These things

Jesus said, "These things come out only by prayer and fasting." The Lord has called me to fast and prayer for the meeting with Ludmila tomorrow and for the purchase of our Home of Hope. This is not something I'd normally shout from the rooftops (a blog is a modern day version of that!), but I feel challenged to ask you to do so with me.

It will be a difficult day tomorrow, confronting the forces of evil in the hope of Ludmila's freedom. It needs to be entered into with prayer and fasting. (See last blog).

We also need to agree for our Home of Hope purchase. It has been totally bogged down and we are getting no where with it. We would love to have this happen before we leave in June.

So if you can fast and pray a day or a meal with me. Ask God to break through in these areas and give the freedom to Ludmila through the rehab center and new life in Christ. Ask him to help us in the purchase of a place for Home of Hope Moldova.

Time to Help

Over a month ago I wrote about a young woman, Ludmila, who I met in a pyschiatric ward. She had been a victim of trafficking. Together, with a Moldovan friend, we tried to encourage her to enter a Christian rehab center not far from her village, but she refused to go.

Now she is ready to look at it. The home she returned to is led by an abusive alcholic step-father. At this point she wants to get out. We will pick her up and take her to the rehab center to see what it is about.

Pray for us this week as we try to bring hope and healing into Ludmila's life. Pray that she will be willing to stay at the women's rehab center. Pray that the women at the center will be able to minister love and healing to her and that she will find hope and peace in Jesus.

Pray also for our friends who will accompany us. Edward runs a ministry to police and military. He will go along and try to talk to the step-father, who is a policeman. (There is no law in Moldova against abuse at this time.) Pray that Edward can effectively talk to this man and that, through Christ, we can see a change in the entire family.

Thanks for your prayers this week. This can only happen through prayer.

Transitions

I'm packing. I'm dreaming. I'm dreaming of packing.

In my dreams it never gets done. I'm always late for the airport and there is more to do.

Yes, I'm in a time of transition. We are praying to leave the field after our first term for our year of stateside assignment. We are in the midst of packing our belongings to leave here in about a month. Today we hit the toys together and try to get them packed. AHHH....

Transition is hard. In the dreams I have, we are never here packing. In fact, I don't know where I have ever been in the dreams. They are just unfamiliar places. I think it is my subconscience taking over. For the next year we will have a place to live, but we will be traveling a lot. I'll be packign a lot!

Today I just ask you to pray for us as we make transition. We need to have everything packed in the next few weeks. Ministry is winding down, but we still have commitments for the month. Pray that God gives us his strength and help in this time.

We are very excited to go to America, see friends and family and visit churches. But good-byes are never easy. We have dear friends here that we will miss. This summer we miss 3 weddings of young Moldovans who we love dearly. Leaving is never easy. So please keep us in your prayers. Thanks.

Forever Goodbye

As missionaries we have the great priviledge of hosting people in our country for ministry. The month of April we were busy with teams from America. They brought great blessings to our churches in building and ministry.

Our Florida group of women left today. We had a great time with them. They ministered in two conferences for women in two locations in Moldova. It was incredible how blessed the MOldovan women were. One woman commented that she'd been praying for over a year that the four churches in her city would have a time that the women could all come together for services. This was her answer to prayer!

The joy in meeting new faces at the airport is balanced by the fact that then a week or so later, we must again say goodbye. We are forever saying goodbye to loved ones and friends, both old and new. We have the joy of getting to know new friends and then a sadness when those new friends must again leave. But we know that we are the ones blessed and we are touched in a greater way because we have again met another new brother or sister in Christ. Today I felt a sense of sadness when the group left. A few of the ladies were my age and I knew that if I lived in their area of the country, we'd be good friends! This is forever the pull a missionary feels.

Thanks for your prayers this past month.

Please pray that now as we begin to seriously pack our house and prepare to transition to the USA for a year, things will go smoothly.

Teams

Teams that come from America are a huge blessing to us and the churches in Moldova. They make for some busy weeks, but the time with them is so worth it.

Today I simply ask you to pray for the week ahead. Right now we have a team here from Ireland. They have already blessed the church abundantly where they are working.

