What a blessing Kim, Lois, and Missy have been YET AGAIN for FMN Ministries! They have done an incredible job raising funds, preparing gifts, and providing a beautiful and blessed Christmas for our families and children in Tinca.
By the ladies providing a special Christmas for our families, Dave and I were then able to enjoy watching the families smile together, laugh, take pride in their children (which we work hard to encourage), and openly witness more about why we celebrate Christ's birth and what he has done in our lives. It's an incredible feeling to watch the parents/grandparents faces as their children pray or tell the story of Jesus' birth. When we started the center, the parents weren't sure they could keep their children, tired, worn out, without hope, and unable to provide for their families, so we praised God each night as we looked around the room at shining parents and grandparents who were thankful for stoves and presents for their children, and had such pride of their children.
The ladies also helped us get completely caught up with all of the laundry and cleaning that has needed some attention in this past month as it has just been Dave and myself running the program. Besides all the help the team provided and special Christmas gifts they brought much laughter! It has been kind of a rough time lately, so it was so incredible just to be with friends, to be encouraged, prayed over, laugh together (a lot), and have the desire to provide a great Christmas for everyone relieved.
Thank you to everyone who donated to make our Christmas so special! Hopefully you can see the pure joy on everyone's faces in the beautiful pictures and know what you all were a part of! We thank you for all you have provided. It has drawn us closer to our families and helped to continue building trust (which is vital in this ministry).
Thank you again to Kim, Lois, Missy, and all of our prayer warriors and supporters for making this Christmas another AMAZINGLY BLESSED one! The Forget Me Not family is MOST GRATEFUL!
Blessings!
Rachel & Dave
Thursday, December 10, 2009
We're Home!
Just a quick note to let everybody know we made it home safe and sound around 1:30 a.m. this morning. What a blessing to be in business class again! We can't thank Missy enough for getting us the Buddy passes that saved more than half on our tickets, and the ultimate blessing of being first class for the long flights! We said all along, that if we were supposed to be in Romania, God would make it happen! He did, and blessed us with more than we could have ever imagined!
We're trying to get our feet back on the ground and adjust after the time difference, long days and short nights. Romania is seven hours ahead of us. Kim was supposed to call the doctor and hopefully will get an injection to ease the pain, and will probably get an x-ray to make sure everything is good. Missy and I came home with cough and congestion, and Missy completely lost her voice. Allergies play a bit part in this, and also the dryness of flying for so long. We pray that we will be better soon!
Look for another posting by the end of the weekend with more pictures and some thoughts and highlights of the trip. We are so thankful for the time we got to spend in Romania.
Love,
Kim, Missy & Lois
We're trying to get our feet back on the ground and adjust after the time difference, long days and short nights. Romania is seven hours ahead of us. Kim was supposed to call the doctor and hopefully will get an injection to ease the pain, and will probably get an x-ray to make sure everything is good. Missy and I came home with cough and congestion, and Missy completely lost her voice. Allergies play a bit part in this, and also the dryness of flying for so long. We pray that we will be better soon!
Look for another posting by the end of the weekend with more pictures and some thoughts and highlights of the trip. We are so thankful for the time we got to spend in Romania.
Love,
Kim, Missy & Lois
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
We're Gearing Up To Head Home To America!
What an amazing week this has been and we are so blessed and thankful that we got to be part of Christmas in Romania, and thanks to all who made this possible including little preschoolers at Lafayette Academy Preschool. The blessings that have been poured out this week have been abundant, and it takes all of us as a team to make this happen.
School supplies was delivered today that was collected last spring by Grace Lutheran Preschool & Kindergarten. They do a mission project for FMN every other year, and raise money through the kids doing extra jobs and making sacrifices of themselves, just like Lafayette Academy recently did, and save money in banks. At the end of the project they brought in school supplies, which was able to be brought over this time. There is a lady who comes to the center for kindergarten for the older kids and the supplies were much needed.
How awesome.............kids helping kids! Maybe you have a group of kids, or your church, or small group that would like to learn more about FMN and raise funds to support the ministry, or form a team to come to Romania! We'd love to meet with you and partner with you to be part of the FMN team! You will bless many, and at the same time, be more blessed than you can imagine!
