Category Archives: Bulgaria

The rock in my shoe

 

Marcia and I love to take walks together. Only in recent months they have been short and slow. She is so patient to slow down for “me and my cane.” The other day, I picked up a rock in my shoe and as much as it irritated me, I knew it would take considerable effort for me to bend down and remove my shoe to get it out; I tire so very easily. So I kept walking with the rock in my shoe, pretending it wasn’t that big of a problem. But the longer I walked with the rock in my shoe, my pretending it didn’t matter became less and less convincing.

The minor ordeal caused me to think about other “rocks in my shoe” we sometimes tolerate. Like living with worry, regret, anxiety, fear, or doubt. Or criticizing or mocking others or a pessimistic attitude.  They’re all rocks in our shoes that limit the enjoyment of our spiritual walk. In fact, they can ruin a whole day grumbling and getting upset  over little things. But I wonder if we don’t mind the pain so much, because we don’t take the effort to remove them from our lives. It seems easier to react the way we always have reacted, forgetting – or denying – the power of God’s Spirit to transform our lives in such incredible ways!

Josias girlsOther rocks in our shoes may not seem to hurt us at all, but they cause pain to others. If a child complained of a rock in their shoe, you’d help them remove it, right? And yet our incessant focus on our own busy lives prevents us from noticing that others around us (and around the world) have rocks in their shoes they can’t remove – without our help. Rocks such as living on $2 per day, not having money to send children to school (cost of $1/day), not being able to provide a hot meal for a child ($1.25/day), or clean water (pennies per day). If you knew someone who endured these rocks in their shoes, you’d help them out.  I mean, which of us cannot afford $1/day or even 50 cents per day?

Feliz dia del ninosThis is how Go Light Our World works. We find children and adults in need, Quechua families in Bolivia. We know them by name and they know us. We’ve known one child for nearly 15 years, others for 5 years. GLOW helps them, often with no more than $1/day, to live a safe life, escape the cycle of poverty, and learn the hope of Jesus.

We invite you to help remove the rocks from the shoes of children at risk. Who knows, you might make a lifelong friend and find that your own walk is a little more enjoyable and fulfilling.

Go ahead – change someone’s world!

Learn more at:  www.GoLightOurWorld.org/Giving

 

GLOW Update March 2016

GLOW Update – March 2016

Everywhere you turn you see hurting people: in your neighborhood, your church, your workplace and across the globe. Some are close and others are “strangers” who Jesus calls “neighbors” we should love, especially those he calls “the least of these.” But you may ask, “What can I do to make a difference?”

starfishThere is an old story of a boy walking along a beach filled with stranded starfish. The boy picked one up and then another, tossing them back into the sea knowing they would otherwise perish. A man watching told him there were so many stranded starfish, he couldn’t possibly make a difference. Looking at a starfish in his hand, the boy tossed it into the water saying, “I made a difference for THAT one!”

GLOW is uniquely positioned to make a positive difference in the lives of hurting people. And your partnership with GLOW (through gifts and prayers) makes you an integral part of changing the world for hurting people, even “strangers” you don’t know. GLOW is organizationally small and nimble, working with missionary partners we know personally and trust. Accountability is high. Last year GLOW raised $14,200 and spent $14,237. No salaries, insurance plans, cars, or buildings. Just money in/money out – bringing the hope of Jesus to change the world for people in desperate situations, one at a time.

A 10-year-old boy in Bolivia has his first pair of new $12.50 leather shoes because a 10-year-old boy here gave his Christmas money.

Syrian refugees who were sleeping on the cold cement in Athens, Greece have warm sleeping bags from GLOW donors and the caring outreach of our ministry partner there.

Aleka with childrencrop -jpgBulgarian gypsy children have nutritious meals and Christian literacy tutors because GLOW donors care. 50 children now have their own native language Bulgarian bibles because many people donated $10 to GLOW.  We are preparing to fund the building of a kitchen & dining area this year to expand the outreach to orphans who have no other support.

Herminia etc with Aunt FranciscaFive Bolivian children (Roberto, Herminia, Deysi, her baby Lucas, and Sabina – pictured here with their Aunt Francisca) were recently abandoned by their mother and stepfather. They know us and remember us from when we first met and prayed with them four years ago. Gifts from GLOW purchased shoes and outfits and backpacks for each of them. Additional gifts have been received to provide for school supplies, tuition, medical care, and food. Even now as their Aunt has stepped up to care for the children your ongoing GLOW gifts continue to enrich their lives.

“The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” (Galatians 5:6) That’s what your persistent prayers and gifts do. They express your faith through love to “the least of these,” people you don’t yet know.

We also want you to know we’ve made provisions for the gospel ministries of Go Light Our World to continue, regardless of Bryan’s health concerns.

