EXTENDED HANDS MINISTRIES

P.O. BOX 70018                                                                                          CRIHALMA NR 148
LONDONDERRY R.P.O                                                                           C0DE 507053
EDMONTON, ALBERTA                                                                        JUD. BRASOV, ROMANIA
CANADA    T5C 3R6                                                                                 TEL:  0744-307762
TEL:  (780) 998-9035                                                                                 WEB:  www.ehm-romania.info
TEL/FAX:  (780) 475-5935                                                                        E-MAIl:  office@ehm.romania.info
E-MAIL:  bgoodson@telusplanet.net

“…whatever you did for one of the least of these …”

DECEMBER 2008   – NEWSLETTER

Greetings from Romania and yes – we are still alive.  We are sorry we have not written sooner as we know many of you have been waiting to hear from us.   We have not forgotten you –and pray you have not forgotten us in your prayers either!

2008 is almost over!  It has been an incredible year.  Lots of  blessings and joys and excitement, mixed with disappointments and tears.  Many goals were achieved, some plans had to be changed and we trust that we have been obedient to God each step of the way and know that God has remained faithful and has walked with us each step of the way!

Many of you know that we were finally able to achieve our dream of  travelling to Canada together, along with Valentina.  Much time and effort, along with many prayers both here and there, were required but God knew the desires of our hearts and so with excitement we flew to Canada in July and stayed there until September.   We thank each one of you who made our trip a blessing, who opened your homes and your hearts, and who received us with open arms and the love of Jesus.   Valentina felt so blessed and so loved, so accepted that she was often overwhelmed, but those of you who had the privilege of meeting her, will know that she was able to absorb it and accept it and stole many hearts on our trip.  She found many things very strange, ‘way too civilized’, she said, but loved all the attention and love that was poured out on her.  Although Satan seemed to give one last try to stop our trip when we were leaving Romania, God made the way for our exit and we have very little difficulties with authorities after that.  Sometimes, it almost seemed to easy, but we know that many prayers were being lifted up for us and God made the paths straight!   We were very sorry to miss many of you and would have loved the opportunity to visit with each one but time did not allow as many of your schedules were busy with your own lives, families and schedules.  However, we pray that we will have another opportunity in the future and if not here on earth – in Heaven when Jesus returns for us!

Our trip to Canada was marred by the fact that Albert was not feeling well.   He believed he had heat stroke as a result of staying in the hot Romanian sun in June and so was extremely tired a lot of the time and had little or no energy.  Towards the end of our trip, he developed an infection in his right leg again and the doctor put him on a very strong antibiotic as we were returning to Romania at that time and he did not have a chance to do the tests to find out what type of infection he had.   This seemed to drain the rest of Albert’s energy and our return trip to Romania was very difficult, especially with an eight hour lay over in London.

When we arrived in Romania –we found that once again – God was more than faithful! Absolutely nothing was stolen, there was no evidence of anyone having entered our properties who were not supposed to be there.   The young gypsy couple who were left in charge, did an awesome job and although the buildup of work was rather overwhelming with Albert being sick, we felt so blessed that God had protected the properties while we were gone.  Many people in the village asked about it, knowing we had left gypsies in charge and were very surprised to hear that all was well, with the exception of a flooded basement, which was not their fault, but the fault of a broken town water pipe!  Even though they had to break the lock to remove the water, everything was left intact.   We are so blessed and our faith in God was strengthened as we saw how He is able to work on the hearts of people.  Since our return to Romania we have witnessed how God has broken chains that had bound this young couple from accepting the love and grace of Jesus and we are so excite about what God will do in their lives in the coming year.

Albert continued to get weaker and we did not know what to do about his situation so one evening Elvira was crying out to God and asked Him to show her the problem, what it was or what to do about it.   Like a neon light an idea flashed into her mind  — WHAT IS HIS GLUCOSE LEVELS???   Elvira felt dumb struck, being a nurse and continually monitoring his sugars because of his weight but realized that with the busyness of the summer and all the excitement and plans for travel, we had not checked his sugar of late  – so- we did!  His levels were so high they would not register on the test strip that we had!!!!   We attempted to find a doctor but it took two weeks before we were able to see a specialist.   With diet, we had  brought his sugar down to a readable level and he was already starting to feel some what better.   When the doctor saw him, she was shocked to see he was walking, his levels were so high!  So- he was put on medication and diet until tests could be done.  His sugars quickly dropped but the tests showed problems with the kidney and liver and so his medication had to be changed again.  Two months later, with strict diet and lots of prayers, Albert’s sugar levels are normal and his energy has returned.  God is so faithful!   We are so strict with his diet that we have been finding his sugar levels have been going too low now that he has lost some weight and is working.  We continue to trust God for wisdom and guidance and know that He has not finished with Albert here on earth just yet!

Since our return from Canada, we have had one session of Bible School.  It was somewhat disappointing that only two men were able to attend and because of home problems, they did not even finish the two weeks!  Our hearts are heavy because the need for trained gypsy leaders is so great and yet they are not committed to receiving training.  However, we are not quitters and continue to believe that God is calling us to train leaders so a new session will begin in March of 2009.   We ask that you pray that God would work on the hearts of the leaders who He would have attend and prepare the way for them.  We already have much enthusiasm from some new students and pray it will only grow!