We were at the center early this morning. Rewiring has begun and there are a lot of projects in the works. The Isaiah Center has come a long way since it first opened in January, 2008 and the children have changed so much!
We prepared for the next party which was with Abel and Samuel's family. Before the party, we wanted to get a "family" photo of the Isaiah Center Family. WOW! It was pretty crazy trying to get everybody to look at the camera at the same time and smile. Dave was holding Alex and he kept grabbing Rachel's hair and eating on Dave's face! Bless his heart! He's blossomed through the love that he has received at the center and is a very active little boy which is a true blessing as he couldn't even sit up a year ago and is now pulling up on furniture and getting into everything!! When we look back to one year ago when the first "family" picture was taken, the kids have changed so much! They have security and love, nutrition and encouragement, and a father in Heaven who loves them very much, who has placed them at the Isaiah Center.
At the party, the kids were so excited, and they had a blast! The highlight of the party, besides Santa's visit of course, was when Abel prayed out loud again. At first he was embarrassed because his family was there but with encouragement from Rachel, he prayed and prayed, for his family, for others, for God's hand to heal and protect. When the prayer was over, Rachel said she looked up and Abel's grandfather was wiping tears from his face. It's so sad, but as we've said before, this culture is a hard culture, one of extreme poverty, illiteracy, abuse, neglect, alcoholism, and hopelessness. The Roma culture is not accepted into society and are looked down upon as being unworthy of life and unworthy of love. Abel's grandfather has been abusive to Samuel and Abel, and the boys live alone in a small hut next to the grandparents house. They were abandoned by their mother, and at one time, the grandparents believed the boys to be cursed and that's why they would not let them stayin the house with them. The hut for the boys at one time had no roof and a mud floor until FMN took care of that, covering the roof and putting in a floor. FMN will continue to work with these families, assisting to care for their children, and we can only pray that peace will come to these families, and the children will have what they deserve.........family and others who love and care for them. Abel has such a tender heart and has spurts of being aggressive sometimes, but most of the time he is helping and loving on the other kids. He prays like a little prayer warrior and is fueled by the fulfillment he gets from being loved, encouraged, and praised for his good behavior and his kind heart.
We're extremely exhausted. Some of us have developed coughing and congestion and Kim managed to go to the center today and yesterday but has been in pain with her shoulder after the surgery. She has a doctor appointment when she gets home. We ask for your prayers for travel, for little to no pain for Kim, for the coughing and congestion to clear, and save travel for us to get back home to be with our families! We miss our families and are ready to come home, but hate to leave our family here. We know that we will be back to do more with FMN!
Thank you Rachel, Dave and Iza for the amazing work that you are doing in Romania. Thank you for having us this week, and allowing us to be abundantly blessed by our time with the kids and families here in Romania. We will continue to pray for the ministry and pray for others to work alongside you, here in Romania and for short term mission teams (and long term too!)
We leave Romania at 8:30 in the morning. We drive to Budapest and fly into New York and then to Cincinnati, and then will be picked up from there and will arrive home about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. We'll update the blog once we get settled with more pictures and updates! Thanks for your love, prayers, support and for making Christmas in Romania possible!
Love,
Kim, Missy, Lois, Rachel, Dave & Iza
P.S. A little delirious so think some pictures were duplicated on the last entry, but there just so dog gone cute!
School supplies was delivered today that was collected last spring by Grace Lutheran Preschool & Kindergarten. They do a mission project for FMN every other year, and raise money through the kids doing extra jobs and making sacrifices of themselves, just like Lafayette Academy recently did, and save money in banks. At the end of the project they brought in school supplies, which was able to be brought over this time. There is a lady who comes to the center for kindergarten for the older kids and the supplies were much needed.
How awesome.............kids helping kids! Maybe you have a group of kids, or your church, or small group that would like to learn more about FMN and raise funds to support the ministry, or form a team to come to Romania! We'd love to meet with you and partner with you to be part of the FMN team! You will bless many, and at the same time, be more blessed than you can imagine!
