Religion that pleases God the Father must be pure and spotless. You must help needy orphans and widows and not let this world make you evil.”

There are about 52 orphanages in Moldova, they house approximately 6800 boys and girls. The most they can look forward to is being released after their 16th birthday with $30.00 and a bus ticket to “home”. They are easy prey for human traffickers. They are sold into slavery. They are turned into prostitutes forced to perform sex acts from 30-50 times a day. In this environment they have a life expectancy of about 3 years, yet earn about $300,000.00 for their captors.

It is time they had another choice. It is time somebody did something.

Is there anybody out there?

]]> http://going4the1.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=361 0 http://going4the1.com/blog/?p=352 http://going4the1.com/blog/?p=352#comments Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:35:48 +0000 ptriller http://going4the1.com/blog/?p=352 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2

Has someone ever made fun of you? Have you ever been harassed or maligned because of something in which you believe? How did you handle it? Revenge? Anger? Retribution? Did part of you just want to get even with those who had wronged you? For many of us, and many others, this is a “been there, done that” scenario. After all we’re only human.

Let me share a story, a true story. In a city just outside Constanta Romania lives a man of Turkish Muslim upbringing. As he reached his early 20′s he began looking deeper into his beliefs. He yearned to know the Truth. He studied books on Islam and on Christianity. The more he studied the more he found Christ to be the only real Answer. In spite of the hardship that would follow, he became a Follower of Christ. Considered an outcast by his community and shunned by his family, he held fast to his convictions.

How does he repay his family and neighbours for the years of insults and verbal abuse? How does he seek justice for the pain and anguish suffered because of his faith? First he starts a small group meeting in his house as he finds others, who like him, are seeking answers. From that group he starts a church which meets in the converted attic of his house. But that was only the start.

He realises that bringing people to “church” is only the beginning. Now it is time to bring church to the streets. Faradin and his small congregation are now going into the Turkish ghetto with food, clothing, and the love of Jesus. They are finding practical ways to serve the community such as; health education for children and teens, teaching about drug and alcohol prevention, and offering music lessons.

They are being met with suspicion and opposition. But they are also seeing results. In a culture where forgiveness can be stonewalled by stubbornness, they have seen reconciliation in families. In an area where being Christian can be dangerous, they are finding new believers. They are bringing hope. They are bringing help. They are bringing transformation.

Can a church of 25 bring transformation to a city of 250,000? What if the difference between a “Yes” and a “No” was you??? You can be part of the solution.

For those of you who support us with prayer…please add Pastor Faradin and “The Door of Hope Church” to your list. For those of us who support us financially, this is where you’re investing.

Be blessed. Be a blessing.
Paul and Mary

We are running on faith, but we are not running alone.

Stay in touch via email: mary@going4the1.com pjt@going4the1.com

or snail mail: Paul and Mary Triller 202 Hospital Lane Bedworth UK CV120JY

We are also on Facebook and Skype.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this trip a reality. Blessings on everyone who has blessed us with their friendship and support. Hugs and kisses to all those who found time to meet with us. (Feel free to “mix and match” our heartfelt appreciation as appropriate.)

From the first day in Fort Myers, through St. Pete, into Orlando and vicinity, up to Baxley GA, Lawrenceville GA, Hiram GA, Sweetwater TN, Fort Washington MD, Hammonton NJ, Ocean City NJ, and ultimately Lake George NY, every step was blessed and filled with so much love. We were treated like royalty, showered with affection, and fed a lot. Homes were made available for get togethers, doors were open for visits, and hearts were opened as we had the opportunities to share about what God is doing in Europe.

Thank you, gracias, merci beaucoup, multumesc, hvala ti, faleminderit, danka… you get the idea. You have definitely helped fill our love tanks.

Side note- 15 July marks our second anniversary here in the UK. Quite honestly we still feel as if we just got here. It is a humbling experience to be held up by the prayers, support, and involvement of so many great people. We lift your names in a toast to the days gone by and to the many days ahead.

We are running on faith, but we are not running alone.
Paul and Mary

In an effort to see as many people as possible we’ve set up some Open Houses in the Orlando area:
Open House #1 is in the Longwood area on 21 June .
Open House #2 is over in Tuskawilla on 23 June.
Open House #3 is in the Atlanta area on Sunday 26 June.

It is going to be a wild and crazy trip, but we can’t wait to get there. There is so much to share and we long to hear stories of how things are going “back home”. We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible. For more details about the Open Houses or where and when we’ll be near you…just drop us an email.

