Buna!

posted by shark_maul @ 6/25/2005 08:53:00 AM 4 comments

Hello Everyone

Okay I have much more time today. Things are crazy here. Satan is attacking us left and right and God with the Angels is doing amazing things for us. I'm learning the power of prayer and worship. By habit this morning I started praying in the shower because I'm learning a spirit of prayer and worship. I've witnessed to many people here and it's so hard because so many are orthodox which means they believe in the all the theological stuff but have no relationship with Christ and it's extremely hard to fight that. Please commit yourselves to prayer, we must and it's is guarding our hearts and minds. The people here are wonderful I love everything but they have no hope. Guys last night we prayed as MA's (leaders) and it went on for almost an hour then we stopped and I talked to my team leader and he was saying that he felt God was telling him to purify my heart and the connection here is amazing with the group people have so much to say and we can listen because we are like minded. Last night I talked to satan, there was a park we went to and all of us felt the presence of the devil but beyond that I talked to a real nice appearing guy but no lie his body emanated the devil from within. It's amazing how much we are running into. The translators are giving some trouble because they have biases toward people groups like we do in the states they don't like rockers or gypsies and sometimes feel we don't need to share the gospel with them. It's hard but God is a mighty God. Guys I love everyone. Pray...hard.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/23/2005 04:36:00 AM 2 comments

hola world

Hey everyone, I'm sitting here in an internet cafe in Oradea. It's great I'm loving it. The people here are so receptive to the gospel. The work is hard but I'm loving every bit of it. We are doing a drama in the street w/ translators and while I'm typing this I'm typing on Romanian keyboard and it's so hard. The flight was great and we loved the whole 24 hours of it. It took 3 flights to get to where we needed to be but it's way ok. Yesterday we had a sound box go out and with a little prayer God recharged the battery. Guys im not kidding here I have seen healing really happen. Well peace out I love everyone I miss you all.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/21/2005 05:22:00 AM 1 comments

Ryan Stone - Hello from Garden Valley!

At 6/16/2005 10:25:48 AM Ryan Stone sent you an e-mail message!

Please do not respond, as this e-mail address is for outbound e-mails only. The message follows:

Hey Everyone, Well, I'm now 2 hours away from leaving for the airport to go to Romania! I leave at noon our time and fly to Memphis TN, then to Amsterdam Netherlands, then to Budapest Hungary, then a bus ride to Oradea Romania. (roll the R in Oradea). All is well and I'm well taken care of my camera lens broke permanently unfortunately but God is in control and so it's okay that I can't take photos. God has taught me so much in the past few days...I've been the dirtiest I've ever been in my life and I've sweat to high heavens. I'm playin the role of Satan in our drama "Freedom." I love the acting and just being able to be mean. This is missions at it's pinnacle...they require a life shattering commitment to go. The stakes are so high, it is ingrained in us that we will change the world but we will sacrifice so much. We're not allowed any romantic connection or anything (it bites) no movies, secular reading, secular music, etc. Also we have to have 1 hour quiet time every morning...it's hard real hard. For me not having one in so long I've have been taught so much reading from Romans. God has shown me I'm actually free from my past and that my sins are really truly gone.

I would encourage anyone at home to go to globalexpeditions.com and sign up for a trip for next year. (probably can't yet but keep it in mind). Another place to track our progress is romania4life.com it's run by our project director and will have updates hopefully every few days.

Well guys I love you and please pray for miracles in the next few weeks.

Those who want to save their life will lose and those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the gospel will save it. Mark 8:35

posted by shark_maul @ 6/16/2005 11:27:00 AM 1 comments

Hello from Garden Valley!

Hello Everyone, I'm here and safe and it's great! It's hot and muggy but wonderful. We started drama training and I was cast as Satan to start with. When I was at the airport yesterday there was guy that said hey his name was Ron Luce...turns out he started the company I'm going on mission with. Then he talked in his sermon tonight about how it's hard for parents and he talked about mom!! I love ya'll. The training has been rough. We did ropes and every game we did I was given a disability because I was helping too much. I'm dripping sweat head to toe and I'm bunked last night in a building w/ no air...just a big fan. Tonight we'll move to air but another group will move into the building without the air. There are no breaks at all. We start at 7 and end at 10. There is absolutely no free time. The missionaries come in tomorrow so pray for a safe trip for all of them. I'll catch ya'll later. Love ya'll.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/12/2005 10:47:00 PM 2 comments