Friday, April 21 a team of 20 ladies from Florida arrive. They will spend time praying for Moldova, ministering in the villages and in 2 conferences for women. Please pray they arrive safely and that their time of ministry is abundant.

Tonight a new part of our team arrives, Terri Griswold. She will help us in realizing the goal of Project Rescue in Moldova. She is an appointed missionary with the A/G and we are excited to have here here. Her first year will be spent in language study. Pray for a smooth transition time for Terri.

And Sunday is our Easter. We celebrate with the Eastern calendar. Please pray that God would pour out his blessing on this holy time.

Thanks for your prayers in this coming week for the ministry happening here.

Something better

We've been dealing and trying to buy this house for 3 months now. A week ago the owner agreed to a price with us. It was a bit higher than what she originally said, but decent. Yesterday she called and said now she wants more still. So we have decided that the deal is off and we will begin to look elsewhere.

Please pray for us that we can find another property. It is easy to get discouraged, but we know that this must mean that God has something better on the market. Perhaps it is something not listed a few months ago when we begin to look. We don't know, but we do know that God has all things in control and that He loves the women tremendously.

1. Pray that we find a house to finish.
2. Pray that a fair deal can be made easily and quickly.
3. Pray that all things can be settled before we leave Moldova in June for our year in the states.

Thanks for your prayers and faithfulness in walking with us to see this ministry happen.

Hold ups

I come today asking you to pray for the house we are continuing to try to buy for House of Hope. The woman who is selling, still is trying to say the price is higher than originally agreed on. There are no buyers and sellers contracts here. A price needs to be agreed on and then a lawyer does the paperwork.

Now this woman is dragging her feet and saying other things. It really is a matter of greed and we want to be the best stewards of God's money that is entrusted to us.

1. Please pray that this woman would honor her original price so we can get this home bought.
2. Please pray for wisdom for Andy and Victor, the MOldovan believer helping us make this deal.
3. Please pray that the purchase of this house can happen in the next few weeks.

Thanks

someone hurting

I had the opportunity to meet with a girl in a pyschiatric hospital a few times in the last few weeks. This young woman, Ludmila, had been a victim of trafficking. Now her mind doesn't think clearly, she is sad and without hope. She is exactly why we have the burden to build this home to help women just like her.

Today I just ask you to pray for Ludmila. She is going home to her mother's house, but she is not well. I have gone with a few Moldovan friends and we have ministered to her about the love and hope of Jesus. She really doesn't understand this. We have found a place for her in a Christian rehabilitation center near her mother's home, but she is not yet willing to go there. Please pray that her heart is opened to going and that her mother will see that she needs more help and really only the healing that Jesus can give.

Thanks for your prayers today.

To Kiss the Word

Last summer I asked God to give me more opportunities with non-Christians in Moldova. It is so easy when we work in a Christian world to be isolated from non-Christians. The day I prayed this prayer we took a walk into center with the girls and stopped for ice cream at a favorite restaurant. As we went to leave, a young waitress we know, Nastia, asked if I'd start meeting with her to speak English so she could improve her English. I saw an immediate answer to the prayer I prayed that morning.

So we have been meeting since that time and a friendship has grown. Nastia began to ask questions about who we are and what we do here. We have talked with her about the Lord and she wanted to come see our church. Today she came to church and loved it. After church she came to our house for lunch. She said the service made her feel so good. Before she left our house we gave her some discipleship books and I asked her if she had a Bible. She didn't and I gave her my Romanian Bible. She took it with a smile and kissed it.

To her this used Bible is a most precious gift. I'm not sure I've ever kissed my Bible.

Would you please pray with me for Nastia? Pray that she comes to a true understanding of the need of Christ in her life. Pray that as she reads the Word, it would be alive and real to her and it would speak to her life.

Thanks. Now I need to go kiss my most precious Book.

I really did come back

By now some may be wondering if I really came back from India or went at all. I did! But a week away gives me two weeks to play catch up. I'm getting there.

The trip was incredible. I really know that the prayers of others held me up that week away. We were constantly busy, constantly going and constantly having our emotions pulled.

I traveled with a group of six people from America. We were also joined by different M's while there and also national workers.

Last night I invited the women from the Moldovan church we call home to come to my home and hear about my trip. They had all been praying for me. I served them Indian tea (Darjeeling), wore my Indian clothes, showed them the pictures and spoke for over and hour and then we discussed for another hour. This is to say that there is no way to really put down about this trip on a blog SPOT.

