Sweet sleep

This is a very short note to say that we are 4 days until we leave and we are excited about it. Even with the excitement comes nerves for all of us. It is showing in the little girls, Lauren and Natalie, with bad dreams at night. This is not normal for them.

Will you pray that they can sleep well for the next nights? Pray that they have sweet sleep in the next nights so that they are ready to travel the long road to Moldova. Thanks.

Two Weeks

We are down to the wire. Two weeks from today we leave. That is exciting. I feel like that very old song "All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go..." If you don't know that song, you weren't alive in the 70's. I remember singing it in 5th grade singing time when Mrs. Nelson would play her guitar and we'd sing.

We've had a great week of vacation at the cottage of generous friends in Florida. We've played in the water, built bears at Build a Bear, saw a dolphin show and ate way too much food. It has been so good to vacation with the girls and just have time as a family to relax and have fun together.

I cannot explain how stressful the last few months have been in trying to pack, but it was not just packing a house, but sorting and storing. In missions it is always an issue that everything touched has to be decided on for the long haul. Do we keep this for storage? Do we give it to Goodwill? Do we ship it to Moldova? Where do I need it? A million decisions and I hope I've made them correctly. Everything is pretty much ready to go. We have just a very few things to deal with when we return from vacation and there is always the last bag to pack.

Please keep us in prayer these last two weeks as we say goodbye to family. My dad's health is not good and I feel this could be a final farewell. Pray that the times are special and meaningful for all of us.

Our teacher for the next year, Shauna, is traveling with us on the 31st. She will be such a blessing to our family. Pray for her as she makes her first trip overseas and really leaves home for the first time. Pray for her parents as they see her go. She is a great young woman and I think this will be a wonderful year for her and our family.

Thanks for your prayers.

A lot of fires

I've been home a week and it has been good. I've gotten a lot done, but it seems there is always more to do. I see the end in sight. This morning the counseling pastor at the church here told me that every 3 moves in a marriage is the same stress as one fire. We're going on 4 fires now (that's about 12 moves in our 17 years of marriage for those of you not good at division).

I always think that I'm doing fine with the stress of our moves and then my body says otherwise. So I'm here to ask for your prayers for my body and the stress it is feeling. This morning I woke up with a stiff neck and head ache. I've been fighting a knot that wants to control my shoulder with pain for a month now. And then this afternoon heartburn struck. I rarely get heart burn. But I think it is heart burn from stress, if there can be such a thing. Deep breathing is also hard to do right now.

So please pray for me in these weeks ahead and even more so in these next few days. I need to deal with the stress as God would have me deal with it. I'm not even sure what that means. Thanks for your prayers.

Home again

I returned home from my travels last night. I think I fell to sleep in about 2.5 seconds last night and I awoke at 4 a.m., finally giving up the thought of going back to sleep at 4:30 a.m. and crawled out of bed.

We had great meetings in Turkey and I had a wonderful time with my mom and my sister, Becky, in Holland and Germany. We definitely built a lot of great memories in our time together. My friends wedding was beautiful and it was just so fun to be able to be her witness in the Catholic church of Germany.

It was also a great time of relaxation for all of us. My mom really needed the time away and even though she came home exhausted, she was also refreshed to continue as the caregiver for my dad. She commented many times how she felt God was really filling her with his presence.

I'm ready to conquer the rest of the packing for our return to Moldova. That says that relaxation happened!

So today please pray:
1. That my mom would continue to feel the presence of God in her life and with her as she deals with my dad. Daily we face new challenges with his deteriorating health and physically and emotionally it is so much for my mom. Please pray for her, Evelyn.

2. For all the details of packing. There is still so much to do. It is absolutely overwhelming and at times we look around and don't even know where to start. Please pray that God gives us clarity in the packing in the next week.

3. For the details of shipping. Shipping a container is so complicated when it is something you've never done in your life! It is also complicated shipping into Moldova. Will you pray that we can get the rest of the details worked out in the next few days and that we can get this done and ready to go?

