It’s been a busy year for Greg & Jen Churilov.
As owners of Effective Translations—an English-Spanish translations company, their primary task in 2004 was establishing a production office in South America. Selling their San Diego home, they relocated in mid-2004—with their 4 yr. old child—to an apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There they recruited a handful of highly qualified professional translators and formed a production office that would soon translate more than 300,000 words per month.

In December 2004, the Indonesian tsunami hit Sumatra, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka. As a Volunteer Minister for the Church of Scientology, (www.volunteerministers.org), Greg felt it was his duty to lend a hand. By January 5th he was helping coordinate efforts with UNICEF and other such organizations, working from a tent across from the Governor’s office in Banda Aceh, northern Sumatra (www.liveandgrow.org/tsunami/greg/) The warm rains—from 2pm until 6pm daily—made the job harder. The occasional aftershocks from the earthquake that had caused tsunami—combined with malaria-carrying mosquitoes—made sleeping difficult. Yet Greg remembers those days working alongside volunteers from many other Nations as a life-affirming experience, comparable only to his previous church-related volunteer work during the aftermath of Sept 11, in New York City.

While Greg was away, His wife Jennifer ran the company, wearing several hats at once, including that of world-class mom.

Once back in Buenos Aires, Greg focused on establishing new client relationships.

As Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast of the United States, Jennifer was already making flight reservations – knowing that Greg's passion for volunteering would take him back to the U.S.

Greg joined 1,000 Scientology volunteers. They worked in Red Cross shelters, and driving truckloads of food and supplies to areas not yet reached by other groups. They removed debris from people’s homes and helped rebuild schools and churches of several denominations across the South.

Deploying east to Gulfport, Mississippi, Greg found himself in charge of a group of 80+ volunteers. Greg and Tim Ford, Scientologist from Florida, shaped the group into an effective food-delivering, people-helping machine, gaining the vocal appreciation and respect of Harrison County’s Sheriff and other County staff.

For both Jen and Greg, the year was filled with life-lessons. Their business model - that of overseas-translations-vendor appealing to U.S.-based companies who seek to outsource globally (thus benefiting from better rates) has proven itself and has kept them quite busy.

Though establishing an office overseas included a number of challenges, their business has grown. But for Jen, the lessons were about discovering hidden strength, and balancing work and motherhood. For Greg, the longest-lasting lessons of 2005 have come from contact with Muslim children in Sumatra, from conversations with refugees and fellow volunteers in Mississippi and Louisiana, and from rediscovering in the process the blessings of coming home.

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