Celebrity Status!?

The strangest thing happened in church this morning. I heard English being spoken and I turned around to see which southern state our guest was from. (We have a lot of American visitors in the summer from Southern Baptist churches which partner with churches in Moldova.) As I was chatting with a very sweet young lady named Lindsey, a man a few seats over looked at me, leaned across and said, 'Your name's Barb, isn't it?' I was a bit surprised but thought maybe I had met him at a missionary gathering or something. As we shook hands and he introduced himself he said, "I recognize you from your blog. I read your blog!" He then went on to laughingly suggest that I'm famous now, and I laughed too, sort of.

I suppose when complete strangers recognize your face from some public forum, that could constitute celebrity status. It's actually been pretty cool to have met several people, both online and in person, who know of me through my blog. It's a bit disarming, too... I always stop to think "what have I written and is it all stuff that I really want to share with complete strangers?" The thought has occurred a few times to restrict access to my blog but then I think, no, I'm not pouring out my guts here, just sharing some of the realities of life in Moldova and some of my own personal journey and experiences. Several people have found my blog because they were looking for information about Moldova. And many people have commented that the number of pictures that I post really makes it interesting. So I continue to seek to please my public. :-) But more than I want to please my public, I want to please my God. Therefore, I want to tell you more about God's work in my life. He's done some pretty amazing things and after all, this blog isn't about making me famous. As one short-term missionary put it, 'I want to make Jesus famous.' So if writing this blog can help to make Jesus famous so that people see him and recognize him for who He is, and want to get to know Him - I have done what I ultimately and truly want to do.

This morning in church there were some other people who were making Jesus famous. Six new believers were baptized by immersion. Before they were baptized they each stood up and gave a word of testimony, sharing how they learned about Jesus, repented of their sins, and how Jesus Christ has changed their lives by offering them forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Living your days without feeling guilty all the time and without being afraid of death... that can only be a good thing, don't you think? If you want to know more about Jesus, please feel free to make a comment or to e-mail me directly at barbtherev@yahoo.ca. I'd love to introduce you to my best Friend, my Saviour and my Lord. He is the One you want to know.