taylorsj's Xanga

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 03:44:44 GMT

21st B-DAY...

March 6, 2008 marked my 21st year of life... i can hardly believe i've lived this long...

ONLY... a year ago this time I was Bunji JUMPING at Vic Falls in Zambia, AFRICA

ONLY.... 2 years ago I was getting ready to graduate from academy

ONLY.... 6 years ago I was a freshman in academy when an ordinary day turned in to a nighmare, as the sun rose on Sep. 11, 2001, on that day i recall how sure i was that I'd never see the day when I would graduate and go on to college...

ONLY...9 years ago I arived to this country, not knowing one word of English... embarking into the "unknown"... for the first time learing about GOD...the BIBLE... and His LOVE for me...

IT'S NOW BEEN... 15 years since I last saw my mother...19 years and 11 months since a "newborn baby" looked into her father's eyes...

These past 20 years have been full of adventure and I'm so thankful that God has granted me this life, so that I can live for him, I pray that I will continue to remember how He has lead me and keep the faith burning in my heart. Thank you Lord!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:22:41 GMT

Current Whereabouts...

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:00:41 GMT

It's been ages since I've written about my where abouts last, currently I'm a student at UC, in NE!!! In the land of prairies and red squirrels!!! I'm in my second yr of college, hoping to graduate in 2010!!! Union is a unique place, the people are supper nice here, teachers are great and friendly. Since we only have about 1000+ students, the students body is very tight here, so that's a blessing. The campus is surrounded by busy strees, so you're always aware of the accidents up the road, since the sirens go by blarring through out the day.

Living in a new place, with unfamiliar faces, has been rather challenging for me. Coming from very small schools in the past, doesn't make this transition easier, but I am making friends slowly. I miss my friends, but I suppose we all have to sacrifice something for the carreers that we've chosen to pursue. I wish that UC wasn't the only college in the nation with IRR, so I can be closer to home, but it is, and so that's why I'm here and everyone else on the East Coast!

Well, that's just a bit about me, here's few thoughts I've been studying today:

To Be ALIVE in JESUS....

is to love others (Jh. 3:14)

To have GOD in us...

is to love--for GOD is LOVE (Jh. 4:7, 8)

To LIVE with out FEAR

is to love & have love (Jh. 4:18)

To LIVE in the LAW

is to love God by obedience to His LAW (Jh 5:2)

To LIVE eternaly

is to LOVE JESUS and believe in Him (Jh 5:12)

So experience love today, love others, show Jesus to your friends, by your actions. : )

This next part of the blog, was actually written few months ago, I just now re-read it and wow, I've so forgotten these words:

So here it is for my own reminder:

Time is Short!!!
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Life

Lately I've been thinking of how fragile and short my life is!!!
Have you ever thought about "LIFE"; that we all get only one chance of living this life... Man if we all knew that our whole career depended on one test ... how much would we study for it... and how hard would we try to know all the material so we could have a greater chance in passing...

Well... that's how it is with LIFE... there's only one test to pass that will determine... your destiny... that test is your Walk with Christ... your Christian experience....

Man... it's so deep... i often can't comprehend... how unworthy i am of this life and yet.. the only Son of God has died for me so I may LIVE and LIVE it more aboundantly... Jesus came in to this world to give you and I life...

How are we living this LIFE ... that only the Son of God could pay the price for....????

LIVE each day as if you were to die tonight!!!
LIVE for JESUS 2DAY!!!

Devotional Thoughts

Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:51:46 GMT

Recently I’ve been reading a book titled “The Ragamuffin Gospel” written by Brennan Manning. Usually I don’t like to read books on Christianity from other points of view then I’ve been raised with, but I think it’s time for me to familiarize myself with how others think and why, so here’s a short paragraph form this book on “HONESTY”, hope that you can find a new meaning in how to be all for God.

Honesty

Honesty requires the truthfulness to admit the attachment and addiction that control our attention, dominate our consciousness, and function as false gods. Honesty involves the willingness to face the truth of who we are, regardless of how threatening or unpleasant our perceptions may be. It means hanging in there with ourselves and with God, learning our mind tricks by experiencing how they defeat us, recognizing our avoidances, acknowledging our lapses, learning completely that we cannot handle it ourselves. This steady self-confrontation requires strength and courage. We cannot use failure as an excuse to quit trying…. There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything by who they are.

To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of grace. It is only through grace that any of us could dare to hope that we could become more like Christ.

Few more thoughts from Acts of the Apostles

If the fulfillment of the promise is not seen as it might be, it is because the promise is not appreciated as it should be. AA p. 50:1

HOLINESS

Holiness is not a rapture; it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our Heavenly Father; it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying on God with unquestioning confidence, and resting in His love.

4th of JULY Celebration!!!

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:44:30 GMT

Here are some pix from my 4th of July. I had a great and relaxed day with my family.

Such a blessing to live in this Great country of USA, where we celebrate our FREEDOM!!!

