Ministry Updates

 

Thought I would take the time to update everyone on the Mamarute Children's Ministry as well as a new ministry that we are starting tomorrow night. Mamarute had a great turnout for our second week. We had 12 children last Wednesday. We worked on the letter "G", made Giraffe puppets, had grapes, and sang Hokey Pokey and I'm in the Army of the Lord. We also did a bible verse about God's creation and talked about what God was doing when he made the Giraffe- was he falling asleep when he was working on the neck or did he sneeze when he was painting the giraffe and so now there are spots. We are trying to get the children to see God as someone real and caring. We asked what he(God)was thinking when he gave Delia rosy cheeks or when he gave Raul a serious look. If you look in the ministry album you will see some cute picture of the kids who come to Mamarute.

Tuesday night will be our first night of the young teen ministry at the Baragan School. The ministry is for 12-15 year olds. It will be an opportunity for these kids to play games, listen to music, hang out with their friends in a safe environment. We also want to build relationships with these kids so we can talk about life issues. Roberta and I went to meet the school administration on Friday to ask them if we could use the school. Everyone we talked to at the school was wonderful. The administrator said yes to everything we asked for and thought it was a great opportunity for the kids. When we had our youth leadership meeting last Tuesday we were also very encouraged because we had a Romanian man from the church named Relu who said he be there every week. What a blessing. Any ministry that we start needs to have a Romanian who can sustain it when we leave. Relu's story really illustrates what can happen when we leave the direction for our lives in his hands. Relu had left his job in Romania and was going to get work abroad. He came back not long after leaving and said he was going to stay in Romania because he thought that is where God wanted him. Now he is getting the opportunity to help start new ministry. Relu also feels that he is being called to start a puppet ministry. Maurice is going to help him build the puppet stage and will start some puppet shows in the young teen and children's ministries. Please be in prayer for him and his family. Another prayer request is for the two American students, Courtney and Rebekah, who are helping to start this ministry. They have had a really rough week due to having to move host families. Ana Maria's mother was there host mother but because Ana Maria's health has deteriorated from the cancer her mother is coming to America to be with her. As a result the girls need to move out which is hard but they also see their "mama & tata" so upset about their daughter and they can't do anything to comfort them. The whole situation in the Lord's hands.

Lastly- Maurice and I will both be preaching on Sunday. Roberta will be gone on Sunday so Maurice will preach in Sighisoara and I will give the message in Tsigmandru. Please pray that hearts will be open to hear and that the words we speak will be God's and not ours. The Tsigmandru church has really grown. I am working with a Romanian there named Hordu to raise him up to be a worship leader. There is the language barrier to overcome but also the literacy barrier. We try to practice music on Thursdays when he is not working or after church. He works on reading the words and then goes home and memorizes him. He has such a heart for Jesus. Last week he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving that his children are learning to pray. Please in prayer for him and his family as they grow in their faith- not that God would improve their circumstances but that God would be able to use those circumstances to witness to others about the love of Christ. - Karen