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Colorado Mission Trip – Dec. 9-16, 2009

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Ahh, Newark Liberty International Airport at 5:00 a.m…one would think ANY place at 5:00 a.m. would be relatively inactive and sleepy, but NOT Newark Airport!  It’s kind of like New York City…it NEVER sleeps!  What would one do if the airport police weren’t yelling at you to move your car within 15 seconds of pulling upo to the curb?!  I hardly had time to get my bags out of the trunk…evidently travelers are supposed to have their luggage delivered to the airport the day before the flight, or so the Port Authority police would have you think.  Anyway, once the dropping off ordeal was completed (thanks to Jo Ann Hart for driving me to the airport!), I slowly made my way to the check-in counter, and about 30 minutes later I was enjoying the friendly faces and demeanors (NOT!) of the Newark Airport TSA team.  Seriously, they must be screened for their ability to be friendly and courteous, and if they exhibit even a slight amount of either of these in their job application and interview, they are NOT hired!  But, I suppose this is the price that must be paid for airport and airline security.  All of my flights made it to their destinations safely, so the TSA officers did their jobs well.

After boarding the plane and taxiing down the runway, my plane was airborn only 15 minutes behind schedule, which is a miracle in itself, even under clear skies and at 7:00 a.m. on a weekday.  Chicago O’Hare Airport, here I come!

O’Hare International Airport can’t be described in words.  You just have to be there to appreciate it.  So many terminals, so many gates, so little time!  Of course, my arrival gate and my connecting flight’s departure gate were at complete opposite ends of the massive expanse that is O’Hare.  Are we having fun yet?  I arrived at my departure gate with only 20 minutes to spare before boarding my connecting flight.  I didn’t know this in advance, but there was really no need to hurry there.  Twenty minutes early turned into almost a 3-hour wait (DELAY!).  It seemed that the plane that I was supposed to board had navigation problems.  No, not the “overshoot the airport by 150 miles” kind of problem, but we were told that the automatic navigation instruments were “off” by 30 degrees!  I wanted to go to Colorado Springs, and had we flown on the originally scheduled plane we probably would have ended up in Phoenix, AZ.  Thank you, United Airlines, for getting us a new (well, not new, but different) airplane.  Why couldn’t you have done this 2 hours earlier, though?  So, almost 3 hours late I was in the air on my way to Colorado Springs.  Thank God!

Anybody ever heard of dominos?  (Not the pizza chain)  Well, the 3-hour delay in Chicago caused the domino effect on the arrival in Colorado Springs.  Although some time was made up in the air, I landed in Colorado Springs 2 hours and 30 minutes late.  Ordinarily, this wouldn’t have posed any problems, but Doug White (see his blog site – http://experiencesofayoungbeliever.wordpress.com ) was picking me up and the delayed flight made the timing of things in Colorado Springs just a bit tight, to say the least.  My condolences and prayers are with the entire White family, as Doug’s aunt died the previous week, and we now had just enough time to drive from the airport to the church in order to be on time for the 3:00 p.m. memorial service.  Suitcase in tow from the car in the parking lot, I made my way to the church men’s room where I went from jeans, boots, and a sweatshirt into something more appropriate for a memorial service.  I met Doug’s wonderful family for the first time at this service.  I am very happy to have had the opportunity to be with them during this time, and my heart went out to all of them at the loss of Doug’s father’s sister.

On Wednesday night (the day I arrived in Colorado Springs) I also had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Neil Kovac and his wife, Charity, for the first time.  I had only met Neil on Facebook, and here I was moving in with him for the next week to come.  What wonderful hosts the Kovacs were!  The took me in having never met me face-to-face before.  (I neglected to mention earlier that I never before met Theresa or Steve White, Doug’s parents, either…only on Facebook!)

Wednesday night we rehearsed as a worship team for the first time together.  It was more like a “getting to know you” night, and was a tremendous good time.  Neil removed all of the furniture from his living room and set up his sound system there.  Now that’s going the extra mile!  Neil played guitar and hand drums, Doug played bass, and I played the acoustic guitar.  Theresa joined us on Thursday night for our second rehearsal (Theresa sang and played keyboard) at Neil’s home.  What a wonderful time we had getting to know each other better and getting ready for our ministry times to come in the next few days.

