"Whoever saves one life saves the the world entire..."

"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wObpzdaqz4Y&feature=related

The past couple of days I have had time to stop and think about all the things that have happened this year!  It has been incredible!  It has exceeded all my expectations!  Sometimes it doesn't even feel real!  When I walk to church or wait for a bus to come I can't even believe I am walking out the vision God gave me 5 years ago.  To go to the Nations!  Honest, the call has been there all my life I just didn't know how to get there.  Now that I am here I am so thankful and can't see myself doing anything else in the world but this, serving God and his people. 

When I multiply, add and subtract the food, the people, the lives, the places on which my foot has tread it is overwhelming.  This year alone over 4,000 people have visited the website or blogspot, people in over 25 countries had an opportunity to read or follow all that God is doing.  In one summer, people in 8 countries have visited serving and encouraging us here.  If my calculations are right, we have served over 3,000 sandwiches and other food to the kids and people in the community.  In partnership with the local ministries there were 2 evangelical outreach concerts, where over 20 people came forward to commit to Christ and 3 youth outreaches in the center of town where many heard songs of praise and a short salvation message.  Hundreds had the opportunity to be loved and hear the word of God in one way or another. 

We visited villages and met with families in their homes, prayed with them and believed with them.  The results of these times are immeasurable.  One lady accepted Christ during one of our visits.  One girl received hearing devices that helped her hear for the first time in 5 years.  We took one lady to the hospital who was asked to receive Jesus and she denied, but now her son and two neighbor girls are attending the literacy class.  Babies from the hospital received love nearly every week by speaking and praying for their little lives.  We met their physical needs by providing diapers.  We often visit a local family and provide food, diapers and gas for their stove.  For the last week the girls who stay at the trash all day are attending the literacy class and the bible program in Golgota. 

The seasons are changing fast here and it is time to come inside.  A time to celebrate the victories and rejoice over the fruit of the labor.  A time for reflection and thanksgiving.  A time of preparation for the long winter ahead and the spring that will come quickly.  I ponder much the past week about all these things that occurred and have great anticipation for what God will do next year.  

Every morning when I wake up I ask God to guide and direct my every step.  I ask Him for wisdom on how to handle each situation that will come throughout the day.  I want to make the best of each day and for it to count for the Kingdom.  I don't want to be busy to be busy but I want it to count for Him!  Everyday is a new day with new blessing, new challenges.   

Psalms 90:12 says, "teach us to number our days, that we may present to you a heart of wisdom"...I lived 16,425 days, approximately, and if I live until I am 70 or 80, if God gives me the strength, I have only 9,125 days left until 70 and 12, 775 to 80.  I lived more days than I have left and want to make the most of these days!  I want to know at the end of my life that there was nothing else I could of done!  (If possible)  That I surrendered all to the King and was obedient to all that He asked me to do, but most of all I want to lay down at the end of each day and say, It is well with my soul and know there was not one more thing I could of done in that day for God.

THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME TO THE NATIONS!

WITHOUT YOU, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE!

TOGETHER WE ARE CHANGING LIVES!

Spread Out and Think Big!

"Sing, barren woman, who has never had a baby. Fill the air with song, you who've never experienced childbirth! You're ending up with far more children than all those childbearing women." God says so! "Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big! Use plenty of rope,drive the tent pegs deep. You're going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family. You're going to take over whole nations; you're going to resettle abandoned cities.
Isaiah 54: 1-6 (The Message)

This is the word I keeping hearing and reading over and over in the past 5 years. I never really understood fully what it was saying until now! Everyday when I leave my house, from morning to night they are there! The children of God waiting for Him through me to meet their daily needs. It is not always little children but big children of God too! Adults, babies, small kids, big kids, mom's, dad's, entire families who need a father wait for Him whether they realize it or not. God has allowed me to be a mother to so many and I consider it an honor and privilege that He chose me to serve in this very important position.

These few verses are unfolding before my very eyes! Really my heart sings with gratitude at the end of the day for all He allows me to accomplish in one day. New babies are being born every day and the last two months two in particular who now join their parents and siblings at the trash dump. Two days ago a one month old baby sleeps in a old leather luggage in the trash area as her sister's rummage through the trash. It is not an easy sight to see and all the pictures in the world could never describe the spiritual and physical atmosphere. I am ashamed to even take one picture as the thought of exploiting a very critical situation breaks even my heart. However, the joy is, that with your prayers you give me the strength, with your giving you give me opportunity to feed them and with your gifts of clothes and other items you allow me to meet even the basic needs.

