Around The Blocks

As we move closer to the start of our fall program we've been busy doing many different things. We put together proposals to send to the directors of the orphanages and we came up with new ideas for our classes. This year we will be spending the whole week working in our southern location which is where we've been seeing so much fruit in the young people's lives. This will be good for us because we'll be able to focus on and work with all the kids there instead of just a few like last year. It will also cut down on all the traveling to and from different places like we did last year.

Since we'll be spending most of the week there we spent much of this week looking for an apartment where we can stay. It turned out to be way harder than we thought to find something. After walking around for hours the first day and looking at the front doors of every single block building we saw, we hadn't found a single apartment for rent. The second day we finally found an announcement for a one bedroom apartment that sounded good, so we checked it out and it would be perfect for us. The problem was that the owner is in Spain and the person managing it was trying to take advantage of us because we're Americans so we must be rich! We had our Romanian director call him later and he made an offer so we are waiting to hear back if it accepted by the owner or not. Please pray for this, being the only apartment we found in three days of searching it is really important that we can rent it. We are trusting that God will provide and we would really appreciate your prayers for just that.

By the third day of searching everything started looking the same and we found ourselves going in circles and looking at the same places twice, it just took us a while to figure that out. The city isn't even that big but there are so many blocks that look nearly identical.

We found this fighter jet in one of the parks we walked through.

Another thing we did was hand out school kits to all the kids at the local orphanages, even ones we don't get to work with full time. The teachers were especially thankful for this help since supplies like crayons, notebooks, pens, and pencils are hard to come by for them.

Our partner Mariana handing off one of the kits, we gave one to every classroom.

Of course we were immediately greeted with lots of hugs and happiness from the girls we know from summer camps.

There were also some meetings with directors to go over our programs which leads to the next big prayer request. We had a problem with one of them over the summer because some of "his" kids were baptized, and he is still trying to keep us from talking about God at all. Please pray for God to lead us and give us wisdom in how to deal with this and how to be creative in how we share about him. Please pray for God to soften this man's heart so he lets us openly share about Jesus again. Please pray for the meetings with other directors that will happen soon and pray that we will have a great program that will lead these kids to Christ. Please pray for us and the rest of our staff and especially the two new couples here who will be starting language lessons soon.

Thanks so much for lifting us up in your prayers, we are so thankful that God honors the prayers of his children!

New Couples On Staff!

This week has brought the much anticipated arrival of two new couples who have joined our staff. We are so excited to welcome them and have been helping prepare their new place to stay, which is with us. We are all staying at the house formerly known as the girls transition house, since we won't be having that program again this year.

We went to the orphanage yesterday to play with the kids. School has started again so they were all there, it was a much different experience than going there over the summer when so many were at home.

We were welcomed by a huge crowd of kids and had so many hugs and kisses we felt like celebrities. The kids really missed us over the summer as we were away at camps. Here are Rebecca and Haley hanging out with some of the kids.

And here is Steven, the one with the red hair, Haley's husband and one of my two new guys on staff. I hope you can understand how exciting it is to have two more guys after I've been the only one on staff for two years. Let's just say I'm really, really happy!

Here are Josh and Missy, the other new couple. We go way back with them to our long summer here in 2008. They were interns then and we got to work with them at camp.

God has truly answered our prayers by sending these great new couples here to work with us. We are looking forward to getting to know them better. God has provided for each of them as they raised their support and prepared to come here. He brought them both here at the same time which is really neat. They will be great editions to our staff. Please pray that God will bless their transition here and bless them especially as they start language lessons soon.

This week we will be also be finding out what our fall program will be like. We know already that we will be working more in our southern location which is where we feel there is a revival coming. Please pray that God will lead us in all of our planning and that he will bless us with another fruitful year. We have already put the word out that we are looking for an apartment there, please pray that God will provide just the right one.

