Al & Diane Mellinger's Missionary Adventure

Bits and Pieces!

September 27, 2007 – This week we will have a bit of this and that.

Last Thursday we had a phone call and it was a local pastor that we had met the Saturday before wanting to come and visit – when he arrived he had with him an other young man who spoke very good English. He was working with developing a school to help train Christian workers not far from here. He currently said he is working with about 10 independent churches in the area. We will go and see what he is doing this week.

I have had 2 communications from our partner churches about connecting in new ways. Earlier today I phoned back to the states and did and interview with the new missions promoter at the Hillsdale FMC that she recorded and will be playing at their missions night this month. Next week we are going to be doing a live phone call with a ladies Bible Study at the Jackson FMC. With the Vonage number we have we can call any US phone at no cost. Maybe we can set up a call to your church or group. (We also do Video Calling – Just let us know) Vonage number is 419-617-4568 we are 7 hours ahead of Detroit.

The Pastor’s Conference last weekend went well and we are still sorting out all the contacts and responses we received. I hope to update you in the next week or so on this.

We received word that our VISAs are ready to be picked up in Greece (on Monday) but we have a trip to England next week as part of the follow-up to the Pastors Conference and so we will go back to Greece after that to begin the next phase of this process – to get residency permits. (More as we start that in Mid October) Praise God for helping us with the first step!

Language Study continues to be hard for me – Diane is doing much better than I – but I am beginning to hear word and know what they mean when I hear them. That is a start! Thanks for praying keep it up!

Second week of Bible Study here in Petrich went well only had 5 but the discussion was great and it is building into the base. Some are waiting to see if this is going to last or not! Pray that we will grow as God wants!

Finances for our mission continues to be tight as they look to the year end process the Mission wants to balance the budget. So we will only be getting 2 months of the next quarters allotment until they see how the giving goes. For those who have been giving all year thanks. If you haven’t given yet and you would like to you can do it on the web site www.almellinger.com follow the directions in the box. As you look at your own budget as the year draws to a close and you are able to give a bit more that would be great! We are trusting God to provide. Again thanks to all of you for your support first through prayer and then through giving!

This week Pray or Praise God for the things listed above! We are kept busy and that is good! Praise the Lord!

Bible Study begins again in Petrich

Septmeber 20, 2007 - This week we began our regular meeting with the group that we have here in Petrich. We are meeting on Wednesday nights at 7 PM at our house (which we rented because of the nice meeting room space). We have begun a study of the book of Philippians. We have decided to do a study of a book of Bible rather than a topical study at this point. Steffon who has had 3 years of Bible School is going to be helping to teach this study as well. Our goal is to jump start the work here with the help of the locals, getting them doing most of the leading with us being support in the background. We will do the leading and raising the questions from the scripture and see what God through the Holy Spirit does in bringing the people back together with a common vision and mission.

We had 7 (counting Diane and I) plus one preschooler at this study. I was please because I thought it would just be Peggy and Steffon and us. So we had a blessing of additional persons. I am told others will be coming next week. PTL! It is exciting and really feels right!

We are also beginning to make plans to have some English classed and clubs with local schools. Right now we are making contacts and seeing what interest there is but we hope it will be a great way to get to know students and their families so that we can invite them to other events where we will share the Gospel! Diane and I are excited that we can begin to see the ministry coming together and moving again!

Pray this week for this group in Petrich.
Pray for the Pastor’s Conference in Sofia and all that will go on with that on Saturday and Sunday.
Pray for our language learning. (More on that soon)

Pastors Conference Coming to Bulgaria

September 13, 2007 - On September 22, 2007 between 150 -175 Pastors will gather together to learn more about becoming part of Renewal International Network. And in doing so becoming more accountable to each other and being able to received more training and consultations from the Renewal Pastoral Team.

Renewal is the largest Free Methodist Church in England and is very active in crusades and large scale evangelism events. Over a year ago they held an event in Sofia Bulgaria and this is the natural progression of the relationships that were formed. Helping the Bi-vocational Pastor with regular training days and access to the Renewal Team when questions arise is a big part of what Renewal International wants to do.

Since Arriving I have been working as Renewal's representative in the organization of this event. So next week-end is the big event.

I have no idea what God will do and what He might bring about because of this time but we are praying that it
will stir the hearts of the Pastors and they will return to their churches even more committed to reaching the lost around them. Some times we all need a bit of motivation and encouragement and that is what David Carr Lead Pastor wants to do -- He has a session planned where he wants to pray for and mister to the Pastors present. Many are from smaller ministries and no one ever ministers to the Pastor -- they will at this event!

Pray for the Safety in travel as they come in from all over Bulgaria
Pray for the teaching times, that God will direct the team what needs to be said.
Pray for the Pastors coming that they would be ready to receive from God!

Status Updates

September 6, 2007 – Over the summer we have shared concerns and so we want to update you on some of them.

We have purchase a good vehicle to use. It is a 2000 Ford Focus Wagon. It will allow us to get around – haul the things we will need to haul and take people with us when we travel. It is small enough to fit into some tight places and pretty good on the gas mileage. We are very happy and praising God for leading us to this car at a very good price.

We have hired Peggy (who we spoke about a few weeks back) to help us with our language studies and document translation support here. It will help Peggy and Steffon and will help us out a great deal – Also she found out on Monday that she has to have all her exams taken by Sunday so she is very busy – we start with her on Monday! PTL!

Mike and Maria Long arrived back yesterday (9/5) and seem to be ready to return. Right now they are tired as they recover from jet lag. This means that we will be staying mostly in Bulgaria – at least not returning weekly to Greece for a while. Our next trip back will be to get our VISA from the Bulgarian Consulate here.

Speaking of VISA – we are in the waiting stage – we applied and they said return in a month – we are hoping to get it sooner, as the “one month time frame” is right during the Pastor’s Conference in Sofia. Mike is going to try and call and see if his contact can help. We know they are checking it out as the local Police paid a visit to out landlords to see if we were living there last week.

This week pray for -
1) Peggy as she takes her exams
2) The D - VISA to get approved quickly
3) Our Language study – that we will be able to learn it quickly. (My brain is slowing down I think – Al)
This week praise Him for –
1) Leading us to a good car
2) Bring Longs back safely
3) Having a Language Instructor

Thanks again for you interest and encouragement. Don’t forget to check out the website at www.almellinger.com to read about Bulgaria and see more photo’s and resources for use in your local church to promote missions!