Children's Ministry Conference, October 16-17
Paul and I had the opportunity to attend a short conference for youth and children's ministry workers just down the road in Targu-Mures. The presenters for the weekend were Evódia Budai and a team from the UK with the Cleaford Christian Trust. We had a great time with some old friends and new ones too, and we especially enjoyed the presentation by Angus Cleaver about some fun, new strategies for engaging kids in Bible instruction. It was so creative! We're excited to hold our next meeting with the children's workers in our churches to share what we learned. That will happen later this month. Thank you to the Baptist church in Targu-Mures for hosting this great event!
Paul and I had the opportunity to attend a short conference for youth and children's ministry workers just down the road in Targu-Mures. The presenters for the weekend were Evódia Budai and a team from the UK with the Cleaford Christian Trust. We had a great time with some old friends and new ones too, and we especially enjoyed the presentation by Angus Cleaver about some fun, new strategies for engaging kids in Bible instruction. It was so creative! We're excited to hold our next meeting with the children's workers in our churches to share what we learned. That will happen later this month. Thank you to the Baptist church in Targu-Mures for hosting this great event!
Evódia Budai sharing about working with teenagers
Angus Cleaver sharing a fun teaching tool for kids
We look a little tired here... but we had just filled up on a delicious dinner! Yum!
After-School and English Classes Update
The After-school teachers are working hard getting their kids up to speed on grade-level skills and curriculum. This week, Cristina, one of the teachers, has been in the hospital in Targu-Mures following a scare regarding some kind of infection. Please pray for quick healing for her. Melinda, our new cook, has been doing a wonderful job feeding the kids, and she's always ready to help Paul with his kids as soon as she's done in the kitchen! She's a woman of many talents! Paul's still doing a great job teaching his kids (in Romanian!). This month, there's a special attendance challenge. For kids who don't miss a single day of after-school, there will be a big reward at the end! Stay tuned!
English classes are still moving along well in Gornesti and Reghin, constantly giving us more and more opportunities for connecting with new people in our community. There's been a little dip in attendance following the time change (which happened for us one week before it happened in the U.S.). We've heard people are less likely to go out at night once it gets dark, but we're hoping the early sunset won't keep anyone away for too long!
A Romanian "Word Wall" at After-school
English classes are still moving along well in Gornesti and Reghin, constantly giving us more and more opportunities for connecting with new people in our community. There's been a little dip in attendance following the time change (which happened for us one week before it happened in the U.S.). We've heard people are less likely to go out at night once it gets dark, but we're hoping the early sunset won't keep anyone away for too long!
Gornesti English class
Crook House Church
We are really blessed to have several different churches here to call 'home.' Each week, we attend 3-5 church services (Sundays as well as evening meetings during the week), and they are either held in Hungarian or Romanian. So, even though we don't have a shortage of church meetings, it's also very special to get to worship and learn in our 'heart' language, our native language of English. In order to be able to do this, Paul and I really enjoy putting together a little mini 'house church' with just the two of us! We usually sing some songs, pray, and listen to an English sermon on the internet. Not only do we get to experience English worship, prayer and teaching this way, we also get to have that time to grow together spiritually and to come to God together in a really intimate way. We're blessed by it every time we get the chance.
Music is so important to us during this 'church' time, and in the last couple of weeks, we have been really encouraged by finding some new English worship music to listen to, thanks to a sweet friend from one of the UK groups that visited us this summer (shout-out to Beth! Hi! And thank you!!!). She sent along some recommendations that have made a huge impact on Paul and me, reenergizing us and getting us really excited about worship again. Here are a couple of our favorites!
You Make Me Brave - Bethel
It Is Well - Bethel
Prayers for Health
For the last 11 months, I've struggled with some severe back pain, especially at night when I'd like to be sleeping! I finally saw a doctor back in June to try to get some answers, and since then we've spent some significant time traveling to doctor's appointments, pharmacies, x-rays, tests, massage therapy, and, most recently, to physical therapy. We've been really blessed with great doctor's-office experiences, and I'm thankful for my husband who has been such a huge help with translating and making sure I get wherever I need to be. He's been an amazing support, always willing to do whatever is needed. I'm so grateful for him! Currently, I'm driving to Targu-Mures twice a week for physical therapy when Paul is at After-school. Please pray for safe travel for me (two-hour round trip drive each time) and for continued improvement with my back pain. It's been quite a ride, but I'm starting to see some relief!
For the last 11 months, I've struggled with some severe back pain, especially at night when I'd like to be sleeping! I finally saw a doctor back in June to try to get some answers, and since then we've spent some significant time traveling to doctor's appointments, pharmacies, x-rays, tests, massage therapy, and, most recently, to physical therapy. We've been really blessed with great doctor's-office experiences, and I'm thankful for my husband who has been such a huge help with translating and making sure I get wherever I need to be. He's been an amazing support, always willing to do whatever is needed. I'm so grateful for him! Currently, I'm driving to Targu-Mures twice a week for physical therapy when Paul is at After-school. Please pray for safe travel for me (two-hour round trip drive each time) and for continued improvement with my back pain. It's been quite a ride, but I'm starting to see some relief!
Phew! That's a lot to take in! Thanks for praying for us and for keeping up with our blog. We love sharing our life with you, and we hope you can see the many ways God's working and moving to grow his community of believers here in Romania.
Love,
Katie
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