Christmas Adventures

With Christmas come and gone, I figured I ought to give a quick update on some of our holiday adventures here in Romania.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, so you don’t get any.

For starters, nearly $600 in donations came in this year for buying Christmas gifts for poor families.  (Way to go, 724!  You guys rock!!!)   We’re still a small work, so this more than covered all of our expenses this year!  Besides bringing gifts (around 40 or 50) ourselves for families to whom we’ve been ministering, we were also able to give a donation to a church doing a similar work in another area of Bucharest.  For everybody who gave to make this happen, thanks!

Back from the Dead!

I say it with awe:  Vasilica is a woman of prayer.

A few months ago, her oldest son Alberto was diagnosed with HIV infection, contracted as a result of his heroin addiction.  A couple weeks ago, his health had so badly deteriorated that he was taken to the ER where he remained in critical condition.

But his mom began to pray.

At one point, doctors were telling her that Alberto was dying and there was nothing they could do, that she had best prepare for his passing.  She pointed to heaven and told them, “God says when Alberto lives or dies, not you.”

“Make sure you wash yourselves”

Today, after spending the afternoon speaking to people in Cismigiu Park (and, incidentally, getting ourselves kicked out because we handed a gospel flier to a security guard), we hopped on the subway to go visit our Gypsy friends along Drumul Taberei.  They live in what I can only describe as complete squalor.  The adults survive by begging and washing car windows.  They sleep on strangely-smelling and lumpy things that vaguely resemble centuries-old mattresses (one family per mattress) in small rooms with no electricity that somehow survived the destruction of the building that had once stood around them.  Their drafty homes are heated by wood, and only Vasilica’s has running water.  The kids, when they’re not in school, join their parents to wash car windows at the intersections and beg spare change off of passersby.

Prayer Letter – January 2013

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A Saint on the Road to the Army Encampment

I’ve written before about Vasilica, her faith, her life, and the difficult situation she is in.  As we visited her last night, I was reminded once again of the power of God to turn normal, insignificant people into men and women of destiny, into saints.

For saints are not merely extraordinary Christians dead and gone, people to admire.  Rather, every follower of Jesus is called to be a saint, a holy man or woman of God, full of his power and love.  Saints are simply nobodies who said “yes” to the One and so became somebody.

1 Corinthians 1:2, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.”

Ephesians 5:3, “But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.”

Prayer Letter – December 2012

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Prayer Letter – November 2012

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And *I’m* supposed to teach *her*?

That thought went through my mind more than once during our meetings at Vasilica’s house. Although Mircea’s not doing so well with God (pray for him!), Vasilica is just rockin’ it!

Last week, the family was almost out of food, so Vasilica told her children, “You eat the food. The word of God is my food. I will read the Bible.” So she spent the day reading the Word of God, and she wasn’t hungry.

This week, a neighbor who knew the family’s struggles brought over some food.  When Vasilica asked her neighbor how she had gotten the food, the neighbor revealed she had stolen it.  “I will not eat it,” she responded.  “You did evil to get it, so I cannot eat it.  I am a Christian.”  Her husband responded by calling her crazy, hitting her, and throwing out the only Bible the family has (a Gideon’s New Testament).  Then he left to stay with friends.  “I am a Christian, and Jesus will take care of me,” Vasilica said with finality.  “I will not eat that food.”  The next day, we came over with bread, milk, and fruit.