Prayer Requests

Since we've been back (over two weeks now) we've resumed many of our normal activities. Going to the orphanage and hanging out with the kids (they just started school this week), going to the baby hospital and time with the transition graduates. Our programs will be starting up again around October and there are many things to pray for.

Pray for staff unity in all we do. One way satan loves to attack us is through disunity. Also pray for the financial hardships H2H is going through. Romania has increased taxes by 5% and now has 24% sales tax. This plus lower donations due to economic hardship in the US has made funding a bit tricky.

Us with Catalina

Pray for the visa situation of our interns. We currently have three interns, Krysten, Shannon and Dorothy. Krysten has already used up her visitors visa (the passport stamp for 90 days) so she currently is an illegal alien. The problem is because they are changing the volunteer visa laws so they do not want to accept any new applicants. Costel and Jen and busy trying to resolve these issues, hopefully even today.

Vali

Pray for the talks we have with orphanage directors and teachers. Our programs are at their mercy, pray for favor and acceptance of our school classes. Pray for good relationships and open doors.

Vio, Catalina, Nicu and Georgiana

Pray for our the planning of our school programming. This year Mark is going to teach math, computers and English language. Rebecca is going to teach science and a social survival/cooking class. We have a staff partner (Mariana and Sanda respectively) and we have begun planning the syllabus for the year. Pray for wisdom and direction.

Rebecca and Matlida playing war

Pray for confidence in our responsibilities. Many of us on staff have either never taught before or are teaching different things this year. Pray for our teaching abilities and that we wouldn't doubt the fact that God will give us the strength and words to speak. Pray also for us as we will be teaching in Romanian, some for the first time, others for the first time on their own. Pray that God helps us to remember what we have learned and opens our minds to the language.

Mark with some cute baby girls

Pray for the kids. That they would be eager to come to our classes and learn. That we could establish good relationships with them that will lead to discussions about our personal savior, Jesus Christ. Pray that those who have made a decision to accept Christ would grow in their relationship with him this year.

Another baby girl

Pray for our involvement with the youth this year. We are going to have some youth group type activities. They will vary on spiritual depth according to the kids and what we feel we are allowed to do. Pray that these groups are meaningful and impact the kids lives positively and increase their desire to know God.

Nicusor

Pray for the new moms group-first steps that will be started. Two new babies are due soon in the H2H family. Pray for the parents to learn how to instruct their kids in a Christ like manner. Also pray for the babies in the hospital. Many have colds and some nurses do not allow us to go in the infant room. Pray for health and good development.

Baby boy

Pray for safety. We will be doing a lot of traveling this year. We are moving out to Snagov (girls transition house- no girls program this year) and will be working around us, in Rosiori and at the boys transition house. Pray for traveling mercies, and the cars to stay in working order. Pray also for our health, spiritual health, and emotional well being. Pray that this year will be another year where we see God moving and changing the lives of these precious kids.

Thank-you for all your prayers, it is only through prayer and by God's strength that we are able to do this ministry!

One Year Update

It is hard to believe that we've been serving God in Romania for a whole year already. It has been a great year, not without trials and hardships, but full of rewards and confirmations from God that this is what He has called us to do. When we arrived in Romania a year ago we entered into a whole new world; a new culture, new language, different customs and a different way of life. As we got used to the new surroundings we started studying the Romanian language, taking a course for six months from a private professor. It was difficult getting used to new pronunciation and grammar, but God was with us and through much studying we gained a basic proficiency. It was very exciting to be able to understand the people around us and to be able to communicate with them for the first time.


After finishing language lessons we helped in all three areas of our ministry here: the baby hospital, orphanage, and transition house ministries. When babies are abandoned due to poverty or the parents inability to care for them, they go to the baby hospital. There we fed, changed, held and played with the babies, helping them to develop normally. It is so great to walk into a room and see all of the smiling babies who are eager to be picked up and cuddled. When the babies are old enough they go to state run orphanages, where we also helped out. At the orphanages we worked on relationship building with the kids through playing games and teaching classes. Gaining their trust is crucial to sharing the good news about Jesus with them, and we made some great friendships. We also helped out with the young adults in the transition programs, those that age out of the orphanages. We served as models of Christ to them and helped teach them life and job skills.