We are excited about our return to Moldova in about 6 weeks. It is hard to believe the time is already here and we are excited about it. Blessings.

Life in the Bones

This morning I read in Ezekial 37 about the Valley of the Dry Bones. Ezekial spoke to the bones and God brought them together, bone by bone, ligament by ligament, then adding skin. And Ezekial spoke to the wind and the wind breathed life and breath into the bones.

I read this and my dream for Home of Hope in Moldova comes to me in a new way. I've seen eyes that are dead because they were sold into prostitution. I've met women with minds that can't function because their lives were thrown away as a commodity when they were sold for the first time and then countless times thereafter. And I know that God has put this dream in me. He wants me to dream of life for the women who will enter our Home of Hope in Moldova. He will breathe life into them and restore them bone by bone, ligament by ligament, calling the wind of the Holy Spirit to come and give life to their lifeless bodies.

Right now the house construction is underway. If you haven't gotten the PDF e-mail with the update on the building progress and would like it, you can write me and I'll send it to you. Will you pray that the breath of life would be upon that house as the workers build there? Would you pray that it would be built and inhabited ieven now by the Holy Spirit?

God has called us to such an incredible task. In two months we'll be back in Moldova and we will begin to bring together the women who will work in the home. Pray for God's anointing and call on our workers. It will not be an easy task.

And please pray for me. I do know I'm lead by God, but I have no former experience to guide me in this task. God will be with me, but it is a huge undertaking and I need his hand to guide my every step.

Finally, I'm in frenzied days of packing. I have about 3 days until I have to hit the road for almost 3 weeks. Would you pray that things go together smoothly here and God will just help and direct each thing I do, helping me in all the decision making, knowing where to put each item as I pack it, knowing what to save, what to toss, what to ship?

Thanks for your faithful prayers.

It was a good day

Friday proved to be a great day.

The meeting with my siblings went great. We all saw that caring for and dealing with aging parents is a complex issue. I think we are ready to continue to communicate and work together.

After the meeting I went shopping and I found a great dress and it was on sale. I love sales and hate buying anything not on sale. So that is solved too.

Now if the boxes would just pack themselves....

Packing Boxes

Thanks to all of you who regularly pray for us by looking at this blog. Andy was recently at a church and he said several people came to him and were appreciative of this blog to know how to pray. It blesses me that people would take the time to let us know.

Life is pretty crazy right now. I have 3 areas to ask you to pray today.

1. We are working to get things packed to go and packed to ship. Would you pray that each thing we do is directed and blessed by God? This time we are shipping a container with household goods. This means I'm working to get these things packed to go, but also purchased to pack! I have a few more things to buy and my constant prayer is to find it affordable and available!

2. My dad has dementia and is continuing to fail physically. This is a strain on my mom and the entire family. I'm the youngest of 6 children. We are trying to come together so we can best help my parents. We need to be united to do this. (All are Christians). This week we are meeting with a counselor to help us better communicate about this difficult issue. Will you pray for that time on Friday morning?

3. This last one may sound trivial when we are raising a budget, packing to move and caring for aging parents, but it is real! I have a good friend who is German. We've been friends since high school (over 20 years). She was an exchange student who lived with my family and we are sisters in heart. She is getting married in one month and I'm going to her wedding in Germany. She's asked me to be her witness (which is like a bridesmaid). So I'm a 40 year old bridesmaid to a 40 year old bride. It makes me want to cry for joy. I'm so happy for Henrike. BUT I need to find a dress for the wedding and I'm striking out. It may seem little, but now that I know that I'm representing our American family in front of everyone at her wedding, it matters. I'm a bit stressed about it. I'm not a great shopper. So pray I can find the perfect dress. (I'm really not sure what that is!)

I'm blessed that you read this, but more blessed that you pray. We are held by that daily.

Prayer for India Project Rescue

I received the following prayer request from David and Beth Grant concerning Project Rescue in India. I wanted to pass it on to you and ask you to prayer for the homes in India.