Two Year Update

Two years ago we arrived in Bucharest, Romania, starting a new chapter in our lives on the other side of the globe. God had called us to come here and minister to the abandoned children that we had met on two previous mission trips. For six months we studied the language and after that enjoyed being able to communicate directly with the kids. The rest of the first year we spent helping at the orphanages and baby hospital. It was a year of training and learning how to reach and show Christ's love to the kids we came here for.



This year we got to try our hand at being teachers with Mark teaching English and Rebecca teaching Science. We were also involved in story time, cooking classes and in several youth groups. We use these classes not only to enhance the kids' lives but also as a way to get into the orphanages by offering something valuable to them. Through these classes we have built relationships with many of the kids. Georgiana calls Rebecca “mommy” and told her recently as they were walking through the park that if someone saw them together they would think they're a family. Andrei calls Mark “daddy” and always runs and jumps in his arms and plasters on lots of kisses.





Some of our greatest joy has come from seeing many of the teens that we work with accept Christ and begin to grow in their faith. Last year at summer camp many of them made this decision and throughout the year we have worked with them and encouraged them. Four were baptized this summer and volunteered to help lead some of the lessons at this year's camps. Two of them now want to be pastors and are excited about sharing Christ with their peers. The camps this summer were also very fruitful with several more accepting Christ. God has truly been blessing this ministry and continues to show us his faithfulness.

These two years have been quite a challenge as well, adapting to the culture, working with emotionally challenged kids, and being far away from home, just to name a few. We have been stretched beyond what we ever thought we'd be doing with our lives, but we can feel God's sustaining hands holding us up. Through the fruitful relationships and changed lives we've experienced we can tell that our work here is not finished, but just getting started. That is why we've decided to continue working here for as long as God wants us to, and only he knows how long that will be. We know that we are in the right place and doing what God has called us to do with our lives.


Thank you so much for your prayers and support, our ministry is only possible because of your faithfulness! We have appreciated your encouragement through e-mails and Skype calls and we hope that we can continue to keep in touch. God sustains us through your prayers and has truly blessed us and our ministry through you. You are as much a part of this ministry as us because we couldn't do it without your help. We pray that we can continue to be partners in prayer and support as we go forward. We have many opportunities throughout the year for you to come and experience what we’re doing.

We will be coming home on November 14 and will be home for about a month. We will be speaking in all of our supporting churches and will post more details when we know them. We are looking to borrow a car for that month so if you or someone you know would be willing to lend one to us that would be a great help. Thanks again for everything and we look forward to continuing to share our experiences with you on our blog and in person. God be with you and bless you so you can continue to be a blessing to others.

Please continue to pray:

- For God to continue to lead us in his will and for us to know what that is.
- For God to be with us and our family and friends.
- For God to work in the lives of the kids we work with and for them to be open to accepting him.
- For God to watch over and protect the ones who are growing in relationship with him.
- For God to bar the evil one from hindering our work.
- For God to give us good health and safety especially while traveling.
- For God to guide us and our organization as the fall program is planned.
- For God to bless our supporters and churches so they can continue to bless us and others.

For a printable version of the update click here: Mark & Rebecca - Two Year Update

Keeping Busy

Since our vacation we've been alone most of the time because most of the other staff is in America for a wedding. We've been keeping busy here taking care of the houses, plants, dogs, and by visiting all of our areas of ministry.

We went to the baby hospital together for the first time in a long time and as usual we really enjoyed the babies.

How could you not enjoy this?

They are so cute and just long to be picked up and played with.

I bet if you weren't smiling before you are now.

We also visited our orphanages and played with the kids there.

We hadn't seen some of them since before the summer so it was great to see them again.

We also stayed at our southern location a few days, made some apartment visits, and spent some time with Alexa who is still recovering from his broken hand.

We've also been able to get together with friends which is great because we're often too busy during the school year. These weeks have been a nice mix between resting time and continuing to work with our kids here. Please continue to pray for the planning of the fall schedule as there are many unknowns. Please pray that we will be able to have a vibrant ministry this year that builds on what we've been doing so far. Thanks so much for your prayers.