food for fish

Hey everyone,

Well Alexis and I are almost packed, just a few things to put away before we head to the airport tomorrow morning! Thanks for all of your prayers, financial support, and simply being our friends! While we are in France and Poland we'll be seeing many of our friends there, many whom we only see about once a year. Our hearts are to encourage them in their faith and walk with God. As Paul says in Romans 1:12 (NLT) - "I'm eager to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. In this way, each of us will be a blessing to the other."

We are still in need of financial support, all of the bare minimum things are paid for, such as transportation and lodging, and food for most of the trip. However, due to a strong Euro and weaker US Dollar, and an unanticipated two night hotel stay in Lyon (due to overbooking at the camp's location) our team is short by about 1,000 Euros (that's $1,370.8996). We know God will provide for us, if it's through people's donations or through provisions in other ways we are confident that God's will is at hand. Any amount would help us in offsetting this deficit for the rest of the team.

Thanks again!

To donate please send a check payable to "Mission Dispatch" and put "Mielonen" on the memo line. OR donate via PayPal on the right!

Mission Dispatch
RE: Travis & Alexis Mielonen
21911 76th Ave W., Suite 211
Edmonds, WA 98026

Thanks!

For everyone who hasn't seen our house, we've uploaded a tour to You Tube. It's a mega blessing, that I'll post the story to soon.



In other news, we leave for our mission trip on Thursday!

In spring of 2004 I had the opportunity to go to our denominational meeting for Europe, it just so happened to be in Emmeton (I think I butchered the spelling), Switzerland (near Luzerne). During that time I was privileged to hear from the outgoing European leadership, who were Americans living in Frankfurt, Germany. The Shaws had been living in Germany for 16 years, first as missionaries to plant churches in Germany, than as the head of Foursquare Europe.

I was driving to the next town, about 20 minutes from where I lived in Zakopane, Poland and listening to a CD that a friend had sent me, of this group that at the time I had never heard of called "Casting Crowns". Then it happened, track three came on "Voice of truth".

You see I was by my self that week, the missionaries I was helping were off in Switzerland for a sabbatical. I was on my way to pick up a couple of people for our Wednesday night meeting with young adults. Earlier in the day a number of people had pretty much cancled, and the two I was going to pick up weren't even really sure they wanted to be there. I was very upset, and when that song came on it's like a flood gate of emotions came out. I so badly wanted these friends of mine to understand the relationship that Jesus wants with them. I also was feeling rejection, unqualified, and not so motivated to be in a place that seemed so dray, so unforgiving, and uninteretsed in the ONE that I love without condition.

On that day I learned a valuable lesson, that Jesus is the voice of truth, I can not let the opinions, actions, and words of people sway the calling on my life. In the short year that I was there I went from being very excited and optimistic, to down right depressed. Yet God was quietly spoke the truth of who he was calling me to be. Although I ranted and raved and told God I hated the country, He created an even bigger passion than I thought I could ever have, and I love Poland, her people, her history, and everything about her in a way that only God could ever lay on a person's heart. Alexis is right here with me in the same boat reading the same page, it's a journey and a promise bigger than us, keeping us humble for his service.

Hello everyone,

I am now on facebook.com, so much better than MySpace, I never enjoyed being subjected to random pictures of human anatomy. I'm not abandoning this thing at all, in fact, I'm just enhancing this blogs presence by joining facebook. It is here, and here alone where I will write my thoughts, share our stories about Poland and missions, and continue to encourage others.

Our online presence is growing, we're now on blogger, MySpace, Facebook, and You Tube... Our you tube profile doesn't have much in it yet, but soon it will have our wedding video, a tour of our place here in Gresham, and when we return, tid bits from our upcoming trip.

So stand by....

I've noticed something about people, we either react to choices or we respond. Those who react, normally leave a wake of "drama drama drama" behind them, and those who respond, leave a trail of wisdom.

We all know that life throws crazy things at us, deaths, divorces, unmet expectations. We all know the people that have reacted or do react poorly to these kinds of things. These are the ones that have the tendency to get up and leave, they drop their commitments, never to be heard of again, if so it's long afterwards and "as if it never happened" they are hard to trust, and even harder to know.

Then we have the people who respond, they take these crazy times, and yes maybe they react at first, but then they take the opportunity to grow through it. They stick it through with patient endurance and cling onto the promises in life that God has given them. It is these people who can be trusted when nothing else makes sense, when life is falling apart, even around them, they can minister to the heart of another broken person, because they've put their faith in the Lord.

I've been on both sides of the fence, many times. When life gets rocky, I dig in, but sometimes I just want to run. However, these past four years have taught me an invaluable lesson, always move forward with what God has told me. The second I stop, is the second that I lose motivation, and meaning. Sure, if I react and do a quick "course correction" in order to gain stability, life seems okay, but soon I realize that my calling is to be in his grace and not in my own works.