Dear friend of Project Rescue, we are writing because you care and know how to pray.

We have just received word that one of our Project Rescue sites in India is under intense spiritual opposition, along with another site that has been experiencing the same for several months. Literally lives are at stake today. Please help us cover the staff and girls/women in the programs in powerful prayer.

God has ministered to so many women and children over the last several years, and we've experienced God's blessings in many ways. But we are definitely in a spiritual battle for souls of women and girls that God loves, and prayer is our ultimate weapon. Thank you for standing with us in intercession for miracles of freedom, deliverance and protection.

"Father, each one of these girls has been created by you for your purposes and to discover freedom through your Son. We pray that the blood of Jesus will cover them today and that they will be fully delivered from spiritual bondage and darkness in Jesus' Name! We pray against the power of the evil one who is determined to destroy them, that his hand will be stopped as your children pray prophetic words of faith and freedom. Give the staff and leadership courage, strength and wisdom in this battle; protect them from danger and discouragement. We pray for a greater anointing upon them than they have ever experienced before to match the intensity of the enemy's attack. Father, You are greater and able to do more than we could every imagine to bring deliverance to the oppressed and glory to Your Name in India. Our confidence is in You!

We ask together that You would turn the storm of opposition into something for good as only You can do, and we will give you all the glory and honor! In the mighty Name of Jesus, Amen."

Thank you for praying for the women in India today.

Praying for those yet

Sunday evening Andy led a great prayer meeting for missions at the church we call home this year. The first thing he asked us to pray for is those who will hear, those yet to believe.

Monday morning I flew to Montana for District Council. Usually I'm seated by people who have no interest in talking with anyone. Yesterday I had 2 seat-mates who loved to talk. The girl at the window was a student at a small Bible College in Billings, MT. I knew where she stood with God. The man in the middle was a young businessman and very devout to his faith, but did not know of a personal relationship with Jesus. He was sandwiched between two women who loved God and he began to ask questions how his faith was different than our faith.

It was a very neat 2 hour plane ride. I had picked up a book in the Christian Bookstore last Friday that had caught my eye "Soul Cravings" and I felt God speak to my heart to give it to him. We never know how God is working in someones life and what seeds that are planted will take root.

Would you pray for Greg today? He is one who has yet to know Christ as Savior.
And will you pray the simple prayer we prayed on Sunday evening--that God would soften the hearts of those yet to believe in your circle of influence and also in Moldova. There are so many yet to believe.

I write this in light of the tragedy that happened yesterday at Virginia Tech. I've wept as I have watched the news. I know there is a great Campus Ministry group there at VT. I met some of them at the World Missions Summit a year and a half-ago. Would you pray for the believers on that campus as they look to find hope themselves and as they offer hope to those around them? Pray for their Campus Pastor. I don't even know his name, but he serves that campus so taht people can know the truth of the Gospel. Pray that what Satan meant for evil, God can use for good.

Crunch Time

The clock is ticking loudly in my brain. We can count the months that we've been here--10--and the months until we leave--3 1/2. There are still churches to get to, people to see, family to visit.

These things aren't stressing me. We will get them done. What stresses me is that this time we are shipping a container and that container goes in about 5 weeks. That means I have things left on my list to purchase--some furniture, spices, foods, bedding, and more--and I need to get them bought. I get a bit done at a time and it always feels good. The list is getting shorter.

Then I need to pack these things up, and I need to pack the things from within our home. I hate packing. Doesn't everyone? My dream about 7 years into marriage was that we'd pastor a church in one place for years so that I wouldn't have to move all the time and could grow roots. Then God called us to missions a few years later. So much for roots. I have loose ones all over the place.

But I'm rambling. The point is I'd like your prayers as we work to accomplish all that needs doing in the next month and we can feel like we have things together. These points of panic arise within me and I know that I need to ask God to give me help and let me get done what we need to accomplish.