Hey Everyone

First, I'm not the type to silence free speech. So unless you put inappropriate content on here I'll leave your comments on here. But I would ask that you please comment on recent posts. Things earlier in the blog reflect a completely different time in my life. I'm not hating on Christians in earlier posts I was just real bent out of shape over some stuff. So I will not silence what you have to say but please remember...this is a light into my journey. I've come a long way, I still have a long way to go. That aside...itinerary. July 13-15 Head to Garden Valley, Texas for your trips beginning.  Over the next three days you will meet your leaders and team, be trained and prepared for ministry in Romania, hear some great speakers that will challenge you in your own spiritual walk, and draw close to God through incredible Praise and Worship.  You won’t want to forget to call home to let you parents know how everything is going – especially to tell them about Commissioning Night! June 16 Fly across the ocean and land in Budapest, Hungary before to travel to Romania. June 17 Begin with country orientation and get to know the host church whom you will be working with. June 18 Minister to the people of Oradea in the marketplaces, plazas and parks. June 19 Join our host church for a time of worship & teaching before you go out for ministry. June 20 -25 Share the love of Jesus in the streets & parks through drama & personal evangelism.  Spend some of your days ministering to the children & youth orphanages & hospitals. June 26 Join our host church for a time of worship & teaching before you go out to see the sites of downtown Oradea. June 27 – July 2 More life-changing ministry in Oradea. July 3 Join our host church for a time of worship & teaching before you go out for ministry. July 4 Spend your last day of ministry out on the streets of Oradea.  July 5 -6 Say goodbye to Oradea as you travel to Transylvania where you see amazing castles & cathedrals.  Take some time to shop for your souvenirs in the historic city of Brasov and enjoy a traditional Romanian feast. July 7-8   Depart from Bucharest, Romania and fly back across the ocean to listen to all the amazing things God has done this summer as you attend debriefing in GV. July 9 Return back home to tell all your exciting stories and watch that same message you shared overseas transform your family and friends too!

posted by shark_maul @ 6/09/2005 09:32:00 AM 3 comments

Getting Close

Hey everyone, Well for those of you that this is your first time welcome. I'm hoping that I am able to have this updated while I'm gone. The plan is for Mom and Dad to update it for me. Check out the links on the side...they're the best. If your looking for RSS check the Feedburner. Well it's getting closer and I am really getting excited but also...nervous. Well I don't got much for today...so I'm out.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/08/2005 07:19:00 PM 0 comments

Crying

Tonight has bit. I had to say bye to Andrew and Mrs. Johanna and that was hard. I don't know what to say...except I'll miss you both of you. After going to Wal-Mart I got what is probably the last bit of fastfood for me, unhealthy fastfood that is. It's getting hard...I'm 3 Days away and I'm not ready. For those of you that think I'm something special I'm not. I'm the guy that lives next door that doesn't interact with people well and hates it when more than 5 people call in one night. On more than one occasion I've had someone tell me that I'll do something great one day...only problem is I won't. I'll be the guy God uses at times, please if you ever once look at me and think I'm anything but average then slap your wrist. I don't need expectations for me. I can't deal with people expecting something I'm not built for it...thats probably God's way of making me rely on him. Either way, please if you want someone to expect greatness out of talk to David, Banks, Katie Ballard, Mary Kristin, Katie Sandifer, Rebekah Murray, Temple and Joel Dyson, Andrew Cobbold *my bud*, my Dad, my sister, Kaitlyn Garris (grace), Todd, Dan,...not me. Greatness is measured not by how well you can speak, take pictures, or drive a car...it's measured by how well you can be you and live walking the hardest path that exists.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/07/2005 09:26:00 PM 2 comments

G'Day

Hey ya'll, Just a word of warning if for some reason you got an email from South Trust Bank about your account changing DO NOT GO TO IT. It's a fraudalent email trying to lure you into putting your account info in. Please report it to Gmail if you have Gmail by clicking the report phishing button. I caught it and thought it looked phishy (hehe pun). On other news the cards for the blog will be in tomorrow. So all ya'll can pass them out I have 100, the whole goal is to get max exposure while I'm gone so people will know what's going on while I'm there. Well I gotta go catch ya'll...o' and it's officials Apple has decided to move all chips to Intel and trash the ones w/ IBM.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/06/2005 10:34:00 PM 0 comments

Just Days Away

Well after a weekend of roasting at the beach I'm back home and heavily suburnt. You'd think I'd learn after never using sunscreen and roasting every year I'd learn...but I guess not. And don't even try to lecture me about using it...I hate the way it feels. Well the plan right now is to leave Friday and stay in Charlotte...better get a hotel. Then I leave at 7:05 Saturday Morning, so please pray for me. I'm doing better after a weekend of just hanging out and stuff. I need your prayers for safety for me and my stuff (I'm taking all my camera gear, uber expensive). Most importantly pray for the people I'll encounter, I want to be a tool while I'm there so please keep me in your prayers. Peace out.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/05/2005 08:12:00 PM 1 comments

TV down the Crapper

CNN.com - Tommy Lee at school, and other realities - Jun 1, 2005 You know I'm glad I'm going to Romania and I'm glad my family only has 3 channels...why...BECAUSE THIS IS CRAP!!! You know lets boycott reality shows just so they will go away.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/02/2005 12:19:00 PM 0 comments

::Living Fearfully::

I think for a lot of people fear is a huge motivator. It's something that drives them constantly to hide. I know for me fear was something that controlled my life for a long time and ultimately tried to destroy it. Living in fear of something not of God isn't really healthy. It causes us to stay in relationships, stay where we are, and never risk anything. I know that I fear staying complacent so thats why I'm so eager for Romania and College but I'm also afraid of change which makes quite a predicament. So I must rely on God and have faith that he'll get me through. Faith will overcome fear.

posted by shark_maul @ 6/01/2005 12:37:00 PM 0 comments