Alexis and I are slowing gaining momentum in our missions plans. This coming March/February we'll be going back to Poland, and only Poland, with possibly 8 others. This is great because it allows us to begin creating a network of people, to serve, and to serve with. As more people begin to see our vision for Poland the momentum will gain.

There is another couple who have been instrumental in the entire Poland process since day one, they have created a new initiative called "12x12" which is to have 12 new church plants by the year 2012 in Europe, specifically Germany, Poland, and Holland. They want to help build up leaders, train, equip, and release them to do ministry in their homelands... sounds familiar, it is, this is what Alexis and I have been saying all along about Poland. This couple is teaming up with us right here in our home church, along with their vision and skills, we can see that God is bringing all kinds of people together to build His church.

We will soon be fundraising year round, it's huge, it's way bigger than us. Best of all it is so exciting and we know and are confident in our direction, the details are coming into place, and the support base is building. Thanks for all your prayers and support, in both finances, and in wisdom.

Sometimes I get stuck on coming up with a title for these blog posts... which then detours me from even starting a post. Anyway, recently I have been feeling a lot of "wow" moments, moments where God is very real. As real as if He were right there with me giving me a picture of his perspective. The funny thing is that I can't recall a single one of those right now.... it's frustrating, but I'm okay with it too because I know He's there.

There is a lot that I could say wow too, but when God gives you his perspectiv, there isn't much to say, except "wow".

Alexis and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary this past weekend (yesterday was the actual day), it was great! We went to Seaside and Cannon Beach both in Oregon and loved it, the weather was pretty good, although a little overcast (while Portland was baking, today it's reaching 100!). I'll post pictures as soon as I think about it, I didn't even think of using my phone to post pictures and videos, we were just having that much fun :P



Thanks for all your prayers and support, see you later!



PS. We leave for France/Poland on the 26th, just a couple of weeks! We've fund raised $8,000 of the $9,000 we need, the rest is coming out of our own pockets, hopefully a few more donations come in so our time in Poland is free of money stress. Thanks again!

Recently I've had the topic of "why go anywhere when people are so lost here?" come up in conversation a number of times. My opinion on this topic (and sometimes very hot) is that most of us are pretty comfortable in our own back yards. I have not many people are who evangelists on their own, the kind of people who can, just by nature, talk to people and gracefully tell them about faith in Jesus. If that were true then missions wouldn't be needed, we'd all either be believing, or always talking about our faith. The truth is, this just isn't how Jesus has made the church. Some people have it in them to move around, experience new cultures, and most of all, have a tendency to reach a different culture much easier than their own.

For me I have noticed that I have a much easier time talking to Poles about my faith than I do to other Christians here in my own workplace! Not to mention non-believers. We are all made different, some are feet, some are eyes, but we all have a job and a mission. The church was designed to function on interdependancy of its members. When this failes, the church does not move on, when it is working the church moves. It's biblical, and it's proven.

From the Warsaw Voice.
PM Kaczynski says Poland would have more power in EU if Germany had not reduced the population in WWII

Warsaw, Poland
June 22, 2007

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on public radio that Poland is essentially challenging the new EU voting mechanism on grounds that Poland would have a higher population if Germans had not killed so many Poles during WWII."If Poland had not had to live through the years of 1939-45, Poland would be today looking at the demographics of a country of 66 million," Kaczynski said. "We are only demanding one thing, that we get back what was taken from us." While the PM's comments have a good deal of truth to them - namely that Poland would be a very different country if not for WWII - they are very undiplomatic. The EU is considering a voting system that takes into account each country's population - it says a majority is formed by 55% of member states accounting for 65% of the EU's population.Poland has proposed using the square roots of national populations to narrow the voting power gap between large states like Germany and smaller ones.

Recently I've been intrigued by a few posts on other blogs, one recently got me right where God is working on me. As I see where God has placed me (and my wife) I realize that it is nearly a miracle to be invovled in such an amazing group of people in the real world, and that it appears that the many Christian's mind sets are very boxed in. It all brings me to John 17.

Back in February Alexis and I were in Seattle enjoying ourselves in the wonderful mess that is Seattle traffic, and we ran across this motrocycle driver who went straight between us and the cars in the next lane, at quite a high speed. When I honked at him (since it was quite dangerous at that point) he turned around, let go of both handle bars and pretended to cry, then took off at an even higher speed. But yesterday the Washington State Patrol finally caught the guy, best of all they took his motorbike away!

There is an Episcopal priest in Seattle claiming to be both Muslim and Christian... As I am a far cry from Episcopalian I have a hard time saying that she is a true believer in who Jesus is and what he did and does for us.

While I do believe that the extreme basics of Muslim and Christianity (in terms of the way of life and surrendering to God) are similar, the main issue (which many water down because the reality is too difficult to stomach) is the heaven and hell question. Hell is not what Hollywood pro trays, and it isn't what we traditionally have made it, it is complete separation from everything, for eternity. That is the issue, and that is why Jesus made it simple, accept him and his sacrifice for us and our fallen nature, or deny him and live in a fallen state alone forever.

