“Brothers, pray for us
that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly
and be honored…” (2 Thes. 3:1)
Dear friends and family,
I hope you find enclosed a picture of me taken this past summer during a church retreat in the mountains. I've turned it into a prayer card so that you can be reminded to pray for me and the Word Made Flesh community here in Romania. There are many ways that you can support us through prayer, only a few of which I included on the back of the photo. Allow me to detail some more ways in which you can serve the whole community through prayer as we begin this new year.
Pray for the children.
I ask you to pray for the children because their needs are constant. Winter brings ill health for many, and conditions of life are very difficult for some, whether they live on the streets or at home. We enjoyed a night of Christmas caroling and an all-night party this Christmas, a big highlight of the year. For many of these children, we have a long history of friendship and they have become like family. Pray that our love would overflow and touch and heal their broken hearts and bodies as we continue in relationship with them. Pray for the young men that have moved into the new boys home that this will be the beginning of a new life for them. Pray for those boys who are still addicted to drugs and street life, that they will be freed from these addictions and find true freedom in Christ.
Pray for the staff.
I ask you to pray for the staff because we are experiencing growing pains. New staff, new volunteers, leadership shifting, and new positions to be filled. No longer are we a handful of workers but now more like a healthy-size band of disciples seeking to follow Christ together and serve Him among the poor of Galati. In the winter issue of The Cry, you will find pictured ten Romanian staff and eight American staff. Since printing this issue, we have hired two more Romanian staff for the boys' home and together with our handful of volunteers we are about twenty-five in all! It's truly amazing to see how God has grown us in number over the past few years, and I also marvel at His wisdom in calling each of us, knowing our gifts and needs and fitting us together to form one body. Pray that we would continue to grow in grace and love for one another as we serve together.
Pray for the local church.
I ask you to pray for the local church because we desire to be a presence and a voice for the poor in the local Christian community. There are walls of division between local churches that sadden me deeply. As we have grown, we as a mission have been viewed with suspicion and sharply criticized concerning our embrace and welcome of people from differing Christian traditions. In particular, it seems to be threatening to local church leaders that we are Baptist, Pentecostal, Brethren, and Orthodox Christians serving together. Our stance on ecumenism is a stretch even for some of our staff, never mind local church leaders. Pray for unity and new understading to grow among us as staff as we seek to understand each unique tradition of faith. And pray for us to have much needed wisdom in knowing how to proceed in our currently fragile relationship with local church leaders.
Pray for the Gospel to be made known.
Pray for the Gospel to be made known because this is, after all, our greatest desire besides our desire for a deeper love for Christ – the desire for others to be touched by the same Love and Life that has touched and healed us. Pray that we may live the Gospel through word and deed as we wait expectantly for God to work as we pray for His will to be done and His kingdom to come.
As for me personally, I've outlined some general prayer requests on the back of my photo card. Do keep me in prayer as I prepare to receive my first Servant Team of four young women on February 1, 2004. I'll keep you updated as I know more.
Thank you for you faithful love and prayers. May you be blessed this year with an abundant knowledge of the love of God for you.
Peace,
Rachel