Tonight the mom waits in front of my block to ask me for a blanket for the same baby who sleeps in a suitcase. I ask her to please take care of the blanket and keep it clean knowing in my heart she never will. However, the next time she ask me for a blanket I will do my best to try and find another. Isn't this how God is with us? Even if we are not a good steward with what He gives us he still keeps on giving if we ask!

The usually drunk, older lady who sits out on the bench in front of my house always ask me for money or food. I am willing to answer her request for food. Yesterday, I gave her some left over spaghetti. I heated it and put in an empty jar, gave her some bread and a plastic fork and she cried when I gave it to her. She always has a kind word for me and trust me it is unusual as she does not speak so nice to others. My friends who was here this past week took a picture of her and printed it and gave to her and she still has the picture rolled up in her skirt with her most important papers, her life possessions, all rolled up in a skirt.

The kids at the Center are growing fast and even learning! Most know the letters to E and can say a word with each letter. They can play the matching Mickey Mouse card game and they finally (mostly) understand that you can communicate without hitting or spitting. We talk about respect for each other and for God and most days these lessons are manifested in a positive way. They know when they come they must wash their hands and face before entering the class and that it is good to sit in their seats quiet when asked. These are very simple things but trust me it is a huge accomplishment in just a few short months. The victories seem slow and small but I have hope and faith that their hearts will be changed forever.

Our family here is growing bigger by the day! Here the city is divided by a canal, but the bridge that divides also connects. On the 15th of September we will "spread out" and launch a new tent on the other side of the canal. We will dig the tent pegs deep and begin to build another foundation! In partnership with the Baptist Church we will start another program with the kids. The Church will allow us to use their building in a heavy populated Roma "Gypsy" area and begin to teach and feed the kids on the other side of the canal. We will launch this program with 7 German students who will come and work along side us here for 2 weeks. It will have a small beginning, 3 days a week for 2 hours. However small the beginning there is a possibility to feed and teach as many as 50 (or more) children who have abandon school.

"Spread Out and Think Big!"

With God's help we will take this city for Him!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk

Planting Seeds and Waiting for the Fruit

A few weeks ago a man from Canada spoke briefly in the church and he talked about looking out his window and seeing the seeds in the fields that were planted in the spring is now in full bloom.  Ever since, I have ponder what he said in my own heart.  Everyday we plant seeds in our own lives and the lives of others.  It is our choice what seeds we plant and what fruit we want to reap.  Sometimes we plant the seed and we never get to see it grow and others we are able to see the fruit.  Rarely do we see the results of our seeds over night, but depending on the conditions, sometimes we might see a glimpse of our seed peeking out through the dirt.  Now I am no expert on farming by any means, but these basic principles of the earth and how God created it to work is a given that when we plant we reap.  Whether we are there for the harvest or not. 

For instance, as I walk to the store, there is a child on the street asking for money, well, if I buy him some bread I am planting a seed, I may never see this child again but I have to have faith that the bread I planted will produce good fruit.  The beauty is that just this one loaf of bread can possibly produce fruit for many years to come. 

One seed, many times, yields much fruit! A fruit tree, it yields fruit every season and more than one fruit. If it is well taken care of it will produce more and more fruit each year.  Even if it is not taken care of, it usually continues to produce fruit.  However, some who are not taken care of wither and die.  One seed of corn, produces more than one corn on a stalk.  One tomato seed produces many tomato's on a vine.  So...Is this how it works in peoples lives too?

When the kids come to the Center we plant many good seeds, food, love, nurturing, hugs and kisses.  We teach them to clean, to brush their teeth to take care of themselves in a good way!  We plant the stories of the Bible in their hearts, we use it's stories to teach them about respect and love and so many other things.  We stand in faith that these seeds are planted on good ground and will produce the same fruit in their own lives and the lives of their family and community.  However, some kids go home and like the seeds planted in the parable of the Sower and the Soils, the conditions are open for the possibility for the seeds to be stolen.  

"Listen. What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled among the weeds and nothing came of it. Some fell on good earth and came up with a flourish, producing a harvest exceeding his wildest dreams...Mark 4: 3-8

He continued, "Do you see how this story works? All my stories work this way.

"The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.

"And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

"The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.

