Dear Friends,
In the spirit of a new year, you have probably been looking back at your life and evaluating where you have been and where you are going. It is interesting for us, in a transitional country like Romania, to see how much changes from year to year. At the start of 2008, I want to give you a brief description of our community and our activities so that you are aware of the changes and growth and know best how to pray for us.
Our Community
Currently, we have twelve Romanian full-time staff and seven staff and two children from the States. Last year, our two cooks, Rodica and Emi, moved and found a new job, respectively. The McAvaddy family completed their contract and returned to the U.S. But others have come. God answered our prayers, sending us two wonderful new cooks, Anica and Doinitsa. And Josh and Robin Fowler joined us last year as the new Servant Team Coordinators.
April Folkertsma was recently approved as field staff for Romania, and John Koon is hoping to be approved this spring. Both April and John are praying about establishing a community in the Republic of Moldova – our neighboring country across the river.
Community Center
At “The Valley” Community Center, we have 35 kids. We continue to focus on healing their attachment and behavioral disorders, but we also spend a lot of time helping them with their homework. The kids also have times of worship, Bible study, games, computer, art and English lessons.
We continue to meet with the children's parents and try to help them develop proper parenting methods. Because of their histories, their impoverished living environments and the often present abuse, seeing and experiencing transformation is not always easy. But we do see God at work and remain committed to these relationships with the families.
Streets
Our activities on the streets are not as frequent as years past. This is partly due to the fact that there are fewer youth on the streets than in the past and partly due to our different approach to the kids. While we continue to meet with the youth once a week on the streets and invite them to the Center once a week, our main objective is to “help” them acknowledge their addictions and to support them in leaving the streets.
The last two boys to leave the streets were miraculously liberated from their addictions by becoming very ill. That might sound like a contradiction, but it is an answer to our prayers. One boy suddenly became paralyzed from the waist down; the other acquired TB. Both spent months in the hospital and there became drug free. So, we continue to pray for all the street youth to get sick. The kids are a little afraid of our prayers, but they also are aware that we love them and want them to experience an abundant life.
Boys' Home
The Boys' Home has not been running for the last few years. We still see the need for a home in which the boys can experience family. So, we continue to pray that God will raise up a Romanian family to lead that home.
Young mothers
Over the past few months, we have seen a few of the young girls get pregnant. With the hope of preventing attachment disorder, we are meeting with them and helping them learn how to be good mothers. In a number of instances, the girls are so young, their homes so impoverished, and their understanding of parenting so deficient that we have helped them navigate the adoption process.
Advocacy
We continue to try to amplify the voices of our marginalized friends. We have two publications each year in Romanian that address poverty issues. We also have been invited into the evangelical churches to share about what we are doing. Over the past two years, the public schools have begun to invite us to share our methods with the teachers.
Job Creation
Although we have been planning a job creation project for more than a year, it has only been in the last few months that we have initiated some projects. Currently, we are pursuing holiday cards, furniture and accounting services. Last year we purchased land, and this year we hope to begin construction on the job creation center. Our hope is that the youth and the parents will not have to leave Romania to earn decent wages and that sustainable jobs can serve and build sustainable community.
Spirituality
Although we spend a lot of time serving the children and their families, our goal is to serve Jesus. We meet each morning for prayer and worship. We press one another to have lives that celebrate intimacy, obedience, humility, service, simplicity, brokenness, community, submission and suffering. We desire to see Christ all that we do and to see His image formed in each of us. Our prayer is that our discipleship would be a model for the children and their families to see and participate in.
Prayer Requests
I want to thank you for your desire to carry us before the Father in prayer. We are grateful for His faithfulness in answering our prayers. I must confess that this last year was a bit more stressful and uncertain, but God is unwavering. In faith, we continue to step out into the areas that He is calling us. I pray that as you pray for us, you too grow in the realization of the gift that we have in participating in His amazing work in the world.
– Please pray that each of the servants in our community is filled with passion for knowing God and with the grace to take up our crosses and follow Him.
– Pray that each would have God's wisdom in our daily interaction with the children, in the decisions we make, and in being faithful examples for them to follow after.
– Pray for the children that they would each meet God in a real way and grow in Him. Pray that God would use them as witnesses in their families and schools.
– Pray for the youth on the street that they will experience liberation, even if that means pressing through trials and illnesses.
– Pray for the families that they will meet God and that they would be godly parents.
– Pray for the job creation project that it would create a broad and sustainable community. Pray that the finances come in to cover the costs and that we quickly acquire the necessary government authorizations for construction.
– Pray for the young mothers that they will have supernatural understanding in caring for their children. Also, pray that God will protect and nourish the children.
– As we plan for the future, pray that we live out of the anticipation of God fulfilling His promises.
With love and gratitude,
David and Lenutsa