Spring 2012 Romania Update

The last few months have been very eventful in our lives and ministry here in Romania. Our regular classes have been going well and we continue to build relationships with the kids. Rebecca teaches part of a Geography and Natural Science class, creating slide shows about different countries. The kids get to try food from a different culture and learn about what other places are like.

We took the younger kids in this class to the museum of natural history in Bucharest. They especially liked the touch screen displays that were at each exhibit. The mammoth skeleton in the main room was also a big hit. After the museum we had a picnic in a local park and had some play time. It was a fun field trip, and we will do another one soon with the older kids in the class.

I teach English classes to a variety of kids of all ages and skill levels. Our most important classes though, are our tutoring classes for the college entrance exam. Last year only 40% of kids in the entire country passed this exam! We are tutoring a small group of kids from the orphanage in English, Math, and Biology. It is very hard because even though these kids have passed all their classes at school, they don’t know enough to pass this very hard test. We are trying to make up years worth of learning in a very short time, and they are struggling because they aren’t used to doing homework or studying for their classes. Whether or not they pass this test will have big implications for their futures, so there a lot is riding on their success.

We also are part of a youth group and that has been going well. Unfortunately we have been forbidden to talk about God or the Bible by one of the directors of the orphanages. So instead of doing Bible study we have been talking about good character traits. We try to fit references and Biblical principles in wherever we can. Each week we are presenting a different person as a hero, some Romanian and some international people. Some of the people we have studied are Martin Luther King Jr., King David, and Richard Wurmbrand, who was a Romanian pastor that was put in jail by the communists and spent 14 years in prison being tortured and brainwashed. By God’s grace he resisted and escaped from Romania and founded the organization Voice of the Martyrs.

God blessed us personally very richly this spring. Even before we came here we knew that we would eventually want a car. This year the need became even more apparent as our sharing of H2H vans became even more complicated and even less convenient. We prayed about it a lot and faced many struggles and obstacles, and one day God provided through a very generous gift from Extol Inc, the company I worked for as an engineer before we came here. The amazing thing is that they asked us what we needed without us having asked first, this is how we know that God was at work. We were able to find a great used car, a 2007 Ford Focus that was brought over from Germany. Many others also gave us gifts so that we could pay for the registration and insurance and have some saved away for upkeep. It has been great having our own car, we have been able to go to events and see friends that we wouldn’t have been able to without one.

God also provided for something else that we had wanted for quite some time, an iPad 2. Having one would be ideal for Rebecca’s presentations for her Science classes. Through a few people’s generosity we were able to get one and it too has been a real blessing. It is so amazing how God works and we feel that through these miracles he is confirming to us that we are doing what he wants here.

We want to thank you very much for your prayers for us and our ministry. We are also very thankful to those who have blessed us with their generous support and gifts!

Click on the picture below to download the PDF version of this newsletter!

What We've Been Up To Lately

In the past few weeks we have done quite a few special things outside of our normal routine.

We got together with Jenny, a friend from our small group Bible study from church. She made us chicken tacos, it is hard to find Mexican food here so it is always a treat when someone makes it. We also went to her birthday party and hung out with our other friend Kristie. They both work here with another organization. We enjoy getting together with friends when we can find the time.

We drove up to the mountains for a little taste of Transylvania. One of the new couples on our staff, Steven and Haley, had some family come so we went on a little sight seeing tour.

We saw the most famous castles in the area: Peles and Bran. We also saw the fortress Rasnov from a distance. It is always neat to see these as we just don't have anything like it at home.

Here we are with the new couples on staff and our intern Talitha. We really enjoy spending time with them!

We love nature and history so going to these areas is a great time because they are full of both.

Rebecca and Talitha became very close in her few months here. We hope to see more of her in the future...

Clear days like this are great, you can see the beauty of the mountains here.

After seeing the castles we went to the Medieval town of Brasov, which is very beautiful. We ate at a great restaurant there which is in an old wine cellar.

Last weekend we took a group of 16 kids on a field trip to a museum in Bucharest. This was a reward trip for good behavior and participation in Rebecca and Sanda's Geography and Science class. The kids enjoyed the natural history museum, especially these prehistoric skeletons. It was really hard to keep track of the kids because there were hundreds of other kids on field trips. What a time!

After the museum we went to a park and played and had a picnic lunch.

At the beginning of this week we had a special time with the special school for (mostly) boys here in the city that we work. There was a team here from the states so we went to the forest and they talked about America and we did some crafts.

After we were done playing at the park the new director of the school invited us over for refreshments as is the tradition here when there are guests. She had two really nice special cakes made up for us and talked a lot about how she wants to be a part of our team and to work together with us to make this school be a great place for the kids.

One of the team members presented her with a large world map and some other tokens of appreciation. We are very thankful for her and her enthusiasm, it is really special for a director to fight for the kids and to really want us to be a part of their lives.

We have both been sick the last couple weeks but Rebecca took a turn for the worse at the end of last week. She is now on antibiotics and is starting to feel better. Please pray that we will both regain our health and stay healthy. Please pray for things to go well as we enter into spring break time and try to plan fun things for the kids.

On The Playground

On Wednesday we had the day off because the schools here were having meetings for the day. We decided to go on a walk and enjoy the beautiful weather (finally!). We walked through several parks and at the last one we ran into some of our kids from one of the apartments that we work with.

We had lots of fun playing...

...And taking lots of pictures.

Getting ready for another go at the monkey bars, I was the safety net man.

Playing on something like a sea-saw.

How cute!

The monkey bars were a big hit!

We had lots of fun with all the girls, did I mention they are "our" girls? Five of them are from one family and they are definitely our special kids.

This started as the girls trying to balance me out but ended up as a jam pile on top of me!