"But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams." Mark 4: 13-20

Please stand in prayer and faith with us that the seeds we plant will be planted in the good earth and the people here will embrace it and it will produce a harvest beyond our, their wildest dreams!  As a Pastor from Nigeria recently wrote and said, these are "Destiny Kids!"  Kids and people with a destiny, a calling and a purpose to serve the King!  To seed and reap fruit for generations to come!  It is true one seed yields much fruit!

TOGETHER WE WILL PRODUCE A HARVEST BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS!

Excuse Me While I Debrief!

And [Jesus] said to His disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious and troubled [with cares] about your life, as to what you will [have to] eat; or about your body, as to what you will [have to] wear. For life is more than food, and the body [more] than clothes. Observe and consider the birds; for they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn; and [yet] God feeds them. Of how much more worth are you than the birds!

Luke 12: 12-24 (Amplified)

Hatched in a nest, covered and fed by a mother until one day the bird fell from the building ledge to the ground below...Born in a hospital, covered and fed by a mother until one day the man left his home and found himself living under a ledge of a building...Born in hospital, covered and fed by a mother until one day the girl left her home and moved to Romania...Under the shadow of the ledge in Romania is where these lives came together.   

Shortly after we arrived to greet this familiar face living on the streets from last year we met his new friend a baby bird.  He reached over and pulled out a tiny bird now living in his new home, a wooden crate.  We brought sandwiches for the man which he quickly unwrapped and began rolling little balls of bread between his fingers to feed his new friend.  With one hand he opened the beak of the bird and the other he put the bread in the birds mouth.  He waited patiently for the bird to swallow and then again another little ball of bread.  After the bread the man put some water in his mouth, put the bird to his lips and the bird began to drink the water.  Then he spit the water out.  At first I was a little grossed out, but then  I saw something so incredible, so sweet and enduring.   

STOP!  SCRATCH!  (I hear a sound of a record with the needle sliding across)  I have been trying to write this blog since last week...To say something beautiful profound, but the reality is that there is nothing beautiful about it!  Nothing beautiful about a man living on the streets for years and his only hope in the day is to feed a bird!  Although it was very sweet it makes me sad!  Sad that he lives day after day, night after night on the streets.  Giving him a sandwich makes me feel better but it is only a band aid to a much bigger problem.

Everyday it is hard here, it is emotionally, spiritually and physically draining.  My eyes have seen and ears have heard more terrible things than I care to see or hear in a life time.  My head spins with how, when and where to help!  Families living in deplorable conditions, with no money to feed their kids but enough money to drink beer.  Families who live in the dark because they have no work and money for electricity.  Kids dieing in fires while left unattended by their parents.  Families living in the dumpster waiting for the trash of others just to survive another day.  Babies left in the hospital by their mothers.  Kids stay on the streets all day begging for money to support their families.  Trust me the beat goes on I can certainly tell more!

My heart cries out to God for wisdom!  How do I help, when do I help, where should I help?  The purpose is to love them and help meet their needs not be the saviour of their lives.  Once you help, when is it enough help?  People begin to look to me to meet their needs not God and this begins to be a problem, for me and them.  I am here to show them the love of Christ not be their provider.  When is enough, enough and how do you stop what you started...When, how, what, where?  Everyday I need God to guide and direct me!  

How do I not feel guilty for buying Coca Cola and passing my neighbors who probably barely have enough pension to eat themselves.  I mean really, I buy more soda in a month than they may receive for a salary.  My rent alone is the same as 3 months salary for a local family.  When it is 90 degrees in my house and it feels as I am the only one who can enjoy air conditioning, others stay outside under the tree.  I am not rich by any means but certainly enjoy more luxuries than most.  I struggled to turn on the air, they tell me it is very expensive and even I was concerned about trusting God for air but I could not take the heat any longer and when that first blast of cold air come out, honest, I danced with gratitude that I even had the option to turn it on! 

Poor vs. poverty, the question rolls in my head day and  night.  I know I can't fix it but I sure want to!  It breaks my heart seeing people struggle and trust me I understand in some cases it is their decision and that is all they know but that doesn't make it any easier to see and watch.  How they live is not wrong either, it just is the way it is.  My way of living isn't necessarily right, it could be wrong.  I don't know it is so interesting the discussions I have with myself and God. 

What is true and lovely is how much joy I experience in a day, despite the tragedy of what I see and hear.  A visit to the kids homes from the center, I felt like a rock star!  I did not have enough arms, legs or fingers to hold each of their hands.  Some ran to their homes and swept the dirt from the dirt to make the paths to their homes clean.  Their families, despite the conditions, opened their homes to us and invited us in for tea, coffee or soda.  Seeing one of the kids jump out of the dumpster and run to me with a huge smile and a hug.  Hearing the babies in the hospital belly laugh with joy at the stupid faces you make at them.  Seeing a homeless man have so much joy over feeding a bird from his mouth!  