I know He always does. Last time I blogged I asked you to pray for Andy's trip. It was an amazing time. He only spent 3 full days in Moldova and saw tons of people and accomplished tons of work. He returned exhausted and it has taken 1 1/2 weeks and I feel like he is finally back to himself again and over jet lag. The House of Hope project is underway. We have a crew working on it already and we are so excited that this has started.

So thanks for your faithful prayers and please continue to keep us in your prayers in the next month.

Blessings!

Daddy gets to go

This morning about the time I put my girls on the bus, Andy touched down in Moldova. He'd boarded a plane the day before in Minneapolis. Sunday night was a mess getting the girls to bed. They were all crying because "Daddy gets to go to Moldova and we don't. It just isn't fair."

He's not gone for long. He'll be back on Saturday. Yes, he has less than a week there, but they were longing for the place they call home and the friends they love who are there.

Andy went to get the construction project on the Home of Hope started. He is meeting tomorrow with a contractor (Wednesday). He has already spoken with him and the cost will most likely be higher than we were originally told. That is a bit of a bummer, but we know that God has all that we need to make this happen.

Please pray this week for Andy. He has so much to do in 3 short days on the ground. Pray that he can accomplish these things.

Pray for wisdom in decisions concerning the construction project.

Pray for guidance and favor while he is in Moldova.

Pray for clear thoughts and planning for him as he sees what needs to be done.

Pray for refreshment when he visits with friends in Moldova.

Pray for his safe and prompt return on Saturday.

Thanks.

Finally an update

In the past week, I've had several people write and ask, "So how was the conference?" And I thought, "How did you know about the conference?" Oh, my blog! So I'm realizing that people do read this and I need to get with it more often.

One friend wrote, "I love your blog. I read Andy's blog, but I read yours more often because it is more for women." Then she told me to get with it and update it more often. Okay, I hear you Mariana! I'll will work to update more often and I'll get back on things I've asked for prayer for because people do read this blog! Duh!

So what did I get out of the conference? I learned that I need to get a business plan together for it and I was able to meet with a lady in Minnesota who helped me learn how to do that. So you can pray that I have wisdom and understanding as I put that together.

I learned that trafficking is worldwide. It is in America as well as any other country, and I saw that God is raising up women all over the world (and on that college campus) to respond to this need. Vanguard University is a Christian University that was the first Christian university to start a women's studies program. Women's studies there is not about a competition of men versus women. It isn't about women's rights. It is about raising up young women to respond to the call God has on them to meet their world where it is hurting and in need. Pray for the young women who God is moving on their hearts to respond to the issue of trafficking in the years ahead.

I learned that the mode to trafficking is so horrible that we can not imagine it. We watched a documentary "Cargo--Innocence Lost" about girls trafficked into the United States. It was awful. I'll tell you that I had to close my eyes many times. People around me were sobbing. How can such evil exist? The evil does exist, but God is calling us to go behind the enemy lines and bring his hope into those with innocence lost. Can you pray for the women God will rescue and restore?

I met a lady from the state department working in anti-trafficking. She is a beautiful Christian lady who is articulate and passionate about this issue. She helped to have the anti-trafficking law written in America and she helps to fight this around the world. She told me, "Don't be surprised when the secular anti-trafficking groups oppose you in Moldova, even though you are trying to do the same work. They don't like to bring Jesus into it." I've already experienced this in Moldova. Please pray that God would give me wisdom and favor with these other groups.

I had the opportunity to stay with a wonderful couple, Dave and Millie Gable, who poured their love and understanding into me that weekend. Millie and I attended the conference together. Thanks Dave and Millie for the hospitality. I felt blessed by my time with you.

The 2 days were swift. I was tired, jet lagged and dealt with late flights coming and going, but I also came home with a greater passion than ever.

God is doing a work in me to make me into something new and he is doing it a bit at a time, with things such as this conference. Thanks so much for your prayers. I need to tell you about the personal work that is happening, but that needs to be another posting.

Blessings!

