Prayer Request: Orphans in Sabolciu

The other day when Cornel was coming out to Sabolciu to check on the progress of our church plant, he saw two children on the side of the road. He stopped to talk to them and it turns out the four year old was taking care of her two year old sister because their grandmother had died and left them with no family. We checked out where they were staying. It was nothing short of appalling. It was a room no bigger than a broom closet with about a foot of trash on the floor. We need to be praying that Child Protective Services will step in and do their job. Once they have gotten through the legal work then we can step in as a ministry and help find them a foster home. They are very vulnerable right now and beg for all of their food. Pray that God will protect them and find them a place to live as fast as possible. Thank you for your prayers.

Buckner Shoes

Just had a team come through from Illinois. Their church, Buckner (based in Dallas TX) has a ministry center in another city in Romaina so they just stop by our project on their way south. But they are a huge blessing becuase of the shoes they bring. Every year they donate shoes for our entire ministry!! This year the shoes got caught up in customs but they were able to get us 200 shoes for our foster ministry and all the kids at CP2 (the orphanage). It was amazing to be able to bless all those kids with new shoes for the winter. And to top it all off, in a few weeks we will be able to get the almost 2,000 shoes that Buckner sent from America!!! It will be great to get shoes out to the gypsies who are walking around bearfoot in this cold. God has provided in a big way as he always does!

Pictures are Here

That is correct, I have finally gotten some pictures online for your viewing pleasure. They will be updated as I get more so keep checking them out. I hope they give you a little glimpse of what Romania looks like. There will always be a link on the side of this blog or just follow the link at the end of this post. I hope you enjoy. [On Pathway to Joy]

New Web Site!!

For the last week I have been helping out with the new web site. We had a volunteer web designer from Florida come and help us out with it. It looks great and there is a lot of information up there so please go check it out. [www.pathwaytojoy.org]

The Situation

A little background info so you guys can get a picture of what exactly is going on around here. Pathway to Joy is involved in with two major groups, the gypsies and orphans. Our gypsy ministry is mostly the work of planting churches where there are none. Before we moved in there were not many people willing to go into the villages and associate with gypsies. Our current two villages are Tinca and Sebolchue (not sure about that spelling). Pathway has been working in Tinca for longer and has a church that is complete save a few finishing touches. There is a youth center in the process of being built, and a house that is being converted for children's ministry. There is not enough staff to do all of this but we are working very hard to do the best we can. The youth building is one of our next big projects, trying to get it insulated and warm before winter. It is a great facility where we can host concerts, bible studies, etc. In Sebolchue we are working to finish the church building so services can start. That village is comprised mostly of single moms and their kids so their is a lot of need there which we are trying to meet through clothes drives and things like that.

Our orphan ministry is a little bit more involved. We try and get mentors for every one of the kids. A big part of what we do is trying to take them out of a very hostile environment and be a positive influence on them. We do bible studies, take them to movies, and just try and give them some semblance of family. The goal for the future is to build a center where the kids can actually live, be fed spiritually and physically, and learn a trade. It is a huge project that will take money, labor, and time. God will provide, he always does. I have seen that very clear here.

Please let me know what you want to hear about. I can post about history, why there is an orphan problem, anything. This is for you guys, a part of my team, to experience a little bit of life here.

God is good, Life is good, all is well in Romania