We are running on faith, but we are not running alone.
Paul and Mary
Stay in touch via email: mary@going4the1.com pjt@going4the1.com

Paul and Mary Triller 202 Hospital Lane Bedworth UK CV120JY

We are also on Facebook and Skype.

Looking for something different in this month’s update? So are we. After writing these newsletters for three years it is time for a bit of a change.

Normally we’d be sharing something about a recent new development in our lives, or a trip taken somewhere, and things like that.

Case in point: Paul just returned from a trip to Romania. Over the course of four days he had a chance to visit with pastors and their churches in multiple locations. As with the many other churches Paul has visited across Europe, each pastor is unique, as are the churches they lead. But there is one thing in common, the depth of their worship and the height of their praise.

In didn’t matter if they had a full band or one person on guitar. Age didn’t matter. Social status was irrelevant. Some of the songs would be very familiar to many of those reading this, some were unique to a particular language or nation. But despite the ways they were sung…they all delivered the same message: Thank you Lord for your Love, Grace, and Mercy.

Oh, you’re still waiting for the “different” part, aren’t you? OK. Rather than trying to describe what this wonderful praise and worship looks, feels, and sounds like, would you like to see it for yourself? Great.

You are two choices. Both work, both are optional, one is easy, one is dangerous.

Choice One: Sit back and enjoy the video of some praise and worship from around southeastern Europe.

Choice Two: Click here and learn more about what we’re doing, what the needs are, and how you can become involved. Then perhaps you can join the chorus in person.

Oh, before we forget, be on the lookout for a special early April edition!!!!

We are running on faith, but we are not running alone.

Paul and Mary

Stay in touch via email: mary@going4the1.com pjt@going4the1.com

Paul and Mary Triller 202 Hospital Lane Bedworth UK CV120JY

We are also on Facebook and Skype.

Here’s a story about some great people who have not only walked the path, but have partnered with us in blazing the trail. A few months ago a group of 11 pastors “graduated” from an NLI church planting project in southeastern Romania. This group has stood strong against the odds, they’ve dared to break with tradition, they have sacrificed to further the Cause started by Jesus over 2000 years ago. Now, because of them, one of the most “unchurched” areas in the nation has vibrant, new Christian communities.

These new churches reach out to the children, the gypsies, the Muslims, the lost generation of youth and young adults. They meet in large cities like Constanta and in small towns like Babadag. Some pastors preach in Romanian, some preach in Turkish, some even preach in English. But despite any differences, they all serve the same Lord with great passion and joy.

It was a great honour to hear how these pastors view NLI’s involvement in their lives, but it is best to use their words, not mine:

“NLI stepped in at just the right time, they were God’s timely blessing for the work in Negra Voda. The team from Canada was instrumental and we still talk about them today, their impact was extra ordinary” – Dorel Toma, Negra Voda

“There is a great battle in the old city of Constanta for the young gypsy people, with the work we were doing in the church plant there you could see that something clicked in the children” – Matthew Duru, Old City Constanta

“NLI taught us to go out and meet people where they are at. We have seen people filled with Holy Spirit and giving their lives to follow Jesus” – Ionel Druga, Lumina “We were challenged to go out and meet the people, with your help we were able to enter people’s homes with the Gospel. We saw that people were welcoming and open to God’s word, we have experienced amazing things” – Sami Bobocea, Culdalbi

“NLI has been a gift from God and the timing of their partnership was perfect for enabling us to plant the church” – Nelu Chirita,Galati

“You helped us when it was hard and enabled us to carry on the work in Babadag” – Paul Benko, Babadag

The story continues!!! Starting in the Spring of 2011 we begin working in this same area with three of the “graduates” as they start the next generation of new churches in this area. In fact in just a few weeks I will be meeting with all of the new pastors and hope to provide you all with some video and images of these men, where they work, and just what a Romanian church looks like.
Stay tuned.

On a personal note, we’re busy, we’re doing well, and looking forward to Spring. We would appreciate continued prayer for our health and well-being. We would also appreciate prayer concerning our finances. We were recently blessed as we’ve added some new support partners, but we need to replace about $500.00 (US) a month to offset the impact of supporters who can no longer help due to personal economic situations. Thank you.

We are running on faith, but we are not running alone.

Paul and Mary

Stay in touch via email: mary@going4the1.com pjt@going4the1.com

Paul and Mary Triller 202 Hospital Lane Bedworth UK CV120JY

We are also on Facebook and Skype.