So what I will share with you is something I wrote in my journal as we flew one evening to Calcutta.

How do I discribe the poverty, filth and squalor of a slum in Mumbai?
How do I even understand this?
How do I discribe a child's kiss on my cheek, her longing for my arms and a few minutes of love, touch and peace?
How do I discribe the joy & beauty of a home where children live in cleanliness and health, away from the flith of the streets, the life in a brothel?
How do I discribe the prayers of girls who surround me (girls who were trafficked themselves and are finding healing), crying out to God on behalf of me; but not just on my behalf--really not me at all. They are praying for every girl who is trafficked from Moldova, every girl who will come through our home-praying for rescue and praying for restoration and hope.
I'm not sure that I can....

I left India with an incredible sense and knowledge that we serve a God who is able to bring live and HOPE to the broken. I saw what he is doing in India and know he will do the same in Moldova.

Last night at the close of our meeting, our pastor's wife said to the women that if girls in India are praying for our Moldovan girls, then we should be praying daily too.

God is doing a great work. Thanks for your prayers and please continue to pray for this growing ministry.

A Passage to India

I leave in the morning for India. Please be in prayer for me as I go. Right now we have a lot of fog and the airport was closed this morning. Please pray that the weather is good and my flights all go smoothly tomorrow. Pray also for my time in India. There is so much that I need to learn in this trip.

Blessings!

Pastor's Conference

My trip to Bucharest went great and I obtained the visa to India, so I'm set to go next week. Thanks for your prayers.

This week Andy is in another part of Moldova for the annual Pastor's Conference. He'll be speaking on Wednesday afternoon. Please pray for him as he speaks. Pray also for all the pastors so they would be encouraged and pray for the different speakers that they'd be used of God to touch them.

We also have a team here from West Monroe, Louisiana. The pastor is also sharing in the conference and the team is ministering in different areas of ministry (children, rehab, churches) during the days. Please keep this team in your prayers also.

And pray for the girls and I as we are home without Andy. We need a touch of healing. Colds have invaded our heads. Pray also for safety for us in these days.

Have a blessed day.

visa granted

This is just a quick post to say that my visa for India has been granted. PTL. I will travel by overnight train on Tuesday (with a friend--safety in numbers) to Bucharest, Romania to pick it up from the Indian embassy on Wednesday and come back on the Wednesday overnight train. Please pray for safety in travel and no kinks in the process when I get there. Thanks!

Rising costs

Today I come to you asking you to pray for the house we have looked at and want to buy for our Home of Hope. We are having a typical crazy Molodvan situation right now with it.

Two weeks ago we looked at the house and they asked one price. Then yesterday they told the Moldovan that is looking at it for us (we stay out of it) that it is worth more and now they are advertising it for 15,000 Euro more. The add for it with the raised price goes in the paper tomorrow.

It could make us laugh that only in Moldova will they see a bit of interest and then be convinced the price is too low and ask more!

Would you specifically pray with us that they get ABSOLUTELY NO interest on this house in the next week or two. Pray that no one calls and that no one wants to see the house. This is a wonderful house and a wonderful location and we believe it is what God has for us, but we don't want to pay 15,000 Euro (about $20,000) more than they first asked since it will already take enough to finish the house.

Another side of the Olympics

Tonight I met with a few ladies that I pray with each month concerning the trafficking of women and the start of our own ministry here to women. One of the ladies made a comment that right now, along with all the Olympic venues being built, brothels are going up as fast as they can build them. Since the brothels are going up, they are also busy recruiting right now. This means that the traffickers are working hard to get many other women to "come for work" abroad.

One of the ladies, Mariana, also has been meeting with a young women in a Pysch ward of a hospital who lived 2 years in Turkey after being trafficked. She is broken and hurting. Please pray that we can give the love of Christ to Ludmila.

And as I hear of this young woman, I see the desperate need to get our home going. At this point, we do not have a place to offer her. She needs a place where God can fill her with His love and peace. We are making an offer on a home that is under construction and we are so excited about that.

