Dear                 

[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres- 1 Corinthians 13:7.  What is love really? That has been on my heart the past few months. I really feel like God is challenging me to show his love.  I am going on a mission trip to Sombor, Serbia this summer. June 19^th – July 7^th to be exact. I have never felt a call to missions before. I am sure in knowing me and how much I love people; you can understand why that would confuse me.  I am truly amazed at how many doors have opened for me to go on this mission. Now I see that it has always been God’s timing and I am so thankful that timing is now. 

This particular mission has really been tugging at my heart since last year when my pastors first went.  In Serbia we will come along side Greg and Jelena Sivulka. Greg is the pastor of the church in Sombor, and actually moved there from America. Jelena grew up in Serbia. Their focus is on building solid loving relationships with the people there.  To learn more about there ministry see the website at the bottom.

We are going to be focusing on several things while we are over there. The first thing is a service project. We will restore a basketball court in the community; some cleaning, paint and new hoops. During the week the team is going to split up. Half will do a vacation bible school for the children in the community. The other half of us

will do a basketball camp for the teenagers and young adults. At night we will do an English camp for adults in the town.  There will also be humanitarian aide outings where we will bring food to people who have a hard time leaving the house.

There are, as usual certain needs on a mission trip. It is so important to me to have the support of prayer. It would be such a huge blessing and comfort when I am so far from home. There are 15 of us on the team and it will cost each person on the team $2400. This will include transportation from planes to trains, food, training, service project supplies, and hopefully something we can leave with the church in Sombor. Please consider if you would feel a call to partner with me in prayer or finances. If you do choose to give, all the information is included on the response card. Please make all checks out to North Coast Church with Serbia in the memo. No amount is too small!

I cannot tell you how excited I am to just go and love on people. If I can be used to bring one person more hope than I am blessed.  I really believe that I am also going learn more about who God is in the three weeks I will be over there.  Thanks for reading. I hope this finds you well and I can’t wait to hear from you!

God Bless,

Vicky

 vgaccione@gmail.com

I am so over being my own selfish person....I want to be all for God ...I always sing it and pray and I tell him I don't know how to do it ...please take me and make me what you want.  But it's not happening and so I know there must be things I am holding onto........but I am ready to let them go.........shoot I am begging to let them go! Pray for me if you will!

And don't get me wrong I am not in this horrible depressed mood...honestly I have the best friends anyone could ask for and a beautiful roof over my head......loving supportive family and all that is important I am not lacking....and you will almost always catch me smiling ...but I just know there are things that need to change...attitude and and things deep in me know one sees but God, Things and feelings I couldn't put into words if I wanted to. They need to be fully surrendered to God and I know I can always grow more close to him and have a deeper relationship one that is a constant encouragement to everyone around me. That is what I want ......ok I don't even know if that made sense but it does to me and it felt good writing it soooooooooo Thanks!

My Speech for class, SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!!!!:

Specific Topic:  To inform about the disengagement of the Gaza strip in Israel

Introduction (IGD):

Now close your eyes. I want you to go back to September 11^th, 2001. Can you remember where you were when you first heard about the twin towers? Did you happen to wake up to the TV? Did someone call you tell you about it, maybe a parent or friend? Did you call someone to tell them? Now how did it make you feel when the images first flashed across the screen? The people screaming, crying, some running aimlessly covered in ash. You can open your eyes…

So think about how safe you would feel if terror like that was a regular occurrence in your hometown? If you lived in Israel it would be.

Thesis:

Knowing why the Gaza strip is important to both Israel and Palestine, and why Israel would disengage or pull out of the territory are key factors in understanding why this event can have an effect on the rest of the world.

I.

a. (visual aide-Map): Israel has ties to the Gaza strip dating back over 3000 yrs. In Gen 15:7-21 of the Bible or the Torah, God made a covenant with Abraham promising his descendants, the Jews, that Land who later established a kingdom there.

b. In the Israeli –Paletine pro-con website the Palestinian claim to the land goes back to about the 7^th century when the Arab nation was trying to get out from under Ottoman Rule.

c. In 1948 Israel declared statehood but the West Bank was still under Jordan control and the Gaza strip under Egyptian control both were Palestinian territories.  In 1967 Egypt joined with Syria and Jordan as alliances to go to war and annialate Israel, not only did Israel win the six-day war but they gained control of Gaza and the West Bank. Obviously we can see the tension.

d. (Visual Aide- beach, farm) Not only is Gaza important for it’s history, there are beautiful beaches and fertile farm land. Gush katif accounts for 10% of all agricultural produce raised in Israel.

Transition:

Now that we know why the Gaza strip is so important, we need to know what would justify the prime minister of Israel Ariel Sharon for giving it up.

II.

a. According to the website For Zion’s sake an Israel humanitarian aid organization, Israel has had over 25,000 known terror attacks since 2000 alone.

b. (Visual Aide-hamas bombing) There was a bombing Dec. 2, 2001 on Haifa Bus, 15 people killed and 40 people were wounded. Hamas, which means Islamic Resistance Movement, took responsibility for this bombing, and is the main terrorist group in Palestine. According to the Council for Foreign Relations Hamas commits itself to the destruction of Israel. They believe this is a Jihad or Holy War.

c. Hamas has many followers and sympathizers. Not only does Hamas focus on military agendas it also funds schools, orphanages, health care clinics and puts money into other social arenas for Palestine which would help explain its popularity and Support.

d. (Visual Aide- Protests for) While there were many who protested against the disengagement there were also many Israeli’s for it, like Ariel Sharon seeking Peace from the bloodshed of his people.

Transition :

Now that we know why Israel would give up Gaza, we need to know how that affects the rest of the world.

III.

a. This is the first time in modern history that a country has given up territory won in war for nothing in return. That makes Palestine and Hamas see it as a justification and victory for terror.

b. (Visual Aide-Hamas militant Rocket) Mahmoud Abbas the Palestinian prime minister does not have the means or influence to control Hamas, who will not agree to non-violence. Already the day of the disengagement militants are up in arms.

c. Not only would Hamas have means to run under the radar of authority but the Gaza Strip sits right on the Medditeranean Sea.

d. In an article from MSNBC.com former Prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu said, ”it’s not a question of wanting to leave Gaza, it’s how you leave, under what conditions. And I think we’re going to do it in such a way …where we have no built in security, in fact we’ve giving Gaza a port, can you imagine giving al-Qaida a port on the Hudson?”

Conclusion:

 (visual aide-boy on fence) Yes this is happening in Israel and that’s thousands of miles away from us, but anywhere that terror is allowed to move freely and organize itself the whole world is at risk.