Lost & Found

Remember when you were little and lost something at school. You simply went to the lost and found and hopefully your lost sweat shirt, pen, mitten was there. Don't you wish it were all still so easy?

Last time I wrote we'd just gotten back from the states and things here were a mess. We cried, "Lord, we need your help!" But all looked impossible. We'd lost a bag on the flight. We'd lost a dog at our home (our missionary associate's). We'd lost a girl at the Home of Hope. She'd run away too. All of these looked like impossibilities. We couldn't just go to the lost and found and claim our missing item.

But that night we prayed together as a family. "Lord, you know we've come home and there are lots of messes here. Please help us find our bag. Help us find Lola. Help the women and girls at the Home of Hope. All are impossible, but with you, nothing is impossible."

Our bag wasn't a normal lost bag. One bag had been tagged twice. This bag had no tag. But a day later, it arrived by a different route. It had our name on it and so it came to us.

Starting last Thursday I started to get calls from the girl who had left the Home. Can I come for English? We'd love to have you come. Can I meet you on Monday? I'd love to meet you.

So today she came to meet us at the Home of Hope. Very humbly she asked if she could return to the home. She'd obey the rules, not only that she wants to obey the rules. She saw this is family. Here is peace. Please let her return. She's returned. The excitement was so much in me I forgot to get bread on the way home for our lunch with the pastors.

Then we came home and started our pastor's group and the phone rang, a fellow missionary in Moldova. "We found Lola at the kids' bus stop!!! Sara has come to get her!" Sara came to our house with Lola. Lola was skinny, muddy and miserable looking, but she was back. Even our small dog (Lola's sister, we bought from the same litter) was dancing in joy at Lola's return.

In my last post I also said that I was having major difficulties with staff, but they are understanding their roles and becoming such a blessing. They are seeing how God can use them in this work and each fitting in their place. Plus I need more and I see God beginning to respond to that. I have several who have come and want to help out at the Home.

God specializes in impossibilities. Things that look absolutely impossible to us are things that God specializes in. Thank Him for that today.

It's a new year

So with the New Year comes resolve to eat less, exercise more, communicate better. And thanks should be given in this new year for all those who hold this ministry in constant prayer.

I saw some of my blog followers in church one Sunday when we were in America. (Thanks John & JoAnn for coming to our service at Life Church. It was great to see you.) They asked if we were having visa problems because we were in the states again. No, we do not have visa problems. That is for those in Russia (pray for our Russian M's who need visas). 2008 was a strange year. My mom died, so a trip back for all. Then I went back to visit with my dad and another family trip for Christmas and The World Missions Summit.

TWMS is a missions conference for Chi Alpha Students (A/G Christian University Churches). Andy and I spent a week in Cincinnati with other Eurasia missionaries talking about "give a year, pray about a lifetime." It was great connecting with students who are interested in missions.

We were blessed to be able to tie this conference in with Christmas holidays and seeing all our family. Leaving was bitter/sweet. We were so ready to get home to Moldova. But it was hard to say good bye to my dad. We are praying for his home-going. He has lived a good life and is ready to be home with Jesus. His condition will never get better and now we would love to see his suffering end.

We came home to a lot of craziness. When we checked our bags in Minneapolis, one bag was double tagged, so one bag was not tagged at all. It did have our address on it (always put an address on your bags). We had little hope that we'd ever see that bag again, but the next day it came to the airport via a different route--absolutely amazing.

When we came into our house, Sara, the Missionary Associate working with us, said that the night before someone had opened our gate and all the dogs had gotten out (we have a German Shepherd & miniature schnauzer and she has a sister to the schnauzer). Britta, our German Shepherd, was near by and came right away. After some searching, Gracie, our small dog was found, but Lola, Sara's dog, is still missing. Such sad news.

We were in our house about 2 hours when a call came from the House of Hope and 2 of the residents were having a terrible fight. Andy went to try to deal with it (it was now after 10 p.m.) and he didn't return until about midnight. I spent a good portion of Thursday at the House of Hope and with the staff.

So, I have requests for prayer.

We are still praying that Lola would show up once again. It is very hard for Sara and our girls.

Please be in prayer for the House of Hope. There are so many needs there. These girls that live there are such hurting girls. It is terribly stressful for the staff. Before Christmas one of the girls left the home, then she returned and then she left again. The other two girls are fighting horribly. They don't know how to react normally to anything in life and they don't know how to communicate without angry words.

We need to pray that God will really give healing to their lives and emotions. We want to see something miraculous in their lives. One of the girls has already had a miraculous healing in her body.

Pray for our staff. They are tired and discouraged. We need to add more staff and I need to pray for God to show us some new people to hire. I also need a Christian psychologist or counselor and this is not easy to find. Finding Christians willing to work with trafficked women is hard. It is not because they think these women are awful, it is just very hard and exhausting work.

Finally, at the World Missions Summit I talked with some young women looking to come to teach our girls for the next two years. We really need someone who would be willing to give a year or two and be here by August. This means she needs to apply now and start raising her funds immediately. Please pray that we can get a teacher to commit within the next month. I could not do what I do with the House of Hope without a teacher for the girls.

Thanks for your faithful prayer for this ministry and our ministry in Moldova.