Michelle’s Journal - Wed, 31 Oct 2007
- Fall Newsletter -
Matthew 25:36 - I needed clothes and you clothed me…
Dear Family and Friends,
This past week has presented quite a few challenges and many sad cases for us to consider in our ministry.
Last week, Neli, Alina and I had a day “in the field” as social workers to do some follow-up work for cases and to do a home study for a new Education Inspiration case. One of my friends (who takes the above verse to heart in a major way as her ministry in life) sent some beautiful clothing for an eight year old Roma girl that is sponsored through our ministry and we had the fun job of taking the clothing to her and watching her delight in the gifts. Here is a photo of our precious little Mihaela posing in one of our brand new outfits looking very pretty in pink! She was so thrilled about this new Puma outfit and it fit her perfectly!
She was so proud to have all the new clothes and new shoes for school. We all laughed that she has more nice clothing than we do!
We were notified last week by the high school of one of our Roma boys at Agape Home that there was a student is urgent need of assistance to continue his education. It so happened that this child lives in Mihaela’s same village. In fact, they are next door neighbors! We made a visit to the child’s home and were stunned to see the level of poverty they were living in. Alina and Neli entered the house by ducking through the doorway. As you can see from the photo, the house is falling to the ground.
Alina and Neli went inside (while I stayed in the car to keep in running so it would turn off!) and the poverty this Romanian family is living in is far worse than any of our Roma children. The father of the children physically abuses the mother and drinks heavily everyday. He is not able to keep a job because of his alcoholism. The mother has asked for her son to come and live with our other boys at Agape Home so he can continue his education and we have agreed knowing that The Lord will touch the right people to sponsor this child. He also has a sister in high school (pictured below with their 8 year old brother) that is in desperate need of the money for transportation and other needs so we agreed to take her into our Education Inspiration project as well. When the mother came to the office yesterday with all three children, we were all so amazed at how clean and well dressed they were, especially since they have no bathroom. The mother admitted she borrowed a pair of shoes from her neighbor so her children wouldn’t be ashamed of her. It broke my heart when this mother told us her age - 38 years old - one year younger than me and she looks so much older than her years.
Her hard life has definitely taken a toll on her mind and body but we intent on ministering to her soul. As Alina prayed for the family in the office yesterday, the mother softly started to cry and wipe tears away (as did the teenage daughter). We ask you specifically pray for the gospel message of Jesus to touch their hearts and give them the hope they have never known. As with all families, we want them to come to know Jesus personally.
As you can see from his broad smile, George has a resilient spirit and I believe he has the determination necessary to finish his vocational school to be a mechanic. We are blessed to be able to put him in a Christian environment and teach him have much Jesus loves him. Daniel and I both love getting to be mouth piece to these people of the Good News and hope of Jesus. A million thanks to all of you who support us to give us this opportunity.
We begin our LONG road trip to Germany tomorrow to get our car repaired. Although I dread the drive, I do look forward to some of the places on the way that we may stop if we have time. I’ll be sure to take photos to share with you. Our plans are to stop in Salzburg on the way. Without a doubt, Daniel will be singing the songs from The Sound of Music (if he can remember the words!) as we do the tour of where the Sound of Music was filmed. He is very excited about this while I feel sure I will likely sleep through it. 
We thank you in advance for your prayers for our safety and for the car to be FINALLY fixed!
We may not have email access until we return so if you write and don’t hear from us, we will write as soon as we get back to Romania.
May The Lord bless you as you serve Him!
Basking In The Son,
Michelle
Posted on October 31st, 2007 by Michelle
Filed under: Michelle's Journal