Saturday, May 10, 2014

2 month UPDATE!!!!

OK here we go - two months since I updated. I actually had scheduled to do this this weekend and while shopping I got a text from my dear friend Anita reminding me to do it!

One of my great joys in working with the "Pre-placed Child Development Program" at the hospital is helping to avoid babies being abandoned.  We have received great favor with the staff and now we are able to be involved with helping these precious little ones return to families when possible. Above is a little girl who was identified as abandoned...but she wasn't really.  We were able to communicate with the family and return her home as soon as she was healthy enough.
Above is Vio helping me to return twins to an extended family. The family is shown below.  Are the living conditions great in these cases?  No, but many times they do not really want to renounce their children and a family that wants them is better than a sterile hospital atmosphere any day!. Sometimes they just need a mediator or some temporary help to get over a rough spot.

Hard to believe Sarah turned 14 on March 21.  
My dear friends George and Anita Ford and Barbara Rose came to Romania to spend 3 weeks with us. On March 4 Anita, Barb and I took off to Sibiu and Brasov. This is the 3rd. such wonderful trip that they have given me!  We had a great time!!  We left George alone in a Bed and Breakfast and the owner was appalled that we would do that and had a hard time understanding. 
George did a wonderful 3 week series of messages at Vinga about The Inconvenience of Being Christian. Mark, Scott and Gabi as well as Bogdan loved having George here.
George also did a lovely Good Friday Service. I noticed the way George and Bogdan  had a pretty color co-ordination with the alter cloth! Impressive!
 Elizabeth is introducing George to the Easter egg traditions here in Romania.
On Palm Sunday we had the dedication service for Maximilian Simion, Bogdan and Lilli's baby boy. We had 2 sets of Godparents. There was a very nice celebration dinner at Bogdan and Lilli's house afterward.
Had to have a picture of Anita, George and Barbara. These two wonderful friends do not intentionally dress alike, but it often happens.  That's how it is with such long term great friends. I miss them.

All the ministry programs are chugging along: Vinga church; Detention Center; Mocrea; Widow's Mite; Orphan Sponsorship;  and Saturday kid's programs at Vinga as well and Sanicolaul Mic. God has blessed the ministry with new hands to help. Spencer and Lynsey Ball live next door and are involved in several ministries.  They are a blessing here. They fit so well in to village life, their kids can chatter like little Romanians.  Edith Bond has arrived from New Zealand  and is not only helping me but is involved with the Scott and Carolyn's program that ministers to young ladies in jeopardy here, in fact she is house mom for a couple of months.  Scott and Carolyn are faithful Mocrea helpers. The Lord has been pretty pointed in communicating to me that I need to slow down (OK - I admitted it - does it make you happy??? Yeah, you know who you are!) and has provided help!  Accepting some of my limitations has not been easy for me.  Boy there is an understatement! The girls are learning more about pitching in to help too. We will have some relief in the schedule this summer I think. Thank you for following my blog and please pray for us here and the work that the Lord has set before us.