Genesis 1:27 – “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
Dear Family and Friends,
On June 1st, I celebrated my six year anniversary in Romania. It seems like only yesterday I was waking up on a mattress on the floor surrounded by numerous roaches! Glad those days are gone but the Lord taught me some valuable lessons about acceptance with joy. He continues to teach me those lessons all the time and many others as well. One of the most recent lessons He has repeated to me is that none of my performance makes Him love me more; He loves me for the simple fact He created me in His image and He requires only my belief in Him (John 6:29). I don’t need to do anything to win the love of my Father because He already loves me! That is always such a liberating insight!
Ironically enough, June 1st is also the “National Day of the Child” in Romania and there were celebrations all over the place including one our foundation sponsored. We invited all of our foster children and foster mothers to McDonalds to have lunch and it was very much appreciated by everyone. The children were ADORABLE and I am attaching photos (I know, way too many) to prove it! Because of the new strict confidentiality laws, I can give no information about these children but I can show photos of them if they are happy and well. As you can see, there are happy and very well!
The last month has necessitated a considerable amount of travel that was extremely blessed. We visited two of our sponsor organizations in Vienna, Austria. The American Women’s Association, who sponsored us last year, hosted a tea/luncheon for us and we were able to present our ministry. We enjoyed meeting the ladies and it was a fantastic experience! The international ladies bible study that sponsors us also had a booth at the large international flea market while we were there. Not only did they give us excellent clothing for our children, they raised over $500!! Many thanks to our friend, Liz Cowell, for all of her hard work in arranging our schedule while we were there. (I am sitting beside Liz in this photo.)
After Vienna, we went directly to Sigisoara, Romania where we taught a course on working with the issues of institutionalized children and cross cultural ministry for the YWAM (Youth With a Mission) base here. Sigisoara is a very beautiful, German town located in the heart of Romania. Daniel took some excellent photos from the base and we thought you would be interested to see this gorgeous city.
On top of everything else right now, Daniel and I am moving into a new house. We are really excited about this house because we personally will be able to offer very low cost housing to visiting teams who come to do missions work. Please pass the word around if you know others who are coming to Oradea. We can house up to 8 people comfortably. The hotel prices are getting so expensive here, we thought this could be a possible solution for budget conscious teams.
At this point, I am sure you are wondering how the subject of “hogs” come into the picture. If you have been reading my updates for a few years now, some of you know about the incidents I have had with hogs, pigs, sheep, etc. This past weekend, I opened the gate to our house and was greeted by a 400 pound hog standing about two feet from me. My farming upbringing did keep me from screaming but I did startle and inhale with noise. The hog’s “herder” unsuccessful hid his laughter. Just to prove I am not embellishing the size of the hog, I am sending a photo of hog herder as he crosses the street with his beast. (He looks much bigger in person. Honest.) I hope you go “hog wild” over the photo. hee, hee
Basking in the Son,
Michelle
Posted on June 7th, 2004 by Michelle
Filed under: Michelle's Journal