Summer ministry was our busiest yet most rewarding time of the year. We helped run several camps where we took kids from all of the orphanages we work with to different camp locations. We sang songs, performed skits, had small group times, played games, made crafts, and spent time getting to know the kids better. It is amazing how close we became with some of the kids in such a short amount of time. The kids were very receptive and open to the gospel and many accepted Christ into their hearts. It was such a joy and an honor to lead prayers and to hear the voices following along, praise God! There was also a backpacking trip in the mountains for older boys and two pampering camps for older girls. We heard many of the kids' life stories and built great new relationships. We feel like God used this summer to confirm to us that this is where He wants us. We are excited to see what he has in store for us in the coming year.


We are so thankful that you are part of our ministry through your support and prayers. You can follow along with what we're doing on our blog which we update regularly. If you're not on our e-mail list please send us an e-mail to get our periodic updates. We would love for you to come to Romania as short term trips are an important part of our ministry. Contact us or H2H about coming on a trip here to model the love of Christ to these kids. Please continue to pray as this is what God uses to fuel our ministry. Thank You!

Friends Week

Our second week home we spent lots of time with our friends after spending the first week with family. It was a packed week but it was great to see so many of our friends at one time.

At the Jasperse's place we had fun playing games and playing with the kids, just like Tuesday nights before we came to Romania. Mark came the closest ever to winning Settlers of Katan before Kayleen pulled out a surprise win. Terri made strawberry-rhubarb crisp which was delicious.

Lexi enjoyed chainsawing Rebecca with Sam's new toy. We went to a garage sale that was a fundraiser for some friends who are coming back to Romania.

We had lunch with the Allen's and then toured Extol to say hi to old co-workers.

After dinner with Beth we played Wii with her son Kyle, who loved to play super slice.

We also enjoyed dinner at Bryan & Miranda's place, and went out to BD's Grill with friends Matt & Heather.

Binder Park Zoo was a fun day with lots of friends. Lexi wondered if the animals would bite her, and Precious was excited to see a cow. Sam had fun petting goats and we all enjoyed feeding the giraffes and seeing the animals on the African Safari.

We also enjoyed a picnic with our lifegroup at Hagar Park.

Sunday we spoke at Evergreen Ministries where Mark's sister & brother-in-law came to see us again before we left.

Evergreen will be supporting our ministry starting this fall. Quite a few of our friends go there, like the whole Jasperse clan.

At Evergreen with friends Tim and Terri

At the airport with Rebecca's parents

We left in the afternoon on Monday and arrived safe and sound in Romania a little more than a day later. We had a great time on our vacation, it was great to see our family and friends again. We are so thankful for the support we feel and for the prayers on our behalf. We look forward to seeing everyone again when we return next time.

Family Week

We spent all of last week with our families, it was really nice to spend time with them after being gone for almost a year. In some ways it seemed like we never left.

We went to the pier and boardwalk in Grand Haven with Mark's Mom & Herb. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the awesome views. We ate lunch at Pronto Pup, which makes their own corn dogs. They were so delicious.

Of course we had to stop at Temptations for their homemade ice cream. It is the best!

We went to tea at Aunt Henny's place and each of the girls received a beautiful hand-painted necklace from cousin Ann. Our friend Holly is selling these necklaces as a fund raiser for their next adoption.

We went over to Rebecca's brother Mark's place for dinner and did some fishing. Here is her Dad's catch.

And brother Mark's nice fish.

We went to the Frederick Meijer Gardens with Rebecca's Mom and sister Elizabeth. There was a Chihuly exhibit over the entire grounds which was really awesome.

A lake filled with Chihuly glass.

