EXTENDED HANDS MINISTRIES

JUNE 2008 – NEWSLETTER AND TRAVEL PLANS

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:14)

Truly God has been working all things out – for good and we are so thankful for those of you who have stood behind us in prayer and prayed us through many difficult situations. God has been faithful, He has heard our prayers and answered them, doing above what we have asked. What an awesome God we serve!

It has been a long journey, trying to bring Valentina to Canada for a visit but in two weeks, we will be on our way. It would take too much space to share with you all the valleys we have gone through in the last months, but- we praise God for the mountain top experiences, which make it all worth while and points the glory to our Heavenly Father who cares so much for us! Valentina is so excited and can not wait to meet all the people we have told her about and to see all the things in Canada she has heard about. We will include a plan for our trip at the end of this newsletter so that you can help us to see as many of you as possible and to know where and if we need to change our schedule in order to accommodate you. We are so looking forward to touching the family that God has blessed us with and sharing with you the things God is doing and to hearing how He is working in your lives as well.

In the beginning of May, we had another session of Bible School. Although only 2 of 8 students showed up for the first week, God worked in a wonderful way in their lives and they – the students and teachers – benefited by the close teacher, student relationship. The second week, two more students arrived along with a professor and wife from Canada. Again, it was a blessed time for all and everyone ‘increased in wisdom and knowledge’ and close relationships were built. The missionary who filled in cooking meals as Elvira was away, also did a wonderful job and so both body and soul were well fed during the two weeks of school.

Valentina finished school in mid June by receiving a first place award for good marks and school behavior. We are very proud of her accomplishments and her desire to learn. She is also taking music lessons and her instructor says she is very gifted in playing and singing. We pray she will use her talents to the glory of God!

Dana is presently writing her final grade 12 exams. She has struggled with many issues these past months and we are praying that through them all she is drawing closer to God. She is hoping to enter university in September. However, this depends on how well she does with her exams. Please remember her in prayer as the transition from childhood into adulthood and being independent and responsible for herself is proving to be very difficult for her.

Rita is doing well in ministry and is very happy to be serving the Lord where she is, in a small community. She does have a trip to Holland planned for the summer so covets your prayers as she ventures beyond her comfort zone! She continues to be a blessing to all and desires to serve God with her life.

The medical needs in the community continue to increase as the Romanian population is aging and we have had several deaths in the last months. It is a blessing to be called to their homes and be able to share the love of Jesus with them. We thank God for opening doors and allowing us this opportunity as well as to continue to minister to the grieving families.

Our regular church has become the gypsy church in our community. God has spoken to hearts and we believe that the few who are regular attendees are growing in their knowledge of our Lord and Savior. We have also been learning how to live lives that will draw others into God’s Kingdom and we pray that we all will put this into practice so that the House of God would be filled each time the doors are open! However, our hearts are heavy and burdened with the many who will not enter God’s house and who have become so materialistic that they do not seem to have need of God. Another major concern is the lack of teaching for the children. Because we will be away this summer, our plans for summer camp development is on hold but we hope to come back refreshed and full of energy to get to work on it so that we can reach the children with the love of Jesus in a special way.
PROPOSED PLAN FOR CANADIAN TRIP – JULY /AUGUST 2008

1. Arrive in Vancouver on July 14th
2. July 14 or 15 ~ Travel via ferry to Vancouver Island to visit with Elvira’s mother, brother, the church in Chemanus and other friends on the Island.
3. July 19th – travel from Victoria to Winnipeg
4. July 20 – August 1st. – travel in the Morden, Carman, Carberry, Edrans and Boissevain areas to visit friends and relatives
5. August 1st to 4th – several family get togethers scheduled in the Winkler area.
6. August 5th – begin travels west – visit family and friends on the north route – up to Nipawin, Prince Albert areas, then to Edmonton
7. August 10 to 16 – private time with our homemade family – Shauna will be joining us at our son’s in New Sarepta. This will be the first time in 8 years that we have all been together as a family!
8. August 17 – 23 – visit some friends in Edmonton area, head towards Calgary
9. August 24 – September 4th. – travel back to Manitoba and catch up with those we missed at the beginning of our travels.
10. September 5th – fly out of Winnipeg on our journey back to Romania!!!!!!!!
11. September 6th- London airport – 9am til 6 pm – perhaps we can catch some England friends at the airport?

Please look at this schedule and let us know if you would like to see us. If you find you are busy at that time and would like to see us, please let us know and we will see if we can rearrange our plans to fit you in. You are all very special to us and we would like to see as many as possible. We are hoping to be travelling with a camper and in some areas we may just park and allow you to come to us so we are not running in so many directions and do not become overwhelmed with travel. Please e-mail us and let us know as soon as possible how we can fit you into our schedule.
While in Canada we will have a cell phone so that you can contact us– the number is: 204-823-0829.

Whatever we do and where ever we go – we want to honor and glorify God in and through our lives. He is the reason we live and we are so thankful to be able to serve Him in Romania. We are so thankful that He is blessing us with the opportunity to be with you in Canada, that we can be with our ‘homemade’ family as well as with the family of God. We are so blessed and pray that we can be a blessing to you as well! Thank you for your prayers and for making this all possible.

EHM PRAISE REPORTS AND PRAYER REQUESTS

1. HEALTH: Albert suffered heat stroke in May and is having some trouble recovering. He is not able to stay in the sun or in the heat for any length of time at all. Please pray for complete healing in this area.

2. BIBLE SCHOOL: We are so thankful for the knowledge gained by the students who attended session in May. The next session is scheduled for October. Pray that God would make it possible for all students to attend, for the professors and that God would work in the lives of these students.

3. ROMANIAN CHLDREN: We thank God for blessing us with these children. Please pray for Dana’s future – that God would lead and direct and that she would be willing to follow! Pray for her as she writes her exams and as we leave her behind this summer. She will be staying with the nuns at the orphanage where she has been during the last four years of school. Pray that she knows she is loved and that God has plans for her future!
Pray for Rita as she does children’s programs this summer. Pray for safe travel as she travels to Holland and a safe return to Romania to continue doing the work God has called her to do.

4. FINANCES: We are so thankful to God for providing for all our needs.
Pray that He will continue to supply as we travel and return to Romania
ready to continue the work He has called us to – to extend His love to the
people in Romania – that none might perish but that all might come into the
Kingdom of God!

5. TRAVEL: We thank God for His protection as we have traveled in
Romania. The traffic has greatly increased and our roads are not much, if
any, improved.
Please pray that God will protect us as we fly to Canada and return. That He
will protect us while we travel many miles in Canada. We hope to be
traveling with a trailer to save scheduling nightmares and so we can have
the same bed each night, to save meal costs, and so that we will be refreshed
and not exhausted when we return to Romania, etc. Pray that God would
make straight the paths and have everything in place ahead of us! We
know He is able to do above anything we can hope or pray for — He is our
Father and all things are in His hands!