April 19th, 2008 (Easter Sunday in Romania)“for 'In him we live and move and have our being';” (Acts 17:28a)
Dear Friends and Family,
greetings in the name of Christ from our family, and from your brothers and sisters here in the country of Romania. We pray that this has been a year of blessing for you so far, and that each of you have seen God's hand at work in your lives.
We continue to serve here in Drobeta Turnu-Severin at the church of Smirna, and it continues to be a blessing for us to be here, to be able to grow in our friendships with others, and to grow together in the learning of God's ways and who He is. I (Andrew) am continuing to serve as an elder, as well as teacher in the church, and Geta continues serving as either a the teacher or helper in the children's ministry. It is exciting to see what God is doing in the hearts and lives of people - even just to hear what the kids learned in Sunday School!
We have been able to be a part of a citywide project that brought youth from all over Romania to help clean the streets and do various projects as a testimony of Christ, to Geta attending a History Makers leadership conference, to Andrew attending the Romanian Global Leadership Summit; there have been endless opportunities to grow and learn more about the God we serve and were created to glorify.
It has been a great blessing to be able to live in a house this last year or so – to have the room for our family, and to have the outside open space for the kids to run and play and just be kids. Among our various responsibilities here at the property, this year we have a small garden with some strawberry plants (very popular with the kids) and sweet corn that we brought from the states (very popular with Andrew and Geta).
Our children Joseph (6), Ammishaddai (4), Elijah (3), and Jeremiah (1) are growing too fast. Joseph is a good reader and continues to develop his writing and math skills. Ammishaddai has shown an interest in school and will begin learning to read in the fall. Elijah loves to color, and play outside. Jeremiah has been walking on his own for several months now, and loves it. The kids have all had excellent health this last year that we have been living in a house, just outside the city. They have gotten colds a couple of times, but nothing like what they had to go through when we lived in a block apartment in the city. Thank you all so much for your prayers for our children - please know that they are much appreciated. God has heard your faithful prayers and our family has been blessed because of them, and because of who He is!
Another way God has blessed us this past year is with a good van (you can see pictures on our website). The exterior needs a bit of work, but the engine is in remarkably good shape. We have had it for about ten months now, and it continues to function well, and has been such a blessing. For those of you that are aware, we have been praying for a rear bench seat for the van since we bought it, and we know that many of you have been praying along with us. We know that God will provide one at a good price at the right time. Please continue to pray with us!
God has continued to bless us abundantly this year through His grace continually poured out upon us, and His direction in our lives for His purposes, and through you as well, from your continued friendship, to your encouraging communication, to your faithful support, to your much-coveted prayers.
We hope that this update from the other side of the world about the great ways that God has been working in our lives and the wonderful ways in which He has been taking care of us here in Romania has been an immense encouragement to you. I would like to end this letter with one more encouragement to you, taken from Paul's address in the Areopagus, Acts 17:
“...he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything...that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” (Acts 17:25b, 27)
May the God who gives us all and is always near continue to pour out His blessings upon you.
Love in Christ,
Andrew & Geta, Joseph, Ammishaddai, Elijah, Jeremiah
