EXTENDED HANDS MINISTRIES

FEBRUARY 2009 NEWSLETTER

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.”  (Philippians 4:6)

CRISIS, seems to be the word of the day.  The world is in crisis, governments are in crisis, churches are in crisis,  marriages are in crisis, families are in crisis, finances are in crisis.  Seems to be all we hear!  Our question is:  how about your heart, your relationship with Jesus, your life?  Is that in crisis too?

What an awesome age we live in!  Years ago, when the Bible was written they wrote about the soon return of Jesus for his bride!  As we survey the things that are happening in the world around us, as we see how people are living, turning their backs on God and loving evil more than righteousness we see that indeed, the Lord’s coming is soon!   And yet, the Bible tells us not to be anxious and God has given us a peace that people do not understand.  However, if His word tells us not to be anxious, but – to be ready – what have we to fear?  When people say, ‘but do hear about this – or that’, we are able to assure them that these things must happen in order for God’s Word to be fulfilled.  We are not to be concerned, but rather to make sure our hearts are prepared to meet our soon coming King!  What a glorious day that will be!

Already one month has passed in the year 2009.  It seems like just yesterday it was the beginning of 2008 and yet so many things have changed in the world around us.  Unfortunately, most of the things are not for the better!  This past month there have been a rash of break ins in our village.  People are living in fear, afraid to go out alone, afraid to stay home.  Last weekend there was a very big fight on gypsy street.  The end result, one person was stabbed in the stomach and we had to rush him to emergency where he remains in critical condition.  The people who witnessed the fight said they had never experienced so much hatred and evil in their lives.   And yet, the Bible says, ‘do not be anxious about anything,…”

We have been extremely busy these weeks.   Albert has done a lot of travelling, speaking on behalf of the Bible School as well as delivering aid and doing leadership training sessions.   We thank God for the open doors to speak and there is great enthusiasm for the next Bible School session.   We are believing for more than a dozen men to attend.  The following week we will have a mini conference for the leaders wives, giving them opportunity to receive some teaching and to get away from their responsibilities for a short time.   We ask for prayer for these weeks, beginning March 8th, that the men and women would come prepared to receive God’s word and then to take it home to their families and churches.  We ask that you pray for the professors, most of which will be coming from England.  Our missionary friend who was cooking for us has returned to Canada and therefore Elvira will be taking over the cooking again, training a young gypsy lady to help.  For the women’s conference, Albert and another missionary husband will be taking over the cooking!  Pray for the men and perhaps more so for Elvira – that she can handle the men in her kitchens!!

Our Christmas program, which seems like a long time ago, went very well and was a blessing to those who participated and those who attended.  Our education building was packed to standing room only by both gypsy and Romanians.  Our children and teens did an awesome job of presenting the Christmas story and the 11th commandment:  Love one another!   We pray that the seed that was planted will grow in good soil and produce fruit for the Kingdom of God.

We have been teaching English both in our village and in the neighboring village of Comana at their request.   They are now teaching English starting in grade five in both villages, however, the students are struggling so we are helping to improve their skills as well as teaching some younger children so they will be well prepared.  Some of the Orthodox parents will not allow their children to attend as we are ‘repenters’ and we do not charge a fee.  However, for those who do attend,  we pray that our offering of love will be a blessing to them and help them with their studies and lives in the future as most higher education now requires English, even in Romania!

We thank you for your prayers for Albert’s health.  He is doing very well.  He is completely off of medications for his diabetes!!!  He has lost a lot of weight and is feeling very good.  He needs to go for a check up at the end of February when they will do more blood work to see if the problem with his kidneys and liver has cleared up.  We are believing for total healing and that they will no longer find anything wrong!  God is so good!

Valentina continues to do well at school.  She is getting taller and even more beautiful every day, perhaps noisier too, if that is possible!  She is such a blessing and joy to have around!  Rita and Dana are also doing well.  We thank God for caring for them all.

Our Canadian children are also doing well.  We feel sorry for them and for the rest of you Canadians, as well as other places, with the difficult winter you have had.  We have been blessed with a very mild winter with almost no snow.  We have had plenty of rain but our flowers are already sprouting and the grass is green!  The first Saturday of February we were outside in our shirt sleeves with a temperature of 19, doing yard work!  Perhaps we will get our turn but for now, we are thankful for the beautiful weather we have had.

Many people have written us and asked us how the financial situation around the world is affecting Romania or us.  As is true around the world, the cost of everything has risen.  Credit in Romania, or at least in the villages, is a fairly new thing and not a good thing as people have much debt and now they are losing their jobs and have no way of paying their debt.  It was very easy for them to adjust to the luxuries in life but not so easy to lose them!  We personally, have no debt but the cost of everything is rising very quickly and some times we wonder where it will all end.  People are becoming desperate here, with theft on the rise.  Alcoholism is increasing as people are trying to drown their problems with drink, which of course ends up in more fights and family disputes and the situation continues to get worse!  For us, funding is down.  We are asking God to show us where to use the funds He has blessed us with and how to prioritize in order that His word continues to go forth and so that the people of Romania would become independent of foreign help and be able to reach their own people with the gospel.  We are hoping to do some development on the river property this year so we can have some children’s and teen camps there this summer.  At this time, the finances are not available and so we are trusting God for wisdom, direction and provisions.

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:7)
EHM PRAISE REPORTS AND PRAYER REQUESTS

1.   HEALTH:   We are so thankful for the healing that God has done in
Albert’s body.   We ask that you continue to pray that his liver and kidneys
would be functioning normally when he goes for tests at the end of
February.

2. BIBLE SCHOOL:  We thank God for the opportunity to speak in churches and to recruit new students for the Bible School.  We thank God for the response.  We ask that you pray that the men would be determined to obey God’s call in their lives so they can learn more about His word and share it with their families, their churches and their communities.
Pray:  for the professors as they prepare, travel and teach.
:  for the student’s wives who are left at home to manage families
: for Elvira as she prepares meals and trains a cook
: for wisdom for Albert as he oversees the work

3.  WOMEN’S CONFERENCE:   We thank God for the opportunity to
minister to the leader’s wives.
Pray:   for Cheryl and Kristen who will be doing the teaching
:    for the wives, that they will be able to leave their family
responsibilities and spend some time receiving teaching in God’s word and
that God would do a new work in their lives
:  for the men as they prepare meals

4 FAMILIES:  We thank God for His protection over our children, both in
Canada and in Romania.  Pray that God’s blood would continue to protect
them and provide for all their needs.

5. Finances:  We thank God for His provisions, for supplying our every need.  We thank God for the people whom God has called to give of their finances to make the work in Romania possible.   Pray that His provisions would be abundant so that His word and love can reach the people of Romania.

“…..with thanksgiving, present your requests to God ….”