First Christmas Dinner Party A Blessing For All

Thank you for your comments and your prayers. There are so many of you that are part of this celebration, through your love, prayers, gifts and financial support. We feel abundantly blessed to be here and thank you all.

The internet at the apartment is still down so we will update every chance we get here at the center.

We do have a special prayer request, and that is for Ronelle Vandgrift and her family. Ronelle was planning to travel with us on her first mission trip but had to cancel because her sister was in the hospital about a week before we left. We are sad to say that she passed away and Ronelle and her family are in our thoughts and in our prayers.

We also ask for your prayers for Donnie, Peggy and Jerry as they too were scheduled to come on this trip and have been here before. Donnie's father had a stroke a couple of weeks before leaving for Romania and Jerry had surgery with complications of infections and several hospitalizations. They are part of this team as we all worked together on group fund raising and gaining sponsorship to pay for trip expenses and for extras for the kids. Donnie, Peggy and Jerry, we miss you and love you and pray fir God's healing and speedy recoveries.

The first Christmas dinner party was last night and it was great! We had another one tonight. Each night we have dinner, and Tim who works at the center, read from the Bible about the birth of Christ. The kids at the center dressed in costumes that we brought to play out the story. It was sooooooo cute and fun! The kids loved it, and the parents were so proud! They laughed and smiled and really got the message.

When we planned the dinner parties before we even left for Romania, we wanted to make sure that it was more than a Christmas party, but one that would leave an impact. Most of the families of the kids at the center are not Christian, but have been shown the love of Christ in so many ways by Rachel, FMN, and by many teams that have come to work with the children, the families and in the village of Tinca. Both nights, the families seemed to enjoy the meal. The Roma (Gypsy) culture is one that is not accepted and they are never, or hardly ever, even invited or accepted in society, much less invited to a party that was planned especially for them. They dressed in the very best as we planned to do family portraits. We served them the meal which was a blessing to us, and for them too. Everyone received Christmas presents and food. We felt the impact was made.

After we left the center last night, it was so amazing to hear Rachel talk about the ride home when she took the parents back to the village. They were very grateful and felt our love, and the love of Christ. Rachel said that she and others have been encouraging Tim to allow God to use him to preach to others in his village. He had already opened up a prayer meeting in his home and has been ministering to different families in the village. We had a script for the drama that we were going to use, but forgot it and left it at Rachel's apartment. It apparently was God's plan, as this opened up the opportunity for Him to use Tim, to read from the Bible the story of Christmas, and to share with the families of God's love for them. He also shared with them that God brought Rachel to Romania to love their children and to help them to take better care of their children through the support of FMN. She also said that this opportunity was something should wouldn't have been able to do by herself, and that it was so amazing for her to see the parents in a totally different light. In the village, it is a hard life, and the culture is raw and violent. At the center, in their best clothes, and while being served, they were different people. Rachel saw for the first time, the pride that each parent had for their children as they carried out the drama. It was amazing!

We are so blessed to be here and thank all who have made it possible. Rachel is amazing and is pure light in a very dark village. We pray that more short term mission teams will come to work with FMN and help to further the work that is being done. We also pray that God will bring others to serve long term alongside Rachel and FMN.

We are at Caminul Felix and had a great night spending some time with the teens that are 16 years and older. We did an ice breaker that was fun, and we started to lose them because there were so many, and because of the translation process. We had an activity planned but felt God leading us into open conversation instead. Our intention was to love them and encourage them as life in Romania is hard. From some of the responses we got after our time with them, we feel that God was in that room and even if one life was touched or encouraged, for Him, that it was worth the time. We have watched many of these kids grow up.

We have to go for now........it's been a long, but blessed day, and now after 10:00 p.m., we will go back to Rachel's apartment, eat some dinner and get some rest for another big day tomorrow. We will be at the center again, and will have another Christmas party with the biggest family, Alex's family, the little boy with Down's Syndrome in the Isaiah Center. Please pray for Alex as he has been in the hospital, and is supposed to get out tomorrow. We want to be able to see him and love on him. We were here in January, and we know that he has changed very much since coming to the center through the work of physical therapists, and the extra love from Rachel and others from FMN.

We are so thankful for Rachel and her heart. We are so thankful that she has given up her life for the will of God as it is obvious that He has called her to Romania to show His love and bring others to know Him. We are also thankful for Iza, as she lights up any room she comes into. She loves God, she loves people and she definitely loves the kids at the center. She is a doll! She's so much fun and we love being here with her and Rachel.

Love,

Rachel, Iza, Kim, Missy & Lois