For life is more than food, and the body [more] than clothes. Observe and consider the birds; for they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn; and [yet] God feeds them.

Of how much more worth are you than the birds!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-rW528qiYw  (thanks Debbie)

Impacting Future Generations!

You Make Me Feel Like a Woman, Great Balls of Fire and Tutti Frutti are just some of the songs I listened to on my bus ride home. More than 5 decades ago these songs were hits in America and now they are being played across the ocean on the local radio station. I laugh to myself at the irony. I wonder if the artist ever dreamed their music would still be playing 50 years later all the way in Romania? It is possible that 4 generations could be listening to their tunes at any given moment, any where in the world.

If one song can have millions, maybe even billions of listeners, it is possible that one act of kindness, meeting one need, helping one family, loving one baby and feeding one child can have the same generational impact!?

A few weeks ago, Ana at the Center where I work with the kids, invited the mother's and grandmothers for a luncheon. It was a time of fellowship and prayer. We asked them, "What is the hope for their children?" A question that was difficult for them to answer, as they really did not know. "Get married and have children, be healthy, go to school." A generation full of hope and promise and the expectations limited to just a few things. After all, this is all that was expected of them, how can they expect anything more from their children. When the only hope for most of them is just to make it through today, "survival mode" how can they think beyond that?

Few bring the little hope they have left to the pre kindergarten in the mornings. The scars of their survival from the night before is revealed in black eyes and worn faces. A 4 year old in hand and a baby in her arms. Others brought by older sisters who's mother left her 7 children in the night so she can escape the abuse. The mother's hope tells stories of the where abouts of the children who did not come, the stories of the mom's who went away with their kids to the forest to find refuge.

In a small village another mother speaks of her hope after receiving funds to help purchase hearing devices for her 13 year old daughter who could not hear. “I can send Ana to school without fear of her being hit by a car. It is a miracle from God we hoped and prayed for but never expected that it would happen so fast! We asked for help, three weeks later God helped us! Even the Doctors were amazed we had the funds to pay for the devices. They told us we would never be able to pay! God bless you for helping our family and answering our prayers!” Ana is shy and smiles as she looks down and says, “I am happy I can learn again and hear the teacher when she talks.”

A hearing aid for two ears, one luncheon, one day at school, one hug, one kiss, one bag of diapers, one tank of butane gas, food for a family, one month of vitamins, washing powder and a loaf of bread given in love has the hope to impact future generations!

And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
Isaiah 58:12 (Amplified)

What else can I do? I am only two!

The first two years of my life have been spent in the hospital. My mom left me there after I was born. I am only two years old and it is difficult for me to understand all the things that have happened since I was born.

My life started the same as others who lived in my room, they were left by their mom's too. The walls were so white that we could see each other through the slats of our metal beds, at night. I could hear people walking and talking in the distance, their voices and footsteps echoed in the hallways. The footsteps sounded like giants, I must admit, I was afraid to look when they came closer and I heard the door open. When they came in they weren't as big as I thought. They would bring me a bottle with milk and prop it up on a blanket and give it to me. I wish they would hold me and give me the bottle but they never did. They also changed my clothes and wrapped me up in a blanket to keep me warm, they would talk to me but then put me back in my bed. Sometimes I would cry but no one would come and get me. I just cried myself to sleep. The other babies in my room would cry to and only sometimes someone would come to comfort us.

Once a week some nice people would come and hold me and the other babies. They would speak so nice to us and smile and pray for us. They brought music and we really liked to listen. They also gave us some exercise and walked us around in the hallways. We could see out the window, sometimes the sun was so warm and nice. I could see the trees and grass, I wondered what it would be like to go out there and feel the wind and smell the fresh air.

A couple of weeks ago, a lady came to get me and took me out of the hospital. After two years, my mom came back for me. I was afraid at first but there was something familiar about her and I wanted to go with her. For the first time I got to smell the air and see the trees up close. I was very anxious and nervous. My mom cried when she saw me and I cried too. I think we were both happy and afraid.