A Time for Education

Today I'm flying to Southern California for a 2 day conference on Sexual Trafficking at Vanguard University (a Christian University). It is a heart of the leaders of the Center for Women's Studies at the University, to mobilize women to reach broken women. The speakers and workshops they have put together look absolutely fantastic.

Will you pray for this conference that young women will be called "to the least of these"?

Will you pray that I can gain more practical knowledge to do the work in Moldova?

Will you pray that I will make the contacts needed to further the work in Moldova and even in the rest of the Former Soviet Union?

Will you pray that God would open the doors, even at this last minute, for more people to attend the conference?

Will you pray that God's will be done this weekend?

Thanks for your faithful prayers.

Zinnias

Each night before my kids go to bed, we read stories, read from the Bible and pray. Occasionally we read a few poems too. The other night we read from a book of poems by Valerie Worth and I'd like to share a poem from there with you called "Zinnias" (which are one of my favorite garden flowers).

Zinnias, stout and stiff,
Stand no nonsense: their colors
Stare, their leaves
Grow straight out, their petals
Jut like clipped cardboard,
Round, in neat flat rings.

Even cut and bunched,
Arranged to please us
In the house, in water, they
Will hardly wilt--I know
Someone like zinnias; I wish
I were like zinnias.

As I read this, I thought that I have a beautiful bouquet of zinnias in my home--my 3 daughters, small missionaries that they are. They are so like zinnias with stiffness and straightness. They have been cut from the soil of Moldova and brought to America where they are a beautiful bouquet when we visit churches or they brighten their classroom in their school, just like flowers do.

And through all the cutting and change, they have not wilted, but they have become more beautiful. They have participated in school musicals, taken swimming lesson and loved children's church and Pastor Corey. But they never forget the garden that they call home--Moldova.

Will you continue to pray for our children, Elissa, Natalie and Lauren? Pray for constant change and adjustment. Pray for final good-byes in the next months with their new friends here. Pray that they'd continue to grow and become all God wants them to be.

A Reason to Pray

The other day I saw an ad for the movie, "Amazing Grace", which opens in theaters on February 23. I can't wait for the movie because it is the story of William Wilberforce, the abolitionist who brought the end of slavery in England 200 years ago. I love his story.

But more than his story, which is a great part of history, the movie is bringing awareness to slavery today. The movie's website (www.amazinggracemovie.com) has many links to groups and individuals that are working to stop slavery today. Trafficking in persons is modern day slavery.

As I clicked to different links last night, I read the story of Nadia, a real woman from Moldova, who was trafficked to Serbia. The story left me somber. The story once again made me realize that we have such a work to do. So many woman need to know that once again they can have hope for the rest of their life and that this hope comes through Jesus Christ.

So below is the link to the page where you can read Nadia's story. Please read it and remember to pray for us as we begin this critical ministry to women in Moldova.

Click here.

The Covering

The past two Sundays we did services together as a family in churches of our families. These are churches that not just our parents attend, but also a sibling or two and their families. There is always something interesting about being the missionary related to someone in the church.

Both services were great, but it wasn't because of the stories we shared of God's work in Moldova. It also wasn't because an offering plate was passed and people gave generously to the work in Moldova.

The reason both services were amazing was because at the end of each service, the pastor asked us to come forward with our family and then asked anyone related to us to gather around us. They laid hands on us and prayed for us.

It struck me how powerful this time is in our lives. We could not do what we do without many praying for us. When corporately a body of believers lifts us to God, the work to God, our safety to God, it is real work for the Kingdom of God. It is a covering in the battle that rages. As I stood with family gathered around us on December 31 and again January 7 and the body of Christ praying for us, I knew this is my favorite part of itineration and what I most need when in America.

Churches often begin the year in prayer. Let's not forget to pray the rest of the year too. I'm so grateful for the prayers that are lifted for us throughout the year. I'm so grateful for your commitment to pray for us.

Please pray for us this month. We are traveling together this month more than normal. We have been to Wisconsin. Andy will go to North Dakota this week and then we'll go back there on the weekend with the girls. At the end of the month we'll all travel for a week to Montana for minister's renewal and services.

