Letters from Lilongwe

We have had an amazing opportunity as a team to be able to live among and love on the people of Sarajevo Bosnia.  During these first five days I have learned so much about the culture, people, and heritage that I could never learn from a textbook.  We have had the opportunity to be out on "Campus" and talk to students. During these last few days we have been trying out all of the staple foods of Sarajevo, which are all great - lots of meat and grease(only the best).  The food is very flavorful and reasonably priced for our very low budget.  We have been able to meet the short and long term teams that are working with Svaki Student Sarajevo.  It has been a blessing that they have such a strong basis for the student organization.  As a team we are here to assist in  reaching out to students and getting to know them through relational ministry. I have been learning a ton from all of the training we have done but nothing prepares you like when you are out on campus talking to s

These last few days of training have been great for bonding as a team and learning how the Lord will guide us through the coming weeks.  I have been blow away by the stories that our team members have brought forth as to how the Lord has provided for them.  The excitement is growing in our team as we count down the hours before we board our first flight for Bosnia at 9am.  We then have a 21 hour trip taking us through four airports before we get to Sarajevo. Today we had some free time and went to the Astros v Braves 1pm game up at Turner Field.  I hadn't seen the Braves this season and it was great to be able to spend this time with my team members at the game.  It was empty as it was a day game during the week so we got some cheap tickets and found a section to claim as our own on the third base line towards the outfield.  We also had a pair of tickets right behind the plate on the second row so we rotated who got to use the nice tickets.  They were probably the closest I have e

I will be bringing my CR-48 to Bosnia with me on our trip to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  During the last five months I have been able to use this computer is many different settings.  Mainly on campus I was able to test out the web only operating system for all of my school needs and I still have some tools that I will need before I can transfer all school work over to this operating system.  It is exciting to be able to use this computer in another country to report back the experiences of this trip. Also in the coming months the Chromebooks will be coming to market and everyone will be able to give them a test run.  Check out some of the information or hit me up with any questions you might have about this operating system. http://www.google.com/chromebook/#features All is Great in Crown Plaza Paul Shackelford

Today has been another long but very eventful day.  I slept at Theta Xi last night crashing for a few hours before going to Midtown at State Street with Adam Caracci and Cam Phillips.  It was an amazing service that I was glad to be back in Atlanta to participate in.  After worshiping the Lord and hearing how the Lord commissioned Peter to go forth for the Lord I went to finish up some work before training.  Around 3pm I got a ride with another team member down to the Crown Plaza hotel down by the Airport.  We checked in and got situated for a few hours meeting members of other teams going to Salerno Italy, and South Africa.  It was great to be able to also meet the members of my team that I will be spending the next seven weeks with.  They seem to be a great team that will be united under the common goal of serving the Lord in Sarajevo. We went out and got some dinner as a team, the Pizza was delicious.  After dinner we had some meet and greet games that we played just to get us talk

Today has been a very long day but it was great.  I woke around 4am and left Fultons house at 4:30 bound for RDU to fly to Atlanta.  I landed around 7:30 and Marta'ed up to Tech to drop in at Theta Xi and drop off my bag.  I went up to the student center to pick up my package and some mail.  Then I was blown away by how amazing the Lord is as he has provided for my support for Bosnia.   After picking up my stuff and rushed back to the house before catching a train down to Philips Area.  I had been given a great opportunity to experience how Bon Jovi tours work.  Therefore I showed up around 10:15 and got VIP treatment by  Mike Savas, the Head of VIP relations and Head of Tour Management.   We went through all of the amazing physical attributes of the set, stage, rigging, video, and audio.  This stuff is really cool for all of us Engineers who were able to go because of my English teacher.  Then he went into the managerial side of his job and all of the people in the crew.  I cann

Yesterday I was able to take our boat out onto Jordan Lake and chill with my pup.  I am at a place in my life that calls for a lot of retreating to the Lord and just asking for direction.  Therefore it was great to be able to go out on the water and just speak to him about everything that is going on in my life.  I also enjoyed this same type of time with the Lord while at the Beach because I could just go out in the water and lift up all of my thoughts to the Lord. I have so much to the the Lord for now I must focus on him during this time on preparing my heart for a new stage of my life.  Lord I give everything I have to your will please continue to guide me through the dark. All Comfort is in the Lord Paul Shackelford

Once I got a ride back to North Carolina with Mason Elledge, I went to my brother place and got some dinner. It was great to be able to talk with him over some great food for a little while since I had not been home all semester.  After chilling for a little while beating up on my little pup, Mandie, I went to go unload my stuff at my house.  Since my parents are currently out of the country we are renting our house to some regional ministers who are in transition stages of life and needed a house for a few months.  It was really weird to be tip-toeing through my own house because I didn't want to disturb our tenants.  Then I actually ended up staying in my room for the night and leaving around 7:30am to go and pick up Chelsea for our trip down to the Beach. My brothers girl friends family has a beach house down in Pawleys Island and my brother invited Chelsea and I to come on down for a few days before we leave for the summer.  Therefore we are currently chilling on the South Ca

Midtown Easter Service Recap from Grace Midtown on Vimeo . Grace Midtown at Center Stage may be over for this semester but there were many great times there.  Over the past six months there has been an explosion within the City for the Lord.  Its has been great to see the work of the Lord in so many places.  He choose to use Center Stage as a platform to show the Love of Christ in what is normally a bar.  For Easter Midtown decided to have baptisms during the service for all who were ready to publicly display their trusting in the Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.  A member of the Church just decided to film some of the service, he had not planned on it before coming.  Afterwards he produced this amazing video that shows a small part of the amazing service that occurred. This was amazing All is Great in the Lord Paul Shackelford P.S. - This song has been stuck in my head for the past few weeks, but it hasn't come out on CD or anything so I couldn't find it.

I am so glad that finals are now over!!  Now I have little planned for the last days at Tech before going home and preparing for Bosnia.  During these last few days I have studied non-stop and I am pleased with whatever happened on those finals.  That doesn’t mean I did great but it means that I am pleased with my effort during these last weeks of school.  I have always been the type of person who can work all day everyday and still not be prepared enough.  This is a major fault of mine but I have to learn how to monitor how much I have learned and focus my time on the harder material. Ok, schools done no more thinking about it.  This blog will change its focus over the summer because I will be out of the country.  I may or may not have internet while in Sarajevo, Bosnia so I’ll be sending weekly reports back to that States as the internet permits.  It is going to be a great time to serve the Lord, grow as a man and as a follower of Christ.  To all of my friends from Tech – come and

I have been studying for a physics final for the past few hours and a song by Alli Rogers came on.  I normally can fade out lyrics while I'm studying but this song stood out and the finals lyrics hit me.  We are in Eden we know Good from Evil but we at times choose Evil over good.  Tonight at the end of light Tonight, I feel lonely I thought I heard my heart stop beating I long for you to hold me I guess I feel like Eden The twilight tried it’s best Tonight I feel good and evil Against my chest Would I love you less or better If I didn’t miss your face Read your words like a love letter Would I have known your grace? I guess I feel like Eden Aware of all I am Tonight I feel good and evil Against my skin We’re all homesick Is love the reason? My hunger led me to your hope Until the end of this colder season Keep us warm Cause we are always Eden The day after she fell We feel good and evil And choose which one to tell