We were at the center early this morning. Rewiring has begun and there are a lot of projects in the works. The Isaiah Center has come a long way since it first opened in January, 2008 and the children have changed so much!
We prepared for the next party which was with Abel and Samuel's family. Before the party, we wanted to get a "family" photo of the Isaiah Center Family. WOW! It was pretty crazy trying to get everybody to look at the camera at the same time and smile. Dave was holding Alex and he kept grabbing Rachel's hair and eating on Dave's face! Bless his heart! He's blossomed through the love that he has received at the center and is a very active little boy which is a true blessing as he couldn't even sit up a year ago and is now pulling up on furniture and getting into everything!! When we look back to one year ago when the first "family" picture was taken, the kids have changed so much! They have security and love, nutrition and encouragement, and a father in Heaven who loves them very much, who has placed them at the Isaiah Center.
At the party, the kids were so excited, and they had a blast! The highlight of the party, besides Santa's visit of course, was when Abel prayed out loud again. At first he was embarrassed because his family was there but with encouragement from Rachel, he prayed and prayed, for his family, for others, for God's hand to heal and protect. When the prayer was over, Rachel said she looked up and Abel's grandfather was wiping tears from his face. It's so sad, but as we've said before, this culture is a hard culture, one of extreme poverty, illiteracy, abuse, neglect, alcoholism, and hopelessness. The Roma culture is not accepted into society and are looked down upon as being unworthy of life and unworthy of love. Abel's grandfather has been abusive to Samuel and Abel, and the boys live alone in a small hut next to the grandparents house. They were abandoned by their mother, and at one time, the grandparents believed the boys to be cursed and that's why they would not let them stayin the house with them. The hut for the boys at one time had no roof and a mud floor until FMN took care of that, covering the roof and putting in a floor. FMN will continue to work with these families, assisting to care for their children, and we can only pray that peace will come to these families, and the children will have what they deserve.........family and others who love and care for them. Abel has such a tender heart and has spurts of being aggressive sometimes, but most of the time he is helping and loving on the other kids. He prays like a little prayer warrior and is fueled by the fulfillment he gets from being loved, encouraged, and praised for his good behavior and his kind heart.
We're extremely exhausted. Some of us have developed coughing and congestion and Kim managed to go to the center today and yesterday but has been in pain with her shoulder after the surgery. She has a doctor appointment when she gets home. We ask for your prayers for travel, for little to no pain for Kim, for the coughing and congestion to clear, and save travel for us to get back home to be with our families! We miss our families and are ready to come home, but hate to leave our family here. We know that we will be back to do more with FMN!
Thank you Rachel, Dave and Iza for the amazing work that you are doing in Romania. Thank you for having us this week, and allowing us to be abundantly blessed by our time with the kids and families here in Romania. We will continue to pray for the ministry and pray for others to work alongside you, here in Romania and for short term mission teams (and long term too!)
We leave Romania at 8:30 in the morning. We drive to Budapest and fly into New York and then to Cincinnati, and then will be picked up from there and will arrive home about 1:30 a.m. on Thursday morning. We'll update the blog once we get settled with more pictures and updates! Thanks for your love, prayers, support and for making Christmas in Romania possible!
Love,
Kim, Missy, Lois, Rachel, Dave & Iza
P.S. A little delirious so think some pictures were duplicated on the last entry, but there just so dog gone cute!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Busy & Fun Day!
First thing this morning, Iza got up to find her boots filled with candy and treats. This is a tradition in Romania when Mos Nicolae comes this time of year, and the kids leave their shoes at the door, and if they are a good little girl or boy, Mos Nicolae fills their shoes! Apparently Iza has been awesome this year because her boots were filled to the brim! She was so excited!
Iza's cough was better this morning and Kim felt somewhat better and was able to go with us to the center! We missed her yesterday and were so thankful that she felt better. Anyone who knows Kim knows she's the life of the party! Thanks for your prayers.
