Fall - Winter 2012 Update

Last fall was the start of the school year for us, a time when we get back into regular ministry after a busy summer.  We began anew with all of our classes and tutoring of kids of all ages.  The director who had forbade us from teaching about God was replaced by one who said we can, praise God for answered prayer! We started youth group for high school aged kids by beginning a study through the book of 1 John.  These young people are growing up surrounded by temptations and wrong ideas of what love is, so we are studying what true love is.

Mark began tutoring high schoolers in math for their college entrance exam and many interested students came to the classes.  Unfortunately, due to poor schooling and lack of motivation, most of them have very poor math skills and study habits.  We started at grade school level and made very slow progress, but thankfully most of them have at least one more year before they need to take the test.  With younger kids Mark and his partner Mariana teach character classes using animals with desirable traits to have.

Rebecca continued to teach about different countries with her partner Sanda.  She makes a presentation on her iPad and shows pictures to the kids of the food, landscape, buildings, animals, people, and anything else interesting about that country.  She also tutors some students in biology for the big test and some english as well. Together we teach an art class at the special needs school.  The kids there love to draw and color so it has been fun to teach them about the color wheel, shapes, perspective, and proportion.

The boys transition program started up with six boys that we have known for a long time.  We taught English greetings and cooking with the boys and always enjoyed our time together.  After a two year absence the girls transition program started back up, with our friends Josh and Missy being the house parents.  We welcomed six girls into the program who we’ve also worked with for a long time.  The boys started a construction course while many of the girls started taking cooking or waitressing classes, and some got internships at restaurants.  A new program was started for four boys who didn’t really fit into the BTH, so they came to stay in an apartment in Bucharest, taking classes and finding jobs.  They also participate in many of the independent living classes that staff gave to the girls.

Toward the end of the year we enjoyed going to many Christmas programs, celebrations, and parties.  We then spent a month at home visiting our family and friends and speaking in our supporting churches.  We really enjoyed seeing everyone and were very encouraged by everyone’s love and support.  After serving here for over three years it is awesome to experience the continued prayers and support from so many faithful people!

Thanks as always for your prayers and support, we can’t do this without you!

Please Continue To Pray:

- Praise God for watching over and blessing us. Pray for our health and especially for Rebecca as she tries to figure out what kind of food she may be alergic to or intolerant of

- Pray for the kids that we work with, especially many of the older ones who seem to be close to making decisions for Christ but just can’t seem to take the step.  Pray against the work of the evil one

- Pray for the young people in the transition programs to finish well and for them to find jobs when the time comes

- Pray for planning for upcoming teams and for clarity on what to do for summer ministry

- Pray for people to come on trips here, especially this summer.  Pray for those already planning on it

- Pray for our friend Talitha who is raising support to come work here full time.  Please let us know if you would be interested in supporting her monthly or with a one time gift (having her come here will be a great help to the kids and us too!)

- Praise God for all of our support partners and pray that God will bless them and continue to provide for us.

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