For the Love of the World

09/25/2010

This website has some really great stuff! It's so refreshing and heart-warming to hear the testimonies of the people who have found their way home and are willing to share it with everyone in a loving way.

09/23/2010

Today the Orthodox Church celebrates the beginning of St JOHN the BAPTIST's life: not with his birth, but his CONCEPTION. - Bp. Savas Zembillas

09/02/2010

Help Support the Gilman Bendo Family
I recently started a Facebook Cause for Georgia Gilman Bendo who is serving as a missionary in Albania. Please visit and join the Gilman-Bendo family cause on facebook
(http://www.causes.com/causes/522355) or visit their OCMC profile at(http://www.ocmc.org/missionaries/missionary_profile.aspx?MissionaryId=6&PageTitle=Missionary+Biography)





Georgia Gilman Bendo grew up with her nine brothers and sisters in North Carolina. Her parents had converted to Orthodoxy several years before she was born and thus she was raised in the faith. At Duke University she majored in Russian language and literature and was able to spend 6 months in St. Petersburg. She feels that this time in Russia together with visits to Greece during these years strengthened her in the faith and made her certain of her calling to work for the Church.

She spent two years preparing for mission work after her graduation and arrived in Albania in 2004.
Since then she has been teaching English and an after-school catechism class at Protagonists Elementary School, a school started and operated by the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania.

In addition to teaching, her work includes curriculum development for the English and catechism program, supervising the Albanian English teachers, translations into English for the Churchs website (www.orthodoxalbania.org) and taking part in a number of youth camps and conferences.


In January 2008 she was married to Theodore Bendo, who also works for the Albanian Orthodox Church.
On November 21, 2008, God blessed Georgia and Todi with a son: Vasili Thomas Bendo, was born on the Feast day of the Entrance of the Theotokos. He was 20 inches (51 cm) and weighed a healthy 8lbs 8oz (3.85 kilos). Vasili Thomas Bendo is named after St. Basil the Great, St. Basil of Ostrog (Montenegro), Vasili (Todi's grandfather), and Thomas (Georgia's great-grandfather).


Georgia needs your ongoing prayer and financial support in order to serve in Albania.
(taken from: http://www.ocmc.org/missionaries/missionary_profile.aspx?MissionaryId=6&PageTitle=Missionary+Biography)

Come and offer your support to the Bendo family while they serve the people of Albania Learn More

08/24/2010

08/24/2010

Jason's Pre-Deployment Checklist: St. Kosmas Aitolos
jdickey-thepre-deploymentcheklist.blogspot.com

08/24/2010

http://www.ncregister.com/blog/how-mother-teresas-100th-birthday-is-being-celebrated

Blessed Teresa is Being Honored Worldwide While the Empire State Building won’t be lit up in the&

08/21/2010

I have improved the "Home of Hope" FB page. It's basically the same but with a few improvements. It has the same links. If anyone would like, they are welcome to support the cause.

I also posted an article that was recently written by Missionary Pamela Barksdale!!!

08/17/2010

taken from www.orthodoxalbania.org
Five years ago, in the summer of 2003, the doors finally opened on a long awaited ministry of the Orthodox Church of Albania – The Orthodox Home of Hope. This family-structured home for children in need was started with the blessing and funds secured by His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios. It was built on the beautiful campus of the Theological Academy “The Resurrection of Christ” at the Monastery of St. Vlash near Durres. Although it began with only 8 children, within a very short time it reached its maximum capacity of 30.

This home is a blessing and gift to the children, ages 5-18, who come from particularly difficult backgrounds. Some came from dire economic situations, others from unstable or misfortunate families, while others from families where one of the biological parents had died or left. As with all children, their needs are many, but more than anything they need unconditional love from the people who surround them. They also need to feel safe, valued, respected, and not be treated differently than any other kids their age. This has been the ongoing focus of the caring people who work at this home.

08/09/2010

A few days ago I had posted a blog article entitled "It is good for us to be Here" (Mt 17:4) that referenced Pamela Barksdale's article on our visit to a Roma/Gypsy community in Tirana. Pamela just sent me a link to a UN publication that provides an incredible amount of information on the Roma people. Thanks Pamela!!!

http://europeandcis.undp.org/uploads/public/File/rbec_web/vgr/vuln_rep_all.pdf.

08/08/2010

Check out my latest post!

One of my greatest motivations for serving in the mission field revolves around my travels that took place at the end of my two combat tours in Afghanistan eight years ago. In fact, this is where my first encounter with the Orthodox faith took place. I suppose that this experience has gone hand in hand with my becoming an Orthodox Christian! Thanks be to God!

Afghanistan confronted me with many things. One of these confrontations was the damage that was committed by the Soviets on the Afghan people as well as the entire countryside throughout the course of the 1970’s and throughout the early 1990’s. I was also given the opportunity to travel back and forth from the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan during this time.

When I think about the damage that was done to those two countries as a result of the abuses of the former Soviet Union, it’s impossible to not sympathize with people who have struggled to regain their Christian identity after the fall of communism throughout eastern Europe.

In my own experience, it seems that the need for outreach may not as recognized in countries such as Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan on account that they do not share the fame and notariety of Afghanistan. Yet, these countries clearly have their own share of problems that include everything from ethnic violence, abusive governments, the Russian Mafia, landscapes that are littered with chemical bunkers, and fields of unexploded ordinances.

Regardless of these circumstances I still have to remember that it was in Kyrgyzstan where I was first encountered the Orthodox Faith, and it was at that moment where I was welcomed into the fullness of Christ. I mention this because was there where I was welcomed home by the Mother of God as I was wandering through the airport of Bishkek on my way back from my second and last combat tour in Afghanistan.

(cont. on http://jdickey-thepre-deploymentcheklist.blogspot.com/)

08/06/2010

Thank for visiting my new page. This will be a stopping point for anyone who might want to visit my blog. It will also be a place to visit various links and causes devoted to the mission of the Church.

08/06/2010

This FB page is a quick link to my blog: http://jdickey-thepre-deploymentcheklist.blogspot.com/