Elvira has been very busy again with medical work.   Already the axe wounds have started although we have been blessed by a warm fall.   More and more elderly are waiting for bi-monthly blood pressure checks and Elvira is trying to use the opportunity to minister to them as so many of them are alone and need some one to talk to and some one who is willing to listen.   Although this is very time consuming, it is a blessing to be able to share the love of Jesus with some very hurting elderly people who are so in need of the love of Jesus.

Valentina continues to do well in school as well as in her music lessons.  She is such a blessing although she is certainly making us realize how old we are, she has so much energy and enthusiasm for life!  Rita is also doing well.  She is very, very busy with the ministry and we can see her love for Jesus as she works for Him.   Dana is still trying to find her place in the world.  She did not use her opportunity to get a teaching position and is still not sure what she wants in life.   It is difficult to know how to help someone who does not know what they want and we ask that you pray for her, that God would protect her and help her work through all her confusion and fears and that God would give us wisdom to know how best to help her.

We are once again very busy preparing a Christmas program with the gypsy children.  They are so eager to take part in the program and it is such a blessing to see them in the church.  We pray that our efforts will bring glory to God and bring many into His Kingdom.

Albert has been doing some humanitarian runs and blessing people with the aide you have blessed us with.   We are so thankful for those of you who help make this possible.  It is such a joy to be able to bless people and to see their gratitude.   However, it is not always like that and it takes much discernment to avoid jealousy and fights between them.   We rely so heavily on the direction of God’s Spirit to help us make wise decisions and to know who He would have us bless with material goods.  Of late, we have been focusing on the young mothers, girls who we raised in the church who have now started their families and have so little to assist their infants with.  We pray that God would touch their hearts and know that He loves them and cares for them!

Albert is also doing some leadership training in some gypsy churches.   We have been able to bless them with some computers which you have blessed us with and once again, we pray that God would use these blessings and teaching from His Word to reach the hearts of the gypsy men and women who are blessed by these gifts.

Once again we are at the end of a calendar year!  It is a wonderful season – the Christmas season – and we pray that this Christmas, Jesus would become ever so much more real to you, in your hearts, in your lives – as you live for Him and serve Him.   The god of materialism is over taking the world and the need for Jesus is so strong.   We  know that only through the love of Jesus can we find happiness, satisfaction and contentment in life.   May your Christmas be blessed with every good thing from God and may you sense His presence in your lives.  We look forward to hearing from you and know that as you are faithful to God, He is faithful to you, to us, to our children and to the many who are in need of His love.  May we encourage you to write to us directly here in Romania as other wise we do not get the mail for a very long time.   Gifts must continue to be sent to Edmonton but letters, cards, etc. can come by mail to us here.  Thank you.

“…I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: your works are wonderful, I know that full well….”  Psalms 139

FMÎ RAPORTURI DE LAUDĂ ȘI CERERI DE RUGĂCIUNE

1.  TRAVEL:   We praise God for the travel mercies He gave us as we traveled through Canada and back in Romania.  We realize now that Albert’s sight was affected by his diabetes and know that God protected us!
Please pray that God would continue to protect as Albert travels through Romania, delivering aid and speaking in churches as well as emergency trips to hospitals and daily life.

2.  BIBLE SCHOOL:   We thank God for the opportunity to teach gypsy leaders from God’s word.   Please pray that God would prepare the hearts of those He would have attend the Bible School in spring and that He would remove all obstacles that would keep them from learning from His Word.

3.  CHILDREN:   It was such a blessing to be able to spend some time with our home made children and grandchildren.   However, it was very difficult to leave them again and to know that they ill have grown and matured so much by the time we see them again.  Pray that God would keep the bonds strong even though miles separate us and that He would give them health and a desire to serve Him with their whole lives!
We thank God for our Romanian children as well, those who we have raised, those who we have been able to speak into their lives with the love of God.   Please pray that God would continue to draw them unto Himself and they might know the power of His love and the joy of serving Him.

4.   HEALTH:   We thank God for continued health to serve Him.   The seriousness of Albert’s condition caused us to realize how precious our health is and what a privilege it is but that it can not be taken for granted.   Elvira’s mother was also seriously ill this fall and we are so thankful that God chose to spare her for a while longer as He uses her to bless so many!
Pray that God would continue to heal Albert and that He would give us wisdom with medications and diet.   Albert still has more tests the doctor wants done so we covet your prayers for total healing!

5.  EDUCATION AND MEDICAL WORK:    God has opened many doors to show His love in practical ways such as providing medical services and assisting with education.   We have been asked to do some English tutoring and are trusting God that He will use this open door to once again show His love .

6.   FINANCES:   We continue to thank God for His faithfulness in providing for our every need!  We also thank you- who are obedient to God in supporting us.  We pray that He would use your gifts to reach souls for the Kingdom of God and know that He will continue to supply!

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!”