By praying and giving you DO make a difference. Please continue to PRAY daily for:

Roberto, Herminia, Deysi, her baby Lucas, and Sabina, abandoned by their mother and now adopted by their aunt in rural Bolivia.

Tiffany, Roxana, Maria, Mariana, and Sony who lead the Bolivian ministry for children at risk.

Moises and Kely who work to strengthen godly families in Chile.

Aleka who ministers to outcast gypsies in Bulgaria and boldly shares the truth and love of Jesus with all she meets, even at risk to herself.

Andy who pastors a small church in a hard neighborhood in Gracemount (Edinburgh), Scotland and his wife Sarah in her difficult pregnancy. Please pray also for former drug addicts they know who are struggling to know that the hope of Jesus is real for them.

Larry who daily brings the real hope of Jesus to those in prison.Mark and Lyndsey who minister to the homeless in San Diego.

Dawn and Willy who teach people with little to trust in God who wants to richly bless them spiritually.

Chris and Candy who are adjusting to living in Africa so they can reach the Digo tribe. They are dealing with water shortages.

Gary and Cristen who boldly equip college students to get real with Jesus, live fully for Jesus and reach their teammates.

Marcia and Bryan and the GLOW board of directors as we seek God’s continued guidance in all of this, and for Bryan’s full health recovery.

Thank you to our monthly donors and one-time donors. Your investment is well-placed! It brings the hope of Jesus to unreached people through practical ministries including literacy, food, medicine and health.

If you want to be the hands and feet of Jesus, you can make your tax deductible gift to Go Light Our World by

Thank you for partnering with GLOW in giving and in prayer to make a real difference in the lives of hurting people!!

Without God we are lost, BUT GOD intervenes. GLOW is excited to write the phrase, “BUT GOD…” onto the pages of people’s lives!

Because lost people matter,

2016 Go Light Our World Board Members:

Bryan and Marcia Thayer         Chuck Jackson

Janet Johnson                             Dawn Neudahl

Mary Lothe                                 Kathy Trotter

Val Wagner

Greatnonprofits top rated status 2015

Rather receive update by email or postal mail? Opt out? Let us know: thayers@GoLightOurWorld.org

 

It’s not too late to be a blessing!

Dear readers,

Three years and 975 blog posts later, we hope you are growing ever closer to the one true God who sees you where you are and loves you. These blogs are mostly memos to challenge ourselves, a journal of God’s goodness to us through these three difficult years through cancer and life threatening blood infections.

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Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called children of God.

image imageThese same three years mark the birth and growth of the Go Light Our World (GLOW) nonprofit ministry. Originally focused on bringing practical expressions of God’s love to the most poor and outcast Quechuan people in Bolivia and the unreached Romani people in Bulgaria, we now also support vital gospel ministries in Corinth and Athens, Greece; in the poorest neighborhoods of urban Scotland; an outreach to the Digo people group in Kenya, and a number of missions in the USA to the homeless, people in prison, college students (USA and Puerto Rico) and those in New Orleans who don’t yet know Jesus and others beginning their faith journey with him.

Some of you already support GLOW in yearly or monthly donations. Thank you! You know your gifts go directly to the mission field, not to salaries, insurance plans, buildings or other admin costs. Your gifts have provided native language bibles to 100 people who were so excited to have a bible they can read!

You gave a little boy his first pair of leather shoes, medicine for a teenager who helps in the Josias program we support. You have literally clothed the naked and fed the hungry with nutritious meals and the hope Jesus offers. You have taught them to read and write – one has gone on to nursing school. You’ve visited “the least of these” in prison.

We continue to offer the free daily devotional blog to all. And we invite you, (no obligation), to consider supporting the GLOW ministries in 2016. A monthly recurring gift of just  25 cents per post ($6/month) provides a nutritious meal for 5 hungry children each month. 50 cents per blog  ($12/mimageonth) provides 144 meals over a yeaimager. One dollar per post ($24 per month) provides needed educational supplies and basic medicines where access to clean water is difficult.

 

We invite you to partner with us in 2016 in following Jesus when he said:

 

“In as much as you do this to the least of these you do it unto me.” – Matthew 25:40

Tax deductible gifts may be made online through PayPal or credit card: Go to www.GoLightOurWorld.org/giving OR by check to: “Go Light Our World” 1020 N 5th Ave W, Newton, IA 50208

 

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Rejoice! Always rejoice in the Lord!

And there are three other ways to partner with GLOW that don’t cost a penny:

1.  Join us in regular prayer for GLOW and its recipients. Email us if you want to receive regular mission updates: thayers@GoLightOurWorld.org

2: Simply press “Forward to a friend” or “Friend on Facebook” (bottom of this post) to others you think might be blessed by our daily message. Spread the light among your friends and build the GLOW community.