Iza went to school and we did some shopping for supplies and then off to the center we went! Laundry has been going all week, and we are surely spoiled with technology at home! They do have washers and dryers here in Romania, but they only allow you to do small loads and take forever! It's all caught up now! We got ready for the kids and made pizzas for them for lunch, baked the cupcakes and made the snacks for the party. We also cleaned and organized some more in the kids room and in the kitchen.
A lot has been going on at the center this week. Some men from the village were hired to help load wood into the furnace room and cleaning up outside in the yard. The furnace man had to come and make some adjustments. A new security door was put up, rewiring is to begin tomorrow, some windows will be replaced soon and a security system put in place. Rachel and Dave their tails off running back and forth to the village and dealing with the electrician, the men from the village who have been working some this week which helps to support their family, and loving and caring for the kids. Please pray that God will send more workers who can work on a regular basis at the center with the every day duties so it will relieve Rachel and Dave to focus more on the kids and the future plans for the ministry. We believe in the power of prayer!
The kids came and as always, were excited to be back at the center. They all got baths and dressed in clean clothes, and then we had a PIZZA PARTY! They loved it! You can't imagine how much these kids can eat, especially when they get different foods that they don't get at home. They had a little play time, and then we were ready to get the party started!
It was Mariana's family party today, and oh how they were excited. This is the family that was the first to get the new wood stove that was posted on the blog last night. Snacks were served, and pin the tail on the donkey was a hit as in the other parties. They sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and LOVED the cupcakes. Then you know who showed up.............Santa! Its "amazing" how he has an English accent! The kids were all so excited to see him, except for Simona. She was crying and backed up on the couch with a look of fear. Santa kind of gave her a little hint of who he was later, and she felt much better.
The kids all received their gifts and the joy that was in that room was overwhelming! Mariana is the newest child at the center, and Rachel chose this family to work with because they have nothing. She said they are a great family and really in need of help. The wood stove is such a blessing to them and they are overwhelmed that anyone would do so much for their family. Rachel shared with us this morning that Mariana was in an orphanage for a couple of years early in her life and then back with the family. She does not know the details, if it was just a difficult time for them when they had Mariana or what, but said that it took Mariana a while to adjust to being at the center because of all she's been through. From what we've learned, in the Roma culture, and not sure if it's because they are considered outcasts and treated with such prejudice, but even in their own culture, they have nicknames for everybody in the village. We should all strive to build one another up, not tear each other down, but unfortunately these nicknames are not for fun. Mariana is called "orphanage girl" by the other kids in the village. This broke our hearts when Rachel shared this.
Oh how Mariana stole our hearts (you can probably tell by all the pictures of her that we've shared). She was so excited to see Santa, and when she first opened her Barbie, she was just beside herself. She was so overwhelmed with joy! She then opened her outfit that also included a pair of socks, and she said, "look Mommy.......socks (in Romanian of course)!" We take so much for granted and to be so excited over a pair of socks! She held up her top and just couldn't quit smiling! She was picking up paper on the floor and picking up without being asked. She had her outfit, socks and her barbie in a box and when we said something about her barbie, she looked up and said "Mult'umesc (thank you)!" What a blessing to be able to be part of Christmas in Romania!
Thank you to our families for managing without us at home this week, and for your love and support! Thank you Rachel and Dave for being faithful and honoring God's will for your life, as it is obvious that this is where you both are supposed to be. God is never late, always on time, and it's amazing how He "connected the dots" and brought you both together to work alongside one another and others through this ministry. Thank you God for Iza! While we anxiously await the adoption to be final which should be very soon, it is obvious too why you placed her in Rachel's life and in her heart, because you are using her as a mini-missionary in the center and in the village! She is beyond her years, has a heart of gold and is definitely a gift from God. It's amazing too that she looks and acts just like Rachel!
Tomorrow is our last day in Romania, and while we're tired and excited to see our families, we are sad to leave. We have had an amazing time. We've worked hard, loved a lot and have been blessed more than we can express.
Love to all!
Missy, Kim, Lois, Rachel, Dave & Iza
Iza's cough was better this morning and Kim felt somewhat better and was able to go with us to the center! We missed her yesterday and were so thankful that she felt better. Anyone who knows Kim knows she's the life of the party! Thanks for your prayers.