Thursday was my “sight-seeing” day.  Neil was my personal cheauffer as we drove all around the area and I was literally astounded at the majestic view of the Rocky Mountains, with Pikes Peak towering over all in the background.   We toured a natural wonder called, “The Garden of the Gods”, which is a wide-spread area of breath-taking rock formations at the base of Pike’s Peak.  You can see all of my photos from this day in the Media Gallery page.

Friday afternoon we all met at the Lon Chaney Theater in downtown Colorado Springs to set up the sound system and have one last rehearsal. 

That evening we led worship for “The Jesus Show”, a time of Holy Ghost freedom where we worshiped, prayed, learned from the Word as Pastor Schlyce Jiminez (see http://www.schlyce.org) shared from her heart, and experienced a corporate anointing and presence of God that I have not experienced since I was in Pensacola at the Brownsville Revival in the year 2000.  I found out first-hand why it was called, “The Jesus Show”.  Jesus showed up, and He WAS the show!

Saturday night I accompanied Neil and his good friend (now MY good friend as well) Anthony Carmen Sacco to a local coffee shop in Colorado Springs, Pikes Perk Cafe. 

Neil and Anthony wowed the patrons of the cafe that night with their wonderful talents of playing their guitars and singing, with all of their songs being their own compositions!

On Sunday morning our newly formed worship team led worship at the newly planted church, Prayer Mountain, which was begun on November 1st by Pastor Schlyce Jiminez (see http://www.prayermountainchurch.org) .    What an awesome anointing that is on Pastor Schlyce (pronounced like “Shah-leese”) to minister the Word of God in preaching, words of knowledge and wisdom, and the prophetic word that God speaks through her!  God spoke so directly into my life and ministry that day that I came away with a renewed sense of purpose and calling, and an overflowing filling of the love, compassion, and Spirit of God.  Thank you, Lord, and thank you Pastor Schlyce!

 
On Monday evening Neil and I went to the Springs Rescue Mission in downtown Colorado Springs.  To my amazement, over 75 hungry, homeless people showed up at dinnertime, and they were served a wonderful hot meal and were given a warm blanket to keep.  Neil and I led worship at the Rescue Mission, and I preached a 6-minute message from the Word with all those in attendance at the mission.  “Wait ’till Your Father Gets Home” was my message…emphasizing that the phrase most of us heard many times from our childhood was also the way most people perceived God…as the heavenly Father whose sole purpose was to catch us in our sin and punish us accordingly.  It’s not any wonder that most people don’t want to draw near to God…they’re AFRAID of Him!  Following the message I challenged everyong there to come to God as the heavenly Father who WANTS to be with us, not to punish us but to LOVE us, HEAL us, FEED us, CLOTHE us, CARE for us, PROVIDE for us, etc., even when we have sinned.  I urged them to run TO God and not away from Him…and then they would find the God that Jesus came to reveal to us.  I believe every heart was touched by this Word and lives were changed that night.

My final evening in Colorado I spent with Doug White and his parents, Theresa and Steve.  I had only met Doug in Romania on my previous two trips there (May and September, 2009), but now I felt like “family” in his home.  We shared a wonderful dinner together (the first time I had ever eaten venison…it was so deliciously good!) and spent the evening fellowshiping and praying with each other.  I truly was sad to see the evening come to an end.  After an almost tearful “good-bye” with Theresa and Steve, Doug drove me back to my host’s home (Neil Kovac), where I then packed my bags in preparation for the next day’s trip back to Jersey.

Unlike my flights TO Colorado Springs, my two flights home were very uneventful, and just as importantly, they were both on time, even 15 minutes early in landing in Newark at 6:55 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16th.

On this trip, which was so well worth the airfare and expenses, I felt that God ministered to me even more than He used me to minister to those in Colorado Springs.  I came back renewed and refreshed, ready to do it again as soon as the Lord opens the door of opportunity for me.  Thank you so much, Neil and Charity Kovac, as well as Doug, Theresa, and Steve White, for your friendship and hospitality.  I pray that the Lord bless you with a 100-fold blessing for what you shared with me!  I also thank God for Pastor Schlyce Jiminez and all of the wonderful brothers and sisters in the Lord at “The Jesus Show” and Prayer Mountain Church.  I will never be the same again because of your openness in hearing from the Lord and your willingness to minister to me.  I know that when I return to Colorado again in the near future you will have totally outgrown the place you are renting for your new congregation.  The favor of God is upon you and His presence is so very obvious in your midst!

Now…it’s time to start planning my next mission trip to Romania!  (Spring, 2010)

Am servi un astfel de Dumnezeu minunat! (We serve such an awesome God!)