 

3.  Reimagead and write your own review of Go Light Our World at Great NonProfits: http://greatnonprofits.org/org/go-light-our-world.

 

We are blessed in order to bless others, to live simply so others can simply live.

Marcia and Bryan Thayer for Go Light Our World

Marcia and Bryan Thayer for Go Light Our World (at Mercy Hospital)

Thank you for prayerful consideration of partnering with GLOW.

It’s not too late for a one-time or recurring gift that begins in 2015 and continues bringing the light of Jesus to a dark and needy world in the new year!  Be blessed in your daily reading and in growing closer to God.

 

 

Capturing the cross

 

A caption in last week’s news is a reminder of why Go Light Our WorldTMpromotes the true gospel even in so-called ‘Christian’ countries.

 

The photo showed scores of ‘religious’ men diving off a dock into a cold lake in Sophia, Bulgaria (not far from the GLOW ministry in Vetren). They are trying to grab hold of a wooden cross thrown by the Orthodox priest to bless the waters. The men engage in this activity with hope that catching the cross will bring health and prosperity to the one who captures it.

 

Do void superstitions have influence over your life? Are “good luck” and “cross your fingers” woven into your vocabulary? Do you find yourself doing good deeds in hopes it will bring you blessing or good karma?

 

There is a way to capture the cross. And you don’t need to dive into frigid waters after some wooden icon. Simply bow your heart where you are right now, and extend your open hands in submission to the one who died on that cross and who offers His forgiveness and great hope to you. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you and show you the way you should go today.

 

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
– Jesus, Mark 8:34

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

We want to thank those who have partnered with Go Light Our WorldTM to bring the light of Jesus to a dark world. Whether you gave a one-time or monthly gift of $10, $50, $100, or more, your generous gifts directly support vital gospel ministries in:

 

Bolivia
– Growing healthy families
– Providing literacy, nutrition, health, and worship outreach to children
– Vocational training for struggling moms
– (Marcia and I are preparing to join the Bolivian mission field in 2015!)

 

Bulgaria
– Literacy training for rural outcast children
– Abraham’s Flock provides milk and eggs for needy families
– Christian education for children

 

Greece
– Bringing gospel hope to the lost in Athens and Corinth

 

Scotland
– Bringing real hope and the power of Jesus to transform broken lives in the inner city housing projects

 

United States
– Supporting gospel church plants in New Orleans and San Diego
– Training and equipping college athletes to become Christian leaders and missionaries

 

Puerto Rico
– Raising up Christian leaders among college athletes

 

Kenya
– Supporting a young family bound for the mission field to bring the gospel to the unreached Digo people

 

There is still time to join our prayer and financial support team. Visit our giving page at www.GoLightOurWorld.org/giving to learn more.

 

Go Light Our WorldTM is a tax-exempt nonprofit ministry. There are no paid salaries so your donations go directly to the mission field. Thank you for living a life marked by giving to others. It matters!

 

 

Urgent prayer request – Bulgaria

 

 

imageURGENT prayer request: please pray for the rain to stop in central Bulgaria.

 

GLOW supports a vital mission in Bulgaria and severe flooding is threatening homes, crops, and the animals of ‘Abraham’s Flock.’ We received an urgent email this morning indicating the pastor has had to evacuate his house due to the dangerous flooding.
We will be sending a special gift to the Bulgarian mission. Would you like to partner with us? Visit www.GoLightOurWorld.org/giving to make a tax-deductible donation today.
And please pray! Thank you.
 

Partner with GLOW in Bulgaria

 

 

Graduation 2Go Light Our World (GLOW) supports an important mission to poor children in Vetren, Bulgaria.  The Bulgaria mission supports a literacy and nutrition program while also teaching children the hope that Jesus offers. Here a girl receives her academic certificate.

 

Boy with baby goats

Unique to the Bulgaria mission is Abraham’s Flock, a self-sufficiency program that teaches care of animals while producing milk and eggs for the children and their families. The flock now includes over a dozen milk goats, dozens of chickens, and numerous ducks and geese.
our sweetest studentChildren are coming to know Jesus and making Him known. Visit the Bulgaria ministries gallery to learn more.

Would you partner with GLOW by praying for the children of Bulgaria and children across the world who need to find the real and practical hope that is offered through the good news of the gospel?

 

You can also partner with GLOW by making a one-time or monthly tax-deductible gift. Visit www.GoLightOurWorld.org/giving to learn how easy it is. Even small gifts make a big difference!