In the article she talks about how she was moved by the Muslim leader's prayer, and kneeling to the floor and surrendering his entire prayer and body. This is not unheard of in Christianity, maybe in Episcopalian circles, but certainly not in the book of Acts and the first believers. At the church my wife and I attend this is completely accepted, and it is encouraged, while many don't feel this need since our musical worship time allows us to express in many ways, within order, to surrender our entire lives to God as a daily walk. I could go on, but for me this is my life with God, it is complete surrender, and being reminded to do that... not as a works related issue, but as a lifestyle, and the blessings and relationship with God has been nothing short of stunningly amazing.

Actually I do know what to say, and I've said it.

All I have is my own experience to speak about, but grieves me to see so many people, Christians and not, who don't understand submission, meekness, and humility. Even the Lord, with all of his power, submitted, was meek and is meek (he even allows us to do our will despite his power), and was/is humble (even though he has all the reason to tell us off).

Some may say that my life looks religious, it's a far cry from anything religious, I don't do what I do because I feel guilty, or I might, or I'm trying to "earn my way" for anyone, anything, heaven, nor God. I do what I do because when I do things my way, my life just isn't full, I find myself climbing and going down, I look around running towards something but ending up where I started, and I try to get close to people and end up further away.

I am submitted to my job, not to "show off", not even to "move ahead", I'm submitted because Jesus says to love your neighbor, and when you do, peace is at hand. I am meek, meaning I am confident yet do not overuse what I know or what power I do have, because encouraging others and helping others helps everyone. I would like to say I'm humble, and with most external things I am, I know where I could exert myself but I restrain, because after years (and much more time is needed) of climbing up and going down, I have learned that turning the other cheek, not gloating about myself, and living in a fallen world and not complaining has brought a peace that only comes by living humbly. I mess this up on an almost daily basis, but even catching myself allows His light to shine.

For me, I submit because I have learned that serving others is extremely rewarding, not in a material way (although the Lord has blessed us immensely, and I know it has been because we choose to submit to His will and serve our neighbors, and because he's gracious, that's actually the first reason). The blessings of submission lead to life long relationships, peace, understanding, authentic forgiveness, and keep us where we belong, focused on the Lord, Others, and it allows Him to use us and provide for us.

He called me out
And I could not believe
He called me out
To touch for Him
To walk for Him
But why me?
Why then?

Why now?
For no better time exists
It's his will, let mine be beat
All my woes, all my foes
Are taken by Him

And so I will go
So I will touch
'Cause it is He who I trust
And it is He whom I am in

I am never going to school again, unless God says so. I will only go to another classroom to participate in conversation and learn that way, I do not want to ever, voluntarily, write another paper, do another project, or whatever else school may throw my way. I hate it, and the stress just isn't worth it!

This comes out of my frustration that I've procrastinated this last quarter for my one last credited class... although we graduated last year we had decided that we would take Biblical Counseling II this year (classes are only offered once a year), even though we don't need it, we took it anyway for credit since maybe someday we will continue... (at this point I don't think so!). By the end of tonight I will have started, written, and completed in full, an eight page paper, a two page paper, and about 70 pages of a workbook. Woe is me.

Some more ideas...

• Intern traning program - this is actually the framework for everything else. It will be church, it will be fellowship, it will be school, all in one. Live together, pray together, eat together, Acts 2 meets Ephesians 4
• Mission trips - trips with Poles and others, to other places outside of Poland.

This is simply a list, a cloud of ideas that somehow I want to, eventually, incorporate into our Poland missions, both our short term, and our long term trips.

• Genesis process - how to prevent addictive cycles (drugs, alcohol, sex, food, avoidance, and much, much, more) before they happen, and how to deal with current addictive issues.
• Wounded by shame and healed by grace - Shifting from a shame based lifestyle/paradigm, to a grace filled one. Deals with child-hood issues that filter how we view the world, and most importantly our relationships with others.
• Healing of the father wound - How the absence (either spiritually, mentally, physically, etc) of a father affects our relationship with our Heavenly father.
• Boundaries - How to create healthy boundaries that actually promote amazing relationships, creating doors/gates and not walls. Not allowing the guilt trips of others to control you, nor allowing the guilt of your past to control you either.
• FMO/FWO (For Men Only and For Women Only) purity groups. Not just sexual purity groups, not just accountability groups, not just "post-crisis" groups, these are groups that hold us to the high road. Groups that promote grace-filled truth telling, holding us to our priorities for the call that God has you in that particular season, weather that be a stay-at-home mom, or dad, an employee, a minister (which we all are), a disciple of Christ (which we all are), a friend, etc...

As I mentioned above, these are all a "cloud" of ideas, the actual time line for these things is not in stone, although elements of all of them will be used on all occasions. I will always put myself through these processes each time, as I know God has something new to reveal through them each time. How each thing will look, I have no clue, but I do know that these areas are trans-cultural, it's kingdom culture based, it's biblical, the delivery will certainly be different though.

Thoughts, comments?