Iza went to school and we did some shopping for supplies and then off to the center we went! Laundry has been going all week, and we are surely spoiled with technology at home! They do have washers and dryers here in Romania, but they only allow you to do small loads and take forever! It's all caught up now! We got ready for the kids and made pizzas for them for lunch, baked the cupcakes and made the snacks for the party. We also cleaned and organized some more in the kids room and in the kitchen.
A lot has been going on at the center this week. Some men from the village were hired to help load wood into the furnace room and cleaning up outside in the yard. The furnace man had to come and make some adjustments. A new security door was put up, rewiring is to begin tomorrow, some windows will be replaced soon and a security system put in place. Rachel and Dave their tails off running back and forth to the village and dealing with the electrician, the men from the village who have been working some this week which helps to support their family, and loving and caring for the kids. Please pray that God will send more workers who can work on a regular basis at the center with the every day duties so it will relieve Rachel and Dave to focus more on the kids and the future plans for the ministry. We believe in the power of prayer!
The kids came and as always, were excited to be back at the center. They all got baths and dressed in clean clothes, and then we had a PIZZA PARTY! They loved it! You can't imagine how much these kids can eat, especially when they get different foods that they don't get at home. They had a little play time, and then we were ready to get the party started!
It was Mariana's family party today, and oh how they were excited. This is the family that was the first to get the new wood stove that was posted on the blog last night. Snacks were served, and pin the tail on the donkey was a hit as in the other parties. They sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and LOVED the cupcakes. Then you know who showed up.............Santa! Its "amazing" how he has an English accent! The kids were all so excited to see him, except for Simona. She was crying and backed up on the couch with a look of fear. Santa kind of gave her a little hint of who he was later, and she felt much better.
The kids all received their gifts and the joy that was in that room was overwhelming! Mariana is the newest child at the center, and Rachel chose this family to work with because they have nothing. She said they are a great family and really in need of help. The wood stove is such a blessing to them and they are overwhelmed that anyone would do so much for their family. Rachel shared with us this morning that Mariana was in an orphanage for a couple of years early in her life and then back with the family. She does not know the details, if it was just a difficult time for them when they had Mariana or what, but said that it took Mariana a while to adjust to being at the center because of all she's been through. From what we've learned, in the Roma culture, and not sure if it's because they are considered outcasts and treated with such prejudice, but even in their own culture, they have nicknames for everybody in the village. We should all strive to build one another up, not tear each other down, but unfortunately these nicknames are not for fun. Mariana is called "orphanage girl" by the other kids in the village. This broke our hearts when Rachel shared this.
Oh how Mariana stole our hearts (you can probably tell by all the pictures of her that we've shared). She was so excited to see Santa, and when she first opened her Barbie, she was just beside herself. She was so overwhelmed with joy! She then opened her outfit that also included a pair of socks, and she said, "look Mommy.......socks (in Romanian of course)!" We take so much for granted and to be so excited over a pair of socks! She held up her top and just couldn't quit smiling! She was picking up paper on the floor and picking up without being asked. She had her outfit, socks and her barbie in a box and when we said something about her barbie, she looked up and said "Mult'umesc (thank you)!" What a blessing to be able to be part of Christmas in Romania!
Thank you to our families for managing without us at home this week, and for your love and support! Thank you Rachel and Dave for being faithful and honoring God's will for your life, as it is obvious that this is where you both are supposed to be. God is never late, always on time, and it's amazing how He "connected the dots" and brought you both together to work alongside one another and others through this ministry. Thank you God for Iza! While we anxiously await the adoption to be final which should be very soon, it is obvious too why you placed her in Rachel's life and in her heart, because you are using her as a mini-missionary in the center and in the village! She is beyond her years, has a heart of gold and is definitely a gift from God. It's amazing too that she looks and acts just like Rachel!
Tomorrow is our last day in Romania, and while we're tired and excited to see our families, we are sad to leave. We have had an amazing time. We've worked hard, loved a lot and have been blessed more than we can express.
Love to all!
Missy, Kim, Lois, Rachel, Dave & Iza
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