Now I am at home with my family. I have a dad, two sisters, one is older and she doesn't live with us. The other one is 8 years old and paralyzed from the waist down and can't walk. My mom carries her on her back, she has a stroller that she can sit in but it is not very nice. I have a brother too, he is big and not home very often. My grandmother lives with us too, since I have some sort of blisters all over my body, she washes me and puts lotion on my sores. My house is not so nice, when I lay in the bed I can see holes in the ceiling, my mom cries because she is afraid it will fall down on me and sister when we sleep.

We don't have any food, my dad is having a hard time finding work and my mom washes clothes for people sometimes for very little money. She has to take my sister with her when she works because she cries and doesn't want my mom to leave her.

Yesterday, two nice ladies who used to visit me in the hospital came to our house, they brought me diapers, special milk with vitamins and some special cereal. They also brought our family some food, rice, beans, flour, potato's, vegetables and fruit. The best thing they gave us was chicken, now my mom can make some soup for our whole family. My mom cried when they came because we have not eaten so much lately. They also prayed for us, like they prayed in the hospital for me. We were invited to church Sunday and my mom wants to go. I wonder what it will be like? We are Muslim and never went to a church before.

For two years I hoped my mom would come and get me. I wanted to be loved, for someone to hold me when I eat, to talk to me and teach me things, like how to walk. I am two and should be walking by now, but only got to practice walking when the nice people came once a week. I don't have many kilo's and need to grow but I am sure now that I am with my family I will grow faster and stronger. I think since the nice people who visited me in the hospital found our family this will help all of us.

My life has been very different and I am not sure how I feel about all these changes but I feel there is hope for me and my family! I think God has been watching out for me and has a plan for my life. This is what the people who pray for us say. I don't know what my future will be and what will happen to me but I have to trust the people who are in my life now. I have to trust that they won't leave me again, I have to trust that they will take care of me, it is good I am with my family no matter what the conditions. Right?! What else can I do? I am only two!

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 (Amplified)

Trash or Treasure?

As I walk to the dumpster with my trash my thoughts are heavy as I wonder what family will be there today waiting for it. The trash to me is the treasure for them. Everyday families sit and wait to receive what I am throwing away. There are days when I feel guilty that I wasted a tomato, a cucumber or even bread that was not good enough for me to eat. As I know everything in my bag will be rummaged through and savaged for someone else.

Some days I feel embarrassed by the things that may be in there and the thought of someone going through my life's waste is an interesting concept. Personal hygiene things, like what shampoo I use, what I drank, even how much toilet paper I use. Even though I don't think it matters to them it seems to matter to me.

I think about my life, the personal things, the things I hold on to because I don't want people to see. The trash! The hurts the pains, the rejection, the disappointments, the anger, the abuse. Normal for most everyone but we hold on to them in some way deep inside ourselves because we are embarrassed or uncomfortable to let people see our trash. We don't even want strangers at the dumpster to see what we have in our bags. So we hold onto it, until we are over taken by our own trash. Eventually, it gets to heavy to carry, our bags break! Then our trash is spilled all over for others to see!

Today I start working with 7 kids. Kids whose parents live at the trash, count on the trash to survive. The parents trash has spilled out onto their kids. These seven kids and so many others, want to learn, they are kids who don't deserve the conditions they live in, kids who who started in life with their bags empty and already they carry the burdens of their families and society, their bags are full! Full of rejection, abuse, disappointments, anger. The schools don't want them, the culture don't accept them and people say they are trash and they believe it! All the things their parents hide is manifested in them. The things they won't let go of, they give to them.

It is ironic in some ways...That my trash is their treasure and their trash is my treasure. Today, 5 boys, ages 11-15 and 2 girls, age 11 come through the doors at the center, the dirt on their faces sparkle like black onyx. Their yellow teeth looks like gold. The lice in their hair is like pearls from deep within the ocean. They come with hungry bellies, dirty bodies but their hearts are so open, so pure, so clean! They want to learn, they want to be accepted, they want to feel safe.

While they learn to write, every line they make on the paper they call my name, waiting for the thumbs up, or a good job, a pat on the shoulder, a hug or even just a smile of approval. Their face shines with pride as they begin to connect the next line.

One 15 year old boy, beams with delight after completing the flattest circle you ever saw. This one flat circle brings him great joy! I can't help to wonder that if this one circle can begin to change the direction of his life? How this one, two hour day makes him feel approved, loved and accepted. Can I be this happy with completing one circle? The answer is yes! Honest, I feel as much joy in my heart as he over one small circle! For the record, he completed one whole page of circles! He left after 2 hours thanking me and blowing kisses as the door closed behind him!