Pray:
1. That the traffickers who are working so hard to line their pockets by selling yet another girl, would be stopped. That the girls thinking today of answering an add or going to where they think life will be better will find the truth about what lies ahead. That these girls simply wouldn't go in the numbers that the traffickers are working to get.

2. That Ludmilla would find the healing that only Jesus can give.

3. That God would give us favor and speed in buying this property and that he'd make all things come together on it. That we'd get all the needed funds to do so.

Thanks for praying today.

Needing a church building`

Andy met this morning with the pastor from the church we attend here in Chisinau, "New Life" church. Over the course of about 6 years the church has met in 3 or 4 different locations, renting a place until they are told they have to leave. So again they are being told that they need to leave the building they rent.

Please pray with us today for "Viata Noua", New Life Church in Chisinau to locate a new building to ren. We really need to build, but the property values continue to skyrocket and it is getting harder to find this. We need a building to rent for this time, but we also need to find a permanent location. Pray also that God would bring a miracle and provide a much needed building for permanent location.

This whole move also affects the children that daily come to the program to feed and teach children. Pray that the children who come daily to "bread of life" aren't lost in the move!

Thanks today for praying.

Freezing in Moldova

It's been so cold here, we don't even want to go outside! The temperature is below zero (Fahrenheit) every night and climbs a few degrees above that in the daytime. My mother gave me her 20 plus year old fur coat and I'm getting a lot of use out of it now when I do have to venture outside! Schools are cancelled because it is too cold for the kids to walk to school and too costly to try to heat the buildings, which don't stay warm anyway. So we stay inside, dress warm and enjoy looking outside.

Prayer needs for us this week:

1. I've been asked to speak at a women's service in a small town the far Western Border of Moldova on Thursday, January 26. Please keep me in prayer that I can speak what God wants. The topic I've been asked to address is abortion.

2. The reality that we must leave here in about 4 months for a year in the states has hit with full force. I can't believe our first term has flown by so quickly. Pray we finish well. We still have many things to wrap up here.

3. We have possible property to buy for our Home of Hope for women. Pray that if this is the one God wants, all things would come together for it.

4. Pray for the young pastors and their wives that we meet with monthly to teach and encourage. Many pastor several churches, having feeding programs for children or elderly in their churches and are working to bring the gospel to their communities any way they can.

5. Pray as Andy works to schedule services for our year home. He's calling pastors and it has been good, but he still has some to do. This is always the joy of upcoming itineration.

6. Pray for home schooling the girls. We have 1/2 the year to go. They are doing well. Natalie is catching on to reading. Elissa can't get enough to read. But we always have days that are challenging. Pray that I have patience as I teach them!

7. Pray also for a young woman who is seeking God about coming here to home school the girls when we return in 2007. Her name is Shauna. Pray that she'd know what God wants for her the year after she finishes college.

8. And lastly, please continue to pray that we can find housing easily when we return to the states this summer.

Thanks for your prayers.

Jan. 18, Bringing hope to the Broken

When I first came to Moldova, I saw my position of just one as wife, mother, home-school teacher. Over the past 2 1/2 years God has opened my eyes to a huge need here and has called me to respond.

The trafficking of women for forced prostitution has become the #2 money making industry in the world, just behind drug trafficking. It will probalby overtake the other soon, because a human can be sold again and again and used and abused over and over. Drugs can only be sold once.

After arriving in Moldova I begin to hear about the problem of trafficked women from Moldova to other parts of the world. It is estimated that 2 to 5 women leave Moldova a day, thinking they are going for a legitimate job in the west, only to be sold into sex slavery. A lady from a secular organization asked me, "what is the church going to do about this?" This bothered me, but I didn't want to get involved. Somebody else could respond.

I couldn't get away from that question or the overwhelming thought of the pain these women must feel. I knew the only hope they could find is in Jesus. I tried to make excuses to God that I wasn't the person to respond, but He didn't take any of my excuses. He kept bringing the need to me again and again.

I knew that God was calling me to open a home for women who have been forced into prostitution and returned to Moldova--a home where they can find hope, healing and restauration for their mind, body and soul. A home where they can see the hope in Christ and find freedom from misplaced guilt.

Those of you who know me personally don't need to worry that I'm going to begin to combat traffickers or break into brothels. Every year many of these women return having no where to live long term and no way to return to their village or home they left. They are branded with the Scarlet "A" in their small villages.