Pray for good roads and safe travel.
Pray that God's spirit would move upon His people.
Pray that people would give generously so our cash budget can be raised.
Pray also that our pledge budget will be raised.
Pray that God would move on people's hearts to be a part of the harvest in Moldova.
Pray that God would let the time in Montana would be special for us as a family.

Thanks for covering us with your prayers.

Forty

Tomorrow I turn 40. I'm not sitting here in a pile of tears, feeling my life is passing before me. No, I'm looking forward to what God has ahead of me.

I remember as a teen my pastor turned 40 and he preached a sermon about the number 40 in the Bible. It is associated with Noah, Moses, the children of Isreal and more that I can't think of right now. Good things happened around the number 40. Life changing things happened.

I know God is taking me into another stage of my life. A time when He wants to use me as never before. I've floated along with my husband in ministry. He was the minister. I remained his wife. Now I feel that God wants to use me too. Not separate, but another part of the same ministry. And I'm comfortable with that.

I'm looking forward to forty. Good bye to the searching years of the 30's. Hello to forty and the fun things God has in store for me.

This is supposed to be a prayer blog. So you can pray for me today! Pray that I continue to listen to God and be led by Him. Pray that I'm used in awesome ways to touch the lives of those around me in the years to come.

Happy Birthday to me. I'm comfortable with that too!

Thanksgiving Musings

Andy has returned from a long time on the road. We are so happy to have him home safely.

The pumpkin pies are baked, a basket of food sits by the door ready to be loaded in the car, turkeys are thawing in a cooler and shopping for dinner was no problem. I could easily find everything I need and on sale. The turkey was only $11, not $50! But I am missing preparing a Thanksgiving dinner in Moldova.

Last year in Moldova I was homesick for Thanksgiving in America.

This year in America I'm homesick for Thanksgiving in Moldova.

Am I out of my mind?

No, I'm a missionary. I'm forever caught between two worlds, both of which I love.

So this Thanksgiving, as you prepare your meal and say thanks for the good things you have, stop to pray for the missionaries you know. Pray for those stateside, who are missing their home overseas. And pray for those on the field, who may not have the American trimmings to their holiday feast, and are missing their celebration in America.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Traveling

Please keep us in prayer this coming week (the last full week of October). I travel with Andy to a missions convention in Des Moines, Iowa and the girls will stay with my sister on the weekend and then my parents will stay with them here.

Pray for safety as we travel.

Pray for health and safety for the girls while we are gone.

Pray for Grandma and Grandpa who will be staying with them!

It isn't easy to be apart and sometimes we have to leave the girls. I don't like that and I miss them already. Pray for the grace for all of us to do what we need to do.

Thanks.

Oh, My

This past weekend I went to the Minnesota A/G women's fall conference. Our Moldova Home of Hope was the featured missions project. We need funds to finish the building of this house. And Oh, my did the women give in a big way. I stood on stage and cried when the amount was announced. If you want to know the actual amount, you'll have to e-mail me and ask me! I'll tell you, but you need to ask.

So then today we hear from friends in Moldova who are still struggling to get visa and work permit issues resolved. We have many friends now illegally in the country. They are far over visa limitations or their existing permits are not being renewed.

This is Satan's attempt to shut off the work of God in the country of Moldova. Please pray with us. We need the laws to change and we need God to do something incredible.

Visas and work permits are something we take for granted in America. We can live here because we were born here and immigrants have to get permits. If an immigrant is deported, we think they must have done something wrong. But being a person that is not a national in another country has taught me that this is not so. It is simply the legal paperwork to stay.

We know that God has incredible plans for the country of Moldova. He has work for us to do. He has provided the money to finish this home for women in Moldova through the women of Minnesota. We have 9 months before we return, but we have dear friends, doing the work God has called them to in Moldova, facing these issues today.

Will you please pray that something supernatural would happen and the living permits and work visas would come through for our friends there now and also for those of us going in the future? God has a work to be done there.

Thanks.