It is really neat to have such a great relationship with these kids. When we're walking through the park and we hear "Mark!, Rebecca!" and see kids running to us, that is when we know that we are having an impact here. We are so loved and we enjoy giving these kids the love that they crave. Please pray for them and all the kids that we work with that they will be able to grow up and be successful, and that they will come to know Jesus as their lord and savior. Please also pray for those who don't participate with us, there are many who have the option but are too cool to come. Please continue to pray for us, thanking God for this ministry and also asking for wisdom, guidance, health, and safety. Thanks!

Blessings From God

We have been incredibly blessed this year, especially recently. For a long time we have been wanting and trying to get a car here in Romania. At home we both had our own cars since the end of high school so coming here and having to share a vehicle that wasn't ours was a big adjustment. We knew that at some point we would want to get a car, but things hadn't been working out well for us until the end of 2011. It was then that God stared the ball rolling by leading my former employer Extol in Zeeland to make a donation to us designated for a car.

When the money came through I started searching online. I found several cars that I liked and went to check them out with my friend and coworker Ghita. The first one I looked at was exactly what I was looking for and was really immaculate, so I decided I didn't need to look any further. We brought it to a test place where they checked everything out, and it scored 95 out of 100 overall. Here you can see it on the dyno getting the engine, transmission, brakes, and suspension checked out.

A week later I went to pick up the car and began a full day of running all over the city and standing in lines like at the place above. We started at 9:30 AM and got done at 7:30 pm. We had to go to at least 5 different locations to get everything checked out and all the documents and taxes paid. It's not nearly as easy as just going to the secretary of state or the DMV and registering the car, but I have heard that here in Romania we were fortunate to get all done in just one day!

Here we are with our new car! It is a 2007 Ford Focus with a turbo diesel engine.

This Focus is designed and made in Germany so it's totally different from the one in the USA. So far we have gotten around 45 miles per gallon! It has great suspension and handling and has lots of torque and power. It is really fun to drive.

It is also very practical and spacious, we can fit lots of luggage in the trunk which is great because we travel around so much and often take others with us.

If you know me really well you will probably get this license plate.

Many others helped out with some of the expenses like the registration, insurance, future maintenance and gas, we are so grateful and want to say thank you so much.

We thank God so much for seeing our need and meeting it above and beyond our expectations. We know that this was his plan because everything just fell into place perfectly and now we have a really nice car that we are already enjoying very much.

God provided something else special for us recently. Rebecca has been teaching about different countries and has wanted something very portable to be able to show presentations at the kids' apartments and school.

Through the generosity of several different people who gave us gifts without us even mentioning the need, God provided us with this iPad2. Rebecca has already been using it to create and show her presentations, the above being about Mexico. Thanks so much!

We would also like to say thanks to everyone who has been praying for us this year. God has honored your prayers and has really been watching over us and providing for us. He has been using many people to bless us over and over and we are so thankful for that! We are overwhelmed by your generosity in support and prayers. God keeps teaching us over and over that when we depend on him he provides in ways we couldn't even imagine.

Pray For Romania Part 3

Romania today is a land of great contrast. The large cities are modern and bustling with people whereas country life is slow and you would think you have gone back in time 100 years. Many people are buying expensive sports cars to show off and while they sit in traffic beggars come down the road asking for money. People are building bigger and bigger houses while others struggle to heat their homes for the winter.

In the wake of communism Romania ushered in a new era of democracy and capitalism, but it has been a struggle to shed the old ways of thinking and doing things. Under communism everyone had a job even if it meant creating useless positions. The communists didn't want any foreign debt so they exported nearly everything they produced and left little for the people. Now that Romania has joined the EU, much more is available but it is hard to attain as the country struggles with enormous debt and high unemployment.

Many people are really struggling to make it here in Romania, and among the hardest hit are the widows, like our friend Catarina. She has been a widow for over 20 years and gets a pension of around one hundred dollars a month. Her medication costs nearly half of that which leaves very little for life's necessities, especially wood for heating in the winter.


Catarina usually only heats one room of her house where she stays nearly all of the time. She has a daughter who works in Spain in order to help her out, but many don't have anyone to help them.

Even so, they are always very hospitable. I visited Catarina this week and she invited me to eat with her, we had a traditional peasant meal of mamaliga (kind of like grits but with cornmeal), cheese, eggs, sausage and milk. We have experienced this sort of hospitality many times, it is very humbling when someone who has far less than you uses all they have to make you feel welcome.

We have had the great pleasure of staying in this small village for summer camp the last two years in a row. We have enjoyed getting to know the locals and ministering to them.

There are so many people here that just long for someone to care for them. Just like the kids, many of the people here don't have a great family network that sustains them. When they get old they don't typically go to nursing homes, they just keep trying to survive on their own. Please pray for them, that God will provide for them and help them to have faith in him.

Please pray for all of the struggling people in Romania. One of the main reasons that children are abandoned is that the family or single mom doesn't have the means to support them. Many families struggle with alcohol abuse and other forms of abuse, please pray for them and ask God to touch the hearts of the abusers so that they stop doing this.


Please pray for Romania's economy and government. The economy isn't doing well here and the government is often corrupt and ineffective. The pay for government workers keeps getting cut and that includes teachers, nurses and doctors, so the quality of work in those sectors is going down. People are in general very discontent and there is a lot of political unrest.


Please thank God that he has called us and many other here to help these people, and ask that he would send more people here. The people need hope and the only way they will have it is by knowing Jesus as their savior. With the kind of hope he gives us we can live through any situation knowing for sure that we are in his arms.

Thank you for reading this series on Romania, I hope that you enjoyed it and that it has given you a better idea of what this place is like and how you can pray for it and its people. We are very thankful for you and your prayer support, please continue to lift us up in your prayers as well.