Our home will be a part of a larger AGWM ministry, Project Rescue, which has operated for 8 years and has 12 homes going in Southeast Asia. At the end of February, I will travel with a small group from the states and visit some of the existing homes, meet the staff and talk with them, learn from them and see what will apply in this culture.

Currently in Moldova we are looking for a home to buy and restore. This will be the first Project REscue home outside Southeast Asia. At the beginning of our next term we will finish the home and begin ministry in the home. We have another woman coming to work with us in this ministry. She will come soon and begin language study.

1. Please pray for this ministry in Molodva. I feel with this blog I really can't express the true pain and need. But it is huge in Moldova. God has gone before us in this entire endevour. As I have said, "yes" to him, each step of the way, I'm amazed at what He then leads us to and opens for us.

2. Pray that God would lead us to the right house at the right price to use for this ministry.

3. Pray that we find the right Moldovan staff to work with us with this ministry.

4. Pray as I travel to India. First, I need my visa to come through. It is not an easy process with India and I will need to travel to Bucharest, Romania to pick it up. But I need it to come through before I must leave on February 23. Pray also that I would be spiritually prepared for this time. I really don't worry about my safety, but I do think about the emotional toll this trip will have on me as I meet girls and women so abused. And pray for Andy and the girls who will remain here.

5. Pray that God will enable us to bring hope to the broken lives of women from Moldova.

January 12

We are home in Moldova. It is good to be home. The conference for students was incredible. The time with family great, but it is good to be back to where God has called us--cold, snow, crazy drivers and all.

The first week in the states was filled with visiting family, Christmas shopping, and doctors appointments. I experienced what is called "reverse culture shock". There is just so much available, so many choices and I didn't know if I wanted to be there. My last week in the states was wild with packing, visiting family and preparing to leave again. The conveniences of America appeared everywhere and I didn't know if I wanted to return to Moldova. My emotions swam with conflict.

As I've unpacked and tried to get over jetlag (I haven't slept the last 2 nights) I have been so glad to be home, and I realize that my conflicting emotions are very normal.

So today I just ask you to take time and pray for by name the missionary women that you know. Ask God to be with each of them.

We leave America and its conveniences not feeling that we are sacrificing, but glad to go where God has called us. But it doesn't make it easy to get to that foreign land and deal daily with the differences, inconveniences and problems here.

Pray for the missionary wife who has recently returned home and is missing her friends and church in the country she left. Pray for the missionary wife who will return to her country of calling soon and is dealing with the emotions of living again outside her passport country.

We are women who deeply love and appreciate two cultures and are forever torn between the two. A friend recently said to me, "When I'm in my country of calling, I so miss some wonderful American foods. And when I'm in America, I miss terribly the incredible tropical fruit we can get on the field. I want to always love and miss both places."

Thanks for your prayers today.

December 28

A month flies by quickly!

We've been in the states for 2 1/2 weeks now. We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with family. The girls had a great time reconnecting with cousins. We connected with Terri, who is raising her budget to come to Moldova now and she should be with us in the Spring and with another couple who are applying to come to Moldova. We know God has good things in store for Moldova.

We are still in the states, but now we are back to work. We flew today to Louisville, KY for the World Missions Summit. We are working to switch our brains from Christmas preparations, celebrations and times with family to this great summit. In the next few days over 3,000 college students will be arriving in Louisville to be challenged with missions.

During the next few days, please pray for God's safety for all as they travel here by car, bus and plane.

Pray that we have devine appointments with students who would consider coming to Moldova to work with us.

Pray for the hearts of students to be open to hear what God has to say to them about how they can be involved in missions.

Pray for our 3 girls, who have stayed in Wisconsin with Andy's sister, Rachel, and her family. We miss them and they miss us.

Pray also for our beloved brothers and sisters in Moldova who will celebrate Christmas this next week. This is a great time for outreach there, and we pray that God touches hearts as people seek to see the reality of Christ in Christmas in Moldova.

Thanks for your prayers for us.

After the Summit we return to Minneapolis to gather the children, pack and head back to Moldova. But we are excited for the good things we know God will do here in the next few days.

Have a wonderful day!