the awakening...

I've hit the 2 month mark of living here in Romania!

I would be lying if I said the last month has been easy (it definitely has had some pretty incredible moments too, and I'll write about those further down so keep reading!).  I've felt an overwhelming longing for being home with my family.  Prior to coming here, I had been preparing myself for a little homesickness due to being gone over the holidays, but I wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it's been.  When I'm not holding back tears from missing family, I'm crying due to my battle with the fleas and now after 27 years, I've had my first experience with some other nasty creatures...lice.  Not only has the homesickness and little critters been a struggle, but now the frustration of having these defeated feelings is something I am overcoming.  
What a blessing it is for me to be here and serve alongside some amazing Christ-centered people and be called to ministry like this!  So the question is, why do I sometimes feel this frustration and defeat?  Answer...I'm human.  I fail every single day and it's okay to have these feelings.  It's okay because I have a Savior who steps in for me every single moment...in strength and weakness with the good and the bad.  The key is that I don't stay trapped in those feelings and I ask for help...from Him and my beautiful support system.  (I'm getting better at asking for help, especially in prayer!)  Oh, and spoiler alert: ministry on the missions field isn't always easy...in fact it never really is, but you can do it because you're not doing it alone.  

So...now that I have that out of the way, let me get to the good stuff.  

Despite being homesick, Christmas at the Hope Center was so wonderful!  We put together Christmas boxes and provided a meal for the children and their families.  (My family/extended family helped tremendously with the food and because of that, I felt a little less homesick and reaffirmed their support of my being here!...I know they support me being here, but with being homesick and all it helped me feel closer to home is what I mean...)  Over two days the first group arrived at 10am and we spent an hour with each group. (Day 1 had 4 groups and Day 2 had 5. We had 30 mins in between to set up for the next group.) We sang carols, Terence spoke on God's love and the importance of family, we ate a delicious meal with them and finally gave the children their gifts. We then took family pictures that we will have printed and given to them in the New Year.
What was really neat was having the parents take ownership over it. About three weeks ago we let the parents know what we were doing and encouraged them to bring some things to contribute to the boxes. Out of the 60(ish) families, 35 parents came and contributed gifts to their children's boxes! This far exceeded any of our expectations! The parents came up and gave the kids their boxes and for those whose parents didn't come or aren't a part of their lives, we stepped in for them.  We were able to provide lasting Christmas memories for about 200 children and their parents! Thank you Jesus!  Below you will see a picture of our Hope Center team (missing a few people).

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A quick update on my health as I know a lot of you have been praying for me: The fleas in the last 2 weeks haven't been an issue.  The lice are gone!  My joints have only given me very minor problems since returning from Vienna, Austria.  The onset of what was beginning to be a terrible cold has gone...Thank you, Jesus! And thank you to all of you who have been praying for me!  Please continue to pray for my health, the critters, and a breakthrough with the language!

Before I sign off for the year, God had put an idea on my heart about a month and a half ago of a topic for me to write about.  In true Becky fashion, I doubted myself and the words I'd be putting together for you all to read, so I'm just now getting around to writing, but I digress....He kept giving me the word "Awakening".  Awakening of what?  There's a lot of different ways to interpret this word, especially on the mission field and I'm pretty sure hundreds of people have spoken on this topic, but now it's my turn.  Based on different things I've seen, heard and experienced since God prompted me to write about this, here is my interpretation:
By definition (according to dictionary.com) awakening (noun):
1.the act of awaking from sleep.
2.a revival of interest or attention.
3.a recognition, realization, or coming into awareness of something:
Ex:a rude awakening to the disagreeable facts.
4.a renewal of interest in religion, especially in a community; a revival.
Based on the definition, does anything stand out to you?  For me it's the combination of all of these working in unison.  What needs to be awakened?  We do and the Holy Spirit inside each of us.  It's time for us to awake from the slumber of being a "lukewarm" Christian (thanks War Room) and revive our interest in Scripture.  We need to recognize the true meaning of being a Christian and renew our faith and trust in Christ and know that revival is upon us...The time is now - not tomorrow, not next year (see what I did there?  Happy New Year two days early!) but right now.  Revival isn't coming, it's already here.  It's not just happening in America or here in Romania, but to ALL nations.  You were called to be a part of it, but will you be?

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“Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn"
​Isaiah 60:1-3

This scripture paints such beautiful imagery for what revival looks like to me.  I love this because it's foreshadowing what it's like for us to have the Holy Spirit within us.  Once we have the Holy Spirit within us, it tells us how powerful we are working with God.  We can't deny the darkness of the world that we live in, but we also can't deny the glorious light and hope we have of living in Christ.  When we allow ourselves to have a personal relationship with Jesus we're given the ability to cast out that darkness in His name and we get to bring others with us.  We just have to be in relationship with Him...He'll do the rest!  He'll give you the words to speak and the prayers to pray.  There's an awakening in your heart...are you going to arise?  Let me encourage you by saying that revival starts with you, God says so! So, let the NATIONS come to your light.

xx,
​Becky






​**Sidenote: The Awakening thought had nothing to do with the new Star Wars movie....
All the things that I heard, saw and experienced  did not involve anything Star Wars related.  It was all during my prayer time that the word was given to me and it wasn't until I finished writing this that the movie even crossed my mind...