We went for a bike ride along Muskegon Lake and out to a gourmet lunch with Mark's Dad & Julie. We also went to Mark's Uncle Milt & Aunt Gladys' 50th anniversary party and saw lots of family there. After that we went to dinner at Sandi & Jay's place (Mark's sister and brother-in-law). Mark's brother Kevin, Dad & Julie, and Uncle Carl & Aunt Joyce were also there.

It wouldn't be a complete get together with Sandi & Jay without homemade ice cream, so we made some the old fashioned way. It went great with the brownies and strawberry-rhubarb pie!

Sunday we talked at our home church Fair Haven Ministries about our time in Romania. We had a lunch after church to share more pictures and stories. In the evening we talked at the church Rebecca grew up in, Caledonia CRC, and had a get together after that for Rebecca's family.

Monday evening we went out sailing on Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan with our friends John & Karen. It was a beautiful night and we enjoyed every minute.

Our time home has been wonderful; even though we've kept busy it has been fun and relaxing. We have really enjoyed spending quality time with family and friends and will be doing the same thing this week.

Time with family and friends

After the business of summer ministry and camp fun, we had a little time of doing different things. We were able to go to our friends wedding, Costin and Ana. We got to know them at our Bible study through AlphaOmega Church.

Us with the happy bride and groom

The last week we spent in Romania before our time in the US we spent cleaning and organizing. We cleaned Snagov, the team house, and organized the basement. In the basement of the team house we have rows of bins of ministry supplies. From these supplies we make crafts, give away school supplies, hygiene items and much more. One evening the summer interns wanted to go over to our apartment to go to the park by our house.

Katie and Amanda on the swirly teeter toter

Mark and Krysten swinging

Hanging out

We left Romania on the 12th for just over two weeks to spend in the US. During this time we are speaking at 4 churches and visiting family and friends.

Precious was a bit shy at first

Sam was goofing off since the moment he saw us

Lexi likes to call Rebecca: "Mark"

Looking at pictures together

Mark went fishing with the guys, Jonah and Scott

Fishing

Our first Sunday in the US we talked at Red Pine Bible church. It is a small church with a big heart. We were able to talk for 20 minutes during the service so we told about what we did in Romania and shared a few stories about individual kids. Then we opened up for questions and after the service we met people and showed more pictures. It was a very nice time and we felt very welcomed, loved, and supported by the people there.

Mark's cousin and pastor of Red Pine, Rick, and his wife Tammy.

After church we went out to eat at a large buffet and then went over to Mark's aunt Sharon's place to visit with family that came to the church service. It was very nice reconnecting with them and they are so very encouraging of what we're doing in Romania.

Summer Wrap Up

After finishing our trip to the orphanages in the south we joined a new team to work in the orphanages around Bucharest. We spent time each day with the children who weren't at the camp at the Girls Transition House. We also went to the newer orphanage several times to try to build up relationships there since we are hoping to work there in the fall.

The boys missed climbing all over me so they made sure to make up for lost time.

We got lots of hugs and kisses.

Handing out balloons at the new orphanage was really crazy, I started running and the crowd chased me until I handed out all of them. It was great to come to this place several times because we are starting to get to know the kids there. They are very precious as this is where the youngest kids are. They love it when we come and are always very excited. Rebecca already has a special friend who begged her not to leave. We enjoyed coloring, making crafts, playing games, and giving piggy back rides to the kids.

We also got to play at the pool parties for the kids at camp. Laurentiu was really excited to be there and was really fun all day.

I also had the chance to go to the baby hospital again which was so fun. We both love working with the babies so much. Mihaiela, Florica, and Ana Maria have all been at the hospital since we started there and it has been great watching them develop.

Ana Maria

Florica

This has been a great summer and it is hard to believe that it is over already. God has been so faithful and we feel like He was leading all of us the whole time. We prayed for open hearts and for decisions to follow Christ and many kids asked Jesus into their lives. We got to plant and water seeds but it was so exciting to be able to take part in the harvest as well. All of us are so thankful that God answered our prayers and it was a fruitful time. Thank you all so much for your prayers, we know that prayer played a huge part in everything.