Enjoy : )

Check out my Slide Show!

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 18:43:00 GMT

I AM HOME!!!

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 12:40:24 GMT

HEY FRIENDS...

I'M HOME!!! SO GOOD TO BE BACK...

AT THIS MOMENT I'M A THE BEACH WITH MY GREAT FAMILY ...

WELL...

HOPE ALL ARE HAVING A GREAT AND FABULOUS SUMMER...

GOD BLESS YOU GUYS,

MISS YOU MUCH,

SVET

Check out my Slide Show!

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:43:37 GMT

Check out my Slide Show!

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:41:53 GMT

Zambia Report # 8 : )

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:22:43 GMT

Dear Family and Friends,

Here I am once again writing my 8^th report!!! Since my last report we’ve been able to travel some and see new areas in this beautiful country. The family that we live with has a farm on the boarder of Zimbabwe, so we were able go and see the place. The river Kafue runs through the front of their property, so in order to get to the house you had to canoe across the river. That was quite the experience, the canoes aren’t like the ones we have in the states, these are very narrow dug out canoes that the natives use to fish in a crocodile and hippos infested waters. Very safe!!! We almost tipped and you can imagine how petrified I was… I don’t like water, so that made it even worse and the thought of crocodiles nearby, but God protected us and we made it safely across to the other shore.

We’ve also had two Mazungu visitors in Lushomo. As we were walking to church we noticed a truck parked by so Amy and I walked over and introduced our selves to the visitors… they were Geologist from South Africa, who were in the area to look for the source of nickel for the local mine here. Hey we were so excited to see another white people and so were they. Later on they told us that as we were walking up to the truck they weren’t expecting to see any whites in this place the “bush” so they kind of stares at us for a while and made the comment, “Man those are pretty fair Africans!” We had a good laugh together.

The major event lately has been our second Evangelistic Series in Keemba, where we’ve camped for two and a half weeks. Just three white girls out in the wild!!! You can imagine some of our nights, it’s been such a blessing to be right among the people, living among those who we’ve been teaching and studying the Bible with. Each day during the morning hours two of us girls would go out with our translator and visit different households. Our days have been full of adventures everything from making mud bricks to milking cows. Mingling with the people has been a great witness of our faith and as a result many have been coming to the meetings.

We’ve been passing out clothes and shoes to the people, it’s been neat to watch their bright smiles and feel their gratefulness for the little things we’re able to do.

Our days out camping have been busy after visitation we’d “knock out” for lunch and then one of us would teach the Baptismal class and by 6 in the evening we’d all be preoccupied with the meetings. During the night we’ve had a consistent attendance of about 130-150+ people, who are very much interested in the new Bible truths they are able to hear. During the Baptismal class it’s been really exciting to hear their questions and answer them from the Bible, these people are so hungry for the Bible. One of our greatest missions now is to provide Tonga Bibles for these dear people, yet it’s been a difficult task, even though the money is here, there are no Tonga Bibles. Ever since we came in Jan. the local ABC has been out and there is no place in the whole city of Lusaka that prints these Bibles. If someone knows any way we can get hold of Tonga Bibles, please let us know. We’ve spoken to the Union office and still no Bibles.

This past Sabbath we finished our last meeting and had the baptism. God blessed our efforts with 52 souls. Praise God who gave us the Spirit to reach these dear people. It was so neat to watch our friends go down into the water, with tears in our eyes we watched us one after another they publicly showed their commitment to follow Jesus Christ. Remember in my earlier report I wrote about the deaf and mute man named Choolwe, the one that was coming to the Adventist church here in Lushomo for many years, well on Sabbath he was baptized with the rest of our friends. He’s been a dear friend and we’ve been able to get acquainted with his family, they’ve been so grateful for everything we’ve been able to do for their son. Choolwe’s family belongs to the Salvation Army church and he only has one Adventist sister but now theirs two of them, who can encourage each other.

Among the baptismal candidates was the local headman of the Mwemba village in which we’ve been working, this is the headman that gave the property for Lushomo Institution, were I am. His wife Ester also dedicated her life to following Jesus and worshiping in His last day church. We have many more stories, but this is getting long… so I better wrap up.

As I said earlier we’ve been able to get some clothes, shoes and blankets for the people in the villages, we spent three days passing out these articles of clothing and after past week we’ve calculated that over 1000 people have been helped by us. That’s pretty neat!!! It’s such a blessing to give and I thank God for this opportunity!!! I must say that often I forget that it’s a privilege to be here and live among these underprivileged people, as our time here comes to an end, I pray that I will forever cherish this experience. I’ve definitely been changed by the lives here, by the men and women who live so humbly and never grumble or complain. It’s only through Jesus that we can smile amidst sorrow and pain. So I pray that these reports have been encouraging and life changing!!!

I miss you all.

May God continue to be your Greatest Friend,

Svetlana : )