First, I would like to apologize for not writing in almost 3 months!  Since my last post so many things have happened.  We had a prayer week in February that turned into 6 weeks of prayer.  (The Lord is moving in mighty ways here!)  We've had a couple teams from Norway and are preparing for a team from England that arrives tomorrow.  We had a Zone Youth meeting while one of the Norway teams was here and experienced so much liberation and freedom nobody could deny the presence of The Holy Spirit.  This past Tuesday night we had a worship night with a famous Christian musician and this weekend we had The March for Life in 2 locations.  These are just a few of the things that have gone on over the last 90 days...and these are all extra things.  I still did my day-to-day things at the Hope Center and girls meetings.

Here's what this post (and the next couple posts) will be about:  I'm going to highlight 1-2 children or youth that I work closely with at The Hope Center and share parts of their story.  The culture of Gypsies, to some, would seem hopeless.  The bondage of sin plaguing the generations of this culture cut you in the heart like a dull knife.  They are a group, by all definition, known as outcasts and are comfortable staying that way.  But, the more time I spend with them, the more my heart grows to have a deeper understanding that these are my brothers and sisters, my equals - A real, tangible understanding of Matthew 25:31-46.  These are children and families that live in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Calarasi and despite their circumstances, give me hope.  These are their stories.  These are their faces - Faces of Hope.  

My most recent adventure has been working with a couple of boys that are in the second chance school.  What this means is these students have previously dropped out of school and now want to go back and are at least 2 grades behind where they should be.   I began working with two of these boys back in January by accident.   I found out that nobody was available to help them with homework and after some prayer concluded God wanted to utilize me in this way.  It's been an awesomely challenging experience so far!  This is the story of Nelutu and Sezer.

Nelutu
I don't even know where to start...I have so much love for this kid!  Nelutu is 13 and at a grade 2 level.  When I met him, he couldn't read or write...not even his own name.   I had seen him around the Hope Center since I arrived back in October, but he was one of the older kids, so I didn't pay much attention to him.  
One afternoon we were coloring and he gave me a picture and I asked him to put his name on it.  I received a blank stare and found out he didn't know how.   So I went and spoke with his teacher (with the help of Marin for translation) about him and Sezer and how I could help.  The teacher gave me a list of books for each of them so I went and purchased those.  We've been working on reading, writing and math ever since.
Among disappointments and triumphs, after a few months of working diligently with him, he is writing and reading! Praise God!  He still has quite a ways to go, but I choose to celebrate in the small victories.  We went from his teacher saying how disrespectful he was and unteachable to being told last week that he did a great job reading and to keep up the good work! He also gave his heart to Jesus about a month ago!!!! God is doing some wonderful things in his life!  

I visit his family at least twice a month (sometimes more) to pray with them and to make sure his mom is up-to-date on his progress and to let her know all the things we're working on.  His father died a few years ago as well as one of his younger sisters.  He lives in a two room home with his mom and 3 of his 4 siblings.  

Prayer Requests for Nelutu:

• His love for The Lord would continue to grow and would be a genuine love.
• The mental blocks keeping him from pronouncing "r" and "l" correctly would fall away and he would be able to stay focused while learning
• He would be able to memorize the multiplication table
• The culture would not pull him from his God given purpose (He wouldn't get married at a young age, wouldn't turn to drinking, wouldn't steal, wouldn't fight)
• God would break his bad habit of lying and smoking (he's trying to quit both and is struggling)

Sezer
This young man is so sweet and kind and at the young age of 14 has The Holy Spirit bursting from within and just like Nelutu, I don't even know where to start I love this kid so much!  Sezer is at a grade 4 level so my main focus with him is math.  He is also extremely passionate about soccer, so you can find us on the soccer field quite often.  I enjoy doing this with him, despite being awful at the sport, because it's a way to encourage stronger leadership from him.

He is a natural born leader.  During our week of prayer back in February, the students also had off of school.  Instead of doing what other kids do for fun he chose to be with our OH team in prayer from 11am-4pm.  
He has this eagerness to learn about his creator and takes every opportunity to do so.  
The younger kids look up to him and this gives me so much hope.  He has such a good heart and strives to see the good in the world.  

Prayer Requests for Sezer:

• He would continue to earnestly seek Christ and desire to be more and more like him
• His leadership skills would continue to grow 
• He would be able to memorize the multiplication table
• The culture would not pull him from his God given purpose (He wouldn't get married at a young age, wouldn't turn to drinking, wouldn't steal, wouldn't fight)
• He would continue to take school seriously and not get bored or lazy with it 

That's Nelutu & Sezer....It's hard to put into words everything we do and how The Lord is using them in my life and me in there's.  Because of extra finances I had in February, I was able to buy them each a bible, their school books and some new clothes.  I was able to share with them about God blessing me so I was able to bless them and what they've received from me is gifts from God.  I also pray with the boys at least once a day when we're together.

As for prayer request for me:

• I would continue to make time for God above all else...even ministry things
• The Romanian Language!  I'm slowly starting to get it, but need to know and speak more than I am now...God can break down these mental walls!!!!
• My health (joints, lungs)
• Finances for a car...I'm in the process of searching for an automatic car (this would be a tremendous help in day to day ministry with my schedule) and have found a few that could work, now I just need the financial provision 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, pray for the boys and for me, and your donations.  It means more than you will ever know!

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).

​



















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?

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...