Thanksgiving Prayers

Thanksgiving is a time in which we celebrate and thank God for all of the wonderful blessings that he has given us.  The first people who celebrated this day did it to show their thanks for the bountiful harvest and for God'a providence in their lives.

God provided a wonderful bounty for our thanksgiving feast with all the kids who have been and are in our program.

Jesus once used an illustration that just like crops, in people's lives there are times of planting, watering, and harvesting.  Planting is when the the gospel and/or other Biblical truths are shared with someone so that they have the knowledge of what God has done for them.  Watering is when God works in their lives and we can be a part of helping the seeds to take root and grow into faith.  Harvesting is when the faith matures and the person decides to give their life to God and become one of his children.  It is really exciting to be a part of the harvest, we have experienced it before here in Romania and it is an unparalleled joy when someone that you love accepts Christ!  

Sandel, who was baptized just over a year ago, demonstrates the happiness we feel when someone we love comes to Christ.

The times of planting and watering, though, can be very trying on one's patience.  This is where we find ourselves at the moment, sometimes feeling like we're at the end of our rope.  Kids that we love and pour ourselves into are choosing to reject God even though they know the truth.  You may know the feeling when you long for someone that you love to accept God and it seems like after every step forward they take two steps back.  It is excruciating and exhausting and no matter how much we cry out to God to save them it just seems like nothing is happening.  

Others lack respect and seem to do all they can to try our patience.  We try to teach the truth at youth group but we can hardly get a word in edgewise.  After practically every sentence comments are made and the group explodes.  Even at math tutoring after an hour I lost my cool after taking twice as long to do the lesson as it should have because they wouldn't stop talking.  Sometimes it seems like things are out of control and it is a struggle to know what to do so that we can maintain control.

Satan is working here in a big way.  He is feeding these kids and the people here in general lies that are designed to keep them away from God.  He is using discouragements to sap our energy and will to keep fighting.  He has a huge foothold here and he is using that to his full advantage.  But our biggest reason to be thankful right now is that God is on our side!  He is more powerful than the evil one by far and he has a good plan for each of us.  His plan will be fulfilled even if it takes longer than we would like, which is usually the case, hence the need for supernatural patience.

We are so thankful for all that God has done for us.  We are thankful for our wonderful family and friends who faithfully support us financially and in prayer.  We are thankful for our church families and for all of the people who are making sure we are always taken care of.

We are thankful for the calling that God has given us to minister to the abandoned kids in Romania.  We are thankful for our kids, even if they aren't always so well behaved.

We are thankful for the car that God provided through my old place of work Extol Inc.  We are thankful for our great apartment and for all of the friends that God has placed in our lives here in Romania.  The list could go on and on, you get the picture.

Please pray extra hard right now for those who are wrestling with the truth and who feel like it would be easier to give up than to pursue a relationship with God.  Please pray for us that in these hard times we would be able to keep our eyes on God and on his long term plan and to not get discouraged because we want instant results.  Please pray that God will work through us and give us glimpses of his plan and how it will be fulfilled.  Please pray for resilience, wisdom, and strength for us as we continue to fight this battle.  Thanks so much and happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Happenings

This fall has been flying by and it is hard to believe that all of our programs and classes have been going on for a month already.  We've been keeping busy with lots of extra things too. 

We took the boys from the Alternate Transition House to play soccer with some of the guys from church.  It was chilly but they all had a great time, along with Steven who played with them.  The boys are doing well but some are struggling trying to get jobs so please pray for them.  Also pray that they have the resolve to continue with the program and for them to be open to a relationship with God.

Youth group continues to go well and we are enjoying going through the book of 1 John.  We took a break this week to watch David Murphy's Testimony, he is a baseball player who does what he does for God's glory.  We wanted to encourage the kids to do well in all they do, including school, which most don't take seriously.

We always play fun games in youth group, a lot from the show Minute to Win It.  The kids love these challenge games and it is usually pretty funny watching them do it.

We have an intern, Audrey who stayed with us for a week and got to see what we do here.  We enjoyed having her with us and we worked on learning some Romanian at the same time.  She is staying here for three months and will have had a chance to work in all areas of our ministry.

Our classes continue to go well with the kids, we enjoy all of the hugs and kisses that we get every time we see the younger ones.  Many of them live near us so we often see them when we're out and about.  Sometimes we feel like celebrities because we get mobbed by lots of kids! 

Here is a class of kids that are working on the color wheel lesson that we taught.

Here are their finished products, very nice! 

The boys at the transition program are doing well too, here they are showing off some new soccer jerseys that were donated.  They have started a building/carpentry class that will last for four months.

The boys enjoyed helping to put our new winter tires on the car.  The tires on the car originally were summer tires and Romania has a winter tire law.  Also the plowing isn't always the greatest and sometimes doesn't happen for a long time after it snows so these tires should be a great help this winter.

Thanks so much to our friends John and Karen who made it possible to get these tires!

Please continue to pray for all of the kids we work with.  They need protection from the evil one as sometimes we feel like he is really working overtime to keep them believing lies so that they won't come to God.  Please continue to pray for us, for health, energy, and guidance.  Thanks so much!