 

Now you can support Go Light Our World (GLOW) without costing a penny out-of-pocket! Just select Go Light Our World when you shop Amazon.com. We do and it’s easy.  When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon donates to our charitable organization.  SMILE.AMAZON.COM

 

Be a light in the world of others. Share the GLOW blog and Facebook posts with your friends.

 

“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” Mark 9:37

 

 

You are the light

 

You are the light of the world. Matthew 5:14

 

 

The message of the GLOW (Go Light Our World) ministry is to shine the light of Jesus into the world. We currently support gospel ministries to the unreached poorest of poor in Bolivia, Bulgaria, Greece, Scotland, and the United States.

 

When Jesus says “You are the light of the world” He intends for that light to shine wherever you go. He isn’t saying, “Look at how talented and smart you are; how much better you are than everyone else.” No, He is illustrating what happens when the power of an infinite and extraordinary God resides in the heart of an ordinary person who follows His Son. His message is, “When I live in you and when you remain in me, my light shines so brightly, the rest of the world will see and come to praise the Father.” (See Matthew 5:16)

 

He knows it’s tempting for us to keep the truth and joy of His love all to ourselves. When ministry becomes messy and often frustrating, sometimes we want to crawl under our basket and just bask in the light of God’s peace warming us. We think of the image of resting in His arms and long to remain in that quiet place. Pain and sorrow have ways of ravaging the body and the mind and wreak havoc and violence on our soul. In those times all you long for is peace and quiet, a release from what seems to be an ever-increasing grip on your life. God’s light is meant for such times. His Spirit speaks peace, truth, and hope to us in such desperately needed ways.

 

But His light isn’t meant to remain solely within us for our comfort only. It is meant to encourage others, meaning other believers as well as bringing the hope of the gospel to the rest of the world. Imagine if our message were health and fitness but we didn’t take care of your own bodies. Who would want to listen to us? In the same way we are called to take care of the body of Christ too, that is other believers. His amazing light is meant to pour over the darkness of our world and flow onto all those around us. The role of light is to disperse darkness.

 

What would it look like if your light shined into someone else’s darkness today? Maybe you’ll search your address book and write an encouraging note of hope to someone you’ve lost contact with. Tell someone else how much you appreciate who they are, not just what they do. Don’t be afraid to mention how good God is when others are around. Tell someone the reason for your faith. Show His mercy to someone who has no other reason to hope.

 

Be the light. Go light our world today.

 

 

Bulgaria mission update

goatDefend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Psalm 82:3
Your tax-deductible gifts to GLOW supports vital ministries in Bolivia, Bulgaria, Greece, and the USA. We partner with missionary friend Aleka Dragotas in bringing the good news of Jesus to Vetren, Bulgaria in such practical ways. The ministry in Vetren focuses on reaching outcast gypsy children and their parents, not only with the life saving Gospel, but also with literacy classes and an agriculturally based self-sufficiency program to help raise their families out of the bonds on poverty. In Bulgaria these people are persecuted and maligned because of their dark skin and gypsy heritage. One of the exiting outcomes of this ministry was the presentation of the first Christmas pageant since the fall of communism in that town. The 2011 and 2012 presentations featured gypsies and public school children working together to relay the gospel story.

GLOW recently sent funds to help with the Abraham’s Flock Project (goats and chickens) in Vetren so all the children can have sufficient eggs and milk, while learning to care for the animals. Aleka writes her thanks:

Dear brother Thayer,

Thank you so much for your (GLOW) donation! We were in desperate need for a (grain) grinder and your donation was the answer to my prayers!

 “Abraham’s flock” is growing and we now have 13 newborn goat kids!

 Great things God has done since the barn was built last year!.

boy collecting eggs-sm chickens My first goal this morning was to rush to the post office to send by Western Union your donation to  Pastor Julian, so he can purchase the grinder which we prayed for so much!  As soon as the goat kids are weaned off their mother’s milk, they will be eating ground food.      The church in Vetren has become a great example due to the work that has been done among the children and the barn which will create jobs for the people.

 Would you please join me in prayer so that the Lord may bring more supporters who will be faithful partners in this huge project  which eventually will both spiritually and physically transform the children.

 Since a few important supporters went to be with the Lord, I am praying that the Lord will “raise” new ones. More churches are asking me to start  summer schools for the children.   In this period of time, it is myself and Pastor Julian.  Thank you for your prayers and your partnership in what the Lord is doing for the children in those remote gypsy villages.

–  Aleka Dragotas

Check out the Bolivia Ministry Photo Gallery by clicking on the Ministries Tab of the GoLightOurWorld.org website menu. Know that when you partner with GLOW through financial gifts and prayer, you help reach some of the most outcast people in the world including Bulgaria, Bolivia, Greece, and the United States.  Go Light Our World wherever you are!