It makes the anticipation of hope for tomorrow that much greater! It is the same desire we all have clean or dirty is to be loved and accepted. Can we let go of the trash and make room for the treasure? It is waiting for us! Change begins with the first step or circle!

You don't get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of an apple tells the health of a tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It's who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

Luke 6: 43-45 (The Message)

Marianna's Story

There are few days that go by that in a distance near my home I am spotted or the one spotting an eleven year old girl. One, two or three blocks away our eyes meet. It is great joy in my heart and makes me happy to see her. She runs, calling my name from a distance, as people stop to see where this girl they are so familiar with is running and whom she is calling. My heart leaps for joy as she runs into my arms and greets me with a warm smile. Some how without saying the words she knows that I will love her unconditionally and do my best to meet her immediate need, which is usually food or drink.

Her hair disheveled, her face spotted with dirt, her hands, look as though she has been working in the garden all day, so dirty. However, the package on the outside does not reflect the beautiful, clean, pure heart on the inside. Her black eyes sparkle with hope and promise. Life has been challenging for her but it is if she does not know. The innocence of her age is good but as she grows, the future, it comes with a harsh reality.

The other day when I see her she has thick black eyeliner on and near her eyes. When I mention this to her she looks down in embarrassment but with a smirk, as she knows I know she is growing up. The urgency in my heart and prayers for her rises up and time is running short before she meets the reality of the everyday of her life.

What will become of Marianna? There are thousands of Marianna's here! Big ones, little ones, ones left in the hospital. They walk the streets, day after day, no heat in their home, minimal water and food. Clothes that are worn until they are so dirty they can't be worn anymore. In some extreme cases, their clothes used as firewood to keep them warm at night.

In Guatemala I met a Marianna. He was a grown man working for God. When I told him about the Marianna's in Romania, he wept as he told the story of his father passing away when he was young and his mother leaving him and his siblings. He spoke of being alone and rummaging through the garbage to feed his self and then one day he met some Missionaries who lived near him. They fed him physically and spiritually and because of their act of kindness and love, he testifies through his tears, of the goodness of God and how he has not been hungry or left alone since that time.

How can I change lives? How can you change lives? We don't, God changes the hearts, and with that changes the course of the life, we are just His hands and feet. With His help we can make a difference in the Marianna's of the world! TOGETHER!

Two Bags and a Heart of Faith!

The time has come! To finally unpack my 2 bags! I hope I can take my coat off and stay awhile! For two years I have been literally living out of my suitcase. The season was jammed packed with networking and establishing relationships all over the world! Now maybe people can say, "How is Romania" and not, "Where are you?" Although I have been here in my heart, my physical presence moved about the world. I count that time a joy and a privilege as not many can say they have had the same experience.

On Tuesday I will move into an apartment currently occupied by American Baptist Missionaries. They have been working in the area for 3 years and planted many seeds in Southern Romania especially among the Turkish community. I consider it an honor to stand on their shoulders and walk some of the ground they have walked in the past years. Although our gifts and calling differs a bit, the heart is the same to see Southern Romania serve God. To help change the hearts of the people with the love of Christ.

When I came to Romania this time, once again I came only with my two bags and a heart of faith. Knowing that God would supply all my needs and guess what? He has done just that! More than I could ever think or want. The apartment I will be moving into has everything an American girl could want! It is fully furnished, with blanket, pillows, towels, dishes, silverware, pots, pans, air conditioning, washer, cable, Internet, hot water, water filter, stove, refrigerator...You get the point! Even better, the missionaries leave me with their hair dryer, TV, TV, stand, coffee pot, cleaning supplies, printer/scanner.....everything! These things I could never put in a suitcase but I did bring my faith for them.

All this stuff could of been a big financial burden but it is not! I am humbled and moved by the grace of God and His favor on my life. Really this is unbelievable if you think about it. However, I had faith for it when I left my first home in Missouri, when I gave all my things away and then again in Florida, when I gave it all away again. Both times I moved, I doubted my own faith but I stepped out and trusted God and look what He has done! I mean really! I am blown away by His faithfulness!

God has a plan and a purpose and He knew then what I was sowing I would reap , and boy am I ever reaping. His blessing are uncontainable! Now the real work begins! Even though I don't have an exact plan I am trusting God totally to guide and direct all my steps. Please continue to pray as we move forward in spreading the love of Christ in Romania.

"Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.

Isaiah 43: 18-19

The Message

TOGETHER WE ARE CHANGING LIVES!